A/N: Fair warning: this one is angst.

The flaps of the nearby tent danced in the breeze, a veil of scarlet leaves tumbling from the tree above. Jagged rocks made the only seats available all the way out here - in the mountains, the site of the Spriggans' most recent mission.

Ajeel sat on the edge of a large, flat boulder, back hunched, head down. At a glance, one would think he was asleep - until they saw the whiteness of his knuckles, hands clasped together tightly in his lap.

He was waiting for something.

Twenty-four hours ago, he'd been in a tent, listening to his fellow Spriggan explaining a plan for the oncoming battle. Invel was among the more strategic members of the Twelve - his plan seemed functional, placing their team of wizards in the most effective positions to take down the demon.

Twenty-two hours ago, he'd been standing next to Invel on a cliff overlooking the demon's home valley. Invel had conveniently brought some sandwiches, though they were slightly flattened from being in the bag among all the files for the mission; Ajeel, having skipped the last meal, had been grateful for this.

Nineteen hours ago, they'd been in the heat of battle.

Eighteen hours ago, they had finally taken down the demon, though not without difficulty.

Seventeen hours ago, Invel had collapsed from the hit he had taken during the fight. The one he had brushed off all concerns about. The poison had been worse than they'd thought. It had seemed so harmless - Invel hadn't even known it was there until that moment.

Fifteen hours ago, Ajeel lay in the cramped tent he was supposed to sleep in. They'd told him not to worry. Medics were already on their way. The emperor hadn't thought it necessary to send them on such a supposedly easy mission. Vistarion was nine hours away. Only seven more hours to go.

Eight hours ago, they'd arrived, and immediately disappeared into what had been designated the "medical tent".

For the past seven and a half hours, Ajeel had been waiting out here, alternating between kicking small stones off of the cliff and sitting on the flat rock he'd found.

The other soldiers hadn't worried about Invel. After all, he was among the strongest mages on the continent - and Alvarez had the best medics. He would be fine. It would take a matter of minutes for such skilled healing mages to get rid of the poison.

So what was taking them so long?

"Ajeel, sir…"

Startled, he raised his head. The healer took a step backwards - probably shocked at the bags under his eyes, the result of a sleepless night.

"Yeah?" His voice sounded almost too hopeful. Had they finally succeeded?

The healer coughed. "…We did our best, sir… but we were only able to slow down the process…" She hung her head, unable to look him in the eye. "If we had arrived just an hour earlier…"

Her lips continued to move, but Ajeel heard nothing. His heart sank, eyes staring blankly ahead.

Invel was going to die.

Invel was dying, and there was nothing even the best healers could do to save him.

It didn't seem real - it had to be a bad dream. Surely, when he returned to Vistarion, Ajeel would walk into Invel's office and find him sitting alive and well at his desk, doing the paperwork as usual. But he wouldn't. Invel would be gone. And he wouldn't come back.

This couldn't be happening.

"…What?" He looked up to see the healer looking expectant, as if awaiting a response.

"We were wondering if you wanted to speak with him one last time, sir."

"…Oh. Yeah."

Nodding, she stepped aside, letting him walk past her and into the tent.

Ajeel barely recognized Invel at first. His shirt was wrinkled, glasses missing, jacket crumpled on the ground next to the pile of blankets serving as a bed; his hair, not tied in its usual neat ponytail, was tangled and spread carelessly across the pillow.

Ajeel took a seat on another heap of blankets next to the bed. Up close, he could see the beads of sweat on Invel's paler-than-usual skin; the occasional pained twitch of his closed eyelids.

"Hey, Invel."

"…Ajeel." Invel turned toward him, opening his eyes. "Did you hear about…?"

"Yeah…" He began playing with a strand of white hair. "They couldn't help, huh?"

Invel frowned and stared straight ahead, a distant look in his eyes. Something seemed to be on his mind. "They said I have about two weeks left."

Ajeel gulped, his trembling hand gripping the white strand tighter, as if that would somehow keep Invel here with him.

"Remember that time when your cat ate my goldfish?"

Invel, to Ajeel's surprise, managed a weak laugh. "Yes. She seems to enjoy your company." He seemed just as eager to change the subject away from his fate.

Ajeel nodded. "I guess so."

With their conversation drifting from topic to topic, Ajeel soon forgot what was happening and why they were here. He let himself relax, laughing and smiling throughout their discussion. But Invel couldn't ignore the pain throughout his entire body - sometimes dulling, then returning full-force, making him wince.

Ajeel's words trailed off into silence. "…Do you want me to leave?"

Invel gave the slightest shake of his head, reaching out to grip Ajeel's arm. "No." He paused. "There's one more thing I need to ask of you."

Why did a pit of dread sink into Ajeel's stomach at those words? Invel's last request would probably be something simple. "Stop destroying things", or something along those lines. So why did he feel as though a guillotine hung over his head?

He stared down at Invel, trying to swallow his terror. "What is it?"

"Kill me."

The chill that suddenly pierced through Ajeel's body, for once, didn't come from Invel's magic. "…What?"

"Kill me." Invel turned his head, looking up at him again. "They said… two more weeks. Two more weeks of… this. I can't do it myself. I can barely move, let alone use magic in this state."

Ajeel stared down at him, unsure what to say. It would save Invel a lot of suffering, but could he really kill him?

Invel averted his eyes, staring at the ceiling. For a brief moment, he wished someone like Wahl or Irene had been assigned to this mission along with him. They would have no trouble killing him.

"…I'm sorry." He closed his eyes. "I shouldn't ask such a thing. I just want this to be over." He paused. "I already told the medics I would ask this of you, if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm not going to kill you, dumbass!" Realizing that tears were flowing freely down his face, Ajeel moved his arm up to hide his eyes.

Invel would be in this much pain for the next two weeks - it would be merciful to kill him now. Ajeel gritted his teeth, trying to stop the tears.

Why can't I do it?

He knew why. It was because he couldn't walk into that empty office and know that he was the reason it was empty. It was bad enough that Invel was dying, but killing him himself?

"Ajeel, I'm going to die anyway." Invel sighed. "You've killed people before. You wipe out entire villages on a regular basis. I don't understand why you're having such difficulty with this."

"This is completely different!" He moved his arm away from his face, glaring down at Invel. "I don't know the people I kill in those situations!"

"…If you really don't want to, that's fine." Invel turned his head away from Ajeel, his voice softening. "I'm sorry."

For several long moments, silence fell over them like a fog, both lost in their own thoughts. Ajeel folded his hands again, resuming the hunched-over position from earlier, staring down at the ground.

Everything had happened so suddenly. It had seemed simple when Zeref described it to them back in Vistarion: find the demon, kill it, and return home. The thought that he could lose Invel had never crossed his mind. It just seemed impossible.

Finally, he spoke, his voice barely a whisper. "Do you want to die that badly?"

"…You don't have to do it." The pain could be heard in Invel's voice.

Invel, eyes wide with surprise, turned his head toward Ajeel as he felt the brush of sand against his neck.

Ajeel stared back at him, hand trembling, his dread only increasing. He wished Invel would change his mind; say that he wanted to live, even if it was just for two weeks. But if Invel really wanted to die, he would go through with it.

His heart sank as Invel smiled sadly and nodded at him.

"Thank you, Ajeel."

He had to do it.

Ajeel gulped, squeezing his eyes shut in a vain effort to hold back the tears.

Deep red stained the dull colours of the blankets, a lone trail of blood trickling into the dirt.