[IMGright]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v172/Meisekimu/menewsha/aveside.png[/IMGright]
When she finally comes out of hiding, Adam’s breath catches in his throat, soft and breaking in the darkness of silence. She had barred him from their room, forbidden him with wide, begging eyes and quivering lips, threatened him with dislike and unhappiness in her voice. He had stopped arguing after that and meekly retired to the living room downstairs. Their father chuckled at his sulking posture, but now he too sits stunned, wondering who had bought that dress for her.

Adam wonders, instead, when Ave had become a woman.

Her legs are slender in the off ivory dress, the gentle slope of her shoulders bared, arms undecorated. She’s washed her hair, so it gleams darkly, smoother and softer than usual. The lace at the graceful neckline lays delicately against her skin, catching the light when she moves toward him. His mouth is oddly dry, so he swallows his breathlessness with the words caught on his tongue. Her steps are hesitant, girlish, but her shy smile and sleek waist beckon sweetly in a way that is anything, but girlish.

He wonders when things started changing and decides it was when they first started remembering. When the wisteria tree first began whispering. When he first realized those shadowy thoughts in his heart were more than just shadows, but memories.

Everything had changed then.

But now, everything is falling away when Ave reaches uncertainly, an offer in her warm eyes and small hand.

He reaches for her, the girl, the woman, the goddess he fell in love with.

« from girl to woman, you were my goddess first »