Forbidden

The wind rages through the trees like a ghostly gale of savages, ripping and scratching and tearing at everything in its path. The blackness of the forest seems constant and consuming until a white flash engulfs it and reveals a force stronger than the raging winds. Her emerald dress floats out behind her giving the impression she is barely moving but her graceful dress is distorting the truth of her swift movements. She sprints through the forest, her bare feet hardly touching the Autumn leaved ground. With every flash the green of the dress, the paleness of her skin and the blond of her hair give reality to the emptiness of her surroundings.

A bright white burst and she is engulfed once more. Another flash but this time followed by a scream that pierces the howls of the wind. Another flash follows instantly behind but, she stops. In a confusing manner she looks around her, debating whether to stay or keep going but decidedly she turns to face the direction of which she just came. The bright flashes stop and all that now brings her light is the dull glow of the moon. The wind continues to rage causing the emerald dress and her blond hair to wildly fly around her statue like form. Breathing steadily she glares in to the emptiness. As suddenly as she became still, the winds begins to die and the howling sounds fade in to whispers and surround her like an audience awaiting the curtain call. With one hand she sweeps her hair around to her shoulder and with the other sharply flicks out the gathered material of her dress to a more appropriate location.

Then she hears it. The rhythmic crunch of the leaves. She brakes her statuesque form again by holding her stomach nervously, her hand shaking as she does so. Gazing in to the surrounding trees she searches for him and suddenly, as if knowing exactly where to look, he appears. A tall silhouette of a man comes gracefully through an opening in the trees and a small sound escapes her. She closes her eyes to shield herself from his stare, listening as the crunching gets closer and closer, until it stops.

"What are you doing?" a deep and steady voice whispers to her, as deep as an ocean.

She can feel his breath in her hair and knows he's standing close, only a small distance between them but might as well be a cosmos. "You know I had to, you... you know I have to" she replies to him, her eyes remaining closed.

He clenches his fist behind his back then slowly raises it to his face, to his mouth. His eyes are as black as the forest and they are unmoving from her face. "Open your eyes" He quietly demands. When she opens them, she carefully looks at the ground. "Look at me" he tells her softly. Defiantly her eyes remain on the ground but it's purely her reluctance to show him her tears.

"Why won't you just let me go?" she asks him gently

"I've never been very good at doing what I was told" he replies, a small smile escaping him but he quickly removes it. "You chose to leave then? That was your choice?"

"My choice?" she spits, turning her face but not enough for him to see it. "My choice was made by the others. Go or die, what would you have me do? I tried to make this right and look what's happening". Just as her last words fall to the ground another flash appears in the sky. "I must go" she says turning from him.

He steps towards her as she turns, raising his hand. She stops walking and looks to his raised hand where a warm glow radiates from his palm like a lamp filled with a hundred fireflies. "I can protect you. Why won't you let me protect you? I'm not powerless" he says, his words stumbling from his mouth. She sighs and turns to him. Slowly she lifts her face to meet his and their eyes connect. "You're crying" he states and with a gentle sweep of his other hand her tears are gone. "I feel like I'm always vanquishing your tears".

"Tears that are not of your making" she says with a gentle smile.

Another flash appears but this time brighter. They both look to the sky and more bursts of light seem to be radiating around them. "They're closing in. I took one of them as they chased you. The others are not far behind." he tells her. She simply nods in reply but continues to look to the sky and the lights which are getting too close. He watches the light reflect in her eyes and follows the curve of her cheek to her soft lips and down her slender neck. "Is that why you stopped, you knew I was there?"

"Yes" she replies.

"Where will you go?" he asks in a broken voice.

She looks to him and pauses for a moment "I....I don't think I should tell you" and as he opens his mouth to protest she cuts in "It's for you. It's all for you. If I stay they will kill me and then they'll kill you. So, I'm going and I'm not coming back."

He shakes his head. "You're wrong. Can't we both go and be together? Don't you want that?"

She visibly shakes as tears fill her eyes, quickly spilling down her cheeks. He raises his hand to her face but she stops him. "No, look at these tears. Don't magic them away, take a good look. These tears are what you'll see when they find us. When they kill me or kill you." She touches his face and he momentarily closes his eyes. "They will find us" she finishes in a whisper.

As another burst of light appears the wind begins to howl once more and he takes his chance. Looking directly at her "But....I love you."

She remains silent but continues to look at him. That's all he needs. He grabs her by the waist and pulls her in, holding her tight to his large frame. She raises her head and feeling his heart thundering in his chest and against hers he kisses her so passionately that the blasts and rushing anger of the storm surrounding them is invisible. She melts in to him and he in to her.

He kisses her for every second he has loved her and she kisses him for ever second that she will continue to love him.

Suddenly they are dripped from their need of each other and thrown in to unwelcome reality. The wind has reached its full fury and the lights explode almost directly above them. "They're here!" she shouts through the roar of the war. Her dress and hair fly wildly around her once more and she looks to the leaves beneath her bare feet.

"What shall we do? What do we do?" he asks aloud, shaking his head.

"What we must" she answers with a smile.

He returns her loving smile then turns to face the tree line, awaiting the enemy made of their own people. Two worlds who cannot accept an alliance. Through the wind he hears the rustling of the leaves, the crunching of feet on Autumn. "Can you hear it? They are here!" he shouts and turns back in her direction but there is no loving smile for him. There is nothing. She's gone.

He spins around as if he might have glanced over her, mistakenly looked in the wrong direction . With no time to process his sudden and intense pain, silhouettes begin to appear from the trees. More and more emerge until there is a group of 15 strong. They all stand toward him, their faces glowing from the lights radiating from their hands. The same firefly glow he has radiating from his.

"Did you find her?" a man with greying hair and empty eyes demands of him. There is no reply and so the man asks a second time "Did you find her?"

Clenching one hand behind his back, he raises it to his face, to his mouth and closing his eyes he simply answers "No."

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