There had not been a wall for a good while, nor since those first few endless nights in that broken world. He had been useful then, the silent watchman; the one that never slept or dreamed or ate...simply waited for peril so as to snuff it out of existence before it ever had the chance to become a raging fire. And then Eric had met Leeloo and everything had changed. No longer did he sit atop that wall as the beacon for the city. No. As long as Lee resided within those barriers, Eric fought and protected only for her. Protecting the protector of life. But Peter had taken that task and he had done it much better. Peter had given Leeloo the chances and opportunities that Eric never could, and he was glad for it. He was glad that she had someone so perfect for her. She was perfect.
But that hadn't meant that he had forgotten that wall. Or those nightly walks about the world they had taken, arm in arm, with Bran keeping watch. While the rest of the world slept and dreamed, they had walked. Sometimes in silence, other times laughing and speaking quietly. As if they too were mere shadows that whispered on the very wind.
That first night she had seen him, it had not been him. It had been the other, the one that now resided deep in the Earth. And he had not seen her, but a figment of her. Before the transition to Lee, and it was far too painful to bear the sight of her. That orange hair a stark contrast to the dark brown he had grown used to.
Bran swept the air of the night, the last bits of the day escaping into the sky. The black bird flew and watched as it had always. It had not expected to see Lee sitting there on the wall, but it was a glad sight. Eric knew she was there, and he had not actively sought her out. She would want to know why, and he wasn't sure he had an answer good enough for her.
A swoop, and the bird made a lazy circle around the woman like it had before, cawing a familiar greeting. The circle ended as it landed next to Lee, it's clawed toes curling into the brick. A ruffle of the ebony feathers on its breast and it held its head high, calling out into the darkness.
It was a call Eric always heard. And Leeloo had found a wall for them again. It would now be their wall.
It didn't take long for the Dark Avenger to close the gap between himself and the woman whom waited for him. Scaling the wall was nothing, and finally when he settled next to his friend, Eric turned to look at her - such a radiant thing in the moonlight and he asked himself that same silent question...why had he waited so long to find her? He had forgotten just how much he needed her until that very moment.
"Lee," he breathed, so very glad to see her again.