❅ ( jefferson ) ;

   [ his voice falters and breaks 
     as long-kept secrets finally 
     unravel at her word. hands 
     tremble despite his attempts
     at composure, unable to look
     her directly in the eye. lips
     press together in disgust with
     himself, yet words do not evade
     him and the truth tumbles from
     his tongue. ] 

                         ’ I had a family. I put my past
                           behind me— I thought I was
                           d o n e with the hat, with magic.  
                           But fate caught up to me; I was
                           deceived into using it again and
                           my daughter… Lost her father, too. 
                           I was trapped, I couldn’t return to 
                           you. Doomed to that cursed land 
                           forever. And here… Trapped by
                           knowledge. ‘ 

 { ❅ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ——— 

          it’s   as   if  she  began  to  wince  for fear of what his stories
          would reveal  ;  to  know  the  path  he  had  begun  to  walk
          once she was erased from his reality.   there  was  an  ache
          that arose from the base of her gut,  the  timbre  rising  until
          his  final  words  were  lost  in  the  force  of  her   heartbeat
          consuming her ears.  d r o w n i n g  - the  truth  conquered
          her lungs, weighing them down, molten concrete  beginning
          to solidify within them.

                          & so she curled behind the fortress that had concealed
                          her  for  years,  the  hollow   sanctuary,   an   emotional
                          masquerade imminent.   but  no proper mask was to be
                          found  for this moment.   instead, her back replaced the
                          softened nature of her gaze,  turning  from  him,  hands
                          cradled within  one  another.   soon,  flurries  began  to
                          flutter about her atmosphere.

                                                now she knew the devastation of false love.

           all that remained for her to return to was a fractured void,
           struggling to breathe, moisture beginning to collect at the
           corner of her eyes striving for escape. 

               ❝ i’m sorry. ❞ 

                                      what was left but to flee ?

                                                                          ❝ —- i have to go. ❞ 

          her retreat was a rapid one, praying that her attempt to
          flee would go uninterrupted.