Days had passed since their last meeting, yet longing never found a way to wither.
Until finally…
That night arrived.
A night woven with breezes laced with the scent of hope.
Stephanie felt a familiar fragrance
one she knew deeply and had yearned for endlessly.
It carried the silent promise of return.
She turned toward the open window and whispered,
as if some hidden part of her spoke in unison:
"Ravaz… you're back."
She was brushing her flowing black hair gently in front of the mirror.
Ravaz approached her slowly,
in that stillness that seemed to carry a thousand words.
His eyes overflowed with longing.
He reached out silently,
took the comb from her hand,
and began brushing her hair with tenderness,
each stroke steeped in the endless ache of missing her.
Looking into her eyes through the mirror, he said warmly:
"I missed you so much, Stephanie."
Their gazes were unlike any other
souls embracing in the space where the light between them met.
Still combing her hair gently, he added:
"From now on,
I can be with you every day…
for a few minutes."
She didn't wait.
In a moment of honest yearning,
she leapt into his arms and held him tight,
gasping like a child who had just found her safety again.
"Every day… really?"
He held her close, kissed her forehead with a kiss made of light, and whispered:
"I must go now…
but I'll return every day, at the same time."
And so began days no time could ever satisfy.
Ravaz became part of her daily rhythm.
He would appear behind her when she felt tired,
cook with her, hold her as she dozed,
listen to the cello, and get lost in her voice.
They were happy
happier than reality should allow.
But recently,
Stephanie began to feel something had shifted in Ravaz.
As if he were hiding something.
Something that gnawed at him from the inside.
She noticed.
She tried not to ask,
afraid of burdening him…
but the worry inside her grew too heavy.
Finally, she asked him gently if he was all right.
He didn't answer
he only gave her a calm, reassuring smile.
Then came that cursed day…
Ravaz appeared, holding a small pendant that looked like a pearl.
But when he gently wiped it clean, it gradually turned transparent,
revealing a pure, glowing light swirling inside without pause.
In his usual calm voice, he said:
"Stephanie… this isn't an ordinary necklace.
It holds a piece of my spiritual light."
Stephanie, unaware of the gravity of the moment, smiled with the joy of a child and said:
"Really, Ravaz? I can't believe it! I'll carry a part of you with me, always."
But his tone changed; his voice grew softer, sadder, as his gaze dropped to the floor:
"Stephanie… I think it's time I said goodbye."
She responded playfully:
"Already? That was quick.
It's okay—you'll be back tomorrow."
But Ravaz hesitated. His voice trembled from pain, and his body slightly swayed as if burdened.
Then he whispered:
"For days now… I've been seeing the Eltharyon in my dreams."
Ravaz continued, hesitantly:
"The Eltharyon… are the Dreamweavers.
They whispered something to me…"
He fell silent.
Stephanie, worried, said:
"Finish your sentence. You're scaring me."
Ravaz's voice cracked with sorrow:
"If we stay together… it will mean…"
Stephanie, on edge:
"Say it—what does it mean?"
He took a deep breath and finally said:
"Your death, Stephanie."
She tried to calm him softly:
"You can't be serious…
you're taking it too literally.
Maybe it's just your fears turning into nightmares."
But Ravaz, in a mournful tone of finality, replied:
"There's no doubt. It's certain.
The laws of your world don't apply within Azaveria."
Stephanie, now realizing this was a final farewell, refused to accept it.
She rushed into his arms, holding him tightly, her tears pouring as she tried to pull him into herself, afraid of losing him forever.
Through her sobs, she cried:
"No! I won't let you leave me.
How am I supposed to live without you?
Stay. I don't care if I die.
Without you, I'm already dead."
Ravaz, his voice torn by anguish, said:
"I loved you
in the past, the now, and the future,
with every light I possess and until my final glow fades."
And then, he vanished.
He dissolved between her arms.
Stephanie tried to hold on to his fading form, begging him not to go, but it was no use.
He disappeared within her embrace,
leaving behind a void that couldn't be filled
and a sorrow no years could ever mend.
Months passed
then years.
Stephanie was no longer the same.
Her grandmother, who had been battling illness and spent most of her days in the hospital, finally passed away.
She had been the last source of safety Stephanie had.
With each farewell, the absence of Ravaz grew heavier.
Then Steve came into her life
a kind, gentle man who worked as an architect.
He had fallen in love with Stephanie's sad songs and poetry.
What he loved most was one song in particular:
"Here I Am"
whose words bled with pain:
Here I am
Just as I was…
Still trembling whenever your image crosses my mind.
Here I am
Still haven't learned from my mistakes,
I sold you my soul
Without hope, without expectation.
Here I am
Like the blind,
Loving a soul that was never mine.
Here I am
Struggling to survive…
But…
I remember your words:
"You are my impossible wish
and you came true."
Here I am
Still see your love's tattoo engraved in my heart,
Untouched by time,
Unaffected by the worlds.
Here I am
Begging each day to forget your memory,
But all in vain…
For I have fallen
For a soul
That was never mine.
Whenever Steve looked at her, he saw a sadness inside her that no time could fix.
A kind of brokenness the years couldn't heal.
One day, he asked her about the song—
how it resembled the pain she carried.
But she couldn't answer.
She wished she could…
But some things cannot be spoken.
Later, Steve sincerely confessed his admiration and deep love for her.
He told her he wanted to be part of her life.
She rejected him many times.
She told him she would only hurt him,
that she could never love him, not even if she spent her whole life with him.
She said she had lost her heart years ago…
And couldn't give what she no longer possessed.
But Steve insisted.
He thought she was exaggerating.
He believed that if he drowned her in enough love, she'd eventually return the feeling.
With time and months passing, Stephanie saw that he truly loved her.
So she decided to give herself a chance
maybe she could escape the loneliness, the emptiness, the inability to enjoy life.
She married him… out of fear of that deadly solitude.
When she found out she was pregnant, life finally returned to her.
She would often place her hands on her belly and tell her baby stories—
about Ravaz, about Azaveria, and about that impossible love that still filled her to this day.
She decided to name him Adam, after the father she never had.
She had always dreamed of filling her home with the names of those she loved:
Adam… and Elena.