Alexander hated goodbyes.
They were too final, too fragile. Like the breath before a storm or the crack before thunder. And yet, here he was—one hand tightening the strap of his travel pack, the other loosely clutching the letter he never intended to send.
He stood outside the Academy gates, the sun just beginning to rise behind the mountains. Its light hadn't reached the courtyards yet, leaving everything cast in shadow.
It felt fitting.
"You really are leaving."
Her voice was soft, but it sliced through the morning silence like a blade through fog.
Alexander turned.
Evelyn stood a few feet away, wrapped in a dark cloak, her hair windswept and loose. There was no panic in her expression. No sadness.
Only decision.
"I told you I would," he said after a pause. "You need space to choose. I won't stay and cast a shadow over that."
She stepped closer. "And yet you waited here. Long enough to give me time to find you."
His jaw clenched. "I wanted to give you the chance to say goodbye."
Evelyn shook her head. "Then you still don't understand me."
A silence fell.
And then, slowly, deliberately, she crossed the last few feet between them. She reached into his hand and plucked the unsent letter from his fingers.
"You don't run from things that matter to you," she whispered. "Not when you've fought so hard to earn them."
He looked down at her, something unspoken burning behind his eyes.
"I wasn't running," he said finally. "I was… letting you breathe."
"I've done enough breathing," she said, voice trembling slightly. "What I haven't done is choose. Not really."
He held perfectly still.
"And?" he asked, his voice rough.
Evelyn's gaze didn't waver.
"I choose you."
Just three words. But they cracked something wide open in him.
Before either of them could speak again, the wind shifted—and with it, a strange pull of magic in the air. Faint. Distant.
But not unnoticed.
Alexander tensed. "We're not alone."
Evelyn turned sharply, her hand brushing against his. There was no figure in sight—just the trees swaying, the fog thickening at the edges of the forest path.
But somewhere out there, someone was watching.
And they'd heard everything.