Ruthless Winds and Raging Seas

Chapter 45

Gajeel felt a little suffocated by the events taking place at the doctor's place, so he decided to clear his head by going out to the beach at dusk. He stood by the shores to watch the sun set over the horizon and the waves become much more calm. After hearing nothing but the sound of the wind blowing for quite some time he pulled out his flute and began to play it. He always did this whenever he wanted to ease his stress and go into thought.

At first the only ones who heard his music were the sea gulls that passed by but eventually someone making their way through the town by the shore, heard the melody and recognized it. It had been so long since this person had heard that exact music but she would know it even if she had not heard it for a thousand years. She dared to hope and went to the shores where she saw him.

"So many years since I've heard that melody." She said in a voice that was both calm and emotional. "And yet I have not forgotten it for it will always haunt my heart."

Gajeel knew who owned the voice and the very moment she spoke he stopped playing and contemplated what to do. He felt two urges, one was the urge to run without looking back so that he wouldn't be tempted to stay. The other urge was to look upon her face for despite no longer having the heart to do so, he still longed to see her again even after all this time. The latter one.

He looked behind himself and saw her standing there. The loveliest creature that he had ever laid eyes on. The only woman he had ever given his love to. The only pair of eyes he would allow to see him in a weak and vulnerable state. The one who held the key to his heart. His beloved Levy.

"So many years indeed." He said.

They both looked at each other, the two of them appearing completely calm and composed on the outside but on the inside they were completely broken and desperately longing to hold each other just as they had once did so long ago.

"How funny it is." She said.

"What is?" He asked.

"You always complained how unfair it was that you would eventually become old and hideous with time but here you stand years later and you're still as young and handsome as I remember you being."

"You must have very poor eye sight because while I am young, I was never handsome."

"To others? Perhaps not. But to me, you always were the most handsome man that God had ever made."

He looked away from her.

"Why have you come?" He asked.

"I heard your music and I wanted to see you." She answered. "You broke my heart and you left me in tears but I never stopped thinking of you. I never stopped loving you even though I probably should have....I can still remember the final words you said to me that last time we were together. I never thought that you could be so cruel."

Gajeel felt unbearable guilt as he began to remember that day. That horrible day he rejected her and spat the most vile words imaginable at her. Referring to her as a creature that he could never give himself to even if she was the last female on God's earth. Truth be told, he couldn't really be that cruel. At least not without removing his heart. That's how he could say those things.

"However over time I began to realize that even though what you did appeared cruel, it was actually one of your most kind." She said.

He looked at her confusion.

"It was all lie wasn't it?" She asked. "You knew that if you had told me how you really felt, it would have changed nothing. And when you left me that time I would have followed you to the ends of the earth."

"I don't know what you mean." He lied. "I do not love you. I never did."

"Do not waste your breath. Your lies will not fool me like last time. You loved me then and I dare say you love me now but you thought that I could never be happy with you. You thought that what we had would damn me to an eternity of heartbreak. But you did exactly that when you said those words to me."

He tried to think of something, anything to say that would convince her that what she deduced was wrong but he could not. She had become far too wise and intelligent to fall for any lies said by him.

"It was for your own good." He finally said.

"My own good?" She said her calm demeanor dropping. "Who are you to decide what is for my own good? I am the only one who can make that decision."

"You never considered what kind of life we would have had if we had stayed together. What would you have done when decades would go by and I grew older while you would continue to stay young."

"It wouldn't have mattered to me. Old or young I still would have loved you and stayed by you."

"And what about when I would die? It's not like we'd meet again in the afterlife."

"I would have found a way to see you again. I'm sure of that."

"You're a nymph!" He argued. "You live as long as the sea does. You can't just give up your immortality."

"There are other ways to die besides from getting too old."

He looked at her in horror when he realized what she was implying.

"You wouldn't dare commit suicide!"

"I would if you had died and I had no other way to join you!"

"That's immediate damnation! If you were to do that because of me my soul would never know peace and I'd hate myself for all eternity!"

"Then I'd find a way to give up my immortality so I could have been able to age with you!"

"That's impossible!"

"If a mermaid can earn a soul than a nymph can surely give up her immortality."

"But why the hell would you give that up for me?!"

"What's the point of living forever if you are alone and all that you have ever loved is no longer in your life?"

Tears were in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks as she struggled to continue standing.

"You once promised me your heart. You said that it would be mine forever and always but you hid from me. And to make matters worse you didn't even have the decency to tell me the truth about why you did such a thing. It wasn't fair! You should have let me have a say in the matter! Let me make my own choices!"

He could hear the waves, the tides, and the wind start to become more aggressive as she spoke. She was a very rare nymph. She was one who came from both the sea and the shore. The ocean, the sand, the wind, and the storms were all at her disposal. She could have drowned or crushed hundreds of men if she was cruel enough to do so. In fact he was surprised that she had not done either one to him.

"But despite all that you did to hurt me, I still love you and I still long for a life with you."

"Why?" He asked. "Why do you...How can you still love me and want me even after what I did?"

"The sea is not the only thing in this world that is immortal." She replied. "Love is immortal. Always has been, always will be. At least mine is. You see Gajeel there's something you didn't consider when you left me. Creatures like me cannot move on from our feelings like you humans can. Once we love someone it is eternal. It does not fade or turn to hatred, it remains as strong as it was the first time we feel it. You may have stopped loving me but I cannot stop loving you even if I wanted to."

She dropped to her knees and began to sob into her hands. Gajeel watched her and he thought that he would feel nothing because his heart was no longer beating in his chest. But he was wrong. Heartless or not, he had never stopped loving the stunning woman and the fact that she remained true to him even though she could have easily found some younger, more handsome, and immortal male to take his place touched him and gave him a feeling that he was sure was long gone.

He too dropped to his knees and wept but at the same time he embraced the immortal being and whispered to her softly:

"My heart has and always will belong to you."