#this heart

She clawed at her head of snow white hair, on the verge of yanking it out. She didn't know whether to scream or cry or both.

If she disappeared, would the pain cease?

Normally she would bottle up these feelings, tuck them away like a love letter never meant to be sent.

But desperate times called for desperate measures...

~

The arachnid stood on the patio of her mentor's abode, her knuckles hovering over the oak door. The psychokinetic who helped keep her umbrakinesis in check insisted she could contact him whenever she needed. After all, time was on his side. Plus with powers like theirs, it was important for them to be in tune with their emotions. However, she never actually took him up on his offer. Did he truly mean it?

She took a deep breath to muster up her courage, but then retracted her hand. Perhaps she shouldn't wake him—

Suddenly the door creaked open, casting a sliver of candlelight on her face. "Come in," she heard a voice chime.

Ivy stepped inside as the door, engulfed in a cyan aura, closed behind her. "How did you know I was here?"

"I felt a disturbance," said the silvery hedgehog, looking up from his novel as he sat in a lounge chair by the fireplace. Then he gave a cheeky grin as he held up his communicator. "Just kidding. I got a notification from my doorbell camera."

Ivy bowed her head. "Apologies for the intrusion."

Silver waved her concern away, gesturing for her to take a seat. "It's a bit late for one of our training sessions. What's on your mind?"

Ivy did so, wasting no time. "Have you ever been in love?"

Silver reddened. "P-Pardon?"

Ivy enunciated, "Have you ever. Been in love?"

Silver rubbed his neck bashfully. "I... don't know if I would call it that."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed, setting his book down. "It was... complicated. I... cared a lot about him," he explained, careful not to use the L-word. "But it wasn't the place nor time." He laughed, a hollow thing. "Literally."

Ivy surmised, "Time travel kept you away from him?"

Silver nodded solemnly. "He always waited for me but I felt that was unfair to him. I loved him so much that I wanted him to be free."

"Love."

His ears perked. "Hm?"

"You said 'love' that time," Ivy observed.

Interestingly, Silver didn't feel embarrassed. He actually felt... relief. "I guess I did."

Ivy looked downcast. "I think I'm going through something similar."

The hedgehog leaned forward, attentive. It prompted Ivy to continue. "There's someone I want to pursue but... circumstances... are holding me back."

"What kind of circumstances?"

Ivy gripped her core as if that could ease the agony. "I'm afraid I can't move on from the past. Does time really heal all? And if so, how much time?"

"Ivy," Silver said with the utmost sincerity, "time does heal all. I would know better than anyone. But how much time, you ask? I used to wonder the same thing. I still do."

He scrutinized his hands, knowing the power he held. "When I cut ties with my partner, I wondered how long it would take for me to get over it. I traveled through time for weeks. Months. Even centuries.

"The thing is," he continued, "even though so much time had passed, the heartbreak remained as if it had been yesterday."

He clawed at his chest, reliving the hurt. "It was then I realized I had to physically let the time pass. No shortcuts. No loopholes. Only then did I heal."

Ivy was afraid he would say that. "If that's so, then it wouldn't be fair to make him wait."

"Are you talking about Arte?"

Ivy's breath hitched as she quickly averted her gaze.

Silver let out a soft chuckle. "Listen. I haven't met him personally, but based on what Blaze says about him as her student, I know he's a man of his word."

"But that's the problem!" Ivy cried. "He claims he'd wait an eternity for me, but he shouldn't waste his youth waiting for someone who..." She swallowed, trying to contain the crack in her voice. "Who can't bear another broken heart."

Deep in thought, Silver rubbed his chin. "If you live in fear of the past," he pondered, "are you truly living?"

Ivy's eyes stung with tears. "It's all I have." Sudden thoughts of the jackal swarmed her mind like a fervent tornado. His searing touch. His tempting voice. His lustful gaze. "He—was all—!"

The void in her chest was all too real, and she felt herself being swallowed, her sanity taking a nosedive into the abyss as the dam of her tears broke.

The hedgehog swiftly but gently placed his palm on her forehead, emitting a calming aura to ease her racing mind, to steady her erratic breathing. He encouraged her to take a few deep breaths with him, and after some time, she mellowed, and the world seemed to slow down again.

Silver sat back, offering a handkerchief to his pupil as they embraced the silence, save for the crackling fire.

Eventually he said, "You know... the sun must set in order to rise."

Ivy wiped her tears. "Is this another one of your cryptic lessons?"

Silver laughed. "What I mean is, this will pass. Take some time to heal. To find yourself. As long as you communicate with that special someone, what's 'fair' or not doesn't matter. He should get to decide if he wants to wait," he advised, giving her a reassuring wink.

Ivy let out an amused huff behind her mask. "Perhaps you should take your own advice."

Silver smiled, gazing fondly at a portrait of him with his arm around a blushing magenta chameleon. "Yeah...