Eminence (Wattpad Edition)

Note 27 - Eminence

A familiar scene unfolded.

This was a dream Theo used to have almost every night. A much younger version of himself ran across a field toward the hill where a young Eminence waited. The sky glowed pink with the setting sun, and the breeze that played through her hair carried the sweet scent of her shampoo. This was the day Theo had confessed his love to her, his fondest memory. The way she gently smiled and reached for his hand... this was before the world pulled her away from everyone. Just the two of them on the hill, and the flower crown he'd made her after she accepted his feelings.

"You told me that would be my wedding crown, remember?" a voice called out from behind him. Small hands covered his eyes.

"Emi?" Theo asked, his voice cracking.

"Ding ding! Correct! But only my father and my lover can call me Emi, you know that, donchu' Theo?" she giggled, removing her hands.

She stepped in front of him, but not before Theo caught her hand.

"It's you," he said, tears gathering in his eyes.

"It's me," she said with a laugh, reaching up to wipe the tears that fell down his cheek. "Did you miss me that much?"

"Emi... Can I hold you?" he asked, his voice trembling.

She sighed and shrugged. "Of course," she said.

Theo pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. Her hair still smelled just like it had back then, sweet, and achingly nostalgic.

"Why did you leave?" Theo asked her.

"You know why I left," she said.

"Tell me again... I still can't understand it."

She hummed, rubbing slow circles into his back. "Even if I did, you wouldn't like my answers. I don't want to argue."

"So you'd rather give me the last of your memories from the two decades you disappeared, ask me to take your son, and then vanish?"

"You've always known me to be selfish," she said with a faint smile.

"It's the only part of you I hate. And yet... it's the part I miss the most."

"What can I say? I'm the kind of woman who asks for the moon."

"I've known you my whole life. I know what you're thinking the moment the light in your eyes shifts. I know what you're feeling the second you draw breath. But I still can't understand why."

"Because..." She paused, her voice growing quieter. "The part of me that not even you knew–If only being loved could be enough... it wasn't. Loving someone wasn't enough. Nothing changed– And now, someone else lives my life, right? She's still technically me."

"You are," he said, his voice low. "But it's not you. It's not the same."

"Isn't she happier though? Livelier? Would you really want her to trade places with me?"

" I loved you. As you were. As you are."

"And you can't love her, too?"

"I do. I just..."

"I can't come back, Theo. We can still meet here, in your dreams. Is that not enough?"

"Look, she wants to know more about you."

Eminence pulled back slightly. "She does?" she said, bringing a hand to her lips, thoughtful. "How did she find out?"

"...I may have ended up in a domestic dispute case with her. And... a human."