"Tears Of The Reunion"

The weight of his words hung in the air, but Dylne hardly heard them anymore. Her mind was a tangle of emotions—confusion, anger, sadness, and something she couldn’t quite name. Her breathing grew uneven as she stared at Father Maverick, standing there with the same calm, unyielding expression he always had, the one that had once comforted her and now only made her feel more distant from him.

Her hands trembled at her sides, gripping the edges of her overcoat as if anchoring herself to reality. Her vision blurred, and her chest tightened with a feeling she didn’t fully understand. It was too much—seeing him again after all these years, hearing his voice, feeling his presence. He was the same man she had once trusted and admired, but time had turned him into something unreachable, almost unreal.

A sob escaped her lips before she could stop it. The sound startled her, breaking the fragile silence between them. She blinked, suddenly aware of the hot tears streaming down her face, but she didn’t try to wipe them away. She hadn’t even realized she was crying. Her body trembled as the emotions she had held back for so long spilled out, unbidden and uncontrollable.

“I—” she began, but the words caught in her throat. Her voice cracked, and another sob wracked her frame. She shook her head, clutching her coat tighter, her knuckles white against the fabric. “I’m sorry,” she managed to choke out, though she wasn’t sure who she was apologizing to—him or herself.

Father Maverick’s expression shifted then, his stoic mask faltering for the briefest of moments. His brows furrowed, and for a second, he looked like he might step toward her, but he didn’t. He stood rooted in place, his hands at his sides, as if unsure whether his presence would comfort her or make it worse. His gaze softened, though, and when he spoke, his voice was low, almost gentle.

“Dylne,” he said, her name rolling off his tongue with a weight that felt both foreign and familiar. “There’s no need to apologize.”

But his words only made her sob harder. She shook her head again, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. The flood of emotions overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out, raw and broken.

“You don’t understand,” she cried. “You were my teacher, my mentor. You—” Her voice broke, and she swallowed hard, trying to find the strength to continue. “You were the only person who ever made me feel like I could be… something. And then you just left. You disappeared, and I—I didn’t know what to do. I waited for you. I kept waiting, hoping you’d come back, and you never did.”

Her knees buckled slightly, and she stumbled, but she caught herself, planting her feet firmly on the ground. Aciscars, sensing her distress, nuzzled against her leg, but even the cat’s comforting presence couldn’t pull her out of the storm raging inside her.

Father Maverick remained silent for a long moment, his face a mask of conflicting emotions. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft but steady, like a balm trying to soothe the raw edges of her pain.

“I never intended to hurt you,” he said. “I didn’t realize… I didn’t know how deeply my absence would affect you.”

His words, though kind, didn’t erase the years of unanswered questions, of feelings she hadn’t been able to express until now. She looked at him through tear-filled eyes, searching his face for something—anything—that could give her clarity. But all she saw was the same distant, composed man she had always known.

“I just…” she began, her voice barely above a whisper. “I didn’t think it would feel like this. Seeing you again after all this time. It’s—it’s too much.”

She wiped at her cheeks with trembling fingers, though the tears kept falling, unstoppable. Her heart ached with a mixture of joy and sorrow, the realization of how much she had missed him crashing over her like a wave. She had spent so many years wondering what she would say if she ever saw him again, and now that he was here, all she could do was cry.

“I don’t even know why I’m crying,” she said, half-laughing through her tears, though the sound was tinged with bitterness. “It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? I should be happy to see you. I should be thanking you for everything you taught me, for all the ways you helped me. But all I can do is stand here and fall apart.”

Father Maverick’s gaze didn’t waver, but there was a softness in his eyes now, a quiet understanding that hadn’t been there before. He took a slow, deliberate step closer, his movements careful, as though afraid of startling her.

“It’s not ridiculous,” he said gently. “It’s human.”

The simplicity of his words made her breath hitch. She looked up at him, her tear-streaked face framed by the moonlight, and for the first time, she saw a flicker of vulnerability in his expression—a glimpse of the man behind the priest, the teacher who had once been so close yet always just out of reach.

And in that moment, as the night closed in around them, Dylne felt the distance between them begin to shrink, ever so slightly.

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