AND THE WOODPECKER WAS HAPPY

Disclaimer: Deadman Wonderland is not mine. But you already knew that, right?

I wrote this small little tribute to Ganta and Shiro because I recently finished the manga Deadman Wonderland. It was such a beautiful ending, and I now that I can't do it proper justice, but all the same... the writer in me compelled to write a little send off for the two lovers. And so I did.

I present to you, my own take on the ending. Voila.

Ganta raised his hand. Shiro stood before him, waiting and anticipating her death. A death that Ganta had promised her, though a death he had never wanted. A death that he never will want.

He saw her face, her smile, her battle scarred features before him. She wanted to die. She wanted to be done with this life. She wanted Ganta's friends, and all those she had murdered, to be avenged. Yet, Ganta thought for a fleeting second that there was something else. Something that he had never noticed before.

The projectile made of his own blood swirled about in his hand, ready to burst forth and destroy. Ganta gazed into Shiro's eyes, saw them sparkling with… what was it? Was it joy? How could that be so?

She wanted to die. But she wanted him to be happy. Those two things did not go hand in hand. So how…

Ganta realized what the truth was. He realized what must be done. The blood projectile swirled faster, increased in size, velocity. It ripped away from him, hurling at Shiro… and missed. In the background behind her head, the ensuing explosion deafened Ganta.

He fell back. Blood loss was not something he was unaccustomed to, but it hit him harder this time that ever he had remembered before. Shiro's face looked down upon him.

"Wha-what?" She questioned. "You-Ganta, you weren't able to kill me…" She stared at him, her eyes wide in surprise and shock. Ganta knew it was the right thing to do. "Well…" He began, before breaking into a fit of coughing.

"It's because… that wasn't your true wish, right?" Somehow Ganta found the strength to move. He placed his hand over Shiro's heart, feeling the pounding pulse answer him. "You don't really want to die, do you… Shiro?"

He looked into her eyes once more, and knew it too be true. Beneath the eyes of a killer were the eyes of a little girl, an innocent girl who saw and did no wrongdoing. The eyes of Shiro.

She broke into sobs. "I… I wanted to go to school. I wanted to play with friends… to ride the Ferris wheel…" She paused, tears streaming down her lovely face. "But I can't do any of these things. I shouldn't have been born!"

She spoke quicker now, sobs coming in higher frequency. "I'm a woodpecker, possessing a beak of poison! I've injured and done so many horrible things to so many people! I don't deserve the right to live!"

Shiro paused again. "That's why… that's why the thing I want most is… to die." Then she screamed. "I can't forgive myself for all the things I've done!"

Her head wilted, eyes to the ground beneath Ganta's feet. "Yet… I-I don't want to… the truth is, I don't want to die. I want to-to be happy…"

Ganta's heart ached. It killed him to see her this way, but he knew what to do. He had discovered why he knew Shiro did not deserve the death she begged for. He took hold of her arm, and grasped her palm.

Using the blood and dirt that coated his hands, Ganta drew the symbol upon Shiro's palm just as he had done all those years ago. He heard Shiro's breath catch in her throat, and he glanced up at her to see how the light danced in her gaze.

"With this, Shiro, you are my treasure. Even if you can't forgive yourself, even if I can't forgive you, in the end… You'll always be my treasure." Shiro said nothing, merely staring at the mark on her hand, before Ganta drew his own away.

"If I stay with you, no matter how crazy it sounds… I'm sure we'll be able to eat all of the pudding." Silence fell between them as Shiro continued to gaze at her hand. What felt like an eternity passed before she spoke again.

"Is that… really… alright? Even if you can't… don't forgive me… Do I have the right to love you, Ganta?" The moment Ganta had found himself anticipating had arrived. A crazy, crazy, smile broke out on his lips, a fire in his soul as he knew with pride that he had succeeded. "Shiro. Let's sing the rest of this song together!"

Shiro looked as though she could break down completely. "Ganta… I'm so happy… I love you!" She leaped from her position, tackling Ganta, pinning him to the floor. Before Ganta realized what was happening, he felt her lips upon his.

It was glorious. However long he had wanted, hoped, waited, for that sensation, it had finally arrived. He knew he had chosen her, loved her, and she had chosen him as well. He felt as though pain was a distant, blinking memory in this feeling he felt, as though Shiro was his only feeling.

Then an immense hurricane of an explosion rocked the world, the two lovers clinging to each other as the fire burst around them. And then Ganta's vision turned to black.

Ganta walked into the hospital room. It had been several days since the explosion had occurred, and he had been thankful beyond measure to find himself alive. He had rushed Shiro to the medical center as fast as he fatigued limbs could carry him, and had since entrusted the doctors present with the concern of her life.

He would check up on her almost regularly every half hour, his conscience permitting nothing less, and would whisper to her softly of the day's events, of how he loved her, and of how he wished she would awaken.

But today… Ganta felt different today. He felt hopeful, promising. He felt that today was the day.

"Hey Shiro!" He called into the room, not expecting a response. Such was his usual entrance, convinced as he was that she could hear him and not for the personal satisfaction of hearing his own voice. He hurriedly sat in his chair adjacent her bed, where she slept, oblivious to the world about her.

"I got tall enough to get on the basketball team! And they even accepted me! Can you believe it?!" At her silence, Ganta felt the tiniest bit of his self-confidence deflate. Perhaps he had been mistaken about the day. "The nurses said you were a sleeping beauty. Hardly a princess, but surely a beauty."

She did not move. Ganta took her hand, the one he had drawn on, into his own, savoring the feel of her coarse flesh. It somehow reassured him. "Come back to me, Shiro. I love you too much." If he had not known better, he would have said that Shiro's lip twitched at those words, but nevertheless…

As he stood, Ganta felt the strange feeling again. That optimism, odd as it was, would not leave him. Just as how she would not leave him. Ganta turned at the sound of his name.

Shiro opened her eyes, a bright smile about her. Ganta's heart leapt. She was alive!

"So do I, Ganta. So do I."

And the Woodpecker was happy.

So, what do you think? It was just a short thing I did whilst taking a break from Hellsing Eradication, but I enjoyed writing it.

Review, reread, et cetera. Enjoy!