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He winced as a beam of sunlight hit him. Didn’t the sun understand he didn’t want it’s warmth? Why did it choose to beat down on those who preferred to remain in eternal darkness? His footsteps were loud in his ears on the marble floors as he walked away from the favourable light.
Where was he headed to?
Oh yes. Another ball.
A firm request from his mother. He sighed. When did his life become this tedious? Everything seemed meaningless, tasteless, pointless...
Why?
Because she was not with him.
His heart contracted. Hadn’t she promised? Hadn’t she promised that in their next life she would meet him? That they would finally be together as they always should have been? That they would finally be happy? How did she expect him to live like this?
Constantly looking for her.
Constantly waiting for her to fulfil her promise.
His hands balled into fists at his sides. She had lied to him.
Why?
Or was it that she couldn’t get to him? Was something preventing her return to this world? Then why had he returned? Why did he remember each of their interactions so vividly? Was he being punished? Was she never to return to his side?
As the memories of the past crept into his mind once more, his surroundings changed. Trees grew in the hallway and birds chirped in the air above him. Then a hand curled around one of the newly sprouted sturdy trunks, followed by a head popping out to the side and then there was that smile.
Just like the sun.
Favouring him unjustly.
There she was.
This was their first meeting. He had been a palace guard, sent to find a thief hiding in the forest. Only once he had discovered her, he couldn’t bring himself to take her in. Instead, they met many time in secret and the woods became the secluded setting of their love affair. Their love had been so sweet, but their end had been so bitter. The scene before him changed once more and he dropped to his knees as she lay dying on the floor before him, the hunter's stray arrow lodged firmly through her heart once more.
What had his words to her been?
“I will follow you, I will follow you to the next life,” he spoke the words out loud as the memory before him swept away, and the hall fell dark. His tears dropped soundlessly onto the floor as he pulled himself to his feet once more.
He walked into the main hall. Couples twirled on the dance floor before him. Guests littered the walls of the room talking merrily and clinking glasses with one another. Suddenly, the room fell silent and one by one the people around him disappeared from his view until there was just her.
Her.
Their second meeting.
Their second chance.
His prima ballerina. His star. His muse.
He had designed the entire ballet around her, knowing within his heart that she was someone of great significance to him, but not holding the knowledge of their precious history as clearly as he did now. She danced like water, flowing and ebbing with all the grace of a gentle wave lapping at the shore. The memory before him now was of their first kiss. The night she had danced for him alone and admitted that she did it all for him. His heart pulsed as he remembered the sheer joy he had felt as she reached up to touch his cheek and he had found that his feelings were reciprocated.
He followed the vision of his lost love out to the steps in front of the grand building. He stood on the balcony looking down on her as she danced in the crisp winter snow. As much as he wished for it, she was unable to perceive him.
For she was just a ghost of the past.
A wisp of her former spirit.
Doves swept overhead and caught his attention, when his eyes once again returned to hers, she was cold and still, sprayed out upon the steps. This time illness had taken their happiness all too soon. He reached a hand down towards her as she faded away into a million snowflakes.
“Why?” He cried out, as the guests reappeared below him and many pairs of worried eyes settled on his. He walked away, reluctantly returning to the crowded ballroom. He barely acknowledged his mother as she excitedly appeared before him and took his hand.
“There’s someone you simply must meet!” She called out, leading him across the room. He nodded weakly. There was no one he wanted to meet.
No one but her.
His mother halted in front of a young woman. He kept his eyes cast down and watched the gentle edges of her white satin gown where it skimmed her calves.
His mother introduced them, but he didn’t hear a word. His heart ached and beat so loudly it blocked his hearing.
His mother sighed and lifted his hand to grasp the girls.
As their fingers joined, it was as if the world stood still. He looked up into her familiar eyes and watched in awe as she transformed before him. First into his woodland princess, then his frosted angel.
She was here.
She was here once more.
At last.
He crushed her hand within his.
“What was your name again?” He asked desperately, pulling her closer towards him. His mother blinked rapidly in surprise.
“Rey,” she whispered, looking up at him with curiosity shining in her eyes. “Have we...have we met?”
He smiled but didn’t answer her question. She would remember. He was confident she would remember...in time. He tugged her towards the dance floor and she followed willingly. As they danced, he saw glimpses of their past appear around them, the great oaks of their forest and the soft painted blooms from the ballet stage, he took it as a sign.
A sign that this time it would be right.
That this time they wouldn’t be parted.
That this was their time to finally grow old together.
As he held her in his arms, he grew more and more convinced that this was always the end they were heading towards.
Their love had passed through Winter and Autumn and they were finally able to feel the warmth of the sun on their skin and on their hearts.
She smiled up at him as they moved in perfect unison and his love drunk heart mused that a new season had now begun, a season of unbridled content, a season of endless joy and happiness.
A season of the heart.
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