The rain hissed as it struck the flagstones, each drop exploding into a miniature fountain as it struck the ground. The rain seemed to snatch the very sound out of the air, making any noise seem low and distant.

She sat under a bush, nearly invisible in the gray half-light. The shrub had surrendered to the rain hours before and water dripped freely from its leaves, plastering her hair and clothes tightly against her body. She drew her legs up against her chest and rested her chin on her knees.

She sighed as she watched the rainfall. He would either be here or he would not and she was starting to wonder whether or not it really mattered. When she had needed him before he hadn’t been there, why would it be any different now?

She felt his presence behind her but she didn’t turn to look at him. She felt his gaze as if it was a palpable force and shifted uncomfortably, wishing she had worn more. The rain had soaked her shirt, molding it tightly over her body. He had seen her wearing far less on previous occasions, but circumstances had changed. Nothing was like it had been before. She resisted the impulse to cover her chest with her hands.

"Hello Helen," he said softly. She expected to feel his breath brush the back of her neck and was almost disappointed when she didn’t.

Almost.

"What do you want, Robert?"

He carefully sat down next to her, not even disturbing the leaves that were scattered on the ground beneath the bush. "So it’s Robert now. Are you really that angry?"

She didn’t bother to look back at him as she answered, "Can you tell me why I shouldn’t be mad at you?" Her voice took on a bitter edge, "You promised me."

He reached out as if to take her in his arms, but his hands stopped just short of touching her skin. With a sigh of regret, he let them fall back into his lap.

A part of her wished that his hands hadn’t stopped, that they had taken hold of her and locked her into his warm embrace, a part of her that remembered what such an embrace curtailed... With an act of will she pushed the thoughts away. It was far too late for such things.

"Helen, you know that I can not apologize enough for what I’ve done. If I could reverse my actions, believe me, I would." His voice took on a softer tone, "But I can’t. It’s too late for me, for us. Some mistakes can never me rectified."

"Is that all I am to you now? An irreparable mistake?" she demanded bitterly. She saw the pain on his face at her words but refused to let her pride bend as far as to apologize.

He turned away from her and gazed out into the rain. "Some things have become clearer to me since... it happened. Do you know that the rain sings? That each drop has a tiny life?" He held a hand out into the rain but quickly withdrew it. "Each drop knows that its life will end once it hits the ground. Each drop sings as it falls, reaching a crescendo just before they strike the earth. It is a very sad song..." His voice drifted off and he seemed content to listen to the rain.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about? Singing rain?" She knew that her words cut him deeply but she had to twist the knife, to return some of the pain to him that he had inflicted on her.

"Helen, I made a promise. A promise that I would always be there for you. That I would never let anything come between us." His voice faltered and when he continued it was low and husky, "I broke that promise. I shattered it into a million pieces and scattered it to the wind; I'm sorry I failed you, I'm sorry I hurt you, I'm sorry that when you needed me, I wasn't there for you."

Despite her best efforts, his voice ignited a flame within her. It was the voice he used when he was at his tenderest the tone he used when she held his body close while he cried her name in passion. She wanted him to take her into his arms and to lose herself in that voice. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, the tears that she had sworn she wouldn't shed. She glanced over at him and could see tears leaving damp trails down his cheeks as well.

With an anguished very, she threw herself at him, her arms spread wide, ready to grab him and hold him as tightly as she possibly could.

Her arms reached him... and kept moving. She plunged through him, scattering leaves as she struck the ground.

Tears streamed down his face, dropping from his cheeks, but then fading from existence before they could reach the ground. "I am sorry Helen. I never meant to die, to leave you alone."

"Damn you Robert, why didn’t you just leave me alone? I had finally put you behind me, got over you, and here you are again, worse than a bad penny. Why didn’t you just stay in the ground?"

His slap caught her full across the cheek, but she didn't even feel a tingle as his hand passed through her head. "Helen, you don’t know, can’t know, won’t ever know what I had to do to come back to you! I came back! For you, and you alone! I had the opportunity to make peace with one person and I chose you! Not my mother, not my father, not my sister, you! Because I loved you! I made a promise that I would never leave you alone and I broke that promise when I died, but damn it, I came back just for you!" He sat back, face pale, seemingly drained by his outburst.

She sat up, her throat swollen shut with emotions that she refused to let out. "I-I’m sorry R-Robert. I-I-I…" She stopped and her voice lowered to a barely audible whisper, "I forgive you." Her lower lip trembled and tears started spilling from her eyes.

"Thank you Helen. That's all that I wanted to hear." He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her but stopped short of actually touching her. The illusion of an embrace was the best that he could do.

He seemed to listen to something else for a moment, then spoke, "Each raindrop sings a different song. Every single raindrop in a storm has its own melody. No two storms sound alike but the song is always one of sorrow; yet it is a wondrous melody, that is terrifying in its beauty. I can think of no better place to make our last good-byes." He placed his hands over his heart, "Remember, I have always loved you and always will." He looked over his shoulder as if he were listening to some unseen speaker standing behind him. "I have to go now. If you remember nothing else, remember this; my heart is yours, now and forever." With those words he slowly faded from sight, leaving her sitting alone underneath the bush.

As she sat, she thought she heard, barely audible over the sounds of life that even muted by the falling rain were still all around her, the rainsong. She remained there a long time, alone with her thoughts and the cries of the dying rain.