Will/Tessa; pen and paper GO

“You are the first dream of my soul, and from that dream I hope will come all other dreams. A lifetime’s worth.”

Will had written her many letters during their life together, but those words still stuck out to her, through them all. He’d described his first sight of her on their wedding day, and how she’d looked holding James in her arms the day he was born. He’d written her long accounts of his feelings and reactions to all the books he had read - what they now called reviews, Tessa thought fondly to herself. 

It was only now, years and years after his death, that she could unroll his last letter. The one she’d found after he had gone, slipped into their copy of A Tale of Two Cities. 

The almost imperceptible shaking of her hands stopped as her breath caught in her throat. Seeing his handwriting again, in something new; it was if he was here again. She stopped and looked around the room, just in case he had stepped out from behind a pillar, or a door. But she was alone, with only his letter for company.

Tess, it said. This is my last letter. The last time these feeble hands will put pen to paper. You looked beautiful this morning as you brought my tired body breakfast. The spring air was blowing through the open window, and the sunlight caught your skin in an almost heavenly light. And then I knew. 

I do not know how I knew, but it was as clear to me as your face, that today, I would die. And you, my angel, would hold me from one life, to another. You rekindled my soul and now I shall wait across the river for you, and Jem, to join me. One day, you shall. I do not look forward to that day, because I know it will only come with your suffering. But I will see you again, and there is the light I cling to as the darkness closes in around me. Your soul will join mine, as all who love eventually join each other. No two joined as tightly as we could experience eternity apart.

Your life without me must go on. I have spoken to Magnus, and ordered he take care of you; but I have no doubt you can take care of yourself. You have always been strong to the point of madness, Tess, and I love you for it.

I loved you then. I love you still. We’ve had a lifetimes worth of love.

Don’t forget me, Tess. 

Your Will.

 P.S. I love you. I love you. I love you.

The tears rolled down Tessa’s face silently, before she turned to sob into her arms. It was suddenly as if the wound had never closed, as if the cut was again open, and he had only just left her. But it had been years, and finally, she owed him a reply.

Composing herself, she sat up, and pulled a pen and sheet of paper towards her. She would place it between their pages, the book they both loved so much.

Dear William, she began. And the wound began to heal.