Moment Name: The Hurricane's End
(19th December, 2014 - 22nd February, 2016)
Participants: Sebastian d'Fierro and Cornelia Bradford
Date: 22nd February, 2016.

 “Cor…” He started, “In another life, I’d ask you to marry me in the not so distant future...maybe have a few kids and settle in some suburban house out in some quiet f****** state like Utah...or some s*** like that, I don’t know.” He chuckled, before sniffling, “I love you, Cornelia Bradford...you’re the one who caught me off guard, the one I didn’t see coming.”
~ Sebastian d'Fierro To Cornelia Bradford

Sebastian Angelo d'Fierro: Sebastian walked towards the river. He scanned the greenery, looking down towards the soft grass. The d’Fierro smiled a little, before shifting his gaze to the rock where he and Cornelia always sat by, speaking about their lives, opening up to each other, speaking about subjects that they wouldn’t even dare talk about to anyone else, the place where they could be vulnerable even when it was the wrong time to do so. It was a place where concealed feelings could be released with only the company of her, and the plants to hear. He winced at the thought, before continuing to move his eyes to trees, the large, green trees which kept so much hope and life, and the fauna could dance around happily without a care in the world. But not this night, tonight everything was silent, an eerie, yet somehow also tranquil kind of quiet. This was going to be hard, but it was something that needed to be done, right here, in the place where it began and where it will end. The Phoenix bit his lip, hard enough to break through the flesh but he didn’t even flinch at the pain, he just walked towards the rock where they would sit and waited. He waited for her to show up, his heart pounding rapidly at the anticipation of what was going to happen. But he knew, deep down...he always knew. She didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve her. And he needed to end this.

Cornelia Hael Bradford: It wasn't a typical night, as one would say, not because the moon seemed to shine less or the stars frequently disappeared behind dark clouds, but there was something in the air that didn't feel right to Cornelia. Maybe it was the fact that Sebastian had been distant lately that made normal things stir suspicions in her mind, or the slightest of change brought fear. The detective feared that the fire-lord had finally gotten over her, that he had grown tired of the angel-child and was now willing to move away from the picture. The thought itself was nerve racking and had enough powers to make Cornelia wrap her long arms around herself as she walked silently down the narrow forest trail. The cool breeze did nothing to cool her mind, worry filling her veins. The sight of the sparkling water body indicated that she wasn't far from where the d'Fierro was supposed to be. And although this was probably the place where the couple would come for tranquility, there was something oddly unnerving about the silent waves crashing against the shore and the dark figure standing poised by the rock. "Hey," Cornelia spoke, breaking the unsettling silence as she walked up to him, her lips pressed together into a thin line.

Sebastian Angelo d'Fierro: Even though Sebastian had made his decision, it was difficult to put it in the /lightest/ way possible. Doing this was going to tear him apart, hell, it already was. The guilt, anxiety, the depression all beginning to spiral down his conscience. He kept telling himself he had to do it and it was true, there were too many things happening. The Eternal War between the Initia and the Phoenixes, the constant hit squads that attacked him, the amount of enemies that wanted nothing more to decapitate Sebastian? The very thought that the most vulnerable part of him wasn’t a vital organ, but but Cornelia Bradford herself? That was terrifying, and he was going to do whatever it takes to keep her safe...even if it destroyed him. As the eldest d’Fierro heard the soft crunch of crushed grass, he looked up to see Cornelia, the one he didn’t anticipate...the one who caught him off guard. “Hi.” He said, smiling weakly. He had run out of cheeky quips and snarky comments to say, the verbal defense mechanisms that he had in place to keep him sane were offline, because he knew he was allowed to be weak around her. “I...we...should talk.” He said, his voice damn near shaking. Sebastian gestured to the seat by him, offering it to her before beginning to speak, “Lia, I’m sorry about being distant for a while.” He gulped, “But...I’m no-...” He stuttered, before finishing, I’m not sure if we can do this anymore.” He said, looking up to her, revealing that his eyes were beginning were beginning to water. “Cor, I can’t be with you, anymore.”

Cornelia Hael Bradford: ''We should talk." The very words sent a shiver down the Nephilim Ambassador's spine. She crossed her arms in front of her, a pose that the detective had mastered whenever she felt defensive. "What is it?" She spoke, the words forced out of her tightly pressed lips. The brunette gazed at the seat, her hues lingering on his hand before she sat on the rock, moving a strand of hair behind her ears, "Wh-" The rest of the words seemed to die before they could be said out loud, Cornelia sharply turning her head to face Sebastian, "Why?" Was all she could ask, her tone still not ready to give into the emotions that flooded her features. Why was he leaving her? No. /He/ was supposed to be the one who stayed. He promised to stay. Cornelia let her gaze rest on his moon-lit features, nibbling on the crimson flesh of her bottom lip, she tugged at the skin, waiting impatiently for him to answer, her mind a chaos of thoughts. She didn't know what to say or do, but she couldn't let him walk away. No. He couldn't possibly leave her, she couldn't lose yet another person to fate.

Sebastian Angelo d'Fierro: Sebastian exhaled upon seeing her arms cross, the subconscious action she’d do whenever she felt the need to guard herself. “It’s...it’s about us, Cor.” Their eyes were staring at each other, but he had to look away for a moment, he needed to cool down from the staggering amount of guilt he was feeling, and looking at her brown eyes, those beautifully coloured, deep, loving set of eyes...it was too much. As she took the seat and began to ask what was happening, he cut her off, telling her what needed to happen. Her expression when he finished his sentence was one of the most difficult things he’d ever laid eyes upon in the two centuries he had been alive. It was the face of a broken heart, and a crushed soul. “Too much…th-there’s...too much.” He almost muttered, “Too many variables, too many dangers...it’s...i-it’s too difficult to handle them.” Sebastian clenched his teeth, slamming his eyelids shut but a single tear escaping as he said, “I said I wouldn’t leave you...but that was before everything began to happen. Cornelia, I thought I could escape my past and be happy with you but it’s not working out. You’re in too much danger, Cor. I’m too dangerous for you.” The d’Fierro’s breathing slowed, everything began to happen in slow motion. People say that when something fundamental in your life is happening, time slows down...they were right. Every breath that they took felt like an hour, every word spoken felt like a day, every fallen tear felt like an entire eternity. “The only chance I have in keeping you safe from the hordes of enemies I’ve created in my past is to remove you from my life...for you to erase me...erase us, from your memory.” He said softly, “Before I came here, everything I did was for my family or for myself...now? Now I’m doing this for you. I want...I /need/ you to be safe, Cornelia. Because I…” He choked on his own words, finishing in a whisper, “I love you too much, Cornelia...I love you too damn much to lose you.” Sebastian looked towards her, trails of tears glowing in the moonlight, “I told you, when I first met you that everyone...everything I cherish has a tendency to die..so if I leave now, I can keep you safe, and that’s all that I want now.” He bit his lower lip once more, letting out the words, "Please, Cor, don't make this harder than it already is."

Cornelia Hael Bradford: Every word, every syllable hit Cornelia like a separate bullet each. It paralysed her, the detective just sitting there in silence as she watched the d'Fierro tear her apart. She didn't know which emotions passed by her, she felt everything all at once and then nothing at all. "So you are just going to give up?" She asked, her tone laced with bitterness, trying its best not to crack, "So you are going to run away?" And in that moment, Cornelia straightened up, regaining her firm posture, like the walls were building back up and all their memories seemed to be the bricks that would now surround her heart. From every fight to every kiss, every breakfast to every goodnight kiss ran through her mind and she sat frozen, three words echoing through her mind. Ironic, how they never said it when they were together, but now that he was walking away, they rung through her mind. It broke her. To have such strong feelings for someone seemed too surreal to admit at first and now that she did, it was too late. The detective realized that her hand had made its way to his and she gripped his arm tightly, tears she hadn't realized, were rolling down her sharp cheekbones in a steady stream. "Please." Her heart wanted to say, to beg him, to make him stay, kiss him and tell him that they would fight it together, like they always did, but as their eyes met one last time, she hesitated. This was inevitable. People always leave. If not today, then tomorrow Abraxas would threaten him and at that time, she would be the one doing this. But it didn't seem to matter at that moment, all that did were the tears that she wanted to wipe away. The detective uncurled her fingers from around his arm and reluctantly placed them on either sides of his face, her breathing uneven, "Please." She finally said, her voice not betraying her this time. The once uptight detective, afraid to let her feelings show, now fell apart in front of the mass-murderer, "I love you. Don't leave me."

Sebastian Angelo d'Fierro: “You think I want too?!” He cried out, “You think that I just suddenly want to stop being with someone who makes me feel like I can actually do some good in the world, someone who made me feel wanted in this world? Y-you think that after all we’ve been through...I’d let you go so easily?” The swell of emotion that both of them were feeling was clearly taking it’s toll. “Dammit, Cor, that’s the only thing I /can/ do! My past is a tsunami waiting to drown everything and everyone I love in an instant, and I’m not ready to lose you, Leona, Leonardo, Alex...everyone.” The volume in his voice began to lower, “Ever since August...no, ever since that first talk we had right here, you’ve made me feel like I’m something more than just a monster who has committed too many atrocities to actually be wanted.” Sebastian suddenly felt the powerful grip of a Nephilim, her hands clutching his arm, but the physical pain was nothing to what he was feeling inside. “God-f******-dammit, Lia. There are so many things I wanted to do with you.” His voice broke mid-sentence but he continued, “Travel to every exotic country the world has to offer, be able to feel some legitimate peace, move away from this wartorn city...get ma-” He stopped his sentence, not wanting to finish the thought of something that could happen, because he wanted it so badly, but thinking about it would crush him. But once she uttered the single word. “Please”, every atom in his being wanted to retract everything he had said and go back to what it was...but he remembered that to keep her safe, to keep that stubborn, sarcastic, beautiful detective safe from the men and women he had angered from the past...he had to let her go. “I can’t stay.” He said, his eyes drifting towards her, puffy and red-eyed as she said that she loved him, and leaned in, to kiss her one last time. The kiss lasted only a few moments, but to Sebastian, the feeling that he probably would never do this again, at least not for a long time, made time slow even more. As he pulled away, his hand cupped her face, and and he used the index of his thumb to wipe away her tears, “Cor…” He started, “In another life, I’d ask you to marry me in the not so distant future...maybe have a few kids and settle in some suburban house out in some quiet f****** state like Utah...or some s*** like that, I don’t know.” He chuckled, before sniffling, “I love you, Cornelia Bradford...you’re the one who caught me off guard, the one I didn’t see coming.” Sebastian let out a shaky breath before saying, “Will you do me one last favour? A kindness for a poor, restless soul like mine?” He smiled softly, “All those things I would’ve done with you, in that other, happier...better life. Find a man who’ll do all those things with you and more, he’s out there.” And the last words he said utterly broke the man as he said, “I just don’t think he’s me.” Sebastian used the sleeve of his suit to wipe away his tears before standing up, "I...I should go."

Cornelia Hael Bradford: Cornelia shook her head, trying to get rid of that one thought that kept ringing in her mind. Yet another person leaving her. None of the enemies, Abraxas, nothing mattered, nothing could create any more pain than the thought that he was choosing to walk away. It shattered her, the pain was too much. "Then do them with me!" She cried out, her grip unintentionally growing stronger, leaving a mark on the fire lord's pale skin. It hurt. It hurt to see him walk away and it hurt that she wasn't being able to do anything about it. In a last desperate attempt, she pulled him close, her fingers delicately tracing his hairline as she begged him to stay. But he returned it with a kiss, not a passionate, 'okay, let's get back together' kiss, but a final touch of their lips - a goodbye. Cornelia held on to his touch as if for dear life, still not ready to let go as time stood still, letting the lovers delve in their last act of love. She shut her eyes tightly, the salty taste of their tears melting into the kiss before pulling away. Cornelia leaned into his touch, shaking her head at his words. A hysterical laughter gave way to a loud sob as she thought about the life they could have had, the happiness that she could have given him, the love that he'd fill her with. "Pinky promise?" She chuckled, her hues swollen with tears. However at the mention of his favor, Cornelia broke down in tears, shaking her head as she fell to her knees, knowing that the silence would tell him that she would only ever love him. "I wish it was you. I wanted it to be you." Cornelia whispered, covering her face with her palms, before her voice finally gave way to a cry as the Mass-Murdering A****** walked away from the detective he fell in love with, forever. Centuries later, the waves of the river, the stars in the sky, all would speak about the lovestory of the criminal firelord with the angel detective, but what they wouldn't say was the little promise of forever that they would carry to their next life and after.

~x~