Vienna

      “Here goes my fare thee well.” He whispered to her sleeping form.

         He stood at her bedside, listening to the heavy drumming, pounding of rain. Fat drops plunging from the sky down to earth, splitting on the pavement and on the roof, breaking apart the silence. Dawns cheerful morning glow stood no chance, bleak black storm clouds blotted out the horizon. Faint street light illuminated her gently breathing form, revealing soft curves and shadowed hollows. Empty spaces he used to fill. He should still be filling. His dark obsidian eyes took in her hand which lay open on the dark pillow, slender pianist fingers slightly curved as if holding his hand in her sleep, as she had been since they met. Met just a short week ago. Her hand seemed lonely now, bare and exposed and vulnerable in it's open emptiness.

         The clock ticked on, resting on the night table, fluorescent numbers counting their last minutes, a subtle reminder of his dwindling time. The clock sat with his books and the small black leather-bound journal he'd bought her days ago for her birthday, the day they met. Impulsively, without really realizing what he was doing from a new-found habit, he reached out and stroked the side of her face. His fingers trailed down the warmth of her cheek and he rested them gently on her jawbone. His breath paused in his throat as it caught, and he felt warm, liquid drops splatter gently on his palm. It wasn't raining in here, he thought. She was awake. She was crying.

         Her hand reached for his in the darkness, fingers brushing against his and then clutching them with her own, as she brought their hands to her mouth. She pressed her lips to the back of his hand, kissing her tears. Her face was in shadow, but he knew her beautiful, massive amber eyes were looking right into his, right into him in that unique way she did. He leaned forwards, swaying closer, closer. Breathing in her scent and filling his memories with her, with them, with this.

         All his senses were completely attuned to her, drinking in every tremble of her hand and every breath which broke, all of which echoed in him. His body was shaking as he pulled her closer to him, clumsily pulling her against him, his hands and arms greedily reaching to grasp her slender body. She felt vulnerable to him, her body slumping against his, closer. He bent his tall, lean frame down so his face was next to hers. He could see that it was still wet from her tears and his too, he realized. He placed his lips against hers heedless of the ticking clock, a farewell kiss goodbye.

         “Go.” She murmured in his ear, forcing the syllable out into the gap between them as it grew ever wider. Her breath was cool against his neck, it distracted him from her words. He ignored them, he didn't want to go anyways, he could stay a few more moments with her. He could stay forever.

         “No... I wont. I'm staying-” Her finger against his lips hushed the impossible thought. But he wasn't to be stopped that easily, the thought had taken root inside him, reckless in his words. “I'm staying! They cant do this. They cant make me leave you. I wont-” Again, she silenced him, this time with her lips against his mouth.

         “You know you have to go. Don't make this harder.” She said, her quiet voice breaking and cracking. He crushed her against him, body to body, heart to heart. She was trembling and shaking in his arms, he could feel her tears streaming down her cheeks, dripping onto her chest and his. Leaving little dark dots. Like tiny droplets of blood, the traitors of feelings.

         “I know. It's just, I can't leave you.” his shoulders sagged down against her, as his arms held her against him, clutching her to his chest. They fit together like two stranded puzzle pieces, momentarily perfect, closer. “I love you.”

         He watched as this stark confession, a voicing of unspoken knowledge, tore at her and ripped a sob from her lips. His words reflected through the tiny bedroom. I love you. Echoed from the dark window, from the ticking clock and from the looming bedroom door. I love you. Reverberated through the hollow spaces in her heart, the empty corners of her memory.

        Slowly she loosened his grip on her, pulling gently away. Love had no business being here with them, no business filling her with such bittersweet happiness, he loved her, and he was leaving.

         “I love you. Go.” She took a shuddering breath, removing her clasped hands from his, pulling gently and firmly away as he resisted. He took a faltering step toward the door. “Goodbye, Soldier.”

         Leaning towards her he kissed her hard, closer then ever before, in farewell. Then took the final steps out the dark doorway and disappeared into the hungry rain storm, swallowed up by the black dawn.

         “This is my fare thee well, love.” They said.