He told her that if he just gazed into her eyes long enough, he could generate enough power to beat any army in the world.
And she believed him.
He said that there was something strong and gentle between them, stronger than any connection between any two people.
Sometimes they would sit in a room and just look at each other, silent, letting that powerful and delicate thing talk for them.
The days entwined into each other and they felt the whole world was reduced to what happened between them.
He told her that nothing would separate the two of them or the strong, delicate thing they built together, gaze after gaze and silence after silence. Nothing would separate them no matter what. Not even a war.
Then came the war.
He left because he had to, but before going into battle, he went to her again for one last goodbye. They met and he looked into her eyes with a long, deep, true gaze that empowered him with all the strength he needed to win. And then he left.
His friends awaited him in the battlefield, as did the sound of helicopters and machine guns, heavy dust clouds, and the smell of irrationality.
He ran, jumped, shot, evacuated and did his best.
Then one day, when all around seemed lost and defeat lurked nearby, waiting to leap, he got up from his place and acted alone and won that battle.
At the end of that day he was looked at with admiration by his friends and respect from his commanders, and everyone wanted him to reveal the secret of his strength. So he told them. He told them about the power of a gaze and all that he had received from that long, deep, genuine looking.
His commanders heard and were impressed. They spoke to each other and slowly spread the rumor to the higher levels of the military until the top commanders decided that the power of the gaze was vital to continuing the war. And so they came to her home and took her to a large, noisy helicopter that moved her from one camp to another.
She came to one front after the other, landed in a helicopter, and sat waiting in a big empty tent while swirling sand clouds whirled around her. One after another warriors stood in line to stare into her eyes a deep, long gaze. They got the power they needed to win. One after another after the other…
The victory was quick. The enemy could hardly resist. And so he returned from the battlefield in his dirty war uniform and went to her immediately.
She was there, sitting, waiting.
He fell to his knees and proposed marriage and rekindled that strong, gentle thing that they had both waited for for such a long time.
Since then they were always together, but her eyes had worn out from being used by victory-hungry fighters. So every night before she went to bed, she would gaze into his eyes, looking deep and long and true, and that helped her to regain the power and hope she had lost, at least until the next morning.