All They Could Do...

She entered the cafe and looked around. Spotting what she was looking for, she went over to the table and sat down.

"I didn't expect to see you here," she mumbled as her flushed cheeks started to return to normal.

"And yet here I am," he cooly stated. And then silence reigned supreme.

"You know...even though I'm seeing it right before me...I never thought I would see you drinking coffee."

"And why is that?"

"Because it's something so common. I never thought you'd be caught with it."

"Maybe I thought there was no one to catch me."

She saw him again in the grocery store, silently staring at two different types of chocolate.

"You're in a grocery store," she stated, looking at him from the corner of her eye as she joined him.

"So it would seem."

"And you're going to buy chocolate?"

"You seem to enjoy stating the obvious."

"But...but...it's you!"

"Times change and not all stays the same."

And with that, she watched him walk away, a silent understanding dawning withing her.

This time she was at the park, going for a walk in the cool autumn breeze, when she saw him silently sitting on a bench, gazing at the fire colours of the treetops.

"I never thought you would be one to watch scenery," she commented, sitting next to him.

"Life goes by fast. Sometimes it's better to sit down and watch the rush." His eyes had a glazed look to them. Almost as if he was seeing something different.

"Is it really that hard?"

"It's harder than you think."

"And what...what happened...to the others?"

All she got was him walking away, and her silently watching. Everything had to do with silence now...

The next time she was careful, quietly walking up to him, watching as he stared unmoving at the museum display in front of him.

"We seem to meet alot." This time it was him who started.

"Yeah we do," she said quietly, almost as if she was scared.

"They lived well," he mentioned, seemingly to himself.

"They did?"

"Yes and...they thought of you very much."

"It's nice to know that..."

"...That you were not forgotten? That someone remembers you?"

"Yeah..."

And like all the other times before, she watched him walk away. Away from his past, away from her and away from the display of so many memories.

The last time she saw him, it was at his home, a large house reconstructed from a time long in the past.

"Is that...?" She asked, walking to stand beside him as he stared out the window.

"Yes."

"And did they really?"

"It was what they wished for and it was what they got. A final wish granted."

"Is there really nothing left?"

"Everything must end sometime, but for them, it might last a little longer..."

"Things really have changed haven't they?"

"Nothing stays the same."

"No it doesn't, no matter how much it's wished for..."

And this time, it was her who walked away, leaving him standing there, still staring out the window silently, and all she could do was let a single tear fall.