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Love
Simply defined it is an intense, deep affection for someone or something. But realistically? It is far more complex and difficult to explain, let alone truly understand. Science itself cannot come close to properly explaining the feeling, rather it is through words and actions that someone may be able to define their own understanding of love.
Don Quixote was familiar with love. He loved his family deeply, as any loving father would. But other forms of love were foreign to him. Perhaps it resulted from the various decades of loneliness he had endured before his beloved family entered his life. With the world around him deeming him an outcast, there was no one to provide such affection towards him. There were times where he pondered on the thought of companionship, but to him, those were mere dreams.
But he was awakened from this dream by the knight of the white moon.
The flame within his heart, one that had long been extinguished by the cruelty of life, had been rekindled. The coldness melted away, bringing forth a warmth, one full of yearning and passion. Her hand offered a sense of comfort, compassion, and guidance. Something he had wished for once upon a time, but was hidden away by fear. But if there was something stronger than fear, it was curiosity. And his heart was open to it.
He offered his hand in return. For the first time in eons he was vulnerable, scared yet intrigued for what the human would bring him.
But Bari was not just a human he duel for fun. Far beyond that label. Bari was his equal. His inspiration. His rock. His partner. His heart. His soul. His dream. His moon. His tomorrow. His future.
His princess.
He loves Bari. And she loves him in return. He is certain of that. His heart only beats for her. His mind only thinks of her. Every drop of blood in his body yearned her, wishing for her embrace once more so he may tell her...
"I love you."
Love.
Within fairytales, love is always a guarantee. It is merely an empty exaggeration of character progression to end a story with a "happily ever after" But within this hellish world, there are no such things as happy endings. Those who try for one experience nothing but pain and sorrow.
Or at least, Bari had believed such a narrative.
It was difficult to distance herself from such a mindset. Under her confidence laid a delicate, tender side. One that had been scarred by the events of her tale, hidden away so that it may never be harmed again. But with Quixote in her life, she found herself understanding the bloodfiend on a level she had not expected. Two sides of the same coin Lost souls yearning for something. Eachother.
Her Quixote. Her Don Quixote. The sun to her moon.
She made her move, fear a thing in the past. Progressing the story along. No, writing a new chapter herself. Revealing herself to the one she deemed deserving of such a privilege. To embrace him and whisper words she had hidden away for a long time…
“I love you.”
May they get their happy ending together.