A figure stood illuminated against the dying embers of the daytime sky. The flames of day had been roaring for months upon months, years upon years, and now they had finally faded away. Would they be back? The figure knew this question haunted the minds of the huddled masses who stared at her from below. "Yes," she whispered into the night, her voice lilting through the air with the breeze to guide it. Though they could not hear the words, the sound of her voice filled them with assurance. Her eyes filled with crimson tears as they walked away from the cliff she stood upon, high in the sky. They would never know how much she loved them and what she had done for them. The level of her sacrifice would be beyond their comprehension.

The tears splattered on her hair, which whipped around her like a solar corona in the brilliant burning light. The fires were dying at her will. Each moment that they died, a piece of her went as well. It was the essence of her being. For years they had blazed and so had she, reigning over the world with a heart callous to its problems. Then, the world had managed to touch her by simply loving her.

She had never been loved. The feeling was strange at first. Alien to the depths of her flaming soul. For the first time in her life, she had found something that warmed her more than fire. At first, the warmth was small because she resisted it. Every force of her being told her not to accept it. She had been bred and trained not to accept it. For one such as her to feel love, it would be the end of objectivity. She could no longer do what she did and live the way she lived. She had heard stories of those who had accepted love. Their fates had been told as horror stories to frighten any hope of love from the students of eternity. However, she could not resist the feeling. It managed to seep through any shields she set up and penetrate any defenses she built. Once it had her, she did not want to go back.

For the first time in her existence, she had found happiness. She had always been taught that what she felt was happiness but it was cold and dreary compared to this. The fires that burned around her were material and only warmed outside, not within. They had been right. From then on, she could no longer continue to oppressively hold the world in her fiery grasp. She knew it to be wrong. It had filled her with warmth that enveloped her entire being and she repaid them by forcing away the one who had primarily given to her. As she died, he began to live and rise high into the sky.

She sank back against the ground as her power escaped and watched him. He rose high into the sky. Pale blue eyes stared at her in loving gratitude framed by luminescent white skin. A robe of diaphanous white samite fluttered around him lightly. She had oppressed him and people of this world but now he was released. He did not blame her, in fact, he loved her as she loved him. They had both been trained together but he had not allowed them to train him. She had been given more power because of her conformity. She had always had more power than he naturally and now all of that was being drained from her. No regrets would ever adulterate the peace that was now a part of her being. Even though they would never see each other again. When she lived, he would die, and when he lived, she would die.

Their love for each other and the people of the world would always live though. They were not alone. She had found that they had not managed to keep all from love. They punished them all by taking away much of their power but none regretted. It was foretold that one day they would all come together to sacrifice again. When that day came, they would make the ultimate sacrifice for the people. They all knew they would not hesitate. They could not hesitate.

Her fires were now dim and she could feel herself slipping away into oblivion. For a moment, shadowy hands of moonlight wrapped themselves around her in a loving embrace. They made the fires extinguish even faster but she did not resist. For a few of the briefest moments, they were together and then, she was gone.