Promise.

It was Autumn when they bid each other good-bye. The forest was yellow and orange and brown and red, filled with the colors of endings and the scent of departure. They held each other's eyes and waited patiently for the silence to be over, yet not wanting it to be over before they had savored the last second of their time together. Everything around them was preparing for the slumber of winter... like their hearts, their love, when the time to leave would come.

"I will miss you," The Shadow admitted softly, surprising himself and his companion when his voice echoed in the stillness of the forest.

They created a shard of eternity in that moment, when their eyes met, truly met and everything else became unimportant and unnecessary.

"I will find you," The Hero promised ferverently, and then he ran away, towards Destiny and Duty and all those important things that made him a Hero.

He leaves behind his heart in the red eyes, lost amidst the falling leaves and the sorrowful forest, and took with him only a memory of a kiss.