Ascendancy.

"Afternoon, Doctor Gellbert."

"And the same to you, son..you're happy."

"Pardon?"

"Happy. Euphoric. You're very euphoric, Pirithivi, you're sending out euphoric waves like a dolphin."

"How's that? How do you know?"

"Are you really asking me that question?"

"Fine."

"So what happened, did your parents finally go to consoling? Studies going well? Anyone special?"

"Ermmm…it's a strange situation."

"Elaborate."

"She's out of reach."

"Physically?"

"Sort of."

"Emotionally?"

"I've never felt so happy just talking to someone in my life. The dreams are going away, Doc. The exploding worlds, the vacuums, the volcanoes and hellfire and death, it's all going away. I go to sleep right after I talk to her and I dream about..her, and clouds, and my future, and family. Is that normal?"

"It certainly an intriguing thought. But you and I both decided against including depression as a symptom, if we embrace the fact that euphoria is a recovery tactic, then we have to revise that."

"Not necessarily, Doc. Euphoria, lust, success, it could all be a manifestation of the actual fix. You said yourself that time is a factor, maybe love is as well."

"And it took you this long to figure that out?"

"…"

"Pirithivi, you're having less black-outs, dreaming less, lying less..only by being happy. It's a temporary recovery. This is why I never told you about it, because temporarily fixes won't help anyone. If anything, they could make things worse."

"This is too big for me to just give up, sire. There's so much I feel for her, I can't even describe it. Words are at a loss, you know how rare that is for me."

"Aye."

"So this…isn't it then? Not the end?"

"Ever head of the phrase "Love is temporary madness?"

"I don't need you going Plato on me, sire."

"You said she's out of reach, is it not true that everything returns when she's not with you?"

"What if she was always with me?"