Swinging

Time through the rain has set me free
Sands of time will keep your memory
Love everlasting fades away
Alive within your beatless heart

Dry your tears with love
Dry your tears with love

Flowing tears accumulate on the winds of time
The unending sadness changes into a blue rose

-X Japan, Tears

Chapter Two:

As he walked me home, under the dark gray sky, I could not help but wonder why I simply could not fall in love with him. He was always there for me even in my darkest hours, despite getting his heart broken all over again. He still stood by my side hearing me pouring out my grief, always ready to wipe away my tears, so why couldn't I love him?

I sighed. Who am I kidding? I'm still in love with him. He, whose brown eyes has me mesmerized till now. He, whose smiles would light up my world in one second, and he, whose face I could gaze upon for eternity. He, who left me alone in this world.

Frustrated, I kicked the pebbles near my feet.

Why couldn't I ever forget him?

I thought to myself as I watched the back of Dionysus while trailing behind him.

No, my heart whispered, it's not that you have not forgotten him; you just simply don't want to let him go. You're afraid if you let him go, you'll let Dionysus in, and he'll leave you like how Theseus did.

"No." I said, abruptly stopping in my tracks. I was not afraid of Dionysus leaving. He will never ever leave me alone.

Yes, my heart continued, you're afraid of being abandoned. You're terrified that he'll dump you alone in this world like what your parents and Theseus did. You're scared deep down inside your heart that no one would want to be with you.

"NO!" I hollered in defiance. "I'M NOT SCARED."

Instantly, Dionysus turned to look at me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his eyes filled with concern for me as he begin walking towards me.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong." I said, storming ahead of him before tripping on one of the branches on the ground and falling flat on my face.

"AAARRGGHHH!" I screamed in frustration as my tears flowed down once more. Why was everything not going right for me? Why?

"Don't let the anger consume you." Dionysus said behind me. "Don't hide your pain behind your anger either."

"And who are you to lecture me?" I argued, filled with righteous anger. "Are you in any position to scold me? You tell me!"

Finally losing his cool, Dionysus shouted.

"CAUSE YOU'RE THE PERSON I LOVE TERRIBLY! HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL WHEN I WATCH THE PERSON I LOVE SLOWLY DESTROYING HERSELF FROM THE INSIDE OUT? HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL WHEN I CAN'T DO A THING TO HELP HER BECAUSE THE PERSON SHE LOVES IS NOT ME. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU SEE THESEUS GRIEVING OVER ANOTHER'S DEATH?"

Face flushed with anger, he turned and faced the trees nearby, hoping to dispel his anger. Not knowing what to say, I kept quiet. Finally, he muttered an apology and turned to face me once more.

Looking at his pain-stricken face, I immediately knew I hurt him deeply. Without thinking, I walked towards him and hugged his still quivering body, burying my face against his chest.

"He promised he'll never leave me," I spoke after a while, voice shaking. "And yet? He broke it! He said he won't be like them, Dionysus. He promised. He said he won't be like my parents. But in the end, they're the same! THEY'RE ALL LIARS!"

Dionysus rubbed his hands on my back trying to soothe me as I struggled to control my anger.

"She died in front of me. My mum." I choked as I fought to speak midst my tears. "And there was nothing I could do.."

"LEAVE!" my mum shouted, trying to be heard over the pillar that had fallen onto her. Our house was consumed by the raging fire I accidentally started and it was slowly starting to fall apart by the minute.

"NO!" I screamed back, tears in my eyes, as I frantically tried to pry the pillar from my mother. "I WON'T LEAVE YOU ALONE."

"Leave, please le-"

My mother begged me before a series of coughs wracked her body. I started to panic. The fire was getting stronger and stronger by the second and it was starting to get difficult to breathe.

"No," I breathed as I glanced at the crimson liquid that my mother had spat out. "NO!"

Blood. It was blood. My mother was coughing out blood and that did not bode a good sign.

"Ariadne, listen to me," my mother said weakly, voice barely heard over the sound of wood falling, and my heart breaking into pieces, "You need to get out of here. You need to live. I- I can't do this anymore."

More blood was spat after that and my mother's skin turned from peach to snow white.

"No." I whispered, not believing the truth. She cannot die! She is my mother! Without her, I have nothing. Please, I prayed to God mentally, please let her live! Please, I'll do anything. Please.

"Time is crucial, Ariadne. You need to get out of here fast. I'll al- I'll always be here with you forever."

She continued, struggling to keep the coughing abay.

"I'll always lo- love you. G-Goodbye."

"NO!"

I screamed as I watched my mother die before my eyes, the blood consuming her from within. Running towards her, I shook her body vigorously and pleaded for her to wake up while crying, but she did not even move an inch. Her whole body was still. Panicking, I tore open her shirt (for the pillar had landed upon her stomach) and attempted to do CPR. Pumping her heart with my blood drenched hands, I tried to stop my tears as I struggled to listen to a heartbeat from my mother's chest. Nothing.

"Please, no, no, no."

I kept repeating over and over again as I tried pumping her heart over and over again. Even when the firemen appeared and extinguished the fire, even when it had been hours since she died, even when her body had already turned cold, like a fool, I just kept pumping, and pumping, and pumping, hoping some miracle would happen.

"Is there no eternal love?" I asked softly as tears started streaming down my cheeks once more. "Why did they all leave me? Am I that hateful? Do they not love me?"

Dionysus gently wiped away my tears and kissed my forehead.

"No, you're lovely not hateful, and I love you as much as they do. No matter what happens, I'll still love you."

"Don't lie to me!" I shouted at him, instant anger filling my soul as I pulled out of his embrace. "Theseus said the exact same thing too and look what happened!" I screamed.

Yes, I once was naive. I believed that what Theseus and I had was eternal and that we were destined to be together for the rest of our lives and nothing could stop us. Nothing. I thought true love would always prevail. It always did.

How naive and foolish was I back then! I mused bitterly as I twiddled with the ring that I still wore on my hand. Eternal love, I scoffed, as though there could be something like that! Only fools would believe that. And yet, tears are streaming down my face at the loss of Theseus. I really was a fool.

My thoughts were interrupted, however, when I felt him pulling me into an embrace once more.

"I can't promise I'll never leave you," he whispered into my ears and I could feel his hot breath against my neck, "but I can promise you that as long as I'm here, I'll always be there for you."

The waterworks came abruptly and all my anger evaporated instantly.

"I'm sorry." I sobbed. "You deserve someone much better than me, someone who will treat you well. Why are you still caring about me? This way, you're opening yourself up to me just to get hurt!"

"Ariadne is that concern I sense coming from you?" he joked in an attempt to lighten up the atmosphere. Still, I could not stop crying.

"Ariadne, please? I can't stand it when you're in pain," came his broken whisper as he embraced me tight. "Please, stop crying."

My waterworks slowed down at his words and my tears dried on my face. I could sense that there was real pain in his voice at me crying. It was a pain that could not be faked, a pain that was because I was suffering. A pain caused sorely because I was in pain.

"I'm sorry." for everything that I have done. I added mentally as I was held in his strong firm hands.

He shook his head then let go of me after my tears ceased. At the sudden loss in contact with warmth, my hand instinctively reached out for his hand and clasped mine against his. Fingers met fingers and a bolt of electricity immediately ran up my arm. I stared in surprise. I had not felt this way ever since Theseus and me first met. It was the first sign of something beautiful beginning. It was a first sign of love. Just then, a gentle breeze blew past our faces and the smell of jasmine instantly filled our nostrils.

"Do you smell it?" I asked Dionysus. "It's the smell of jasmine." I said, smiling.

He nodded his head in surprise when he took a deep breath in.

"But why?" he puzzled. "There're no jasmines here."

Not saying anything, I grinned further. There was no mistaking this scent. It was him! He had come to say goodbye and approve of the budding relationship between Dionysus and I. He had gave his approval and acceptance.

Thank you. I said mentally in my heart as I embraced the last gift he had given me. Thank you for everything you've done. Then, turning back to Dionysus, I drawled.

"So, would you like to continue walking instead of standing there like a dummy?"

He stumbled back in surprise. I smirked at his face frozen in shock. He really was entertaining. Finally, after some while, he seemed to regain some resemblance of life.

"What's going on? What happened? Why are you suddenly smiling? How can-"

I ended his tirade of questions with a soft peck on his lips then pulled away. Taking in a deep breath, I spoke.

"I can't promise that I won't cry from now on. I can't promise that I'll be able to stop loving him. I can't promise to love anyone any time soon. I can't promise to forget."

I said, looking into his eyes, wanting him to see the determination that laid in them.

"But I can promise that I'll try my best. I can promise that I'll pour whatever love I can unto you, and when the time is ripe, when I fully recover from this, I promise I'll love you, and you'll be the most important person in my life. Hearing all this, are you still willing to walk this journey down with me?"

I asked, offering my hand to him. Giving me a bright smile, he linked my hands with his without hesitation and gave me a peck on the cheeks. I blushed. As revenge, I pinched his cheeks till they were red too.

"There, now we're even." I laughed, narrowly avoiding his attempt to pinch mine as I ran away from him.

"I'll catch you!" he hollered, chasing after me with a sudden burst of energy.

And so, under the sky which sun has began to set, he ran after me, peals of laughter filling the air as the scent of jasmine gradually faded away.

The End.

Authors' Note:

Amelia: I hope that you don't mind that I ended the story this way, Michelle. :( I JUST NEEDED A HAPPY ENDING. Anyway, you can always do the sad ending and we'll post it up too. :D

So yeah, FIRST COLLABORATION: SUCCESS!