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This one is for no one else but me, for the ghosts that haunt me still.

We all deal with loss and heartache differently, there is no time limit on sorrow or grief. Some wounds are eternal, no amount of support and time will heal them, as much as we might wish they would. We never truly recover from them either, we just learn to cope with them better.

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Edna stood at the water's edge, staring down at the object clutched tightly in her hands. The sun battled against the dark clouds starting to form out over the ocean, the last rays of sunshine fighting valiantly as they danced across the angry ocean below, the dark cold water being whipped into a frenzy by a cold biting wind. Despite the icy talons attempting to tear her soul asunder, the black and white furred badger stood alone and unperturbed in her indifference. She held so much of her life in this one thing, so many memories, both good and bad, stolen from her by a malignant intruder. She'd have traded all the rest of her days just for just one more day together, but happiness had been denied and in a matter of months it had come to a cruel end. Just as she had promised so many months ago when they'd first learned of the situation and some hard conversations were had; she lifted the lid and let the wind carry his ashes out across the ocean. He'd always been a fantastic dancer; this was the last dance he'd ever share with her as the last remnants of his physical-self faded out into the world and waters stretching out below. For a brief moment she thought she heard his voice carry across the wind, along with a gentle touch across her cheek as he said one last goodbye.

Somehow, she thought it would be easier once she'd fulfilled her promise and finally let him go. But as she stood staring out across the waves and cold ocean waters crashing against the cliffside below, she felt nothing but emptiness. Like an empty shell which threatened to collapse in on itself at any moment, nothing but darkness and hollow echoes where within her now. Part of her wondered if she'd ever be happy again, or if that hole deep inside her would just grow and grow, until it consumed her completely. The badger felt warmth running down her cheeks, she'd apparently started crying, though she didn't quite know when. The sun was beginning to set already, it had given up the fight against the storm clouds finally. Hadn't it been morning only a moment ago, she thought? No matter, there was nothing to look forward to either way anymore, the sun sets even on the brightest days. Turning to walk numbly back to her old silver Mercedes, Edna dropped the urn into the waste bin on her way past, hearing it shatter as it struck the bottom of the empty metal bin. How fitting, just like her hopes and dreams for her future, shattered and useless now.

As she shut her car door against the now cold and bitter wind howling outside, Edna sat staring through her windscreen listening to the mixtape he'd made her one Valentines Day as the first tears of Heaven began to fall all around her. All the old songs they used to dance in their kitchen to filled the silence as darkness began to press in against the windows all around her. For a brief moment she could almost feel Henry sitting beside her and humming off key like he always used to, back then it used to annoy her, but now she'd give anything to hear it again. As the vehicles in the parking lot dwindled, the tears continued to flow while the feeling of loneliness grew to a near all-consuming ache. Surely this must be what it felt like to have your heart carved from your chest while you were still alive and awake. Angrily the badger ejected the cassette tape from her radio, wincing when the ribbon spilled from it, caught on unseen gears inside the radio. "No, no, no! What have I done!" She panicked and tried to gently free the ribbon from the jaws of her radio, but it was too late, the damage had been done. Edna slumped forwards in her seat and hit her head hard enough against the steering wheel to make a little hoot. It would've been funny under normal circumstances, but grief had seized her so suddenly, it felt like an icy hand was trying to rip her still beating heart from her chest with its clawed fingers.

"You okay in there?" a muffled voice called out after startling her with knuckles rapping against her window.

"Yes...yeah...I'm fine, thanks" Edna replied without looking at the source of the voice, wiping tears from her eyes. Sniffling as she fumbled with the key in her ignition, turning it to find she was met by a muted click of the alternator. There was no engine turning over, the battery was dead. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" She screamed at no one in particular, slamming her fists down against the steering wheel hard enough she knew she'd bruised at least one of her palms.

"Battery dead, huh?" the voice called out, almost seeming amused by her misfortune. Luckily for the stranger however, Edna still retained enough common sense to know he wasn't aware of her situation and probably had no ill intent in his words.

"Yeah, I hate to ask this of a complete stranger, but any chance you could give me a jump?" Edna asked, winding down her window a little and finding she struggled to see whom she was talking to. Her mind fumbled with what she was seeing, whomever was outside was large. But not only that, they appeared to be mostly black in colour with only a few white patches. An orca? She'd never seen one of them before, but as they were at the beach, she supposed it wasn't that surprising.

"Sorry ma'am, I don't have any jumper cables...don't have a car actually, so never needed them" The orca apologised with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

"A mobile phone then, so I can call the AA?" Edna asked hopefully.

"Nope, sorry again, not a fan of modern technology in general. All I have is a landline in my hut" the large monochrome stranger replied with a friendly smile.

"Fine..." Edna replied after a moment's thought, stepping out of her car and slamming the door shut behind her. "Just don't try anything funny, I have a taser," she threatened while jamming her hand into her purse and retrieving a small black object a little bigger than the palm of her hand.

"Gotcha, so no juggling or jokes then," the orca replied with another charming smile, making the older badger frown up at him. "Tough crowd..." he mumbled to himself before nodding back over his shoulder, indicating for her to follow. "I'm Tides by the way" the young orca introduced himself finally as he made his way down a path toward the colourful wooden cottages which lined the beach.

"Nice to meet you, Tides. I'm Edna..." the badger reluctantly replied, rubbing at her upper arms to try keep warm. "Don't you feel the cold?" she asked curiously as she noted how little the big orca was wearing, a pair of bright red swimming trunks and a white sleeveless vest. She was sure the simple pink rubber sandals he had on his feet didn't offer much protection against the cold let alone the rocky path he was leading her down.

"Nah, got plenty of blubber to keep me warm!" Tides chuckled as he reached behind to clap a large hand against his posterior. "Besides, I don't live far, I'll make you some tea when we get to my place to warm you up!" Tides offered cheerily.

Even though she'd only just met him and common wisdom said to be wary of strangers, there was something oddly calming and warm about the big orca. He had an air of innocence about him, as if he'd somehow managed to escape the cruelties of life. Though she thought she spotted a scar running down the left side of his back from an old injury which indicated otherwise.

"Welcome to Che Tides!" The orca proudly announced as he stood at the bottom of some stairs leading up to a rather gaudy bright pink and green painted hut. Even in the darkness Edna could tell the colours clashed horrendously, but she knew better than to mention that. She had more pressing matters to think about and the storm was starting to kick up outside.

Despite the garish outside, inside was surprisingly lovely. Edna couldn't help but be reminded of an old English cottage with all the floral patterns and pale pastel colours everywhere. It was as if she's stepped through a portal into another world, it was even almost quiet inside Tide's small cottage, as if there were no storm outside. The orca directed her to the old rotary phone mounted on the wall not far inside as he headed back to the small open plan kitchen to start the tea boiling.

"Hmm, storm must've knocked the power out" Tides noted as the lights suddenly went out, leaving them in near pitch black, save for the blue flames beneath the camping kettle on his stove. "Let there be light!" he cheered as he retrieved an old timey oil lantern from one of his shelves and lit the small wick.

"It's not working..." Edna sighed, tapping the received on the old handset to try get a dialling tone, but she was met by nothing but silence.

"Storm must've taken that out too, sorry" Tides apologized and shrugged his shoulders while pouring the hot water into their mugs. For such a big muscled guy, he looked oddly comfortable carrying everything back into his living room on a tray which looked far too tiny for him.

Edna took a reluctant seat in an old stiff high backed chair, decorated in a floral pattern she swore her own grandmother had while she was growing up. Tides smiled as he placed a small plate of cookies and her tea cup on the small intricately carved wooden table between them, the scent of the tea admittedly smelled delectable, but even so, she waited for the orca to take the first sip.

"So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?" Tides asked politely as he sat awkwardly on his own chair which looked far too small for him.

"Just keeping a promise" Edna replied, perhaps a little bit tersely.

"It's important to keep ones promises" the orca replied, still smiling sweetly at her as he picked up one of the small short bread cookies and popped it into his mouth.

"I wish I didn't have to keep this one..." The badger replied with a growl, her hands curling into fists as she clutched the straps of her handbag tight enough to make the fake leather groan in duress. Edna's stomach grumbled, suddenly realizing she hadn't eaten today, or the last couple of days now she thought about it. Reluctantly she reached for one of the short bread cookies herself, sniffing at it curiously. It smelled good, definitely not like something one would find in a store around here.

"Made them myself!" Tides offered when he saw the badger inspect the confectionary curiously. Her look of curiosity turned into a mixture of confusion and delight when she took the first nibble, it was soft and flaky, but also buttery. The shortbread practically melted in her mouth. Before she knew it, she'd ravaged the plate and scoffed a half dozen of the slender cut cookies.

"Shorry" She paused and mumbled around a mouthful of shortbread when she noticed the orca grinning at her.

"Oh, don't be. I'm just glad someone likes my baking!" Tides giggled, clapping his hands together in glee. He was an odd fellow, despite his massive muscled outward appearance, he had the innocence of a child. But there was something in his eyes Edna noted, a peculiar sadness and a depth she couldn't quite comprehend. "So why wouldn't you want to keep a promise?" Tides asked suddenly, taking a slow sip from his small cup with his pinkie finger raised, as if he'd been born and raised in England, though his accent sounded more Southern than anything.

"I scattered my husbands ashes today. I'd rather not have had to do that, but life and the universe had other ideas for me" She snapped back at the orca without thinking.

"Everything happens for a reason" Tides replied calmly, seeming to take no offence to her outburst.

"What fucking reason is there for cancer? What fucking reason is there to take someone I loved, someone I wanted to spend the rest of my goddamn life with?" She snarled, baring her fangs at the large orca threateningly.

"Not every reason is for you or about you, sometimes you're just the innocent bystander in someone else's lesson or reason" Tides offered, seeming to be unphased by her display of anger as he took another calm sip of his tea.

"How does that make sense? How is it even fair?" Edna spat, slamming her tea cup down on the table and leaning forward to glare at the orca sitting opposite her.

"Life isn't meant to be fair, if it was, no one would suffer and everyone would be happy all the time. There'd be no shades to the colors because everything would be bright and cheerful all the time. That's no way to live, it's bland and flavourless because you can't have the highs without the lows. Without pain and suffering in the world, people wouldn't appreciate the good things as much because they wouldn't be as special" He offered, placing his tea cup down gently beside hers while staring at her with his deep, calm gaze.

"A lifetime of memories gone in an instant..." Edna's voice trembled as she stared pleadingly at Tides, almost as if he could somehow reverse the last few months of her life and bring back her happiness.

"Are they though? You're still here, you still remember. Your heart still beats, still feels" His hands reached out for hers, gently cupping her smaller furred fingers between his strong but gentle grip. "Your life isn't over yet, sure the happiness you knew might have come to an end. But that doesn't mean you'll never have other happy moments. But they will only find you if you let them, you don't have to let go of your past, just don't let it anchor you there."

"It's too late for love" Edna stammered, closing her eyes and feeling her entire body tremble, suddenly feeling weak and faint. Again, warmth trickled down over her cheeks as tears began to flow unbidden.

"It's never too late for love, love is eternal, love is timeless. Love is an immutable truth in the harsh reality of life" Tides offered, gently tugging the smaller badger into his lap, where he cuddled her against his broad chest. His soft touch stroked along her back and shoulders, even up about the base of her neck.

Edna hadn't realized just how tired she was, or just how much of her emotions she'd been bottling up either. Even though she'd only just met him, somehow being held in his lap against his broad chest, Edna felt safe and comforted. She felt like she'd never be able to stop crying as pained sobs wracked her tired body; eventually she wore herself out and fell into a deep sleep.

She was standing in her kitchen and her favourite song was playing, Charlie was there too, humming off key as he took her by the hand and began to twirl her about. How she'd missed his touch, his crooked grin thanks to his broken jaw. Even the mischievous twinkle in his eyes she knew meant he was about to tell her another dirty joke. Her heart felt full and warm, like colour had been returned to her world. But then Charlie let go of her hand and began to walk away from her, further back into the darkness as his shape began to be difficult to make out in the shadows. She wanted to follow him but her feet refused to move, no matter how much she begged and pleaded for him to stay! Charlie slowly faded from her sight, leaving her with a final parting word "Live."

Edna blinked as she awoke to unfamiliar surroundings, finding she was curled up on a rather uncomfortable high-backed sofa under a knitted blanket. A familiar song was playing from a radio somewhere, along with someone humming along to the tune, rather off key too. As she sat up and rubbed her eyes, she spotted the black and white orca standing in front of his oven as he baked up a fresh batch of his shortbread.

"What did the toaster say to the slice of bread?" Tides mumbled to himself as he popped another couple of slices into his old-fashioned toaster. "I want you inside me!" the orca giggled, a soft musical sound, completely unaware he was being watched.