Elijah walked through the candlelit halls of the castle with a fervor; he was a man with a mission. He wasn't in his regular form, yet he still towered over his tiny princess. He was in Anjou France in the early 1300s', and he could still feel the warmth of fire pits battling the cool spring night. Through a dim-lit stone archway, there was a large room, the contents were sealed away by red curtains.

     "Belle?" He asked with hope, and a rushing, almost painful excitement filling his chest that his love might be behind the curtains.

     Not even a moment passed when the curtains parted, to show bright blue eyes full of life and mischief. It was Emerald, or Belle in this century, her pale skin seemed ethereal in the candle-light, and her barely contained smile only seemed to fill Elijah with even more of a rush. 'For anyone to see her is a blessing.'

     Emerald's index finger went over her lips as she pulled him past the curtains. Elijah didn't mind having to avoid bumping into a small table, Emerald was worth the still careful backtracking of his steps. "You shouldn't be here." She told him just above a whisper. She was looking up at him, and despite her words, anyone would've been able to feel her glee for miles.

      "But I will always be here," Elijah told her, taking both her hands and pressing them to his lips. He could feel the warmth in her skin, and that put him at ease, or at least it would for a short amount of time. She was alive.

     "What if someone finds us?" She whispered, grinning from the rush of even a slight rebellion. A princess shouldn't rebel. Her hands left him, and she wrapped her arms around his waist, they were now safe in a corner, a bookshelf hiding them from sight to any passerby who might peek in.

     Elijah felt himself relax, he tried to contain his shaking hands as he wrapped his arms around her. He lowered his head so that his mouth would be close to her ear, "I'm a well-trained knight, Belle. Let them come." She was so small, so fragile, Elijah felt he might break her if he squeezed too tight, and yet he wanted to squeeze to confirm she was still there in his arms. He would contain himself though, Elijah didn't want her to suspect anything.

     "But Elijah, we're not even in my quarters. This is my study." She tried to argue, instead of fighting to win, as usual, she decided to fill the silence with lighthearted and careless banter.

     "I know. I just wanted a kiss goodnight." He said, pulling away reluctantly but still keeping his arms around her. Elijah looked over his soulmate's face, taking time to memorize her dimples, the structure of her face, even the way the light hit her skin; this was goodbye after all, even if the word wasn't to be said. She was beautiful in every body her spirit inhabited because her soul was still the same.

     Emerald gave him a big smile, lifting herself up to kiss his lips softly.

     Elijah felt his heart throb like someone was squeezing it inside his chest, trying to break him. But he would not show it, only hold Emerald in place and let the kiss linger. He wanted to memorize this too, he never wanted to forget the way sparks flew around them, the way she felt in his arms, or the way her fingers would play with his hair as their lips danced in harmony. It felt like hours and also half of a second when he pulled away and lowered her to the ground.

     "It's getting late, darling, I should probably get off to bed," Emerald whispered to him, resting her head on his chest as they stood there, holding each other.

     "Of course, Princess. I trust you'll sleep well." Elijah said, giving her a false smile that he trained himself to give her over all these centuries.

     The princess looked up at him, and Elijah felt her hand gently cup his cheek, "I will dream of you and me, and I will see you soon."

     For just a brief moment, Elijah reached to hold her hand in place, "And I you, my Belle." Soon, they parted from one another, walking out of the room side by side, but going separate ways down the corridor.

     Elijah looked back to see Emerald smile at him with her sparkling eyes, as her final goodnight, before she rushed to her chambers. He turned back, going down his path and closing his eyes for a brief moment as he walked, seeing her once more from the back of his eyelids, "You'll never know how much I miss you."

     Elijah's knees buckled beneath him, and the world around him changed to an empty field in the dead of night before he hit the ground. Now, it was another century, and that Emerald was somewhere else, someone else entirely, and over and over he would find her. She was assassinated later that night, played as a mere pawn in a feud between the royal families of Normandy and France. If he'd had just made her stay, held her tighter, maybe they would've had longer.

     He looked up to the star-lit sky, holding back a roar of pain and anger that filled his heart, "Why, Gaea? Why have you forsaken us? Why must I go through this torment?" She would always be taken from him in some way, and it hurt. Some moments, he felt maybe he should give up and stay away to keep her safe and alive, but Lucifer would always bring them together, and neither of their souls would last that without the other.

     He smashed his fist into the Earth he kneeled on, his power to remember the centuries and see their past encounters was all he had to continue on, and continue to fight. Elijah had been stabbed, poisoned, and tortured with magic, but he could attest that the heartbreak of losing the better half of his soul was far worse. He would take any pain, any punishment, any form of torture to have her once more, even for a moment.

     "She's my everything, and you know that! Goddess, why won't you help, or even speak to me?! Is the grief of your son making you this way?!" There was still silence from the heavens, and he was sure there would always be silence. Gaea's mourning the death of Gabriel made it so she didn't partake in the business of Earth any longer, even with her own daughter's soul being tormented life after life.

     Elijah closed his eyes once more, seeing the happy princess tell him goodnight, seeing her bright, lively eyes. In a perfect world, there was never a goodbye, there was an endless supply of mornings and evenings with her, maybe even children, perhaps even her remembering all the centuries before. 

     It seemed like only yesterday, her kindness and grace pulled him from the dark half of their homeworld. Even though that was centuries ago, he still pictures Emerald sitting just at the brim of her border, talking to him and sharing her green apples. That made him smile a bit, despite her sweetness, she had a fondness for the sour taste. 

     His eyes opened, and he positioned himself to lie flat on the dry grass of the meadow, feeling the breeze blow over him. As he looked at the moon and the glittering stars, he felt his heart squeeze again. It would be another 80 years before she would come back to him, and the process would begin again. "This time we will win against him, Emerald." He vowed. "Together, we will defeat Lucifer."

     And as the breeze blew once more, Elijah closed his eyes again, imagining his beloved lying beside him. He even imagined it was her fingers stirring his hair and not simply the wind. She would speak with her mother, forgiving her for her silence and absence, as she was always more forgiving than he. Then she would his kiss hand, reassuring him as they gazed into the stars. Emerald would fight beside him with those glittering eyes that held purpose. He smiled, imagining it all. "As long as it takes." He promised her, and on the brink of slumber, he could feel Emerald with him.

     With her presence near, the pain in his chest subsided, and he could finally rest, with dreams of their homeland and a happy immortal life together; with hopes that it soon would become a reality.