After Story
Third Person:
Into the shadows he walked lowly, wanting no attention at all. She tried to catch up to his speed but it was too fast for her. He turned to her direction.
"Echo? Have you fallen behind again?"
Echo runs up to him, bowing down as she clutches her dirty clothing. "I'm sorry Zero!"
Zero pats her head. "Nah. It should be I to apologize. I know you don't walk fast." With that, he held her hand, leading her to a dead end. "We should rest. Here should be fine." He sat down, allowing Echo to follow. Echo looked away from his gaze in worry.
"You can ask now," Zero cleared as he turns her face towards him. "I feel a lot better."
"U-umm..." Echo nervously mumbled. "Why were you so... dark back there?"
Zero stayed silent as he looked down upon his naked feet. He tried to remember when he became barefoot. It only led to the day he lost her.
"Lets just say... I realized I was a monster."
"A monster?" asked Echo tilting her head. "Aren't monsters scary?"
"Yes, but I was a different kind of monster. I acted like a monster when I thought I was being the opposite. Because of that, I lost the two people I held dear."
"Your girlfriend?"
"Yeah... and my sister a few years back."
"Oh. I'm sorry..."
Zero chuckled. "Is sorry the only term you can say?"
"So- I mean...um." Echo looked away once again, ashamed of her answer.
"You're so cu-" Zero stopped. He watched Echo fiddling with her hands. A trait of Camille's. He looked the other way in loss of words.
Echo looked up at Zero's distanced look facing away from her. She was disheartened thinking she did something to make him that way. The air was filled with an awkward silence.
Zero broke the silence. "I should have known better. I should have listened to her opinion instead of going my way all the time. I shouldn't have let her bare the pain alone. Why couldn't I have been more knowledgeable? Why couldn't I have just stayed by her side at all times. Why didn't I tell her?" he questioned over and over. Echo hugged her knees, hiding her face. She dug her nails deep into the palms of her hands out of anger. She felt useless. She couldn't even take away his pain. Echo reached for Zero's side for a hug. He didn't return it but warmly accepted it. A breeze whispered words meaning to be spoken.
"You also thought you were my friend. You were never my friend. But... my hero. Even if you did fail, I considered you my savior in the end. I even developed feelings for my hero. Now that's all dead and gone. I just wanted... to say thank you."
Zero looked up at the sky. On the verge of tears, he smiled. "You're welcome."
A/N: In case you didn't understand all that, I'm here to clear it up! :D
The italics were Astrid's lines she didn't get to say completely from chapter nine. Echo is that girl Zero encountered at the end of chapter nine. Camille was Zero's sister he lost when he did a poor job on his service for his adoptive family including Devon. Devon's father was on a rampage and critically hit Camille. Zero ran away from the household away from his misery. Astrid ran away from the orphanage a day before he ran away. She was just on the streets. Blah blah blah. Who reads this anyways? If you have any more questions, you may ask. c: