Ever After
She never thought it would end like this. She always thought that she'd die in some strange, brutal way. A Weevil ripping her apart while she's paralysed by a neurotoxin or maybe getting stuck defending the Hub with a rocket launcher from Slitheen and taking half of Cardiff with her.
When Gray shoots her, her first thought is how much he looks like Jack. The handsome features, the swagger, and Toshiko's almost tempted for a moment to place her hand against Gray's cheek. He looks safe and familiar but he looks her in pity. Not affection or love like Jack does when he arrives, sweaty and bleeding and covered in what seems like a hundred years' worth of dirt.
She can feel the blood trickling down her tank top and she reminds herself to wash it or bin it, despite the fact it's her favourite. She reminds herself that there's chicken at home and she needs to defrost it otherwise she'll have to order pizza again tonight and she wants to be healthy. But the taste of copper and ash in her mouth puts all thoughts of takeaways and tank tops from her mind.
She can't die, she just can't. There's so much to be done. She needs to tell Owen and Gwen and Ianto and Jack that she loves them and she needs to...
She coughs miserably as blood flows across the tiles of the medical centre's floors, pristine white stained crimson and slick with her own plasma. She can feel the sweat and dirt mingling with her and then she hears the distinctive clomp-clomp of Jack's Forties-style boots, as he calls her name.
Just like Owen called her name just before he died.
She's glad that it was quick, radioactive energy enveloping him like a blanket and ending everything. Her own death is long and drawn out, because of a bullet to the gut by the crazed brother of one of her best friends, and she hates Jack, hates Torchwood and hates ever having gotten involved and should have stayed in that detention centre. At least her death would been coming a long while, a light at the end of the tunnel. Hell, she would have enjoyed it.
But Jack's hand sweeps across her brow, pushing her once-neat dark hair from her forehead and he screams at Gwen, at Ianto to help and come. It's too late. She knows it, but won't let them die in the knowledge that she knows it's the end. She hopes that they all find her last message, put under 'In Emergencies' in her neat folders in her workstation.
And she looks up into the eyes of Jack, her hero and saviour. She understands and accepts.
And then she dies.
From all accounts, death's the darkness, the void and insanity of death. There's nothing, no heaven, no angels, no family and no hope.
But when Toshiko opens her eyes, she sees blue. It's completely illogical, because she's never been an enormous fan of the colour, thought it was calming but a little depressing sometimes. She looks around and sees a forest that's so emerald green it's almost painful. There are birds and rabbits and she can even here the sound of an elephant, far away.
The air smells of eucalyptus and the perfume her mother used to wear and when Toshiko looks up, there's Owen, dark hair stuck out around him as he watches her awaken.
He smiles and takes her hand, pulling her from soft ground underneath, shining like gold in the light. She'll find her mother and her father and her family and those who loved her and liked her and knew her.
Toshiko Sato died approximately four minutes after Dr. Owen Harper perished, both of them saving the world.
And Toshiko's happy.
Fin