"Wait, Yu!" Lavi called out as he watched the samurai remove his coat quickly before diving into the lake. *"I hope he knows what he's doing..."* He recalled the words Kanda had said just before jumping in:
"Damn it! That bitch was my responsibility!"
Lavi assumed 'that bitch' was supposed to mean 'Silverton'. He was slightly irritated at Kanda's choice of words, since he himself had been worried.
It felt like forever. All Lavi and Miranda could do was wait with the boy and pray they would be alright. Time seemed to have completely stopped, it took so long.
Finally, after practically the longest two minutes of their lives, Lavi and Miranda watched as Kanda emerged from the water with the brunette in his arms.
Kanda swam her to shore. He struggled to drag her body from the water. He laid her down on the grass and began shaking her shoulders. "Wake up!"
"Lys!" Miranda ran over to her side. "Oh, god...Please don't be..."
Lavi grabbed Silverton's wrist and checked for a pulse. "She's still alive, but not by much..."
"Damn it, open your eyes!" Kanda shook her again. He held his hand above her mouth and nose, trying to feel if she was breathing.
She wasn't.
"Fuck, you're so pathetic!" Kanda quickly tilted her chin back and closed the gap between his lips and hers.
"Hello?" Silverton was surrounded in white. She couldn't see anything all around her. There was nothing but white emptiness.
Silverton was scared. She was confused. Wherever she was, she wanted out. She started to run through the white emptiness, not sure where she was going.
"You're wasting your time."
Silverton skid to a halt at the sound of the voice as it rang throughout the blank space.
"Never thought I'd see you in here."
Silverton turned around, as the voice was right behind her. She was shocked to see the figure speaking to her. "...Nova...?"
"Who do I look like?" Nova rolled her eyes. She lifted her arms and looked around. "How do you like it here?" she asked sarcastically. "Welcome to your subconscious. Your empty, EMPTY subconscious."
"But, how? How am I here? And more importantly, how are you here?" Silverton choked on the lump in her throat. She thought back to her last image of Nova...
"Ugh, not that one again..." Nova whined, pointing behind Silverton.
Silverton turned again, only to be met with a large wall that wasn't there before. On the wall was a projection of a memory. In the memory, Nova was covered in blood, lying on the floor with pentacles on her skin.
Silverton covered her eyes and slumped to her knees. The image was so vivid; exactly as she saw it on that day three years ago.
"It sucks, huh? I've been stuck in here inside your head ever since I died." She glared at her younger sister. "I've been forced to re-watch your life over and over in here. Che, talk about hell..."
Silverton slowly uncovered her eyes. The wall and projection were gone. "Alright, then why am I here...?"
"You don't remember? Damn, you're pathetic..."
Another memory appeared on the floor beneath them. The memory gave an image from underwater, with the moon glowing and causing a plethora of reflections down through the ripples of darkness.
Nova smirked. "How about now? Remember?"
Silverton gasped as she suddenly did remember. She was in the cave as it collapsed. The cave was under the lake. She was trapped at the bottom of the water. She was drowning. She was dying. Her life was over. "Are you saying...Did I...die..?"
"Can't tell." Nova stated blankly. "That's your most recent memory. You could be dead, but I always imagined being set free after you died. Ew, I don't want to spend an eternity in here with YOU!"
Silverton felt something touch her hair. She reached atop her head and held something soft and fragile within her fingertips. She looked at it with curious eyes.
A flower petal.
She looked above her head only to see hundreds of pink petals drifting down from the white empty space above her.
"What the?!" Nova ran over and stared at the petals in awe. "I've never seen this happen before!"
More and more petals fell, eventually becoming while flowers. Lotus blossoms.
Nova scowled. "Well, shit. I guess you made it. Whatever. I'll just have to get back at you next time I take the reigns over your body."
Silverton found herself being engulfed in lotus blossoms. They softly spiraled around her, sending her into a state of hypnosis. She allowed herself to be overcome by the beautiful blossoms. She closed her eyes and watched the white world go black.
Pressure. Silverton felt pressure; and in the oddest of places: her lips. It wasn't painful or uncomfortable, just odd. She felt like her entire body was drenched in water. She was so cold.
She heard a voice; several, actually. There was a woman crying - definitely Miranda; A voice saying, 'Please wake up, Lady..!'- The young boy. The voice closest to her was that of Kanda, saying, 'Open your eyes, baka Tsubaki!' Then the pressure on her lips would return.
Silverton peeled open her eyelids. Above her was Kanda as he pulled his lips from hers. His long dark hair was soaked and dripping with water; same with his white collared dress shirt. Behind him was the night sky, lit up by the glowing moon.
Realizing her situation, Silverton tried to breathe, only to begin coughing up profuse amounts of water. Pain racked through her chest as the liquid poisoned her lungs.
After coughing up as much water as she could, Silverton looked at the Japanese man kneeling beside her. Without a second thought, she lunged at him; wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
Kanda was a bit taken back. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew what she needed. He cautiously wrapped his arms around her in return.
T-Thank you..." he heard her choke out between a mixture of shivers and sobs. "You-...s-saved me..."
Kanda slowly tried prying her off, but her arms were secured in place. "Baka Tsubaki...almost dying on your first mission."
The brunette finally released him and wiped her eyes with her already wet arm. "I guess that is pretty pathetic, eh?" She smiled, more glad to be alive than she'd ever been.