mads.

Isn’t there someone to tend to the gardens? I tripped over.. I am not sure, but someone should take care of it.

It was coming, Diego just knew. Madeleine was about to go back to wherever it was she belonged to or he was about to awake from his drunken sleep. Whichever, he just knew they were in their goodbyes now. He squeezed one of her hands, nodding. “Hide and seek, I see… Very well. Do not hide too well, will you?” The man closed his eyes, not yet counting. Just waiting for a few seconds, pretending like there was not a time limit. He kept it going until there was a certainty in the air that time was, in fact, ticking by. “I love you, Madeleine. Do not forget, si? I will see you some day,” he said before starting his count.

A small smile lifted the tops of the lady's mouth as she nodded in response. "Ah may be guid at hiding, bit here's a secret-- a'm always very claise." Madeleine watched as Diego closed his eyes, tormented by the thought that it was the last time she would see them looking back at her for what she hoped was a long while. It was dreadful, but the more amount of time between was more of the life the young man got to live. Maddie studied his face as they sat in silence, already having memorized his features. She then lifted one hand and gently pressed it against his cheek, just as she had at the beginning of their encounter, and grinned. She had been so lucky to not only know and and be in love this boy, but to have him be in love her as well. Speaking with him again and having been able to share what was truly their last few kisses intensified how much she missed him, though she knew in her heart that they would one day meet again. "I love you, too," Madeleine whispered as her hand fell from his face and her presence was once again absent.