A/N: I never really knew anyone who had cancer, well I did but we weren't close and she died in June, so some of the things might not be accurate but it's as real as I could make it. It's kind of sad and it's all told from Anzu's Point of View. Please R/R.

A Short Kind of Death

By: SugarBaby89

Our actions determine who we are, and in turn, who we are determines our actions. Life is only worthwhile so long as we are happy to live it. One thing I've learned is that if we lose track of who we are, we lose track of where we're heading in life.

Hugging my knees to my chest I could feel the dwindling pain that shot into my heart very time I took a breathe. Peering out the window at the autumn leaves falling from the large oak trees outside, I watched the raindrops fall almost as quickly as the tears that streamed down my face. Slowly I moved from my position on the window seat and moved over to the desk. Plopping down in the chair, I open the top draw and began to rummage through it, then I caught a glimpse of it, the picture of you and me.

Smiling sadly I picked it up and looked at your tender smile and loving eyes, my heart skipped a beat as I stared at that moment frozen in time on the sheet, a moment that can never be relived. These moments only live in my mind and only they exist like a old home video. Slouching forward I placed the picture on the desk and placed my head next to it.

In a wide open field of wildflowers and wheat stalks, giggles and shrieks of laughter could be heard as you raced around chasing after the group of butterflies that fluttered in the air. I followed right after you, our mothers where waiting under the apple tree setting up for the picnic.

You turned to face me and smiled. "I bet you can't catch me!" You yelled and turned back and began to run with your angelic laughter filling the air, filling my heart like an everlasting promise. But sadly you were right I could never catch you, you were always too fast for me.

In moments you were at the apple tree sitting with our mothers, waiting for me to catch up. That was the best part, even though I could never catch you, you'd always wait for me.

A knock at the door snapped me back. "Come in."

Mother walked in with a tray that had some tea and crackers on it. "I think you should eat this." She stated placing the tray on my dresser. Walking over to me she grabbed the brush and stood behind me. As she ran the comb through my hair she stared down to the picture. "Honey, maybe you should go to bed. I know you've been up really late nowadays." She suggested.

I just shrugged her off and pushed her hand away.

"Okay, I understand, I leave you alone. But please get some sleep." She whispered before leaving the room.

Shizuka has been in my life for almost as long as I remember, actually the first memory I have is of us sitting under the old weeping willow eating ice cream with her brother, Jounouchi. He was a nice boy who was forced to live with his father when their parents broke apart.

But in this moment the tree of us just sat there eating our ice cream not worrying about anything because we knew we'd always have each other.

Shizuka's mother would call us the ragamuffin twins, both of us constantly getting into trouble together. I won't say that it wasn't truth because, well it was, we were the trouble makers. Who'd think that we'd both mature and turn into young ladies?

We lived a wonderful, a life I wouldn't trade for anything in the world, a life I am happy to have, even though our lives weren't picture perfect.

After being born eight weeks premature and only two pounds, Shizuka wasn't fully developed after birth with a hole in her heart, an eternal scar. Only being five days old she got her first open-heart surgery and lived. She was a survivor through six surgeries, a heart transplant, and almost being blind. I was proud of calling her my best friend. Little did anyone know, including her and the doctors, that her heart wouldn't be her biggest downfall.

One day during the summer we were bike riding at the park Shizuka called out to me.

"Hey Anzu can we stop for a moment?" She asked, her voice sent chills down my spine.

We sat down on a nearby park bench, it was all quiet as I looked into her eyes and was frightened by what I saw. Pain and fear rose into those eyes full of happiness. Tears began to well up in her eyes, slowly rising into mounds that spilled over her lower eye lids when they finally began too heavy.

"Anzu… my mother and I went to the doctor's today… he said my heart is doing fine… but…"She stopped.

I swallowed the lump that had formed into my throat and nodded my head, wanting her to proceed. What could be so bad? Her heart is fine. But I knew that something was terribly wrong and I fear it.

She tilted her head down so I couldn't see the tears that flowed down her cheeks, but the attempt was in vain for she knew I could see much more than her tears, but the fear she had in her.

Tears began to form in my eyes. Please don't say what I think is wrong. I silently pleaded by I looked into her eyes again.

Anzu… I have cancer." She blurted out.

My hand shot to my mouth and the tears spilled. I'm not exactly sure how long we were in the park just hugging each other, but how long it was, wasn't enough.That night I sat on the window seat, resting my head against the cooling glass as I stared up at the stars, silently asking the heavens why it was her they picked. I heard a clanking noise and I turned my head to see Shizuka climbing into the window. She sat down to me not saying a word. We stayed like that until my mother came in telling me I had a doctor's appointment for the next day because I was getting sick.Shizuka looked at my neck and saw that the clasp of my necklace was in the front. "Quick, make a wish." She stated as she fixed my necklace."I don't believe in making wishes on necklaces anymore. All the wishing in the world can't stop your cancer." I stated bitterly.

"I still believe. When I was little I'd fix my necklaces all the time and wish. You know what I wished each time? I wished we'd be best friends forever, the kind that could never be replaced by someone else." She went and fixed her necklace.

"What did you wish that time?" I asked as she pulled her knees to her chest.

She smiled at me. "I wished we'd be best friends forever, the kind that could never be replaced by someone else." She stated, resting her head on my shoulder, and I rested my head on her head.

I remember the next day after I got home from the doctor's appointment, I raced as fast as I could to her house.

I busted into the house without knocking, Shizuka was sitting in the living room with her mother, both reading a book. Shizuka looked up at me, surprised and she stood up watching the tears that were running from my eyes. "Anzu what's-?" She started by I cut her off.

"You're not alone. I have it too." I stated as I hugged her and cried into her shoulder. "The doctor told me that I have cancer too." I added as I felt her shaking for she was crying now as well.

I remember that day, only a few weeks after being diagnosed, I sat in a big green chair in the waiting room. She walked into the room looking as nervous and unsure. She was wearing a red hat with a few strands of brown hair hanging at her shoulders the rest was pulled up in a bun. I could see her shaking slightly at the thought of what she'd have to go through. We sat their exchanging nervous glances to each other, not saying a word to each other. Anyone who walked by wouldn't think that we were friends at all.

In a moments time, her doctor called her in and I sat there staring at the chair she was sitting in. It wasn't much longer before my mother pulled me up to go to my doctor. I thought it was pretty ironic that being friends all this time, we'd both get the cancer called leukemia. When we were admitted for the first day of chemotherapy, I met her in the room, our mothers had asked the doctors to make us roommates, and they were nice enough to allow it. She left the room for her treatment and I knew I wouldn't see her until after mine.

It was horrible, they lied me on a bed and injected all these poisons into my body and right before I was dead from the agonizing pain from the poisons shutting my body down, they'd inject some antidotes into me to keep me alive. During the whole process I had to be awake.

When I returned to the room, Shizuka was in her bed, her hair was completely gone, and she was hiding her hairless head under the red hat.

During our time of treatment we painted our nails, watched tv, and talked to each other like nothing was wrong with us.

I remember one halloween night we ordered some regular foods and two bowls of candy for our room. We were watching a horror marathon of Halloween movies with Michael Myers, a pyscho killer, when all of a sudden a carrot was thrown at me. I looked over to my best friend, who was trying to pull the it-wasn't-me-who-threw-the-food look. Grinning at her I threw some popcorn at her. For the rest of the night we threw Swedish fish, popcorn, pretzels, carrots, miniature heresy's chocolates, gold fish, and skittles at each other.

In the morning the cleaner guy came in and nearly passed out when he saw our mess, let's just say that we were under adult supervision whenever we ate.

So basically we were just trying to enjoy life during the downfall that never seemed to end.

I was able to leave when I over came the cancer by the own will of my body and not from the treatments, Shizuka however was stuck in that hellhole.

On a Saturday, during the end of spring, we asked the doctor if she could leave for one day just to get away, which he greatly allowed. We went to the Weeping Willow tree, her brother came to see her, and she was so happy when she saw him because she was unaware that he would be there.

If I knew that rainy Saturday night would be the last time I would talk to her I would have said so much more. It's funny but she seemed to know she wasn't going to see me again for she asked the doctor to give me a note when she would pass that night.

She was buried in Domino city's cemetery for when her mom, my mother and I moved there in the summer we would be able to visit her. The best part is that Jounouchi lived in Domino City so he could see her as well.

I remember the day she was buried, I stood there wearing a long black dress, the wind was harshly whipping at my soul, but I was still trying to be strong. The soothing words of the old minister became a fuzzy, unrecognizable mumbling, faintly droning in my mind.

After the service was finally over, each person who attended the ceremony placed a single white rose on Shizuka's casket. I just stood there and watched the inevitable. Mother tried to pull me away, but I wriggled out of her grasp. Stepping forward to the casket, I placed my hand on the cool, smooth wood. I allowed a solitary tear fall down my face as I placed a delicate bouquet of yellow and red roses on top of the white ones, representing her eternal love and innocence. I blew a kiss into the air and said "I love you" hoping it would reach her in heaven. Turning, I left, leaving a part of me behind, a piece of my soul, a part of who I am forever.

Bushing away the tears I place our picture into a frame and place it on the desk. I slowly unraveled my feet from under me and stood up walking to the open closet door. Standing on my tiptoes I reached up to the stop shelf and began to rummage around until my hand hit something. Smiling I took the old small oak trunk down and walked over to my bed and placed it down. Sliding onto the soft mattress, I opened the chest and pulled out an old teddy bear. The ringing of laughter filled my ears as I pulled it to my chest. Sitting the bear down on my lap I pulled out a piece of folded paper. It was the note the doctor handed to me, the one from Shizuka. Leaning against the pillows I read it again.

My Dearest Anzu,

I love you. You have been my confidante, my closest friend, my sister… my savior. Your honest and simple words have touched my heart and soul like no others' could. You have left this everlasting impression on my life, one that could never fade away. You have become a part of who I am. I know that if you are reading this then I am no longer, God has said it's my time to go, and you are in pain, so much pain that I will never understand. I wish I could be there to comfort you in this awful part of your life. Promise you won't forget me, but let my soul go. If the memory of me still lingers in you, you won't be able to survive. Love me with all your heart, but never let my go in your mind, your life will never be filled with that happiness and love it sued to hold. I want to tell you how much it meant to me that you stuck by my side throughout all of this. I be watching from above.

Love Always,

Shizuka

I placed the teddy bear on the pillows and closed the trunk and placed it back on the shelf. Walking over to the picture I placed the note under it.A soft knock came upon my door, before it creaked open. " Hey Anzu, want to go fro a drive?" Jounouchi asked from the door.

I smiled and nodded my head.

We drove to the old Weeping Willow tree in my old town. I leaned against the rough bark of the tree, and closed my eyes.

Jounouchi stood next to me. "Hey your necklace is backwards." He stated. "You know Shizuka used to wish when she fixed her necklace." He added on. "Why don't you wish for something." He suggested as he fixed my necklace.

"Sure." I stated, closing my eyes.

"So what did you wish for?" Jounouchi asked.

"I wish to be a survivor, someone strong, just like Shizuka." I answered.

"Yeah, I think she'd like you to wish something like that." Jounouchi stated.

We just stayed there watching the willow branches dip into the lake's water, and as the wind blew softly it picked the leaves gently from the water, allowing the little water droplets to flow off into the water, making it look the tree was crying.

Weeping willow with your tears running down

Why do you always weep and frown?

Is it because she left you one day?

Is it because she could not stay?

She found shelter in your shade

You thought her laughter would never fade.

On your branches, she would swing

Do you long for the happiness that day would bring?

Weeping willow, stop your tears

For there is something to calm your fears

If you think death has ripped you forever apart

I know she'll always be in your heart.

The End

A/N: The poem at the end is from the movie My Girl, so I didn't create it, I just simply used it because I though it suit the story, the only thing that is different in the poem is all the his and he's were changed to she and her because Shizuka is a girl. Anyway I hope you liked it. Please R/R.