[MillietheWarrior]

She was smiling serenely, much like she always did, and even though the picture was in black and white, he imagined her pink eyes were dancing and her chocolate hair shining in the light from the camera. A smile wound it’s way onto his lips as he chuckled to himself, his gaze darting down to the caption beneath the picture.

‘World Famous Violinist Dies at 21.’

Rafael felt something cold and hard and painful settle into the pit of his stomach as he read, and re-read that sentence. He looked for another picture, searching desperately for the caption that it belonged to. But he couldn’t deny that the words were attached to the photograph of Noel, and in the back of his mind, he cursed at her for smiling.

[MillietheWarrior]

She was smiling serenely, much like she always did, and even though the picture was in black and white, he imagined her pink eyes were dancing and her chocolate hair shining in the light from the camera. A smile wound it’s way onto his lips as he chuckled to himself, his gaze darting down to the caption beneath the picture.

‘World Famous Violinist Dies at 21.’

Rafael felt something cold and hard and painful settle into the pit of his stomach as he read, and re-read that sentence. He looked for another picture, searching desperately for the caption that it belonged to. But he couldn’t deny that the words were attached to the photograph of Noel, and in the back of his mind, he cursed at her for smiling.

[MillietheWarrior]

How could she be dead? She had been alive, nor more than a month ago. Standing on the corner,  playing her violin for him and promising to meet him again soon. She’d promised. How could she just go off and leave like that and break her promise? It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. How did she die? She’d been perfectly healthy, hadn’t she?

An image flashed thorough his mind, of a smiling Noel as she stood under the glow of the street lamps. Her skin was no longer just pale, but too pale and beneath her eyes there were dark rimmed circles that said she hadn‘t been getting enough sleep, or perhaps none at all. And her wrists hadn’t been delicate, they had been thin; her body hadn’t been small, it had been weak. The clothes that had flowed so freely around her were too loose, hung too far from her skinny frame, and her cheeks hadn’t been flushed with happiness, but with fever. She had stayed long because she couldn’t breathe, and that skip in her step was more of a wobble to keep herself from falling over.

[MillietheWarrior]

Dear God, why hadn’t he seen it?

“Why are you smiling, damn it?” he demanded of the innocent picture, which did not respond, as pictures are not often wont to do so, and continued staring unknowingly up at him. His fingers gripped the sides of the paper so hard that the flimsy material tore, ripping from his hands and fluttering to the ground to land beside his feet. And still, the photograph of a smiling Noel gazed up at him benevolently, as if to ask ‘Why did you drop me? I shouldn’t be lying on the ground, Rafael.’

[MillietheWarrior]

Running a shaking hand through his hair, Rafael jerked his free arm down and snatched the paper up, rising to his feet so quickly that he nearly toppled over in a rush of dizziness. His gaze traveled quickly back to the corner, which seemed empty, and desolate and cold without her there. It was almost as if it was mocking him, taunting him with the idea of seeing Noel standing at the edge of it, her bow sliding across her ivory strings as she smiled at him from beneath her dark lashes.

“You shouldn’t smile at me,” Rafael murmured, fingers digging into the newspaper, crumpling it in in his tightening grip. “You said everything would be fine. You told me not to worry. You said…it was okay.”

[MillietheWarrior]

Rafael felt something cold and wet trail down his cheek, and he reached up with a shaking hand to gently wipe it away, staring at the droplet of water with a morbid, detached fascination as he silently came to grips with the fact that he would never see her again.

It‘s okay.

Rafael De Santos did not cry.

Everything will be fine.

So the heavens cried for him.

Don’t worry.

Sayonara…Rafael.

-Fin-