This is the LAST chapter!!! I swear!!! Well, read that title. It HAS to be the last chapter. Get ready; we're only a few paragraphs away from the conclusion. I shocked and bewildered myself. It's grim, trust me.

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CHAPTER SIX: ONE FINAL SURRENDER

Finally, her legs gave way, and she stopped running, but not before she forced herself to walk to the sea cliff that lay at the edge of the forest's clearing. There, she gazed vacantly into the deep, boundless ocean, seeing the golden sun as it slowly set behind the horizon. The voices that followed her, tormented her, were gone now, but she saw them all, their faces reflected on the water that stretched out and beyond her sight. Their silent cries rang in her ears as if they were really there, summoning the night so that they could be free amongst the skies. Fate was calling. She had fought it long enough and she had given herself almost eight extra years in this world, but now, it was time. She could fight it no longer, because they were calling her. She lost everything - everyone who mattered at all to her. Maybe it was time she gave in.Maybe it was time to say yes. Say yes and let them take her.
"Yes," she whispered onto the breeze. The wind played with her hair, making it dance over her shoulders like a dark veil. "Yes," she said again, stronger, more confident. Drawing in deep breaths and knowing these would be her final ones, she took a step forward, and then another, her entire life flashing before her eyes. Treize, Marie, Noin, Zechs, Leah. Her lover, her friends, her children. Tears glistened in the last lights of the setting sun, as they slipped down her cheeks, but she forced herself onward. This was it, she thought. Another step and it would be done. Her body tumbled off the cliff, and she awaited her fate, the fate that lie beneath the waves. "Treize!" she screamed, as if suddenly aware of what she had done. "Treize, help me!" And time froze.
"I am here, Lady. I am here." Her body hung suspended in mid-air, in mid-fall above the cold, watery depths that were soon to be her grave. "Come with me, Lady." he invited as he stretched out his arms. She took his hand without hesitation, and his energy pulsed through her like a wave of electricity. The moment of pleasant sensation faded and she felt herself slipping from her body. In a panic, she cried out. "Treize!" "Hush, my Lady," Treize said softly. "It will be alright." He was taking her spirit before she was even dead. Lady understood the thoughts that reflected in his eyes. He would not allow her to feel any pain.
And free of the mortal bindings that encumber the living, she floated gently in Treize's arms. "This was fate," she whispered and closed her eyes against his chest to feel his soft, lulling heartbeat.
"Yes, Lady, this was fate." Her body, now empty of a soul, plunged headfirst into the murky depths, the rising waves mercilessly battering her against the shore, and finally impaling her against the jagged rocks, but she did not suffer, she felt no pain. She was already gone. Treize took her up into the clouds that drifted now quietly with the night.
"Lady, you joined us." Noin smiled, holding Leah close at her side. Marie and Zechs looked at her with jovial expressions. They were all together, but Lady knew she would not be at peace until she understood. Until she was reassured.
"Treize?" she whispered.
"Yes, my Lady?"
"Why?" He gave her a puzzled look.
"Why what?"
"Why did you haunt me? Why did you make yourself -" Suddenly, Lady realized that he did not have those bony hands, or flesh torn like silk. From his mouth spilled no blood. He was Treize, as if he were alive and well. "Why did you try to kill me? Try to take me into the shadows with you."
Treize looked at her again. "I did no such thing, Lady. I would never hurt you."
"But -"
"The fates, Lady. They used my image to draw you to this. I'm sorry I could not stop it.I wanted you to live, but the only thing I could do was keep you from feeling pain when you chose to come." He sighed as he held her. "I am but a spirit, trapped here.now I am glad you will stay with me for an eternity, Lady."
"Trapped where?" Lady asked, a slight panic rising in her chest. But before she could look at Treize again, the world around her exploded. Noin, Leah, Zechs, and even Marie disappeared into the flames. They had been nothing but images, illusions that would trick her into believing she was safe. They were never there. Only she was truly there, truly dead. She and Treize. He had tricked her. Thunder echoed through the endless caverns of fire like an untamed beast that had just awakened. The soft, white clouds that promised heaven had disappeared. She looked down at her hands, and they too, now, were bony, and void of flesh. Blood oozed from her skin, torn like shreds, hanging limply over her body. These were the marks of her death. She started to tremble uncontrollably, unable-no, not wanting to understand what was happening, and she looked back at Treize, terror glowing clearly in her eyes.
"Why?" was all she could manage weakly. Treize smiled.
"I missed you Lady. I need you." His eyes glowed with a tenderness that seemed out of place in the world that surrounded her. She felt his need. She felt his love. "I thank you for finally saying yes.For coming to me when I needed you.I love you, Lady." Lady could feel herself sinking into the grip of this realm, never would she escape again. "Now, my Lady," he whispered. "I welcome you to my Hell. I have burned here alone for ten years." Suddenly, taken fully by the grasp of this realm, Lady felt at home in this hell. It did not matter that Treize had lied to her, and it did not matter that she would remain here in these shadows, this nether realm, forever. She smiled in a twisted, dark way, and stepped into his embrace.
"Now we will burn together, just the two of us, my love, for eternities," Lady murmured, her eyes shimmering with a sick sense of delight. They locked their death-marked lips together to seal their vows, their bodies silhouetted against the flames that would forever burn in their Hell. Their Paradise.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

DONE!!! Thanx to everyone who had the patience to read my entire fic.
I'm sorry if I messed with your favourite characters' minds!!! Oh, and
to clear it up: Lady Une and Treize are dead. ONLY Lady Une and
Treize. hehehe. Yeah, they're in Hell. where else do you think they'd
be? It's SOOOO their character. Please RxR. Thanx again!! ~Luv,
Shukujo Une

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