Every night he holds her tight.

She is just a little girl. She is nine years old. She has seen him. He walks over to her bed and looks down at his beautiful child empress. He places soft kisses all over her - her round cheeks, her sleepy eyelids, her petal lips. He holds her in his arms and gently cradles her. She is so small, so fragile, like a flower... a butterfly on a warm summer breeze. In his arms, she looks like a little doll, gently loved and caressed. He whispers soft words in her tiny ear. Words like "I love you", and "I want to be with you forever..."

"I love u too..." the little girl whispers back. She feels his presence. She knows him. She slowly opens her big eyes and looks back into his own. She knows he loves her. Loves her more than his own life. He is so warm. She wishes she could just hold him and never let go. "Why can't we be together?" The little girl closes her eyes again as a single diamond tear rolls down her pale little cheek.

He kisses the tear away and feels her snuggle closer to him. After awhile, she falls asleep in his arms. Again, he smiles at her fragile sleeping form. God, she is small. He whispers over and over to the night air. "I love you little angel, I love you... I love you... I love you..."

The little girl couldn't see tears in his eyes but she could feel his warmth. He holds her a little longer not wanting to let go of her familiar softness and fragrance of her skin. He loves the way she smells. Strawberries and lollipops. But loving moments like this never last forever. He knows it's time to go. He tucks the little child in. He kisses his angel one last time. He takes out something and caresses her little silky lips with it. It was something soft and fragile. He places it on the pillow next to her blonde hair. Then he whispers "I love you forever..." one last time and disappears.

As soon as he leaves, she wakes up feeling cold and lonely without him. There is something in her hand. It is a note. The little girl opens it and this is what it says:

My little love,

I am sorry we can't be together. But someday we will. Until then you are always in my heart, forever. I will always love you. And please, don't cry. Every time you shed a tear a petal will wither from our symbol of love. So remember, I love you, my little angel, and don't ever forget that.

The little girl holds the note close to her heart. She is crying. Soft tears stream down her cold little cheeks, her chin trembling with painful sobs. But then she remembers the note and the symbol of love. What did he mean by that? Then she recalls that soft object he caressed her lips with. The little girl looks to her side and there it was, their symbol of love. A single red rose.

The End