Tenochtitlan 1521

Druig really didn't want to be around the others. They were a constant reminder of the absurdity of this mission. In his long years on this planet, he'd become more and more disillusioned about the human race. No matter what happened, what vile things they did, what horrific things they saw, they never learned. They just chose hatred and violence. And he was sick of it. He was sick of watching the humans kill each other. Especially when he could stop it in a single moment.

He had gone on a walk, deciding to explore the sights. The forest was quiet, he liked that, as he walked further into it. The humans had thankfully not made it this far. He stopped when he came upon a waterfall, a sight so tranquil he was surprised the humans hadn't found it to snuff it out yet.

That was when he saw you, sitting by the water, hair draping your face as you leaned over what seemed to be a sketchbook. He knew it was you when you looked up at the sound of his approaching his footsteps, looking at him in fear for a moment. He knew he should turn around and walk away, forget he ever saw you. But he found himself walking closer to you.

"You don't have to be afraid," he said quietly.

"How did you find this place?" You asked. "No one comes here."

"Just kind of wandered into it to be honest," he said.

You nodded once. "You can't tell anyone about it. It's mine."

"The waterfall is yours?" he couldn't help the smirk that came to his face.

You nodded again. "No one comes here. No one but me."

"And me," he said, walking closer to you. He knew he should turn and walk away. He shouldn't let himself have this. He couldn't. But he also couldn't help it. He needed you. In the centuries since he'd last seen you, Druig had become broken. And he knew you were the only fix.

"Yes, I suppose. And you."

•••

Present Day

The waterfall was beautiful. You felt a peace standing here, looking at the water crashing down that you couldn't explain. It felt right, being here. Like you were hidden away from the world exactly where you wanted to be. There was an odd familiarity you couldn't quite explain.

"Have you ever felt like you've been somewhere before?" you asked Druig as he sat on the ground, his arms resting on his raised knees. You sat next to him. "Like you know you've never been there. But it almost feels like deja vu?"

He was quiet for a moment before he looked at you. "Is that what you feel like here?"

You leaned back on your arms, closing your eyes as the cool mist of the waterfall hit your skin. "I feel like I was supposed to come here, you know?"

"Like it's yours?" his tone was quiet.

You opened your eyes and looked at him. You tried not to think about your vision, about seeing him dying. You couldn't explain why it hurt you so much to think of it. Well, you'd expect to be upset if he died, but this was more than that. The thought had you ready to cry uncontrollably, as if your soul would break. "Can a waterfall belong to a person?" you asked, pushing down the thoughts.

"If no one else goes there," he said. You noticed a small smile on his face, as if it was an inside joke you did not understand.

•••

Tenochtitlan 1521 AD

He came to the waterfall everyday, and everyday, he would spend hours there with you, laughing and talking and forgetting the world outside of this bubble the two of you had created. He learned you loved to draw in this lifetime, that you were an artist. You had always seen the world differently, and so, he was not surprised you would see it differently now too.

"So what does being an Eternal mean?" you asked, kicking your feet in the water. "Do you get to live forever?"

"Not forever," he said. "But it would take a lot to kill us. And until then, well, we just keep on living."

You looked at him sadly. "While everyone else around you dies?"

He shrugged, though it was mainly to hide his flinch. Not everyone. You. He had to live on while you died, again and again.

Your expression did not change as you put your hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes at your touch, feeling comfort in it. "That must be very lonely," you said.

"You get used to it," he lied. He never got used to losing you. Even if he lost you a thousand times, it would still be just as painful.

"You don't fool me, you know," you said. "I can see the sadness in your eyes."

He sighed. He hated how you broke through each of his walls, so carefully constructed. "Fine, it's not easy. It is harder every time."

"It's supposed to be hard," you said quietly. "I think it shows how much that life meant to you if it's hard to get over. I think it shows how big your heart is."

He was quiet as he took in your words. You were right, he knew. You meant so much to him, and losing you, breaking the way he did each time, it only hurt more every time. Every time he fell more in love with you.

You smiled at him before you leaned in, kissing his cheek. "You're not as cold and hard as you pretend to be, Druig," you said. "Thank you for showing me."

•••

Present Day - Druig

You remembered this place. Maybe not completely, maybe not in this lifetime. But a part of your soul remembered. He wondered if you felt that connection to each of your lives. He wondered if he wanted you to or not, given your history.

"Have you — have you ever met any other people with powers?" You asked suddenly.

He looked at you in question. "No, why?"

He watched as you breathed out in relief, though he was in confusion himself. Did it have to do with your vision, the one you had lied about? What had you seen?

"Just wondering," you said quickly. "You seem very at ease with my visions."

Had he given too much of himself away? "I guess it just doesn't really matter to me," he said. "You've done nothing but help the people in my village since you've arrived, despite the healers telling you otherwise. That matters. What you can or can't do besides that, it does not."

You smiled at him. "You know, you're not as cold and hard as you seem, Druig," you said.

He tensed, the words replaying in his head from another time, in another voice, but from the same lips. "Why did you say that?" he choked out.

"Because you're not," you shrugged, looking at him weirdly. "I don't know what made you want to leave the rest of the world behind, but I see how you care about the people here. You take care of them. You keep them safe. But you also want them to be happy. Like the children's playground you had Alfonso build. You care about them."

He did not tell you that he had always had a soft spot for children, because of you. Because in your past life, in Constantinople, you had run an orphanage. And in Jerusalem, you had tried to take care of the children because you had been an orphan once too. And in Scandinavia, you used to play pretend fighting with the village children. He did not tell you that it was because of you that he hadn't turned away from humanity altogether when he walked away from the others in Tenochtitlan, because you had reminded him what being human was about. He did not want to scare you away, like he had in Jerusalem. He couldn't burden you with that knowledge, not again.

•••

Tenochtitlan 1521 AD

The first time you let him kiss you, he hadn't meant to do it. You were just standing there, smiling at him before he left your little safe haven to go back to the Domo, and he had just leaned in before he even knew what he was doing. He didn't admit to you that he felt the fireworks the moment your lips touched his. He didn't tell you that he felt a little bit less broken in your arms.

You leaned back on your hands and looked at him. "Do you think you'll ever talk to your family again? I think you'd be less lonely if you let them in the way you show yourself to me."

"I talk to them," he said. But that was a lie. These days, unless Ajak needed him to do something, he barely even stayed in the Domo, instead choosing to hide away here with you.

"You don't," you said simply.

"What makes you think that?"

"I never see you with them in the village, or when I go to the city with my father," you said, shrugging. "You spend all of your time here with me. In fact, I never see you anywhere but here."

"I don't like being around other people," he said.

"Humans, you mean?" you smirked before you looked at him seriously. "What about my species makes us so unbearable to you?"

"I think it's pretty clear I don't find you unbearable," he kissed your shoulder.

You smiled slightly, nudging him. "Alright then, why do you find other humans intolerable?"

He sighed, knowing you weren't going to let this go. He sat up and looked at you. "Humans tend to choose violence and hatred. They kill each other again and again, and for what? Power? Money? It is all greed. That is all they know. I have lived a long life, and I am tired of watching them make the same foolish mistakes again and again."

You were quiet for a moment, thinking over his words. "It is true, we are a forgetful species. We do not always learn from the mistakes from the past. There is true evil in the world. But there is also good.  There are also people who do learn, who grow and who fight for a better world. Humanity is not black and white. For the light to exist, there must be darkness to shine through."

He cupped your cheek, running his thumb over your skin. "I believed that once too," he said quietly. "And then I learned better."

He had. He had believed there was goodness in the world. But centuries of seeing the contrary had changed him. Centuries of losing you, of losing part of himself, had left him in nothing but darkness, the only light shining through held in his arms at this very moment.

•••

Present Day

You felt a little better knowing he didn't know anyone who could shoot lasers from his eyes. Maybe he wouldn't meet him. Maybe he could remain safe.

"Do you have someone waiting for you? Back home in New York I mean? Is that why you're so eager to return?" he asked quietly.

You laughed. "No, definitely not. I live in a school with a bunch of children and people I consider family. And I teach mutant teenagers how to control their power. I don't have time to date. Besides, it kind of takes the mystery out of things if you can see how a relationship will end before it starts with a simple touch, you know?"

"I'm sorry. That must be very lonely," he said. For a moment, you thought he wasn't sorry at all from his tone. He sounded almost relieved, which didn't quite make sense to you. He had made it quite clear he wasn't interested in you, hadn't he?

"Do you have someone?" You wondered why your voice almost broke as you asked. What did it matter to you? You were leaving soon, going home to your own life. You probably wouldn't even see Druig again. You ignored the vision you had seen of the two of you kissing. You were leaving. That was obviously a glitch in your power.

He looked at you for a moment, his eyes unreadable. "I had someone, a long time ago. She died."

"I'm sorry," you said, putting your hand on his arm. "Is that — is that why you left the outside world and settled here?"

He tensed at your touch, and you quickly withdrew your hand. "Part of it, yes. When I lost her, I lost the last thing holding me to the outside world."

"She must have been very special," you weren't sure why your voice sounded jealous in your ears.

He smirked at you, as if he heard it too. "She was."

•••

Tenochtitlan 1521 AD

"When you leave this place, do you think I could come with you?" you asked, tracing circles on Druig's bare chest, your head on his shoulder as you laid on the ground, the sound of the crashing waves surrounding you.

"Wherever I go, my love, I will always take you with me," he said softly, kissing your forehead.

"I love you," you said. You hadn't said it before, though Druig had felt it in every gaze, every touch, every kiss.

"As I will eternally love you," he said. "You are the other half of my soul, the owner of my heart. Always."

You smiled as you kissed his chest. "Can we stay like this? For a bit longer?"

"We can stay as long as you like."

•••

Present Day - Druig

He didn't notice how much time had passed, sitting here with you. But soon, the sun was beginning to set. It would be dark soon, and you'd have to head back to the village. Then, you'd leave. You'd walk away, leaving him behind. And he would let you. He had to. He knew it was the only way to protect you. He had to let you go.

Druig hadn't wanted to admit it, how much you, in this life, had awakened his heart again. He thought he had shut it down forever after he lost you in Tenochtitlan. He had meant to. He didn't tell you that he came here partly because he needed to get away from the others and from the humans and their endless killing of each other, but he had also come here, to the most remote place he could find, hidden deep in the trees of the Amazon because he didn't want to find you again. He couldn't lose you again. He couldn't let fate win again.

But he had been foolish. He had been naive to think he could live an eternity without ever seeing you again, no matter where he hid. Fate always got its way. And what it wanted time and time again was you, your death. He couldn't let it happen this time. You were just as kind and compassionate as you had been in every other lifetime. You were strong and stubborn and inquisitive, all the things he loved about you. But in this life, there was something about you. Even in the short time you'd been here, he knew if he lost you this time, he wouldn't be able to go on. He would beg fate to take him too, to end this endless cruel cycle.

You were growing tired, he could see it in your face. He wanted to stay here with you forever, in the place you had once made your own oasis, hidden away from outside forces. But he knew you weren't his, you couldn't be. He wouldn't allow it. And he had to give you up, send you on your way, and hope you never returned.

"We should head back," he said softly. "It will be dark soon."

"Can we stay a little longer?" You asked, your voice just as low. "I'm not ready to go back yet."

He should have said no. He should have insisted you head back now. He should have forced you out ages ago. But as always, Druig was weak. His heart ached to stay here with you. "Okay," he said. "We can stay as long as you like."

You smiled at him before leaning over to rest your head on his shoulder. Druig froze, but did not object. Instead, he reveled in the warmth you brought to his heart. He knew he had to let you go, but he'd do that tomorrow. Today, he'd let himself have this.

•••

Tenochtitlan 1521 AD

"Where do you always run off to?" Makkari signed to him one day, when the others were discussing a Deviant incursion. According to Phastos, the last of the Deviants were here, and soon, they would end them all. Their mission on this planet would be done. And they'd have to go back to Olympia. Druig had promised you that he'd take you anywhere he went. He wondered if you'd like Olympia.

"Nowhere," he signed back. "Leave it alone."

"You're making us think you have a secret girlfriend," Kingo interjected. "But we know you wouldn't ever love anyone but her." He gasped. "Did you find her?"

"No," he lied. His eyes met Ajak's, and from the look on her face, he knew that she knew he was lying. But she thankfully kept her silence.

"Yeah that sounded totally convincing," Gilgamesh laughed.

"If you're done," Ikaris rolled his eyes. "Can we get back on topic? We need to finish these last Deviants."

Druig fell into silence as the others got back to the task. He breathed out in relief. He didn't want any of them to know, not this time. He was afraid fate would catch up to you if he spoke it aloud.

Druig knew you were the only thing keeping him tethered to this life, to this mission. He wanted the world safe from Deviants for you. And he knew if he lost you this time, he would be done with it all. He needed to keep you safe, hidden away in your little bubble. He only hoped it would be enough this time.

•••

Authors note

Thanks for reading!! You didn't die this time yay you!! I'm gonna have Tenochtitlan go on for a bit longer since it's the last place Druig saw you and it's helpful to my plot! I'm trying to think of how I'm going to kill you this time so if you have any ideas let me know!

Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!

Title credit - lonely together by Avicii ft Rita Ora