• She gets up and walks over to him. He continues staring away from her. She slaps him, tears running down her cheeks, and walks away. He lies on the ground, one hand on his cheek, staring incredulously at her retreating figure. She stops in the doorway. “I’m not a fragile THING that will get hurt easily,” she mutters darkly. “I won’t go down without a fight.” She walks out, closing the door behind her, leaving him alone. He stays silent for a long time, then sighs weakly and passes out. She leans against the wall outside the room, sliding down and sitting on the floor, crying pitifully. She reaches for her knife in her pocket. Still asleep, he twitches in pain. She had promised not to cut herself. She stared at her open knife through tear-blurred eyes. “I… I can’t… t… take it… an… any… more…” She sets the blade, its keen edge poised to slit her throat. He comes out of nowhere, tackling her and pinning her to the ground, knocking her hand with the knife away. His eyes are black, and he is angered far more than he has ever been. He yells at the top of his lungs, “DON’T YOU DARE!!!” She smiles, whispering, “You’re mad at me… finally…” She falls limp, her throat bloody, having been cut when he moved her hand. She was still breathing, but faintly. He stares at her body, still angry, his eyes blazing black. He covers her wound with a rag, drying the blood. He stands up and walks away. He punches another hole in the wall. She moans softly, whispering his name in her sleep. He stands by her, looking away, his eyes still black. She tries waking up, groaning softly, murmuring his name. He kneels and kisses her cheek softly, and then stands up and covers his black eyes in the shadows of his hood. She breathes his name one more time before falling limp with a sigh. Her breathing is weak, it growing weaker with each feeble breath she draws and exhales. He keeps his hood up, picking her up and leaning against the wall, sliding down to sit on the floor, holding her. She is too weak to move, too weak to make any noise other than the faint sound of her failing breath. He sighs sadly, his black eyes making him unable to cry. He hugs her tightly, burying his hidden face in her neck. Her breathing is steadily weakening, already faint. It grows fainter with each breath, almost gone. She is losing too much blood from the cut on her neck. He keeps his face buried in her neck, not knowing what to do. He is afraid, shaking. Her neck is still bleeding, the blood smearing on his face. Her breath is nearly giving out. She is staying alive by willpower only. His eyes return to their clear blue colour. He is crying into her neck, panicking. He doesn’t know what to do. Her breath comes out in a pained hiss, his salty tears falling on the cut on her neck. She groans softly. He kisses her deeply, breathing all of his LifeForce into her, wanting her to live, breathing more and more LifeForce into her. He is still crying. Her blood nearly drained from her body, she sighs softly, falling limply in his arms. Still holding her, he takes his hood off, looking at her. He cries harder, unable to do anything to help her, crying harder. She is still trying to wake up, the blood nearly gone from her veins. It is pooled around them, smeared on her neck and his face, staining their clothes crimson. He cries harder, reaching for her knife. He is ready to end his life, unable to save hers. She wakes up enough to whisper, barely audible, “You… a… are… not… a… allowed… y… you… p… promi… promised… n… not… to…” Still crying, he grabs her hand, holding it, dropping the knife. He begins to cry harder. “I promised not to… always and forever… even if… you… leave me… I won’t… break… my promise…” He says her name, hugging her tighter, crying loudly into her chest. She manages to open her eyes, looking into his. She smiles weakly. “W… will… y… you… st… stay w… with me…?” She asks him. He cries, smiling weakly. “…Y… yes… always… I will always stay with you,” he assures her. Her vision begins to blur, and she realises tears are running down her cheeks. She doesn’t want to leave him. Rocking her, holding her in his arms, he stops crying, leaning his head against hers. She fights to keep her eyes open, fights to stay with him. The last bit of her blood begins to leave her as her feebly-beating heart pushes it out of the wound on her neck. He kisses her softly, his hand over her heart. “Please… don’t leave me…” Her vision is fading, turning black, and she remembers one thing. “Ph… pheo… phoenix…” She struggles to get the word out. His hand still over her heart, he kisses her softly again, whispering, “Please… don’t… leave me…” He whispers her name lovingly, sadly. “Please… don’t… leave me…” She murmurs weakly, “I… I’m a… phe… pheo… phoenix…” His hand remains on her heart he hugs her with her other arm, saying her name, telling her, “Please return to me soon… I love you, always and forever…” She sighs softly, falling limply in his arms, her SoulFlames burning too low to burn her body to ashes. He kisses her deeply, breathing his SoulFlames into her. “Please…” His SoulFlames scatter, her body dead and beginning to cool, her spirit on its way to the Underworld. “No…” He murmurs her name, and then passes out on the floor, still clutching her body. Her spirit lingers by him, waiting until Death comes to lead her to Charon’s ferry. When he comes, she uses the last of her SoulFlames to tell him, “Burn it…” He wakes up, his eyes turning black as he roars fire onto her body, turning it to ashes. Her spirit smiles and it stops from drinking from the River Lethe, stopping from having her memories erased. She returns, watching her body reform from the ashes, and her spirit returns to it. She awakens again, healed and alive. He hugs her body as it returns, crying. He passes out again, relieved. She falls asleep in his arms.