When they first met eyes, he was just a child. He did not understand how a smile could brighten a room nor how a laugh could melt a soul. He did not understand that he had done all of these things and he did not understand how much more he would do. He understood that she was beautiful, although that word had never tasted his tongue, and he understood that she was his, although he would quickly grow to forget that. He did not understand that this moment was fleeting.

When their eyes next met he understood less. He thought he knew more as one does when age comes, but he would never be as wise as the day their eyes first met. He understood how anger could shape a person and he understood how it had shaped him. He understood he was angry at her and understood that he would be for a long time. He did not understand love. And he did not understand why her smile lit up the cafe he was hiding in, as she clutched a young child not much older than he was on their first meeting. He did not understand why this child made her smile, why his laugh melted her soul. He did not understand who she was, why those eyes stopped him from fleeing from his terrible foster home. Why she lured him out from the table he was crouched behind and why all he wanted to do was run to her. He did not understand why his eyes scared her, why the imprint of his face was forever seared into a deep part of her soul and why all she wanted to do was run from him. He didn’t understand why she did.

He soon left that cafe. His guardian quickly found him and dragged him back to the environment he so wanted to flee. Their eyes would not meet once more and he grew up.

When they first met, when their eye contact became physical contact and they learned to speak to one another, he was far too old. He had loved and lost and did not understand. But she didn’t care. Her loves were more visceral, her losses more tragic. She still carried a photo of the old gentleman with a withering smile in her wallet, and she didn’t understand why he was ripped from her too soon, why the father she loved was replaced by a mother who hurt her. But he did. He understood how the sadness had darkened her eyes and weakened her smile. He understood that the same had happened to his own. He did not understand why she had left. And he did not understand why he still cared.

But when they first embraced, when she first held him in her arms; he understood. He understood a mother’s touch, and how it can change a person. He understood love, unconditional and simple. He understood everything.