A/N- This is a one shot. My take on the last conversation between Albus and Severus. It's a bit odd, but I wrote it based on a ten word phrase that came to me randomly. Enjoy.
He glared at the old man. He would not accept this. He would refuse. He would argue. He would fight. Could he win? Probably not. But he would not just accept this. It hurt too much. It was too much to ask. Too far this time. He could not, he would not.
"Please."
"No." Hard black eyes met piercing blue.
"You must. It's the only way. We must say goodbye."
"I will never say goodbye." He started pacing, avoiding the older man's gaze.
"I am dying."
"I refuse to accept that."
"Listen to me!"
He hated to plead, but he could not stop himself. "Please. Don't do this to me. Don't leave me."
"I will never leave you my boy. I will always be in here." The younger man stopped pacing, glaring as the older one pointed clearly to first his head and then his heart.
Exasperation, desperation, fear. "But we need you here!"
"I will always be here, my child. When you need me, I will always be here."
It did not make sense, would not make sense. "But you won't. You will be...gone."
"In a sense. But my spirit will never be gone from those whom I love and from those who need me."
Denial, refusal. "I can't. I can't."
"You can. Think of it as a favour. An end to the suffering."
"But-"
"You can, my boy."
Hurt tried to betray his steady, quiet tone. "I don't want to say goodbye to you, Headmaster."
"Then we shall not say goodbye. Goodbye is not necessary. For it is never goodbye, not really."
A raised eyebrow, a sharp scowl, hiding pain; sad eyes. "How is it not goodbye? Death is final. Even you cannot survive such a death."
"Nor do I plan to. It is my time."
Refusal again, but weaker. He could only argue with him for so long."I refuse to accept that."
"Severus, you must. We all must die in the end. To die is to embark on a grand adventure."
Sharp, harsh laughter. There was no other response to such lucidity. "You have gone mad."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps I have always been mad. Either way, it must happen Severus. I fear it will be soon, I cannot fight this for much longer."
His black eyes focused on the dulling blue, the drained face, the tired soul. The pain. "I know."
"Then you will?"
He would not win this argument. Acceptance. "Of course, headmaster. I would do anything for you. Anything. Even killing you."
"But you are not. You are helping me. It will be a better end, Severus. Fast, painless, better than a slow curse that is killing me. Destroying me."
Confusion, anger. Self hate. "But-"
"You are not."
"Will-"
"Probably not. It will be hard, I admit. But I have faith in you, my boy."
Hurt, pain. He gaze locked onto those piercing blue eyes and he found that he did not want to look away. "I don't want to say goodbye."
"Back to that again? It is not goodbye, child."
Confusion, the idea did not fit with how the world worked. It did not make sense to his calculating brain. "How?"
"It is never goodbye. You will see me again someday."
"Are you sure?"
"Quite."
Finally, complete submission. He loathed it, but he had lost. He could never have won this, he knew that, but not for lack of trying."Alright then."
"Severus?"
Hope rebounded in him. "Yes?"
"Thank you. I do care about you, son."
His resolve melted, he blinked fast. He was strong, tough cold. But those words. Those words! "You're welcome, Headmaster."
"And Severus?"
"Yes?"
"It will never be goodbye my boy, but always until next time. Never forget that."
Understanding, acceptance. "Yes Headmaster." If the old man noticed the lone tear that rolled down his cheek, before he hastily brushed it away, he said nothing. A warm hand grasped his shoulder, and then, his Headmaster was gone.
