Goodbye Old Me… Hello Future.
She doesn't have time to feel. She rushes out of the ring and falls off the edge to get to his side. He stumbles to meet her but his feet twine together. Nikki reaches him, catching him just in time before he hits the ground. She gently lays him down and crouches next to him.
Her mask breaks and falls off all at once. Fresh tears feel her eyes and she blinks trying to clear them enough to see straight, causing them to cascade down her face.
"Damn girl. You look like shit." Kyle says weakly.
Nikki smiles just as weak. "Look who's talking."
Kyle tries to laugh but instead sucks in a painful breath. "I am so sorry Nik. I tried to help," he gasps for air, "but I remembered you said something about…" His voice breaks off feverishly. Listening to his painful talking makes Nikki hurt as bad as him.
She presses on for more information. As long as he's talking, that means he's living. "You remembered what?"
Kyle smiles as wide as he can manage, "That I love you girl. Don't ever forget that." He caresses her face. She leans into his bloodied hand and cries harder. She chokes trying not to sob.
"I know. I love you too Kyle." She leans close to him and presses her lips lightly to his. She knows there is no way he can survive this. His gray shirt was soaked and ripped. Deep slashes settle in his skin, bleeding endlessly. He doesn't have enough blood to survive… Nikki presses her lips harder against his. His hand moves to her head holding her there. This was their first kiss mixed with their first 'I love yous' and soon to be their first and last goodbyes.
Kyle's hand moved from her head to her waist. Their kiss grows deeper with each movement of their lips. His blood mixes with her tears and Nikki knows now that Kyle is her true love. She would never be able to find anybody like him.
Her sob breaks the kiss and she looks away. Tears flow without end down her eyes. Usually this would be humiliating and she would be hiding, but losing her life and now her love within minutes is just too much to handle.
Kyle turns her chin over so she faces him. Another sob building at the look of his battered body, she bites her lip. "I love you Nikki." He reaches beside him and places a long slender object on her lap. To broken inside to see what it is, she watches his face. His eyes flutter and his hand goes limp on her leg. His head falls to the side and even though he's bloodied and dead, his face holds peace.
Nikki whispers, "I love you too" then sobs openly into the dead room. Nobody is coming in now. And nobody is going to leave. She looks around for her knife to end the pain of this world, and instead catches a glimpse of the object.
She looks down at her lap and what she sees, stops her sob in its track. Her tears flow slower and her heart starts to race. She reaches down and caresses the black sword case. The hilt is black with a snake head at the top. "No, no, no." She repeats over and over again in shock at what she's holding. The sword, the ultimate unbreakable sword, is now in her possession. She carefully curls her hand around the neck of the snake, and pulls.
The sword, that's much longer than any weapon she has ever seen, is shined like a new dime. She sees her reflection perfectly. Curly hair that looks flat and frizzed, eyes puffy red from crying, blood on her lips and her mom's mirrored face in her own, look worn. There is no life left.
But now a shine is reflected in her eyes. This is it. She can avenge her mother's death. She can complete her life's dream. She closes her eyes and is awed by the heroicness of Kyle. Master hung around those gangsters for money and coverage and after they turned on him, he needed a body guard, which was what he wanted Nikki for. They must have broken into his safe and stolen the sword as a warning. And if that's who had it, that's who Kyle had to face to get a sword for her.
Nobody had ever done anything like that for her. Nobody even knew who she truly was, like Kyle did. He was truly her love, before she realized it for herself. "Thank you." She says to his body.
Now she can do what she has planned all her life. She stands up and pulls out the sword. "Beatrix, Black Mamba, you are going down." And with that she kisses Kyle's lips one more time, then flies out of the damned karate place and rushed to greet her life's creator.