[As they stand in front of the door together, the ground seems to begin bleeding around them, starting from around Koharu's feet. It wells up and spreads out like a puddle and begins to burn from the heat of the ground, the noxious and choking fumes from it enough to cause anyone's lungs to burn and burn as well.
Aki shakes her head. Her anger in this moment, despite other moments, is just—tired. Just a tired, tired anger that's had years and years to set.]
Like I said: it's just you and me. We never got to finish that talk, you know. Are you really going to run away again? Are you going to leave? Try to shoo me off instead?
[Koharu may feel her solar plexus begin to hurt just a bit. Perhaps a dimly familiar sensation from long ago.]
[ Koharu almost doesn't notice the puddle forming until she feels the heat rising from underneath her feet. In her surprise she yelps, stumbling back, but it's spread too far to escape; retreat isn't an option anymore, is it? It isn't as if there's anywhere to run.
A hand flies up to cover her mouth, coughing, eyes squinting as they burn along with her lungs; the other wraps around her abdomen with an all too familiar pain. ]
Aki, what are you—please, don't do this! We can't stay here!
[As if further blocking her in, the flames of the flowers behind her shoot up impossibly tall, scorching her back, her arms, her legs as they whip upward in a fury. There is nowhere to run, no—no backwards path to take, now that she has come this far. There is only this gate and Aki, who stands in wait for a close to that conversation from so very long ago.]
You could have. You could have stayed. Why did you choose to wake up? You're always so fast to leave me behind...
[There's anger in this sorrow and it bleeds into their surroundings in a slow and noxious way. The area is already hot and only becomes hotter as the fires behind Koharu grow. Aki looks as though she's suffering as well, coughing and coughing until she begins to cough up blood, but she does not stand back from the door that she guards.]
[ Koharu lets out another pained, strangled noise as the fire erupts from behind, flames scorching over her back, leaving feathers singed. She immediately leaps forward from the pain, into another coughing fit; it's difficult to stay still between this and the burning ground below. Between coughs, Koharu manages to wheeze out: ]
I didn't want to! I never wanted to leave you behind—you mean everything to me, so I... I—
[ Again, she stumbles forth, a hand reaching out to grasp at Aki's. ]
I'm trying... I'll come back to you, Aki, I swear—you're the reason I want to become human again...
[It's awful, the reek of burning blood, of singed feathers and skin. The heat is unbearable, and even though Aki herself looks like she could be on the verge of collapsing, she still looks at Koharu's outstretched hand as though witnessing something painful.
Behind that pain, there is a glimpse of something glittering and small, though. Something like hope. Even Hades itself can't crush out every bit of it, after all. She allows her hand to be grasped, though strangely, Koharu will feel a similar burn to whenever she brushed against the burning lycoris. Holding on to love is painful. Love is such a painful, painful thing.]
You never wanted to, huh. But you still did. ...Why did it have to be like that all the way until the end? Why were you giving so much of yourself to everyone until it literally killed you?
[An act of heroism, certainly—but Aki carries scars from it. Who could ever be the same after that? After seeing someone they love and care for deeply sacrifice themselves, however unintentionally, to ensure that they can live on?
The heat is searing and the air is thick with smoke, and Aki coughs out another mouthful of blood.]
Is anything even going to be different if you do come back to me?
[ Between the heat, the flickering flames, the smoke burning her lungs and eyes, the dull throb around her stomach—Koharu finds herself in unbearable pain. However, Aki's words somehow manage to twist her heart more painfully than anything else in the moment, her burning hand beginning to tremble.
Koharu isn't oblivious to the hurt she's caused; it wasn't that long ago that she was pointing the barrel of a gun towards Aki's head, listening on as she spoke of her inner turmoil that Koharu's death caused to a college friend. Why didn't she ever notice how Aki was feeling? Why did she throw her life away for everyone else but herself? Why did she think she could never be loved when she was right there?
Though it hurts to intertwine her fingers with Aki's, Koharu nevertheless pulls her hand closer, gripping both hands around it like a lifeline. ]
I'm sorry—I'm sorry... [ Her voice wavers; there's no holding back the tears anymore. ] I promise it will. I just... want to undo it all, but I can only work with the second chance I've got.
[Koharu's death was an accident, the trauma that she left Aki with was an accident, but. She did make this mistake in her life. She did live for everyone but herself, giving herself away in bits and pieces until there was nothing left at all.
Still—more than the apology, it's the promise that seems to get Aki to waver. Through the pain, through the smoke, through the burning heat of Hades, there is a long pause, and then she lifts her other hand so they're both holding one another's. Wherever Aki touches burns, but maybe that's still bearable compared to every other hurt Koharu has suffered through.
Her thoughts will drift briefly toward Marcoh, toward Uruha, toward Richie—the real versions of the people she truly cares about, who are either right beside her here or waiting for her upon her return to the other side. They, too, have all suffered - and they will continue to, because that's what it means to live. But isn't it better, to live and learn and suffer and love and grow, than to stagnate?]
...You promise? You'll take this second chance and you'll really make something different with it once you get back?
[Her eyes lock onto Koharu's, and as more of that disappointment and anger begin to fade, the worry and the love beneath them become clearer than ever.]
[ Her hands sear more and more, but it's true—compared to everything else, she can handle this. And through her tears she nods adamantly, as if her life depends on it. ]
I will. You won't have to be sad anymore... We can spend our days like we used to again, and—I'll live my own life, this time. For myself.
[ It won't all be exactly the same, Koharu knows—Aki's moved on to a new life, with new friends and a new love. But even their friendship meant the world to Koharu, and she would do anything to have that back. ]
[Even their friendship meant the world—and what is love, if not like water? Something that changes shape, that comes and goes, that shifts to fit the vessel it's poured into.
Maybe their chance is gone. Maybe there is no undoing the harms of the past. Maybe they will both have to forge something new together. But that's what second chances are all about anyway, aren't they?
Finally, Aki smiles.]
That's what I want to hear. [That Koharu won't become lost in the woods of the people around her again. That she'll be able to emerge into a new life and live it for herself, first and foremost. She gives Koharu's hands a squeeze and then reaches up to wipe her tears, the touch still burning, but less than before. And then, she pulls Koharu into a hug.]
You better stick it out this time, got it? [...] I love you. Now get out of here.
[From there, Aki's body begins to disperse into beautiful white lycoris petals, which begin to drift upward toward the glittering black sky overhead, light and airy, as though her soul has been freed.
Koharu still has a path ahead of her, though. While Aki's soul has stepped aside to allow her passage, and while her time in Hades has come to its end, she still has all of the burdens of her life and afterlife to bear. She will still make mistakes, and hurt, and accidentally hurt others, but is that not a worthwhile price to pay for the chance to love, to be loved, to see love elsewhere in the world?
Penance is difficult, and so is love. But surely, the reward for persevering is one to be cherished.
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holyspirits) wrote2025-03-23 07:03 pm
no subject
Aki shakes her head. Her anger in this moment, despite other moments, is just—tired. Just a tired, tired anger that's had years and years to set.]
Like I said: it's just you and me. We never got to finish that talk, you know. Are you really going to run away again? Are you going to leave? Try to shoo me off instead?
[Koharu may feel her solar plexus begin to hurt just a bit. Perhaps a dimly familiar sensation from long ago.]
no subject
[ Koharu almost doesn't notice the puddle forming until she feels the heat rising from underneath her feet. In her surprise she yelps, stumbling back, but it's spread too far to escape; retreat isn't an option anymore, is it? It isn't as if there's anywhere to run.
A hand flies up to cover her mouth, coughing, eyes squinting as they burn along with her lungs; the other wraps around her abdomen with an all too familiar pain. ]
Aki, what are you—please, don't do this! We can't stay here!
no subject
You could have. You could have stayed. Why did you choose to wake up? You're always so fast to leave me behind...
[There's anger in this sorrow and it bleeds into their surroundings in a slow and noxious way. The area is already hot and only becomes hotter as the fires behind Koharu grow. Aki looks as though she's suffering as well, coughing and coughing until she begins to cough up blood, but she does not stand back from the door that she guards.]
no subject
I didn't want to! I never wanted to leave you behind—you mean everything to me, so I... I—
[ Again, she stumbles forth, a hand reaching out to grasp at Aki's. ]
I'm trying... I'll come back to you, Aki, I swear—you're the reason I want to become human again...
no subject
Behind that pain, there is a glimpse of something glittering and small, though. Something like hope. Even Hades itself can't crush out every bit of it, after all. She allows her hand to be grasped, though strangely, Koharu will feel a similar burn to whenever she brushed against the burning lycoris. Holding on to love is painful. Love is such a painful, painful thing.]
You never wanted to, huh. But you still did. ...Why did it have to be like that all the way until the end? Why were you giving so much of yourself to everyone until it literally killed you?
[An act of heroism, certainly—but Aki carries scars from it. Who could ever be the same after that? After seeing someone they love and care for deeply sacrifice themselves, however unintentionally, to ensure that they can live on?
The heat is searing and the air is thick with smoke, and Aki coughs out another mouthful of blood.]
Is anything even going to be different if you do come back to me?
no subject
Koharu isn't oblivious to the hurt she's caused; it wasn't that long ago that she was pointing the barrel of a gun towards Aki's head, listening on as she spoke of her inner turmoil that Koharu's death caused to a college friend. Why didn't she ever notice how Aki was feeling? Why did she throw her life away for everyone else but herself? Why did she think she could never be loved when she was right there?
Though it hurts to intertwine her fingers with Aki's, Koharu nevertheless pulls her hand closer, gripping both hands around it like a lifeline. ]
I'm sorry—I'm sorry... [ Her voice wavers; there's no holding back the tears anymore. ] I promise it will. I just... want to undo it all, but I can only work with the second chance I've got.
no subject
Still—more than the apology, it's the promise that seems to get Aki to waver. Through the pain, through the smoke, through the burning heat of Hades, there is a long pause, and then she lifts her other hand so they're both holding one another's. Wherever Aki touches burns, but maybe that's still bearable compared to every other hurt Koharu has suffered through.
Her thoughts will drift briefly toward Marcoh, toward Uruha, toward Richie—the real versions of the people she truly cares about, who are either right beside her here or waiting for her upon her return to the other side. They, too, have all suffered - and they will continue to, because that's what it means to live. But isn't it better, to live and learn and suffer and love and grow, than to stagnate?]
...You promise? You'll take this second chance and you'll really make something different with it once you get back?
[Her eyes lock onto Koharu's, and as more of that disappointment and anger begin to fade, the worry and the love beneath them become clearer than ever.]
no subject
I will. You won't have to be sad anymore... We can spend our days like we used to again, and—I'll live my own life, this time. For myself.
[ It won't all be exactly the same, Koharu knows—Aki's moved on to a new life, with new friends and a new love. But even their friendship meant the world to Koharu, and she would do anything to have that back. ]
no subject
Maybe their chance is gone. Maybe there is no undoing the harms of the past. Maybe they will both have to forge something new together. But that's what second chances are all about anyway, aren't they?
Finally, Aki smiles.]
That's what I want to hear. [That Koharu won't become lost in the woods of the people around her again. That she'll be able to emerge into a new life and live it for herself, first and foremost. She gives Koharu's hands a squeeze and then reaches up to wipe her tears, the touch still burning, but less than before. And then, she pulls Koharu into a hug.]
You better stick it out this time, got it? [...] I love you. Now get out of here.
[From there, Aki's body begins to disperse into beautiful white lycoris petals, which begin to drift upward toward the glittering black sky overhead, light and airy, as though her soul has been freed.
Koharu still has a path ahead of her, though. While Aki's soul has stepped aside to allow her passage, and while her time in Hades has come to its end, she still has all of the burdens of her life and afterlife to bear. She will still make mistakes, and hurt, and accidentally hurt others, but is that not a worthwhile price to pay for the chance to love, to be loved, to see love elsewhere in the world?
Penance is difficult, and so is love. But surely, the reward for persevering is one to be cherished.
The door awaits. The trial is over.]