8 || Splitting Up or Breaking Up

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Their territory might not be the largest, but it was one of the more popular places to live. For the past decade, strong trait users had pledged loyalty to Lou and herself. If one did not think of the barren lands and monsters outside the barrier that protected the city, their livelihood was almost as normal as their old worlds. Humans and other species from myriad of realms lived in harmony as well. Humans and the Sidhes, especially the females, had even begun to grow their hair long. Yet Mayu still kept hers to be short and practical. 

She smiled at him. "Do you know that my hair used to be longer than theirs?" She gestured towards her waist, "They used to be this long and I usually put them in braids. Back then, I was proud of the natural waviness when I let them loose."

He was silent, but the natural frostiness that always surround his aura was muted and softened as he looked at her. He was never a good talker. Ran had said, before he awakened his trait, he used to stutter as well. Therefore, although he still did not talk much, it was a far cry of how he used to be.

Perhaps it was her long sigh as she watched those women as they sat side-by-side by the fountain that caused him to plant a kiss on her head, causing her to be startled. It was rare for him to show his affection in public.

"Do... you want to have long hair? I think... you will look... pretty." His words were slow and deliberately enunciated, as if he had to think long and hard before he was able to say them. 

She chuckled and rested her head on his shoulder, her head shaking lightly.

'Pretty'. Such a simple word that she herself would not believe anymore. Since the [Mad Serpent] gave her an injury that would disgust herself whenever she looked into the mirror, she never associated the word to her. Her right breast, and a part of her rib, were torn off and gnawed by the monster. Back then, she thought she was going to die. 

But back then, he was her blessing. Without him, she would not want to survive that battle. Perhaps, she would not believe 'pretty' from anyone else. But she believed him.

"Long hair is impractical. It will get in the way of me fighting."

Yet, her eyes showed  traces of mist, bearing myriad of memories that had long past. When she used to have those long hair, she was a carefree bubbly teenager. The most important decision used to only be what to wear for her date with her boyfriend back then. What was his name again? The past had long gone.

Perhaps he had mistaken her forlorn as sadness from remembering her long hair. He pulled her closer.

"One day... . I will make the world a place where ... you can grow your hair long... without worry."

Liam Foster's dark eyes reflected the reddish hue of the impending dawn. It was as if two flickers of ember were trying to burst forth from inside those gems.

'Pretty' - he had always told her times and again. But Mayu always thought that that word should be his eyes, his smile, his existence; that word should be her Lou.

"One day... you can show me your beautiful long hair... ." He smiled, one that was more mesmerizing than a Sidhe's ocean blue eyes.

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Mayu looked into her reflection. A smooth pale face, somewhat roundish and had not lost its traces of baby fat and childhood innocence. Only her pair of eyes were striking and carried a trace of anguish. If eyes were window to one's soul, her soul had carried grief, love, and pain spanning over four decades. If her eyes were window to her soul, she wanted to preserve any small traces of his existence in them. 

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