Her task on Earth was done now.

Standing on the plane between life and death, Hamuko looked at her friends in a solemn silence, wishing she could be there to comfort them all. Akihiko in particular seemed to be in a great deal of pain, and she knew why. 'First his little sister …' Hamuko thought to herself, red eyes saddening. '… Then Shinjiro … and now me … He must think he's cursed to be alone in life …' Looking down at the others from where she hovered, Hamuko wished that there was some way … some possible means she could use to reach them.

But here she was … on another plane … another existence entirely. It was her fate, her soul-bound duty to protect the world from Nyx. She knew it now, and she had no regrets about leaving them behind. But now, watching them grieve for her … it hurt.

And yet there was nothing she could do now. Hamuko felt a tear run down her cheek, and her heart ached. She wished there was something she could do, anything at all …

The vision of her friends began to blur and fade, making Hamuko sigh; so now it was time … Closing her eyes, Hamuko sighed, letting the faint warmth of the world she had known slip away, replaced with the cold emptiness that made up the world she would now be a part of, forever …

The cold seeped into every part of her body, stopping save for a large, tangible patch of warmth on her shoulder. "We can't do anything more for them, Hamuko." A soft, gruff voice whispered in Hamuko's ear, making her jolt a bit. "All that we can do now is make certain Nyx can't do anything to them … even if they don't know it."

"… Shinjiro …?" Hamuko whispered, not wanting to get her hopes up. An all too familiar chuckle came from who stood behind her, and a pair of warm, familiar arms wrapped around her, pressing her against a man's bare chest.

"Yeah, it's me …" Hamuko's eyes flew open at the voice once again, and if her heart had still been beating, she was certain it would have stopped for a moment. Taking the moment, Shinjiro gently turned Hamuko around, tilting her chin up to look him in the eyes. His shaggy brown hair hung free now, framing his face and grey-brown eyes in the way Hamuko remember all so well … "What, do you honestly think I'd be resting happily knowing you were going through this sort of shit alone?" He asked, chuckling and running a hand over her cheek, thumb brushing up against the corner of her eye. Hamuko felt a smile come across her face, and she wrapped her arms around Shinjiro, resting her head over his heart; like hers, it was silent.

After all … they were both dead.

"But … but why?" She asked after a long moment, trying to keep her voice from choking. "You … the doctor's told the rest of us that it was the poison from the suppressants that killed you …" Shinjiro's response was to run a hand through her auburn hair, brushing some of the loose strands behind her ears. His other hand slipped around her waist, playing with the white and gold silk of her robe.

"I love you, idiot." Shinjiro chuckled, kissing the crown of Hamuko's head. He could feel her slim hands gripping at the back of his white and blood red longcoat, one hand finding the haft of the immense battle axe that had been given to him. "Sure, I can't help you and share the burden of the Seal … But I can do something." Pulling away a fraction, Shinjiro cupped Hamuko's face in both hands, making her deep red eyes meet his grey-brown ones. "And that something is going to be protecting you, in case something really bad comes to get you. I lost you once … I ain't going to repeat that mistake."

Hamuko smiled at this, and stood on tip toe, pressing her lips to Shinjiro's. he responded slowly, the action the only physical way they could truly express their devotion to one another, the vow that Shinjiro had taken to become what he wanted to become …Hamuko was to become the Great Seal, the one defense between Nyx and the world's desire to call her forth.

And he was to be her keeper.

As their lips parted, a soft wind blew past them, buffeting the hemline of Hamuko's flowing kimono, the white silk and golden trim glittering against the night sky. Shinjiro stood in front of her, the pale blue and green Earth behind him, and a sad smile came across his face. "'S time, Hamuko …" He murmured, voice choking as his eyes began to wetten. Hamuko gave a sad, knowing nod, and kissed him one last time.

"For now and ever, Shinjiro … I will always love you …" She murmured, letting her hand rest for a moment over the place where his heart had been in life. Now, in this spiritual form, the only thing that ever indicated that he had once been shot twice in the chest was a blood red cross sewn into his coat; the skin was smooth beneath it, there were no scars … It was as if, as a final gift for all that they had done, all the physical pain that had plagued Shinjiro in life had been taken away.

"Shinjiro?" Hamuko asked, gripping his hands in hers. He gave her a quiet look, and Hamuko felt a smile come across her face. "They'll try and see me one last time, won't they? Their journey isn't over yet …" Shinjiro gave a tired sigh, nodding. He knew it too; even if he wasn't as in tuned with their friends emotions as Hamuko was, Shinjiro knew that they would try to find a way to save Hamuko …

"I'll try and explain it to them, when they do come." Shinjiro said at long last, feeling the breeze from behind pick up again, buffeting their white clothing around once more. "If … if anything, Aki should listen to me." At this, he forced a weak chuckle to come out of his mouth. "And even if it's just him, that should be more than enough to convince at least some of the others." He didn't mention to Hamuko what he would be forced to do if they didn't listen to him. He didn't want to think about what he would have to do …

Hamuko seemed to know anyway, because she smiled at him sadly. "I pray that it will be that way …" Closing her eyes, Hamuko's smile became genuine, and she began to float, the wind carrying her up towards a silver and gold door. The only thing that seemed to keep her rooted to the ground was the faint hold she and Shinjiro had on one another. Opening her red eyes one last time, Hamuko met Shinjiro's gaze. "Shinjiro …"

He smiled. "I know, Hamuko …" Stealing one last kiss, Shinjiro let go of her hands. As she began to float away, he smiled at her again, putting a hand over the blood red cross. "I promised you, didn't I? I'll never leave you, not even in death." Closing his eyes, Shinjiro let his hand clench into a fist, still wearing a sad smile. "Even if that means I have to knock some sense into our friend's heads, I won't leave you …"

Even if he couldn't see her, even if he couldn't touch her or be with her, Shinjiro knew she was with him, and he with her. Opening his eyes again, Shinjiro watched with a sad smile as Hamuko reached the golden doors of the seal, her auburn hair and white kimono fluttering in the wind, a white and red butterfly against the sun. Hamuko's eyes still met his, and he could swear that there were tears running down her cheeks. Even as her eyes closed for the last time, and the silver vines wrapped around her, that smile still remained, the one thing not consumed by the white light she emitted as she sealed Nyx behind her soul, keeping the Mother Night from reaching Earth.

Shinjiro watched, his clenched fist dropping away as he looked Hamuko over, feeling what could only be tears running down his face. There she hung, the one person who he had ever fully given his heart to, a white butterfly in a silver spider's web, smiling gently. The hand over his heart clenched into a fist once more, and Shinjiro let it drop to his side, forcing his own grief away. "Hamuko …" He whispered one last time, smiling sadly before turning away from the seal, facing the Earth and the great expanse of open space around them, from Nyx's palace on the moon. Still smiling sadly, Shinjiro lifted the axe from where it rested across his back, holding it to his right side. "I promise you, no matter what happens, I won't fail you …" Smiling sadly, Shinjiro faced the Earth just as the sun crested it, the brilliant light not hurting his eyes in the slightest. He doubted Hamuko was bothered by it either … for they were both dead.

Like her, Shinjiro had no regrets.

She had been his final one, that day his life ended. It had been through sheer will that he had opened his eyes that day as his heart failed, a desire to see her one last time … As he had watched her eyes go wide with heartbreak from watching him die, the one thing Shinjiro had regretted was not being able to tell her one last time that he loved her, that he'd forever protect her.

… Now, however ... he would let nothing stop him from doing just that. Closing his eyes from the sun's light, Shinjiro felt determination, love, and his old strength flowing through his spiritual form. Opening his eyes, he watched the sun as it continued to rise, shedding light on the cold, solemn moon so that the quiet world between them could see the white surface. And even though those that lived on the world could not see it, Hamuko was the Great Seal that protected the world, protected everyone …

And Shinjiro was the one who protected her, no matter what.

Closing his eyes again, Shinjiro let out a faint chuckle. "Memento Mori … 'Remember, you too shall die' … that was what we were all told …" Lifting his head, he turned to look at Hamuko once more, smiling sadly. "But … for us, for our friends, I suppose it would be something different ..." Chuckling, he looked at the Earth once again, staring at it with an odd fondness. "For the whole world, actually, if I think about it … None of us need to remember 'Memento Mori'; it's embedded into our very minds … But …"

At this, Shinjiro closed his eyes, sighing sadly; his thoughts drifted to the remaining members of S.E.E.S., all of them grieving, and the words that he wished he could tell them, that he knew Hamuko wanted to tell them, came to his lips.

"How could they forget that?" He whispered to himself, letting the sad smile cross his lips. "No matter what, even if there's death, there's also life …" Smiling, Shinjiro finally turned his gaze from the world, and walked back towards where Hamuko hung, suspended in the air. He had been hesitating for long enough … if he was to become the Keeper, he had best start now.

Pausing, he smiled again. Even if they couldn't hear him, he had to tell it to their friends. It was words that they needed to hear … "Aki, Kirijo, everyone … you forgot something." He whispered, smiling up at Hamuko as more tears leaked and ran down his face. Was it just him, or did Hamuko sense what he was going to say? Her smile seemed larger than before … Smiling, he went to stand beneath the web, resting his back and the axe in his hand against the golden door, eyes closed as he finally said it, the words that he could only pray reached the others …

The two words Hamuko had left for them in a letter on her desk, written on the envelope in her light-hearted writing …

"… Memeto Vita …"

Remember, there is also life.

I apologize if the last bit of Latin isn't 100% accurate.

Well, this one certainly turned out quite a good deal different than the last oneshot I posted for this pairing ... a lot more solemn too. But I honestly like it, for some odd reason. Maybe it's just the fact that I could see this happening in canon, at least to some degree. (After all, P3P lacked 'the Answer', so who knows? Shinji might very well be the Keeper in that canonity. *laughs*)

Now, just to clear up a few things ...

Shinjiro's death: I kinda fiddled with this; instead of dying on October Fourth, he instead went into a coma, like what normally happens when he and Hamuko are involved in a romantic relationship. Where I tweaked it, however, was with the side-effects of the suppressants overwhelming his defenseless body, causing heart failure. Because, HONESTLY, there's a very good chance that unless he was getting detoxted while in his coma, there's a good chance he could have died from something like that.

The clothing; Japanese and Chinese people bury their dead in white, not black. Funeral goers typically wear black, but that's not what the deceased is wearing (admittedly, the dead are apparently also cremated a lot, so it doesn't matter much in the end.) Why white, I don't know, but I suspect that it might have something to do with Izanami, and the fact that people pale to whiteish colors when deceased.

Memento Mori/Memento Vita: Okay, first off, I do not speak fluent Latin. But Memento Mori is best translated to 'Remember you too shall die', but the LITERAL translation is 'remember death'. In the same vein, Memento Vita would mean 'Remember life', with vita=life. I figured that it would be something SEES kinda (okay, REALLY) needs to hear after losing Minato/Hamuko like that. They get so caught up in the death of their leader that they FORGET life moves on.

Okay, done ranting now. Review, please! :3