Ysanne

That night she dreamed.

She dreamed that Edmond took her in his arms and stripped away her clothes, using his fingertips to trace the lines of the fire flickering across her skin. She dreamed of him kissing her, touching her, dreamed of touching him in return, exploring his body with her hands and mouth. She dreamed of him sliding inside her, his hips flexing as he brought her to the brink of ecstasy.

But when she looked up at him, wanting to see her own pleasure reflected in his face, it wasn't Edmond's face above her, but Julien's, and she jerked awake with a soft cry, feeling like her heart was being torn in two.

Julien had been dead for longer than Edmond had been alive, and somehow she still felt like she'd just betrayed him.

Love was so beautiful, but it could be so painful too.

She was a mess of emotion. She didn't know what she felt, or what she was supposed to feel.

And finally, in the aftermath of that dream, she acknowledged a fear that had been brewing at the back of her mind for some time now.

What if Edmond asked her to turn him?

He'd never given her any indication that he would, but he did often ask about what it meant to be a vampire, and she couldn't believe the thought hadn't crossed his mind.

But this wasn't the life for him.

He had a life to live, and it wasn't as a vampire.

Ysanne wanted him to be happy with a human wife. She wanted him to have human children.

He could never have that with her.

She looked over at him as she slept beside her, his head pillowed on one arm, his eyelashes like dark smudges above his cheekbones.

He had become so precious to her, but her heart was still raw and fragile, and there wasn't room in it for everything she was feeling.

Edmond wanted more from her than she could give, and it was tearing her up inside, because she wanted to give him that, but she was too afraid.

She realised then that she had to leave him. No matter how difficult it was, it would be better for them both in the end.

She would leave, and their time would be over, and they would never see each other again, but that's how it should be. Ysanne would carry on with her long and sometimes lonely life, but Edmond would find love with someone he could truly be with. He would be happy, and in time he would forget her. She would become nothing more than a faded memory, some fragment of his past that was more dream than reality.

But she couldn't explain any of this to him. Even if he understood – which she really doubted – she couldn't bear the pain of a long goodbye.

She needed to leave, but she couldn't breathe a word of it.

And that hurt.

The next day, she made sure that he had plenty of supplies – wood and food and tools. The weather was finally starting to improve – though so subtly that Edmond probably couldn't tell yet – but Ysanne wanted to be sure that he had everything he needed in case the weather took a turn for the worse again.

He was strong now.

Even if the cold came back, he would survive.

Edmond didn't suspect a thing.

He trusted her, and that broke her heart, so much so that she almost changed her mind.

But if she didn't leave him now, she might not ever. She wanted him, but it couldn't end well for either of them if she tried to keep him. And it wasn't fair to keep him when so much of her heart still belonged to Julien.

Edmond was special, and he deserved to be loved fully.

As he slept that night, she committed his face to memory.

Now that she realised the faces of the people she loved were slipping from her memory, she vowed that she would find a way to capture their likeness – through painting or drawing – so they would never fully leave her.

"My beautiful winter boy," she whispered, gently moving a lock of dark hair from his face.

He didn't stir.

She memorised the brush-strokes of his eyebrows, the sweep of his lashes, the sharp lines of his cheekbones, the curve of his lips. She memorised every plane and angle of his face, this beautiful man who'd come so unexpectedly into her life. She memorised it all, because after today she would never see him again.

She wished she could leave him a letter, rather than stealing away while he slept, but Edmond could not read, and she wouldn't have her private words to him translated by someone else.

Instead, she left a small brooch – one of the only pieces she had left – on the pillow where she usually lay. The face of the brooch featured a small heart, set with tiny diamonds, and she hoped he would understand that it was the only heart she could give him.

She left her trunk and most of her clothes, taking only what was easy to carry. Everything else, Edmond could keep or sell, or destroy if he wanted to. It was all replaceable; it meant little to her now.

She looked around the room one more time, at the fire they'd kept burning all this long winter, at the bath-tub in the corner, at the bed that they had shared, and then, before the sun could climb over the horizon, she stole away, silent as a breath, and left the house behind.

She would probably never go back now.

Edmond could keep the house, and when he finally found the woman who deserved him, maybe he could bring her back here to live. Maybe those bedrooms upstairs would see children one day.

"Goodbye, my Edmond. I hope you find all the happiness you deserve," she said, looking back one final time at the place that had been her home, and then she strode away through the snow, heading for the horizon.

Edmond

When he woke up, Ysanne's side of the bed was empty. He half-sat up, expecting to see her tending to the fire as usual, but the room was empty.

A brooch lay on the pillow beside him.

Edmond's heart turned to ice and cracked down the middle.

He knew what it meant, but . . . he couldn't accept it.

She wouldn't leave him, not like this. She wouldn't.

He scrambled out of bed and ran into the kitchen, calling her name.

There was no reply.

Undaunted, he searched the rooms upstairs, and when he found them empty, he ran outside, forgetting to even put on his boots.

The snow was like needles against his bare skin, but he barely even noticed.

"Ysanne," he screamed.

His voice echoed around the silent countryside, startling a couple of birds that had been roosting on the roof, but after the flapping of their wings died away, there was still no sign of Ysanne.

She truly had gone.

He fell to his knees in the snow, his eyes burning.

Ysanne had left him.

She'd stolen away in the night, without saying a word. She hadn't even said goodbye.

How could she just have left him?

At first he entertained wild fantasies about chasing after her. Even a vampire left tracks in the snow – he could follow them. But Ysanne could move much, much faster than him. If she didn't want him to catch her, then he wouldn't, no matter how hard he tried. He had no idea where she would go, or what she would do. She had the money and the resources to leave France altogether, to travel the world, to find someone else to share her bed.

She had left him.

She was gone.

It hurt more than he had ever imagined.

Edmond grieved for her – as the friend he had grown so close to, as well as the woman he had begun to fall for.

He knew she wouldn't come back, but he found himself waiting for her anyway.

Every morning he went outside and scanned the horizon, hoping to glimpse her flowing hair or lithe build. But there was never any sign of her.

Eventually the snow melted and spring came. Flowers emerged from the ground, unfurling vibrant petals, and the trees in the courtyard sprouted small buds.

The fire in the main room died out.

Ysanne did not come back.

At last, Edmond accepted that she never would. He'd never know why she had left him like this, but he had to carry on living his life. That's what she would have wanted.

He pinned her brooch to his shirt-front, tracing the pattern of diamonds with his finger, and pocketed her diamond necklace.

Wherever she was, whatever she was doing, he hoped that she was happy.

And maybe, just maybe, he would see her again one day.

Maybe then things would be different.

And so another journey comes to an end. This wasn't a story I thought I would write, but I'm really glad I did, and I hope you all enjoyed it. I may write more stories about Edmond and Ysanne's past one day, and in the meantime, there's the Christmas Special to look forward to.

If you haven't already added it to your library/reading list, then you can find it on my profile. I should be able to start posting in the next couple of weeks, and I hope you'll join me and the Belle Morte gang for some Christmassy fun :)