She asked for one final kiss. She asked for me to touch her how I used to; make her feel like she belonged. I tethered her to the earth, she said. I gave her a reason to inhale, she said. My hands shook, my mind went blank and I almost  forgot the reason we were standing there with tears in our eyes - almost. I almost leaned in to hold her. I almost destroyed the pain in her eyes. I almost forgot who I was.

She asked me to speak. She asked me to whisper the words I had recited so fluently to her.  Tell me the words to make it better, she said. I frowned, shaking my head. The words caught in my throat, my tongue coming so close to deceiving my mind. I nearly collapsed. My resolve nearly crumbled - Nearly. Those words were empty. Their meaning had been lost a long time ago and I was unable to recall them so easily.

She cried as I pulled away. She pleaded as I turned from her and walked away. She swore I would never forget her. She begged me to never forget her. She asked me to make promises she couldn't help but break.

Glory days are short lived, it seems. Happiness is a fleeting response to nothing and detaches you from the world around you. Tears fall and breakdowns triumph in the pursuit of ignorance. In that moment, we were nothing but strangers in passing; waiting to move on to other appointments. In that moment, one world crashed down and separated into two, split by a final kiss and a need to explore the universe.