- A Reason to Live -
Chris Redfield x Piers Nivans ; Slash
Got an inspiration from the song "ช่วงที่ดีที่สุด" (The Best Moment) by BOYdPOD
**Chris Campaign's spoiler Alert**
P.S. I do not own Capcom or Resident Evil
The place Chris Redfield is standing right now is a cemetery.
The weather becomes colder as he stands. Coming after the howling wind, frozen breeze is cutting his skin through the jacket. Something white is pouring down from the clear blue sky, almost invisible.
Once he thought that he knew the best how was the feeling of standing in front of someone's grave, but in reality, he isn't. It's just his own imagination he made up to protect himself against the pain. He realizes that it's the last thing he wants to be used to no matter when it comes.
He once lost Jill Valentine.
She's still alive.
Now he's losing someone again.
And he knows he cannot hope for him to come back.
Chris shuts his eyes, hearing someone's laughter through his ears. A familiar laughter that still echoes inside his brain might not be as deep as his relationship with Jill, but it's enough to knock a person with a heart down within one hit.
The first time he met that kid, Chris thought he was lacking something for a real war. This wasn't about intelligence or ability this boy had but it was about experience. The soldier was still so young and stubborn like a wild horse. His vision wasn't wide enough in Chris' opinion and that was the main reason why his missions were failed so easily at first.
Chris was injured many times as to protecting him, so much that one day he made the boy cried.
The captain just smiled back.
The tears, the pain, even that damn genuine smile, that kid gave him all the time they knew each other.
The best thing Chris had received from him is faith.
The boy always had faith in him no matter how bad he was at that time.
A light snow pours down on a grey gravestone.
Chris just stands there, watching it silently in the same pain as that day he stood and watched someone died before his very eyes. It's a pain, Chris told himself, but he cannot refuse the fact that it was the best thing he could do.
No one can stop death when it comes.
His thought is sinking down with a word "If"… If he knew sooner, calmer, or even stronger than the way he was…
If he had more time to be with that person…
Chris has no bouquet, the only two things he has are a cigarette and a lighter. He lights it up and keeps a roll between his teeth.
The last thing he received from the dead man is still in his pocket right next to his heart.
Some conversation echoes - the conversation that was made when he just realized that who he was, what he should do, and what he had become just because of one woman.
The young soldier cursed something when that woman in blue was out of his sight. She drove away and his bullets weren't help anything better just by the time his captain came out of the building.
Chris heard the boy shouted the place she was facing to right before an order,
"Get in!"
"Hey Piers," The captain uttered while he jumped on the jeep, "What you said about me hiding from my past…"
He turned and looked at his officer straight in the eyes.
"You were right."
"Captain…?"
"Catch up to her?"
Chris saw a smile… a smile that he almost forgot how much he needed it.
"Won't stop until I do."
And before the boy had closed the door and started the car, the captain snapped out,
"I'm sorry," His voice was so gentle that made the soldier halt, "You must be so troubled because of me."
The boy grunted, not sure if its mixture was a giggle or a sob but it was far enough to lead Chris to make a move. He jumped down and opened the door, tucked his subordinate from the car into his chest with his right arm. He felt a body tensing against his torso for a moment then a soft chuckle hit his ears. The boy buried his head into a broad shoulder to wipe all the tears then leave within a second.
"It's alright." He saluted while getting back to the position, "All I need is you to come back… The same old Chris Redfield that I always love!"
And Chris still wants to be someone that boy always loves… even if he is now gone forever…
"Live on…"
"Please, captain…"
That was the last word from him without any sound, just a movement of his lips through the glass between them.
Tears cannot attack the captain's eyes right now. All he does is spurt the smoke out of his lungs, watching the white gas curls up in the air. He knows that it's useless to scream or cry. That kid will never come back even he gives everything in his life to reach out for him.
He drops the ash on the ground before he closes his eyes.
The moment they shared together was so short… too short but deep enough to teach him everything he thought he has already known. He learnt so many mistakes and so much pain. He heard a criticism that sounded like a whine from someone he unawarely abused...
He cared about everybody who has gone instead of a person next to him.
Crying on a dead body doesn't make anything better. The one that is still alive is far more important.
The boy taught him while he was still breathing, but Chris realized the lesson too late.
He didn't take care of him as much as he wants now.
It's a regret, but deep down into a crack of regrets in his heart, Chris knows and realizes.
There is love, lying still and steady.
Chris Redfield puts a soft smile on his face, whispers,
"I'll live on…"
"For you…"
"Piers Nivans…"
His heart is already crushed into dust or not, that's the only reason he cannot die yet.
Author's Note: English is not my first language and I know there must be a mistake in this fiction even if I re-read it for a million times. Even so, I still want to write this no matter what... So sorry for any mistakes you see and feel free to correct them! Thank you for your reading!