time to tell a story.

I took the rainbow to be a good omen. I had never seen its like before, as I peered out of the scratched lexan window, seeing the sunlight scattered off a thin mist and forming a perfectly circular rainbow around the sun. It was one of the rarest and most beautiful things I had ever seen. I smiled to myself and thought of her, wishing she was here to see this sight, and felt the now familliar stab of longing in my heart. Only another hour and a half, I said to myself, as the plane levelled off at cruising altitude, leaving Seattle for mountains and snow.

I buried myself in a book to distract myself, finishing George R. R. Martin's "A Clash Of Kings" and getting a quarter of the way through Varley's "Steel Beach" before finally, finally, we landed.

I couldn't be off the plane fast enough.

I hurried my way through the thronging crowds, dodging up the stairs to the main terminal, craning my neck, my heart in my throat, until I spotted her (our) friend Luke, who was giving us a ride back to her place. He was dressed finer than your average chauffer, in a sleek black tuxedo, and he led me down to baggage claim.

I nearly killed him when he teased me about her not being there to meet me. I probably would have at leased punched him, had I not heard a joyful cry, and turned to find a beautiful woman in black and purple silk leaping into my arms, kissing me passionately. Luke tried to ask me something, but I didn't care, I couldn't hear or see anything. All that mattered was that Selena was with me again, she was real, I could touch her, kiss her, look into her eyes. So many times I had feared that I would never see her again, or hold her... and there she was, at last.

When we finally came back to reality, Luke was sitting with my bags off in a corner, looking amused. He smirked as he noted our attention, and we followed him back to the car.

The ride back to Selena's was like something out of a movie -- our polite and gracious chauffer in his elegant tux played Sinatra as we rode in the back seat, scarcely willing to stop kissing, let alone let go of one another.

Luke carried my bags up to Selena's room, and he left us there. What transpired next is between Selena and I, but suffice it to say that it lasted until 5 AM.

Then, of course, we were awakened only a few hours later by the horror that is an Army inspection. I don't particularly want to discuss that, either, largely because I would prefer to forget the blemish on an otherwise perfect weekend.

Eventually, though, Selena and I were allowed back to her barracks room, where we napped and laid in one anothers' arms for a few hours, talking sleepily and trying to recover from our harrowing morning.

She really does have the most beautiful eyes, you know. They are a warm, light brown that glows in an almost irridescent fashion, like butterfly wings trapped in amber. Those eyes, and her olive skin, and her wild tousle of thick, silky black hair make her look like a gypsy princess... though ironically I'm the one with Romany blood.

That evening we went to game, where I was amused by the shortsighted squabbling of in-game internal politics that seems to be endemic to every LARP, whether in Bellingham or otherwise. Selena proudly showed me off, and I was proudly hers. We stole a few moments for kisses here and there, and went to the post-game coffee session, but we both grew nauseous and Luke was tired, so he gave us a ride back to her room, which is wallpapered with books. It's a very pleasant little place, a little bubble of beauty, imagination and light in a sea of soul-crushing bureaucratic horror. Rather like Selena, really. The sight of her room almost pained me, really, as I just could not understand why a beautiful, creative, strong-willed person like Selena would allow herself to enter an organization like the Army... and wished for the thousandth time that I could save her from it.

We talked late into the night, playing music for one another, enjoying one another's presence... and other things. Suffice it to say that we had an even more magnificent time than Friday night.

On Sunday we had breakfast with Liv, Chris and Luke, and visited a rather nice goth clothing store before driving around Denver for a while, with Chris, Liv, Selena and I crammed into the back seat, each couple kissing and laughing as we moved through the city, with Luke doing his best to ignore us.

Selena and I were deposited at her barracks so we could spend our few remaining hours together. And so we did.

It didn't really hit me that I was leaving until I was about to get in line to pass through airport security, and Selena and I were trying not to cry.

It still amazes me, how special she has become in so short a time, how much I wish I could truly have her in my life, how much I long to face life's struggles with her at my side. How much I wish to weave dreams with her and show her the wonders I have seen, both here and elsewhere in the world. How much I long for a normal life with her.

And yet I don't feel insane for choosing to be in a long distance relationship again. Selena is worth it; this is the sort of woman that men kill and die for, and she looks at me, humble geekish me, with the sort of tacit adoration that most spend their lives looking for and never finding. She is a priestess of life, trying to create and grow, full of passion and love and lust and all the finest human emotions. The fire in her warms me, and feeds mine.

I have that intuition, the one that my parents felt, that told them that this was It. I want to spend my life with this woman. Now what remains to be seen is whether that will be possible...

... and by my will, I will make it possible.