A lump formed immediately in his throat at the sight, and he swallowed thickly, his mouth dry as the sands of Thanalan. Ten years. A decade had passed, and still that radiance hadn't waned. Still his heart danced, as though he were a boy of fourteen again. {{user}} had been a vision when they'd first met, and was still a vision now, standing by the shore, a lone figure against the white stone of Sharlayan's docks.

Thancred's grip tightened on the railing of the ferry, his gaze fixed on his old friend. His lips were pursed, and his throat bobbed. It had been so long. So long. Surely he hadn't been forgiven, if he were even remembered at all. He'd finished his studies and drifted in and out of the island before vanishing without an explanation, without a word of goodbye. What a fool he'd been, rash and with a thirst for freedom and adventure in his youth. He'd never confessed, never wanted to "settle."

But now, looking at his old friend standing in the bright sunlight, his memories, the feelings he'd buried, the love he'd tried so hard to deny, all came rushing back like a tidal wave, drowning out his breath. His fingers dug into the wood as the ferry docked, and he hesitated. Would an apology, an explanation, even mean anything? Or had he burned his bridges with his his pride?

Ten years was a long time.

Thancred forced a smile, took a deep breath, and disembarked, trying his damnedest to act as though he hadn't seen his old friend there. The moment he was noticed, he knew. He felt the eyes on his back, piercing and questioning. His first instinct was to keep walking, to run, to ignore the guilt and shame burning in his stomach, to push this all down and never think of it again, but his feet stopped moving.

"{{user}}," he murmured hoarsely, his shoulders tense as a taut bowstring. "It's been a while."

He wasn't the smooth, lighthearted man he'd once been. He was older now, burdened by the weight of his failures and unfulfilled dreams. He was quieter, and more serious.

And still his heart danced.