pain ..."
Cain couldn't believe his ears. Not only had Riff not reacted at all as he expected, he also addressed him with the familiar 'you' ..."A ... but what ..."
Riff spoke again after Cain broke off in mid-sentence.
"How could I have guessed that .....? I thought you would hate me for it, would you find out how I feel about you ... you tormented yourself the whole time ..... like blind I was!"
Cain was too shocked to have a clear thought for the first few seconds.
"... what you ... feel for me ...?" he repeated hesitantly.
Riff nodded.
"I love you more than my own life ... when I saw you that night I thought my heart stopped ... I feel so guilty that I didn't notice how you feel .... I should have known ... I have known you for so long now ..... "
Cain finally returned the hug.
"No ... you are not to blame ..... no fault ..."
When their lips met again, however, guilt no longer counted. No judgment, divine or human, could have condemned them at this moment, at this moment when their whole universe was reduced to one another.When Cain broke away from Riff, it was clear to him that he no longer had to look for meaning in his life. Because he had found it.

And the fog drifted through the streets of London. The wind blew gently through the alleys, carrying the brackish smell of the Thames water until it faded and the wind died down again. Cold wind, north wind that brought winter. And the snow fell in thick white flakes, softly into the narrow streets and onto the wide streets, the houses, the people, the rich and the poor, and for a brief moment made them all the same. The wind had gone, taking the night away with it, and with the dawn that followed the night a new day began, the light of which made the white of the snow shine brighter.
And the melody of the ringing bells of the first masses broke the silence that prevailed in the twilight of dawn.
The world seemed to have awakened from a deadly sleep, and life gradually began to fill the streets again.Warmth. Consolation. Love.