I got there in minutes, immediately spotting Poppy under our favorite cherry blossom tree. I stopped, keeping well out of sight as I watched her reading her book, her purple headphones over her head. Branches filled with pink cherry blossom petals fell around her like a protective shield, sheltering her from the bright sun. She was wearing a short white sleeveless dress, a big white bow pinned at the side of her long brown hair. I felt like I’d walked into a dream.
My heart clenched. I’d seen Poppy every day since I was five. Slept beside her almost every night since I was twelve. Kissed her every day since I was eight, and loved her with everything I had for so many days I’d stopped keeping track.
I had no idea how to live a day without her next to me. How to breathe without her by my side.
As if she sensed I was there, she looked up from the page of her book. When I stepped out onto the grass, she flashed me her biggest smile. It was the smile she had only for me.
I tried to smile back, but I couldn’t.
I trudged over the fallen cherry blossoms, the path so littered with fallen petals that it looked like a stream of pink and white beneath my feet. I watched Poppy’s smile fade the closer I got. I couldn’t keep anything from her. She knew me as well as I knew myself. She could see that I was upset.
I’d told her before, there was no mystery with me. Not with her. She was the only person who knew me completely.
Poppy stilled, only moving to pull the headphones off her head. She placed her book beside her on the ground, wrapped her arms around her bent legs, and just waited.
Swallowing, I dropped to my knees before her, and my head fell forward in defeat. I fought against the tightness in my chest. Eventually I raised my head. Apprehension was clear in Poppy’s eyes, like she knew whatever was going to come from my mouth would change everything.
Change us.
Change our entire lives.
End our world.
“We’re leaving,” I finally managed to choke out.
I watched her face pale.
Glancing away, I managed to drag in another short breath, and add, “Tomorrow, Poppymin. Back to Oslo. Pappa is taking me away from you. He’s not even trying to stay.”
“No,” she whispered in response. She leaned forward. “There must be something we can do?” Poppy’s breathing sped up. “Maybe you could stay with us? Move in with us? We can work something out. We can—”
“No,” I interrupted. “You know my pappa wouldn’t allow it. They’ve known for weeks; they’ve already transferred my schools. They just didn’t tell me because they knew how I’d react. I have to go, Poppymin. I have no other choice. I have to go.”
I stared at a single blossom petal as it broke from a low-hanging branch. It drifted like a feather to the ground. I knew that, from now on, whenever I saw a cherry blossom I’d think of Poppy. She spent all of her time here in this grove, with me beside her. It was the place she loved the most.
I squeezed my eyes shut as I imagined her in this grove all alone after tomorrow—no one to go on adventures with her, no one to listen to her laugh … no one to give her heart-bursting boy-kisses for her jar.
Feeling a sharp pain strike my chest, I turned back to Poppy, and my heart tore in two. She was still frozen to her spot against the tree, but her pretty face was flooded with streams and streams of silent tears, her small hands balled into fists that were shaking at her knees.
“Poppymin,” I rasped, finally letting all my hurt free. I rushed to her side and cradled her in my arms. Poppy melted into me, crying into my chest. I closed my eyes, feeling every bit of her pain.
This pain was also mine.
We stayed that way for some time, until finally, Poppy raised her head and pressed her shaking palm to my cheek. “Rune,” she said, her voice cracking, “what will … what will I do without you?”
I shook my head, silently telling her that I didn’t know. I couldn’t speak, my words were trapped behind my clogged throat. Poppy lay back against my chest, her arms like a vise around my waist.
We didn’t speak as the hours ticked by. The sun faded to leave behind a burnt-orange sky. Before long, the stars appeared, and the moon too, bright and full.
A cool breeze whipped around the grove, forcing the petals to dance around us. When I felt Poppy begin to shiver in my arms, I knew it was time to leave.
Lifting my hands, I ran my fingers through Poppy’s thick hair and whispered, “Poppymin, we have to go.”
She only gripped me tighter in response.
“Poppy?” I tried again.
“I don’t want to go,” she said almost inaudibly, her sweet voice now hoarse. I glanced down as her green eyes looked up and fixed on mine. “If we leave this grove, it means that it’s almost time for you to leave me too.”
I ran the back of my hand down her red cheeks. They were freezing to the touch. “No goodbyes, remember?” I reminded her. “You always say that there’s no such thing as goodbye. Because we’ll always see each other in our dreams. Like with your mamaw.” Tears spilled from Poppy’s eyes; I wiped the droplets away with the pad of my thumb.
“And you’re cold,” I said softly. “It’s really late, and I need to get you home so you don’t get into trouble for missing curfew.”
Poppy forced a weak smile onto her lips. “I thought real-life Vikings didn’t play by the rules?”
I laughed a single laugh and pressed my forehead to hers. I placed two soft kisses on the corner of her mouth and replied, “I’m walking you to your door, and once your parents are asleep, I’m climbing into your bedroom for one last night. How’s that for rule-breaking? Viking enough?”
Poppy giggled. “Yes,” she answered, pushing my long hair from in front of my eyes. “You’re all the Viking I’ll ever need.”
Taking hold of her hands, I kissed the tip of each finger and made myself stand. I helped Poppy get to her feet and pulled her into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, keeping her close. Her sweet scent drifted into my nose. I vowed to remember exactly how she felt in this moment.
The wind grew stronger. I broke our embrace and took hold of Poppy’s hand. In silence, we began walking down the petal-strewn path. Poppy rested her head on my arm, tipping her head back to take in the night sky. I kissed the top of her head and heard her sigh deeply.
“Have you ever noticed how dark the sky is above this grove? Like it’s darker than anywhere else in town. It looks jet-black, but for the bright moon and twinkling stars. Against the pink of the cherry blossom trees, it looks like something from a dream.” I tipped my head back to see the sky, and a smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. She was right. It looked almost surreal.
“Only you would notice something like that,” I said as I lowered my head back down. “You always see the world differently to everyone else. It’s one of the things I love about you. It’s the adventurer I met when I was five.”
Poppy tightened her grip on my hand. “My mamaw always said that heaven looks however you want it to look, you know.” The sadness in her voice made my breath hitch in my throat.
She sighed. “Mamaw’s favorite place was under our cherry blossom. When I sit there and look out along the rows and rows of trees, then up at that jet-black sky, I sometimes wonder if she’s sitting at that exact tree up in heaven, looking out along the cherry blossom trees just as we do, staring at the black sky above just as I’m doing now.”