Crossposted from deviantArt. Inspired by Dead by April's "Promise Me".

Uploaded: June 26 / 2010
Rating: K+

"Promise me, Clank. Promise me you'll..." and the Lombax takes a deep breath, and his silvery-yellow ears quiver with the force of it.

Under the thinning, paling fur and the armor that covers it, there lies a painfully thin body. Not from lack of food. Not from disease. Simply age. Time is a creature who pursues her prey all their lives, and she has never gone hungry yet. Never been outran, outmaneuvered, outlasted; not even those who control her can hope to do so.

The chest rises and falls again, and the brittle ribcage barely contains the breath. "...Promise me this, Clank."

The eyes, set far back in sunken, wrinkled sockets, showed the milky-white of blindness; but there was still bright, emerald green there. Still life; still attentive intellect in the mind despite the failing body. The intensity of the gaze was unwavering, though the body shivered and shuddered in the throes of Time.

"I promise."

He does not know what he is promising, but that does not matter, because it will be within his means, and even if it were not he would go to the ends of the universe one last time. One last time for the other half of his soul, one last adventure to fulfil one last obligation.

The eyes close, dusty lids sliding over them, and the body relaxes as it lets out its breath, and if it were not for his sensors he would have thought that ancient body had ceased to function.

"Promise me to think of us as something beautiful; promise me me to think of us as we were so long ago, when we were still bright and colorful..."

A hand lifts, the fur covering it already faded to silver, its knobbly joints creaking in protest. He supports it with his own, and his strength is more than enough for it now. It is skin and bones and willpower and little else, and it seems as though it will break from the lightest of touches. The eyes open and he thinks that the milk-white has receded and the emerald green is all that captures his gaze, and he has never seen a look so open and content and loving as he has now.

"Promise me to look back at us as something amazing, something irreplaceable... as a time you enjoyed."

There is no hesitation, and how could there be? He nods and he smiles a smile that he hopes is as sincere as the look in the Lombax's eyes, because he wants the last thing he sees to be supporting and loving and above all a promise to do the one thing he's been asked, because he could never let down the other half of his soul.

The Lombax nods once, slowly, and the emerald eyes burn into him with their own secret smile, and then they slide shut as the body once more goes limp. This time, it is not simply a matter of appearances. This time, it is real.

Clank closes his optics and touches his forehead to the Lombax's hand, and he tries not to let the emptiness overtake him.

"Goodbye, Ratchet."