Author's Note: Okay, this one came out rather quickly. I have to admit, this made me tear up as I was writing it, and I had to stop for a second. it's also kind of hard to believe that there's only two chapters left. That's right, the journey is almost over. With that, I give you the next installment. Enjoy!

Chapter Ten
Regret Message

The event of the decade was to happen on a day that dawned bright and clear, with nary a cloud in the sky. Meiko rose from her bed in one of the guest rooms at the Green Palace and permitted herself to feel slight happiness at the rising sun. Today was the day her vengeance could finally be completed. Today the Daughter of Evil would lose her head in the very center of the market square.

She dressed carefully, almost missing the heavy plates of the armor she'd worn for months. Today she dressed like the female she was for the first time since she'd left her country to seek out aid. Her red gown was trimmed in silver, not gold, and it was made of linen rather than silk, so as not to remind anyone of the gowns the Yellow Queen had worn. She tried to do something with her hair, but it was so ragged and short that she just brushed it and hoped it would behave.

A knock came at her door just then, and Meiko called out admittance. She watched in the mirror as Teto edged herself into the room and quietly shut the door. "Teto-ojousama, good morning," Meiko said politely, turning and curtsying to the Red Queen.

"I have something to discuss with you, Meiko-san," Teto said, and sat on the bed, hands clasped together on her skirt. Meiko sat next to her, her brown eyes intense. "Well, after today, the Yellow Country will be without a monarch. The Green King intends to divide the land among the three remaining countries, but he is harsh and greedy. I fear he will soon covet more land than the rest of us, though he already owns half of this continent."

"I see," Meiko said. "What would you like me to do?"

Teto hesitated. "Well, you are of the Yellow Country originally. I believe that you should take it over. You have already proven that you will fight for your people, and you have a clear head on your shoulders. You are not too young, but you are not elderly, either."

"I doubt the Green King will want this happening. He will most likely believe I am the Queen's descendent in some way."

Nodding, the petite Red Queen said, "Yes, but I will vouch for you. Ted and I will. Our country is small, but we helped in the rebellion, so our word carries some weight. I believe that Kaito-oujisama will also take our side."

"When is this to be decided?"

"Tomorrow, at sunset, in the Council Room here. I have prevailed upon the Green King to allow you to stay here one more night, and to attend the Council tomorrow. He wanted to do it today, but with the execution…"

"I understand." Meiko stood, then. "The Blue Prince comes."

Teto blinked. "Is your hearing that good?"

"No, he just has a habit of seeking me out at this hour, and he said he would escort me to the execution today." Meiko waited a moment, and sure enough the knock came at her door.

Teto smiled faintly. "Imagine that."

Len noticed the bright day when he peered out the grungy window in his cell and smiled. Today was a good day to be free.

It's a shame I'm not.

He thought about his sister, and wondered again if she'd managed to get out of the Palace. Probably. Rin was resourceful and shrewd. It was how she'd managed to convince everyone of her purely evil nature. All along, Rin had been nothing but a fourteen-year-old girl.

But no, that wasn't right. There was that one time when she'd run away from the Green Palace, when she'd torn up everything around her, when she'd screamed at him that…that Miku had to die. In that moment, she had become the demon everyone thought she was. Was it possible that Rin had been evil all along?

Len considered that, considered their lives together. All of her life, Rin had been sweet, kind, and uncertain at times. Occasionally she would get angry, but she had justification, and she usually apologized later. But when she'd exploded that day, not only did she not apologize, she'd ordered Miku dead and then acted as if nothing had happened.

Or was it acting? What if Rin really had had no idea what she'd done during those few hours of her life? Was that what the Seed of Evil was? Was it another presence, a wraith that possessed those it chose, making them do things they normally wouldn't? Or was it simply part of human nature, magnified for all to see? Were all humans capable of becoming Children of Evil?

Len wasn't sure of anything anymore. His thoughts had taken disturbing turns overnight, but in a way, he was glad. He felt as if his brain was finally starting to uncover the truth of this mess he and Rin were in. He watched outside his window as people gathered in the square next to where the platform and the guillotine had been raised. They whispered openly; they believed that no one was among them who would not like to throw slander around about the Daughter of Evil and her tyranny.

The fourteen-year-old girl had been tyrannical, Len had to admit, but only because she had been forced to. It was part of her destiny, part of the vow she'd been told to make upon being discovered. Or was it? If the Seed truly was a wraith, then perhaps it had taken over Rin at those moments, condemning his twin to a horrible fate. And who were the people who had informed the Kagamine twins of their "destiny?" Len never did discover, for there was no country of Purple to his knowledge.

Hours passed as Len contemplated his past and Rin's, his thoughts swirling around and around in a never-ending circle. Noon came and went, and it was nearing the hottest part of the day when fists pounded at his cell door. "Oy, you! Let's go!"

Len sighed, standing and reaching to smooth the creases in Rin's gown. He fluffed his hair, keeping up his act, and allowed the men to grab and bind his hands. He kept his head down when they emerged into the sunlight: Len, one man each on his right and left, two behind, and two in front, with the Green King leading them all. Four wooden steps up to the platform, then two more to where the guillotine stood, so that Len was clearly visible to most, if not all, of the people standing there. He was instructed to kneel, and he did, his sapphire eyes sweeping the crowds.

She was there, just a faint hint of her blonde hair peeking out of the hood of the coarse brown cloak. Her hands were shaking already, Len could tell, and her eyes were filling with tears. He kept his eyes trained on her, giving a faint smile.

"Any last words?"

Len took his eyes off of his most special person for an instant to look up at the church steeple, where the three o'clock bells began to ring. "Oh, it's tea time," Len said softly, his eyes sad.

There was a pause, perhaps to see if there was anything more. When Len was not forthcoming, the burly executioner commanded, "Head on the block."

It didn't matter if Rin really was evil, Len finally decided as he placed his slender neck into the guillotine. The top piece was closed over his neck, to keep it in place. Purity lived in her heart somewhere, and that was good enough.

After all, Len thought, his eyes finding his sister's again, if she's evil, then because I'm her twin, I share that same evil blood.

And if he was evil, then it was good that he was dying here, because at that moment, he'd never felt happier.

You're free, Rin.

The guillotine came down and Len knew no more.

Rin's hands jerked when the blade dropped, and she dropped the delicate golden chain she'd been holding so tightly. The crowd surged and cheered, the sound a deafening roar that frightened the distraught Rin. Then people were moving chaotically, and when she dropped to her knees to search for the chain, she was almost trampled several times.

"Is this yours?" a voice asked. Someone's hand extended toward her, and the circular locket on its golden chain was in the palm of that hand.

Rin reached for it, her eyes following the arm up to the face of the kind person. "Yes, thank you so much."

The woman blinked and then belatedly helped Rin to stand. "It's very pretty."

Rin held the locket close to her heart. "My brother gave it to me. He is…was...very dear to me."

Smoothing her red gown and red-brown hair, the woman nodded. "Well, keep it close, then." She moved on, then, and Rin kept her head down so that she only saw the bottoms of her escort's white-and-blue pants.

Rin stayed there in the square until well after dark, when all the spectators had finally cleared out. Slowly, she stepped closer to the platform, the locket now around her neck.

The locket was contained in that letter in the front of Len's journal, and contained only a picture of the twins when they were small and a little slip of paper with I love you written on it in Len's handwriting. Both the letter the locket had been encased in and Len's journal were in Rin's pants pockets. They were her only possessions now, and she cherished them more than anything she'd owned while she was Queen.

Rin gently touched the wood of the platform, stained red from her brother's blood. The tears came unbidden, but she'd been crying off and on since Len was taken from the Yellow Palace. The reality of his death shocked her less than his sacrifice, and her own realization not only of what he had truly meant to her, but also how horribly she had treated him over the past two years. Part of the blame lie with the Evil Seed that Rin bore within her, but most of it lay with Rin herself, and her selfish thoughts.

Impulsively, Rin leaned forward and kissed the bloodstained wood, willing her brother to come back alive. She stood there for a moment, wanting to say so many things. The only sentence that came out was simply, "I miss you."

Holding back more tears, Rin put up her hood again and turned south, heading for the sea.

The church bells woke Haku every morning and they sang her to sleep every night. She was never rid of them, so she took to wandering, exploring the coastline.

It was only a month after the execution of the Daughter of Evil. Haku didn't attend; she was content to hear about it from the other laundry maids in the old church. Together, the three other girls gave her every single detail, including the juiciest one of all: that Kaito of the Blue Kingdom was seen escorting a distinguished woman in red, the rumored Commander of the Red Army. Haku didn't really care, other than to note that the war was over and no more deaths would happen.

It had been a long time since Haku had seen a girl with green hair.

The horrors of her recent past haunted her. Once the Green Army had discovered that Miku had somehow slipped away, their commander went into a rage, ordering every person with green hair killed. Haku was spared by the defect that she'd been so ashamed of: her snow-white hair. She'd run away, run south, where no one would look for her. Along the way, she sent a letter to her Mistress, informing her of the terrible events and that Haku was taking leave indefinitely.

In her travels, Haku found the old church, seemingly abandoned, but containing other war survivors like herself. She was welcomed by the old nuns who ran the place, and given free reign as long as she pitched in a little to help. For the most part, Haku didn't see any other people inside the church. She kept mostly to herself and rarely said more than two words to someone.

It was as Haku was wandering the beach that day that she discovered a girl, collapsed in the sand. At first, she thought it was a young boy, due to the loose pants and shirt, and the short yellow hair. But when the person opened her eyes, Haku knew at once it was a girl.

"Who are you?" Haku asked softly, a comforting hand on the girl's back.

"Wh-Where am I?" the girl said, and her voice was so innocent-sounding, Haku decided to trust her.

As she helped the blonde girl sit up, Haku said, "We're on the southern coast of the Green Country. There's an old church inland a ways, and that's where I live."

"I am…south of the Palace?" The white-haired girl nodded, and the nameless blonde said, "Sorry for the weird question. I'm horrible with directions."

"Would you like to come with me back to the church? You look like you need some good rest."

The girl looked out to sea. "Yes. I've been through a lot."

Haku blinked. "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to. I understand." She paused and then said shyly, "My name is Yowane Haku."

"Kagamine Rin."

Rin liked the church. The old nuns who lived on the ground floor talked to her whenever she entered to deliver the folded laundry, and they were kind with their words. She was encouraged to explore, to pray, to do whatever she desired. They seemed to understand that she couldn't talk about what had happened, and politely they avoided questioning her.

Haku tried to teach her to cook, for Rin had never learned. Rin's first dish, cooked under the supervision of Haku, turned out middling well, but when Rin tried to cook anything by herself, inevitably something went wrong and she ended up ruining it.

Rin found herself at the seashore more often than not, staring out into the waves and contemplating the past two years of her life. Before she'd been taken away and formed into the Queen, Rin had been told consistently that she was only becoming Queen because she was chosen, chosen by the Seed of Evil.

But what was the Seed of Evil? Was it the same thing that made murderers kill, thieves steal, drunkards drink themselves away? Was it just a tiny, tiny kernel of doubt that nested itself inside her heart and grew from there? She wasn't sure; for the past two years, she felt she'd been only acting evil, that she'd put on a show for the rest of the world to believe.

A show that ended in Len's sacrifice.

Rin brought her knees to her chest and cried into her knees, the picture of her brother's smiling face haunting her mind. He haunted her even in her dreams, memories of daily tea, when she dropped the act and they were together as they had been before. She saw his face as he told her his plan, dressed in her clothes. She saw his face as he stood on the platform, his eyes seeking her out, his features resolved. Everyone thought at that moment that they had killed the Daughter of Evil, that they had the person they wanted. But instead, they'd killed her twin, her servant, her brother, her love.

And reigning over that place was my very cute sister, who remains free to this day.

The words had been written with a triumphant air; Len had been triumphant, happy that he could perform this last duty for her. Rin should be happy too! Len had outsmarted them all, outsmarted the world!

But the tears wouldn't stop coming.

Rin sat there for hours in silence, unaware that Haku watched sometimes, that Haku followed her some days. The white-haired girl was concerned about this girl, who seemed to have some huge event marring her life. Haku wanted to figure out what it was, so that she could help her.

And then maybe, just maybe, Haku would begin to discover just who Rin really was.

Who am I?

Eyes opened to see black.

Where am I?

Slowly, eyes adjusted to the very dim light, coming from somewhere above. A room, painted all black, surrounded. No furniture, no decoration, nothing. Just an empty black room.

Where is this?

Eyes examined the room. In the center of the ceiling was a giant hole, encased in which was a spring. Very faintly, a tiny pinprick of light could be seen at the other end of the hole.

I don't understand. Why am I here? Who am I? Where is this place?

"You must atone for your sins."

What? What sins?

"You must atone for your sins." The voice was big and booming and omnipresent.

I haven't done anything! I don't even know who I am!

"You will know."

When?

"You will remember."

How?

"You will understand."

What will I understand? How am I going to understand? What is going on?

"You will atone for your sins."

Not this again. What sins? What have I done to you? Wait, who ARE you?

"You will understand."

I'll understand who you are? Is that all I'll understand?

"You will remember."

Remember what?

Something sparked, some sliver of memory, but it was gone before it could be called on. An impression of a bright color remained.

Bright color? Is this my first memory?

"Remember."

Remember what? The color? I don't even know what it's called!

"Remember!"

Remember? Remember the name of the color? Okay. I guess I can do that. Let's see…bright, bright like…something. Something warm that I can't remember. Bright color…bright like…color. Color…color…yellow?

"You are remembering."

I remember yellow! I remember it! The impression of the color yellow grew bright for an instant, and then faded back to its normal luster.

"You are remembering. You will know. You will understand. You will atone for your sins."

Okay, we're back to the sins again. What sins?

No answer.

What sins?

"The most heinous sin of all."