Five years later

I felt the powerhouse of muscle work faithfully beneath me, matched by the happy puffs that was so typical of him. I loosened his reins, which always caused him to walk extra beautifully.

"Good boy", I praised, and his ears shot forwards. He loved praise.

It was a hot summer day, and the sun was blazing on the mansion that had once belonged to Tobirama's family, then Tobirama's mother, then Tobirama, and now me. I rarely walked inside. I preferred the summerhouse.

I chugged some water and put the radio on my phone on. They were talking about the new schooling system, that would start in one year when the first children who were neither alpha, nor beta, nor omega would start.

I honestly hadn't bothered reading too much about it. It was a part of my life and my world that was very, very far away from everything that meant something to me now. It was the same with the politics. I knew that despite the old system of ruling alphas had been taken away, there were new and more complex problems that nobody could've foreseen. The container cities were being taken down, many omegas being moved to beta cities that were built out to fit them. But still, there were people living in great poverty. People had rallied for me to partake in politics, but I had declined, wanting to work as a doctor and also claiming that there were people much more suitable for the task that would do a better job. Maybe, that was exactly what the world needed, though; a leader who didn't want to lead.

At least, the waters are clean, I told myself as I brushed Dario off and released him into the meadow in the sad sunset.

Sunsets had always been sad to me, but their sadness had reached an entirely different level. Some nights, the orange glow was so beautiful that I just broke down crying. When that happened, Dario, usually not one for cuddles, came and buffed me on my shoulder with his giant head. He was even bigger than Rudy had been, and certainly did not treat me like an egg like she had done, so I always ended up falling and laughing. You are all I have. You are all I have left. I love you. I love you so much.

I did have new friends, people inviting me over for dinner at weekends and who called on weekdays. But from that time, no-one was left. Only my closest friends knew about Tobirama, even fewer knew about Henry and nobody knew about the three of us. It tore me apart.

I went to my little kitchen to cook some pasta I would have with mock-chicken and a mushroom sauce and a salad for lunch at work tomorrow. I was working as a doctor in the local hospital, specialising in children's oncology. I loved my job. I loved it so much. I had begun researching the missing pieces of Helen's research, for example why Tobirama could fall for another man despite being an alpha, but in the end decided I just couldn't do it, that I couldn't invest myself in the troubles of the world anymore. Not to mention the fact I had to physically take Tobirama's brain out of his skull using a saw and then dissect it to get the material I needed. I hadn't been able to eat properly for a week, and had ended up in hospital after having fainted with a severe electrolyte imbalance.

I shivered.

Tomorrow, I would go back to the city where we had lived for two years. I went once yearly to visit the graves of my family and the release place of the ashes of both my lovers. After much consideration, I had decided that Tobirama's ashes should be spread where Henry's had been. That was five years ago. They said it would get easier, but it didn't.

It just got less difficult.

I laid down in Dario's meadow. He came to graze around me. He was sweet like that; he wanted to be close-by, but preferred not being touched. I closed my eyes, and Tobirama came to lay next to me. I reached my hand out and entwined our fingers.

"You did good today", Tobirama said. "I saw that piaffe. You two were dancing."

"I was taught by a master", I whispered, squeezing his hand.

"Izuna, remember how we talked about how strange it is to bond before you know anything about the other? And then we talked about what to do if one wants a family and the other doesn't?"

"Yes." My voice was still a whisper as Tobirama kept talking.

"Well... We only talked about hypothetical scenarios. Do you want a family?"

I turned to look at him. "Tobes..."

"I don't mean in theory. Like, would you like to start a family? With me? You're twenty-five now, is it too early?" His eyes were so honest, so open, so full of hope.

"There's nothing in the world-" I swallowed. Tears were streaming down my face. "It's all I can think about."

"Then..." Tobirama sat up, looked at me with earnest eyes. "It's not too early for this?" He fished out a beautiful, plain golden band from his pocket, and looked at me with pleading eyes. "Will you be my husband?"

My phone rang at that moment, and I jerked. I was drenched in cold sweat and panting. Dario was startled as I was, but when he recognised the signal of my phone, he kept grazing.

I reached my hand up, picked my phone up from the grass. The golden engagement ring on my left ring finger was catching the sadness of the setting sun.

"Hello?"

"Izuna! How are you?"

I smiled warmly. "I'm good, thank you. And you?"

"Hectic! How about dinner with us this weekend? The whole gang, you know! And we can play poker and drink bears like men!" I snorted. "Saturday, seven pm?"

"I'd love to."

End.