AN: This takes place in the Teen Wolf universe but does have elements of The Book Thief in it and I may have written this whilst listening to the entire Titanic soundtrack... I'm so incredibly sorry.
Peace. The young man known as Stiles hadn't felt peace in what seemed like forever. I could see that through all the time that he had been possessed, Stiles wanted nothing more than to literally cut out the feeling of pure evil that was the spirit that had taken control of his body; the Nogitsune it was called. I could see that he had tried many times to do just that, coming so close into my reach, only to fail miserably when the Nogitsune overpowered him every single time. I was beginning to feel sorry for Stiles. He was in so much pain from it all.
I rarely felt sorrow for people such as Stiles. Usually, my sorrows were reserved for the greatest of villains when they failed. There were times though, not unlike now, when someone like Stiles would catch my eye and I would wonder over them. One would think, naturally, that I would sooner feel for the spirit possessing Stiles than I would for the human boy who just wanted to end the suffering of his friends and himself, but I did not. I had encountered the Nogitsune before on many occasions, each encounter adding to my dislike of it.
Perhaps that was why, for the first time, when Stiles' soul reached out to me for the last time, I met him halfway.
Lydia; strawberry blonde, 5' 3" Banshee, the love of Stiles' short life. She had shown up too late to prevent Stiles from coming to me, but before we could depart, catching Stiles' attention. Stiles broke free from my hold and was next to Lydia who was sitting next to the form that Stiles had once inhabited. His blood was staining her legs as it drained from the wound in his chest. Lydia did not even hesitate to press her hands against the area where Stiles' heart once was. She was speaking to the form like she knew he could still hear her. Perhaps she did know and that was why, when she spoke of him coming back to her, it didn't sound like begging. It sounded like she was demanding it.
Then she screamed.
I watched as Stiles knelt down on the ground and put his arms around Lydia as they looked at his body. He spoke softly to Lydia, telling her that she would be safe now, and she could give everyone else the good news that they were no longer in danger. He told her that the Nogitsune wasn't a threat to them any longer and they didn't have to worry. He apologised for not being able to do this sooner. He said that he wished he had been strong enough.
Lydia told him to shut up.
Stiles did.
Lydia rebuked everything Stiles had just told her, her voice cracking at times as she forced her tears back. Lydia told Stiles that he was wrong. There would always be danger around them. They lived in Beacon Hills, for crying out loud, a literal beacon to all the dangerous things in the world. Smart girl.
She told him that the Nogitsune managed to take away from them the one person that always figured everything out, and that was a massive cause for worry. She apologised for not being able to help him better. She said that she wished she had figured out sooner how to help him so that she could tell him that she had grown to feel love for him, and have him take her into his arms, and they could love each other. She told him that she hated that Death separated them now.
Stiles looked up at me and smirked.
He told her that Death was actually standing a respectable distance away from them at the moment and there wasn't much separation of himself and Lydia considering that he had his arms around her. Despite the tears that had started falling, Lydia laughed, and then rebuked him for saying it like that because now was not a good time to be laughing.
Stiles shushed her, saying that every second of every day was a great time to laugh, even in death.
Lydia looked up from Stiles' solid form. Her gaze seemed to lock onto mine. She wanted to know if she'd ever see Stiles again.
Stiles looked back towards me; he was wondering the same thing about Lydia.
"In time."