Hold on to me love
You know I can't stay long
All I wanted to say was
I love you and I'm not afraid
Can you hear me?
Can you feel me in your arms
Holding my last breath?
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you
Sweet rapture and life,
It ends here tonight...
From the song My Last Breath (the Fallen album), by Evanescence
There had been dozens of them that night, far, far more than our intelligence had led us to anticipate. Solomon's men had managed to intercept a majority, and he himself had taken on nearly the rest, so that in the end, only three of the monsters had managed to actually enter the Residence that night.
When the creature had exploded through the windows of the room, my sole thought and concern had been for Natsuki's safety. I'd grabbed the only bladed weapon available in the room - a katana - and had ordered her to run.
In typical fashion, she had refused to leave. "I'm not leaving you alone with that thing!"
"This isn't the time for heroic displays!" I snapped back at her. It was unlike me to be short-tempered with her (or to be short-tempered at all, for that matter), but without my Hime powers, I was no longer secure about my ability to protect her, and I was desperate to make her leave.
At length, she did leave, but with considerable reluctance. Relieved, I turned my full attentions toward the monster stalking towards me, and felt grateful for the natural fighting ability I had retained from my time as a Hime and the extensive training I had undergone the last several months. For all my skill and training, however, the monster's brute strength and stamina were simply overwhelming, and I found myself being backed slowly into a corner.
Until the sound of an exploding bullet distracted my enemy and the sight of Natsuki in the doorway attracted its attention. The sight of her with her signature weapon should have been reassuring, for I knew of few people in the world who could rival her skill with projectile weapons - only I knew projectiles were ultimately useless against the Chiroptera.
It was sheer desperation that gave me the speed to save her that night, when the monster made its rush towards her. Afterward, when it had toppled over, she had run to me, trembling with fear, and it was only when I saw the look on her face that I realized that her fear had been entirely for my sake.
"Shizuru, you idiot. You bloody, bloody idiot. Don't ever, ever do anything like that again!" I held her close then, grateful for the anger she had shown towards me, because it was the ultimate proof that she was perfectly safe and alright.
And then Mai Tokiha had intercepted us in the hallway, and it was from her that we found out that two other monsters had attacked, and that Solomon's and my ploy to plant weapons throughout the premises had proven to be a sound strategy in the end.
Only in the end, the monsters' sheer stamina had undermined whatever foresight we had had.
What I'm forever grateful for is that Mai had stood where she had, for it was the sudden alarm in her eyes that had alerted me. And what happened next happened very slowly, and very quickly, all at the same time.
I remember pushing Natsuki away, her body hitting the ground hard.
I remember swinging the katana, the blade slicing effortlessly through the monster's throat.
I remember the tremendous pressure that assaulted my midsection, the demon's claw exiting the wound at the same time that it toppled to the floor.
Most of all, I remember the tremendous relief I felt at seeing Natsuki safe, her pale face staring at me from across a suddenly vast distance.
What I don't remember, can't remember at all, is the pain, though it must have been there, and must have been great enough to have brought me to my knees.
I remember hearing an inhuman scream, and wondering vaguely that it sounded like Natsuki.
I remember crumpling to the ground finally, only to be caught by milky white arms.
I remember looking into anguished green eyes framed by midnight blue hair - eyes and hair I'd fallen in love with all those years ago.
I remember the sorrow I felt, knowing that I would no longer be able to see those eyes, touch that skin, stroke that hair. But I also remember the joy I felt, knowing that the owner of those eyes, that skin and that hair would go on long after I had left. "It's not so bad if a weed dies so that a flower can bloom..."
After that, I remember the darkness.