"My heart was screaming at my bones,
I need you closer...
We both have had no sleep
My face beneath the street lamp
Reveals what it is lonely people seek,
Closer, closer...
Close enough to lose" -Closer, The Tiny
"I used to have dreams," Karai's voice cracked out from between her lips, emotion seeping through wherever it could. It was only a whisper, but he wouldn't miss a word. "I used to have dreams about you."
Leo blinked. The blood loss made everything fuzzy and she danced in and out of focus. What was she saying? Was she truly even speaking? His mind couldn't believe it, every inch of his body repelled the thought. But his treachous heart pounded with hope.
"Every night, I thought I woke up," she continued, keeping her head down, the tips of her hair brushing against his heaving chest. A delicate monster in the presence of a fumbling romantic.
"I thought I saw you standing on a building nearby. I ran out after you, but you ran too. Soon we'd be out of the city, instead in a foreign place. Filled with apple trees. You'd stop and face me, white petals illuminated by the night. And you'd ask me why."
Leo coughed, his consciousness fading. She was the enemy, she was his downfall. But he couldn't stop staring. In the dirt and the dust she was his flower. Among the shadows casted upon glittering glass their hearts beat in imperfect time. It was strangely ironic, their stumbling romance was so imperfect, it deserved imperfect moments of beauty.
Her harsh voice softened to a low hum. He wasn't sure he'd be able to hear her words, but they strummed his very soul. "So I'll answer you this time. This time without any apple blossoms and lacking moonlight. This time in reality."
A weak smile found its way onto his face, and he reached up a quivering hand. She tensed, but did not move. He ran his calloused fingers against her soft cheek. "You...have the beauty of a flower...and a heart...that I could survive without, but could not truly live without...like the moon..."
She averted her eyes, a troubled expression traced her eyebrows. "Do not speak so foolishly. Are you hallucinating?"
He forced the air into his lungs, every breath barely making it. He would not leave these words unsaid. "Perhaps I am...perhaps God has graced me with seeing you, even if you are not truly there..."
She swallowed, her eyes still steel. Her dark lashes floated close. "I said, let me answer you. I will tell you why. You're an honorable adversary, I feel I owe you at least this. I am a warrior. So are you. Bu we fight on opposite sides. I'd compare it to Romeo and Juliet, but you deserve better than empty clichés. So I will leave it at this."
She gripped her sword tightly, dragging it out of his shoulder with a squelching sound. He grunted in pain, his vision going. He focused on her darkened figure as she stood, sheathing her weapon, burying her guilt. His hand fell with a silent thump to his side.
"Gomenasai, Leonardo. If we had been born into a different era...perhaps this could've ended differently. I am not so idiotic where I believe you could ever forgive me, but I can only hope one day you'll understand why I did what I have."
And as his last words escaped his lips, a tear fell at her feet.
"I forgive you."