Finale

I have no idea how many people would be interested in this since it's not really anything new. (Is this even allowed...?) I wanted to write something for Suou, even if the second season wasn't as good as the first. Unfortunately (or fortunately, I have yet to decide), the song that I found for her story ended up overlapping with everything that happened in episode 12. As a result, this ends up being (mostly) a written version of everything Suou condensed into one piece instead of the jumping around in the episode itself. (Insert spoiler warning~)

Credits for conversational sections go to BSSubs since they're taken directly from their subtitles. The descriptor part was me and the plot was Tensai Okamura and BONES.

The song used for this was Endless Story by Reira starring Yuna Ito (a NANA song). She has an amazing voice, so if you get the chance, listen to it :)

**********

"Eh? What happened?"

Suou turned to see a prostrate body of a man lying on the ground, a stunned expression on his face and blood spilled out from his mouth. The walk with her brother to see the moon had turned somewhat chilling, to find something like that.

"It's a Contractor. He was made to commit suicide by Izanami," Shion replied.

"Suicide?"

The memory of Norio's mother suffocating and choking within a sphere of water entered her mind. She had appeared to attack her, asking her to join them. Hei wasn't with them and she hadn't been certain of what she was supposed to do. After all, they were only waiting to regroup...

"So Izanami did that. Yin," she murmured.

Turning back to her brother, she was shocked to find that he had disappeared. Where did he go? He had no strength to walk as she had been the one to help him back into the wheelchair. The shock turned into a sense of panic as they had finally been reunited and there was still so much she wanted to ask him. What was his purpose in creating her? Why had she been abandoned like that, alone at the house after they were attacked? There was so much she didn't understand.

"Shion? Shion!" she cried out desperately.

As she was running, she felt her body freeze and the scenery around her suddenly changed. It was almost like she had been plucked from one dollhouse and placed into another. Instead of the empty field of dead Contractors, she found herself at the end of a bridge.

"Where are you, Shion?" she called out again.

Glancing around, it was disconcerting to be the only one present. She didn't even know where she was... Then suddenly, she spotted a floating blue spectre at the other end of the bridge. It called to her and she recognized it immediately.

"July?"

Not expecting to find him here, she rushed towards it and he seemed to be guiding her somewhere. Nothing was making sense anymore. Why did this happen? All she had ever wanted was to rejoin her family...

"July!"

She spotted him standing there, waiting for her. As she ran towards him, he also took off and ran towards her. A sense of relief relaxed her briefly, to know that she was no longer alone. As she neared him, she noticed that he was by himself.

"Huh? Mao isn't with you?"

Instead of answering, she was surprised that he flung himself at her, throwing his arms around her. He was a doll... And she had never seen him show this much emotion before. She didn't have a chance to give him a proper response as he pulled himself away from her and tugged at her hand.

"This way," he said.

"What?" Suou asked dumbly.

They followed his guiding spectre, eventually reaching a field of flowers. As they walked hand in hand, she glanced around in surprise. Where were they? She didn't recognize anything. Not to mention the swirling multitude of blue spectres overhead... What was going on?

"There he is!"

Propelled into action by the sight of her brother, Suou rushed forward. How had he come here by himself? And for what purpose?

"Shion!" she cried, cradling him in her arms.

"I've... Made the deal... It's your present... Look after... The world I made..."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Give my... Regards to... Papa and mama... My dear sister..." he stated on his final breath of life.

"Shion?!"

He fell lifeless in her arms, his face sallow, worn out and aged. He looked so different than the brother in her memories. Much to her surprise, his body stiffened, highlighting in blue and his spectre floated up and out of him. It floated towards the one who stayed suspended above them in the centre of the spectres - the focal point - and entered her body.

"What did you do to Shion?" Suou demanded as she glanced up to find Yin.

"What did you do?" she demanded a second time when she did not respond.

"I granted his wish," Yin answered with an enigmatic smile.

She would have said more, but the silence following her answer was broken by the sound of a chime behind her. In that brief second where she watched him fall, the relaxed expression on his face had been replaced by a haunting blank stare tinged with a hint of shock. She had taken him as well...

"July!" Suou cried, rushing to his side.

Just moments ago, he had given her a warm greeting and now... He lay lifeless, glancing up at her with an empty gaze... Exactly like a doll...

Her shoulders trembled as she released her weapon. The surge of anger bubbled up from deep within her, mingling with her jealousy, swelling to overwhelm her. She was the one who Hei had always been looking for; even going so far as to avoid killing her despite his initial orders... And now she had taken both her brother and July...

"Hei knew you would become like this, didn't he?" she asked as she took a firm hold of her weapon. "That's why he left saying he would finish things."

Yin continued to glance down at her with that enigmatic smile and it only served to anger her further.

"I didn't know what he meant by that at first, but he must have meant to do this. We promised each other that we would finish our own problems."

Her voice betrayed her emotions. Steadying the weapon as she had done many times before, Suou made sure it was aimed right at her. Without hesitation, she put her finger to the trigger. Yet before she could act out on her intentions, Yin put out her hand.

Chink...

It was like time had reached a standstill. A slight crack formed on the pendant her brother had given her, branching out as it continued to grow... An ominous sound; the sound of breaking ringing in her ears... Until the entire thing finally shattered into tiny fragments and fell like sprinkling rain to the ground...

"No..."

Memories of schooldays entered her mind; Nika asking out Tanya; the rosy flushes on their faces; his excitement when she agreed; the classroom she had been a part of; cleaning the room with her classmates; taking pictures of her friends as they enjoyed ice cream together...

"No!"

Memories of smiling and laughing with Shion; smiling and laughing with her father; the precious framed image of their family; watching Pecha nibble on his food...

"Stop!"

Memories of the moment she became a Contractor; her despair at all the havoc Contractors had caused in her life; Hei stopping her when she was so enraged she almost killed her own friend; the feel of his hand pushing down her weapon...

"Stop!"

Memories of a whale; falling into the icy water; training with Hei as he tried to hone her skills; their supper of weeds that she had prepared in a pot over a portable gas stove; going shopping and the bus ride home...

"Don't erase them."

Memories of the day she had found out she was a copy; the confusion she had felt; Hei's words... "I only know about you. Whether you're a copy or not, to me, Suou is you."

"They're my memories."

"Suou."

"Don't erase them!" she screamed as her life flashed before her eyes.

My precious memories... Memories of our time together...

"Who are you?" she murmured when she felt someone pull the gun from her hands.

"You won't need this where you're going," Hei replied, tossing the weapon aside and pulling her close.

"Where are we going next?"

Don't erase them... Don't go away...

"We'll always be together, right?"

Just let them melt warmly... To make sure the drops of tenderness spread out in my heart...

"We can continue our journey, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," he murmured gently in response.

"You're lying."

"I'm not lying. I'll always be by your side," he replied, wiping away her tears as she closed her eyes.

"Hei..."

If just one wish could be granted...