Ahhhhh.... A nice, sweet H/R romance. I don't care if you don't like it. I love it. I think it's original, and, I'll admit, a bit (lot) OOC, but still. Read if you want to. Review if you like it. Flame if you don't. I won't mind. But I must warn you, I like to fight fire with fire.
In the last moments of Julius Root's life, he had only two regrets.
One: That Holly Short had to see him die.
Two: That the only person he had ever truly loved had always been just outside his grasp.
As the timer clicked down, that one person had desperately tried everything to prevent his death. But he knew that there was no hope left.
Even stained with tears and morphed with rage, her features radiated beauty. Her beauty kept him from panicking as the numbers flashed down.
When Holly fired at him, he knew she would do anything to try and save him. As he would do for her.
But death couldn't be stopped.
The numbers clicked faster and faster. Through his pain, Julius managed to look Holly straight in her tear-filled eyes. The thing he longed so much to say struggled to get past his lips. Never, not even moments before his death, had he ever gotten the courage to say, "I love you."
So he had to settle for, "Be well."
He knew that was the one thing she would try, and fail, to do.
After a split second of overwhelming pain, there was darkness. And silence.
But Julius certainly didn't feel dead. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and he felt as if he were on one knee, knuckles resting on the ground. He saw Holly's face perfectly in his mind, grief staining her beautiful features. Then he opened his eyes and the image was gone.
Julius seemed to be in a small room, but the walls were made of infinite darkness. A single source of light was a tiny light bulb, seeming to hang suspended in the air.
'So this is death,' Julius thought, getting up off his knees. 'It looks positively boring.' He noticed that the weight of the bomb was off his chest and that he was wearing his old uniform. He paced around the space a few times, afraid to step into the darkness.
Then the full realization hit him like a train.
He was dead.
He would never see the light of day again.
He would never enjoy a cigar crushed between his teeth again.
He would never see Holly again.
At that thought, Julius fell to his knees again. Tears started to form in his eyes. He would never see her. Never again. Pure sadness and grief washed over him, seeming to crush his soul. He tried to choke back his sobs. Julius was surprised at himself. He never cried. Ever. But now it seemed that he couldn't stop the tears from flowing.
A sudden, angelic voice broke the silence.
"What is it that you wish?" it asked.
Julius looked up and around. The voice seemed to be everywhere, but nowhere. He got up, wiping his face. Even in death he was too proud to let someone see him cry.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
The voice spoke again and Julius found that it was familiar, like an illusion or the edge of a dream. "I am the Giver."
Julius paused. "Well where are you?" he asked, looking around, trying to see through the darkness.
"I do not have a place. I simply have a purpose. I am the Giver."
"Why are you here?" Julius asked.
"As I said, I do not have a place," the voice sang. "I only have a purpose. I am the Giver."
Julius was growing irritated. "And what does that make me?"
"You are the Receiver." The voice paused.
Julius frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"At the moment of every elf's birth, you are given a purpose. You are a special species. Unique and understanding. Each of you gain a different purpose. A purpose you are destined to fulfill over the course of your life. You are the Receiver."
Julius was finding it very hard to speak to this "Giver". "And have I fulfilled my purpose?"
The voice chuckled lightly, the happy sound echoing in the darkness. "You elves like to inquire. If you must know, you were on of the few of your species that subconsciously knew the purpose you were given. You may not have realized it, but your whole life was spent striving to become who you were destined to be, who you are: the Receiver."
The elf mulled things over in his mind for a few moments. He found himself accepting every word. "What does that have to do with you?"
"I am the Giver."
Julius gritted his teeth in annoyance. "So you've said. Many times. Please explain to me what that means."
The voice sighed. "I see that in order for you to fully understand I will have to start at the beginning. As I have said, every elf is born with a purpose. And every elf is born with a purpose. And every elf's purpose is fulfilled. But every one hundred years, two elves, born at exactly the same time, are given special purposes. Two entirely different gifts. Two entirely different lives. You and I are two of these."
Julius was starting to catch on. "So, wait. You used to be an elf? Who were you?"
The voice paused, showing hesitation for the first time. "My name was Coral."
"Well, Coral, Giver-person, what am I doing here?"
"You are dead," the Giver stated. "I am also dead. It is destined that the two that are born at the same time, with entirely different purposed, should meet in the Afterlife. We are those two. This is the Afterlife. I am the Giver and you are the Receiver."
"And what exactly are you giving me?"
"Whatever you wish."
Julius paused. "Except life, I'm guessing?"
"Yes." Julius could hear the smile in the Giver's voice.
The elf took a few moments to think. What, in this Afterlife, could he wish for? He considered many things; a nice cigar, some food, a house (for absolutely no reason). But, in his heart, he knew there was only one thing he truly wanted. He saw her face clearly in his mind again.
"Holly," he whispered softly.
The voice was silent for a few seconds. Then, "As you wish."
And the light went out.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In the moments before her death, Holly Short felt a strong pull. One that made her spirit strain to leave her body.
Abbot's sword was plunged into her chest and back out, spraying her blood onto the ash. Holly felt as if her heart had split in half. Abbot's evil sneer made Holly feel helpless.
She fell to her knees, gasping in pain, as her spirit, drawn by some invisible force, left her body.
Then she died.
But she didn't feel dead. She could hear her breathing, and the steady hum of nothingness. Her eyes were shut tight and she was lying on her side, the way she had died. She was afraid to move in case she wasn't really out of her nightmare yet.
Then a familiar voice broke the silence.
"Holly?"
She opened her eyes slowly, not breathing. The first thing she saw was a small light. Suspended in the middle of the air, illuminating the small space. She started to sit up, post-death tiredness making her vision blurry. When it cleared, she realized that she wasn't alone.
The other elf in the room was looking at Holly with an amazed expression, sprinkled with delight and sorrow. A face that was so familiar. A face dreamt about on many lonely nights. A face that Holly thought she would never see again.
"Julius?"
He smiled and started to walk towards her, tears forming in his eyes. Holly was baffled. Why was Julius here? And why in the hell was he crying? He NEVER cried. Holly stood quickly and inspected herself to see if she actually was dead. She looked down at her suit, discovering that there was no rip, or blood. She was finding this whole thing very strange. She looked back over at her Commander.
"What is this place?" she asked.
Julius was a bit surprised at her reaction. "I'm not entirely sure what it is."
"Why are you here?"
Julius hadn't expected the straightforwardness of her questions. "Uhm, I'm dead."
Holly visibly flinched. "So, that makes me dead, too?"
A new voice joined their conversation.
"No," it said.
Holly gasped, looking around her frantically. "Mother?!" she squeaked.
Julius frowned. "Mother?" But Holly wasn't listening. Julius's heart was secretly on the verge of breaking. He had expected her to run to him, confessing her love. After all, she was his wish. But, he realized with a surge of sadness, it appeared that she had never felt the same way about him.
Holly finally turned back to Julius, with wide eyes. "My mother's here, too?"
Julius shrugged, trying to hide his grief. "If her name was Coral and she's the Giver."
Holly gasped again. "Mother," she whispered quietly, tears welling up in her eyes.
All Julius could do was stand there. He had gotten his wish, sure. But he was beginning to wonder if it was worth it. Then he looked back at Holly's beautiful features. Yes, he decided. It was worth it.
In a sudden surge of confidence, Julius strode toward Holly in the small room. He caught her in his arms and looked deeply into her surprised eyes.
"In the time I spent here, I've learned that I'm the Receiver. Your mother is the Giver. But you are the Liver. You can't stay here forever. That's why I must do this now, before it's too late."
With that, Julius touched his lips with Holly's, kissing her softly. He savored the sweetness of her lips, slightly salty with her tears. He didn't expect her to kiss back. But that's what she did. She kissed him, hesitantly. Here, in the Hall of Emotion, she felt as if it were totally right. Julius broke their kiss and looked her again in her deep hazel eyes.
"I love you."
Then she was gone.
Julius was left embracing the air, his arms touching nothing. He let them drop slowly to his sides and looked up into the darkness.
The Giver read his mind. "She is the Liver. She must live. But do not worry. She will come back."
The light suspended in the air grew brighter.
"Will you come?" the Giver asked. "Or will you stay?"
Julius paused, still feeling Holly's lips on his. Then he looked up at the light, growing more and more bright, until that's all he could see.
"I will come."
The light swallowed him up and disappeared.
The Giver will give the Liver to the Receiver. But the Giver cannot give unless the Receiver is there to receive, and the Liver has died and lived again.
*smiles*