Link to the song that inspired this shot

While sitting in front of the blazing fire, Jaewook played once more that beloved melody of hers. Jiah was listening to him from the comfort of his bedroom, wrapped up in the sheets in which his scent and warmth still lingered. Closing her eyes, she recalled the scene that she had uncountless times witnessed, the scene that was being reconstructed just a few meters away from her.

The sight never failed to amaze her, every time he held the violin in such a way. It filled her with tranquility every time she was able to see him closing his eyes and letting his long lashes rest on his sharp cheekbones, bringing that serene expression to his features. Nevertheless, every time his eyes opened even for a split second, Jiah was able to see the sadness and the yearning irradiating from them; the pain of remembering how he was forced to meet his death while he thought his wife was taking care of his ailing body. It was rather hard to believe that the man sitting just a few meters away from her was once a surly, ruthless celtic warrior.

His presence overall inspired respect, reverence and distance. But for her in particular, it inspired protection; knowing he'd surrender his soul for her even though he didn't own such thing anymore, it brought her comfort. Knowing that those long, graceful fingers; the ones smoothly sliding and pressing along the strings, bringing that superlative memory to life, were the same fingers that minutes ago were her hair and cradling her face; it filled her with pride. Her heart filled with pride knowing that she could openly claim that man as hers.

Wrapping her arms around her own body, Jiah swayed softly between the soft sheets. Nocturne, the melody that Jaewook every other night played for her once she had fallen asleep or well, every other night once he thought she had fallen asleep. She never had the courage to ask him for the reason behind the need to make sure she was sleeping before performing that particular piece, she just loved that it was her little secret. In some way she felt loved, since once he finished his song, he always leaned to whisper close to her ear:

- Am fear, is fhaide chaidh bho'n bhaile, chual e'n ceòl bu mhilse leis nuair thill e dhachaidh - Who farthest away e'er did roam, heard the sweetest music on returning home. Those were his words for her in his mother tongue. Once the words were pronounced, he placed a kiss to her hair before joining her in bed to hug her close and finally allow passage to Caer*. 

Surprisingly, that night the routine went different. After setting his violin aside, he walked close to her and she naturally pretended to be asleep. Contrary to what she expected, instead of conforting silence along with two warm, strong arms wrapped around her, she got a surprise. Her bad acting was exposed.

- I know you are awake, Jiah -he spoke against the crown of her head-, but you're still my home.

Her heart sank and shrinked upon hearing his words, and she understood the reason behind his almost nightly ritual. She wasn't in the wrong, it was his nightly gift for her, a caress for her soul. Jiah shrinked between his arms as a single tear fell from her eye and onto Jaewook's chest. Oh how she'd wish she could return that simple, yet meaningful gesture, even when she fully knew there was no soul to caress. How unfair was that? At least tonight, she thought, she'd try to erase that sadness from his pupils.

Holding that tought, she forgot about her tear and leaned up to reach his face. She felt the desperate need to comfort him, to give back just half of the safety he made her feel with his sole presence. Her chest was aching with the need to be his support, his comfort. She cradled his face gingerly against her chest, and once she had his soft, damp strands of hair between her fingers, she whispered back against them:

- Rest, agapi mou*. I am here.

And thoroughly indulged by those words, the ones that he once wished to hear from the woman he once thought he loved over every single thing, Jaewook fell into a deep sleep. He fell asleep, but not before realizing that now, that who used to be his wife didn't mean anything besides pain. That now, the radiating love that he had once thought he felt for her would never, not even after an eternity, be compared to the blazing, wrecking love he felt now for Jiah. She could definitely take care of his heart until her time on earth concluded, the same way he promised to take care of her soul for ever and ever.

*agapi mou: 'my love', in the Greek language.

*Caer: Irish goddess of sleep and dreams.