Hahaha..ha so...What is up everyone... Okay I litteraly have no excuse for not writing my latest chapter other than laziness, but do not worry my young eager lovelies, For i have returned! Now here is my chapter!

She slid through the darkness of the night, hoping to see !$# one last time before-before everything ends.

She know that this is going to be the last time that they will ever see eachother, that this is the last moment she will breathe the nights fresh sweet air before she is terminated, and before he is - gone.

There is no moon tonight but a prisoners eyes are more capable of using the cold light of the stars. By their glow it is simple enough to pick out any traps left by guards scattered across the clearing. They're deadly, all of them, because they've lost the luxury of mercy years ago.

"The guards are all switching their shifts and the extra traps are in place in case someone gets a little heavy footed." She says, slipping over a jagged boulder and landing infront of her partner.

! $# coughs, deep and wracking, but nods. "Surrounding?" He rasps, and his voice is rough and his breathing is laboured from a recent fit.

She closes her eyes, not so much to shut out the fact that ! $# is dying, but to strangle the despair that's rising up inside her. "Clear" is all she say, though, taking a seat beside him and watching as he pulled himself upright with worried eyes. "You're-?"

"Fine," ! $# finishes, because after so many years of saying nothing, of only seeing the expresions on eachothers face and having to have am entire conversation without saying a word, they're all but sharing brainwaves. Not that the question was hard to guess, given their situation. He leans back against the boulder behind them, clearly exausted, but reaches out to wrap a hand around the back of her neck and dragged him closer.

She goes with it, not about to resist, and she lets herself fall all but boneless against ! $# strong chest, pressing her forehead into his shoulder. Slim , deft fingers thread through her long hair, tugging lightly, and then still.

"It's almost time," He says and for once, his voice is nearly gentle.

She keeps her eyes closed and doesn't move. She knows, shes known for weeks now, but that doesn't make it any easier to accept. This is a one-way ticket for only one person.

" I've got two days left, three at the very most, This, us, it's always gonna be there and i refuse to let you be alone after i die. I promised that i would always take care of you, and this is how im going to do it, by letting you live and not die of my sickness."

She smiles at him, small and sad. "No one would ever believe me if i told them that ! %$ was a closet romantic," she jokes, but the lines in ! $# face have eased a bit and she breathes out.

He tips his head back, checking the position of the stars, and then murmurs, "Izza..."

With a soft sigh, she leans back if only a little. She follows ! $#'s gaze and nods, expression resigned. "Yeah, I know." The she leans foward and He meets her her halfway in a slow, careful kiss, the goodbye they'll never be able to speak outloud, the tears that will never be able to shed for a loss they've both helped to orchestrate. She tries not to cry when he pulls away, breathing hard and eyes gone dark and somber.

"I'll never-"

"No," ! $# cuts in, and the desolation is entirely gone, banished by the raging, furious fire that's sprung up in his eyes "No, Izza, don't you dare promise me that. You deserve to find someone else, to feel this again. It won;t be me, it won't be the same, but swear you'll let yourself. Swear Izza."

She meets his sharp gaze, sees the determination, and knows that in this at least she will never win. So she gives in with a crooked smile, dipping her head and murmuring, "I swear, ! $#, if there is anyone else, I'll try. But you're..."

His eyes soften, and he tips his head foward to knock their foreheads together "I know, but...try."

They both understand, because it's something they'd ask of the other and fail at doing for themselves, no matter how situations played out. Love is a fierce and formidable thing, at least in parting, and the grief of lost romantic love is something neither of them has had to endure before. ! $#'s will be over shortly- he can feel his life seeping away, the clock runnung down on his time here- but Izza will have to endure and survive, alone in a land that's become strange to her.

"I will." She repeats.

! $# reaches out with a hand that doesn't shake, deperatly trying to memerize her beautiful face, lean from the years of hard living, and scarred from punishment however light.

There is a single thin braid, hanging down beside her face, and he touches it regretfully, remembering the long, slow night that they took for themselves once the plans were set in motion. One night where they threw thoughts of safety and concealment and vigilance to the wind and only a slim plait bound with a single leather band and a lingering ache in both their bodies to remember it by.

"Keep this?" He asks before he can stop himself. "Just...just this one." For me isnt said but is understood.

"Always"

Dream end

Akiko sat up in his bed quickly while sweat drips down his face. After his breathing calms he slowly reaches a hand up to his neck where a plait sits, and he's not surprised to still find the leather band on it.

Instead he lets out a shaky smile as he rubs his plait, tears slowly stream down his face remembering his lost love and his promise to him and breaths out a simple sentence.

"I swear."

AN/ So how was it? I know there wasnt much plot development but at least you all can slightly understand why he was so deadset on not forgetting his past. lmao

Please leave a comment on your way out, I would love to hear feedback from everyone

Ciao~