Their true goodbye… How it should have been. Now realize: I am on Team Zero. So get over it, Kuran fans :P

Their True Goodbye

"I lied."

Zero nodded and met Yuuki in the middle of his bedroom, halfway between the door he'd walked in and the window Yuuki had entered.

"The Yuuki you knew before… I'm still here." Her gentle fist rested on her chest, gesturing toward herself.

He had realized that long ago.

"I've come to say goodbye, Zero." She spoke gently, but nevertheless with a sense of finality. He had known she would leave. It was inevitable. He realized that the moment he had witnessed Kaname awaken the vampire within her. "For everything you've done for me… I thought you deserved as much."

As Zero looked down on Yuuki, and as Yuuki looked up at him, they both remembered those fragile moments between them, like the time Zero had nearly kissed Yuuki. He had blamed his weird dream for his "irrational" behavior, but at this moment, Yuuki realized.

"You had wanted to kiss me once." She gazed fearlessly into those lavender eyes of his, but couldn't see past the barrier he always kept so secure around what he truly felt. Just like a maze, with walls ever-changing. "It's weird to think how different things would be now, if you had."

Zero took a step forward, so dangerously close to Yuuki that his eyes obscured all of her vision. Would it be different? He wondered, not allowing himself to hope that she would choose himself, Zero.

"I have wanted to kiss you many times." He whispered gently into her forehead. "But each of those times, I had thought about it too much…"

Their eyes closed as their lips gently rested on each other, and one of Zero's hands wrapped behind Yuuki's waist while the other intertwined its fingers with Yuuki's.

"I guess it's too late to change your mind." Zero murmured without pulling back an inch. As expected, Yuuki's head nodded slightly, but nevertheless, Zero pressed his lips to hers once more, with a Zero-like sense of determination.

His eyes opened and met Kaname's eyes when the pureblood appeared on the window sill. Zero didn't restrain himself from surprising Yuuki with one last passionate kiss before tilting his head down in defeat. She was leaving with Kaname. Her lover. The way she loved him… was so different to how she felt about Zero. But not necessarily a bad different.

"Yuuki."

She spun around, embarrassed, apologetic. Conflicted.

"Kaname-sama-"

Zero could not help his inward smirk as she added the formality. But a deep frown of "indifference" smeared across his face as he watched her leave.

She was gone. Forever. He cursed quietly as he smashed a fist into the wall. A thin crack formed, and his knuckled hurt, but physical pain he could deal with.

He'd had his chance. He'd had several chances. But now, it was too late. She was gone.

But… forever was a long time. Plenty of time. How long would they last, Zero wondered? But it was only another question that tore at his heart, where another thin line cracked. Another question he wasn't sure he wanted answered. What if she really was going to be happy with him… with Kaname? What if she would have chosen Kuran even if he'd taken his chances and confessed?

Zero was on the floor now, leaning against the wall. The Bloody Rose was clenched in his hand, but he tossed it across the floor in anger, in frustration. But also in love. It was only in his love for her that he hadn't ended his life the night he had first tasted her blood. When he saw she cared for him still, even after learning about his true nature.

But cared for him how? Each unanswered question only brought up another, a spark lighting the whole field on fire.

Unending questions.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Why, yes. Midterms are this week. Phht, I should really start studying.