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ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Anniversary
By Aurora
Shalimar played with a thread of red hair between her fingers, gently coiling the long strands into curls. She was sat with her back to a tree by the cliffs, legs spread so that Emma could sit close and lean against her. They hadn't spoken a word to one another for hours and still they sat, watching the sun set over the ocean and basking in the evening glow.
It had been a single year. Shalimar wondered how the time had passed her by so quickly; it seemed only yesterday that she had first taken Emma's trembling hand within her own and guided it to her face, drawing her close for their first kiss. In that short time, they had loved one another more than most others do in a lifetime. It had been a powerful journey.
"Do you think…?" Shalimar asked, her voice trailing off into a small whisper and the question dying in her throat. It wasn't really worth asking what Emma thought; they invariably thought different things about the same subject; they were as different as night and day. If Shalimar wanted answers, she had to find them in herself. But still, Emma looked up at her with a broad smile, placing a gentle finger under Shalimar's chin to guide their gazes together.
"Maybe." Emma allowed, alluding to Shalimar's unspoken question of 'could it be forever'. Shalimar smiled back, placing a soft kiss on Emma's nose.
But in reality, Shalimar would never know if their relationship could have been anything beyond the year they had shared, even in the year since. Because Emma was dead, and Shalimar sat with her back to this tree, imagining that familiar weight against her but not actually feeling it.
Even in a year there were some things she couldn't let go.
She rose from her position on the ground, clutching two roses in her shaking hand and approached the cliffs with a weary gait, nearly staggering as the wind from the ocean pushed her backwards. It was with a heavy heart that she looked out over the vastness of the Atlantic, kissed and threw the roses to the surf.
"Happy Anniversary, baby…"
The End