Once upon a time in a small village in the mountains lived two families that had always been close friends. One family was very rich and they had a little girl, the other family was poor and had a little boy despite living different lives the two kids were very close friends.

Years passed and the two friends grew even closer. They spent most of their days together playing, reading, or simply relaxing. The more time they spent together the more that they loved each other. Until finally one day they told each other how they felt! It was the happiest day of their lives, they both loved each other so much, and they were the perfect soulmates. Their love was so strong and obvious that their parents didn't question it or try to stop it, in fact both families encouraged their love.

One day as they walked down the shopping areas of the village like they usually did together, the girl saw a beautiful necklace on display in the store. She pointed it out to the boy; he just smiled sadly at her because he knew he could never buy her such beautiful things. When he got home after dropping her off, he was so mad at the fact that he was poor. You see never before had the fact that he was poor bothered him that is until now. He looked at the extravagant life the girl lived even for a small village her family was really well off, but she was so humble never shining her wealth in front of others that's what made her so special to everyone. He felt utterly trapped like he couldn't give her everything that she deserved, everything he wanted to give her in life. If he would have only asked her he would have known that she didn't want all that extra stuff, sure it was nice but what was more important to her was having him by her side.

When the boy's father came home from work he got worried never having seen his peaceful son filled with so much anger before. Asking his son what was wrong the boy told him, the father's shoulders sagged immediately understanding the turmoil his son was in. The father remembered that his brother had once offered to take the boy and raise him in the city so he could live a better life. The father than went to the boy and told him, "Son I know you don't want to leave her, but if you do go and work hard you can find a way to give her everything that she deserves. I won't tell you what to do the decision is up to you. When you make up your mind come and talk to me, either way I will support you." That night the boy went for a walk in the mountain alone, thinking of the opportunity that his father had presented him with. As he looked down the mountain he could see the girl's grand house and how beautiful it was. When he looked at his home it looked like a sad small shack, no he couldn't let the love of his life live like that. Under the light of the full moon the boy decided to leave and better his life for her because she deserved better.

The next morning he told his father of his decision, the father just gave his son a sad smile he would miss him but his mind was made up. The father made the necessary preparations for the boy to be on his way the very next day! The village was so far up the mountain that transportation in and out of the village came once a month, and as luck would have it the very next day was the day it would be coming ad leaving. There were many things to prepare before his departure; sadly he wouldn't have time to spend with his beloved before he left. The day was spent running errands all over town, completely forgetting about everything else.

He was so enthralled in making sure that he was ready to leave the next day that he forgot what said day meant for the couple. The day of his departure fell on their anniversary of the day that they had declared their love for each other. Every year they would celebrate by spending the whole day together even more than usual. It was a day dedicated solemnly to them; they would avoid other people by walking down secret paths that they had created to get to each other faster and to keep their privacy. They were the only two that knew of these paths ad worked hard to keep it that way, it was a magical escape for them and their love.

The next day came faster than expected with all that he had been doing he didn't even get a glimpse of his beloved. His father helped carry all of his boxes to his transportation; the boy said his final good byes to the rest of his family. Maybe he should have written her a letter but the time was up for now, and nothing could be done. Half way down the mountain and away from his past life he remembered what day it was, the weight of what he had just down fell on his shoulders. He should have made time to see her, to say good bye to give her one last kiss but it was too late now. The dam that had been holding his emotions back finally broke and he cried as he felt his heart break into a million pieces. Exhausted by the past two days and the liberation of his emotions he fell asleep, all his dreams showed him the different ways he should apologizing to her over and over again.

Back at village the girl had prepared a very special picnic for their magical day. As she walked the short distance towards the boys house through their secret paths something in her heart felt off like it was missing something. As she got closer to his house the pit in her stomach got bigger and her nerves grew. When she knocked on the door the boy's mother answered the door with tears in her eyes. Immediately the girl went in to alert asking about the boy if he was okay what was wrong with his mother. All the mother could do as she asked about him was cry even harder and hold on to the girl. Soon the father came into the room to see what all the commotion was about. When he saw his wife and the overemotional state she was in he put a hand on his shoulder and gathered her in his arms, removing her from the girl's arms.

The father looked sadly into the girls eyes and told her that the boy had left early that very same morning. She ran out of the house dropping everything not bothering to listen to the rest of the father's explanation. She rushed and searched all of their secret places but he was nowhere to be found. She ran out the village down the mountain as far as she could but it was impossible he truly was gone. The worst pain that she had ever felt filled her body, her heart was literally breaking the worst part was that he didn't even say goodbye, on that day her world fell apart at the seams.

The boy got to the city and he threw himself into work and studying determined to make his life better for his beloved. He was so busy with his new goal in life that he didn't even have time to mourn the loss of his love. Every day he would sit at his desk and try to write her a letter explaining everything and begging for forgiveness, but every single time he failed to put all of his emotions into words. But not a single night passed that he didn't think of his beloved every night he dreamed of the life they would soon have together.

The girl on the other hand was broken. She stopped eating, sleeping, talking, and everything that had made her so special. Sadness ruled her life inside and out, she was nothing but a shell of her past self completely lost without him. Every day she waited to hear from him anything to prove that their love was still alive, but nothing ever came. Worried dearly for his dear daughter her father told her it was time to move on, she denied him but in the back of her mind she knew was never coming back.

Years passed and the boy had yet to contact her, yet every night they dreamed of each other. Slowly the girl began to heal again but not completely she would never be like she was before. The boy worked even harder losing himself completely cutting off all other kinds of feelings other than determination. Slowly as she healed her dreams of her beloved became less and less frequent, soon they stopped altogether. The only time a year that she would dream of him was on the day of their anniversary, on that date every year she would let her emotions reign free and she allowed her heart to miss and dream with him.

One day the boy now man looked around him and realized he finally had enough to go back to his beloved! He was so caught up in work and blocking out his emotions that he missed when he had more than what he truly needed to make himself and the girl happy. Deciding to go back to the village to marry his beloved and bring her back to his empire so that they could both enjoy all of his hard work together. He set off towards the village, when he got back the first stop was to see his family.

When he walked into his old house for the first time in years, his mother stood motionless as she stared at her son taking him in. He looked so much like her baby boy and yet he had come back home as a handsome man. As the man ran to embrace his tearful mother tears of pain from being alone all these years caught up to him, and he finally let himself break down and feel as he cried in his mother's arms. He cried for the first time in years like that day so long ago that he left the village. When he finally calmed down he told his family stories of his life.

As they exchanged stories catching up for all of the missed years making it seem like he had never left them. The only problem was whenever the topic of his beloved came up, the family would look around at each other and exchange looks or ignoring his questions completely. That only served to make him nervous and a bit suspicious what could they possibly be hiding from him. When they looked at the clock they realized how late it truly was, he could no longer go see his beloved she was probably asleep by now after all. As everyone in his family went to bed he was restless with the thought of soon having her in his arms yet again.

So much was his excitement that he couldn't sleep at all, he got up to go for a walk. Walking along their secret paths that were so familiar to him and yet they had changed so much in his absence, he let his memories flow freely of a simpler time. Looking up at the full moon he smiled knowing that soon everything in his world would be perfect yet again. Down the street from his childhood home the girl now a beautiful women felt unease inside of her. She hadn't felt like this since the day her beloved left without a single good bye. Thinking of him brought a small pang to her heart as she rubbed it trying to will the pain away.

Deciding that it was nothing she rubbed her over grown belly, her baby would be here any day soon and she couldn't wait to meet him. The new addition to her ever growing family, she scooted closer to her sleeping husband trying the gather some of his warmth. Feeling the pang again on nights like these when the full moon was shining through her window and her house was silent she would think of the perfect love she had lost. When her kids looked at her a certain way she would think of him and how that should be their beautiful family. If only he hadn't left if only he would have given her a sign he would return to her. Well it was much too late to think of all that.

She loved her husband dearly he treated her with all the love and respect that she deserved. He knew and understood that even though she loved him he did not hold the number one place in her heart. That one place was closed off completely, maybe one day he would unlock it but for now he would be patient. They had many years to be together and make their love stronger, she wasn't leaving him and he promised her every day that he would always be there for her he was going nowhere.

The women still could not sleep for anything in the world the baby was entirely to restless that night. When he got like this the only thing to calm him down was a walk in the night through the secret paths that they had made so many years ago. Sure it was late but she was confident that she would be safe, besides only two people knew about those magical paths and the other person was gone forever. She was so caught up in her beautiful memories that she missed the other person walking on their secret paths. Her foot got caught in an old tree root and she rapidly sped towards the hard ground, arms wrapping themselves around her belly to offer some type pf protection, but the pain never reached her. Instead she was enveloped in a pair of strong, sturdy, familiar set of arms.

The man saw a very pregnant women walking on the same path weird there were only two people in the village that knew of these paths, shrugging he kept walking looking away from the strange women in favor of staring at the moon. That is until he saw her trip, he quickly went into action catching her and pulling her towards him before she fell and hurt herself. It was strange he hadn't seen her face but even with her giant belly she felt perfect in his arms; than a familiar scent filled his nose the smell of fresh rain and spring flowers. There was only one person in the world who smelled like that in the world and that was his beloved, but it couldn't be the women he was holding was pregnant!

As he started to let go of her he heard her whimper, as he looked down at her face he felt his heart break all over again. His world came shattering around him. How could this possibly be her? As their eyes met all the air rushed out of his lungs, electricity charged the air, it felt right being in each other's arms and yet it was so wrong at the same time.

She belonged to someone else while he only belonged to her. Her tears flowed freely in the sight of her long lost love. The pain that they felt was unreal and yet as they held each other, words were not needed they felt each other's feelings clear as day. The man had to help her sit on a fallen log, their surprise meeting was putting a strain on her. She shouldn't be putting herself under such turmoil but it could not be helped in this situation. The man noticed her tired expression and kept quiet as she gathered her thoughts and enough strength to ask one question why?

As the man told her everything were it had all stared, the day he realized he wasn't good enough for her, the night he decided to leave to make something of himself, and the years that passed up until this point in time. As she heard all that he went through and the unnecessary pain that he had endured by being alone tore her heart apart, making even more tears appear in her eyes. He brought up that the only fact that he survived for so long was the thought of their future together, as he mentioned that part he looked away trying to hide the anger and betrayal he felt from her. He then asked her when and how she decided she didn't love him anymore.

At that question she stood in anger banging on his chest trying to convey all the pain she endured when he left, to the point that she even lost a part of herself waiting for him. Telling him how her poor dear husband took years gathering the shattered pieces of her heart. That even if he loved her so unconditionally she couldn't love him the same way. Yet her heart felt safe with him so they got married and started a family trying to fill the void he had left inside of her. The man cried alongside his beloved he felt her pain how much she had mourned their love how she had lost hope and eventually lost part of herself in the process.

They sat in silence on the log holding hands under the full moon light, their pain flowing back and forth between them. He had lost her for good, even if he did feel betrayed and hated her husband he thanked him for loving and protecting her when he had been to weak willed to do so. He noticed how tired she looked, she was shivering yet she was holding onto his hand like it was her life support. He decided that it was time to take her back to her family and say one last painful good bye to each other.

She got up and walked behind him fingers intertwined for the last time silent tears flowed down her beautiful face. When they were outside of her house he gave her one last bitter sweet kiss all of his feelings showing in that one kiss. She cried as she held him for the last time, her tears fell for herself and the side of herself she had lost, they fell for him and the pain of his lonely heart. But she cried the most was for the perfect love that was lost forever to them. After he made sure she was inside safely he walked back home in the silent village that now held nothing but painful memories.

That very night he made another decision to leave once again but this time it would be for good and never look back. He owed her that to her so that she could heal and love her husband like she should. The depth of his love for her was so deep that he was willing to protect her from afar even if it was in another's arms. He vowed to protect her and her family from afar for as long he could. Every year twice a year he would send her a beautiful bouquet of flowers once for the date of their anniversary and another for the night that they had said their final farewells. Her husband knew who they were from but he never said anything because he knew that somehow she had finally began to fully open up her heart to him.

The man finally got married and had his very own family but he never loved another like he did his beloved. Finally after a long peaceful life the man died, leaving everything to his children and widow. His wife was well aware of his daily heart turmoil's and supported him and loved him either way. So when he requested to be buried back in his village she had absolutely no objections about the matter, anything to make her dead husband happy. His other request did not bother her either because she knew that even she could not stop such pure and perfect love, so twice a year she kept sending those beautiful bouquets to her husbands beloved in the village.

When the man was laid to rest his beloved came to visit him and cry for her true love. Her dead husband had died years ago she was left with her children and grandchildren yet she once again felt alone. Not long after her soulmate died did she come to pass too, some say it was of old age but those that truly knew her story knew it was from a broken heart. Her children called the man's family and asked if she could be buried next to him, they willingly complied because they knew their father's love was so pure it had to be held through time. Finally the two lovers were reunited never to be separated again. Every year twice a year to beautiful bouquets were delivered to their graves in honor of the pure and tragic love that they shared.

THE END