Reno took her hand and placed it over the left side of his chest. "This place used to be a barren desert where not even a blade of grass could grow. After meeting you, spring came, flowers bloomed, and all things slowly awakened. Now it has grown into a flourishing forest."
He had been drawn to her little by little.
When he first truly saw her standing at the park entrance, bathed in sunlight and radiating a unique air, flowers instantly bloomed in his heart.
"I think I met you at the perfect time. Everything happened at just the right moment—so perfectly that it couldn't have been better."
If they had met several decades later, when his body was already having problems, he might never have found the courage to take that step.
His mother had died when he was only a few years old, and his father had lived alone for more than twenty years.
The old man usually seemed carefree and boisterous, with a loud voice, a big heart, and a fiery temper. He was always rushing off to the battlefield, too. But many times, especially on certain special holidays, Reno would see him in familiar places, his back lonely and his eyes dim, or holding a photograph of his mother and staring blankly at the sky for an entire day.
He knew how painful and agonizing it was to lose a partner, so he didn't want the person he loved to suffer through the same thing.
Besides, her lifespan was only about a hundred years. She was now at the best age of her life, and the fact that they had met at this time, allowing him to accompany her through the next several decades—wasn't that perfect?
"Ahem. Could you stop reciting poetry? You're not a wandering