Forget Me Not (Open)

[Julian Faust]

Julian made a promise, a promise to himself and a promise to the woman he loved. He would never love again. He would hold her memory to him like a shield against any invasions to his heart. He loved her, and he couldn't let her go.

As he stood in front of her grave he asked a million questions of himself. He came here at least once a week, many times to talk. Deceased, and yet she still knew him better than anyone else did. He hadn't come the past few weeks, and while he blamed that on the attack, and on this or that, the truth was it had a lot more to do with Lyra...she was...Merlin he didn't know, but it scared him.

"Even if I were to...I couldn't be the kind of man she deserves..." he said to the ground as if someone were listening.

"It's best that I let her go now...she'd only end up getting even more hurt." Merlin, and he understood pain, he was full of it. Deep aching longing driven deep inside of him, but he was used to that...it was only now that he had let someone get marginally closer to him, that he felt confused...he felt afraid.

[Kaden Michaels]

It was the anniversary of his parents' death and as he did every year, he had brought their graves flowers and delivered them news of how their children were getting on without them. Most years Kaden was able to pull his brother and sister along with him but this year the date fell on a day that they both had tests. It wasn't responsible to take them out of school. He'd go with them this weekend and visit his parents again.

So Kaden walked alone in the cemetery, two small bouquets of roses in his hands. The white roses were for his father, plain and simple just like Dad had been. The others were blue, his mother's favorite color and the color of her eyes. He missed them terribly but as the years had gone by he found that he cried less and less as he walked the familiar path to their graves, so much so that there were no tears in his eyes now. It wasn't even a horribly sad moment for him, this visit. He rather enjoyed the time he got to talk with them, even if they couldn't talk back.

Kaden was not alone in the cemetery today. He was only about 15 yards from another man who was paying his respects. Kaden gave the man his privacy, as he looked like his conversation with the dead was rather upsetting.