We Could Have Happened.

Epilogue : "sweet dreams, sweetheart"

You'll never know how many dreams,

I've dreamed about you,

or just how empty

they all seemed without you.

- It's been a long, long time : Harry James and Helen Forrest

{Third person pov}

7 years later

It was 8 am in the morning, Levi woke up to a loud crash coming from the kitchen. He rushed to see what the commotion was, and he spotted a tiny creature standing guiltily in the middle of the kitchen, with a spoon in its hand while the tub of mint chocolate ice cream was on the floor. Thank goodness, it was plastic and nothing spilt.

"I'm sorry, papa." She said, guilt creeping up her adorable flushed cheeks.

"Hey sweetheart, it's too early to have ice cream, your mom would kill me." Levi picked her up in hands, after putting the ice cream back in the freezer and taking away the spoon from her.

She was Levi's 3 year old daughter, Echo, named after his first sweetheart.

"Sorry, papa."

"It's okay, sweetheart. I'll make pancakes for you, okay?" Levi said, putting her down.

"Mama!" Little Echo shouted, running towards her mother.

"Good morning. Why are you up so early, baby? Why is your dad making pancakes." Isabel picked Echo up, walking towards her husband.

"Good morning, baby." Levi said, kissing his wife's, Isabel's cheek.

"Apparently your daughter wanted to have ice cream for breakfast, so I decided to feed her some pancakes." Levi said.

"She takes after you." Isabel replied, laughing.

Levi met Isabel a few years after Echo's passing, and they found comfort in each other, as Isabel lost her loved one too. Isabel understood Levi's love for Echo, and when their baby girl was born, she suggested naming her after his sweetheart, Echo.

Levi moved back home from Paris, handling his own company here, and he wanted to be nearer to Echo. He constantly visited her, talked to her, or just sat there, wishing that he could see her again.

Today was her 7th death anniversary. The three of them, Levi, Isabel and Little Echo, getting ready to visit her.

"Papa, where is aunty Echo? Is she in the sand?" Little Echo asked her father.

"No, sweetheart. She's in the stars. Always watching over you, mama and me." Levi smiled at his daughter.

He placed six tulips on her gravestone, white, yellow, pink, purple, orange and red, the ones he gave her before.

Isabel squeezed Levi's arm, taking Little Echo in her arms, indicating she'd give him some alone time with Echo.

Levi sat down by her gravestone, like he always did.

"Hi sweetheart." He whispered. No matter how many times he's visited her, the feeling of emptiness and longing still filled him.

"How are you, sweetheart? I'm doing alright, Isabel is too and Little Echo asks about you a lot." He chuckled softly.

"It's been 7 years since you left, Echo. I miss you. I wish I could hear your voice again, dance with you, kiss you. I miss you so fucking much, Echo, it hurts so bad. I wish you'd come back to me."

Levi could not stop crying, while pouring his heart out to Echo, as he took the polaroid from his wallet, the polaroid was fading, just like she said it would.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, so fucking sorry." His crying forceful, and hyperventilating, trying to get out the words he wished to say.

He kept apologising over and over again for letting the polaroid fade, for letting his memories fade over time. But that's life, isn't it? The past becomes a memory and slowly fades over time.

The memories of Echo in his head blurry. There were only bits and pieces left of her, yet there was an empty space in his heart, that could never be filled by anyone else.

He calmed down a little, laughing slightly, saying, "Little Echo reminds me of you, sweetheart. She has your eyes, your smile, your laugh, and your heart."

Levi looked down at the grass, whispering, "I wish I could hold you one last time."

Just as he said that, Little Echo ran towards him, shouting "Papa! Papa!"

He watched his daughter coming towards him, and opened his arms for her to jump into, he smiled, seeing Echo in his Little Echo. He was holding her, this was Echo's way of telling him that he really was holding her.

He hugged Little Echo, placing a kiss on her forehead, standing up from where he sat.

He held Little Echo's hand, facing the gravestone, crouching down to place his hand on it, saying, "I love you, sweetheart."

Maybe their story wasn't meant to happen, but they could have happened, they could have happened if Levi realised his feelings for Echo earlier, or if Echo confessed earlier, or shortened the 6 years of waiting, or if Echo wasn't diagnosed with cancer, or if Levi wasn't diagnosed with depression, either.

'We could have happened.', Levi thought to himself silently.

But not every story ends with a happy ending, and sometimes even the ones that end with a sad ending, was still a beautiful story to tell.

Just before he turned to walk back towards his wife with his child holding his hand, he whispered,

"Sweet dreams, sweetheart. I'll see you in the sky tonight."

T H E   E N D .

Do check out my latest book on my profile : Hades, Burn My Heart.