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his eyes shone like stars, but his personality had managed to be of an even brighter magnitude. and i’d be a liar to say i didn’t miss it. i’d be a liar to say i wouldn’t do anything to see him again. i’d be a liar to say i hadn’t been searching for years. of course one can simply miss a person, but it had felt like a piece of me was missing after we had departed from each other. adventuring was fun, but the ache never left my body. it became more pronounced when i would lay in bed, pretending his warmth was still there, like when we were young. but there was a fateful day, the luckiest i had ever been, feeling as though the curse of my father had no bearing on my mind, even if just for a moment.
i caught it. a glimpse of him. a glimpse of his warm and starry eyes, same as they ever were. of course i stood there in disbelief, my body and mind failing me. this couldn’t be real, could it? surely this was some cruel trick. surely this was something father had conjured up just so he could rip away what little scraps of happiness i found over the years.
a step.
another.
his name slipped past my lips before i even registered it.
“hilbert?”
he turned, and i saw the same lack of belief in his look as i had clearly just experienced.
“nat?”
he stared. i stared back. i saw the tears well up in his eyes and he was running up to me and hugging me before i could even gather my thoughts. my mind felt as blurry as my vision was and all i could do was clutch at his jacket, praying this weren’t some cruel dream. a sob escaped me. neither of us cared any longer what public attention we gathered.
“you don’t know how much i missed you,” he sobbed sadly into my shirt. “you left before i could even say goodbye.”
“i’m sorry,” was the only thing i could manage. it sounded as pathetic as i felt in that moment.
we stood, holding each other as if our lives depended on it for what seemed like an eternity. he finally pulled his head from my chest, wiping away tears and snot. he glanced up at me, still horrifically sad.
“i’m sorry,” i muttered again. an apology so small couldn’t make up for how long we had been apart, but it soothed him well. i knew it would.
“i know,” he whispered. “lets just go home.”
and at that moment i felt young again. loved again.