Disclaimer: God I wish I did own them!! Especially Sei-chan!!
Author's notes: This is a shot in the dark about what Shura is thinking after he killed Aiolos… I've never really cared for the guy, but he was Aiolos' best friend… So I figured he deserved some credit… *shrugs* Lemme know what you think…
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Forgive in the Dark
By Lilas
I can't believe I followed through the orders… I can't believe I killed him; that he died in by my hands… Me, his best friend… I fling my arms around me and hear the vase next to me shatter on the ground, smashing it into little pieces. In the room next door I can hear Aiolia crying, each sob ripping and tearing my heart… It's my fault he's gone… It's my fault the little guy is crying…
He wasn't a traitor… Aiolos, a traitor… Those two words don't go good together. I get up and walk up to the front door, stopping only to hear Aiolia's heart broken sobs next room while Shaka tries to comfort the poor kid… He must be devastated. Once again I feel my conscience weighing down on me and I open the door violently and slam it shut, unwilling to spend another second inside that dreaded house.
I start walking around, not quite sure where I'm going, my thoughts swirling in my head as I recall the last moments I saw him, his body covered in blood and cuts, his leg bleeding in a rather painful matter and me, raising my right hand to the sky wearing my gold cloth, and shouting out Excalibur… Soon feeling his body tremble under the blow.
I suddenly stop and pass my hand over my eyes, feeling a wetness rest on them. I pull it up to my face and stare at the droplets of tears resting on my forefinger, teasing me… I hold back a sob and painfully swallow the lump forming in my throat as I try to hold back the rest of the tears threatening to spill… I'm a gold saint… I am the Capricorn Gold Saint, part of Athena's strongest warriors, I will not cry!
But it's no use… As the tears make their way down my cheeks, my legs take off, ashamed to let anyone see me shed them… They'd call me a traitor too… They'd chase me off Sanctuary and kill me the same way I killed Aiolos, and I wouldn't be able to stand it… I wouldn't be able to go through what he did…
I stop at the edge of a cliff and fall on my knees, burying my face in my dirty hands as I shed all the tears I have in my body, flashes of us playing together and talking over stupidity flooding my nervous system and condemning me forever… I had my chance, and I chose it right, didn't I? I followed the Pope's orders… I killed Gold Saint Sagittarius Aiolos… I, Gold saint Capricorn Shura, killed my best friend less than twelve hours ago…
I feel the tears renew themselves and fall faster than ever down my face, sobs racking my body as I slam my fists into the ground, trying my best to release the anger and sadness I feel deep in my soul… in my heart. As the tears slow down and my vision clears a little from its blurriness, I look forward towards the horizon, watching the Sagittarius constellation twinkle in the sky, as if it were speaking to me…
'Don't be sad…' I hear Aiolos' voice speak from beside me.
I slowly turn my head to look at his specter seated next to me, legs pulled up to his chest as he watches the heavens as well. I sniff and all of a sudden feel like a child next to him, a child who wants to hug his mother badly but can't…
'She still lives, and one day, she will return to her land and banish the evil that has been living here…' he spoke confidently, sweetness in his voice. 'She will come with her Saints and together they will rid the Earth of evil…' he continued, his voice never passing a whisper but filled with emotions.
I look at his translucent profile, the sadness and guilt in my soul increasing by the second as I feel the urge to hug the man next to me, to hug him and cry on his shoulder over the awful things I've committed… I start to feel tears stinging my eyes once again and I sniff, something that attracts Aiolos' attention. He turns to look at me, a smile on his face and his eyes sparkling, but sad nevertheless…
'You did the right thing… It was already written in the sky that you would do such a thing, and I do not blame you, Shura… You have saved Lady Athena and given her a good home by killing me… Please, Shura… Promise me you will not feel guilty over this,' he spoke to me in a voice akin to pleading.
I sniff again and slowly nod my head, extracting a smile from him, which in turns makes me smile as well… He's not mad at me. He forgives me for the sins I have committed and understands my reasons for committing them… He understands them and forgives me… I feel my soul stop squeezing and I let out a content sigh, turning my head to look at the stars once again.
I feel a small breeze and once I turn my head, Aiolos is gone, in his place a message inscribed on the ground. I shake my head slowly and lean forward, trying to read it in the dark but not succeeding very much. I sigh and light up my cosmo, trying to provide some light and finally am able to read it, smiling as I do so…
Aiolos… He never changes… Always thinking of his brother… I swear I'll protect him, Aiolos. I'll protect him as if I were you. It's the least I can do after what I did to you, to him. I slowly get up from where I am, my conscience feeling better than before and I head back to where I know Aiolia is still crying. As I start walking my way back, the same thoughts I was having when seated on the cliff's edge pass through my head over and over again even though he told me not to worry…
I have killed him, and now he's gone for good. I have committed the biggest sin a Gold Saint can… And now, Athena will never forgive me.