Zucca Xerfantes stood with his wife, Raven, on the shores of the island he'd developed and built on, just off the Azerian Coast.

"It's been twenty of these, but it never gets old..." Raven chuckled as she held her husband's hand.

"Mmm-hmm..." Zucca agreed with a smile.

Normally they hosted New Years Eve parties with their circle of friends, but tonight, they'd dipped out early to take a walk on the beach, deciding for once to have time just for eachother.

"Twenty must be a drop in the bucket for you." Raven noted. Her husband's prosthetic feet had stripped down to the naked endoskeleton rather than their default boot look, as Zucca had commented he'd wanted to 'go barefoot' on the beach. She knew the living metal conducted a sense of touch and didn't pester with questions.

Zucca regarded her, holding her hand with his good one and at her words, offering a gentle squeeze. "It's relative. Spend twenty years learning to play the meanest game of Texas Hold 'Em you can goes by a lot faster than when I'm cherishing and savoring every moment." He told her smiling with warmth.

"I wonder... think someday after I'm long gone, you'll be looking back at this moment with your time dilation perception?" Raven asked softly.

Zucca already knew the answer to that.

"Hey now... you're not going anywhere for a long time." He promised her, cupping her cheeks as he gazed into her crimson eyes.

"Oh, I know, pumpkin, I know. I just... want you to know, the you in the future, that I'll always love you. Always." Raven said, smiling as her eyes remained locked with his.

He held her close with a gentle smile, stroking her tar black hair with a reverent affection. "And however long I have left to live, I'll always remember you. But that's a long way off!"

She laughed. "Speaking of... how long does 2037 have left?"

"Thirty seconds." Zucca's optical implant with its atomic clock informed him.

"Anything left to say before the year's up?" She asked, holding his hands.

Zucca opened his mouth, but chuckled, shaking his head. "You already know what I'm going to say..."

She reached up to hold his cheeks. "You were dead, love... You don't have to apologize. You better forgive yourself already, because me and the kids already have."

"I.... yeah." Zucca relented with a sheepish smile. "Fifteen seconds, by the way."

She touched his chest, looking into his good eye. "You're here with us and you're not going anywhere. And there's nowhere I'd rather be."

"Me neither, my love..." He whispered against her lips. "Ten, nine..."

"... eight, seven, six...." She counted.

Their voices joined together...

"... five, four, three, two... one..."

Fireworks burst into the sky, launched by the Embers household, flooding the night sky with vibrant color and sound!

"Happy New Year!" They cried out in cheer as the waves counterpointed the booms overhead with their gentle crescendo.

He lifted her up, twirling his wife about as he held her close, kissing her with jubilation, one of the happiest moments of his life once again!

............

Zucca Xerfantes, aged one million and seven hundred thousand years, give or take an epoch, gazed back through the years to that moment, wiping joyful tears from his eyes.

[Artwork by the wonderful, amazing and kind  luazinha ! Character Raven Braddock Xerfantes was created by  flareleon !]