Warning: Rated T for depressing/disturbing themes.
I never wanted to make her cry.
I would have traded anything to not see those crystal tears pour from her perfect eyes.
In retrospect, I suppose it really wasn't my fault, but it still hurts. I lift my dirty, bloody hand to cup her porcelain face, hating myself for marring it with grime. I feel the dampness of her cheek, the warmth of her body, and the softness of her skin on my fingertips.
A choked wheeze passes my lips and I rush to stifle it. My pain is none of her concern.
Tears fall from her eyes, some running down her face, some falling into my matted hair.
The droplets ring like Christmas bells.
I have no idea how I can hear it, with the bombs falling around us and the machine guns firing far too close for comfort. I nearly shriek when a bullet nearly strikes her in the arm.
Why couldn't I have gotten hit closer to our camp?
She would not be in danger if I had.
I look up at her again and her mouth is moving. Has she been speaking all this time? Perhaps I imagined the sound of her tears. I struggle to listen, forcing my deafened ears to function.
It starts out fuzzy, like waking from a bad dream. But I know all too well that awakening to this would be a nightmare in itself. Slowly her voice comes into focus.
"-ther get up! I can carry you to camp! Let me help you! Please brother!" Her normally quiet voice is a frantic scream, tearing through the steady drone of warfare.
I feel her hands tugging at my stained uniform. She wants me to move.
I move.
Using a stray rifle as a crutch, I pull myself to my feet, ignoring the twisting pain in my stomach that threatens to bring me to the ground once more. The earth spins beneath me, and I have no idea which way is up. I clutch desperately to the rifle as her pale form shifts in and out of focus.
Blood pours down my face as I gasp and cough and wheeze for a single breath of air which is never enough to satiate my burning lungs.
The world flips beneath me and I find myself staring at a blood-red sky.
She falls to her knees beside me and gazes at me. I suppose at that moment she realizes that I will not make it back to camp. Her eyes are filled with a plethora of emotions; despair, fear, loneliness…all brewing behind those beautiful emerald orbs of hers. But there is something else as well.
Determination.
She reaches into her coat, withdrawing a small vial. The delicate glass jingles from her shaking hands. She steals a glance at me before downing its contents. My stomach flips in horror as I realize it was poison.
My eyes sting with tears and I weakly lift my hand to touch the vial. "Why?" I rasp, my voice harsh and grating.
She smiles and to my surprise, she begins to sing. Her voice is light and airy, gentle and soothing.
"Love of mine, someday you will die.
But I'll be close behind, I'll follow you into the dark."
She lays herself down next to me, gingerly turning my body so we face each other. I bite back a grunt of pain in order to hear her song as clearly as possible.
"Just our hands clasped so tight,
Waiting for the hint of a spark."
Gently, she takes my hands, pulling them forward, together, to rest between our dying bodies. Her voice begins to quiet, the song fading with each passing breath.
"If there's no one beside you, when your soul embarks…"
Mustering the remainder of my strength, I move my head towards hers, silently begging. She picks up on it, moving hers so our foreheads touch.
"Then I'll follow you into the dark."
The last word is nothing more than a breathy sigh as the poison overcomes her and her eyes flutter shut.
I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding in and I close my eyes.
The pain in my stomach melts away, and my chest no longer screams for air. Gone is the pungent smell of gunpowder and blood that had assaulted my senses for so long. The endless firing of guns cease, and the cries of the fallen fade to nothing.
I no longer feel the rough uniform on my skin, the rancid water in my boots, or the dirt on my face.
But I still feel her hands against mine.
Author's Notes: Based on the song, "I Will Follow You into the Dark" by Death Cab Cutie, in case you couldn't tell from the title. It's a really great song, I'd like to play it on the guitar sometime. :) This one ended on a lighter note than the last one...but you can tell that I like writing stuff like this xD Maybe I'll write some fluff next...any characters come to mind?