Wind Beneath My Wings

*waves* Hullo! ^^ Well, I finally decided to post this. Yep. It's a challenge fic. Warning on a bit of angst, too...But anyways! On with the show!

Wind Beneath My Wings

It must have been cold there in my shadow,
To never have sunlight on your face.
You were content to let me shine, that's your way.
You always walked a step behind.


I looked around at the hospital walls. Everything in hospitals seem spotless. It's kind of scary, if you think about it. I hate hospitals. Very much so at this moment.
Frowning, I watched nurses flock in and out of her room. I knew what the doctor was going to say to me, even before he walked out of her room. She was dying. And all because I couldn't protect her. My mind wandered back to the previous day. I closed my eyes. I didn't sleep. I remembered.

So I was the one with all the glory,
While you were the one with all the strength.
Only a face without a name,
And I never once heard you complain.

I narrowed my eyes, aiming my gun at the soldier. He smirked, keeping a tight grip on her neck. She'd already passed out from the lack of air. She was pale, and I knew I'd have to act fast. I ran at him, and knocked him to the ground. He grimaced, then punched me in the mouth. I had no time to react. The room shook violently at the sound of an explosion in the nearby boiler rooms. I got up, grabbed her limp form, then I ran.
I could feel the heat on the back of my neck. I threw nyself out the window, careful to protect her from the shards of glass. Someone shot at me, and I lost my grip on her as we fell. She flew out of my arms, and into the explosion. The next time I would see her, she'd be burned badly and covered in blood.

Did you ever know that you're my hero,
And everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
'Cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

I opened my eyes, then found myself staring into the face of a young doctor. He led me to her room. She seemed surrounded in a tangle of wires and bandages. Her eyes were closed. I nodded the doctor away and sat in a nearby chair. I grasped one of her small, bandaged hands. It was slightly cold. I listened to the monitor as it beeped steadily. I thought I waited an eternity right there, just gripping her hand. What I thought to be nothing more than a partnership was in actuality love. I suppose I had previously tried to deny it, dismissing it as lust or something if the sort. But right then, as I felt her life steadily slip away, I finally admitted I loved this woman. My partner.

It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
But I've got it all here in my heart.
I want you to know I know the truth,.
I would be nothing without you.

The monitor had stopped about five minutes ago. I was now trying to fight off the tears that were blurring my vision. I wanted to see her again. I wanted to hear her again. I glanced at the once great woman beside me. The woman who had been fiercely loyal to me. I think, even as I started to cry, she knew.
I started crying because she was smiling.

Did you ever know that you're my hero?
You're everything I wish I could be.
I could fly higher than an eagle,
For you are the wind beneath my wings.

I lost my Noin that day. I never said I loved her, but she knew. That was twenty years ago. And as I stand at her grave, admiring the rose I put on it, I think to myself. She was my Noin. Mine. And I let her go. But I know, that when I die, I'll be lying her beside her. Beside my strength, my love, my hero, my Noin.

Did I ever tell you you're my hero?
You're everything, everything I wish I could be.
Oh, and I, I could fly higher than an eagle,
For you are the wind beneath my wings,
'Cause you are the wind beneath my wings.