Fireworks

Eve loves fireworks. She loves that they light up the night sky like flowers blooming and leaves everyone watching them breathless.

Train hates fireworks. He hates the loud, rumbling explosions and the bright colours that hurt his sensitive eyes. Most of all, he hates that he never got to watch them with the person he had loved the most. The night of the fireworks, as Eve watched them from the riverside, he turned his back on them and wandered away. Train kept walking until the sound of the crowds faded away, although the explosions of the fireworks could still be heard. His feet quickly took him to a quieter part of the river, a more familiar part.

It wasn't long until he was standing at the end of the alley where Saya had been killed. There was no way he could ever forget this alley, the one where he had held her in his arms as she died, the memory that had haunted his dreams ever since. Every year, on the night of the fireworks and the anniversary of Saya's death, he returned to this place to remember, to grieve, and to repent. He staggered a few more steps into the deserted alley, his usual feline grace gone. It had been three years since she had died here, and no trace of that night remained, but Train saw it as clearly as if it had just happened. Placing a hand on the cold stone wall of the alley to support him, he leaned heavily against it and slowly slid down the wall, his legs suddenly too weak to carry his weight.

Train could still see it as if it were burned into his memory. He could still see the deep red of her blood spilling out onto the cobblestone ground, and feel the coldness of her skin as he held her. He could still hear her last, weakly whispered words to him and could see her last breath leave her lungs. He could distinctly remember the thundering and the colorful flashing of the fireworks that Saya loved so much over the river behind him that lit up the tiny alley. Train pressed his left palm harshly against his eye, trying to forget the images that he saw but they were too burned into the back of his eyelids and he could not escape them. Somehow in the time he had sat there, his right hand had drawn his gun from its holster and he rested it upon his leg. He felt the hot tears begin to spill out from behind his hand and his other uncovered eye - it was the only night of the year that he let himself cry for her.

He didn't know how long he sat there, crying slowly, before he heard the sound of faint footsteps approaching. He stiffened, silencing his breathing and tightening his grip on his gun, but he did not rise. The footsteps grew louder and louder until a shadow passed over the alley and the footsteps stopped. Train's hand whipped up, aiming the gun at the person, whose face was shadowed by the light of the fireworks behind him.

Sven stared silently down at Train in shock. The tip of his gun glinted silver in the moonlight and the light of the fireworks, but also illuminated was the unmistakable sign of tears slipping down Train's cheeks. Sven had never seen Train cry, and it wrenched at the man's heart. "Train, it's me, Sven." He saw the boy start a little at his voice, but he did not lower the gun, which worried the man greatly. "Train, it's just me, you can put Hades down now," Sven said gently, raising his hands in a peaceful gesture. Still the gun did not lower.

"Leave me alone," Train said. He didn't want Sven to see him like this. Sven heard the desperation in the boy's voice and watched as he started to tremble, his gun hand shaking, although he did not lower the gun and Sven knew that his aim would still be true.

Heedless of his words, Sven stepped closer to the boy, not intending to leave him alone while he was so obviously distraught. "Train, put the gun down, please, so we can talk," Sven soothed.

"I don't want to talk to you. I don't want you to see me like this. Go away..." Train's voice failed him, nearly choking on his tears, and his shaking increased, the hand holding the gun was no longer steady. Sven's heart broke as he watched the kid shaking like a leaf, and he stepped closer until he was standing right in front of him. Train was frantically trying to wipe his eyes with his other hand, but the tears would not stop and through his blurred vision he could barely see Sven drop to his knees in front of him.

"Shh, Train, give me the gun. Please give me the gun..." Cautiously, Sven reached out and gently grabbed Train's hand, and slowly pulled the gun out of his hand with no resistance. The boy's hand was shaking too violently for him to keep a good grip, and it fell back to his side as Sven set the gun on the ground beside him.

"Train, please tell me what's wrong. Why did you leave Eve, Rinslet and I? Why are you crying?" Sven asked gently.
"I didn't want any of you to see me like this, and... I don't want to watch the fireworks if it's not with her..." Sven's eyes widened as he finally realized what this was about.

"I told her I would buy her Ramune and watch the fireworks with her. She loved them... but I was late, and Creed killed her..." Train's voice broke. "It's the three year anniversary of Saya's death, and every year I come back here. I broke my promise; I never got to watch the fireworks with her. I can still remember that night as if it were yesterday. The bright, colorful flashes of light that lit up the alley where I found her. The loud explosions of the fireworks as her crimson blood spilled out into the street. I held her in my arms in this very alley and watched Saya die to the music of the fireworks that she loved so much. I was too late to save her, so I watched her life drain away as she died in my arms." Train's tears began anew, and he could no longer talk past the sobs in his throat. Covering his face with his hands, he drew his knees to his chest and curled in on himself.

Sven moved forward and stopped the boy, instead pulling Train into his arms as he tried to comfort him. For a moment Train stiffened in his embrace, and Sven wondered if he had ever been hugged like this before, but then he relaxed and Sven simply let the boy cry. He didn't know how long they sat there in the dark alley under the fireworks, but eventually Train stopped sobbing, his tears slowing and his breathing returning to normal.

"I'm sorry Sven..." He murmured.

"Don't worry about it, it's no big deal." Sven reassured the boy.

"I just... miss her so much..."

"I know kid, I know," Sven sighed, neither of them moving from their position. After a few minutes, he felt Train's grip on his jacket slacken, the boy's breathing slowing and evening out and his body went limp as he drifted into sleep due to his exhaustion. Sven sighed again, grabbing Train's gun and putting it back into the boy's holster. He noticed that the fireworks had already stopped, and he knew that Eve and Rinslet would be waiting for them. Sven quickly scooped the boy into his arms and carried him off to meet them.