The sound of footsteps drew nearer, each tap of his shoes on the cafe's wooden floor like an extra heartbeat for Elara. The world around her blurred. The hiss of the coffee machine, the chatter of other customers, it all faded, drowned out by the sound of those footsteps and the roar of her own blood in her ears.
Kael kept walking, unhurried, as if giving Elara—or himself—time to stop him. But no one moved. Elara was paralyzed, watching his silhouette become clearer, blocking her view of the rest of the cafe.
Then, he stopped right in front of her table. His shadow fell over her, creating their own private space in the middle of the crowd. He didn't utter a single word. He simply pulled out the chair opposite Elara and sat down, slowly. The small table suddenly felt like a very narrow chasm.
And they gazed at each other.
In the thick silence, a noisy conversation unfolded. Kael's eyes spoke a language only Elara understood. They said, "I've been looking for you." They said, "Ten years feels like yesterday." They said, "Look at the mess you left me in." And they also said, "I'm here now."
Elara couldn't bear it. Her eyes welled up, responding to every unspoken word. Her eyes answered, "I know." Her eyes whispered, "I missed you too." Her eyes pleaded, "Forgive me."
The air between them seemed to thunder, filled with everything they had never said, all the regrets, and all the longing suppressed for a decade.
Then, Kael broke the silence. His voice was low, husky, and only a table's length away.
"I missed you too, Elara."
That sentence. Four simple words, shattered by time and choices, were finally spoken. It wasn't a dramatic confession, but a raw and sincere statement, like an undeniable fact. Like saying the sky is blue.
And for Elara, that sentence was simultaneously her prison and her liberation. It was the confession she had both feared and yearned for all this time. The tears she had been holding back finally flowed freely, wetting her cheeks uncontrollably. She said nothing. There was no need. Her crying was a more honest answer than any words.
She just nodded slowly, her eyes still locked with Kael's, allowing herself, for the first time in ten years, to truly feel her deepest longing.