It was funny, hilarious even, how anticlimactic it all was in the end.

If it was just her she could come to peace with this. Puck, her father who she loved more then anyone else in the world, would be devastated but he would move on eventually. Unlike her, he would have someone that would comfort him in his time of need, someone to mourn with. The residents at the mansion would be shocked but wouldn't give much more aside from there condolences. Roswaal would be disappointed but eventually they'd all come to move on. Its not as if any of them had grown to truly appreciate her company. She would hardly get more then a couple sentences out of the twin maids and even then there conversations wouldn't exactly be pleasant, just common courtesy. Still she couldn't complain for she was much more used to being openly scorned for her appearance.

In a sense it was almost comforting. It was easy to blame her naivety, recklessness and incompetence on it being a byproduct of her unfortunate situation. It was easy to chalk it all up to it just being another obstacle due to her appearance and not due to her character.

'This is all the witches fault.'

'if only I didn't resemble the jealous witch.'

'why did I have to look like her?'

Excuses meant to validate her shortcomings. A way to rationalize all her misfortunes. A reason to live, and prove them wrong.

These excuses were crushed within the span of a day by a little girl. Her rationalization towards how people treated her was thrown aside within a couple hours by a foreign boy. Her reason...no her will to live, silenced within a couple seconds by an unknown assailant.

There was no else to blame for this situation but herself after all. She was responsible for her insigina and the fact the she let some child steal it from her was nothing short of asinine.

All of her aspirations, her hopes and dreams. All of them would never see the light of day and there was no one to blame but herself.

One would assume that the tears staining her face was from the unrelenting pain, or the terrifying realization that this was truly the end but it was neither of these. In fact the tears weren't for herself at all, but for the one she so desperately wanted to save.

'IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY!'

These desperate thoughts. These words of sorrow and regret. This is what was going through the silver haired half-elf's mind as she laid in a puddle of her own blood. It wasn't pity for herself, or sadness that she wouldn't be able to hold on to her promise for the victims in that cursed forest, nor was it anger at the person that attacked her for no reason, it was regret. She allowed this raven haired boy to help her and this was his reward, becoming a corpse right in front her eyes.

'WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!?'

'WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE YOU!?'

She would scream these thoughts out but every attempt was met with blood clogging her throat in waves. Before she hit the ground from the impact of the blade she caught a glimpse of the yellow haired girl that stole her insignia, covered in blood from the neck down. Another reminder of how foolish she was, letting a little girl die due to her lack of vigilance.

In a sense she could chalk this all up to it simply being fate that she would perish like this. No one aware of her demise. No one truly caring aside from her father. Dying alongside the little girl that stole from her in an ordinary and down ridden loothouse. A truly uninspiring and forgettable end for a truly uninspiring and forgettable person.

But this boy... this raven haired boy just had to meddle in her affairs. He just had to have been in that alleyway. He just had to have been so caring and try to help her. He just had to be so freaking carefree around her... around me and accept me despite my resemble to the witch... He just had to be the one to open that darn door. If I had just taken the initiative and came in first he could've ran away but no. I just had to be slothful in the worst time possible.

'PLEASE LIVE PLEASE LIVE PLEASE LIVE PLEASE LIVE PLEASE LIVE PLEASE LIVE'

The half elf tried to move her body inch by inch in an attempt to heal him but her body wouldn't respond no matter how much she pleaded.

The boys attempt at it bore fruit however as his hand eventually made contact with hers.

'don't...die.'

But it was no use. She could see the boy out of the corner of her eye. She could see his eyes, the pain, the sorrow, the anger, the determination. He was fighting for every breath he took but no amount of healing could save him now. For a split second she took her eyes off of the boy to see if there was anything, anyone that could save the boy beside her. All she found was the shadowy figure of a person, presumably the killer, standing over the two of them with a strange looking dagger laced with blood.

'DONT DIE'

Timed started to slow down as the two victims started at eachother for what felt like hours. The burning sensation from there stomachs being slashed started to become replaced with numbness.

'DON'T DIE DON'T DIE'

"Wait...there..." The boy muttered through haggard breaths. The girl felt a slight tinge of hope that he could live through this but was well aware that they were both long gone.

'DON'T DIE DONT DIE DONT DIE'

"I'm going to..." The girls faced was starting to stain with tears as the boy kept talking through blood stained lips. His life was flickering every second and he was using those precious seconds to say something to her. Yet she wasn't listening, all she could do was repeat the same mantra in her head.

'DON'T DIE DON'T DIE DONT DIE DON'T DIE DONT DIE DON'T DIE DONT DIE DON'T DIE DONT DIE DON'T DIE DONTDIEDON'TDIEDONTDIEDON'TDIE DONTDIEDON'TDIEDONTDIEDON'TDIE DONTDIEDON'TDIEDONTDIEDON'TDIE DONTDIEDON'TDIEDONTDIEDON'TDIE DONTDIEDON'TDIEDONTDIEDON'TDIE DONTDIEDON'TDIEDONTDIEDON'TDIE

DONT-!'

"save...you"

Darkness

"My name is NATSUKI SUBARU" He said this while turning his hips and pointing at the sky.

"Not only am I clueless but I-"

"DON'T DIEEEE!"

The half elf's voiced echoed across the nearby buildings. Despite how high she was up compared to the common folk, many still turned there heads in confusion, wondering were the shrieking voice had come from.

The boy that was in the midst of introducing himself and the nearby floating cat were shocked to say the least. they has no idea how to respond to this sudden out burst.

"Lia are you okay!?" The cat yelled in both worry and concern as his daughter was suddenly in a pool of tears.

The half elf's knees buckled as she tried her hardest to comprehend what just happened to no avail. Her senses were skewed and her breath was haggard. Her heart was pounding and beating at an erratic rate to the point that her pointed ears were throbbing. The reality of her situation had yet to fully sink in yet.

The scary eyed boy with raven hair immediately took a knee to see what was wrong with the girl only to be met with a bone crushing hug. Concern went to evident shock as the beauty crashed into him with all her weight, taking them both to the ground. His face turned a bright red as incoherent ramblings escaped his mouth all the while the floating feline looked over her with worry but mostly confusion.

One minute this boy with weird clothes is posing while introducing himself, the next his daughter's on the ground hugging him like a pillow.

"I'm sorry I'm *sniff* I'm so so sorry!" The half elf's voice started to shake from all the screaming and sobbing. Subaru took it upon himself to grab her shoulders and look her dead in the eyes.

"Hey hey hey look, i'm right here ok? just calm down and tell me what's going on? You just saved me like an hour ago shouldn't I be the one apologizing?"

He gave a reassuring smile and chuckled as he said the last part with a slight amount of embarrassment. It was an attempt to calm her nerves but all it did was put her more on edge, causing her own words to get caught in her throat.

'He got hurt because of me yet he's acting like...'

She glanced down to his stomach and then her own. Nothing...no cuts, no blood...nothing. Her sorrows turned to confusion as the burning and pain she felt earlier was gone as well, as if it never happened. Regardless the memory was permanently engraved into her mind and no amount of rationalizing could erase that.

"Su-Subaru?" She uttered with both disbelief and shame. His name felt taboo to her after what she just saw and it took every bit of willpower to say it without bursting into tears again. For all she knew this boy could be some sick illusion that her mind conjured to rightfully punish her for her weakness.

"Ye-Yeah that's my name? I'll admit my introduction was pretty impressive but I feel like your overacting, it wasn't that outstanding was it?" He said this in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit but was met with deafening silence.

The weight of the atmosphere was crushing. Subaru was on his butt and palms staring at the silver haired half elf with a look befitting the awkward situation. The cat was looking over his daughter but would stare quick daggers at Subaru for attempting to make light of the situation meanwhile the girl just sat there on her knees, slowly but surely recomposing herself until suddenly.

"Hey Subaru? Can you do me a favor?"

The half elf looked at him with new found conviction. So much so that the boy didn't respond until a couple seconds passed.

"Y-Yeah, what is it?"

"There's a knights barracks north-east of here-impossible to miss. When you get there they should be able to answer any questions you have about were you are and you should be able to find employment very soon maybe even become a kni-"

"Wait wait wait hold on I appreciate you telling me all this but I can't just leave you to figure this out on your own. Until we get your insignia back I ain't going anywhere. I don't know why you suddenly broke down like that but I'm not leaving until I've returned the favor of you saving me AND giving me that hug even if I couldn't breath through half of it."

Usually breaking the mood with light heartened banter and receiving silence would lead to someone taking the issue a little more seriously. This was Natsuki Subaru we're talking about unfortunately and his immediate response was to double down. What was even more unexpected was that the half-elf gave out a weary chuckle and a slight smile could be seen across her face although it was painfully obvious through her eyes that she still wasn't all the way there. The silver haired girl began to stand up along with Subaru as they both began to look out to the enormous city with neither one breaking the silence until the girl spoke first.

"You said you wanted to return the favor right?"

The boy respond with a "mhmm" while not looking directly at the girl.

"Then I need you to do me a favor as well."

They both began to look at eachother. The boy was filled with anxiety as her amethyst eyes pierced into his very soul.

"I want you to head to knights barracks and live a full life... and I want you to never see me again"