Tears Unnumbered [EDITING]

Promise

A/N: Check out Winter Moon by Erutan. I suppose the lyrics capture the essence well enough :)

A few days later, a young man stands at the edge of the forest. None have dared to enter there save a few. He knows now that the stories are indisputably true. Two have been seen and one has been heard, yet he will not let his fear stop him. He has had enough of that fear. Fear has torn their family apart, and it has taken death to truly bring them together once more. He knows the truth now, and so he will not let his steps falter. With a single purpose in mind, he strides ahead into the woods, across the oak and ash, never once looking back.

He moves towards the solitary willow. The one that has been written of. The path to it is surprisingly well worn compared to the others. It looks tranquil yet sad. Both bright and dull at the same time- brimming with life, yet dead. He can now see why she prefers such a spot. He hopes she is still there, for there is no sign of her presence. He may not be able to see her, but that will not stop him today. Before he leaves the place behind for good, he will keep the one promise he made to his sister.

"Cara! Cara, are you there?"

She looks around from the tree, startled. She knows the name. It used to be the most pleasant sound to have ever reached her ears, but now it is a bittersweet memory of the boy who had been her friend. The one who had gone some place far- she was never told where- and had not returned yet. She is afraid of what she will find. Would his face have changed much like his voice? What would he have to say to her that he had not thought to tell her before leaving?

She moves the few leaves that shield him from her view, and she peeks out. The only reason she has taken refuge among those leaves is so she can quietly mourn Aoife and lose herself in the memories they shared, but she is willing to make an exception.

"Nolan?"

He does not respond to her, and her heart sinks. After so many days of not speaking to him, she had hoped that their friendship would have remained at least half as strong as it once was. Then she notices that he shakes his head. No.

"Aodhán," he says. "His brother."

"How did you find me? Has he returned then?"

"I found his diary. He wrote of you in them. Aoife would want me to tell you. Nolan would want you to know."

"Then why does he not come here himself? What do you think? Do I need to know?"

"I think I owe it to both of you. That you should know what you really meant to him. He deserves that much."

"Do you think I would want to know?"

"He does not deserve your anger, Cara. He never meant to leave."

"You think I am angry? No. No, I am not angry. Merely hurt."

"Do you want to read it by yourself or do you want me to read it out from here?"

"I think I will see it for myself. I do not think I will believe anything otherwise. Not anymore."

"I take your leave then... and Cara? I think he would want you to know that wherever he is, he is happy."

Aodhán has not left yet, but she calls out to him.

"Wait! You speak as though you know where he is. Tell me! Please, tell me, will I ever see him again? Will he ever come back?"

He hangs his head. He closes his eyes as though the memory brings him pain.

"I am sorry."

"It is not your fault. It is mine. Where is he? He never even said goodbye."

"You do not understand," he says. "We lost him, Cara. Even before we lost Aoife."

The shock hits her hard. She knows her heart no longer beats within her, but she can almost hear it shatter into a million pieces. Her eyes fill with unshed tears and in a strangled voice, she asks him- "What happened?"

"He got some kind of fever. One of the townsfolk found him blinded and injured by the forest one night. That day he just burned up, covered in rashes. Before we knew it, he was gone. His heart just stopped. It just... it happened so quickly. Within the fortnight, it was all over."

"Why did she not tell me?"

"I knew it even before her, Cara. I only know now that my suspicions were true. He could see you. Did you know that? He writes there that he saw you the first time you led Aoife into the forest. Not just that, Cara. Almost the very next day, he saw a dullahan. That was hardly the only time, as I am sure you now know, for it was certainly a dullahan that blinded him and called his name. He knew he would die soon after he knew who you were. One does not get out of those encounters alive and he knew it, but he told none of us. He told me about that black carriage, but I never realised what that meant for us. Not until we lost him. That is why I came here. I feel guilty over his death. I do not hold any of them against you anymore."

"Then why didn't Aoife tell me?"

"Even as he was dying, he told her. Do you know what he said to her? He said, "Do not tell her. She has shed tears enough. I do not want her to bear the burden of my death too." She asked him if he meant to leave you with no closure and he said, "She was a true friend to me, as I hope I was to her. I will never truly leave her." He did not want you to suffer for him, Cara. He made her promise."

"Then I will try not to cry for him, though my heart will ever mourn him. I will honour his last wish. Nothing I say now will change anything, but I am sorry for what I have done to your family."

"They were lucky to have known you. You made their last days happy. You helped bring us back together." He pauses a moment, and when he speaks again, his voice is detached and business-like. "We leave Ireland today. This land holds too many memories, but know that you will never be forgotten. This family will forever remember that the banshee too has a heart like ours."

"Farewell," Bláthnaid says, and she means it. The family has suffered too long.

He does not look back as he leaves. He has found his closure. This land will no longer be his home. He has already read a few parts of the diary, but he knows that he has left it where it belongs. With her.

Stumbling upon her own two feet, she walks towards the diary that has been left behind. She is dressed in black. She took this form once before when she mourned Aoife, but this is the last time she will be seen like this. Even as she reads through the pages which speak so fondly of her, her heart screams and wails, but she does not shed a single tear. She can almost imagine his voice, lilting in the breeze. She imagines him sitting beneath that very tree, his eyes gleaming as he speaks to her. She traces her long fingers across each letter lovingly, and she reads the single question that he never asked of her.

I wonder what her name is. It must have been something so pretty, yet soft at heart like she is. I call her Aislinn when I think of her. When I speak to her, it is Cara, for I suppose she likes that name best, but I wonder what they really called her.

She plucks a small stalk of grass from the ground beneath her, and after scraping it against all that might lend some colour, she painfully draws out the letters she is unaccustomed to.

They named me Bláthnaid, their little flower, but I will always be Cara. I will always be your Cara. Your friend.