Disclaimer: If I owned the rights to Star Ocean, this would be an awesome movie, I would win an Oscar, and then I'd be rich. Instead I'm trying to type an author's note quickly so I don't miss the school bus. Yeah.

Date Posted: March 10, 2006

Author's Note: I hate to rush this note, but I'm sure we're all ready (and Tolanya might miss the bus!). Enjoy!

-ONE YEAR LATER

Fayt held a silver bullet between his fingers, sliding it easily into the small, black gun in his hand. This one should be easy enough. Lure the girl away and kill her. He checked to be sure his knife was firmly secured under the black choker necklace made to hold it. Finding it safely hidden, he slipped the gun into his black coat and crept out of the night's shadows, into the bar whose brick wall he was leaning against.

Practiced green eyes scanned the dimly lit room, searching among the drunkards for his target. Let's see… about 5'5, long black hair, blue eyes, and of course the jewel… Spotting the woman alone, drinking beer and observing the others in the bar, he closed in.

And then came the easy part. Fayt stood close to the woman, whispering seductively in her ear, running his hand up her leg. He could judge her reactions easily, playing her like an instrument until they were kissing. Still when he kissed her, he couldn't help but think of Albel, and what he would think of someone else kissing Fayt. He didn't stop, though, just kept kissing her, a cold kiss with no love or passion, the opposite of Albel's kiss.. She was easy to get away, too. Fayt grabbed her violently by the wrist, faking lust, leading her out the back door.

He played the part of the dark, straight man perfectly, an actor on his own private stage. His hands slipped easily under her shirt, legs pressing against hers, glad to find her unarmed. How careless. Stupid woman. They were hidden now, no one would see the murder.

Just as Fayt predicted, the first thing she ripped off was the necklace, her fingers running up his throat, tearing it off. The knife fell out, right into Fayt's waiting hand. With practiced ease, Fayt drove the knife into her throat, blood squirting out onto him. The woman tried to scream, but she couldn't. Yanking the blade out of it's bloody sheath in her neck, Fayt stabbed her in the chest, hitting her heart. She struggled to breathe, falling down and shaking, still trying to suck in more air. Finally her body stopped moving, and she died.

"Easy," Fayt remarked to himself, disappointed the woman hadn't presented more of a challenge.

"Too easy, don't you think?" The new voice was harsh, with an edge of danger.

Damn. A tall, well-built man with messy dark red hair emerged from the shadows, cold brown eyes locked on Fayt in a challenge he couldn't turn down.

"Fayt Leingod. So the rumors are true. You're back." Fayt watched in annoyance as the man approached, his voice idle and confident. He didn't have time for this.

"So what? I'm not sticking around." Fayt's voice was cold.

The man smiled at him. "No, we'll be making sure of that."

Fayt raised one blue eyebrow. "Reinforcements, then?" Damn it, why didn't I notice them? I'm not focused today… Fayt's eyes scanned the area, searching for any hiding spots.

The man let out a laugh, clearly pleased with himself. "Not reinforcements. Don't you know how much other gangs would pay us for killing you?"

It clicked in Fayt's mind instantly. The woman was bait to get me. And that's why she was so easy, and unarmed. They knew that other gang would hire me for this. In a split second, he had his gun out and pointed at the man in front of him. Before he could fire, a teenage boy leapt out of a car parked in the shadows, shooting wildly at Fayt. Fayt dropped to the ground, avoiding the bullets raining down on him, and shot back, hitting the boy in the head, blood flying out of the wound as he fell to the ground with a scream of pain.

Two women jumped over the car from behind, but Fayt shot them before they even had a chance to fire, letting them fall, screaming, into pools of their own blood. Fixing his gun on the leader again, he looked around for any others. "That's all you have? Disappointing."

The man didn't answer, but reached one hand to pull out a gun, but he was too slow and found himself missing the hand. Fayt's knife had taken it, and the man gave a strangled cry as he stared at the bleeding stump where his hand should have been.

"I suppose she belonged to your gang, then." Fayt quickly aimed his gun at the man's chest. "Pity they'll have to lose their leader, too." The man's eyes widened in fear, and Fayt fired three shots into him, watching as he fell down in a bloody mess, the red liquid flying onto Fayt.

Smirking in a way reminiscent of Albel, Fayt walked to the dead man, yanking a blood-stained silver ring embedded with a large sapphire off his remaining hand. He turned the man's pocket's inside-out, but found nothing else of interest. Next he went to the woman's body, ripping out the blue stones she wore in her ears and wiping blood off it. He held one up to the light emitted by a streetlamp, examining the gem. An intricate gang symbol was carved in it, and there was a matching one on the stone in the ring.

"Perfect," Fayt whispered, pocketing the objects.

There was the loud sound of a door flying open, and Fayt spun around to see someone sticking their head out of the bar. "What the hells all the noise?" The man's words were slurred together, and he looked disoriented, but he understood the gun Fayt slammed against his head.

"You didn't see any of this, got it?" Fayt's voice was low and threatening.

The blonde-haired man looked undecided. "But I just seen them dead bodies, an' I heard some guns goin' off. I think you-"

Fayt pulled the trigger, cutting his sentence short. "Well, you won't tell anyone now," he said quietly dead man, throwing his body onto the street with the other five. He surveyed the bloody scene and smiled, satisfied. Well that was more fun than I expected.

He made his way over to the body of the younger boy, who had only one blue stone in his right ear. Fayt ripped it out anyway, and searched the teen's pockets, finding nothing there either. With a frown, he yanked out the women's earrings and slipped them in his pocket with the others. Good. Plenty of deaths here tonight. Soon enough everyone will know I've come back. And Sophia… she'll know why.

With a blood-thirsty smirk, Fayt turned and walked away. He knew the police would probably figure out it was him, but that didn't matter. Fayt was already wanted for plenty of murders. They might think those three got in a fight with each other anyway.

Arriving at a small, cement building decorated with countless bullet marks, Fayt entered. Inside, a group was scattered on tables and benches that looked as though they had been part of a diner long ago. Behind a counter at the front was their leader- a man of about 20, tall and muscular with short brown hair.

The entire room fell silent, and Fayt could feel all their eyes on him as he walked to the counter and tossed the dead woman's gem to the leader. "So you did it. Impressive." The man's voice was rough.

"She was easy," Fayt answered casually.

The leader laughed. "For you, it would be." He tossed Fayt a cigarette, which the blue-haired man lit and smoked idly.

Ever since Albel's death, Fayt was a smoker. He was addicted, if only to the smell. Albel had always smelled of smoke and alcohol, but Fayt never cared. To him, it was Albel's scent and he loved it. And Albel's lips always had the lingering flavor of cheap beer or liquor, now Fayt's favorites. It wasn't much to cling to, but it was something.

"So it was a clean job?" the leader asked. "Everything went as planned?"

Fayt shook his head. "It was a trap. They wanted to kill me." He pulled out the other three stones and the ring. "The leader showed up, with three others." Fayt blew a puff of smoke before continuing. "I killed them all. There was some drunk witness, but I took care of him anyway."

The leader laughed. "Good. That solves plenty of our problems."

I don't give a damn about your problems.

"Anyway, we'll give you four hundred since you took care of all those."

Not bad. Almost makes me want to care.

Money was slapped into Fayt's hand and he quickly slipped it inside the coat he wore. He turned to leave the now celebrating gang, but their leader stopped him. "Fayt!"

He spun around, annoyed. "Yeah?"

"Is it true you're only back here because someone you loved died?" The man asked, studying Fayt curiously, as if the idea that Fayt could fall in love was strange. Fayt smirked at this, but didn't answer. "I don't remember seeing her," the leader added, looking a little nervous.

Fayt eyed the man carefully for a second. "He died a year ago," he answered, and walked out.

One year… it's been a long time. Fayt walked through the empty streets of the city, a light mist growing. It was the richest city in the world, but this section was abandoned except for gangs and drunkards- the outcasts of society.

The walk to the cemetery felt short; he was soon crossing the grass, walking over countless dead bodies, throwing his cigarette on one grave. Finally, in front of him was a grave stone, the name "Albel Nox" carved on it.

Glancing around to make sure no one else was there, Fayt kneeled in front of the grave stone. "Hey, Albel. It's been a while, hasn't it?" There was a pause, filled with silence.

Fayt took a deep breath, and let the words flow from his mouth. "I kill people. All the time. I love it. Every day and night, I kill people, I can't get enough of it, and no one can stop me. I guess I'm a lot like you." There was another pause, this one much longer than the last.

Finally, in a pained voice, Fayt spoke again. "I still love you. It's driving me crazy, having you dead. God damn it, why did you have to die? I'm no better than you were anymore. You wouldn't believe what's become of your little Fayt." Fayt smirked at this, wondering if anyone besides Albel would believe how innocent he used to be.

It had all started the night after Fayt had last visited this spot. He stole a car and drove as far away as he could get, intent on leaving Sophia and the city.

And so, he decided to do everything Albel had always done, to live the life that was cut short. He killed people for money. Albel had never really taught him how, but Fayt had picked up a few things from him anyway, and he knew how to handle it. He wasn't as strong or threatening as Albel, and often he would have to act like he was going to sleep with his victims to lure them away. Albel could kill in the middle of a crowd and still escape alive.

Fayt's first kill stood out most in his mind. It hadn't been for money, but neither had all of Albel's kills. A police officer drove up beside Fayt, motioning him to get off the road. Annoyed, Fayt followed him anyway. The officer tried to arrest him for stealing the car. And with a speed he didn't know he had, Fayt yanked a gun out of Albel's coat, which he still wore, and shot the man. It was late, past midnight, and no one saw the murder.

After that, it was all a blur of killing. Every night, he would find someone who would pay him to kill. Some had been friends of Albel, but none knew Fayt. Fayt had always been Albel's best kept secret. If anyone had found out about him, they could have taken him as bait to lure Albel away and kill him, or make him exchange his life for Fayt's.

Fayt sighed now, staring at the grave of the man who had been so careful to protect him. "Once I'd gotten my first kill over with, everything was easy. It's… all I have left of you. Every time I shoot someone, I can almost see you there doing the same thing. I'm not who I used to be, Albel. I'm someone much worse."

He felt rain start to fall down lightly around him, sliding down Albel's grave. "I'm still yours, Albel. I've… let a lot of other people touch me. I know you'd hate that." Fayt down, away from the stone. "But it's just part of what I do. They're all dead too, anyway. If you're still out there somewhere, in hell with them, you've probably tried to kill them all over again." Fayt smiled slightly.

"This isn't why I'm here though. I'm here to finish what you started. I've killed countless people, but Sophia's still alive. I hate her, I need to kill her. I'm going to kill her, to avenge your death. She killed you, and I won't let her get away with it. Damn it, she fucked up everything, We would be ok if it weren't for that bitch." Fayt's voice was sharp, filled with unsatisfied hatred.

Fayt clawed at the ground, trying to keep himself calm. "After I kill her, it doesn't really matter what happens to me. Maybe I'll meet you again someday. If hell really does exist, I'll see you there. Down with most of our victims. Between the two of us, we've killed plenty. And I'm not done, I won't be done until I get my revenge. Damn it, this is all about your death!"

A tear ran down Fayt's cheek, hidden by the rain which poured harder now. "I try so hard to kill like you did. The world needs more people like you, or I need more of you, I don't know anymore! You're everything to me, Albel, everything!" Fayt's voice was a mixture of sadness and anger, blending into one thing- a longing for Albel, stronger than it had ever been before.

Fayt heard soft footsteps behind him, muffled by the wet grass, and started to spin around. He wasn't quick enough. There was a loud gunshot, and a searing pain in the back of his head. He let out a pained scream, falling forward, clutching the edge of Albel's grave.

"You'll never get your revenge!" The voice that shouted out through the night was one he hadn't heard since that night one year ago.

"Masaki, you bastard!" Fayt yelled through the increasing pain in his head, turning around to look at the man who would be his murderer.

"Sophia can't get over you!" Masaki's voice was filled with anger and hatred, his eyes a confused and hurt haze of emotions. "The woman I love, and all she wants is a fag like you! You can die here over that killer's grave, I don't give a damn! But you will never, ever keep me from getting Sophia! And you will not hurt her!"

Fayt felt himself weakening, but he managed to call out to Masaki, his voice clear. "She deserves worse than anything I could ever do to her."

"But you're not going to live much longer, are you?" Masaki's voice was triumphant and mocking, though he still had a hurt look in his eyes, the look of a man who can't get the love he wants. With those words, he turned and walked out into the growing storm, away from the cemetery and the dying man there.

Fayt turned back to Albel's grave, the once gray stone now red with his blood. "Albel," he gasped. "Albel, why couldn't you be here to save me? Why does everything have to end this way?"

He felt himself growing weaker by the second, his breath coming in short gasps. "I… love you. I'll die just like you now… shot in the back of the head. And never again will I…kill."

Fayt let himself lean onto the gravestone, clinging to it for support. "I tried so damn hard to make everything ok! I killed people… Oh God, Albel, what have I done? All those people… I've killed them! I didn't make everything ok, I couldn't fix this, I killed them all!"

Fayt could feel all the anger and violence leaving, melting away with the rain. Everything he had done flashed before his eyes, all the lives he took, the families he shattered, the lovers that had been left alone just like him. What happened to me? I was Albel's, I was innocent.

Tears rolled freely down Fayt's cheeks, tears of shame and regret and longing. "I'm going to die here, Albel. Will it be ok then? Will I… find you waiting for me somewhere at the end?" He gripped the grave more tightly, hanging on to life even though there was little to hang on to.

"This is my last night, and I want you here! We would love again, and laugh and cry, I just want to see you again!" Fayt gasped for air, feeling his life slipping away. He struggled to stay, just to feel the rain hitting his face, the cold stone of Albel's grave, just so he could breathe in the misty air for one more second, and know he was alive.

"The world will be better off without us. We can't give back all the lives we took… But I LOVE you so much, Albel! I'd kill a thousand more people for you! And now, now I'm just going to fade away, and you're already gone…"

Fayt sighed, and allowed death to come closer, surrounding him, ready to take him away. He could feel it, promising him rest from a world that had nothing left for him, and knew it was time to accept it. Taking in a deep breath, he quietly gave the grave his final words, the only words he had left. They were the words he wanted to take with him to the afterlife, to wherever he would go next. "I love you, Albel. I love you so much it hurts… I'll never see you again… Maybe it's my time. I'm.. sick of living alone, without you here… Goodnight, Albel."

Green eyes closed, and Fayt gave in to death, no longer afraid to face the end.

Author's Note: The end. Well, I hope you all liked Lethal Triangle. See the meaning of the name now? Yup. Now, since you've all been such awesome readers and stuck with this to the end, I thought I'd share some of the random facts about Lethal Triangle that you never really got to see.

Albel's Life Story: Yeah, this one might have been a little hard to piece together if you didn't read the Christmas fanfiction, and even so I didn't get to share all the fun details I invented. Mmk. Albel's parents died in a gunfight when he was about 6. So he had to go live with his uncle. Remember creepy Uncle Rex? Mmyess. So Rex was abusive, and that's mainly why Albel was always suicidal. Even at a young age, he just never really thought about it. To him, it was a given fact that he wanted to die. When he was about 11, Albel gets all tall and thin (because people tend to grow taller at about 11), and then Rex (because he's a pervert (even though I think he's sexy o)) rapes him. Albel eventually learns to fight off Rex, whoopee. So then Albel is kind of… a sex addict? Yes. Which means he's had a lot of ukes before Fayt, but they meant nothing to him. Then he meets Fayt, and we all know the story from there.

The My Chemical Romance CD: I mentioned in an earlier author's note that this whole thing was based off a CD. It almost never became a fanfiction. Yes, this was almost doomed to be shoved in a drawer as a plot that would make an awesome movie. I thought it would make a crappy fanfiction, but I did it anyway. I made up the plot on a car ride listening to Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. Because I was bored, folks. Anyway, the CD has a bonus track in Japan called 'Bury Me Black'. I read the lyrics to it the other day, and I was about to rip someone's head off. If that song had been on the American version, Fayt would have definitely killed Sophia. Yes. But I highly recommend you at least read the lyrics to the CD anyway, if you're really bored and want to try and figure what I make of these people's lyrics.

Other Endings: There have been other endings considered. I even wrote a strange little epilogue where Fayt meets Albel in the afterlife. I was in an awesome hallway with my friend, and she was drawing and I was writing. So it took place in the hallway. Then I was like 'Screw this, LT is tragedy'. Try not to hate me? I sort of considered writing an ironic little epilogue where we find out Sophia is really with Nel. Oh my.

And, on a note not related to Lethal Triangle, I will do more AlbelxFayt. Yes. You may see Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfictions popping up, but don't worry. There will be more AlbelxFayt angst love. With a little rivalry from Luther next time. Don't pretend you don't love Luther.

Well, um, you've all read my first ever fanfiction now! It was fun to write, and you guys are awesome! And…(say it with me kiddies!) REVIEW!