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“You have to go,” There was a strain among his words, an unmoving expression but Alina could sense the sorrow tracing itself across his features. The ache in her chest worsened with each passing moment, an unwavering amount of grief filling the empty places between her ribs and grasping a hold of her heart.
It seemed that their departure was nothing but inevitable --- How long had it been since she arrived? Months? Maybe years? Mal crosses her mind briefly, had it been so long for him? It might have been wrong, but it did not feel so. She was a woman out of her time but Alina had never felt more like she had belonged, here with Aleskander.
One moment the woman was wandering through beautiful grasslands, admiring the old artifacts dug into the ground: large stones brightened with green moss with old runic carvings dug deep into the rock. Gentle hands had run over the surface, leaning closer with a childlike curiosity brushing moss and dirt from the surface of the rock but Alina never had a moment to scan the inscriptions before a loud buzzing filled her senses and she was gone. Mal was left standing amongst the stones, alone --- shouting out for her in a panic but she was not there to answer.
It feels like centuries ago now, her body slamming into the hard earth beneath them --- knocking the air from her lungs. Fisting the dirt underneath her, Alina had sucked in air like she was drowning golden hues scanning the unfamiliar environment for a sense of familiarity, and eventually she found it in him amidst the chaos. A handsome war general often scraped and bruised and rarely removing the dark leather gloves from his hands. He did not speak often, when he did it was calculated or hushed --- like his words were secretive, to be kept between the two of them only. But Alina had grown fond of the man of many titles, basked in his company and it felt oddly perfect. The pair fit together like he had been the lost piece of a puzzle that she’d been searching for --- the one that had slipped from her mind until it came back into view.
To the rest of his world, General Kirigan was a man of intimidation and power but not to Alina. He was simply Aleksander.
At this moment, that was all he was --- Aleksander, her everything as she was his. If this may be the last time they ever are able to lay eyes upon one another, it would not change. There would not be a day, even when she is old and graying carrying someone else’s last name her heart would never belong to anyone but him. His rough hands envelop her much smaller ones in his grasp, holding on tightly as if the moment he was to release his grip --- she would cease to exist in his world.
“I’m not ready,” Alina whispers, golden hues set upon him through wet lashes. There had to be some other way, but there was not. She needed to go home, his time was not safe for her --- they both knew this was not her home, but rather unspoken he had become her home instead.
His hands gradually release hers but only move up in a swift movement to cup her jaw, his calloused hands rough with years of war somehow comforting against her skin. Alina lets out a shaky uncertain breath when he pulls her closer, the gap between them becoming lesser with every ticking moment. “I wish you could stay forever,” He utters back, sorrow dripping from his words but he does not falter --- not for a single moment and it kills her. She wanted him to ask her to stay, beg her, assure her that she could not even think about going back to the home that felt strange returning too but Aleksander was not going to budge.
And I could, if you agreed. Alina thinks to herself blinking away the tears that wet her lashes and the hiccups that begin to build within her chest, rattling her ribs with each hitch of her breath.
“You could come with me, we could both go back.” Bargaining would not give her any solace, they both knew that he would be incapable of doing so. He never belonged in her time, his world was war-torn and maybe it was better that way --- it was where he belonged, he only wished that it was where she had as well.
She watches intently while his jaw clenches and releases, thoughts flooding through his mind --- ones she longed to read. His eyes close for a moment and he gives a small shake of his head, unable to look at her while denying her the very thing both of them had wanted so desperately.
“You know I cannot, and even if I could… Alina. We both know I belong here,”
His words are truthful but each one causes her chest to ache a little more, her heart to know that it would be left here --- with him. She would not be loveless, live her life in misery. She had friends back home, she had Mal and he had loved her but it was not the same. Alina would spend forever waiting for him to return to her, or the day where she’d be able to do the same. They were not supposed to love one another but it had been far too late to go back, sometimes she thinks it would have been unavoidable from the moment they locked eyes. A glimpse of sunlight in a darkness he felt was eternal.
“I love you,” Alina shudders, the sound of her voice almost unrecognizable. She was already mourning him, mourning them when he was still flesh and blood in front of her, his heart still beat. But when she touched the stones again, he would cease to be in her time --- simply a name she could find someone in history books and remember fondly.
His thumb pads across her cheek, wiping away stray tears and he visibly gulps dark hues set upon her with intent. “And I, you.” The Darkling pulls her towards him, kissing her deeply --- harder than he ever had before but she didn’t want him to be gentle. He lets the kiss last longer than it should, but he cannot bring himself to let her go yet. This was their swan song.
Aleksander pulls back, still cradling her face in his hands, and leans his forehead against hers letting out a breathless laugh. “I will find you, even if it takes me centuries. I will find you, Alina. Now go,”
With that, the woman turns to the moss-covered stone once again. Still grasping one of his hands, she swallows the pain and gives him one last teary glance. This isn’t goodbye, he whispers and gives her hand one last squeeze as she places a hand upon the stone.
She is gone.