Disclaimer - I don't own Kid Icarus.

Why?

Why had she let it happen?

Everything had been fine... perfect, even.

For once, there had been no mission to go on, no enemy to defeat. A day off, if you will. Palutena decided to let Pit fly freely through the vast sky – he deserved it. Besides, even though it would exhaust her to use her powers again, after having pushed it to its very limits far too often, it was well worth it for the look of excitement on his face. The complete and utter joydancing in his eyes. The way he ran up to the door and leapt out, then soared, swooped, spun through the clouds, laughing, free.

Free.

Yes, it was worth it for that. It was worth it for Pit's happiness, his smile. He needed a break from the horrors of fighting, to fly like a true angel without having to shoot at Underworld troops, sweating and filthy and leered at by Hades, but constantly trying to make Palutena proud.

To honour her name.

But she'd pushed it too far this time.

He got carried away – flown up too high, far too high. She told him to come down, but it was half-hearted, because he seemed so happy, so free. She hadn't seen the danger. She told herself, he'll be fine. You can pull him out if anything bad happens.

She didn't know, however, that she had gone beyond the limit of her powers. She didn't know that she didn't have the strength to help him if it all went wrong. She didn't know that she needed to get him back to her, safe, as soon as he flew too far away to see.

"Hey!" called Pit, laughing. "Pittoo's out here! Oi, Ptooey!"

"I thought I told you not to call me that!" came Dark Pit's reply. She heard the joking jests as they flew, mock fighting almost, shooting arrows at each other. She heard him say that he had dropped his weapon, and was flying down to get it.

"Smell ya later!" yelled Pit. Palutena smiled.

About a minute later, she felt that they were drawing close to the five minute limit, and she said to him, "Pit, we're nearing five minutes. I'm going to pull you out soon, OK?"

"Oh... all right."

His disappointment was evident in his tone of voice, but he understood. After all, he knew his wings would burn out if he flew for too long.

"And... extracting you now!"

But nothing was happening. Palutena tried again, saying, "It's not working!" She strained with all her might, all her power, but she couldn't do it.

Then, the realization fell on her like a weight, and she sagged, leaning against the wall.

"Oh, no..."
"Lady Palutena?" came Pit's question.

"Oh, Pit," she whispered. "I can't. I can't get you out, because I haven't got the power to. I've not got the strength."

"What?"

Four minutes, forty five seconds, Palutena, came a voice in the back of her mind. What are you going to do? Let Pit die? Do you have a choice?

"I can't do it, Pit!" she cried, losing her composure as she fully realized just what she had done.

You should have said no, Palutena... you shouldn't have let him fly so high... and that's four minutes, fifty seconds...

"Will I be able to get back?" said Pit, his voice quiet.

"I don't... know," said Palutena. "I..."

Four minutes, fifty five seconds, Palutena...

"Lady Palutena, I can't get down," Pit said, suddenly sounding panicked. "I'm trying, but... I'm too high up! If I fall, I'll..."

He didn't need to finish. Palutena knew what would happen, and she knew that it would be her fault.

Four minutes, fifty seven seconds...

There was nothing she could do, not now. Nothing she could do but apologise to her angel, apologize for what she had done to him. Apologize for the death sentence she had given him.

Because, after all, she was about to kill him.

"Pit.. I'm sorry..."

"Lady Palutena!"
Then, he screamed, and she heard that terrible sizzle before he began his last descent.

"Pit!" she cried, and she thrashed her fist on the wall, tears pouring down her face. Then, the thump, and silence.

His last word was your name, said that voice, a quiet, jeering whisper. His last word was the name of the one who killed him. He died because of you. Remember that, Palutena. It was all you. It was all your fault.

Around three minutes later, she was still sitting there, crying out of pure grief and remorse. She was suddenly snatched out of this state by a terrible shout. It was Dark Pit. He had found his clone in the worst way possible.

"Oh, no," he muttered, and he sniffed and hastily brushed a tear away. "Pit, what happened to you?"

When he brought him back to her, struggling with his dead weight, she felt the stab of pain all over again. It was worst seeing him like this.

Pit seemed almost sleeping, but his arms and legs were broken. His eyes were closed and his mouth was slightly open and smiling, as if he was about to crack a terrible joke or start laughing. Palutena knew she would give anything to hear one of his jokes, or his laugh. Anything to see him alive again...

Dark Pit set him at Palutena's feet, seemingly moved nearly to tears.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Uh... his laurel leaf crown came off."

He extended it to her, and Palutena took it. She ran her finger along the golden leaves and fell down, still crying. Then, she replaced the crown on his his tousled brown hair.

"You'll always be an angel, Pit," she said, stroking the hair of the captain of the centurions. The fighter. Her fighter. Her friend. Almost her little brother. And now, now, he was gone forever.

"You'll always be my Pit... Even with burnt out wings."

I honestly don't know where this came from... I've been playing Kid Icarus: Uprising and reading fanfics, and I suppose this was what my mind created. Just an idea of what would happen if Pit's wings burnt out and he died because of it, and how guilty Palutena would feel if it was her fault. So, yeah – please read and review!