Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or its characters; all rights go to Hiro Mashima (who may or may not end up with a few broken face bones for the newest chapter.
A/N: This came to me as soon as I finished the chapter. I distinctly recall crying and stamping my feel on my bed in an angry fashion, like an angry child. Whelp. Anyway, contains spoilers for Chapter 450 of the manga, so read at your own discretion.
Warning: Mentions of character death ahead
~~oOo~~
For a moment, there was nothing more than the feel of her soft, sweet lips against mine and her arms around my neck. I was overcome with a feeling of love passing over me in a wondrous rush of adrenaline and a fire I had long since forgotten burning, flaring, a roaring inferno of passion spreading through my limbs and making my heart beat faster, faster, my lungs burning for oxygen that I knew I could forsake.
It was that moment, that splendid moment frozen forever in the heart of time, that made me remember what it was to love and to be loved without consequence. There were no repercussions, no side effects or downfalls, and she and I could love as freely as we wished, no longer destined for solitude in a world full of companions. Our hearts were open and our connection true.
When I no longer felt her lips on mine and her grip weaken, I thought that perhaps she had succumbed to the burning of oxygen. I let my eyes open, to bask in the beauty of her pale, porcelain face. What I was met with was a sight I was accustomed to, yet not one I had expected.
Her face was pale, but it lacked the gentle flush I had associated with it. She was more akin to ghost than human, her brilliant green eyes closed, her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders, and a slight smile upon her pale pink lips. Her arms were dead weight upon my shoulders, no longer wrapping me in her warm embrace. I could feel the panic rising inside, the burning feeling of passion I' felt subsiding in horror. hagt had I done?
I cupped her face, bringing it to mine, hoping I could breathe the flush back into her paling lips and warmth into her cooling skin. I kissed her with a passion and determination I had not previously known I'd possessed, my intent clear and true. She did not awaken, and the familiar silence of death surrounded us as the love I felt for life was once again brought to full force, a blazing forest fire in the forefront of my mind, by the girl in my arms.
I felt a tear drop, then two, before I laid her down on the dead grass beneath my knees with the utmost care. It was then that I threw my head back and sobbed as I let out a cry, almost animalistic in nature, and a scream to the gods and heavens above, cursing them for all they had taken from me. Surely I had not done enough wrong in my life to cause this?
As quickly as the tears had started, they stopped. I had been foolish, to think a girl as innocent as she could have cured the curse that lingered on me like a heat wave in the end of summer, desperately trying to hold its warm grasp onto the climate around it. I was foolish to endanger her, and I was foolish to have believed that one who led such an innocent life could be spared.
As I tried to recall when I had held life in as low regard as the soil beneath my feet, her face kept flashing in my mind. Her promising words, that together we would shake the lingering curse set upon us both, her words of acceptance and her confession of love, reminded me of the pain she'd been in when I had arrived. Her face ashen and gray from months of not eating, her hair matted and her dress in tatters, she had looked to me for help with her green eyes full of pain and sorrow. She had willingly come into my arms, and she had gone with a smile upon her face.
I would never forget her, and the sacrifice she had made all because I couldn't keep my emotions in check. She, at least, deserved a funeral of honor amongst her family. With limbs of lead and a heart weighed by the sorrow I had once again struck upon the world, I lifted her fragile body from its temporary rest on the lifeless grass below and began the long trek through the forest, stripped of its livelihood by our realization of the wonders of life.
When I reached the edge of the forest, I could see the sprawl of a beautiful town below, unaware of the tragedy that had befallen one its most beloved citizens. I laid her down in a bed of red and yellow flowers, their strong scent masking her own, and laid a gentle kiss to her forehead in goodbye.
I have not forgotten you, my pale beauty. You haunt my dreams, my nightmares, my waking moments. I can feel you, your presence a lingering coolness in the depths of my heart of hearts, closed off by walls to save my love for you who can handle it and protect it from those who cannot. I do not know what the future has in store for two such individuals as cursed as we. I have heard the rumors that you remain still on this cruel earth, yet you have found peace in yourself in a way that I have not. Perhaps, when my body rots into the ground, I can find peace as you have. I can only hope that we will be together again one day, so I can repent for all the pain I must have caused you.
Everything begins in the deep abyss of magic; a magic that unites all. Love. Will your love hold for me, my pale beauty, and all of my sins?
~oOo~
A/N: So that was a little harder edit than I expected. What? No, those aren't tears on my face. It's just the wind. What? Yes, there's wind in my house. Hush.
Review if you liked it? Thanks a ton!
