My mind reeled. Dimly I registered Lola's bones spilling from my arms, the roses swaying perilously on their ribbons in my weakening grip. I shook my head to try and clear it, but could not stop myself from letting out a great sob that wracked my frame. I was such a pompous fool!

I felt delicate hands on my shoulders, satiny hair against my cheek that kissed me with the fragrance of night-blooming jasmine. "Andy? Andy?!? What happened?"

I blinked heavily, then was able to summon the wherewithal to set the roses carefully on the coffee table. I took her dainty hands in mine and brought her fingers to my lips, at a loss for words. I held her fine palms against my cheeks as my sluggish thoughts struggled for a way to convey them. She knelt before me, "Are you alright?"

I moved to holding her hands in mine as I ran my thumbs over her knuckles before at last gaining the courage to look her in the eye. Her eyes, a warm, liquid mahogany, radiated alarm.

That I had not realized before, what was so plain to me now, seemed an impossibility. Surely, my arrogance was to blame. Wasn't it always?

I took a deep breath and made myself hold her gentle gaze, "On my knees, I implore you, hear out what I have to say?" She nodded for me to go on; I could sense her concern for my wellbeing. How undeserving I was of such tenderness!

I took another, shuddering breath, unable to stop my hands from trembling. "I should have known that only one woman could ever make my selfish heart aspire to belong to a better man. I should have known you the moment I saw you, but I was blinded by what I thought I knew to be infallible truths."

I started to cry as I spoke, "I do not care by what name you are called. I love who you are with everything I am. Having known you, existence apart from you is meaningless to me, I am reduced to an aimless automaton in a joyless void."

No words could possibly suffice, but I swallowed dryly before forcing myself to go on, "Lelahel, Lola, (Y/N)... I am responsible for maliciously enticing you to defy your master; I singlehandedly caused your banishment from the Heavens and the loss of your hard-earned station. I was a conceited fool; I could not see the value of love before it was too late, sabotaged by my pride. I stole away all chance you had of finding love again in your exile, and I glutted myself on your pain.

"Surely it is only your valiant heart and righteous soul which merited that I be given a second chance. But even then, I foolishly failed to see the gift I was given, that you were before me once again. For each of these grievous wrongs and countless others, I beg forgiveness."

I sniveled, tears spilling so freely from my eyes that they stung. My voice cracked as I spoke, "Please, please, my beloved nightingale, can you pardon me for all I have done?"

For a moment, her expression was one of confusion. But then her face flickered, birthmarks and miniscule wrinkles there one moment, then gone the next. But her smile was the most sublime I had ever seen, and her voice was steady, "Of course-"

All sound ceased as I was knocked powerfully backwards, slammed against the wall and the air crushed from my lungs. I slumped to the floor. All I could see was a glare so brilliant, it surpassed mere light.

Though I could not hear or see anything, I felt wretched lamentations leave my throat. Surely my grandfather was taking Lelahel home, to her crystal library in his domain. My heart ached, breaking in my chest, but I would have had it no other way. Even more than I wanted to spend the rest of time with my eternal inamorata, I wanted her to be happy.

I scuttled sightlessly away from the wall until I found Lola's fallen bones with my hands, then held them tightly to my chest as I curled into myself on the floor. Life had become devoid of meaning. I clutched desperately to the thought of Lola's joy upon her return to her homeland as I closed my swollen, blinded eyes and waited for despair and hopelessness to claim me.

NOTE:

Please check out the awards competition I am running for Real Person Fiction! Entries open from 6/25/17-9/30/17. Currently recruiting judges.

Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/109250548-the-2017-real-person-fiction-awards