CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Reluctant Goodbye

The end came faster than Alfred expected. He'd fallen asleep beside Arthur after they'd returned from their outing and slept deeply until a thump on the wall of the apartment woke him up. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and turned to the still-sleeping angel beside him. Something thumped on the wall again, sounding closer, but Alfred ignored it and reached out to shake Arthur. "Artie?"

There was no response. Fear leapt in Alfred's chest and he threw off the covers before turning Arthur on his back. His heart fluttered when he saw that Arthur was still breathing, but the movement of the angel's chest was only barely noticeable and his skin was pallid. "Artie?" Alfred asked again, leaning over him.

When there was, again, no response, Alfred put his hands to Arthur's cheeks and chafed them, trying to bring blood back into them. They remained stubbornly pale and cool to the touch.

"No," Alfred muttered, patting the cheeks more forcefully and praying that Arthur's eyes would open again. If he'd known that the last time he'd ever see those handsome green eyes would be when they said goodnight, he'd have never let them fall asleep. He'd have stayed up all night just to pull another smile from Arthur's face, another sharp word from his lips, another anything.

BANG. Something thumped even closer, sounding like it was trying to get through Im-Young and Kaoru's window on the other side of the hall. Alfred ignored it.

How could he have slept through his last moments with the man he loved? Tears coursed down his face, not even bothering to linger on his lashes first. Don't leave me like this, Arthur, he thought, desperately trying to warm the angel's cooling skin.

When he looked down at his hands, he gasped. Arthur's fingertips were clear and translucent like glass. Even as he watched, the color was leeching slowly from his knuckles. He held the colorless digits in his own hand, trying to warm color back into them, but they were light and hollow like shells.

Alfred dropped them and immediately felt ashamed of his own squeamishness. So this was how it happened? The color and life would eke out of Arthur until he was nothing but a glasslike shell of himself? When would his breathing stop? Was this process hurting him even though he couldn't express it?

Feeling like he was touching a corpse, Alfred took Arthur's hands back in his own. He'd promised, hadn't he? Until the end.

BANG. This time the sound came from the window on the bedroom wall. It startled Alfred, who jerked his head up to see a shadow moving behind the blinds of the window, through which bright light was streaming. BANG. He stood, reluctantly dropping Arthur's cold hand, and slowly pulled the blinds up.

Light, brighter than any morning he'd ever experienced, flooded through the glass and attacked his eyes, making him squint and hold up a hand. As his eyes adjusted, he began to make out a small figure floating outside the window, desperately banging its fists against the panes of glass. "Open the window!" He heard a female voice shout. "Please!"

Still squinting, he could see now that the figure was a girl being held aloft by massive, feathered wings.

Another angel?

He flung open the window and the girl soared in, her bare feet landing softly on the carpet. She was shorter than Arthur and her skin was darker, but Alfred recognized her glow as the same kind Arthur had had when he first arrived, though the girl's was much brighter. She had big brown eyes and dark brown hair that was currently coming loose from the red ribbons tying it into two tails. As she hurried over to the bed where Arthur lay, Alfred realized that she was wearing the exact same toga-like outfit that Arthur had worn the first time they met.

"Ah, he's still breathing," the girl cried, her voice rife with relief. She ran a hand down Arthur's cheek and, for the first time, Alfred became fully aware what was happening. He stepped back to the bedside and, without thinking, slapped her hand away from his boyfriend's face.

"Get away from him," he growled, blocking her access.

Her eyes narrowed at first, then softened. "You're Alfred?"

"Who wants to know?"

Her wings fluttered, dropping a few feathers, and she clenched her fists. "I'm here to take Arthur. Please move away."

Alfred scowled. "Like hell you are. Who are you?"

"My name is Shelly," she said, reaching a hand out and putting it on Alfred's bare arm. He immediately felt a wave of relaxation and calm go through his body. "I'm Arthur's friend. I've come to take him back to Heaven."

Flinching away from her strange, drug-like touch, Alfred processed her words. "Take him back…can…can he be saved?"

Shelly nodded and more hair slipped from her ribbons. "Yes, but I have to take him now. If his absorption continues any further, we may not be able to save him." When Alfred hesitated, she stepped forward, hand still outstretched. "Please don't make me put you to sleep."

Still irritated at how she had touched Arthur, Alfred hesitated for the shortest of moments before stepping aside. "Do you have to take him?" He asked. "Isn't there any way to treat him here?"

Shelly shook her head, slipping her arms behind Arthur's head and knees. "It's being here that's killing him. He needs to go to our detoxification hospit immediately." She hefted him into her arms with minimal difficulty and turned to the human. "I'm sorry," she said softly, her voice unsteady. She hadn't expected the human to be so earnest.

The tears that had been startled away by the angel girl's appearance refilled Alfred's eyes and she made her way back to the window and he realized she had said nothing about returning. "Wait," he cried, tears blocking his vision. "When he's healed…when he's better…will you bring him back to me? Please…"

She turned, her face twisted in pain. "I can't…I don't know."

"Let me say goodbye," he choked out.

"…quickly."

The girl turned her head and Alfred leaned over Arthur's body, cupping his face in his hands. "I'll wait for you," he muttered, kissing his cold lips one last time. "I promise. I'll wait forever if I have to."

Arthur was pulled away and Alfred caught one last glimpse of his face before the girl jumped out the window, spreading her wings to catch herself in midair. She whirled around once more to face him, Arthur's head lolling against her chest. "Thank you for taking care of him," she called. "I'm sorry."

Alfred rushed to the window, but she soared away before he could reply. He watched her until she was nothing but the smallest speck in the clouds. He blinked, her light hurting his eyes, and the speck, along with Arthur, was gone.

The sun shone gently through the window, a warm light unlike the angel's blinding glow. Voices could be heard chattering and laughing on the sidewalk below. People were happy. The weather was beautiful. Noise from behind the bedroom door indicated that Matt and Kiku were waking up to begin another normal day.

If it weren't for the feathers on the carpet and the aching, gaping hole in Alfred's heart, the whole thing might have been a dream.

oOoOo

Oh gawd what heff I done

Next chapter is the last one, btw. Prepare your buttholes.

Lycoris Iris: Right? Romano needs to be smacked down a little

Land of Insanity: Naw, I didn't kill him off. Just all his hopes and dreams.

Neko: Not quite the end but almost. Thanks for hanging in there with me!