Everyone was ready to see Akirion and Elina leave, but emotions were still flooding their hearts.
It didn't matter how many deep breaths they took or how many times they wiped their eyes; none of them were ready to let them go just like that. Some rubbed their noses repeatedly, and some pressed their fingertips against their eyes, trying not to break down again.
They all wanted to cry, wanted to scream "Don't go!", and wanted to run to the stage and hold the two in place, but deep down they knew that trying to stop them wouldn't work.
Akirion and Elina started to move away from the stage, the same stage where teachers normally made announcements during an assembly. But this wasn't a normal assembly. It felt like something bigger, like the end of something and the start of something else entirely. It also felt like there was a burial. The air was heavy, as if the whole school shared one long, trembling breath.
