Every minute Pan waited his anxious heart beat. But every minute that passed he felt less fear and more confidence about his decision.

It was a decision he had made in the silence of his heart, and it was in the face of all his boastings about love, and of all his joy and torment, and of his butterfly– his sweet butterfly.

Would she break down in tears? Pan hoped she would but he had began to suspect that her tears might have been locked away for good– locked away even before he met her!

He imagined that she would not cry, that she would not faint, and that she would find another to love her before he had fully packed his bag.

He waited, he wanted to get it over with! He waited to start planing what he would do next without this weight on his mind, and heart. He dreaded the wait.

The tavern had been his home for a while but now that was over. He would not be able to live there. Not with her, it would be too painful. Instead, Pan would strike out on his own and see what he could make of himself in exile.

Pan waited, and waited, and began to realize that with every moment that passed he gained a greater longing for, and a peace about the thing he was about to do.

He loved Natsuki deeply, so much so that he would let her go. He wanted her to be happy, and so he would set her free from the tyranny of his love.

And so he waited.