Okay people, last chapter! I might do an epilogue of a few years later, but this is the official last chapter! I'm really proud of this one because it made fire fairy go all teary and she NEVER cries!
Bryan forced himself to look at the calendar. It was Thursday, and tomorrow, Friday, although not the thirteenth even though that would have been more appropriate, was circled with red marker pen. The single word 'hospital' was written above it in Tala's writing. No matter how hard Bryan tried to convince himself that it was only ink and paper, it was still the kind of ink and paper that carried a death sentence.
"It won't change no matter how hard you stare at it."
"I know." Bryan turned and smiled strainedly. "It's just...come so quickly...I...you haven't done everything on your list yet..."
"I've done enough. I'm packed, and I'm ready to go. Only...there's one last place I'd like to go..."
"Where?"
Tala produced his beyblade from his pocket. "I want to set him free. He's done so much for me...I can't leave him as a prisoner..." Bryan nodded and pursed his lips in an attempt to stop them from quivering. He took a deep breath and then the pain in his heart became too much to bear and he collapsed to his knees, body shaking with bitter sobs. "I don't want you to go!" He choked. "I want to stay with you forever! It shouldn't have to end like this!"
"Bryan...it has to. There's nothing we can do to change it. I'm not scared of dying any more Bryan, because you've helped me to be happy so I can let go without being afraid..."
"Maybe...I could...after you...I could..."
"No! I know what you're going to say, and I don't want that! I don't want you to commit suicide just to follow me! It's weak and pathetic and I don't want you to!"
"But Tala, how am I going to live without you!" Cried Bryan, voice just short of a scream. Tala hesitated, then knelt down beside him and pulled him over onto himself, letting Bryan burrow his face into his shirt, soaking it with tears. "You'll be okay. It'll take time, but you'll get over me. Everyone'll still be here to help you, and even if...even if I can't be here to hold you, I'll be with you still, no matter what. Love isn't something that you can stop with death. True love lasts forever, beyond life, beyond death..." Tala said quietly, tears beginning to gather in his own eyes. "Come with me. Please..." He pulled Bryan up off the floor and guided him to the back garden, where fresh snow covered the ground.
Tala knelt down and placed his blade on the snow in front of himself. "Goodbye, my friend, and thank you for everything you've done for me..." Bryan knew Tala was talking to Wolborg, but the words were too close to home and he found himself crying again. "You can go now. You can be free. G-Goodbye..." Wolborg erupted out of the blade in a flash of white light and a metallic snapping sound, licked Tala once and then disappeared. Tala stood up, brushed the snow off his knees, and then collapsed onto Bryan.
"Bryan...I...I want to...I want to be with you...now...before...I need..." Bryan knew what he needed, and he knew that he needed it himself. However, this time, it was different. They both knew that it was the last time, and so the need and passion they had started out with doubled and trebled until it became a huge, tangible force, flooding the house with the beautiful bitterness of it all.
"Tala..." Tala took a deep breath and walked in through the automatic doors, heart hammering. Bryan followed him in, and Spencer and Ian followed behind. The nurse at the front desk was impossibly cheerful, and she somehow managed to depress them all even more, yet all too soon she was gone and they were all in a small white room, and Tala was laid on the bed, hooked up to a monitor.
He let it all wash over him as if it wasn't real, but for Bryan it was painfully real...to real for him to stand...He almost wanted to leave with Ian and Spencer, but Tala needed him, Tala wanted him to stay, and if Tala wanted it...
"Bryan...I don't know how long I've got now, but I know it could be any time so I want to give you this now." He rummaged in his bag and drew out the notebook he had forbidden Bryan to look at. "No." He said as Bryan went to open it. "Wait until after...I'm gone..."
Suddenly here, in hospital, it was just too real. Tala was leaving him. Tala was going to die. It had seemed like a dream before, but seeing Tala's pale skin against equally pale sheets, seeing him surrounded by monitors...it was just too much. Bryan moved up the bed and laid his head in Tala's lap, completely at the mercy of his tears. "I love you Tala...I love you so much..."
"I love you too Bryan...will you stay with me? Until..." Suddenly Tala was no longer fearless, he could no longer say the word as he had done before. When it all came down to it, he was still young, and he still didn't want to die, regardless of whether or not he accepted it. "Stay with me..." He begged. Bryan nodded helplessly, and after that refused to leave Tala's side. For the next few days, no matter what tests they ran, and no matter who visited, Bryan was beside him, always in some way touching Tala.
A week after Tala had first gone into hospital, Bryan was still by his side. The Bladebreakers were visiting, and Tala was smiling happily as he and Kai and Bryan reminisced about the old days. As the time wore on, he began to feel strangely tired, as if someone were pulling his lungs apart. He swallowed, suddenly stuck in a grip of terror so fierce he shook violently. "I-I...would you mind going? I...I feel tired..." With mixed expressions of sympathy and sorrow the Bladebreakers wished him goodbye, knowing somehow that it would be for the last time. Before he left Kai came over to Tala and kissed him on both cheeks. "Goodbye Tala, my brother."
Tala nodded. "Goodbye...tell Spencer and Ian...I'm sorry...I didn't get to see them..." Kai left and Tala turned to Bryan, his cheeks awash with tears.
"Bryan...I love you..." He could feel that tug at his lungs again, stronger than before. "I love you...you are more dear to me than anything...I love you...I'm sorry I have to leave you...I love you..."
"Tala..." A strange calm fell over Bryan as he cradled Tala in his arms. "I love you too. I love you more than I could possibly ever love anyone else..."
"It hurts..." Bryan nodded sadly, then leaned forwards, capturing Tala's lips in a tender kiss. Tala felt another sharp tug and gasped, clutching at Bryan's shoulders viciously. Bryan didn't break off the kiss, just raised a hand and placed it on Tala's chest, calming him. All too soon Tala's grip lessened, and his lips ceased to respond. Bryan laid him down on the bed and took a few deep steadying breaths. He opened the book Tala had given him.
"Bryan,
I love you. That's all I can think of to say. That, and I'm always with you. This book is a diary of the last weeks we spent together, just in case you ever want to remember. I love you so much, Bryan, and I would have given anything to change what happened...anything to still be with you. I just want you to know that you fulfilled more of my wishes than you thought you did. All the time I spent with you...I was happy...and by being happy, even with the prospect of death facing me, I felt lucky. You were the best thing that ever happened to me, and these last few weeks have made up for every single bad thing that ever happened to me and then some. From now on, I want you to make yourself happy. I don't want you to brood about me- I want you to live your life and be as happy as you possibly can be.
You made my wishes come true Bryan...now it's time to make your own come true.
Yours forever,
Tala"
Bryan nodded. "I'll try." He got up and walked out. Somehow, inexplicably, everyone was outside in the corridor. He took a deep breath, then found tears dripping down his face. "He's gone..." He sagged, and someone held him up. He cried heartbrokenly, clutching at whoever it was. "He's gone...but he was h-happy..." Everyone clamoured around him, supporting him as he wept. Inside the room, Tala lay, finally at peace.
A couple of months later, a man was rifling through some books in a bookshop. He glanced over the new books display, and one caught his eye. The spine said 'I'm Not Afraid.' He picked it up and looked at the back, checking the quotes. 'A true tale of overcoming adversary.' read one. 'This story made me cry...it was so moving...' read another.
He turned the book over and was confronted by a photo on a red background. Defiant blue eyes stared out at him from under a wave of fiery red hair. 'I'm Not Afraid' It said at the top. 'The diary of Tala Ivanov' He opened the first page and found the dedication.
'Tala was my best friend and the love of my life. Before he died, he gave me a list of wishes he wanted me to help him fulfil. There was only one I never managed. He wanted everyone to know exactly who he was. So here you go. Meet Tala Ivanov.'
Many miles away, a press conference was raging.
"So you and Mr. Ivanov were lovers?"
"Yeah."
"And how would you describe the last weeks you spent with him?"
"Heaven and hell at the same time."
"What do you think Mr. Ivanov would say if he were here?"
Bryan smiled, the first smile to grace his face in months. "I think he'd tell me to stop wasting my time here and go and do something interesting. So see you later." He stood up and pushed his chair back, leaving the crowd of journalists to squabble among themselves. He walked through the streets until he came to a park. He looked around it sadly and then went over and sat on a swing, pushing himself backwards and forwards thoughtfully. The swing creaked, and reminded him sharply of Tala and Wolborg. He put his hand into his pocket and his fingers closed over cold metal.
"I think it's time we started training again, Falborg..."
fin
R&R! Please!
To Gabz and Xanae...I asked a few people what they thought about you translating this fic and they agreed with me- it would be really nice, so long as you put the address for it in one of my review pages so I can link to it on my bio. I'm glad you think it's good enough to translate! (Fire Fairy and Peachmelba say that I have to make sure you credit the story to me, but I thought you'd do that anyway...) Anyway, any questions, just hit the review button!
