Smiling at snowflakes

He sat in front of her, his eyes weighing heavily upon her face. Those amazing bright blue eyes were usually ice cold and calculating, but not now, now they were warm and caring. He would never tell Ignis he loved her, but all his being spoke for him, with the way he slightly leant forward, as if he wanted to smell her sweet scent. How his hand lingered impatiently on his knee, like he was considering tangling his rough fingers in her thick, red mane. His black hair shimmered blue in the white, winter sun as he shifted his weight and his skin was the color of the dead. Still he was very much alive, for the time being at least. He was her angel of death.



She feared that his time was up though. That his experiments had emptied him completely, sucked every last drop of life out of his once, proud frame. This man had crossed the gateways of hell one too many times already and it showed in his eyes. The search for greater power had nearly driven him into madness, and now he sat in front of Ignis, far weaker than he used to be before his pursuit.



Surrounding him was this strange, gloomy aura that sucked you in, held you in place with cold bony fingers, and never, never letting go. Something had followed him back the last time he had walked too far down the path of the dead. This 'something' was a creature of miserable memories and forgotten souls. It hung over his shoulder, grinning at her, even though she couldn't see it clearly. She knew it was there and that it was as real as her heart hammering like a sledge inside her chest. If she didn’t look directly at it, she could make out its form, which was almost more than her frail heart could take.



His hand left his knee, and stretched out towards her, she drew back, frightened. He let his hand fall down again, a pained look flashed across his features. She longed for him; she truly did, but with him came the terrible creature. Did she dare take that risk? No matter how much she loved him, and how much he returned her affection, could she run the risk of being sucked into his world?



"I understand," he said silently, his voice spun intensely in her ears. Like a song you can’t stop listening to. The kind of song you’ll hum to yourself until you can no longer recall how it sounded in the first place."Niveus…" His name fell uncertainly of her pink tainted lips. Niveus; the Latin word for snow, fit him so well. So perfectly cold, like a snow flake, with the intriguing complexities if you studied it closely.



She shivered involuntarily.



"I'm afraid…" She wanted to explain it to him in more words, but the meaning would be the same, it was no use in explaining it away. She felt so strongly for him, her body was burning, but she didn't dare to reach out and touch him, afraid that she would freeze to death if she did.



She was so young, but she loved him, truly, fiercely, and intensely.



The presence of the evil creature above his shoulder stopped her from telling him how she felt, her gaze left his blue eyes for a brief second and stared at the spot behind him where she knew it lingered. Like a predator, waiting for his power to fade, so it could devour him, bit by bit.



"Please smile for me Ignis," he whispered hoarsely and leant even closer towards her. She didn't move away, letting him come nearer. His nose was only a foot away from touching hers, he had never been this close before, he had always kept his distance. The scents of his last experiment clung

to his dark cloak; pine trees and lavender incense. A smile was such a simple task, yet so impossible to do. It was a wish she could never fulfill. She could give him a forced smile, but it could never be a true one, he had to know that, to understand. "Let me see your beautiful smile one last time," he said even lower, like a gust of air. Maybe those words hadn't been meant for her?



"Kiss me," Ignis said warmly. "My only wish is for you to kiss me, and you will get your smile.” His eyes flashed dangerously and she knew he could lose control of himself anytime, and then the creature would be free to demolish his soul and his flesh. How could this have happened to them? She hadn't even gotten the chance to love him properly. Was this the ending of a love story that never got the opportunity to begin? He seemed to search her face and her golden eyes for an answer. Maybe he found it, because he slowly leant forward and placed his hands on each side of her face. He pulled her to him, his breath on her lips, his cold breath. Tears sprung to her eyes as their lips crashed together in an explosion of fear, despair and desperation, while the creature howled in ecstatic triumph.



She closed her eyes only for a split second, and when they fluttered open again…



…he was gone.