I just couldn't resist!~ This is one of my favorite chapters, and the one scene you've all been waiting for like the other chapters!
Disclaimer: Mage of Hope doesn't own Tales of Xillia, only the OCs.
"T-This is it. I-I...I'm going h-home to Elympios."
Alvin's voice was firm, but shaky, just like his gun when he was pointing directly at Jude. All he had to do, was pull the trigger, just one last shot, possibly the last time he would kill, and he would return home to Elympios. Muzet promised him he would if he killed both Leia and Jude. Leia was done, so all that's left was Jude.
So why, why was it so goddamn hard to shoot her?!
"..." Jude remained silent, sitting on the ground, beaten and out of breath. She still had strength to move and all, but anymore movements, and Alvin will shoot her dead in the face. Well, it's not like her actions are going to do much since he's probably going to kill her anyways.
After witnessing Alvin shoot Leia, Jude was in a state of shock, but only for a short moment. Afterwards, out of rage and hurt, she began fighting Alvin, her mind screaming, 'Get away from Leia!' Her thoughts kept repeating themselves with each punch she managed to hit towards Alvin. However, in the end, their strengths were too obvious. Alvin clearly had more fighting experience than her, and sooner of later, he defeated her, using only half his strength to.
Jude couldn't tell if Leia had survived the bullet or not, but that probably didn't matter now. If she had died here, Leia would have died from the bullet and out of blood loss. Despite that, Jude didn't have the heart to blame Alvin for this.
No matter how much his finger twitched to pull the trigger, Alvin just couldn't shoot her. Every time he tried to, happy memories of the times he spent with her would pop up, as if preventing him from killing her.
The thought of even shooting her infuriated him even more.
Growling, Alvin let his anger out by kicking Jude straight in chin as hard as possible, making her fly and crash down on the earth. Jude grunted and was laying on the dirt, placing a hand on her injured side. She could taste blood inside her mouth, but swallowed the metal taste and looked away, a bit shameful to even look at her soon-to-be killer.
Gritting his teeth at the sight of her still alive, Alvin murmured angrily, "Typical kid. How can you be so eager to just roll over and give up?! Sometimes you make me wanna puke, you know that?!"
Though she knew it wasn't intentional, Jude sat up, angry at the somewhat taunt Alvin said to her. "What else do you expect?! Now that Milla's gone!" she argued back, tears forming at the corner of her eyes. "Tell me what I'm supposed to do!"
Alvin wasn't angry at her for being upset, but more angry at himself for not knowing what to say to her. That caused him to release more of his anger towards her. "You think you're the only one who's lost?!" he demanded, before taking a deep breath and falling to his knees, his arms slumped, and his gun forgotten.
"We let her sacrifice her life for us," he continued, stating the truth. Right now, he had forgotten his anger, and sounded more guilty and sorrowful.
"..." Jude finally managed to calm herself down and muttered quietly, "She died because she wanted us to live. She didn't die so we would...end up doing this..."
"Then, what the hell should we be doing?!" yelled Alvin, startling Jude with his sudden loud and sharp tone. "I'm not Milla! I can't live like her! And I don't have a mission to fufill!"
Jude had to keep her composure together before answering to Alvin. "Milla's...Milla's not here to hold our hands anymore! We have to think for ourselves!"
That's it. Alvin really wanted to punch her in the face, but held himself and grabbed her by the collar, pulling her close to his seething face. "How do we do that?!"
"No one will make our decisions for us!" she shouted, pushing him back with all her strength. Surprisingly, either using her strength worked, or Alvin let himself be pushed. Still, she continued, "And...And no one...no one will take responsibility for our actions anymore.
Alvin let a small gasp escape his lips. Responsibility? He's always been responsible for many things since he was just a kid. He had to kill, trick, and lie just to get this far. To get back home. He never thought once back on his actions, so why, for the first time, why was he thinking his crimes back now?
"Even if Milla's mission was all just a big lie," said Jude, bringing the mercenary's attention back. "The truth is, she still put her life on the line to fufill it. It's not a matter of if you can or can't. It's a matter of whether you do or don't."
Those words were simple and so meaningful, even someone as stubborn and depressed as Alvin could understand it. That was one of the things he admired about Jude. She was always the smart, little, cute, adorable honors student he knew throughout this whole journey. She always knew what to say, but...
This time, he wished she didn't know the answer.
"Why...? Tell me, damnit!" Clenching his fists, Alvin grabbed his gun, stood up quickly, and pointed it at Jude, who had a shocked expression on her face. "WHY?! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE THE ANSWER?!" he practically screamed. He was fighting inside, wanting to kill her, but at the same time, not wanting to. If he killed her, he'd go home. But if he did, it would be...lonely.
Jude looked down at the ground, at her legs, anything besides Alvin's pitiful face. She held back a sob as tears began dripping down her face. So, this was it. Alvin was going to kill her, then go to Elympios, get married, have kids, and forget all about her and the others. She couldn't blame him after all the suffering he's been through. Anyone who had such a bad childhood, and forced to do things for their mother, wouldn't hesitate to shoot and kill in this situation.
Even so, even if he killed her, even though she loves him, even now, she just wants him to have a happy life ahead.
Then, Alvin dropped his gun unceremoniously and collapsed to his knees, a look of dreadfulness and horror in his face. He just...couldn't shoot her. He admit, he didn't aim for Leia. He just...he had no idea why he was after Jude first, then Leia second. Maybe he just wanted to escape his love of her forever, so he wanted to kill her first.
Whatever the reason, he was too deeply in love of Jude to even think of killing her.
"Al...vin?" Jude hesitated before coming a little closer to the older man. Suddenly, he embraced her tightly, making her yelp in surprise. Alvin didn't ever want to let go of her, even if the world was collapsing to the end. Jude laid her head on his shoulder, hugging him back, and feeling his warmth in her cold and battered body.
"Jude." Just hearing her name coming from her crush's voice made Jude blush and her heart flutter and beat faster. "I...I know I can't make this up by simply apologizing. But, even so, I'm sorry, for everything. I'm sorry for hurting you, for hurting Leia, for betraying everyone, I'm just, sorry." Alvin pulled back, placing his hands on her shoulders. Jude could see guilt, sadness, and...love in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but if you can, please don't hate me for doing this."
Then, Alvin bent down and kissed Jude softly, right on the lips.
Jude let a small squeak escape from her lips, and her body squirmed around as her face turned red. Alvin noticed and tightened his grip on her,continuing to kiss her harshly, but as gently as possible. After calming down, Jude relaxed and began to feel comfortable and joyful of kissing Alvin.
Alvin teased her by licking her lips while kissing her, earning a gasp from the girl when he learned the flavor of her lips. Creamy strawberry, the perfect flavor for a cute girl like her. He began his advance by slipping his tongue inside her mouth, exploring her sweet caverns with every delight.
The young girl couldn't help but let out a small moan as the mercenary's tongue explored more and more. His tongue was much bigger than hers, and tasted good, in a weird way. Unfortunately, she was running out of breath, and she pushed back Alvin, breaking their kiss and forming a small bridge of saliva between their lips before it broke.
Seeing her panting, and thinking that he had hurt her, Alvin felt guilty as he picked up his gun and stood up before turning away. He knew full well that was her first kiss, and he just stole it. She deserved someone so much better than him.
"Jude...I...I'm sorry." With that said, Alvin left, a little bit satisfied by the kiss, but mostly just depressed. He had no more will to even think of killing her.
Regaining herself, Jude looked around, and saw Alvin leaving farther and farther away. She knew he was too far to hear her, but she spoke to herself anyways. "Alvin, I love you too."
KYA!~ SO CUTE!~ I choose the ending where Alvin wins, because it makes much more sense and more memorable than the one where Jude wins! Since I just completed everyone's long lost dream of them kissing, there's still more where that came from! We haven't even gone to the Rated M chapters, but they'll come up real soon! Read and review!