Two men sat together when day and night blurred and the dawn of a war their life had become seemed to fade.
The dying one raised a hand and his eyes filled with tears. They welled up and spilled over his eyes and soon they would die with him too.
The mission... The nightmares... they're finally over."
And then he was gone.
And so, as the light from his eyes dulled and as the raise of his chest faltered, the clone held his brother's hand and wept.
;;;
He is nine when he leaves her.
He will come back later to every flawed memory of her and seek solace in all the kind words she ever told him.
He will hate himself and hate himself and wonder if she hates him too. He will wonder why leaving is the only thing he has ever known- and why he is leaving the only one that has ever been there. He will ask his memory of her questions and the answers never seem to amount.
But he doesn't understand that now.
He looks back at her and it is all blurry because the tears don't stop unless she wipes them away and she will never wipe them away again.
He takes a step- further away from her and closer to the dream he could never seem to reach-
Looks back.
And there she is.
She smiles something proud and sad and happy all at once and he wants her to stop because he just wants to stay with her and hug her
one-
last-
time.
But he turns away and the Arizona dust scatters, so when he looks back all he sees is the shadow of her figure but it's never enough.
