Hello, everyone! Please forgive me for taking so long to finish this story, but I wanted it to end with he best ending I could possibly write. An unexpected story means so much to me, my first fic here and I didn't know if a Spartan shy character would be well received. But you proved me wrong! And I'm so grateful for that...

I know the ending is short, but I think it says what it needs to say and honestly, I think it's beautiful. I hope you think the same.

Thank you so much for all your loving!

Climene woke up the next day feeling strangely light. She remembered vividly being held by Stelios the night before. But now he was nowhere to be seen.

His spear and shield were gone. There were no blood marks from his injuries on the sheets. He had vanished like a dream.

Now she began to wonder – had he really been there with her? Ow was it just a trick her mind played on her?

The morning had fully taken place. She walked until she was outside the house, and stared at the horizon. The sun light spread on the wheat fields.

There seemed to be a strange feeling hanging in the air.

Climene walked until she reached the wheat fields. The wind blew softly in her hair. Everything seemed strangely calm compared to the last days. And she didn't know why, but Stelios had managed to soothe her.

But how could that be? He was fighting at Thermopylae, alongside the 300 against the whole Persian army. How could he soothe her, when he was fighting against death and slavery? Or maybe, by now, he wasn't fighting at all.

Climene felt a hot tear running down her cheek. But, for the first time, she felt she shouldn't be sad. Even tough she lost Stelios, she had been able to be with him for the last time. Wheter it had been just her imagination, it didn't matter now.

The morning seemed to whisper something to her. Maybe, that there had been no defeat. Somehow, the Spartans weren't defeated. That eased the pain in her heart.

She felt a mixture of feelings: her heart ached, yet her mind was light. She felt it didn't need to be explained.

Climene looked once again at the horizon. Her heart would always hold Stelios as the most precious thing it had ever held – and because of that, she would always miss him dearly. But he had shown her it was possible to live proudly, wether you are what is expected from you or not. And because of that, she would always shed tears of joy for him. He had been her light, but now she could see the light on her own.

Now she knew it.