Amara's heart was beating to the tempo of faster waltz music as she was lead by Aurélien around the dance floor, her body pressed closely against his own. The other dance couples were a blur around them, and her movements felt stiff, forced and unnatural. Yet to an onlooker, the moves were long and flowing, as Amara and Aurélien glided effortlessly around the ballroom. To avoid any unnecessary eye contact with her dance partner, Amara had her eyes shut, hoping he is competent enough to not crush them into anything. They danced until the music stopped.

'I am aware, there has been an incident which might have affected our relations, I fear it might be far into the expiration date. I, however, must ask,' Aurélien paused, clearing his throat in silence, 'is it too late to hope for forgiveness, for my unforgiving behaviour?' He asked, capturing her eyes in his deep stare.

His arms were still wrapped around Amara's waist, holding her close as if she was the most expensive of treasures. Luckily, Amara realised this kind of proximity to a man, who held her heart once upon a time, did not affect her as much as some would have thought. Indeed, she could have subjected her heart to hate, yet Amara has achieved, what many sane women and even men, could only dream of; she forgave, without seeking vengeance. She had plenty of time at the end of the day, to forgive and forget and it seemed, that is exactly what she has done, 'Aurélien, I don't hate you,' Amara spoke.

She decided to step back, once again being freed of his hold, 'Admittedly, I have spent many sleepless nights just thinking about that day, for, your less than careless words affected me in ways no other person achieved before, even when I was still a mortal.'

Amara looked at him, not caring they were standing in a middle of a dance floor, surrounded by dancing couples as the silence began to fade into yet another waltz song, this time slower; more romantic. Opposite of what she felt when she looked at Aurélien.

She carried on speaking, for she knew the next words needed to be said, 'and although I have suffered from nights forced to be awake, my mind being a constant reminder of your words, I was never angry enough to hate you.

'I never for even one second, had any expectations for a romantic relationship, therefore I had no right to be angry when you did not reciprocate my once romantic feelings. The only thing I needed and expected from you, was your friendship and when you disregarded that too, you have made me very disappointed,' Amara took a deep breath, her eyes prickling with unshed tears.

This time, however, she did not dare to let them fall.

'You discredited my friendship and my heart like it was an unwanted old shirt.'

'Amara I-' Aurélien interrupted yet Amara carried on ignoring him.

'I have pretty much forgiven you the first moment I stepped out of that door that day and then after that, I have slowly learned to forget also. I became to have different responsibilities which gave me a much-needed distraction.

Therefore, to answer your question fully, no I don't hate you and I never hated you, so there was never any need to forgive you in the first place.'

Aurélien sighed and spoke, 'I wish there was something I could do, to turn back the time and believe me if there was, I would jump at that opportunity right now.'

Amara could hear the raw sincerity in Aurelien's voice, for, regret is one of the most painful reminders that could be given to us by the universe, however, also unnecessary. You get multiple choices with any situation placed in front of you, therefore it's cowardly and selfish to feel regret.

Amara knew that better than anyone else.

'Listen Aurélien, I will be honest with you. Yes, I have come to love you in the past, yet I am a changed creature in the present,'

'Please Amara, give me a chance to explain,' he spoke in a pleading yet a strong voice.

Amara however, did not back down, 'no Aurélien, I will not. I might have forgiven you for your betrayal and forgotten the pain you caused me, but that does not mean I will jump into the same river again and believe you. Believe it or not, the age made me wiser, from the fool I once have been and the many difficulties which were thrown my way, made me stronger than the frail being I once was.'

'I'm sorry,' Aurélien said, his eyes reflecting sadness which he might have felt too.

'I am too, Aurélien,' she breathed out in a quiet voice and once more, gazed into his breath-taking eyes.

Then as if nothing happened, she turned and walked away, leaving Aurélien standing in the middle of all those dancing couples, glad her pride was left unbroken this time around. She probably could not take another embarrassment in front of him.

Her eyes burned from the unshed tears threatening to spill down her cheeks and her chest hurt from all the unnecessary and pathetic what-ifs. Yet although she felt hurt, she no longer regretted not being with him and she definitely did not regret, not getting a chance at a relationship with him. Deep breaths, she told herself as she stopped in front of a tall waitress, who was holding a black tray filled with glasses of bubbly champagne. She took a glass and gulped a large satisfying sip of the burning liquid, closing her eyes in the process. The ambrosia in the beverage made her feel so much better and relaxed.

'You darling did marvellously there. If it was up to me, I would forbid men to be trusted and possibly kick them where the sun doesn't shine,' a voice spoke behind her elegantly.

Amara silently choked on the liquid, not expecting anyone to speak and she quickly turned around, her eyesight finding a lady with feminine features. A sleek coiffed blond up-do framed her heart-shaped face and a rather pink long gown decorated her slim body.

Not that she was a fashion guru but she presumed the style was inspired by the ninety-twenties.

'I am sorry Miss?' She questioned hoping to clear the confusion.

'Well, men can be quite the pigs sometimes and they even dare to take high positions do they not? Perhaps more than they can manage but a perfect woman will grasp her knowledge to her advantage and teach them their place. With grace, if I may add, just like you did with Aurélien.'

'I can't say I'm following, Miss,' Amara spoke shyly.

The unknown lady laughed bubbly, radiating cheerfulness, which Amara have not had the pleasure of seeing on another being in a very long time. She could see the sincereness in the lady's laugh, which in return almost made her feel like laughing with her.

Yet she continued to watch her with a staid face, showing no unusual emotions.

Perhaps, she indeed did spend too much time with the dying mortals, who as anyone could imagine had no sense of humour in them, sadly. Not that she could blame them either, yet after doing her duty for over six hundred years, the scared look on the dying does get kind of boring.

Slightly sad at times as well, for, she was not completely heartless yet.

'Forgive me, dear, I sometimes ramble without a necessary cause. It's a bad habit of mine,' she smiled a little.

Amara could not grasp the bizarreness of the smooth wrinkle-free face, which by no means, matched her raspy voice; the voice fitted for an old woman. It was a peculiar combination of youth and wisdom, perhaps.

Naïve yet, at the same time, sophisticated.

Innocent yet, at the same time, sinful.

'My name is Aphrodite, but I'm assuming you already know that.'

Amara only shook her head in a no and Aphrodite's smile widened, 'Thanatos sure knows how to keep me more and more surprised, the rascal,' Aphrodite spoke, her voice no longer gravel. In fact, it was smooth and musical as any youthful feminine voice.

The voice now fitted her appearance.

Amara felt more and more confused, the longer Aphrodite kept her company. She also felt the power radiating towards her, from the goddess, yet she sensed her character was sincere on the inside as much as it appeared on the outside. She was a likeable character indeed and Amara wondered if all gods were as such.

She somehow doubted it.

'It comes with the whole package of being the main goddess of seduction and sexuality.'

Amara furrowed her eyebrows for who knows for how many times now, as soon as Aphrodite spoke. It was almost as if the goddess could read her confused thoughts.

'Oh, deary. I am sure doing a good job at confusing you. My voice I meant. It has a weird tendency to change age as well as gender at any given time.'

'I guess it kind of suits the goddess of love miss,' Amara said.

And how true that was. Peculiar also, yet no more abnormal than collecting souls on daily basis, Amara admitted. In the afterlife, anything odd and supernatural was the norm, yet Amara could not help but be amazed every time she came across something which should not be able to happen. She should get used to it, for this particular occurrence might not stay the most peculiar of them all, for, she had a long journey ahead of her, Amara could almost feel it in her feet.

Especially when she was forced to be pulled from her boring existence of a soul gatherer and suddenly thrown into a sea of high-rank gods who probably waited for her to make any kind of mistake.

'Please don't compare me to that mollycoddle, Eros. I prefer sex to love,' Aphrodite spoke, her voice sounding more like a full grown male, deep and husky, you would not believe for one second, it could be owned by such a sophisticated lady.

'Isn't Eros your son though?'

'Perhaps, yet, I still cannot forget the humiliation when he indeed accidentally pierced himself with one of his arrows, causing him to fall in love with Psyche. I guess us gods do hold grudges for centuries,' she said and even laughed at the end, 'can you blame us? We would be ever so bored without our meaningless grudges and wars.'

Aphrodite even winked at that.

Amara no longer fancied listening to a complicated family tale, therefore she changed the subject, 'Do any other gods have special abilities?'

'Believe it or not,' Aphrodite smiled, her voice changing to the one of a child, high pitched and innocent, 'all gods are given special powers or features to represent their nature. It's not always clear how it all fits into our personalities or even our whole existence, but every deity has a gift or for some, a curse. Even our dear Thanatos had a certain gift once upon a time,' Aphrodite smiled genuinely, as if remembering a memory, somewhere, once upon a time.

'He looked so genuinely happy when he was told what his responsibilities are going to be. I still remember the boy with black sparkling eyes, being truthfully proud of what he was made to be. One puzzle of the greater good. He didn't dare to wish, to give his responsibilities to anyone else. He gathered the souls himself only his precious scythe to keep him company. He was also quite social and even had best friends to keep him company when he needed them.'

Aphrodite looked wistfully into the distance. It was obvious to anyone with working eyes she cared for Thanatos. It was rather unclear to Amara if the love was towards a friend or a lover.

'It was such a shame, Zeus cursed him all those years ago. He would have gotten over his grief eventually, however, my lovely father never was good with patience.'

'Grief?' Amara could not help but ask with a deep frown.

Although she felt it was not her business, she so desperately wanted to know her master more.

His thoughts, anger and even his painful grief, yet she did not dare to ask this stranger about his curse.

'He was devastated when his wife died even though Aura only used to break his heart.'

Amara's chest ached painfully for unexplainable reasons and upon noticing her wide eyes, Aphrodite most probably realised she said more than Amara was aware of, 'my apologies, my big mouth does not know when to be quiet at times.'