Silence covered the room. Everyone's words fell to the floor and shattered.
Ali's "I love you" seemed to convey just how meaningless their words were at this point in time. Asumi's throat was clogged by emotion. She couldn't say it back.
The soft blue petals in front of Asumi slowly breathed in, rising, each cell filled with luminescence.
Her right hand slowly rose, it became blatantly clear now that there was no other path for their story to go than this one.
Outside the dim shrine lay the soft elegance of the forest, now bathing in morning sunlight. Glamour that only existed because of a lack of interference, no forceful planting, no obsession with placement, nature was wild and free, and that very aspect was what made it so endearing. Soft wisps of wind kissed across scattered leaves, caressed rocks and danced across grass til they finally flew upwards above the canopy, joining the grand breeze up above.
"I love you too," Asumi's fingers finally clasped around the stem. As soon as she made contact, an unpleasant lightheadedness washed over her.
She spent the next few moments completely dissociated. When Ali pulled her in for a hug, she didn't hug back. When Kaze, Ayumu, Yukina and Kaito all joined in the embrace, she couldn't hear their sobs, or feel their warmth. Instead, she just kept her gaze fixated and unblinking on Ali, even as tears burned her eyes red. She couldn't look away, her subconscious completely focused on memorising every detail of Ali's face, burning it into her memory.
Did he always have that beauty mark above his left eyebrow?
Where did he get that scar above his right cheekbone?
Paranoia began to creep into her mind. If she couldn't answer these questions now, then how much was she going to remember in ten years time? Before she spiralled deeper, Ali squeezed her hand.
Asumi came back to reality.
Hand in hand, they were now two steps away from the front door. The flower in Asumi's other hand, and the one tied in her hair, both pulsed with a definitive glow. When did they get here? When did they get so close to the end?
Asumi glanced at the door, and then back at Ali, who smiled softly. She swallowed her emotions and clenched her jaw, words couldn't get past her brain into her mouth, her lips quivered with a million emotions.
Beneath Ali's smile was unbearable fear. Now, as he stood behind the door to his death, his mind grieved the lost future, and everything he wouldn't be able to do.
He wanted to marry Asumi.
He wanted to watch the world change and develop.
He just wanted to live again.
He didn't want to die.
Asumi could see the desperate longing for more time in the centre of Ali's dim eyes. Whatever concept of a future they had now floated away, like a balloon just high enough to be unable to reach, even if they jumped the highest they could.
"Why?" Was the only thought in Asumi's head. Why had ten lifetimes worth of suffering been placed on her shoulders? Why did she have to witness Ali die three times? Once to Akaza, once to Eira, and now finally to the world. She clutched Ali's hand the tightest she could, biting her lip to fight back against breaking down right there.
"It's going to be okay," Ali said. And with that, he leaned forward, taking the first step. His left arm still staggering behind, holding Asumi's hand, who was frozen in place. Mustering up whatever courage she had left, she ignored how her heart was slamming against her ribs, how her stomach was flipping in every direction and how her head throbbed painfully. She took a deep breath in and followed.
The wooden boards creaked subtly as she planted her foot forward, both of them now only centimetres away from the door. Morning bird calls are muffled through the thick wood.
Ali placed his hand on the textured wood. The tendons in his hand flexed ever so slightly, showing he was putting force into them. He was opening the door.
Almost like it was a trigger, Asumi shut her eyes instantly, tilting her head downwards, she clenched her jaw so hard her ears rang, her breaths became quick and shallow. She couldn't watch, she wasn't sure if she was physically able to, she wished that she would just wake up in a cold sweat, for it to all be a terrible nightmare. She begged all the gods for any semblance of mercy upon her. Her throat choked with unsung screams, and eyes held back desperate tears.
And then, a streak of sunlight hit her face, a line of heat arising instantly.
As if the warmth gave her a surge of willpower, her eyes flew open and her head shot upwards, prepared to face the worst sight. Her thoughts were cut short as she saw what was happening.
"I can't push it open," Ali's hoarse voice chuckled. Perhaps out of subconscious fear, or severe muscle fatigue and weakness, maybe both, he was unable to push the door past a tiny slit. He was completely covered, the peeking sunlight only touching Asumi.
It was silent for a minute or so.
Kaze, Ayumu, Yukina and Kaito, who had stepped back, recognising the significance of this moment, all just stood there. Unsure whether to help, or just, stay where they were, deep in their thoughts. Asumi stared at the door, petrified and horrified. Ali's hand just kept trembling, and with every passing moment, the door creaked back to closing fully as his strength gave out.
The opening got smaller and smaller, the sunlight on Asumi's face narrow and narrower.
But, just before the door fully closed and the sunlight converted back into shadow, Asumi extended her arm. She placed her hand on Ali's, pressing the stem of his precious Amare Flos against the back of his palm. The dim shrine lit up, not by the tiny streak of sunlight creeping through the door, but from the flowers, both of them. The one is pressed in between their hands, and the one tied into Asumi's hair. For one final time, the petals filled with light.
Asumi and Ali pushed together, the door creaked fully open, and the rays of sunlight kissed across Ali's entire body. A forbidden warmth glossed over him.
It felt oddly peaceful. Patches of his skin began to ignite with gentle flames, they scurried over his body, punishing him for daring to go against natural order.
Ali did something he never did before, even when he was a human, especially since it was described with so much danger. He lifted his eyes and stared directly into the sun, the sheer brightness pierced the dim loss of sight that the poison plagued him with. His entire vision was filled with a total white, and in the centre of that... was a faint image of Asumi.
He could hear her saying his name. Ali smiled. He felt like he was complete again. He let out a small laugh, his smile stretching.
His entire body was alight now, covered in an inferno as piece by piece, he dissolved into dust and ash.
Asumi didn't let go of his hand, because the fire spreading to her would be merciful to her.
Ali didn't let go of her hand, because he wanted it to be the last sensation he felt.
The warmth filled him, inside and out. He gently closed his eyes.
It only took a few seconds. Ali was completely reduced to ash, and almost as if it was on cue, soft winds dove down from the sky and carried his remains on their back, dispersing him into the air. Some dark flakes stuck to scattered leaves, some lay on rocks, some hugged the grass, and some joined the grand breeze above.
For the first time in over a decade, the Amare Flos in Asumi's hand began to wilt, brown and fade from its beautiful blue.
Amare Flos. A flower that does not die, does not waver, does not wilt or tilt, a flower that is kept alive by not water or sunlight, but by love.
Both flowers, the one tightly clasped in her hand, and the one that sat in her hair, slowly became grey and dead, time catching up to them. They, too, turned to dust and crumbled into the wind.
Both of her hands were empty now.
Asumi collapsed onto her knees, her heart pounded with grief that knew no control. The group quickly came to her comfort. The same sorrow had plagued all their souls. Asumi's cries echoed through the forest.
The wind wailed alongside her.
The end.