Authors Note: It's highly unlikely that I will post many AN's, so when they're here please feel obligated to read them. Or don't. Whichever floats your boat. I have no idea how this Fanfiction will be received, but if you don't have anything nice to say I'd prefer if you don't say anything at all. If by some miracle you do fall in love with these posted words I would like to warn you that I have the worst motivation on the planet and updates will likely be far and few between. Since this is my first ever fic I feel comfortable enough letting befall unsuspecting readers eyes, I can only imagine that reviews will help my motivation issues. Constructive criticism is always welcome and if you'd like me to respond to your questions PM me. Finally, I'd like to give a special shout out to .Lights and Aria2302. You don't know me, but I have been following your wonderful works of literature since their beginnings. You two are my inspiration to keep writing and you were the push I needed to publish my own story on this site. So, special thanks to you lovely ladies (if you haven't read their stories...be like Nike and Just Do It!). And without further ado...the story begins!
It had never occurred to me that my new life would be so complicated when I left the land of my ancestors all those years ago. The places I'd been, the people I had met, the atrocities I had committed all leading up to the pinnacle of my death. I had never wanted this, to die on the day that should have been my happiest. But here I am, barely containing the screams the spasms are tearing from my throat.
The pain, unbearable as it is, does not compare to the empty throb in my heart. I had no intention of falling in love with him, it just happened. I laugh cynically as the memory of our first meeting flashes in my mind's eye. We didn't get along then; hell, we barely got along now. He and I had an interesting relationship at best. It was one where he took all of me and I willingly gave myself over. We may have been similar in height, but we rarely saw eye to eye on anything, including the predicament I'm in now. I knit my brows in frustration as I think of how his absence over the last few months has created an ever-growing void in my chest and I don't stifle the cry or stop the tears that follow as another spasm concentrated in my abdomen ignites the pain to a new level.
Breathing hard and shallow, I look down at the only comfort I have to cling to. My brother's hand is grasped tightly in my own. The realization that I am squeezing too tightly registers as I take in how white his knuckles are and I rasp out a quipped apology, loosening my fingers to a more tolerable pressure. God, it hurt to talk. Everything hurts.
My brother looks at me then, emerald eyes shining with fear and just a hint of loathing. His voice sounds unfathomably tired as he responds to me, saying that he is fine and that I can squeeze as hard as I need to. The consolation does little to distract me from noticing the hardening of his emerald pools. He is reminiscing now. I can see that clear enough and I know what he is thinking without him having to utter a single word. He was the sibling I was closest to growing up. My brother and I have a special bond, one rarely seen in the world that we come from. I don't need him to speak to know. He is thinking of how we used to hold hands much like this while spending lazy days in the summer fields of the land we called home once; he is also thinking that this will be the last time he will ever hold his sister's hand again.
My thoughts are lost to me as another wave of pain hits me. I break eye contact with my brother's solemn orbs to clench mine in rapt agony. The Reikai healers bustle about as they shout orders to each other. I know my time is close. I can hear it in their hurried tones and I can feel my energy being drained away as the seconds tick on. It won't be long now.
There is a gentle and welcomed cooling touch placed carefully on my sweating brow and I pry my lids open to gaze upon one of my oldest and dearest friends. Her crimson eyes are full of sorrow for my predicament that the tears that film them threaten to fall at any moment.
"Yuki-chan," I croak her name weakly.
She hushes me and in her gentle tone adds, "You mustn't talk. Save your strength."
I nod wiltingly. She is right; I should save what little strength I still have. I will need it until the end, although in her barely concealed undertone I heard what she really meant to say: 'Save your strength, there still may be hope to save you.' But I am not foolhardy. I know that I wont make it to see the end of this day.
The thought is so morbid that sudden panic overtakes me and I look around wildly, trying my best to compose myself. I concentrate on my breathing. The healers said I needed to keep as even a breath as possible, though it has been the hardest thing I have ever had to concentrate on. Each intake of air nearly has me writhing, the restraints wrapped below my breast doing little to hold my slight frame to the bed. I feel a sudden 'pop' come from the depths of my belly and the pain that erupts has me howling in agony. It is time – my time.
I cinch my fingers tighter around my brother's hand and give a long, baleful scream as I feel something slip inside me. In an instant everything is over. There is emptiness in my body and in my soul. The Reikai healer's shouts become loud and rushed. My energy is waning fast now and the death grip I have on my brother becomes lax. He quickly grabs my hand to keep it from hitting the hospital bed and I think both he and Yuki are yelling my name. I'm not sure. Everything sounds muffled, as if I'm under water. Somewhere in the back of my mind I realize it is because of the blood that is rushing in my ears.
The pounding in my ears is slowing, becoming more tolerable by the second – My heart is stopping, I think desolately. My eyes feel heavy and in that moment I want nothing more than to let the comforts of eternal sleep have me. My eyes slide closed just before a loud crash resounds through the room. There is more shouting but I can't make out what anyone is saying. I try to lift my lids to see what the commotion is, but I no longer have the energy even for that. Vaguely, I feel my brother's clammy skin on my cheek and there is an ear-piercing wail of something small and in distress accompanied by the sound of stones bouncing on the tiled floor.
The last thing I remembered as I slipped into blissful oblivion was a familiar too-hot hand of another cupping my right cheek and the strangled, heart-wrenching growl of someone yelling, "On'na!"