Glancing over to see what had gotten Haru's attention, Wave suddenly grew very still as they watched Esdeath approach. "Wave," Haru said with a calm he definitely wasn't feeling, "Can you still walk?" Wave just nodded, unable to speak at the moment. "Then I need you to take Tatsumi and get him some help," Haru told him as he stood up. "You can't seriously expect to take her alone," Wave said finally, looking at him in shock. "It's better that I fight alone than with you in your current state," Haru said, smiling coldly, "You're in no position to take another blow from anyone, let alone her." "But neither are you!"

"That's true," Haru replied as he unsheathed his sword, "But I still have two of my boosters, so I should be able to last for at least a few minutes." "But-" "I can at least buy you time to get Tatsumi out of here," he said, cutting Wave off, "And besides, you need to look after Kurome." At the mention of her name, Wave found that he felt incredibly guilty. He had rushed off and left her alone to help protect this city. Could he really justify dying here and leaving her to continue alone? No he thought as he got up and slung one of Tatsumi's arms around his shoulders, I can't do that to her.

As Wave made his way to relative safety, Haru breathed a bit easier before walking between him and the oncoming Esdeath. She just kept walking calmly towards them, and that was both reassuring and disturbing. If she had decided to rush them when they had landed, she would have had them dead to rights. But the fact that she was so outwardly calm was also disturbing, since it meant she felt she would be able to win regardless of the shape they were in. Stopping about 3 yards from Haru, she glanced over his shoulder at the retreating men and scoffed.

"You should have just let that smaller one die," she commented, "I can tell how weak he is even from here." "He has more strength of character than most men I've met," Haru shot back, widening his stance and reaching back for one of his boosters. He hadn't told Wave this, but he would likely need both shots to really stand a chance. He already knew that one would knock him on his ass after it wore off, so two would probably be very bad for his health. However, against an opponent like Esdeath, it would be even worse for his health to hold back.

"That may be true," Esdeath replied, drawing her own blade before holding it at her side, "But that alone isn't enough to make you strong." "He just took out the Royal Imperial Arms," Haru pointed out, "I'm not sure you and I working together could have done that." "You underestimate yourself, as always," she said, "It's sad, really. You had such potential. You still do; come with me, Haru, and we'd never have to bow to anyone ever again." "I believe we already know where I stand on that, Esdeath," Haru said, bringing his sword up, "I'm not some animal bound by survival of the fittest. I'm a human being, and I would rather die than feed off my own kind."

"So, that's how you see me," she said, smiling softly, "Then I guess there's nothing else to say." Bringing her blade up, she readied her own stance before saying, "I guess the only thing left is to see which of us has the stronger resolve." Before Haru could respond, she charged him faster than he expected. Thankfully, his sword was already up, so he was able to block her first blow; although, he was only able to stop the blade. The force from the impact still sent him skidding almost a foot back, and it was a struggle to keep his footing as she leaned into the blade. "I thought you were stronger than this, Haru," she said, glaring at him, "I expected so much more."

"And you're going to get it!" Haru replied. Summoning the last of his strength, he forced her back far enough so that he could disengage. Leaping back to gain some distance, he brought out one of his last two shots, flipped the cap off and jabbed it into his thigh. The drug took effect almost instantly, and Haru felt rejuvenated as he charged her. "Zündung!" he cried, bringing his sword down on her. Esdeath, in turn, coated her sword in a white aura and brought it sweeping up to meet his own attack. When they collided, his fire exploded against a large wall of ice, the two elements battling for dominance. He was able to shatter the wall, but that was all the fire could do, leaving the rest to him.

Dashing through the falling shards, Haru started throwing a flurry of strikes at her. Moving as fast as he could, he sent slashes, stabs and even a few kicks as he worked to drive her back. At first, it seemed to work as she took a step back, then another. But she had adjusted to his furious assault by that point, and she was able to dodge, block and turn aside his strikes with ease after that. Taking a step back, he tried to come up with another plan before realizing he had given her the opening she needed.

Stepping forward, Esdeath began her counter attack as her sword danced. Ducking and weaving, it was all Haru could do to keep her sword away from him as he parried the blows. But after one particular strike, she spun her blade around his before flinging his arm up and away. This left his chest wide open, and she reached out with her hand in an attempt to end the battle then and there. In one quick motion, he reached down, grabbed his last knife, and brought the blade up just as she closed on him. The blade bit into her hand for a split second before her ice began to spread across it. Letting the now useless knife go, Haru leaped back as he brought his sword down, crying "Thýella!" as he sent a wave of fire out to crash into her.

Keeping her hand outstretched, Esdeath created another wall of ice for the fire to explode against. Two seconds later, she rose above that wall on an ice pillar before flicking her wrist and filling the air around her with razor sharp ice shards. With another gesture, she sent them sailing towards Haru. He only stood there for a split second before he was in motion, ducking and zig-zagging as he tried to dodge them all while slashing through the few that would actually hit him. Coming to a sudden stop, he then whirled around and sent another wave of fire out before dashing for Esdeath as she sent more ice at him.

At first, she didn't understand what he was trying to do; she was higher up than him, and she could keep sending her ice shards at him with impunity. But when his wave of fire crashed into the tower and shattered the lower sections, she smiled in understanding as she leaped for one of the larger pieces. Using his fire to boost up, Haru landed on another piece before jumping up towards her. Placing one hand on the ice below her, Esdeath whispered, "Grauhorn," and sent a spear of ice shooting out from beneath her. Thankfully for Haru, he had another mid-air stepping stone between him and that spike.

Placing one foot on it, Haru used another burst of flame to leap over the spike before reaching out and commanding, "Thýella!" Instead of one large fireball, Haru created a large amount of smaller ones, trying to copy her ice storm technique. Sending these fireballs out ahead of him, he boosted in her direction again as they began to fall. Leaping off of her own chunk of ice, Esdeath swatted aside the few fireballs that would have hit her before creating a throwing knife out of ice and hurling it at Haru. He deflected the blade, but it threw off his own charge and forced him to land.

They hit the ground at the same time and remained where they were, glaring at each other as they squared off again. "Now that's more like it," Esdeath said, cracking another smile, "This is as it should be; two souls battling in earnest to survive. Isn't it glorious?" "I think it's sad," Haru replied, trying to steady his breathing, "I don't want to fight you any more than I wanted to fight Bols. I saw it, that night I was in your room; there was a part of you that knew what you were doing, what you believed, was wrong. It was a part that was desperately crying out for help." Lowering his blade, Haru's gaze turned from confrontational to pity as he continued, "I'm truly sorry, Esdeath. I'm sorry that I didn't try to do more to save you from your own madness."

"And that's the reason you will never be one of the strong," she said, glaring at him in contempt, "You care too much for people you know nothing about. It's one thing to care about me, but you concern yourself with those that were born weak. You try to help those who don't have the strength to take what they want; you mingle with the weak and undeserving. That is something I will never understand, or ever do." Snapping her fingers, Esdeath began to form her greatest attack behind her. "If you're so determined to stand up for the weak, than show me the strength you've gained!" she commanded as the massive ball of ice flew over her head and at him.

With no other choice, Haru focused his flames into his hand, commanding, "Verbrennen." The golden fire lept to life, and he hurled it at the ball as he tried to dodge the shards that would be formed. Even though his attack was only a fraction of the size of that ice ball, when they hit the ball they lept to life and spread rapidly. The ice superheated within seconds, flash-melting into steam and building up serious pressure before causing the entire ball to explode into a shower of deadly shards. Neither Esdeath nor Haru were truly prepared for the shower of razor-sharp shards that flew out in all directions, and in spite of their best efforts they were both hit several times before they managed to move clear.

Checking the cuts on his arms, Haru was relieved to see that none of them were deep or serious. At least I won't bleed out he thought as he looked up at Esdeath again. "So, that's your trump card," she said, smiling coldly, "I glad that I got to see it at least once." Bringing her hands before her, she formed a triangle before speaking. "All things shall freeze before me," she began, and in that instant Haru knew that something bad was coming. Reaching for his last booster, he pulled it out of the pouch and had just popped the lid off when she finished, "Makahadoma!"

Haru saw a brief flash, and then he was in the grip of her trump card. Frozen in time, he wasn't even aware of Esdeath approaching him to finish this. In one smooth stroke, she cut off the head of the syringe before bringing her blade back and burying it in his shoulder. As her trump card wore off, Haru suddenly saw Esdeath standing in front of him. He also felt a sharp pain and looked over to see that her sword was embedded in his flesh. "Goodbye, Haru," she said, her eyes almost sorrowful as she used her powers. Her ice spread from the blade across his shoulder and down his arm and chest. It moved faster than he could have hoped to react, and in an instant he was completely engulfed in it. Akame…I'm…sorry… he thought as the cold took him.

Across the city, Akame had managed to meet up with Sheele and Lubbock. They had been working to move people out of harm's way as the giant blasted whole sections of the capital away. Now that it was dead, she had started to make her way to the upper districts, hoping to find Haru. She suddenly felt a stabbing pain in her chest, enough to rob her of breath and drive her to her knees. "Hey, you alright?" Lubbock asked, kneeling next to her and looking concerned. He had decided to go with her, mostly because he would be damned if he allowed something to happen to the girl his best friend loved. But now, looking at her as she clutched at her chest, it was almost like someone had ripped her heart from her. "Haru…" she muttered, tears coming to her eyes.

Back at their fight, Haru found that while he felt extremely cold, he was somehow still alive; at least, he was alive for the moment. He probably had a few seconds, at best, to figure out what it was keeping him alive and use it to break free. As Esdeath withdrew her blade, Haru felt his inner fire flare up. It was raging to be set loose, to burn this woman to cinders for daring to attack its vessel. And for once, Haru was inclined to agree.

Releasing his control over the weapon, he felt an immediate surge of heat that bordered on searing as the fire flared up like nothing he had ever felt before. Before Esdeath could turn and walk away, she noticed a glowing coming from the ice. Haru's body was emitting a soft light that was growing brighter by the moment. And then, in an instant, the ice around him shattered into a million tiny fragments. Stumbling a bit, he regained his footing before looking down at his hands, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. He didn't feel tired; in fact, he felt really, really good.

"So, this is the true form of your trump card," Esdeath mused, bringing her sword back up, "Then it appears we can continue." "No, Esdeath," Haru replied, getting a confused look from her, "We're going to end this, once and for all." Charging his blade, Haru used his new flames to boost himself at her faster than she thought possible. Esdeath was still able to block his blade from connecting with her side, but she wasn't prepared for the moment when his sword exploded into a shower of metal fragments. He sacrificed his only weapon to land a blow she thought, stunned as several of the fragments hit home. Lashing out with her sword, she drove him back momentarily only to realize something. No, he didn't sacrifice his only weapon; now he is his weapon.

Without speaking a word, Haru brought his hands up from his sides and summoned another storm of fireballs. This time, there were easily twice as many as his last attempt, and he sent them hurling at her without remorse. Sending a few ice shards to intercept some of them, Esdeath dodged the others with ease before realizing he had held a few back. At another gesture, these few balls whipped up into large twisters that then went corkscrewing through the air towards her at different angles. She managed to dodge the first two, but the third claimed her sword while the forth grazed her side. The last one she blocked with an ice wall, smirking as it exploded on contact and shattered the outer layers.

But Haru wasn't done yet. Her smirk turned into a look of shock when he appeared next to her, already too close to block as his fist came up and connected with her side. She felt a few ribs crack as she flew back from the blow, but Haru wasn't about to give her any room to breathe. Pursuing her, he sent a flurry of kicks and punches that Esdeath was hard-pressed to counter. She had to use her ice again and again to block several of the blows, and she was starting to grow irritated with the fact that he was pushing her back. Finally finding an opening, she lashed out with a punch of her own. If she could make contact again, she could freeze him to his core. Haru saw this coming, and countered with his own element-enhanced fist. Their attacks collided, and a dumbbell-shaped explosion of fire and ice resulted as their two elements fought for dominance.

Leaping free from the cloud simultaneously, they both sent a wave of projectiles at each other, trying to score a hit. His fireballs collided with her ice shards, and more explosions resulted as the ice flash-melted into steam. After landing, they took a moment to take stock of what they had left. Esdeath had taken more damage in this one battle than she had across her entire career, and while that was irritating, it also left her feeling more alive than she had in years. This was a true battle, a fight she was born, was made for. Here she was giving her all against someone that could actually stand as her equal, and in the end one of them would stand victorious. She felt a sense of completion that she hadn't ever thought possible, and she realized that this is what was at the core of her feelings for Haru.

With Haru, it was a rather different story. Whatever power up he had unlocked was starting to run out, he could feel it. It wasn't that his strength was getting progressively weaker; in fact, it felt like his attacks were growing in strength. But he could feel the fires within him starting to rage out of control. If I don't finish this quickly, there won't be anything left he realized as he took his stance again. "I have to thank you, Haru," Esdeath said finally, smiling with genuine happiness, "I never thought I'd find someone that could actually stand as my equal. No matter how this ends, I want you to know that it was an honor to fight you." "I gotta say, the feeling's mutual," Haru replied, returning the smile, "I never thought I would achieve this kind of power. So, shall we end this?"

She nodded before creating a sword of pure ice and resuming her stance. Haru did the same, and for a few moments they just stood still, staring at each other in anticipation. Finally, they charged each other, and in an instant it was over. In less than a second, Haru brought his makeshift sword down and across, slicing through Esdeath's own blade before reaching out and placing his hand on her stomach. "Verbrennen," he commanded, looking her in the eye as he sent his golden fire into her. Rather than glare at him in anger, she smiled warmly as the flames consumed her. Not wanting her to suffer needlessly, he fed as much energy into them as he could stand. This accelerated their growth greatly, and in a few seconds she was reduced to ash on the wind.

Letting his weapon dissipate, Haru breathed easier. As luck would have it, Lubbock and Akame happened upon his battlefield right as he set Esdeath ablaze. Jogging over, Lubbock waved to get his attention, shouting, "Way to go, matchstick!" Looking over at them, he felt immense joy at seeing that they were both still alive. When they finally got to him, Lubbock stopped a few feet back while Akame kept going and embraced him. "We did it," she said, thankful beyond words that he was alright. "Yeah, we did," Haru replied, resting his forehead on hers. For a brief moment, everything seemed right with the world.

But then Akame realized that his voice sounded off. Taking a step back, she looked him in the eye and asked, "Haru, what's wrong?" "I can't hide anything from you, can I?" he replied, smiling, "I…may have gone too far, Akame." "What are you talking about?" Lubbock asked, confused, "You killed Esdeath. I mean, I get it; you felt bad for her. But you had to do it." "I know. That's not what I meant," he said before reaching back and unclipping his empty syringe pouch. "I had three of these left at the beginning of this fight," he explained, holding it up, "I used one to stabilize Tatsumi, and the second to give me a boost during the beginning of my fight with Esdeath. The third was…"

"Haru, you didn't," Akame said, stunned, "We need to get you to that doctor immediately. He'll know what to do." "That won't help me now," he said calmly, taking her hand, "I never used the third, it got destroyed in the battle." "Then how did…?" "I released my control," he said simply, "I let my fire run loose within me. It gave me the strength I needed to win, to keep you, the baby, and everyone safe. But…" Looking down, he took a moment to collect himself before he continued.

"The fight went on too long, Akame," he said, "I let it go for too long, and now I couldn't stop it if I wanted to." "Haru, no," she said, taking his head in her hands, "You're going to be fine. You promised me we'd get through this, remember?" "I know I did," he said, cupping her face with one hand, "And I'm so sorry, Akame." Before she could continue to protest, he leaned in and kissed her, trying to convey all of his feelings, his love, into that one moment. It seemed to go on forever, and Akame found that she desperately wanted that to be true.

But then the moment was over, and he released her before taking a few steps back. "Haru…" she pleaded, tears coming to her eyes. "I love you, Akame," Haru said with all of the conviction he had, "Always remember that; I love you."

As he spoke those words the last of his control finally failed, and his Imperial Arms did what it did best; it burned. Golden fire lept from his chest before spreading out to his limbs, engulfing Haru in seconds just like it had done to Esdeath. But it didn't stop their; finally released from its confinement, the pent up energies caused it to whip into a large tornado. Before Akame could try and leap into it to save Haru, Lubbock was at her side with his arms around her waist. "Haru, no!" she cried, her eyes streaming with tears as she collapsed to the ground. Even Lubbock found himself crying as he watched his best friend die. But Akame wasn't just crying; she wept openly, clutching at the ground as she felt a part of herself die. He's gone her mind kept repeating, he's gone.

Almost a week later, as the sun was setting, Night Raid had gathered at a small hill outside the city walls along with a large group of the surviving rebels. Their victory had been a close one, closer than they were prepared to admit. While the Emperor had been wielding his Imperial Arms, Onest had taken the chance to try to escape through a secret tunnel he had had made years ago. But, it just so happened that Chelsea had hooked up with Leone while searching for the man, and they had discovered the entrance to the tunnel shortly before he had used it. After taking on another soldier disguise, Chelsea had moved down the tunnel before taking up a position to wait for the man to arrive. When he did, he hadn't stood a chance. Between her illusion and Leone's brute strength, they had dispatched the man in short order in spite of his attempt at using another Imperial Arms to stop them.

They had won, but the cost of victory had been severe. The commanders had decided to take several larger sections of the destroyed wall and move them up to that hill. After re-cutting the stone, they had etched the names of the fallen into them; a memorial to all of the members of the Revolution that had given their lives since its beginning. On one particular slab rested the names of the three Night Raid members that had died; Bulat, Susanoo, and Haru. Standing before this slab, the surviving members felt a real sense of grief they hadn't known before. Back when there had still been a revolution to plan, they had been too busy working to survive to grieve for their friends.

But now that it was all over, the walls came down and they were forced to face the truth; their friends were gone. Numerous bouquets and wreaths had been placed at the base of the stones in memory of those fallen. They had been left by friends, comrades, family and lovers, and there wasn't a single person on that hill that didn't feel the weight of so much loss. Walking up to the stone, Akame knelt before placing a special bouquet at its base. It was a collection of flowers that grew around their former hideout, tied with something that Akame had found in their room back at the bookstore. Haru had left his blindfold behind, knowing that, one way or another, he wouldn't need it again. She had decided that it would be a good gesture to use it for the flowers; she wouldn't need it to remember him, she had all of the memories they had made, as well as a child on the way. Placing her hand on the stone next to his name, she whispered, "Goodbye, Haru."

-1 year later-

Walking down the old forest path, a familiar woman with black hair hummed to herself as she clutched a small bag of produce. She had gotten a good trade for the animals she had caught the previous day. Her bag was filled with carrots, onions, potatoes and several other vegetables she didn't know the names of but enjoyed none the less. Of course, a few people had made the connection between her appearance and an old, outstanding wanted poster still pinned to one of the bulletin boards. But she wasn't too worried about someone following her to try and collect the bounty; a few people had tried a week ago, and their corpses had made an interesting meal for the local Danger Beasts.

Making her way into the main clearing, she looked up at the former headquarters for Night Raid. Originally, they were going to clear the base out and destroy it after the revolution. They hadn't wanted to provide such a perfect hideout for bandits after all. But she had convinced them to leave it as it was, and that she would take care of it and make sure no criminals claimed it. While it was a rather lonely existence, it was one that she found she preferred. And as usual, this line of thought made her wonder how her friends were doing now.

Lubbock had opened a small chain of bookstores, and he had finally worked up the nerve to ask the now Commander-in-Chief Najenda out on a date. Everyone, including her, wondered just how long it would take for those two to finally pull the trigger. Mine had decided to return with Tatsumi to his village to make sure it was safe and well. Where they were now was anyone's guess, although she could imagine they were off on some grand adventure. Leone had, surprisingly, made good friends with one of the last Jaegers. She had decided to help him rebuild his old school, and was apparently adored by the students that attended.

Chelsea had followed Najenda and had become one of her best spies and information collectors, while Sheele had decided to return to Garrick's clinic to help the old man with his work. Kurome had, after suffering through a serious case of withdrawal, gone with Wave back to his hometown. Now that she was free of the former Empire's control, she was completely head-over-heals in love with Wave, although he still seemed hesitant with the whole idea.

And where did that leave her? As she looked up at the face of the one place that had ever felt like home, Akame felt an almost too familiar gloom coming over her. She was here, still nursing a broken heart while she struggled to continue with her life. She knew that's what he would have wanted, and because of that she continued to move forward. Well, that wasn't the only reason. As she walked into the main hall and set the bag down on the table, she heard crying coming from the next room. Walking in, she smiled warmly as she made her way over to the crib in the corner of the bedroom. Reaching in, she picked up bundle of blankets; her baby, her son.

"Hush now," she said, rocking him slightly as she tried to calm him down, "Did someone have a bad dream?" After a few moments, he calmed down and looked up at her with wide eyes. They were striking; a dark green with flecks of red. His tuff of hair, still a mess from his nightmare, looked black until you saw it in a particular light. Then, it would show its deep red, and it made her love him all the more. This was her son, and for his sake she would devote everything to make sure that he would grow up happy in this peace his father had helped to give them all. "Alright then, how about you help mom fix up some dinner?" she asked as she walked back into the main hall, "You be a good little helper, and I'll tell you a story. How does that sound, Haru?"