Morana knows she's different from other people in more ways than one. Firstly, she's sixty-seven years old but stopped ageing in her twenties. Weird things have also happened around her right after she's wished for it. But most importantly, no matte...
I really wasn't sure why Morana got upset, but it was enough that she had to make me have a plummeting feeling in my chest. It felt even worse because she decisively walked away from me. If only she would have been angry and screamed at me, that would have been so much better. But her walking away, clearly not wanting me around, made me feel so much worse.
After having watched her for a moment, I turned and headed for my motorcycle with at least half a decision on what to do having been made.
"So much for caring," I heard her colleague mutter behind me.
I rolled my eyes, but didn't dignify him with a response. It was so clear he wanted to be much, much more than just Morana's colleague. But truly, he wasn't even worth being considered a rival. He had to have known Morana for a long time, but not done anything about his feelings. That alone was enough to prove he wasn't anyone to worry about.
That didn't stop me from wanting to smash him though, but I had to get better at controlling it. The only reason for Morana to get upset I could think of was that me and the human had been hostile towards each other and it made sense for that to upset her. From what I had seen, he seemed to be the only friend she had, so naturally she would want us to get along.
"You're really just gonna let her walk off?" he called after me when I had reached my bike and taken up the helmet.
"No," I said and turned to look at him. His question irritated me. If he had such a problem with that, then why didn't he run after her? I knew the answer though. He wasn't sure he would be able to make her not upset again.
"Then what..." he started as I placed the helmet over my head.
"I just know where she's heading," I said, before closing the screen.
Effectively cut off from having to talk to the human anymore, I flung a leg over the bike, started it, and took off.
Of course, it was a lie that I knew where she was heading and I had felt a slight pleasure at seeing his annoyed look over my answer, but it wasn't like I could tell him the truth anyway.
I drove home and got the scrying stuff out straight away. I did as I had when trying to find where she lived. Between the first and second drop, she had moved closer to my apartment. For the third, she was even closer, but in a nearby park. When I let it drop for the fourth time, it still landed in the park.
Without any more consideration, I teleported myself there. I landed among trees, which I hoped shielded me enough from any nearby humans.
She sat on the grass, overlooked a small pond with a few ducks in it. She had her back to me so I couldn't see her expression, but something still made my heart break for her. She just emanated loneliness. Overwhelming loneliness.
I wanted to hug and kiss that loneliness away. Promise her I would be there with her for the rest of her life. That I would never let her be lonely again. That whatever she needed, I would be there.
For a moment I let myself be overtaken by those emotions, but then I railed them in. I would be there as much as I could for her, but no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't promise her always and forever.
I walked over and sat down next to her. She didn't react in any way as I sat. She kept her eyes on the pond, seemed to look at something in the far distance. I looked in the same direction, tried to see what she was looking at. But there was just the pond and trees.
"I'm sorry," I finally said. "I shouldn't have talked back to him. I'll make sure to be nicer to him next time."
She turned to look at me and her eyes looked mainly vacant, but there was also some slight confusion in them.
"What do you mean?" she asked and tilted her head. If it wasn't for the vacantness, she would have looked cute. Instead, looking at her made me feel sad.
"I understand it must be annoying if me and... Dereck is his name, right? Anyway, if we fight. I'll make sure to get along with him next time I see him, so you won't feel like you're in the middle between us."
As I talked, more and more of the vacancy was filled with confusion and, by the end of it, it was clear she wasn't upset over that we hadn't been getting along. But... What then?
She turned her head away from me before I could ask though, and I got the feeling she was trying to formulate something that was hard to say. So I stayed quiet and looked over the pond as well.
A duck dived under the water. A squirrel jumped in a tree. And children could be heard laughing.
"All my life, I've been alone. It's what I'm used to. I've had to take care of myself, protect myself, mend myself when something has broken me," she said while looking out over the water. Then she turned to face me and her face had a burning anger in them. "I don't need you, or Dereck, or anyone else protecting me. I'm fine on my own."
I was somewhat confused by what she said. Not sure what prompted her to say it and before I had time to remember what me and Dereck had said to one another, her anger ebbed away, to be replaced by what looked like exhaustion.
"But," she continued, "maybe it would be nice to not feel so lonely. To have someone who would always be there for me. That no matter how unreasonable or rude I acted in the moment, at the end of the day, would still be there, able to see past my behavior and to me. It would be nice to have someone to lean on, someone who would be willing to help me always and forever, no matter what."
I wanted nothing more than to answer her that I was that person. That I would always and forever be there, no matter what. That she could lean on me as much as she needed to and that I wouldn't care if she acted out because I knew she was kind.
But that was exactly what I couldn't tell her.
I also thought that, even though I couldn't be that person for her, it was a perfect opportunity to explain about mates to her. Let her know that somewhere there was just such a person who the Goddess herself had picked for her. A person who would love her unconditionally, no matter what, until death.
But I didn't want to tell her.
I knew I was unreasonably selfish, but there was no stopping it. I just couldn't bring myself to explain about mates to her. I didn't want her to know there was a perfect person for her out there. What if she left me to go and find her mate? And once she'd done that, what if she completely forgot about me? And even if she stayed, what if she would look at me differently after knowing and not be as open?
I was unreasonably selfish, but once again I argued with myself that I never was, so just this one time. Just with Morana. Just so I can get to keep her to myself for a bit longer.
"I can't promise always and forever," I told her, because that was the case and it was dumb to promise her something I knew I would break. "But I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. Whatever you need, I'll be there. You just need to ask. I'll even be there if you, moments before, yelled at me for something that wasn't my fault. So please don't think of yourself as alone anymore. You have me."
I placed a hand on her cheek and dried away a few tears which had spilled out of her eyes. I wanted to bend down and kiss her. A soft and affectionate kiss. The type of kiss which spoke of unconditional and everlasting tender and sweet love. To escape the desire, I pulled her in for a hug instead and hoped she could feel the truth of my words in my embrace.
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