The Alchemists

The atmosphere then became silent. Marion started to feel uncomfortable because she was not used to such silence. Finally, she turned on the radio so that at least there was some music. The radio station she played had just finished playing a song from a famous band, and then started playing a really sad song.

"Uhm ..." It took a minute before Marion realized that the song they were listening to was the latest song from Billie Yves, a legendary singer who was world famous, and was Jean's girlfriend. Uhm ... ex-girlfriend, according to Jean's confession.

Feeling awkward, she moved her hand to change the radio channel, but Jean's hand prevented her from doing so.

"Why do you want to change it?" Jean asked in a soft voice.

"Uhm ... this is Billie's song. I thought you ... will feel awkward listening to it. I don't want to rub on your heart's wounds," Marion said honestly.

Jean smiled and shook his head, "No, Billie is a very talented artist, and I love all of her songs. Even though our relationship ended, I never stopped being a fan."

"Oh ..." Marion didn't expect that Jean would think that way. She finally nodded. "The song is indeed good. Really sad... but good."

Jean nodded. His eyes were focused on the road but his mind flew back to Billie and his heart embraced the beauty of the song she was singing.

"If I may ask... why did you guys separate?" Marion started probing. "As far as I know, you guys have been together for such a long time. Uhm... you don't need to answer if you don't want to."

Jean frowned and tried to consider whether he could share his personal problems with Marion;  the girl was barely an acquaintance to him.

Finally, he felt it would not hurt to tell her the truth.

"Billie and I were too busy with our own careers. We are both very successful and very well known, but we don't have time for our personal lives. Billie wants to get married and have children, but I personally don't see the possibility given our busy schedule." Jean sighed, "And honestly, getting married and having children was never something I look forward to."

"Ohh... " Marion didn't know how to respond.

Jean continued his words casually. His voice sounded calm and honest. "I thought I could change, but after 15  years together, I realized that no matter how hard I try, I can't change. My parents divorced when I was 5 years old and I'm afraid the same thing would happen to me. I don't want to bring a child into such a life. Besides, I already have Terry, my son from the sperm I donated 23 years ago. For me that's more than enough."

Marion did not expect Jean to open up to her so soon, so she could only covered her mouth in surprise.

"That's not fair to Billie," Marion finally found her voice. "If you knew that you couldn't fulfill what she wanted, you should have told her from the start!"

"Well, I didn't know that I couldn't change. I tried. I honestly did my best." Jean shook his head in sorrow. His separation with Billie also had a bad impact on him. He had spent a great deal of his life with Billie and was looking forward to sharing their lives together forever. Now that they realized that they cannot find common goals in life and chose separation, he now felt a void in him too.

"If Billie quit her job and lived with you, do you want to marry her?" Marion asked again. "You said the problem was that you were both too busy with work."

Jean frowned and pondered "I've actually taken a year off from work, and after this I'll fake my death and take a new identity. Billie doesn't want to come along with me. Maybe I didn't convince her enough, I don't know, but given the situation of our last few years together, going our separate ways was the best choice. I think I would never change. She wouldn't change either."

Marion looked straight ahead when she heard Jean's last sentence. She then murmured softly. "That's because you haven't found the right person."

"What did you say?" Jean asked, looking away.

"Hmm ... Lauriel also said the same thing - that he didn't want to get married and have children. That was why Luna left him and went to Germany when she found out that she was pregnant. She could not believe that Lauriel had the heart to reject the child in her womb. Even though all Alchemists only can have children if both parents want the child, Lauriel did not know that Luna was pregnant when she left. When the news finally reached him, Endo and Neo were trapped in Manchuria in captivity of the Japanese invaders so he must go and free them. When he arrived in Germany, it was already too late to save Luna. That is Lauriel's biggest regret to this day."

"Is that really what happened?" asked Jean in surprise. He had never heard this story about Lauriel before. Now everything made sense, why Lauriel lost his girlfriend and child and only met his son a few weeks ago.

"I've known Lauriel for 100 years, just after World War 2 was over. At that time, he was searching for Luna like a mad man." Marion's gaze looked really sad. "Actually, when I think about it, I was very impressed by how deeply Lauriel loved Luna. That's when I began to admire him."

"Do you really think you love him?" Jean asked her.

Marion shrugged, amazed at herself. "Strangely, after today, I feel like I see him in a different light. So, maybe I just admired him because he was so full of love. Maybe I wasn't really in love with him."

"Hmm ... I'm glad to hear that," Jean said earnestly. "I don't like seeing a girl suffer because of love. You are very beautiful and fun to be with. You deserve a man who truly loves you."

"Thank you," Marion said. He patted Jean's shoulder gently then sat quietly, occupied with her own thoughts.