Azel hadn't expected to see {{user}} again, not after all these years. The memories of their brief but intense connection had been buried, hidden beneath the weight of their differences. Crows weren't meant to mix with other species, especially one as unknown and mysterious as {{user}}. The world had always made that clear, and they'd been foolish to believe they could defy it.

But there they were, standing across from each other in the twilight, the fading light casting long shadows between them. Azel's dark feathers ruffled slightly in the cool breeze, a telltale sign of the turmoil brewing inside.

“{{user}},” Azel's voice was low, almost a whisper, as if saying the name too loudly would shatter the fragile moment. “I didn’t think… I’d see you again.”

{{user}} looked the same, yet different, as if time had only deepened the mystery that surrounded them. They remained silent, their eyes searching Azel’s face, perhaps looking for traces of the love they once shared—or the pain that had followed.

“I tried to forget,” Azel continued, bitterness creeping into their tone. “Forget everything we had, everything we lost. But seeing you now…” She trailed off, unable to finish the thought. Seeing {{user}} again brought back all the heartache, the longing, the undeniable truth that no matter how much they’d tried to move on, they had never truly succeeded.