SXD: The Day Weiss Noticed The Age Difference Between Them (Patreon)

A Possible Future, many years later

Weiss had always believed she could face anything with grace. Pain. Duty. Loss. Even love.

She had prepared herself for the truth long ago that Issei Hyoudou, the man she had married, raised children together, the one who had saved her again and again, would one day have to keep living long after she was gone.

She had known. She had accepted it. Or at least, she thought she had.

But acceptance and reality were very different things.

The realization didn’t come with a grand moment, or a dramatic revelation. It came quietly, like a whisper that slipped beneath her armor when she wasn’t looking.

It was morning. Soft sunlight filtered through the curtains of their home in the Schnee Mansion, in Vale. The sound of gulls echoed faintly in the distance, and the air carried the familiar scent of sea salt and coffee. Weiss stood before the mirror, brushing her hair the same way she always did, precise, measured, and perfect.

Until her eyes caught something she hadn’t noticed before.

A faint line. Then another. Tiny, delicate creases forming at the corners of her eyes, lines of sleepless nights, of time.

She froze. The brush stilled in her hand.

For a long moment, she simply stared at her reflection.

She still looked beautiful, she knew that. She still carried herself with poise, her figure elegant and sharp as ever. But beneath all that, she could see it. The small, subtle truth that no amount of discipline could hide.

She was aging. And when she turned, she saw him.

Issei was laid down on their bed, the window, sunlight warming his skin. His brown spiky hair was the same as ever, slightly messy, falling just so over his eyes. His face, that same boyish charm, that same warm grin when he caught her looking.

“Morning, Weiss,” He said, his voice bright and soft in the same breath. “You’ve been staring at that mirror forever. Is everything okay?”

Her throat tightened.

He looked exactly the same. Not just youthful, but completely unchanged. The same as the boy she met in Beacon. The same as the man who had flown through the sky with her in his arms.

Not a wrinkle. Not a single gray hair.

Time had passed for her. It hadn’t even touched him. She remembered his words about real dragons that they were basically ageless.

She forced a small smile. “I’m fine,” She said automatically, turning back toward the mirror. Her voice didn’t quite sound like her own.

Issei didn’t seem to notice. He stretched, yawning, the faint gleam of his dragon wings fading from his back as they always came out at night to cuddle and cover her whenever she got cold. Even that subtle reminder of what he was, should have comforted her. It used to.

Now it only made her feel hollow.

She stared at her reflection again. At the faint lines. At the woman who had once stood beside him as an equal and now realized she was slowly becoming something else, something fragile and fleeting.

He came up behind her then, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist, chin resting on her shoulder. “You still look beautiful,” He murmured, kissing the side of her neck with that easy, teasing affection.

Her lips trembled before she could stop them. “You always say that.”

“Because it’s always true,” he replied, smiling in the mirror. His eyes, warm, earnest and endlessly alive met hers.

That should have been enough. It always had been before.

But now, looking at them side by side in the reflection, his unchanging youth against her quiet aging, mature appearance. Weiss felt something twist deep in her chest.

A soft ache. Cold and relentless.

She closed her eyes for a moment, steadying her breath. “Issei,” she whispered, her tone quieter now. “Have you ever… thought about it?”

He blinked. “About what?”

“About the years.” Her hand rose slowly to touch the mirror, her fingertips brushing her reflection. “About what happens when mine starts to run out… and yours don’t.”

His smile faltered.

The question hung in the air between them like a fragile thread.

“I…” He stopped. He’d never been good with words, not when it came to things like this. His hands tightened slightly on her waist. “I try not to think about it,” He said finally, his voice low. “Because when I do, it hurts.”

Weiss swallowed hard, her eyes still fixed on the reflection, the two of them standing together.

“It’s not fair,” she whispered.

He rested his head against hers. “No. It’s not.” Issei was silent for a long time. Then, quietly, he asked, “Do you regret it?”

Her heart stopped. She immediately stood and grabbed his face. “Don’t be stupid.”

His eyes widened.

Weiss exhaled, trying to steady herself. “I hate this. I hate that time is cruel. I hate that I don’t get to stay with you forever. But I will never regret it.”

Issei swallowed. “Weiss…”

She clenched her fists and hugged him burying her head into his chest. “I just—I don’t want to leave you behind.” She could feel his heartbeat against her back, steady and strong. A rhythm that would continue long after hers slowed. “I knew it would be like this,” She murmured, her voice breaking just slightly. “I told myself I was ready but as the days continue I keep noticing these differences.”

Weiss turned then faced him. He looked exactly as he had all those years ago, the same smile, that same fire. And she realized something that hurt and comforted her all at once. He would remember her exactly as she was now. Forever.

Tears welled in her eyes before she could stop them. She pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the warmth beneath her palm. “Promise me,” She whispered, “when I’m gone, that you will keep on living.”

He caught her hand, holding it against his heart. “Weiss Schnee,” he said softly, his voice shaking, “I could live a million years, and I’d still remember the way you looked at me right now.”

The tears finally fell, quiet and shimmering.

And as she leaned into his embrace, her heart aching and full all at once, Weiss realized that immortality was not the curse, love was.

Because even when time took her away, she knew she would never really leave him. Not as long as he carried her name and her memory inside that unaging heart, causing him to suffer. So she prayed whenever she was gone that the man she loves will be able to move on and keep living.