A golden door faded from the air and Tena stood somewhere in an open field. The magic had not worked properly. She can create her doors to find a specific person, place, or feeling in the reflection. The intention in her mind when she created the door was to save Arian. Looking around, she saw no one, just a small cottage near the road.

Pressing her fingers outward, she created the ornate dial and spun it.  As it twirled in the air, Tena could feel time change.  Everything momentarily slowed to a halt as the world adjusted to the extreme demand of her power.  If she would not be able to return for years, she needed the largest dilation between the two timelines as magically possible.

Wearing a plain commoner’s dress and a satchel filled with secrets from the future, she walked towards the cottage. The small home was rundown, the whitewash of the exterior walls appearing to have a brown hue. Clues to its former color were only evident in rain streaks that distorted the dirt.

The magic might not have been wrong, maybe Arian was there.

Tena’s old frame wobbled towards the house, but she did not feel feeble. The field she was in was unkempt, but she assumed it had once been a thriving farm. Earthen rows were firmly crusted, a long memory from when they last bore the fruits of nature. 

As the dilapidated field ended, she came to a place in pristine condition, a grave. At first, she worried the grave was for Arian, but it became clear that the grave was not new. This precious place was maintained in a way that showed the care of a bereaved soul tending to it for years. 

Her heart began to fill with sadness as she stood there. After her moment of silence, she continued her walk toward the cottage.

An elderly man was sitting in a chair just outside the door. His eyes were distant and sad, his skin was sallow and waxy, his breathing a little ragged. It took him a long time to notice a person approaching, but as he saw the ancient white-haired woman approaching, he slowly stood up with tears in his eyes.

“Dottie,” he mumbled, “is that you, my love? Have you finally come for me?”

Tena’s heart was utterly broken for the look of loss in this man’s eyes. The magic had not found Arian but did find someone that wanted to be saved. How long had he been living with this grief in his heart? She got close to him and held out her hand, which he grasped desperately as he sobbed.

“Dottie please,” he cried “I miss you so much.”

Tena shushed him and guided him to walk with her back to the grave. He silently followed her without any questions, clasping her hand more tightly than she would have thought his gnarled fingers could manage.

Back at the grave, she beckoned him to kneel with her. She held his hands in hers and looked at his watery eyes.

“Are you sure this is what you want?”

“I’ve wanted this since the day I lost you.”

She put her hand on his heart and soft golden glow emanated from her touch. His presence in this world fast forwarded, but his time left had not been long. Soon his breathing rasped, and his heart stopped.

Gently, Tena laid the man down on the grave next to his long-lost wife. Once in position, she placed her hands on his body and the glow began again. Rushing his existence forward in time until there was nothing but soft dirt where she had laid him, returning him to the earth.

Her sister had made her believe that love makes the world ugly, resulting in anger or bitterness when it is eventually lost. Not that Tena genuinely believed love to be a negative thing but, in becoming a recluse to hide from Ellura, the emotion had become tainted.  Love was the precursor to someone’s madness.

In this moment, she knew that this man was not any of those things.  He was not angry or unhinged, he had been grieving for years. His sadness was a beacon of the beautiful love he and his wife once shared. Tena felt her own grief in all the love she had lost throughout time begin to rise inside her chest. 

Reaching in her satchel, she took out a packet of seeds and sprinkled them across the grave. Tears flowed down her face as she made the flowers grow and bloom, spreading across the burial place of this undoubtedly devout couple like a blanket.

Their pristine grave was now covered in a beautiful bed of everlasting flowers.