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Raquel nuzzled her head into him as he cradled her ,clsosing her eyes. "God I love you..." She whispered, clutching him slightly.
Raquel was baffled at how she ended up so lucky. How did she end up with Damian Centurion and have him treat her so so wonderfully? It was all a mystery to her. A wonderful fantastical mystery. One she was terrified would unravel if she pried to deeply into it. So she let it stay that way, hoping it'd last forever.

After some time had passed, the big day seemed closer and closer to arriving.
It was however finally time for the group to head off to Druis for this wedding, though for Lorey and Richard, it meant leaving behind the planet they had been fighting against what seemed like they're whole lives.

Richard had to pick up his mother anyhow, taking Lorey along so they could get one last look around at the dirty city before waving it forever. Richard had already helped Lorey pack all her belongings up and had Enty, who had joined them to help get things ready as well as his own bear sized tuxedo fitting, before the wedding.

Meanwhile back at home, Raquel and Damian were busy packing for Druis as well, though only what they needed for the next few days or so, andwere eagerly awaiting Richard and companies return so they could leave.

Raquel was just shutting and locking the door for Damian, but nodded excitedly. She had been looking forward to this trip for some time now and being in Lorey's wedding. It was all so exciting.

Richard heaved one last bag into a hover shuttle that would take them to the ship since a taxi or Damians speeder weren't big enough to hold them all.
"Yep, I think we've got everything love. Should we ship out?" He called as he opened the door to the shuttle for everyone else.

-----

It had been awhile since they'd been home.

Since they left, Richard and Lorey had gotten married and had permanently moved into their own house. Damian and Raquel, however, had seem to only grow apart.

They had worked out a few things, but all the developments in this had been quite recent. Damian, by lavishing Raquel with gifts and dreams come true, had taken away her spark. She had nothing to fight for, nothing to want, with everything being handed straight to her. Meanwhile Raquel had said nothing about it until the matter of the house signing, leaving Damian feeling like he had done everything to be just let down. Hard feelings were still being harbored in his heart, but he wouldn't let them show. Not when Raquel was so close to being sent off to school.

The separation would be good, he reasoned. She would have the chance to care for herself while he would have the chance to recover from buying a brand new, fully furnished house, and everything he had bought for Richard and lorey's wedding. It had taken a huge chunk out of his finances to get them home as well. Intergalactic flights were not cheap to fund.

Damian could only hope that everything that was about to take place would be good for them both, instead of creating a rift between them. After all, if they weren't together, it was problematic for her friendship with Teagan and Lorey. How would she get to Druis for visits without him, he wondered. But there was a flaw in his thinking right there: assuming that she relied to heavily on him for everything.

But that was fair, wasn't it? To believe she needed him to simply live. It had been him to talk to her as she stood on the edge of umping in Altru. It has been him to look past her slightly psychotic edge during that time in her life, to see past it all to the beauty underneath that had been repressed for years. It had been him to save her from Chase, to bring her back home and patch her up again. And it had been him to save her from the Amaranthines. In comparison, Raquel had made him love for once in his life, and had helped them escape from that insane assassin. She'd helped Lorey, true, but in Damian's mind, nothing seemed to even compare to what he had done for her.

Another reason why she needed to go away to college: Damian was reverting back to his very selfish way of thinking as all this anger rose up in him, and he needed to be proven wrong.

That night, Damian came to see how she was doing with her packing. He paid no mind to whatever the cat was playing with, and simply stood in front of Raquel. At first he examined the packed suitcases and everything else she was in the midst of packing. Why, he had to wonder, did this feel so terrible if she was going to a place of opportunity, to achieve her dreams?

"Do you need any help?" he asked.

That tone made the warning sirens go off in his brain. Regardless of how he was reacting mentally, physically he remained collected, and spoke calmly as well.
"Yes. And you know I love you?"
He thought they had this covered by now, but apparently they both needed some kind of reminder.

Hearing those words melted him to the core. This had finally come, even if it was more of a welcomed event than he thought it would be.
Damian wrapped her up tight in his arms, taking in a memory before having to let her go. He wouldn't, though. Not until she chose to pull away.

"I will miss you as well... Lord, it will be so quiet around here without you." Too quiet. He would have to force himself to fill the space with music. At least if he learned to play well again, Raquel would have something pleasant to come home to.

"And some weekends, too..."
Damian was working on the off chance that as they stayed apart, their problems would fade into the background, to be taken over by their simply missing each other. They were in love, after all. These things couldn't last that long. Right?