Author's note: Word is being terribly evil, so I apologize for the indents and lack there of. *sigh*
Author's note the second: This is SO not the real ending to this story. It really ended with the first chapter, with some lovely underappreciated angst. But I felt guilty about ruining so many people's mornings (or afternoons, or evenings…) so I wrote this sort of alternate-ending to pacify you all. It actually turned out kind of vague and uplifting. Yeah. Shutting up.
~*~
I am beginning to fade out of oblivion, slowly, so slowly. How long has it been? Hours? Centuries? I do not know. I see you, frightened, confused, in your last moments of awareness.
"Snitch? Is that you?" You sound astonished even as your voice grows softer. Is this Heaven, then? Being brought back only to welcome a loved one?
Suddenly filled with purpose, I grasp your hands in mine. I won't let you go! I won't let you fade away! I hold you fast, but I can only keep you here, not keep you conscious, awake. I call your name again and again, pleading with some unseen power to let you stay for one more moment.
"Snitch?" Our roles are reversed now, your voice is somewhere above me. I reach towards it- towards you- straining to escape. And then the golden darkness disappears behind me.
* * *
"Snitch! Wake up!" Your form glows in the dim morning light that precedes the sun. I realize that I'm half sitting up in bed, hands clamped over yours as if my life depended on it.
"Are you alright?" You're whispering, so as not to wake the others. Hesitantly, you extract your hands from my grip and place them comfortingly on my shoulders. I lean forward into your embrace, never wanting to let go. I can't believe it was a dream.
"You were dead," I whisper into your shirt, "we both were. I don't want to die, not ever!" And I don't want you to let me go. I want to stay here for eternity. I feel so safe, so protected when you hold me. I know it's probably awkward for you, and it should be for me, but I don't care. Not right now.
There is a long dark scar over the back of your neck, and I have to contain the urge to run my fingers along it. I have to stop myself from playing with your hair, from pulling away and kissing you straight out.
Maybe they were right, I think, as you finally pull away and look down at me in concern. Maybe those dime novels had it right, after all. Maybe the love of a friend does mean something. It means a lot to you. It means so much to me.
You get up and climb back to your bunk, pausing once in mid-stride. You look back at me, expression indiscernible. You absently finger the scar on your neck as you scrutinize me for a long moment. That must be a new scary, I realize sleepily. Very new. I wonder how you got it…
"You're soaking wet, Snitch." With that last comment, you turn and recede into a shadow once more, the predawn light casting an otherworldly glow on your figure.
My angel.
~*~
*sighs at the complete destruction of her beautiful angst*
Oh, well.
So was the ending too confusing? Please tell me! *Evil!Race comes and pokes you full of holes with his knife until you proceed in the line (oh…right…line…*snort*) until you proceed into the vast uninhabited area that is the review button*
…Why do my author's notes always end up bizarre and tangent-y?