I stare into the pond, a shiny mirror of blue with the faintest of ripples tracing its surface. I see myself, the striped doe with violets, but that isn't who I want to see. I listen to the buzz of dragonflies and murmurs of the willows, the splashing of the Weeper's tears and croaking songs of the frogs, but that isn't what I want to hear.
I try to see through the pond. All I see is the murky bottom. I wonder if I listened hard enough, I could hear her voice. Wishing, wishing. If only, if only. If only the barrier between me and the painted flutterby could be lifted. But if wishes were fishes, there wouldn't be any more room in the pond for water.
I long to be able to run to her side, and warm her if she was cold. I long to be able to feel her heartbeat alongside mine, and know that she was alive, truly alive. ...Maybe that would be too soon an action, even if no glass was between us. I don't know. I might do it, anyway; I love her too much.
I wait and live to see her smile. I live to see her laugh, and take flight with bright wings of joy, not anguish. It might take forever. But it's all right, I'll wait. I'll wait, and I'll smile, and laugh, for her.
I feel a tear slide down my face, but I smile through it. That's what Taint would wish.
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