For the Love of God

◖| bonus: tyhi's letter

Dear Celena Mae,

I write this letter to convey my feelings in ink, to capture the essence of you, us, but I am afraid this fragile parchment wouldn't bear the weight of it all. Nevertheless, I try.

Divided by worlds is a concept very rare to an immortal like me. Gods do have affairs with people of the Earth but they have the power to travel worlds - a bridge, perhaps. But all we, the ill-fated lovers, have is the past. We live in our minds. Memories to hold on to, voices that lull us to sleep, smiles that brighten our day and flutter of touches that makes us crave for each other. But that's the thing about the past and its memories. They fade.

So, I don't let it.

Under the moon, on the sands that we walked along together and by the crashing waves of the sea, I sit here and think of you.

I think of the time you would whisper my name in the backyard to get my attention and the time you would hold the edge of my tunic when we moved in a crowd. I think of the first time I held your soft hands and thought to myself how perfectly they fit in mine. And I think about your smile. I've shared a million things in my life but my favourite will always be the secrets I shared with you. Your voice, your name, my healing gift, the story of Lady Aphrodite and my mother, our rendezvous in the stable and most importantly, the shape of our love.

There's so much I need to tell you. I need to tell you how Lady Aphrodite frequents my Aunt's house to visit Eros and how Lord Ares had been a no-show. I need to tell you how belonged I feel under Lady Aegle's mentorship in healing and that I draw happiness from doing what I love. Viquen has moved into Lady Demeter's school after a crying fest. Blissia took your place as Lady Aphrodite's neanis and continues to weave clothes for her until she is of age to go to Lady Hecate's school. I haven't seen Hyacinth ever since I moved out but I hear the people who replaced us are warm-hearted.

Somedays, as I heal people, I lose them to the hands of death. It is natural for a healer to experience loss every day, even when it's not personal, but it hurts, Mae. Those days, I come to the sea at night and think about what you'd say. Your soft gaze, your comforting palm on my arm, your nod of understanding and how you'd trace the skin beneath my eyes - I crave it all.

But I try to be happy. Because that's the only thing you've asked of me. I write this letter to tell you that despite the ache in my heart when I think about you, I am happy more than I imagined myself capable of. I am happy to know from Lady Aphrodite that you are happy too, even though you think of me from time to time.

I wish we had our bridge. I wish you'd never have to leave. I wish I'd come home to you every day and feel your lips on mine before I sleep. I wish we'd had a daughter to love and perhaps a baby on the way. I wish I could brush my finger against yours to heal the paper cut you get from reading books. I wish I could hold you in my arms, under the moon. Again and again. Forever.

I wish a lot of things, Mae. But here's what I wish the most: that you know I love you and my feelings for you are eternal, like the sea.

And that I know you love me too.

Yours eternally,
Tyhi

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A/N:

this was in my drafts for quite some time and i am glad i got the time to finish it. this is the final goodbye to tyhi and mae. thank you so much for reading and for all the love. watching this story being added to tons of reading lists and feature lists is so encouraging. if you want to lend support, do vote for all the chapters if you enjoyed the story. it would mean a lot. thank you once again.

xx caramelstreet