February 7th 2013

Author's Note: Shalom and Happy Valentine's day to Sladin fans and my fellow ducklings! I am leaving two clues in this story for y'all. It is of an actual person that did die. Milkshakes to those who figure out the person.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, comics or the television show.

You can't stop time. There are obstacles in the way. I cannot change the past, rearranging it's events. But I can sure as hell prepare for the future. Dammit. I should have been there. It was January 22nd 2008-a Tuesday. That's the day he...passed away. It sounds so weird to say that. There's not a day that passes by that I don't think of him. Sometimes, I don't even really believe that he's dead. My mind just can't fathom it. Not like it's impossible, but just not yet.

He never once told me that I was too young for him. That day when he left for his mission, he said to me, "Will you wait for me?" I said, "Of course, I will wait for you, Slade. There is not another man that could ever replace you." With that, he kissed me and slung his bag over his shoulder and marched out the room.

The next few days I waited patiently for him to call me on his communicator, but to no avail. It was on the television—the news. There was an explosion in Tel-Aviv. The location he was stationed. He was helping the Israelis guard the border for rumoured threats. Sources say that he was there at the time of the explosion. I frantically dialled for him on my communicator, but there was no signal. It's like the five steps of grief, but not exactly in the right order. I knew that Slade wasn't a god, but that doesn't mean he's gone...just like that. No good-byes. He was my everything: my lover, foe, mentor, friend. Slade was my world. I told him that I would wait for him and I still do. I don't care that I look like a fool; I will wait for him for all eternity if that's what it takes. I'm not in denial. He can't be dead...he just can't.

It's been five years now, since he went missing. They never found his body. Now, it's almost Valentine's day and I am once again alone. I'm not lonely, I'm just alone. I can feel his presence all around. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I cry, when I think of him. My friends think that I'm hysterical for still acting this way for all these years. But I don't care. They will never understand my love for him.

I'm feeling edgy again, so I decide to take a stroll down Blüdhaven. And when I say stroll, I mean running across rooftops. I sit down on the ledge, brooding. Pausing in the middle of a thought, I turn around, feeling someone behind me.

"Why so serious? Let's put a smile on that face."

Author's note: Did you figure it out, folks? It is none another than the beloved Heath Ledger. It has been five years since he has passed away. Let us honour and remember him for being the greatest actor of his generation. Requiescat in pace.