Aselia expectantly waited with her eyes shimmering with tears, trying to find the traces of the man who loved her so wholeheartedly, who would never deny her a kiss.

In that instant, every moment they shared flashed in her brain and she held onto the hope of a miraculous occurrence, allowing her to retain a single recollection from these, in hopes that one day she will find her way back to him, again.

"Right, now you don’t even deem me worthy of a farewell kiss. While I acknowledge that my past actions have caused you immense pain and suffering, and you suffered so many losses because of me. Please remember my love for you has always been genuine and pure. The inexplicable connection that exists between us is one that I cannot fathom, and I fear that I may never be able to love someone else, as deeply as I have loved you."

Her deeply wounded words made his face twitch and the emotions he was trying to hide could no longer be hidden. The more she spoke the more his resolve dwindled, as time elapsed his hands had begun to shake and he needed to do it before the heart he had turned cold became warm again. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Can you at least hug me with your wings one last time? Please!" her emotional words had an involuntary reaction and his wings emerged on their own without him having to think and wrapped themselves around her, protectively.

"At least, they still love me," Aselia whispered, kissing them back as they brushed her lips. They yanked her closer to Xiran, his heat seeped into her and she sighed in relief his closeness brought her.

"I still love you too, Leia. That’s why I am doing this, forgive me but it’s time now," he clasped her face in his hands and pressed his palms along her temples. She had seen him take Irlana’s memories and it never crossed her mind that one day he will end up taking hers as well.

"I thought no man could break me but you did it today, Xiran...today I am broken..."

With these words, her turquoise globes took in his handsome face one last time, in an attempt to store it away in some crevice of her brain where he won’t savagely reach and rip it out.

Aselia then hiccuped and closed her eyes, forgetting to breathe as her memories began to leave her and that love she held in her eyes for him began to dim. For he was fast turning into a stranger as all those intimate moments began to disappear from her mind. Her flow of tears stopped and her expression went blank from a pained one.

Memory after memory of them together was yanked out of her and replaced by a void. A void that will never fill, leaving blanks in her mind. Her eyes closed and her body went limp in his arms. He had taken too many memories and the sensational overload of her brain made her unconscious.

All those emotions Xiran had been hiding, flew out of him like a caged bird at the loss he had just experienced. Gruelling physical pain rippled through his sturdy frame and he let out a gut-wrenching growl, the growl of his loss, for he lost his love today, forever.

Rony stopped barking at him and whimpered back into his basket, looking scared. Xiran pulled her as close as he could get her and untied her arms, he pressed her face to where his heart was and cried brazenly.

"Nooooo, my Leia!!! How will I live without you? I will be lost for you have been my light. Oh! My sweet innocent Leia."

His tears fell on her sleeping face, he wanted to prolong keeping her in his arms. For once he would let her go, he wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to hold her again. Every part of him ached, every bone in his body seemed to be breaking, every muscle seemed to be straining and every nerve fibre seemed to have been torched and all his mouth wanted to do was scream her name.

He finally took her face in his hands and kissed her long and deep. Her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks, her lips, he kissed every part of her face. Long deep kisses he gave her, and licked away the drying tears on her face. She was so innocent, so very calm and yet so lost laying there in his arms.

Placing his nose on her forehead he inhaled deeply to store away her scent and then his hands moved to her neck.

With shaking hands he reached for the pendant he had given her and unclasped it. The pendant fell, and the emerald that was held by two wings sparkled for a tiny fraction of a second before turning dark. Xiran picked it up and pocketed it.

He then gently laid her on her bed and brushed her dishevelled hair aside from her beautiful face. With tear-filled eyes, he stared at her for a long long time and taking her hand in his he whispered:

"Forgive me for breaking you apart, forgive me for shattering your heart, forgive me for hurting you but there was no other way. I hope one day when my father is gone, you will be able to fall in love with me once again until then stay safe," he kissed her one last time as she peacefully slept, and he covered her with a blanket.

Xiran then went on to grab Rony’s basket, who slightly growled at him for making her cry.

"I am sorry little guy but we had to keep her safe," Xiran whispered to him but Rony kept baring his tiny teeth at him.

Xiran then picked up Aselia’s phone from her bedside table and pocketed it too and with one last lingering glance at his Leia, and a screaming heart, he staggered towards her door, his legs had lost all strength and the walk to the door was one of the hardest tasks he had to do. He wavered near the door and with a final glance back, opened it and stepped outside with all the willpower he possessed.

(Picture of Aselia’s pendant is in the comments section. I created that myself.)