A/N: I've been listening Xion's them a lot (it makes me cry TT___TT) and it inspired me to write this. This makes me cry, too. I'm just one big ball of angst lately, aren't I?
Warning: Character Death. I think Squall's a tad bit OOC, but, you know, I'll let you decide.
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"Smile, Squallie. Please smile. For me?"
And her voice is weak and choked, but her lips have been tugged upwards at the ends, and she is smiling. Somehow.
He knew that she was in pain. Unimaginable pain. He could see how her breath rattled in her chest, how tears formed in her eyes as much as she willed them not to. And yet, somehow, he knew that the pain in his Heart was far worse. And as she lay in his lap, hands fisted into his shirt, all he could think about was: This is my fault.
I should have protected her! Damnit! And yet, even dying, as she was, she still found room to smile. Even as she bled profusely, even as bruises and broken bones made her cringe every time she so much as breathed, she could smile. That beautiful, infuriating, idiotic smile that was just so…Yuffie.
And that was what hurt the most. If she had coughed and cursed and muttered in pain, there was not a doubt in his mind that it would hurt less than this did. But seeing her, smiling up at him, blood on her face, he felt his heart wrench painfully in his chest.
I'm going to lose my two most important people! First Rinoa, now…Yuffie…
"Squall…" she gasped, forcing her way past the pained breaths. He did not correct her for using his past name. "Squall…I want you to know, that no matter…what happens…I'll never stop…believing…"
Please, do not say it, He urged in his mind. How would he be able to stand it if she said…?
"I'll never stop…believing…in you…" and she smiles widely up at him, oblivious to the pain it causes him.
"Why?! I'm the reason you're dead!" He yelled. She shook her head.
"Sephiroth did this to me, Squall. Not you…ugh…" Her small fist left his shirt, and instead pressed against her bleeding belly. He was suddenly reminded of how weak he was. And then, as an explosion knocked him into her ever so slightly, she bursts into sobs, releasing the tears she's been trying to hold back for so long. "Squall!" She sobs. "I need to tell you, before I…" and she cannot make herself say the word die. "Before I…disappear…I need you to know that…that even though you had Rinoa…that…I always…loved you…" and then her hand loosens it's grasp on his shirt. "I love you…Squallie…" And she is staring up at him with such hope, that, even if he didn't love her too, he couldn't have said no.
"I love you too, Yuffie." And his voice is choked with emotion.
"And my last wish is…I want you to smile all the time, Squallie. Even if it kills you…I…ugh…I want you to smile…always and forever…" and he just nods. If she had asked him to jump off a cliff he would have done it. She beamed.
"I can die…with no regrets now…Yuffie Kisaragi, the greatest ninja, can die now, and I can die…" she trails off, but he knows what she was about to say.
"And I can die…smiling."
And she does just that. She smiles –a peaceful smile—as she lets her hand fall away from his shirt and her eyes close. And he can just hold her close and sob. "I love you Yuffie…I'll always love you…" Until Aerith and Cloud appear, followed by Sora and Kairi and Riku, all injured, but none so much as himself. But even though his heart feels like it's about to broken for a second time, his lips curl upwards at the ends, and he looked up at his friends. And, through tears, he says,
"She died smiling."
The End
