Love's Mystery
Chapter Two: Last Moments

A/n: Hello everyone, this RoseSama35 coming to you with the "second" chapter of Love's Mystery. I realize that I've already posted a second chapter, but after receiving many reviews from curious readers, I realized that there was flaw in my storyline. As it would seem, many people were terribly curious as to how Lloyd and Rose managed to survive the fall of the MTNS, because both seemed to be pretty dead after the fight with Melbu Frahma.

So now I have put up this chapter in hopes of putting at ease some of the curiosity. I apologize for not having all of my facts as I progressed through my chapters, and I hope this satisfies all of the readers. Now, on with the story!

(Love's Mystery: Chapter Two: Last Moments)

The pain was more than he could possibly bear. And if anyone in Endeness could take pain, it was him. But this...this was worst than pain...it was death.

Lloyd's vision blurred as he tried desperately to hang on to the chaotic world around him, but he was failing miserably. The ground shook all around him, and fire spouted out from every possible crack. One spout of fire came dangerously close to him and threatened to roast him alive and serve him on a silver platter, well done on Soa's feasting table. But despite this, despite the ground that seemed to be lifting and rising under him, despite the burning flames, and despite the pain searing through his body, he still did not die.

Was this Hell? Was this some sort of punishment for the evil he had done in his life? Was he doomed to this for the rest of eternity? No…no, it couldn't be. Something told him that he was still alive, something beyond his comprehension at first. But slowly, he became aware of the world around him, and of the giant God of Destruction formerly known as Melbu Frahma shouting curses to every god, star, and cloud in the sky for his defeat. With much effort and even more pain, Lloyd strained to turn his head to Melbu, wailing like a spoiled baby, and managed a smirk.

'Well, you ugly bastard looks like you loose, and I won't be going down alone.' Had he any strength, Lloyd might have attempted a bitter laugh, but he didn't even have any strength left in him. The rumbling ground tossed his body around like a limp doll and he endured every bit of it as the pain within him increased significantly. Lloyd had no idea that this much agony was possible. And yet he still didn't die!

Then the ground, already shaking violently, underwent an enormous tremor that lasted for half a minute but seemed to last for half of an eternity. It tossed Lloyd high into the air where he was met by a falling boulder to catch his weak frame. Lloyd dreaded the very moment that his body would hit ground with this massive monster on top of him, and further intensifying his torture. But he was spared this when another giant boulder collided with the one that would have been on top of him and the two broke into smaller pieces. Unfortunately, the impact sent him flying to the ground faster and the shock from hitting the ground nearly made him black out. But despite all of this, he still did not die!

'Soa is a terribly vengeful bitch,' Lloyd though bitterly as he slowly gained awareness of the area around him again. That tremor was over, but Lloyd suspected that there would be more from where that first one came from. The spot where he had been lying on before he was tossed into the air now burst into flames. At first they seemed to reach to the heavens, but slowly came down to the point where Lloyd could see past them, and what he saw worried him greatly.

Melbu was wailing around, fuming, angry, defeated, but not dying. That wasn't good. Flames were still spouting around him and the ground still shook and quaked, but he wasn't going down. Why? Now Lloyd was halfway pondering why Melbu wasn't dieing, and halfway begging for his own death. But a moment later, it didn't matter.

Lloyd heard something shoot over his head and then saw two figures flying straight for Melbu. It was Rose and Zieg, coming in to make the final blow and finish all of this for good. Melbu didn't even see them coming. And when they struck they made a great explosion and Melbu let out a cry so loud that it nearly rivaled the sound of the chaos around them. Lloyd would have smirked, satisfied with the way things were going now, but he had absolutely no strength left in him. In fact, he was almost completely numb, and was starting to black out. It looked like everything was finally going to end for him, and he would finally get some piece. That or he'd go straight to Hell, though he believed he deserved no less.

But before he blacked out he saw a light dash overhead, moving at great speed straight towards Melbu. What in the world was it? It seemed so bright, and completely out of place with the surrounding chaos. But soon it disappeared, along with everything else around him. Everything was black...but he was still aware of everything around him. He could still hear the deafening rumble of the ground beneath him; he could still feel the heat of the fire spouting up from seemingly nowhere around him; he could still hear Melbu sending curses to Soa herself, though his voice was growing weaker as his strength failed him. Zieg and Rose had done their part well.

Suddenly, Lloyd was racked with a shaking of a different kind, completely out of sync with the rest of the place. It almost seemed like - and Lloyd thought this was a strange notion to have - the shaking was coming from within him. And it did not cause him the slightest bit of pain. It wasn't violent, but very persistent as well; it seemed as enigmatic as the light that dashed over his head after Rose and Zieg.

"Lloyd...Lloyd! Calm down Lloyd, it's just a dream! Come on Lloyd, wake up!"

Lloyd sat upwards with a speed that surprised both him and Meru. His entire body was tense, his eyes were wide with horror, his breathing was heavy, and he was sweating terribly. Lloyd directed his wide-eyed gaze from the end of the bed to Meru who was standing at its side, worry mounted in her jewel-like eyes. She was dressed in only a white T-shirt that came down to her knees. Her long platinum hair was not bound by any ribbon and fell freely around her shoulders and waist. It was then that Lloyd realized that he had a very tight grip on Meru's wrist. Looking down from her gaze, Lloyd gingerly relaxed his grip.

"S-sorry," he mumbled between deep breaths as his hand fell away from hers.

"Lloyd, are you okay?" Meru asked as she knelt down next to the bed.

"Yeah...just a bad dream," Lloyd answered softly, still trying to catch his breath. Meru finally looked down at Lloyd's body and gasped with surprise.

"Oh my gosh, look at you! You're bleeding! Some of the wounds must have re-opened. Here, lay back and try to relax and I'll be right back," Meru concluded as she stood up. Then she eased Lloyd back onto the bed and quickly exited the room. When Meru was gone, he let his eyes wander around the cozy little room at the Seles inn. Yes, that's where he was, in Seles...not that hellhole. Lloyd took in a deep breath and a stinging pain ran all through his chest. It was all...just a bad dream. …Just a dream of the past.

Lloyd then let his eyes drift over to the one window in the room not too far from the bed. It was open and he could see the moon through it. Lloyd guessed that it was some time around midnight.

It didn't seem like Meru was gone for five minutes before she returned to the room with a few medical items to redress his wounds. "Okay, let's get these old things off of you," Meru said as she began to work on removing Lloyd's old bandages. Fortunately, none of his major wounds had re-opened, but his restless movement while he slept (and even more previous activities) and put some strain on them and they bled through anyway. While Meru worked, she noticed that Lloyd was strangely quiet, and often seemed to be starring into space. It wasn't unusual for Lloyd to be quiet and observant, but this was different and Meru could tell that there was something troubling him. When she finished putting on his new bandages she finally had to ask.

"Is something bothering you, Lloyd?" Meru asked as she sat down beside him on the bed. She let him stroke her cheek and run his fingers through her hair affectionately as he thought of how to properly answer her. It was a very long moment before he finally thought of a reply.

"It's nothing," Lloyd said as he tried to give her a confident smile.

"Don't give me that crap!" Meru cried, offended that he wouldn't open up to her. "I've never seen you in a fit like that, Lloyd! It was so scary! So don't tell me it's nothing because I know something's got to be on your mind!" It was a while before Lloyd realized that the bright light he saw go overhead was Dart. To be more to the point, Rose told him that it was Dart. She had actually thought he knew like she did - however it is that she knew - and was surprised when Lloyd came to her about the matter. She told Lloyd that she didn't know how she knew; she just knew that it was Dart who saved them.

"It was just a bad dream," Lloyd finally answered.

"About what?" Meru asked. "Something horrible?"

"Something more like torture," Lloyd said, foolishly hoping that that would be enough of an answer for Meru. But she continued to watch him attentively, waiting for him to further explain. So with a sigh, Lloyd continued. "It was when the moon was collapsing, after you guys had defeated Melbu Frahma...and I was still there as the whole place was falling apart. It was like I was reliving the entire thing! I could see everything that was happening, and I could feel it too! The ground was shaking and pulling apart, rocks of any size you can think of were flying around everywhere, and fire was shouting out from seemingly anywhere. And Melbu was there too, shouting curses and everything. And I couldn't move at all, I was completely limp, and was getting tossed around here and there like a rag doll. It all just seemed so real..." From there, Lloyd's voice trailed off and his eyes became distant as his mind chased the fragments of memories from the horrible dream. Amazingly, he was already forgetting parts of it, but nothing could shake the memory of how vivid and painful it was.

He finally came back to reality when he felt Meru gently put her hand to his chest. Her hand traveled from where smooth bare skin was exposed to the place where his heart was, though covered now in fresh bandages. Lloyd looked down at her hand then back up at her and was surprised to see that her eyes were full of tears.

"I can't even begin to imagine what sort of nightmare that must have been. It had to be absolute Hell..." she said softly as her eyes filled more with tears to where they ran down her cheeks, and she looked on the verge of bursting into sobs. Lloyd then brought his hand to her cheek and wiped away a tear while trying to give her a comforting smile.

"Well, it's over now. It's all in the past; just a bad memory," Lloyd said confidently as he pulled Meru close to him and once more stroked her long platinum hair. Meru rested her head on Lloyd's chest and wrapped her arms around him, allowing herself to be comforted. It was rather funny how it turned out that she would be the one who needed consoling even though Lloyd was the one who had the frightening dream. Meru let out a long sigh, slightly disappointed in herself but glad that Lloyd was there none-the-less.

"I was...I was just worried, that's all," Meru said softly. Lloyd noted how their voices were progressively getting softer.

"I know," Lloyd replied in a near whisper as he stroked Meru's hair again and kissed her forehead. Lloyd knew that if he kept this up, Meru would be asleep soon, so the two sat there in silence. While still comforting Meru, Lloyd tried to recall the final moments of the nightmare before he was awoken. He remembered that the enigmatic light had dashed over his head after Rose and Zieg into Melbu Frahma. At the time, he hadn't known that Dart was the flash of light moving at impossible speeds. But now he knew, and reasoned that it was the strength of the Divine Dragoon Spirit fueling him. After Dart had dashed over him Lloyd's vision did fail and he couldn't see anything around, though he was still very much conscience. That was even worse than the torture he had already endured. Now the entire place was blowing up around him and he couldn't even see it; he couldn't even tell when his final moment would come. Though, despite his immeasurable pain, he still did not die. Lloyd was convinced that he was being punished for every wrong that he had ever done before being sent straight to Hell.

The ground beneath him continued to quake ever more violently, and he could feel the burn of stray embers from the spouts of fire that sprang up in unknown places. Now, Lloyd felt more than just his great pain, or his great anger; Lloyd was scared! He felt a fear that was completely alien to him. He was scared for his life, realizing that he didn't want to die and he was fearful of his end to come. Lloyd found himself in a panic, making his heartbeat faster and more painfully. The pain aside, it was the most awful feeling for Lloyd to ever experience, and he prayed for everything to just end!

But out of nowhere he felt himself get snatched up somehow by something or someone, and now he was flying through the air. Lloyd still couldn't see a thing, he didn't know where he was, nor did he know what was happening. All he could do was continue to panic. He would have flailed out in fear if he had the strength, but his body was as limp as the dead. Lloyd didn't know that it was Dart that had hold of him through the rough flight, he was merely scared, in terrible pain, and confused. And it was quite the rough ride as he was barely missed by dodged rocks and boulders, though still getting scraped here and there. But it was when he went straight through a rock too large to avoid that he finally slipped from consciousness. It was then that he prayed for death and at the same time hoped against it...

Meru shifted in his arms, and brought Lloyd from his deep thoughts. He looked down at her and she was looking up at him, their deep red eyes connecting in silent communication. Then Meru sat up and observed Lloyd intensely, looking deep into his eyes as though she was searching his soul. And Lloyd was left wondering what exactly she was looking for, or if she'd find it in the end. Her tears were gone now and her gaze was steady. "Lloyd..." she began.

"Yeah?" he asked. But then her gaze eased and went to simply relaxed.

"Nothing," she finished. Lloyd detected a half smile come to Meru's face right before she took his arm and leaned him closer to her. Their foreheads were about to touch before they finally closed their eyes and let their lips touch gently, but passionately. The two stayed there in the peaceful moment of that kiss, letting the world pass them by without a care. Nothing else mattered but the person opposite of them, making the kiss complete. After what seemed to be half an eternity and half a second at the same time, the two finally parted but remained just a hair's breath away from each other. Filled with silent and unquestionable passion, Lloyd wrapped Meru in his embrace and the two kissed again. But this one did not last as long as the first one, and the two were parted once more. So Lloyd sufficed to kiss Meru's forehead and then her cheek.

After a moment of calm silence, Meru looked up to Lloyd again. "Let's get some sleep," Meru said softly, a small smile now on her face.

"Sounds good to me," Lloyd replied. The two then leaned back into the bed and Lloyd helped Meru under the sheets. She snuggled close to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest. Lloyd in turn had an arm around Meru to keep her close to him until the two fell asleep.

(Chapter's End)