Love is like a whirlwind. All the happy moments swept away in the now cold breeze that my girlfriend brought to our attention. We have so many plans, one of which is to spend our lives together and have a family.

But that's when the realization hit. She'll, in good health, outlive us all. Me, any children we have, all the friends we've made since she left her home. The reason? She's an Elf.

Elves are long lived, especially the tribe my love is from. We met while I was gathering some herbs in the forest near her home settlement. I had stumbled into an animal trap left unattended by hunters and she just happened to find me while passing by.

I don't know if it was the shock fron all the blood rushing to my head or from seeing her but I lost all sense and thought except one, and that was how I fell in love at first sight.

As she helped me out of the trap I tried to thank her but stumbled my words. She thought it was endearing and asked if I had time to spare. It was the summer solstice and her tribe was celebrating, which is the only time outsiders are welcomed easily.

Once the festivities began she offered me a drink made of fermented nuts and berries that only grow in this region, it was dry and tart, but most of all it helped calm my nerves. From then on we chatted about our respective culture, dreams and goals. A good few of which lined up. A quiet life filled with small adventures and a family to come home to being the biggest one of all.

A few weeks pass and I'm back to gathering more herbs and there she was, right were we first met. "You weren't waiting for me were you? Sorry I'm a few weeks late if you were." A small laugh trailing the end of my sentence

She gave a warm smile and said she was just on patrol as usual but had saw me and wanted to talk more.

This led to her visiting the small village where I was living, sharing a meal at one of my favorite restaurants and enjoying the night and the stars above.

From then on we met often and ended up dating

A year passed and I proposed and she said yes. A few months later she came to the realization that she'd outlive me and everyone she had come to love, brought on by the fact that she was by human years older than my mother. The Elves age in stages, some have shorter active times than others. An elf's active time is the period when they hit maturity and will look that way until that period is over. Generally it starts around regular human adulthood 18-25 of full maturity, and lasts around when they're at least 300, where they begin to age, albeit slowly. Their average lifespan is often double or more so than their active period.

My love is currently 96, and we had been caught up in so much of enjoying each others company and all the new experiences from our culture that we failed to even bring up ages. But such is blind love, hiding the details that try to rip you apart from the one you want to be with.

I tried to console her, but she wouldn't have it, knowing that she'd watch me pass, and any children wouldn't be able to live nearly as long as she would. It was heart breaking for us both but for her even more so.

That day I vowed to put into motion what I had only thought if as a wild baseless and impossible fantasy

For the sake of my love, the sake of our future and her happiness I would go to any lengths. That day, I vowed to make an elixir of immortality, or at least one that would let me live as long as she would.

Months, and then years went by. My research bore fruit and so did my now lovely wife. She believed in my capabilities and put her faith into my goal, even if I was to fail she would still rather spend whatever life I had together with me than to have not at all.

I moved us to the outskirts of my village and the forest of her origin, where we enjoy our quite life with our children. My research led me to looking for exotic plants and minerals, some of which brought us to new lands, new sights and new memories. All the while I got closer and closer to the elixir. No matter what, I had to make this potion to savor every moment we could together.

In the end, our children grew, I aged and she was still as lovely as the day I met her.

I lay on our bed in the quiet little home we shared, my hand clutched in hers. Our children, 3 of which were standing behind their mother, tears in my oldest daughters eyes and her 2 younger brothers crying into her hug. We all knew it was my time. My love gave a warm smile, then a kiss on the forehead.

"In all my years I have and never will love another like I love you. Thank you for being clumsy and being caught in that trap all those summers ago. For as silly as our encounter, I wouldn't change anything from that point forward. You took my small world and filled it with so many wonders. You my dearest, I will always remember and so you shall live as long as I."

As she says those words I can see her heart breaking, but even with tears rolling down her beautiful cheeks, I can't help but remember how I felt when we first met. I wish I had the strength to tell her how much she means to me and thank her for going on all my endeavors to spend her lifespan together. I had a very long and wonderful life, and can honestly say I've truly lived it to the fullest and have known true undying love. And as I'm dying now, I have no regrets.