that last good day

The drum of his paws against sand could be heard from a distance. Her head lifts, a cough twisting from her throat. She quickly tries to cover the blood that speckles the sand around her. There is an effort to try and stand up, but she can't. Her legs are weak, her heart hammers in her chest. Settling back into the sand as she watches him run toward her, she can already feel the tears welling in her eyes. Throat clenching tightly, her breath swept away, vision going blurry. She opens her lips, but nothing comes. She can feel herself tremble, not from the cold, but from the surge of emotion that blows over her.

He was here.

Settling into the sand around her, curling in on her until the warmth of his body envelopes her. It is only until his chin rests upon her does she even begin to relax. It is then that the tears start to fall, staining her dark cheeks as she closes her eyes for a moment. Silence falls over them and she almost misses his humor. Even if she wanted to bap him more often than not for his ridiculous comments, she adored him for it. Kuroki was perfect, remember?

Nestling in closer to him, wishing she could furrow in close, she takes as deep of a breath as she can manage. Inhaling his scent to commit it to memory. Though she feels better, there's still that sense of the end that she can't ignore. Not even when his words finally break the lull of the ocean nearby. They cause the tears to flow harder, her chest heaving, trying to breathe, but she can't. He loved her. Of course she knew that. He was more of an action over words kind of guy. The countless nights snuggled on that all too fluffy bed, the days of traveling across Boreas, watching sunsets and sunrises, raising a gaggle of heathens. They had a lived a life she would never regret.

"I would I could stay," Celeste whispers, burying her face farther into his side. She can't hide the tears, the sorrow, the everything she wished she could say to him. That she didn't blame him, that it wasn't his fault, that there was nothing else he could have possibly done. "I love you too," the words are muffled as she practically grabbing onto him with what little strength she has left. She fights back the coughs and the pain, trying to appear even somewhat okay for him. She hates that he has to see her like this, in this horrible condition. "Are-are our babies okay?" Celeste asks, a hoarse whisper as she pulls her face away slightly so she turn her chin up to look at his face.