He had heard her cry echoing through his mind only seconds before, but already he feared it was too late. He ran for the source, as fast as he knew how, milking his connection with the planet for all it was worth, using it to speed his movement and calm his nerves. Yes, he would be able to do something, if he could just stay calm. He could help her; it wasn�t too late. He ran.

Her cry still reverberated through every part of this mind. Over and over again. It was a cry of anguish, of fear�of pain. Oh, God, he had to hurry. He had to get there, it had sounded too final. He never should have left her alone; he never should have even brought her there. He couldn�t remember what he had been thinking, but it didn�t matter anymore. It was too late to take any of that back; he just had to get to her, now. It couldn�t be much farther; he knew he wasn�t far from her.

Another pained cry ripped through his mind. He tried to only focus on what needed to be done, yet his thoughts briefly traveled back to Aerin. Aerin�the baby she carried inside her. With the exception of his love herself, of Ellengia, Aerin was everything to him. His daughter, of course, but she was also so much more. She represented so much for both of them, and their families. Their families, who had been murdered, at the same time by-

Jenova! He was closer to her now, he could feel her presence, but it was rapidly overpowered by that of another familiar presence, one that made his heart twist with anger and fear. Jenova. If he could have possibly run any faster, he did, but he was losing all sense of speed and time.

Another cry. No, this couldn�t happen, he wouldn�t let it. They were everything to him; he wasn�t going to lose them because he made a stupid mistake. He wasn�t going to fail them like that!

Again, she screamed out in his mind, this time with grief. He was beginning to feel weak, the presence of Jenova sapping the strength he was drawing from the planet and forcing him to rely on his own exhausted physical strength. Still he pushed on, his breath coming in short gasps, his heart pounding against his chest. Just a little bit farther, it wasn�t too late, she wasn�t gone yet, he could still feel her.

And then he saw it. He rounded a corner, into an alley - what was she doing in an alley? - and there she was. On her knees, her head being held up by someone�s hand, gripped tightly in her hair - her beautiful hair, she wasn�t meant to be touched in that way. Her large, green eyes were wide with fear, and their glow was beginning to fade.

No, no, no� This wasn�t happening. He took a step forward, but found he could no longer move properly and collapsed to his knees. His eyes traveled down, past so many deadly wounds, to her stomach, where her blood-soaked hands clutched helplessly around a gaping hole in her abdomen, and bile rose inside of him. Aerin�oh, God, not Aerin�

�Jerome�� Her voice, thick with the blood pouring from her beautiful lips, finally brought tears to his horrified eyes. He couldn�t tell if it was supposed to be a warning or a cry for help. To him, it was just a dagger through the heart. But it was nothing like the pain she was in, he knew. God, why had he left her?

�Jerome, is it, then�?� His heart must have stopped. �The other one�you�re just in time.� It was the sickening overlapped voice of a puppet. �I was afraid you weren�t going to get to watch any of it.� He needed to look into the thing�s eyes, to let it know that he wasn�t afraid; he needed to let the planet�s strength penetrate it, and make it feel everything that he did. But, he couldn�t tear his eyes away from his love�s. Her sweet, sweet, fading eyes.

�But, here you are, for the best part.� With this, a long twisted dagger was held against one side of her neck. No, no�he needed to do something, this wasn�t happening, this wouldn�t happen. Finally, his eyes ripped away from those of his love�s, as he tried with everything he had left to draw their Mother�s strength into him; anything, to fight this monster. His gaze lifted to that of the puppet, but was quickly snapped back at Ellengia�s sudden, final gasp of air. He had only caught a glimpse, but those deadly, luminescent, maroon eyes were forever burned into his memory and his psyche, existing only to haunt and remind him.

The blade had already cut across her throat, forming a deep gash to the other side, with more blood pouring out than he even knew she had in her. He stared, in shock, still on his knees, and heard another cry, a voice that sounded foreign yet familiar to him as the dagger dropped to the hard concrete, his love�s lifeless body not far behind. Jenova�s presence was suddenly removed from him and from the area, but he barely even noticed.

No�it wasn�t true. He cried out to the heavens, to the planet, and whatever other Godly or higher power there was that it wasn�t true, it hadn�t happened. He could take it back. He got to his feet, trembling, and stumbled over to where she lay. Tears were falling down his cheeks in an endless stream, and his vision was turning blurry, but he did not notice. He crashed to his knees next to her, ignoring the pain caused by the concrete.

He turned her body around, laying her head in his lap. He didn�t even notice the blood that covered her, he could only think of how pale she looked�like a ghost. He mumbled one more time that none of it was true and placed a palm on her forehead, calling into him the planet�s healing energy. �Healing wind,� he whispered chokingly, closing his eyes against the burning tears. He could feel the familiar warm breeze whip around the area, but something was different.

His energy wasn�t traveling into her. He concentrated harder, but the soft green glow would not come to her. He opened his eyes and concentrated still harder, his gaze drilling, first, into the gash in her throat, and then the hole in her abdomen. He stayed like that for several minutes, his body and gaze tense with determination.

Nothing happened.

�No�� he said to the world. �You can�t�you can�t do this�� He removed his palm from her forehead, eyes wide, and shaking his head with disbelief. He looked around frantically for the puppet, but there was no sign that it had even been here. Why hadn�t it taken him too? Why!? Why didn�t it kill him? She wouldn�t let him die with his first family, why wouldn�t She let him die with this one, now that he didn�t even have another to fall back on?

She knew�She knew that he couldn�t produce another Cetra by himself. There was no reason to kill him. She could never do something so kind. His green eyes flashed with a rage that he could never before remember feeling in his life, but was quickly calmed as the planet reached out to him, caressing him as only a mother could do.

He turned his head back down to his love. His sweet, loving Ellengia�and their beautiful daughter who hadn�t even gotten a chance to live� The tears were streaming down his cheeks at full force once again, and he drew her body up into his arms, holding her once more�just once more. The planet was beginning to pull her away from him, so gently. It was asking him not to forget them�his family.

�I could never forget,� he whispered. He leaned to her, and their lips met one final time. His arms tightened around her, as if it could keep him with her longer, and he held on to their kiss. He remembered climbing trees with her when they were just children. And the first time they had kissed, with her parents right in the next room, feeling like they had just gotten away with something so huge. He remembered the way they had fallen on each other when their families were killed. He remembered when she had made him one with her for the first and only time. And when they were first made aware of Aerin�s presence. That had been the best day of his life.

He remembered every moment with her, and every detail, never parting their lips.

Even as the warm, loving, luminous tendrils of Lifestream rose from the planet to embrace her, he did not let go. He could feel the Planet drawing her beautiful soul into it�so gently. Still, he did not let go, his lips pressed to hers eternally. Her body began to fade from sight and from touch. Still, he did not let go; and still, his kiss remained.

Even as she faded out completely, as her presence in this realm burned out, like a candle at the end of its time, he did not let go, his arms passing through her.

Their final kiss had not ended. It was forever.

There had been no goodbye.

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