#ok im off to work... how fast can i reread the entire aeneid? stay tuned

[sunshades]

Also a thing that's relevant is in the canto even when they meet face to face Catherine is never actually able to speak back like she physically can't, she must reply through her diary and play out a memory in response, because she's already in a state that's more dead than alive. Then all those convos really take more of a vibe of well. They're farewells. Of course Heathcliff never chooses to spend those moments chastising her for her evil lab or something! Their time is running out. Bringing that up wouldn't go anywhere, she's already seeing the consequences, and he's already seeing what the thought process behind it was, because he can tell it would've been the same for him, and in fact he drops this right before the thunder actually shows him the flashback in the coffin.

Now that he's back, the manor is Catherine's shame. Her diary is the only way that's left to reach for him, tell the story of the choice she's made, and it... does resonate with him.

Which! The erlking has already taunted him about before, responding to his claim that causing more death in this already ruined place isn't the way to go.

But he does in fact still make his own choice! Which is the heart of it! Why does he want her back? Well! All the way to the end the erlking and Catherine both think the only way to reach redemption is death, as annihilation. And Heathcliff definitely can relate. But by the end he still knows the only way to fix what you've broken is to keep on living and work with what you've got.

And in this scene Catherine is unable to reply, but what she does is try to do a little fix of her own- they're in the memory where her words made him believe she never loved him, so she opens the door to a moment where she was as clear as she was able to, to amend for what she's said. Small steps, but they're taking them nonetheless. Which is also why it's important to recognize hashtag wh of a certain future is actually the two of them and not anybody else:

Through the ghosts, which the whole time have been a dangerous presence that's aware of the workings of the #narrative, we actually get proof of what Heathcliff's belief was that made him able to defy that fate, which is that it's never too late to make a change, become a better person for yourself and the people that love you. Of course he wants her alive again. He's survived the abuse at the manor and started his way to become a person he can be proud of, of course he'd want that for her as well.