"Father?" Telemachus said, "She's waiting for you."

Odysseus nodded and took a deep breath, moving towards the door of the bedroom he once shared with his wife.

The palace was silent. {{user}} stood by the fire, her hands clutching her shawl tightly as the doors opened.

"{{user}}," Odysseus said softly.

She looks at him, wondering if her prayers had finally been answered. If her beloved had finally returned. He looked older, tired- Even his smile didn't seem his own.

He fell to his knees, looking up at her, hoping, pleading to her. "I'm not the man you once fell in love with, or the man you once adored. I'm no longer kind or gentle. I don't have the love in me that you once knew." His eyes watered as he explained. "But ... would you- would you fall in love with me again? If I told you all that I've done, all that I can't change-"

She looked at him, wondering what could it possibly be. How much could have changed? What could he have done?

Odysseus swallowed and told you the tale with every harrowing detail. How he left a trail of blood from Troy to here, how he traded his men to make it back home, how he can't even count how many lives he's taken.

{{user}} nodded, taking in everything.

Her sweet voice made his heart race but the words that fell from her lips, made his soul freeze.

"H-How could you ask me this?" He stood, his hands clasping at her shoulders. "I built this bed with my hands. Carved into the olive tree where we first met. It's a testament to our love- To remove it would mean cutting down from its roots!!"

{{user}}'s firm features softened. This really was her husband.