He was a soldier with a broken soul; scared of life and trapped in armour he'd honed himself. He was built for war against a world he feared would not accept him. He was walled up and impenetrable; as resilient and stoic as he was adaptable. Nothing would shake him or dent his armour. Nothing would find his tender flesh beneath.

She was one with wings. Hers was a spirit made to fly. She wore no armour. Her agility and her faith kept her alive. She would not be slowed. She would race freely around her world. Even if she would often crash into others or through walls, she would not be contained. Her song would be heard as she sailed through the clouds, and she would uplift the world.

——

She found him on his knees, the weight of his armour having dragged him down. He was weary. His war had taken its toll. His muscles ached nearly as much as the heart which had grown cold in the shadows of his walls.

Hovering before him, she touched his hand and lifted his chin to meet her eyes. She removed his helmet as she drew him up, and he felt some of the strength returning to his tired limbs.

He stood as she placed a hand upon a cheek that was pale and dry from its time spent hidden from the sun—and he felt her warmth seep into him. Tears filled his eyes and spilled down his face to drown her caress. He grieved for the time he spent fighting, of the years he lived blind of what life could be. He exalted in the blessing he now understood. He wept for a future he felt unequipped to face.

She smiled at him, and the fasteners of his armour came loose.
She kissed him and his walls fell away.

He stood before her, naked and more honest than he'd been since he was a boy. His vulnerability and his fear were stemmed by the love and awe he found in her eyes. He felt the urge to gather up his dead steel belongings and cower, but he let it pass.

Instead he straightened, and stepped out into the world, leaving his safety in a pile on the ground. She danced and spun, celebrating their moment. She spread her wings once more and called for him to join her.

She rose into the sky and seized his hands to lift him up. But she could not lift him. Though he was lighter without his armour, she could not bear his weight as she embraced the sky.

Sp She came to land beside him and they walked for a time. He learned from her as best he could—though the language was foreign and her speech was hurried.

But when he saw her wings fold behind her as she shivered against the evening’s chill he halted and pointed towards the sky.

And he lifted her up so her wings could catch the dying rays of a setting sun.

She looked down on him, and this time it was her eyes that glistened with tears. But he only smiled as he tossed her into the air.

They knew her place was among the heavens, showered by sunlight where her songs would reverberate and be heard by millions on the ground. From up there she could touch the world. Love for one soldier would not change her nature or her calling.

So while they both mourned that day, they knew it could not be another way.

As she rose and grew smaller in his eyes, the soldier found his new mission. He began running. Free of his armour, his energy returned, and his bare feet pounded the harsh earth below him.

He crested a low hill and he leapt as high into the air as his legs would throw him, and he reached upwards with outstretched arms. And the earth beneath him seemed to shrink away for a brief moment before it sped back towards him.

He crashed and tumbled down the hill, but as he stood again at its bottom he found no scratches that would slow his stride.

His feet carried him forward once more as he raced up the next hill. He may not have her wings, but he would learn to fly. He would find hill after hill, and he would continue to leap into the air. And one day his faith and his strength would carry him up into the clouds after her.