Work Text:
My palms are sweating. My head is screaming at me—screaming at me to turn around, to be sure Eurydice is actually following me. I scream back, scream back that it would do no good. I manage to ignore the twisting in my gut every time I call out her name, every time I’m met with no response.
My eyes catch a glimpse of light. It’s right in front of me, only a few feet away. The sight makes me tear up—partly because of my weariness, partly because of the ray of sunlight that directly hits my pupils.
My foot lands on the soft grass, and I take in the feeling of warmth. It’s beautiful, but my mind quickly snaps back to something—someone—way more important quickly. My lips part slowly.
“Eurydice?” I call out, not daring to look behind me yet. She might not be here yet. If I ruin this—if I turn around too soon…
I slap myself—hard—to get myself back together. I need to keep my gaze on the mountains in front of me. These mountains will be ones to prevent tragedy.
“Orpheus?” I hear in reply. The rustling around me stops in an instant as I can only listen to her footsteps as she slowly approaches me. I hesitate before turning around. I slowly do, though I keep my eyes—still filled with tears—shut for way too long until I open them with the utmost care I can get out of my body. She’s there, though. And she’s not being taken away from me.
“You finally heard,” she breathes. Then, she’s running at me. I spread my arms out, almost as if I am a bird, and she collapses into them the moment she reaches me.
I hold her tightly as I stumble backwards into the grass. I manage to—luckily—not hit my head while she both laughs and sobs. I stroke her hair gently. She nuzzles closer to me.
“I did,” I whisper. She looks up at me, her glossy amber eyes more beautiful than I’ve ever seen them.
I open my mouth, wanting to tell her how much I love her, how much I missed her and how I’ll never let go of her again, but my words fail. Instead, they turn into whimpers, into sobs.
Much alike to me, tears stream down her cheek as her arms wrap around me even closer. Normally, I’d feel like I could barely breathe, but all this is doing, is making me feel more alive than I’ve ever felt.
I’m holding the world in my arms.