She began to make her way toward him, each step quicker than the last, until she stood a couple of feet from him. For a moment she was still, then she stepped in, throwing a punch at him, a punch he would never have been able to do anything against just a month ago. Now, however, her fist met his palm, his hand rising faster than she could follow.

"You think you can look broody, like some tragic hero?!" Her fist shook against his palm, but he was still as a statue, still as a shadow, still as death. "There's no way someone who can't even protect himself – " She aimed a kick at him. He ducked. She spun around, recovering quickly. " – can protect anyone else – " He blocked another kick. " – is there?!" She kicked him again, but he raised his hands before him, his nails blacker than the night, faster than she could have anticipated, faster than even she was, and blocked it. "Don't you ever come back to Anteiku!" she shrieked.

His eyes widened, her outrage finally catching him off-guard. Her next blow caught him straight in the face, her fist colliding with his cheek with the destructive force of a thousand years' suffering. It knocked him back, sending him flying ten feet away. He fell heavily down on the bridge, the fall knocking the wind out of his lungs. She leapt after him, and, in one swift movement, straddled him, her fists landing blows on his face one after another.

"Why?!" she cried. "Why?! Why?!"

She brought another punch, straight up into his face, but stopped an inch short, her fist trembling as he watched her silently, not moving to defend himself. "Why?!" She could not contain the tears any longer, and they spilled out of her eyes, hot, burning, painful. "Why… Why…" She lowered her hands, still balled into fists, onto his chest. "Why did you have to end up like this?" she asked softly, bitterly, defeated.

"Why…" he mused absently, raising an unconscious hand to touch his face, "indeed?" He did not see her, his eyes staring out into the distance, unfocused, unseeing, his thoughts a blur. He was not sure if he even noticed, but the moment seemed frozen in time, the sounds of Tokyo from under the bridge appearing solidified in the air.

Her heart raged madly, foreign emotions swirling inside her like a blizzard, pelting her heart as if by hail and rain. Her breath came in raspy gasps, and she feared if she did not let the turbulence inside her out, it would overwhelm her, surround her, consume her. Yet she had no idea how to express it. Words did not cut it – fists did not cut it – tears did not cut it. So she shut her eyes and let her instincts guide her, and her lips found his, her tongue found his, and her heart found his.

His eyes widened, but he found his gasp muffled.

She kissed him, pouring all her pain into it, and he froze. Suddenly, the veil from his thoughts lifted, and the meaning behind her indignation lay bare before him. He was certain, if he'd still been on his feet, his knees would not have been able to support his weight. He'd wanted to make sure everyone was safe – wanted to make sure she was safe, but he'd left her. She was too precious to lose, so he'd left her. He'd left her out of a desire to protect her, but he'd left her all the same.

Too surprised to even kiss back, he stared as she straightened, her eyes still glistening with angry tears. Her body shook with renegade sobs, and she tried to wipe her eyes with her sleeve. Beautiful… he found himself thinking, and he found himself caressing her face with one trembling finger. She was beautiful. Why hadn't he realized it before?

With her still straddling him, he bolted upright. She gasped as he stopped with his face an inch from hers, her eyes flying open and looking at him in surprise. He grabbed her face, and smashed his mouth into hers with beastly fervor.

She kissed him back with raw hunger. Her arms snaked around him, holding him as close to her as she physically could. Since he'd become a ghoul, he'd forgotten the meaning of the word sweet, but now, as he kissed her, he remembered. She was sweet, the taste of her mouth like a breath of fresh air to his heart after a lifetime submerged underwater. Their lips fit perfectly against each other, their tongues making love, healing the wounds left by the unrelenting assault of the outside world, dancing in the night.

It was said the best way to know someone was to exchange fists, that expert warriors could almost read each other's thoughts when they exchanged blows. But tonight, as they kissed under the night sky, their tongues against each other, their hearts against each other, it seemed as though they shared an almost telepathic connection. She thought his every thought, he could feel it.

The kiss was more than a simple gesture – it was a blending of hearts, the sealing of a promise, the commencement of eternity; it was a conversation without words; it was a reunion of souls; it was an exchange of passion, pain, and – the thought both frightening and exhilarating as it occurred to both of them at the same time – love.

They separated breathlessly, her face flushed, his heart thundering. He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her into him. She laid her head on his chest, the raging of her heart calming as she took deep, steadying breaths of the night air.

"Touka-chan…" he said softly. She sniffed. "Let's go home."

He felt her nod into the embrace.

gotta love this pairing. they're so perfect together - so tragically beautiful, just like the entire series. the title is from the tale of beren and luthien,

And long ago they passed away

In the forest singing sorrowless

the tale of beren and luthien is also so painfully beautiful, but it ends on somewhat of a happy note, so i changed it from singing sorrowless to singing sorrow, just to keep that angsty implication. this fic wasn't angst, of course - on the contrary it was happy, but i wanted to pay tribute to the sorrow that's so rooted into the series in some way.

i'm an anime-only watcher (i do read other mangas, just haven't gotten around to reading tokyo ghoul yet), so i have no idea what happened after √A ended, although i do think the last episode was an artistic masterpiece. probably my favorite anime episode ever. anyway, please leave a review. it makes my day, it really does. nothing feels better than getting an email saying there's a review on your fic. seriously, even a sentence can make my day. and favs and shit too.

EDIT: never mind, i changed the name to sorrowless. one reviewer said it would be better as sorrowless and now that i think about it, i have to agree.