Death

Wooooow, it's been a while, huh?

Btw, this fic is totally not my fault. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. YOU MADE ME DO THIS.

It's also probably REALLY obvious what this was inspired from, too. Goddamn that picture made me cry.

Being dead is a lot like being alive. It's dark. There's nothing around, except maybe a corner. If you stay there, nothing will happen to you. Nothing that wouldn't have happened anywhere else, anyway.

It's sad too, though, because uncertainty is worse than death. There's swill awareness, even if there's no consciousness, and that's the worst part, really. If you didn't have to be aware anymore, then it wouldn't matter. Having a soul is awful. If that wasn't there, none of this would have happened in the first place. Why can't he eat that too? It would have been better like that.

Maka cut through her as if she were made of paper, and the ethereal image slowly disintegrated with a smile. So she's won, but not really. Not when Chrona is like that.

Because she refuses to say the word. There no way that such a thing could be true, even if Stein is convinced otherwise. It can't. And if she refuses enough, that will make it true. It has to be.

She can't move anymore, even after completing her goal. She won't listen to anyone else because she can't hear them over the sound of the screaming in her own head. But she can't tell anyone that either. She's not crazy, but Chrona is…

No.

"Pr…Professor, do you think… We have enough time for me to try something?"

If she would have looked, she would have seen the pained, apologetic expression on her professor's face. Because he already knows. He already believes. And it hurts to see his students like this.

"Maka," Marie says, "You really do need to go. I'm sorry, but…"

There's nothing else you can do.

We'll bury the body in a nice place; the poor child deserves that much.

It was unspoken, but it was there, and Maka hated it. Clenching her teeth in frustration, holding back tears she knew would come again, she laid her forehead against Chrona's. Dammit, she refused.

And she was once again searching for a soul.

It wasn't all bad. Hell, in some circumstances, this could even have been considered better than life. There was nobody here to tell you to kill, anyways. No pressure to become a kishin. No mother. No Ragnarok. Or maybe that's what this was. But it was too quiet.

But something was coming. Something that could only be known through awareness. That shouldn't be there either, though. And still... Why was she…

"M-Maka…"

There was a sigh, because the knowledge was already there. And the desire to apologize was there too, but at least she was alive. And the goodbyes had already been said.

Somehow, finding Chrona's quiet soul was both easier and harder than the first time. The first time, she had no idea what to look for, but this time, she understood its wavelength. But it was so quiet and faint that she had to strain to pick it up at all. But she had found it.

Obviously that meant Chrona was alive, and that was all she needed to know. Pulling her friend out of this state would be the next thing she did, of course. Because Maka got things done, that was how she worked.

And her happiness only increased as she approached the unmistakable figure hiding in the corner. Even if Chrona was scared now (and, well heck, she would be too, had she been in Chrona's place) she was here now, and she swore to all the powers that be she would make things better. Because that was what Chrona deserved, not a nice gravesite, dammit.

"Chrona!" she exclaimed, gaining some speed as she approached. But it was all for nothing. There was a wall.

It was invisible, but there was no way to get through it. It wasn't like the water that Soul had pulled her out of the first time, it was completely impenetrable. Maka knew. She tried.

"Chrona!" she exclaimed again, more desperate this time, "Please! Come back!"

She was just so scared. It couldn't be true. It couldn't it couldn't it couldn't it couldn't.

It was Maka. And Chrona smiling, got up, in spite of the fact that she looked so frightened and sad. Who knew why though. But it was nice enough to see her just one last time. Even if the words she was saying wouldn't get through.

The wall was there, though. It would be hard to apologize to her through that. But there was no point in not trying, either.. Putting a hand against the wall yielded nothing. But it felt important.

There was still a smile, in the hopes that it conveyed everything to her. How sorry. How sad. How happy that she had some one last time. Because that would get Chrona through all the years of awareness that might come. Or maybe not. Maybe this was the end and Chrona was just waiting for her before leaving forever.

But that was okay too. Because for now, Maka was here.

Maka was more than desperate now, because Chrona was smiling and oh God she knew. Why the soul she had been searching for had been so faint. Why she couldn't hug her friend right now. Why she wouldn't even be able to hear Chrona's voice. And oh God she knew. And she was crying all over again.

"N-No… please don't… Chrona…" and she was crying all over again. As if begging would make Chrona cease to be dead. If she willed it to be true hard enough, then it would be. But she wasn't that naïve, she knew the world didn't work like that. So all she could do was cry.

She put her hand against the wall, directly across from Chrona's. Because this was as close as they could be. This was all the communication she could ever have with Chrona, ever again. No more words were allowed.

Oh no, she was crying. That hadn't been the intention, and now Chrona was even more sorry. But at least now it was unmistakable that she had won. And the smile was still there but now there were tears, too. There was less understanding of this sort of emotion than the fact that soon, nothing would ever be experienced again. So this ought to be cherished, whatever it was.

Although, Chrona had never quite said goodbye. Maybe this was the time for it, even if she wouldn't have been able to hear. He breathed on the wall, and, sure enough, it behaved just like glass.

Bye, Maka.

The letters appeared backwards, of course. But Maka wasn't stupid enough to not know what they said. And she knew. And it was worse now, because she knew Chrona was okay with it. It shouldn't be something you accept! Every life should be dragged out, kicking and screaming and refusing! And she couldn't accept it, she couldn't she wouldn't she…

I love you.

She was crying even harder now. Her entire body was wracked with sobs, and she couldn't even move her hands to write anything back, that's now badly she was shaking.

Please don't cry.

And oh God Chrona was going to die and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She could kill Medusa a million times over and Chrona was still going to die.

Her vision was completely blurred with tears. She could barely even see Chrona anymore, let alone the fading words she had been written. Chrona was still smiling, though. Smiling for her, even though there were tears. For her.

She couldn't see anything anymore.

She shook back into consciousness, those same tears still blurring her vision. Only this time, instead of being across from Chrona, she was holding a cold, lifeless, body. And Soul's hand was on her shoulder.

Maka brought the body closer to her, hugging Chrona one last time even though she knew that her friend wasn't there anymore. She nodded when Soul asked her if she was okay, even though it was kind of a lie.

She had to. There was no more time.

Goodbye, Chrona.

I love you, too.

But I can't stop crying.