Page 114 of A Kingdom's Heart
She shook her head, her lip trembling. “But that’s not enough.”
Her words sank deep, heavier than anything she’d ever said. I knew she was right. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
My heart sank, but I tightened my hold around her anyway, as if
that could make it true.
I brushed my thumb across her cheek, wiping away another tear. “Then I’ll find another way,” I said quietly. “Whatever it takes. I’ll find a way to see you again.”
Her eyes softened, her breath catching as she looked at me.
“I promise, Iris,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “This isn’t the end.”
She closed her eyes and pressed herself against my chest, her fingers curling tightly around my arms as if afraid I might vanish. I held her there, feeling the steady beat of her heart against mine, each thud echoing through me. For a moment, there was nothing else. Just us, breathing the same air, holding on like the world could not touch us.
Then she lifted her head again. Her eyes met mine, wide and searching. “If there was a way for us to be together,” she said softly, her voice barely more than a whisper, “if a new law suddenly came that I could marry whoever I wanted, would you wait for me? Even if it took ten years?”
Her words lingered in the air. She swallowed, her gaze flickering down for a second before meeting mine again. “Or would you already have found someone else?”
I stared at her, struck silent. The thought of waiting for her, even a lifetime, did not frighten me. What frightened me was how easily I knew the answer. Her face was so close now, her breathwarm against my skin, and I could see the fear behind the question. The fear of being forgotten, of losing this.
I let out a quiet breath, my hand moving up to the side of her face, fingers tracing her jaw. “Iris,” I said, “I could wait ten years. I could wait longer. There isn’t anyone else for me.”
Her eyes shimmered, her lips parting as if to speak, but no words came. So I pulled her closer again, holding her as the waves
whispered against the shore.
“If the world ever gives us a chance,” I murmured, “I’ll be there. I’ll always be there.”
She looked up at me, her voice barely a breath. “You promise?”
I nodded, my hand still on her cheek. “I promise,” I answered. “I’ll never leave you.”
Her eyes glistened in the faint light, and for a moment, everything around us disappeared. I could see nothing but her, hear nothing but her breath.
“Even in death, I’ll be with you,” I whispered. “You’re my first love and my last. My only love. So I’ll wait an eternity if I must, because a life without you is no life at all.”
Her lips trembled, and tears filled her eyes again, but this time they weren’t from sorrow. She leaned forward until her forehead rested against mine, her breath mingling with mine.
“William,” she whispered, her voice breaking.
I closed my eyes, my hands gently tightening around her waist.
“I mean it,” I said. “Even if the world changes, even if everything else fades, you’ll still be the one I love.”
She let out a soft sob and buried her face in my neck. I held her close, feeling the warmth of her tears against my skin. The night around us was still and endless, but it didn’t matter. For that moment, time had stopped.
And in that silence, I knew nothing could ever make me let her
go.
When she finally spoke again, her voice trembled. “So we’re just like Elara and Mike,” she said. “Two who love, but can never have each other.”
Her words hit something deep inside me. The story we loved, the one that ended in a heartbreak. Two souls meant for each other, torn apart by the world that refused to let them be.
I pulled back just enough to see her face. “No,” I said, shaking my head slowly. “Not like them.”
She looked up at me, confusion glimmering in her eyes.
