A/N: Spoilers of a sort. As a really emotional person, this was really hard for me to write. This is kind of based of Kaze's actual death, but I changed it up a bit. I actually went into this not knowing if I was going to kill him off or not but...well, you'll see. R&R!
"Kaze! Hold on!" Samui felt her grip slipping on Kaze's hand. If only she had deflected that hit, he wouldn't be hanging off the edge of a cliff, on the verge of death. Her knees scraped against the rocks, pain shooting up her legs, leaving blood trails on the ground.
"Milady, please!" Kaze yelled, tears in the corner of his eyes from the strain. Kamui's blue hair whipped around, sticking to the sweat on her face. So beautiful. Kaze had loved her for a long time, but would he die without telling her how he felt?
"I'm not letting you fall, Kaze, I'm not an idiot." Kamui grit her teeth, hoping, praying that someone would find her and Kaze before she lost her grip.
Kaze made the decision, right then and there. "Kamui." Kaze panted, looking up into her red eyes and flashing a small smile. "I love you." He breathed, loosening his grip. Kamui's eyes widened and she pitched forward, trying to catch him.
"KAZE!" Kamui screamed at the top of her lungs, attempting fruitlessly to grab his hand. Their fingers touched for a brief second before Kaze was sent hurtling to the ground.
Time seemed to slow for Kaze. He closed his eyes, feeling the air pressing against his back, the slow drop of his stomach at the sheer speed of the downfall. Had he failed? It didn't feel like it. He had saved his liege. He had saved the woman he loved. He was proud. How would Saizo feel? Brother. Friend. Confidant. Those words swirled in Kaze's brain. He had hoped his brother would look past his traitorous actions and be proud of his twin. Kaze would never know if Kamui loved him back. He hoped she would find someone. Perhaps after peace was achieved, she would find his brother. They could get married, have children, and tell the kids stories about the uncle they never met. The one that spilled blood for his love and his country and his liege. He wondered if this blissful, slow speed was the gods' way of giving him one last time to reflect on everything he had done. Everything he would miss. But it was gone too soon. The impact. The agony. It was short lived, yet torturous. Blood on the stones. Broken bones. Crushed.
Kamui stared in horror at Kaze's falling figure. Whereas Kaze's sense of time had slowed, hers went much too fast. Gone in the blink of an eye. She had never told Kaze how she felt. It was all a waste. Would Saizo blame her for his brother's death? She looked away so she wouldn't have to see Kaze, splattered on the ground. Dead. Bloody. Broken. Crushed.
Their love was lost. A glimmer had existed in a short span of time, yet it had dissipated in an instant. The relief of one was the grief of the other, yet both hearts beat as one, even when an individual had stopped. There was only one way to describe both of these hearts. Crushed.
Yet one still spoke. One still sang for hope and for victory and love and laughter and joy. One was confident in the future ahead. "I love you, Kamui."