They came one by one, like the tides rolling into the beach. As the sun melted into the mountains, painting the sky with streaks of purple and orange, a fire was lit near the waves. Astrid tended to the spark, coaxing it into a flame. “Astrid?” She turned to see Winnie, standing about ten feet away from her. “What are you doing here?” Astrid didn’t respond. “Do you have any fuel?” Winnie stepped into the fading daylight, her eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here? Why did you call me?” Astrid leaned back on her haunches, fire forgotten. Winnie took a seat, looking more concerned. “We haven’t been to this beach in ages,” she murmured. “Did you call the others too?” “It wouldn’t be a reunion without the others,” Astrid replied. Winnie began to braid her hair as the breeze picked up. “Am I interrupting something?” Astrid looked up to see Adonis watching the scene in front of him with a detached stare. “Not at all,” Astrid invited him to sit down. “Let’s wait for Channing before we start.” Adonis stayed standing, his face twisting into something dark. “I thought we agreed, Astrid. We’d only meet for emergencies. We need to live our own lives.” Astrid stood up, facing Adonis with a sharp glare. “That was a rule that you made.” “500 years and you’re still so childish.” Adonis shook his head. Astrid gritted her teeth. “Calm down,” Channing’s voice cut through the tension as he emerged from the dunes. “There isn’t any need to fight.” Winnie hugged Channing. “Thanks for showing up.” Astrid nodded. “We need to talk.” Channing plopped down on the sand, pulling a scowling Adonis down with him. “Is there an emergency, Astrid? Not that I’m not happy to see you, but…” “No emergency,” Astrid murmured. “Well…my husband died today.” There was silence for a second, before Astrid felt arms wrap around her shoulders. “I’m so sorry,” Winnie whispered. “I don’t understand why that constitutes a meeting.” Adonis looked away. “Humans are temporary. Getting attached only ends the same way it always will.” “Humans are temporary, but memories are forever,” Astrid murmured. The waves crashed closer to the shoreline, washing up shells and fragments of broken glass. “I choose to remember them.” Adonis scoffed. “You will spend the rest of your lifetimes in grief. Don’t you know this?” “Better I spend time mourning for a lost love than mourning for someone who was never there at all. Don’t you feel that ache in your chest, Adonis? An ache willing to be fulfilled by another?” Adonis looked away. “No. I am above such emotions.” Astrid shrugged and got to her feet. Foam crashed along her ankles, the salt spray stinging her eyes and nose. “The difference between you and me, Adonis, is that I choose to live. I choose to live, and I choose to love, no matter if it is temporary and will be ripped away from me yet again. I am destined to love, and I am destined to lose.” She turned her head over her shoulder, letting the light wash her face in a shimmer of gold. “The difference between you and me, Adonis, is that I am human. I am a silly little human. After all, that’s why I called this meeting in the first place.” Adonis didn’t say a word. Astrid took it as a signal to continue. “Tonight, I have lost yet again.” Astrid bent down to the fire, watching as the flames rose and fell, smoke wisping through the air. “I wanted to remind myself…” Her voice broke. “I wanted to remind myself that I wasn’t alone in this. That you three were going through the same things. But…I seem to have made a mistake.” Channing finally spoke up. “Sit with me, Astrid.” Hesitantly, Astrid took a seat next to him. Channing picked up a piece of driftwood and tossed it into the fire. “Winnie, do you still know how to catch? I know it’s been a hundred years or so. Young immortals tend to forget things more easily.” Winnie’s face flushed. “Of course I remember! It wasn’t that long ago, and I’m not that young either!” Channing raised a hand, and Winnie rushed off to the waves. Before long, she had waded deep in the current, swiping left and right. Adonis snorted. “You always knew how to get to her.” Channing nodded him down too, and he sat. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Channing said softly. “Maybe…we should reconsider our agreement.” “No,” Astrid stopped him. Channing raised an eyebrow. “No? You were the one that-” “Not tonight,” Astrid said quickly. “One day. But tonight, I don’t want contracts and rules and laws.” Winnie came rushing back, holding a wiggling red drum in her hands. “See that?” “Tonight, I want to live.” Adonis got up to grab the fish from Winnie’s hands. He deftly cracked its spine, and speared it through with a stick. He handed it to Astrid with a small smile. “Than live we shall.” As the moon rose high in the sky and the waves nipped at the group’s ankles, they sat around the fire and shared the tiny fish. First, Winnie, who went on and on about her last job. Then, Channing hesitantly telling them about the handsome boss that he was trying to find a way to talk to. Then, Astrid, smiling as she shared news about her daughter, how she had won a spelling bee. Then, finally, Adonis, complaining about his roommate that never did the dishes. It was so domestic it made Astrid laugh until her stomach hurt and her mouth hurt from smiling. Then, the sun rose once again, and the day was over. One by one, they left the beach, until it was just Astrid by herself. The fire had long since petered out. The moment was lost to the wind and the waves. But Astrid wouldn’t forget. Astrid would remember. Astrid would remain. Astrid would live.