“So, I found this waterfall today,” Ethan said quietly. “It reminded me of when we first kissed. Do you remember?” He waited silently, as if the grave would speak back to him. “I do, clear as day. I was angry at you, because I thought that someone else held your affections.”
“Never,” Apollo whispered back, but Ethan couldn’t hear him.
“Then the rain started falling, and you looked so good with your hair pressed against your face. I couldn’t help myself, I had to kiss you.” The smile on his face grew wider. “It was a mess with you from day one, but I loved every minute of it. Because of you, I have this amazing family that I never would have thought possible. For a really long time, I would look into the mirror and see a monster. I’d see the man that killed his own brother. But you…you changed that. You made me see someone beautiful, and full of life. You made me see that I could move passed my mistakes and I didn’t have to pretend to be happy. I could actually be happy.”
Ethan traced the letters across the tombstone. It would never get any easier. No mater how much time passed by. “I keep beating myself up…wishing things could be different. I wish you had taken those potions, like I had asked you too. Sometimes I wish that I was there with you.”
“No,” Apollo replied. “Don’t say that. Our family needs you.”
“I wish that I could hear your voice one last time, and see your smile. I wish we could have had a happier life, where we didn’t have to look over our shoulders constantly. I just wish-” The tears began to fall from his eyes like a waterfall. “I just wish I could hold you. That, I would’t wake up alone anymore.” He leaned his forehead against the tombstone and let the tears fall from his eyes. He reached for his wand, ready to make it rain. The precipitation hhad always calmed him down.
“All this time, it looked like you were the one depending on me, but I’m the one who can’t move on. When I died, you handled it like a pro. You put on a brave face for the kids. I can’t even do that.” Each drop hit the grass, dampening it. “I love you, Apollo Gray. I will see you, as soon as this war is over, I will be right there beside you. Holding on to you.” He felt a sense of relief and comfort rush through his body, unaware that the ghost of his late husband had embraced him.
“You’re the strongest man I know, Ethan. Please hold on, and live. We’ll see each other when it’s time. I love you.”
“I love you so damn much, Apollo Gray.”
A Graying World 