It was dusk on the beach and an array of colors paint the sky and they seemed to embody the conflicting emotions inside me. His eyes were on mine and his hair was slightly tousled as if he ran his hands through them. I tried to memorize him: strong build, olive skin, chiseled face, and cheekbones that would make the gods envious. His piercing green eyes were searching mine "I won't kill you... not anymore." he says. He sets his knives and sword aside and takes a step to hold me in a desperate embrace and I stiffen. "I've loved you since time eternal. No matter how many lives we've lived, we always find our way home to each other." He says in my ear. "I... I was imprisoned and tortured by the Legion for years, they used compulsion to make me kill my parents and played me the tape several times a day. They conditioned and trained me to hate and hunt your--their kind. I'm sorry for all the lives I've taken and I promise to do better. From this day forward, I will keep trying to make up for everything I have done and hopefully earn your trust again someday." He sounds so vulnerable and sincere. I nod and I keep my face neutral even though he cannot see my expression, I must not break.

Still, love and sadness surface and swell inside me. I take my arms and put them around his neck. I love you too, I want to say. Hugging him closer to me, I shut my eyes and tug on the forbidden magic inside of me-- wrapping it around his body.

"What are you doing?" He says in a panicked voice. "Ella, please." Tears are streaming down my face now as I tighten my hold on him. He doesn't try and struggle out of my grip. I feel the world shaking underneath me--healing and becoming whole again. Every life he has ever taken will be brought back. Every suffering and sorrow he inflicted on others will be forgotten. No one else will ever remember who he is or what he has done.

Suddenly his weight is too much for me to bear so we fall and I cradle him in my arms. I look at his pained face and I place my hands on his cheek and tell him: "I will remember."

I had to murder the love of my life to save a world who has only wronged him. I alone will bear the burden of his faults. I stare at his face, trying to memorize it as the sinking realization hits: there will be no more next life for us. The light in his eyes go out and his body turns to ash and floats away into the waiting stars.