02-14-2018, 12:27 PM
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Berkshire+Swash|Crimson+Text|Montez" rel="stylesheet"><style>#heartfiresin{width:650px;height:750px;border-radius:0% 0% 0% 50%;border: 1px black solid;box-shadow:0px 0px 10px #000000 inset;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:5px;}#heartfiresincont{width:640px;height:750px;border:1px #000000 solid;border-radius:0% 0% 0% 50%;box-shadow:0px 0px 10px #000000;background:#020202;overflow:hidden;}#heartfiresinpic{border-radius:0% 0% 0% 50%;z-index:0;position:relative;margin-left:-410px;}#heartfiresintext{width:310px;height:720px;position:relative;z-index:1;margin-top:-740px;margin-right:-290px;color:#ffffff;font-size:14px;font-family: 'Crimson Text', serif;overflow:auto;padding:5px;}#heartfiresintext::-webkit-scrollbar{width:4px;}#heartfiresintext::-webkit-scrollbar-track{-webkit-box-shadow: inset 0 0 4px rgba(0,0,0,0);}#heartfiresintext::-webkit-scrollbar-thumb{background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0.1);border-radius:4px;border:1px rgba(255,255,255,0.5) solid;}#heartfiresinwrapper{position:relative;z-index:2;margin-left:-275px;margin-top:-220px;}#heartfiresinname{color:#78071b;font-size:60px;font-family: 'Berkshire Swash', cursive;margin-top:-30px;margin-bottom:-20px;z-index:0;position:relative;}#heartiresinquote{color:#ffffff;font-size:20px;font-family: 'Montez', cursive;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;z-index:1;position:relative;}</style><center><div id="heartfiresin"><div id="heartfiresincont"><div id="heartfiresinpic"><img src="https://s17.postimg.org/vy6o0wixr/Heartfire9.jpg"/></div><div id="heartfiresintext" align="justify">It has been ages since she has thought so far back. Since memories of a time both distant and nearly forgotten have assailed her. She does not know what has brought them back now, what has reminded of a love lost and long gone. Her heart might ache occasionally (both for a more recent loss and for one lost to the dusts of time), but it is easy to ignore. She has never allowed her heart to hold sway over her head.
But today, those memories refuse to be dampened. For a moment, she is tempted to bring a vision of him forth. But it would serve no purpose. She might wish to see him once more, to see a face both familiar and foreign, but she does not wish the heartache it would invariably bring.
All these years, and it still has the power to hurt. She had been a child then, youthful and impressionable and foolishly in love. But she had spent a lifetime with him, grown old and gray before being ripped away, placed back into a life she had not asked for. It is an experience that had taught her well. She had learned that, in the end, love will never serve you as well as your own mind and will.
Still, it does not stop her from wishing to see his face just once more.
For a moment, there is only the sound of waves crashing against the cliff at her feet, the feel of the wind riffling her dark mane and gently caressing her mottled skin. Between one crash and the next, a being materializes before her. For a moment, the blue and white mare simply stares at the creature, the dusky, almost immaterial skin, the faintly glowing golden glimmer, eyes as kind as they are unreadable, and broad, outstretched wings that block out the star-sprinkled night sky. Inhaling, she can detect the faintest trace of lilacs before the being melts away, leaving behind a figure as familiar as it is achingly beautiful.
Heartfire stares, unable to draw her gaze from the man before her. The golden-brown hair, the fine features etched with the lines of a life well lived, the faint curve of familiar lips, the love and happiness shining from his amber eyes are just the same as she had remembered. Releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, she takes a step forward before halting abruptly. He would never recognize her like this. She is not the girl he remembers. She is most definitely not the same woman. Pain and anger had carved away all the softness and laughter. She had become hard, unforgiving. Almost cruel, in a way. Even if he could see past the unfamiliar form, he would never recognize the soul that lay beneath.
An apology dies on her lips as she continues staring at him, haunted by that soulful gaze. She couldn’t apologize for her life, for continuing after he was gone. She wouldn’t apologize for who she had become. The regret that had stirred only a moment before dies within her breast as understanding washes through her.
He had been her past, but he is not her future. Her mind had realized this long ago, but only now can her heart truly accept.
“I loved you, once,” she whispers to his kind, smiling face. He doesn’t respond, but she hadn’t expected him to. Another heartbeat later, he begins to fade into the ether as she watches. Finally, barely audibly, she murmurs, “Goodbye.”
For a long time afterwards, she simply stares into the empty space where he had been, feeling her heart crumbling inside her chest. It is because of him that she had believed in love. Because of him, hope had always remained inside her breast. Now there is simply nothing. Only knowledge. Knowledge and understanding and a welling determination.
He had released her, freed her from a prison she hadn’t even known she had placed herself in. And as the pieces of her soul knit back together, she knows her own limitations have altered, shifted. Her life could begin once more, truly.</div><div id="heartfiresinwrapper"><p id="heartiresinquote" style="margin-left:-50px;">I see your sins</p><p id="heartfiresinname">Heartfire</p><p id="heartiresinquote" style="margin-right:-60px">and I want to set them free.</p></div></div></div></center>
For reference: http://beqanna.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=8231
But today, those memories refuse to be dampened. For a moment, she is tempted to bring a vision of him forth. But it would serve no purpose. She might wish to see him once more, to see a face both familiar and foreign, but she does not wish the heartache it would invariably bring.
All these years, and it still has the power to hurt. She had been a child then, youthful and impressionable and foolishly in love. But she had spent a lifetime with him, grown old and gray before being ripped away, placed back into a life she had not asked for. It is an experience that had taught her well. She had learned that, in the end, love will never serve you as well as your own mind and will.
Still, it does not stop her from wishing to see his face just once more.
For a moment, there is only the sound of waves crashing against the cliff at her feet, the feel of the wind riffling her dark mane and gently caressing her mottled skin. Between one crash and the next, a being materializes before her. For a moment, the blue and white mare simply stares at the creature, the dusky, almost immaterial skin, the faintly glowing golden glimmer, eyes as kind as they are unreadable, and broad, outstretched wings that block out the star-sprinkled night sky. Inhaling, she can detect the faintest trace of lilacs before the being melts away, leaving behind a figure as familiar as it is achingly beautiful.
Heartfire stares, unable to draw her gaze from the man before her. The golden-brown hair, the fine features etched with the lines of a life well lived, the faint curve of familiar lips, the love and happiness shining from his amber eyes are just the same as she had remembered. Releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, she takes a step forward before halting abruptly. He would never recognize her like this. She is not the girl he remembers. She is most definitely not the same woman. Pain and anger had carved away all the softness and laughter. She had become hard, unforgiving. Almost cruel, in a way. Even if he could see past the unfamiliar form, he would never recognize the soul that lay beneath.
An apology dies on her lips as she continues staring at him, haunted by that soulful gaze. She couldn’t apologize for her life, for continuing after he was gone. She wouldn’t apologize for who she had become. The regret that had stirred only a moment before dies within her breast as understanding washes through her.
He had been her past, but he is not her future. Her mind had realized this long ago, but only now can her heart truly accept.
“I loved you, once,” she whispers to his kind, smiling face. He doesn’t respond, but she hadn’t expected him to. Another heartbeat later, he begins to fade into the ether as she watches. Finally, barely audibly, she murmurs, “Goodbye.”
For a long time afterwards, she simply stares into the empty space where he had been, feeling her heart crumbling inside her chest. It is because of him that she had believed in love. Because of him, hope had always remained inside her breast. Now there is simply nothing. Only knowledge. Knowledge and understanding and a welling determination.
He had released her, freed her from a prison she hadn’t even known she had placed herself in. And as the pieces of her soul knit back together, she knows her own limitations have altered, shifted. Her life could begin once more, truly.</div><div id="heartfiresinwrapper"><p id="heartiresinquote" style="margin-left:-50px;">I see your sins</p><p id="heartfiresinname">Heartfire</p><p id="heartiresinquote" style="margin-right:-60px">and I want to set them free.</p></div></div></div></center>
For reference: http://beqanna.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=8231