A/N: A little something new.

Cobwebs and Venom

-Smoke a cigarette by firelight, look out at the night sky, and find me there. I'll be waiting, if you want to talk.-

That's what I told her, but why? What's the point? It doesn't do either one of us any good. It doesn't repair the damage, or negate the fact that we're enemies. Victims of circumstance or not, we can't just undo what we did. We can't look beyond the carnage that we left behind…the things we did directly to each other. The words will never be erased, and the actions…those are right here.

Rubble in the sand.

It wasn't mercy…fuck…it wasn't mercy at all.

I said that I'd wait there, at the water's edge, but for what? I couldn't say, I don't think I'd ever really know. Instinct, I'd call it. A baser urge for response to a crime we'd done on our own. I knew, I'd done all I could on my own. The system, that's what screwed us. Saying sorry? That heals nothing. She'd have to write her own name in blood, but that's not atonement either. It doesn't fix anything, and I'd never be able to look at her with anything beyond contempt. I'd never be able to put aside the fact that I attacked her in cold blood. She can't reason with the fact that she wanted to kill me, end me for good.

Leave me dead on the roof.

It's just a copout…fuck…this is all just a copout.

I used to think, God, or maybe someone like that existed. I wondered, if maybe there was something to it all. I'd ask myself if there was some part of my soul that I just hadn't found, but damn I was young…stupid. Blinded by the idea of comfort. That someone, anyone, might actually give a damn. Faith, it means nothing, not really. It's what the individual does, faith alone, it just doesn't cut it. Under the rocks and rubble of this fight, the fragments of our memories rest here. Where the hell is God now? Where was he for this shit? Why doesn't he help clean up the mess?

Broken boulders, crushed asphalt, and twisted metal.

It's just memories…fuck…it's only memories that are left.

But I turn around, and she's there, looking at me. What does she expect? A warm welcome, not happening. I can't do that, because I hate her, always will. Could we ever be friends? No. It's impossible to go that far, but I'll turn my back to her anyway, look out at the water, and say nothing. I'll wait for her, just like I always do. Let her make the first move since I'm the one who laid this trap. I…I wanted to kill her right here, but now…what's the point? It won't make me feel better. Just like when I abused Natsuki, and that damn mutt just let me…it didn't take away the pain of my gouged eye.

I need to accept that killing Shizuru would only cause pain.

It might as well be in this moment…fuck…just this one moment.

She says nothing to me, her hand falling onto my shoulder before it falls limply to her side. I sigh, smirk, hand her a smoke, but she shakes her head. She doesn't want it…or this…whatever the hell this is. She just wants to stand there, blank, empty. She's hurting too, why? I don't know. I don't ask. I don't care. All that matters is that she's here, and, in some ways, we're forming a truce. We did this as adversaries, and now, we take in the damage together as allies.

Side by side.

That's fine by me…yeah…that's fine by me.