Once Loved

Kay was talking to children in the newly built village. Most of them had lost parents during the rising and she had quietly take over caring for them. They had been asking for stories about great heroes. She had been diligently telling them all about the people she had known when she felt a tug on her robe. She looked down at the small child peering up at her. "Do you have a soulmate?"   An innocent question. One that was easily answered.   "Yes."   "Do they love you?"   No. Yes? She wanted him to. She wished he would.   "I don't know."   "What do you mean?"   The reasons swarmed. She didn't know him very long. He probably found someone else. She didn't deserve to be loved by him now. She had left him for so long.   "It's hard to explain."   "Do you love them?"   She shouldn't, she thought. Theres no way she believed she deserved to.   The questioning eyes of the little girl continued to watch to her.   "Yes."   It took all her strength not to cry. To cry for the man who told her he would care no matter what happened. Who showed her the world. For the man she lost. Who lost her. The man she couldn't go back to.   "It's been a long time since you've seen them, hasn't it?"   She looked up into the girl's eyes. How-   "I can see it in your eyes. You miss them."   "They haven't met me yet." The whisper fell through her lips. "And they've lost me. I don't know if they'll ever get me back." Her voice cracked. It shouldn't hurt so much. She only knew him a few months and had lived twelve thousand years now. So much time.   "I think they will, Ayri. I think it'll be a very pretty story and I want you to tell it to me when it's done."