L.

I arrive in the meeting room inside the Castle That Never Was just in time to hear Saix talk shit about Axel. My muscles haven't uncurled since leaving Betwixt and Between. I am drenched from head to toe. I have spent the past several minutes crying tears that I am not supposed to be able to cry. I am a Nobody, I do not have a heart, I haven't had one in over a decade.

And yet, I still feel the purest, most untainted hatred in the world at Saix's words.

"Oh, Axel. A grifter to the end." Luxord muses.

"That's absurd. He won nothing, and he is nothing. He couldn't stand the emptiness of being without a heart and that led to his demise. He was foolish and weak."

"Keep his name out of your filthy fucking mouth." My lips are curled back over my teeth like a feral animal, a snarl sits firmly on my face as I stride into the room. Xemnas, Xigbar, Saix, Luxord.

Me.

We are what remains of the Nobodies. Larxene and Marluxia met their demise in Castle Oblivion, through Sora. Vexen lost his life to Axel, Zexion to me. Lexaeus was Riku's only victim of the bunch. Roxas and Naminé were absorbed by Sora and Kairi. Demyx fell to Sora recently, Xaldin must've too…

And Axel…

My throat swells up. I didn't know how much I would miss all of them and yet…

I don't. I can't. Because I don't have a heart in the first place.

"You're still alive." Saix scowls at me.

"Don't pretend you couldn't sense it, Saix. Those of us without hearts can always detect each other's nonexistence." I hiss. A stillness settles over the room, and yet, I see no looks of surprise. And that pisses me off most of all. I wipe away the tears that still stain my cheeks. "How long have you all fucking known?" I roar, the sound of my voice echoing, sending shockwaves through the room.

"Since your return from Castle Oblivion." Saix says, simply, speaking like a good guard dog, for himself and his master, I am certain.

"Oh, what would it be now?" Xigbar asks. "Six months, give or take? Roughly around the time Roxas took off on us." Xigbar shrugs.

"The Nocturne and I only discovered when Saix erm…brought you to the brink of fading. We had to pull you back from that. Apologies, Rueki, love." And Luxord looks so sincere, but I don't believe him. Del was right, so long ago, despite the words he took back. Or maybe he was wrong. I'm not cold hearted. I am altogether heartless, I don't have the emotions to believe diluted, over sympathetic bullshit. And yet…Why is this hurt not disappearing?

"And what, Axel swore you to secrecy?" I ask.

"He swore no one to anything. In his desperation, he begged to keep the secret from you, so he could continue living the charade, the two of you pretending to be hopelessly in love with one another." Saix replies to me, coldly.

"It appears, that despite the closeness you thought you felt with him, his betrayal to you overrode them all. You were the one he lied to the most thoroughly." Xemnas says. My eyes flash, burning with anger. A fire with gasoline poured over it.

"How about instead of talking way up there in your throne or sicking your guard dog on me, you come fight me yourself, you self serving prick?" I scream. "Fight me and let me end this like Roxas and I planned to the day DiZ kidnapped him. Why the hell do you think I waited outside of this room for hours? We were going to kill you!" Once again, my words reverberate through the room. Luxord shifts uncomfortably, Xigbar sits up, a spark of curiosity lighting his visible eye. Saix tenses, defensively, but Xemnas doesn't even flinch.

"You've forgotten yourself, Rueki. You do not have the heart to feel this rage you are so convinced you have." Xemnas insists. I snort.

"Forgive me, if I'm not especially keen to your gaslighting bullshit. I have seen so much in my time here. Happiness, despair, jealousy, rage, love…" I trail off. "So, don't try to tell me what I feel. I know what I feel. And I am not one of your lackeys!"

"You are a Nobody and therefore a servant of Organization XIII. Just as you have always been." Saix hisses. "Axel insisted you be left out of the grittier missions, he insisted that he must be the one to tell you that you don't have a heart and that he would decide in his own time, when that should be, and we have honored that."

"You sent me on missions, you told me to bring Roxas back, you've put me through so much!" I snap.

"And yet, here you are, with clean hands." Saix rolls his eyes, very clearly mocking my contempt. "But Axel is no longer here to protect you, and you will serve us, as you have been born to do. You do not exist, Rueki. Your only purpose should be to get your heart back. Who would you serve, but us?"

I shake with rage, with utter hatred. Perhaps I am a creature of the darkness, because I certainly feel it coursing through me. He should be right for all intents and purposes. If I found all of this out sooner, Axel was right, it would've changed me. So deeply, to my very core, I would've been devoted to getting my heart back, blindly following orders, the way he knew I would. Axel saved me my identity, because I would have tossed it aside to get my heart back to share it with him. I would've become just like Saix. Axel truly, truly saved me. And I am not going to throw that gift aside. I won't dishonor his memory, but that doesn't mean I don't have a plan of my own. Fuck my heart, I don't need it, not if he's not around to share it with.

Axel…

There is something I can do with my nonexistence, with this life. I can do what he had been pleading with me to do for over a year. Keep my mouth shut and play the game. My life can mean something if I can walk softly through this minefield. Sora must endure. Sora must carry on, against all odds, no matter what the cost. And if I can help him push through, just a little bit more…

Then isn't that worthy cause I've been carrying on about?

"Fine." I whisper, feigning defeat, slumping my shoulders slightly, letting the tears I have been holding back hit the ground. I can literally feel Xemnas smirking. His expression has an energy to it that pierces the room.

"Luxord, take the girl back to her room. She can now officially put on the coat." Xemnas orders, as though I haven't been wearing the coat, carrying out missions, beating myself to a pulp, trying to fulfill their cause.

"Superior…" Luxord begins to protest.

"It was not a suggestion, X." Xemnas says and Luxord swallows dryly, nodding. He teleports down to me and rests a gentle hand on my shoulders.

"You don't need to pretend you give a shit, Luxord. Apparently, I don't give on either." I scoff, my tone dry and utterly deadpanned. He meets me with a concerned expression, but nods slowly.

"Do you need instructions on opening a portal?" He asks. I nod. "Focus your mind on where you want to go, visualize it in your head, feel the dark pathway to it coursing through you." He says and as I do, I wave my hand. A portal opens, and I snort. Explains why trying to open one in Oblivion didn't work. Darkness has always had a hold on me, I just didn't know how to utilize it.

"Learn swiftly, Rueki. Saix will be with you shortly to show you where you will challenge Sora." Xemnas orders and my muscles curl, tensing so tight that I stop dead in my tracks. Play the game, Rueki, I urge myself. Play the game, get Saix alone and kill him so one less monster stands in Sora's path. Even if it is the last thing I do.

Stiffly, I walk into the portal and Luxord is directly behind me. And as we enter the room, mine and Axel's room, I close the portal up behind us, imagining myself shutting the doorway to darkness. I am surprised by how utterly easy this comes, though I suppose I shouldn't. This has been laying in me, dormant for over a decade, begging to be released. A poison in my veins indeed.

"Rueki." Luxord starts. "I should have told you."

"It doesn't matter. Axel didn't want you to." And even as I say his name, I feel myself begin to crumble, a miserable ache throbbing through my entire being. He's gone, he's gone, he's fucking gone and it isn't fair. I smash my fist down onto the nightstand of the room Axel and I shared for so long, watching the stand crumble under my force. Save it, I remind myself. I will need every ounce of energy for Saix. It has not been lost on me, how completely full the moon is and what that will mean for his powers. I take off my weapons belt and steal a coat out of our dresser. My heart skips a beat, when I realize whose coat it is, but I suppose, no it doesn't. A phantom sensation, Axel told me. But a heart is not the end all be all, I know it cannot be, because I know what I am. If I would've been told a year ago, when I left Transmute City, that I was without a heart, I wouldn't have questioned it. Because I had been cold, living on an entirely different level from Del and Amaya and everyone I held dear. But now? I know, heart or no, I have felt so very much. I have been so overcome with emotion that it has brought me to tears, to my knees, made me sick. I know what I have felt. Fuck a heart. I don't need it to feel… I don't need it anymore. I wipe away a tear.

"I understand you truly felt you cared for him, Rueki." He says, gently.

"I loved him." I counter. I still do. No one and nothing can take that away from me. Luxord at least has the good sense not to argue with me. I take off Survivor and set it atop the dresser.

"But doing anything foolish now, would not honor his memory. Nor would it help to save your skin." He reminds me. I nod. I zip into Axel's old coat and I am so amazed by how I can still smell him on it. Fuck. Fuck.

"I know, I'm playing the game." I say, voice purposefully void of emotion.

"Forgive me if I do not quite believe that." Luxord says. I crack a humorless smile.

"You know me well." I nod. "But it doesn't matter, I don't even exist, nothing matters."

"Your shell can still feel pain, don't cause it any more than you already have." He urges.

"You know, I don't buy it." I mutter.

"Pray tell, what love? Was it not you who used to get so distraught over us talking in riddles?" He asks. I snort.

"I guess so. I don't buy the whole you mothering me thing. It doesn't work. Not your motif." I reply, grabbing Survivor and strapping it back on, over the coat. I do the same with my weapons belt, rolling my shoulders back. "How do I teleport?" I ask him.

"Rueki…" He sighs.

"Just fucking answer me, Luxord. Because you know me, I'm going to do whatever the hell I want, and you're not going to be able to stop me. So, you can either go down with me, or you can save your own skin and wash your hands of what I'm about to do, dealer's choice." I say. And he doesn't flinch, he doesn't step back, but he does take on the expression of a wounded puppy. "Now, teach me how to teleport.

Luxord reaches out, an unsure hand that stops just before it touches my waist. With hard eyes, he nods and drops his hand. I'm not sure exactly what his goal was, but whatever it was, is lost, pushed to the wayside as he teaches me how to fight with the darkness. Teleporting is easy, summoning a weapon from nothing comes as simple as breathing. I even find that through sheer force of will, I can summon synthesis items from my pocket into Survivor. I catch on faster than I could ever have expected, and in my wake, sparring with Luxord, I destroy the bedroom I once shared with the man I love. The comforter hangs from the ceiling fan, the dresser is in shreds, the bedframe lays, splintered against the floor, yet the amount of destruction is still unsatisfying. I tear the cap off of a potion with my teeth and knock it back.

"Again." I urge, though Luxord looks at me as though I have gone mad. He's probably not wrong.

"Rueki, if you keep this up, you're going to fade." He says.

"Yeah? Well slap a DNR on me this time, let's go." I say, but he shakes his head

"Have you truly lost it?" He asks me. "I'm not going to aid in your suicide, and if this is what you plan to do, then—"

"I'm not going to kill myself, I'm going to kill Saix and Xemnas." The silence that falls on us, feels a lot like broken glass. Sharp, unpleasant. I think for the first time in his nonexistence, Luxord is shocked. After a moment, his expression hardens and he shakes his head.

"Then you're a fool, there is no way you can emerge victorious, Rueki." He says.

"Wherever I leave off, Sora can pick up." I say.

"So, you mean to betray the Organization? Has Axel's folly taught you nothing?" He asks.

"Axel died defending his identity and mine. He died as himself and not another pawn of the Organization, and if I die, I'm going to do it the very same way. I promised Roxas I'd be there for him, that he wouldn't have to take on Xemnas alone and he won't. Not if I can help it." I say. Roxas, Sora, it doesn't matter anymore. This is what my nonexistence is amounting to. The guardian, through and through.

"And what about Saix?" He asks. I snort, a smirk curling at the edges of my expression, like a piece of paper lit on fire.

"That one is for me."

As if on cue, VII teleports into the room. I don't know whose expression bares more loathing, his or mine, but I think by now, Luxord is happy to wash his hands of me.

"Luxord, you're on deck. Sora is currently fighting with Xigbar. Is the girl properly trained?" Saix asks.

"Talk to my face, VII." I hiss.

"Are you pulling rank now?" He asks me, ice in his tone. "Perhaps I should call you VIII, I hear that number is now available." My palms twitch and the only thing that keeps me stationary is the fantasy of Survivor slashing his throat. Luxord waits for the other shoe to drop.

"She is trained, yes. Due to fight Sora after me?" Luxord asks, an eyebrow raised.

"If you and Xigbar both are unable to either retrieve Roxas or end Sora altogether, then yes. Xemnas has informed each of us that if we fail at both of those tasks, that we are no longer welcome back. So, if you fail, Rueki will fight him." Fat chance on that. I know a suicide mission when I see one. First Demyx, then probably Xaldin, now Xigbar and Luxord too. Is nothing fucking sacred to that monster?

"Of course." Luxord nods. "Fortunately, Lady Luck is always on my side."

"For your sake, hopefully she won't suck off some other poor sap, tonight." I mutter. In a final move, I grab a hair tie off of the dresser and pull my hair up into a bun. Challenge failed, sorry, Axel.

"Rueki, for your sake, I hope she is on your side tonight as well." Luxord says, his eyes soft.

"Yeah. Me too. Thanks Luxord, for being my friend. Maybe in another life we could've been a hell of a team." If he hadn't chosen the Organization over me until it was too late. If he hadn't lied to me at my own expense. Perhaps we could've take on the world.

"Maybe indeed." Is his reply, and all I can hope is that he has the good sense to keep his mouth shut for the little bit longer that he is alive.

For we both know he will not make it through the fight with Sora.

Luxord opens up a portal and departs, leaving Saix and I alone.

"I see you have no intentions of sleeping in this room any further." He observes the damage with a lifted eyebrow.

"Does your presence here serve a purpose or are you just trying to push my buttons?" I ask. His expression doesn't shift whatsoever.

"It really is a pity. If I had a heart, I might've hoped that my senses had failed me and that you really did die. Bled out from your injuries after you and Axel took off from Hollow Bastion." Saix replies.

"I thought about just dying, but I had other things to do. I wouldn't expect you to understand what loyalty means, but I had a promise to keep to Axel. I told him I'd stay alive, no matter what it took." I tell him. He looks at me with complete repulsion, his skin crawling at my very presence. I cannot say I am upset by this.

"Allow me to lead you to where you'll be fighting Sora." He throws open the door of my room and strides out. He walks swiftly, with purpose, I have to take two steps for each of his one, just to catch up, but I do. He has longer legs, but I know I am faster than him. My one advantage.

"You wanted me to know I was a Nobody, even though Axel didn't." I predict.

"Of course, however you were still able to serve us, even without your knowledge. You've done the deeds we've asked you to, that much is plain to see. Still, that does not change the fact of what you are." He says.

"A Nobody." I answer.

"A blemish on this world, a marring on everyone you come into contact with. You are a leach of the worst variety." He tells me. I snort, despite the circumstances.

"You know, I think I liked it better when you called me a slut." I tell him.

"This is not supposed to be enjoyable for you, girl." He hisses at me, turning around in a wide open hallway. There is a window, outlooking the moon, which might be the deadliest place to have stopped him.

"You're right, but despite your best efforts, the time I've spent here been enjoyable, would you like me to tell you about it?" I taunt. He scoffs at me and a grin flicks at the edge of my lips. "I got to see all new worlds, I made friends, real friends who cared about me, who were at my side through thick and thin. I fell in love."

"You felt nothing, and neither did he." Saix insists, with more fight in his voice than I've ever heard before.

"That's not what he told me." I shake my head. "For over a year now, he has been telling me how much he loved me. That I am his entire life, that his heart belongs to me and me alone. I guess there hasn't been room for you in quite a long time."

"If you truly believe the smooth words of a known liar than you are more foolish than you look." He rolls his eyes.

"The fact of the matter is, he died for me once and for Roxas once, but he never will for you. That must sting to always be second fiddle. I wonder, is it even worth it to get your heart back if you have no one waiting for you on the other side?" I ask. He freezes, rolling the broad muscles of his shoulders back.

"And you take pride in the fact his existence ended for you and then his nonexistence ended for Roxas? A truly poisonous outlook on things." Saix replies with the wave of his hand, striding forward.

"No, I just needed to rub in what we both already knew. That I meant more to him than you ever did. When he saw the scars on my body and I spoke your name, he looked with disgust. He knew what you were when he died. He knew what you'd become. You were dead to him…" He walks on, brushing my words off, but not for long. I visualize myself, light as a feather, snapping through space and time. Darkness takes me, grabbing my stomach and yanking. I teleport directly in front of him, draw my claw back and smash it toward him. "And now, you'll just be dead." But he catches my wrist in his hands and flips me over, onto the floor, on my back. I teleport again, half way across the room. Before he has time to turn, I summon a grenade out of my pocket and it detonates, on the floor in front of him. I grin, wickedly, thinking that this is the first chance he and I will have at a fair fight.

"You fight like Larxene." Is the response I get when the smoke clears and he's on the opposite side of this huge room, untouched. A shame.

"So I've been told." I go charging at him, sprinting at full force, my claw cranked back. I watch his golden eyes flick toward the moon, and I swear, I see him glow. My breath catches in my throat, but I never slow, even when he summons his Claymore and whips it around, knocking me straight into the window. I fly back, my head splintering the glass as I go sliding down the wall. Fuck, I'm dizzy. Black spots taint my vision, my hands tingle. My body still aches from the torture he put me through. This won't be easy. But it will be so worth it.

"And just like her, you may move quickly, but it means nothing when your defenses are constantly down." Saix hisses, before he comes stomping toward me. He slashes his Claymore through the air. I jump, missing a hit. He slashes again, and I jump off the top of it, flipping forward, grabbing his hair and throwing him back into the wall. Pale blue strands hang in my hand and I do find a very large amount of satisfaction in knowing I have made a dent, no matter how small. He huffs, skidding across the room, eyes locked in on me, the only target in his range.

"How funny, even with shit defense I can still kick your ass." I grin, charging in once more. He counters at a distance, slicing at my coat, which is an infinitely better defense than my normal outfit. At a distance, he is powerful, impossible, unbeatable. He sees red in a way that puts my temper to utter shame. With Berserk controlling his movements, his is impenetrable, wildly strong, and it takes all I have in me to dodge his attacks. And yet I do, bobbing, weaving, teleporting, jumping, doing whatever it takes to stay out of the way.

"Your mouth is repulsive, it will be the death of you." He informs me as he brings his blade down onto me. I cry out holding Survivor over my head to guard against his attack, but it is no use. I cannot hold him off. My arms buckle, the Claymore goes straight through my shoulder and I scream. Pulling his blade back from me, I teleport behind him and quickly kick him, straight in the back. I summon a series of grenades, they ignite, a beautifully smoky blaze across the room. A cover for me as I take off, chugging an elixir. No, not yet. I can't die. Not until he's gone, not until I've made a dent in this group for Sora. For Roxas.

"Guess I've got something worth dying for." I say as the smoke clears and he looks at me from across the room, a feral animal, lips curled over his teeth.

"Then I will finish what I started in the throne room." He charges at me, but this time, I don't leave anything to chance. I teleport directly in front of him uncomfortably close, too close for his blade to have any advantage over me. I grab his head and slam it down onto my knee. He cries out, jolting back up, I spin, smashing an elbow into his face. I thrust, with the blades of Survivor, slashing across him, tearing the sleeve of his coat to smithereens. He leaps back, incredibly far, just out of my reach, while still keeping me in the reach of his blade. He swipes it around and I leap off of it. I jump and draw my legs up before kicking him square in the chest. He falls back to the ground, the Claymore clattering out of his hands. With him lying on his back, on the ground, I stride over, wasting no time stomping on his hand. Beneath my foot, I feel bones shatter and he roars, a wounded lion. Maybe I don't have a heart, because I take a wicked sense of pleasure in this.

"Really, you're gonna finish this? Promise?" I ask. I draw Survivor back, ready to end it all, slash his throat and watch him bleed out, forever staining the pristine, white floors. I prepare my weapon, I savor the moment, I take in the victory.

And in that split second, he summons his Claymore and puts the blade straight through my stomach.

I scream as it pierces straight through, the tip of the sword jutting out from my back. A wetness I have become all too familiar with floods my abdomen. He yanks the blade back and I bleed freely, gushing onto the floor, even as the hand not donning Survivor reaches out, covering my midsection, trying to hold myself together. Fuck, please, please, not now. I look down, lifting my hand and am nearly sick at the sight. Muscles, bones, organs. I look down at my soaking, red hand. I wipe blood away from my lips as it spills out of my mouth. Saix teleports to stand, my eyes go wide. With shaky hands, I fumble for my pouch, but he quickly cuts the belt off of my waist and snatches it. He opens a portal to nowhere and drops it in.

"No!" I shriek.

"Yes, Rueki, I promise, I will finish this." I try desperately to hold myself together, clutching my middle, though my hand feels too hot, my touch stings. I want to scream but I chomp my lip so hard I taste blood, because I cannot grant him the satisfaction of hearing me cry out. I pant, trying to catch my breath, but my vision goes white, I feel my temples throbbing. My knees start to buckle. I blink back spots but know that the clarity is only temporary. My blood spills down the front of my coat. I'm losing far too much of it. And without my potions, I have no way to heal myself.

"You fucking bastard." I choke out, feeling the blood dribble out of the corners of my mouth. What a slow, painful, miserable way to go.

"No quick comment?" Saix scoffs. "A pity, all you are, underneath it all, is a pathetic, desperate little girl with a vulgar mouth."

"It doesn't matter what you think about me. Roxas is going to kill you, and it's going to hurt." I say. I really hope it hurts.

"Roxas? Do you not mean Sora?" Saix raises an eyebrow. I shake my head.

"If Roxas is alive inside of Sora, at all, even if dormant, he will come out when he finds out what you've done to me. Sora might show you mercy, but if Roxas has even a sliver of control, he will take it, and he will not hesitate when he kills you." I sputter.

I hear the clambering of footsteps behind me and know exactly who they belong to. I know what this means, Luxord is dead. Sora is enduring, persevering exactly as I need him to. Still clutching my middle, I turn to him.

"Rueki…" He looks me over, in my coat, his eyes fall to where my blood spills onto the floor. His eyes break.

"I tried to keep my promise." I try to hobble over to him, but my legs give out, losing feeling beneath me. They are cold to the touch, I cry out, holding myself up on my hands and knees. Blood flows freely from my abdomen, the cold air is like daggers on it. I whimper pathetically. "Dammit. I was trying so hard. To do what we promised." Sora comes sprinting over to me, leaving his friends in his wake. My eyes flick up to where a redheaded girl, a silver haired boy, Donald and Goofy stand. I know Saix stands behind me. But this isn't their moment, none of them. I look at the very worried blue eyes, so close to me. Finally, I have a moment with my very best friend. If Roxas is in there, he needs to know how sorry I am. For what I've done.

For what I'm about to ask.

With the flick of my wrist, I visualize Sora and I being encased in darkness, and suddenly a dark wall comes up around us, shielding us from the other.

"What is this?" He asks, looking around. "I'm not going to fight you!"

"I know. I just wanted a moment with you, Roxas."

"Rueki, I'm not Roxas, it's me, Sora." Sora offers. I shake my head, forcing myself up onto my knees. I try to raise myself a little, but get as far as only being down on one knee before the strain is too much.

"And I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to him." I say. "Roxas, I know you're in there somewhere. And I want you to know, I waited for you, outside the throne room, that day we talked about killing Xemnas. And I was trying to today, but I had to take Saix out first, you get it, don't you? I tried to help you, I tried to keep my promise. But go figure, my damn mouth got the best of me." I offer him a pathetic half smile.

"Rueki, please." Sora begs.

"I'm going I'm not gonna make it though. I…I'm sorry. I just wanted you to know that I tried. I just wanted my nonexistence to mean something. And maybe it didn't amount to shit, but I just wanted you to know that I didn't try to hurt you this summer. You two had to become one, you deserved better than this Organization. You always have." I say. I watch a tear slide down Sora's cheek. His eyes go wide as he touches the new wetness, this was not his tear. It was Roxas'. I bite my lip. He's alive in there somewhere. I wince in pain, knowing this is it, this is the end. Darkness licks the edges of my being. I sigh, contentedly as it spreads up my legs, my arms, climbing to my torso. I falter again, tumbling forward. I nearly hit the ground, but Sora catches me in his arms. "And I'm sorry, because this is too much. But Roxas, I need you to do something for me. Just one more thing."

"Anything." I don't know if Sora or Roxas or both of them agree to this, but as I feel the darkness start to close in, I stop caring. It's now or never.

"Just finish me. Please. I don't want Saix to be the one who kills me. He can't. I can't let him win. I just…" I'm post verbal. Words are failing me. My vision is almost gone, but in the pinpricks I have left, I see hesitation in Sora's gaze.

"Rueki, I can't do that. You know I can't. I'm your friend, let me heal you!" He pleads. Dammit!

"There's no going back. Just please, I know it's a lot but just…do this one thing for me, I'm begging you." My voice crackles.

"Rueki…" He tries. My hands ball into fist and I pound at his chest, pushing myself to my legs as I smack him with all of my might.

"Dammit, Roxas! Please!"

Sora's eyes go wide in horror as his hand shoots out and his Keyblade slams straight into my skull.

My knees buckle, I hit the floor.

"Thank you." I breathe.

The darkness around us fades away.

So do I.