Disclaimer: No, i still can't claim creative control over Flame Of Recca, even though i've loved it for over a decade.
Pain.
Unimaginable pain, catching through her body as her heart bursts from her chest and her blood rises like a fountain.
It's funny, really; she'd have thought that someone whose heart was destroyed would die instantly, but Kurenai still has breath. She'll only last for a few more moments, but everything is so slow. She's falling so slowly.
As she falls, she catches a glimpse of Kouran Mori, of the grin on his face, and she feels a brief surge of hatred. She forces it down just as quickly. She doesn't want to die hating someone. She doesn't want to die at all, but since she has to, she'd rather die in love.
Kurei catches her, and she's so glad he does. There are worse places to die than in the arms of the man she loves. There's blood on his face, dark pearls of her blood. In a moment they'll be cut by the tears flowing from his eyes.
He'll cry, and it will all be for nothing. If Mori sees Kurei cry, he will win. Kurei will lose everything.
No. This isn't fair. Not for him, and not for her. She doesn't want to die. She doesn't want to die!
Kurenai forces her ruined lungs to move, to expand, to take a breath. It burns through her in a way that shouldn't be possible, but she forces herself to speak. She doesn't want this to be the end. This can't be the end. Not yet.
And so she begs him. She begs Kurei, and she doesn't know what he can do, but she wants to stay by his side.
Kurei understands. Thank all that is good in this world, because he can keep her here with him. He summons his flame power, the flames he's showed her sometimes, the ones Mori so hates, and he takes her into his fire.
She only realizes how cold her body has become when his flames envelop her. Kurei's fire burns hot, as hot as his soul. It rushes through every fiber of her, such a pleasant heat, better than sinking into a hot bath at the end of a long day. She feels it deep in her skin and her bones and her soul, and she becomes the fire.
She'll never be cold again, and she'll be with Kurei, a part of him, for the rest of time. As long as his flames will burn, she'll be there. She can protect him, and stay beside him. He'll never be alone, and she will keep his heart warm.
She will live.
Kurei exults, through his grief, and Kurenai exults with him. She reaches out to touch him, and he welcomes her mark on his flesh. Just as he welcomed her into his flame. If Kurei is right, if he is cursed, then they will be cursed together.
And she burns. Oh, she burns.