45. The First Meeting

*Hephaestus POV*

After I left the dinner with her family, I went back home. I needed to mentally prepare myself for a life with this woman. She didn't remember me, but oh, I remembered her. I showered, letting my feelings be washed clean. I could remember it all as though it were yesterday, even though it was hundreds of years ago. 

--Too Many Years Ago To Count--

Standing at the edge of a lake, I breathe in deeply. The years weigh on me like an unwanted 20-pound blanket. I am the invisible one. No one wants to acknowledge my existence. I skip rocks, setting my eyes on the horizon. There she is again. Tall, beautiful, sun-kissed skin. She's not real though. I've been alive since almost the beginning of time