It's Not Goodbye
by Indrawn
- one-shot; song fic -

'…it's until we meet again.'
She's leaving, and all he can do is hold her and whisper…

.

A/N: The lyrics are from the song It's Not Goodbye, by Laura Pausini. It's a pretty nice song, and you can listen to it on Youtube if you wish. I also have an illustration for this piece, but it's important you do not look at it until you finish reading the entire story. You'll see why. :P It can be found as a link in my profile.

x xx ;

He knew she was still inside; the knowledge pulled at him painfully, almost physically. And dismissing any hesitation, he leapt back in through the window, heated shards of glass cutting through his clothing, his skin.

The building was aflame.

You'd think I'd be strong

enough to make it through…

He felt her presence before he saw her. Their gazes met, and it tore at his heart. He recognised that look, of diminishing life in those listless eyes. She didn't move when he called her name.

She was cold, impassive, when he knelt down by her side.

How would I go on

without you there's no place to belong…

She was dying, he knew.

He knew as he slid his fingers around her one good arm, tracing its length slowly down to her wrist, to feel the dimming pulse beneath that tender, calloused skin. Her blistered hand, torn by her own fingernails, stiffened at his touch. The other arm hung limply at her side.

"Sinbad." His name, escaping quietly from dry, bleeding lips.

The glowing timber in his peripheral was a pressing reminder of their circumstance.

I'll just have to believe

somewhere out there

you're thinking of me…

He'd grasped at her hand, bleeding from when she'd dug her fingernails into her palm, willing her unresponsive arm to move. But it was futile; it was already dead. The same went for both her legs, fractured and trapped beneath a falling piece of the high, metalled gables. They were already rendered useless: all three of her limbs.

"Can you move?" Even as he asked his eyes darted to her legs, twisted at an awkward angle; to the now white-hot metal debris crushing, pinning them down. The heat didn't hurt her anymore.

She knew he realised the extent of the damage.

"No," she said. She was faintly aware of the flames now licking at the framework, spreading, consuming the building slowly. "Leave me. It'll soon be too late."

And his eyes flickered.

Until the day I let you go

until we say our next hello…

He was dying, she realised.

She realised when his fingers encircled her wrist, and brought her hand to rest against his chest. Violet eyes widened, locking with his. "If you die, then I probably would, too," he said quietly. "My body would be moving, but my heart would have stopped forever." And then she subconsciously gripped at the fabric of his shirt, holding him tightly. "…That would be the same as dying." She could feel the faint beating of his heart.

For once, she was afraid. She was afraid to let go.

I'll be right here

remembering when…

The heat intensified with every passing second, and the roof timbers were already well alight. The lintel over the only doorway had long since burnt down, blazing to the ground.

"We'll die here, you know." She said it softly, voice void of emotion.

Silence. He didn't release her hand, and she lacked the will to resist. Instead he slid his free arm around her shoulders, drawing her close into a tight embrace. He ignored the pain where the glass of the shattered window had embedded into him; and she didn't seem to notice as his wounds stained the white of her torn clothing crimson. Dimly he noticed that she too, was bleeding.

"I'm sorry," he breathed, barely audible.

She closed her eyes painfully, now watering from the acrid smoke, and leaned her cheek into his collarbone. "Why?" she asked.

"I didn't protect you."

But it's so hard to be strong

when you've been missing someone for so long…

"It doesn't matter now," she whispered, breath tickling his ear. "…The demon, it's sealed."

His eyes lowered slowly to the object she had picked up from beside her, was weakly trying to push into his palm. He froze, then reluctantly accepted it.

He didn't need to open his fist to know what was inside.

A white chess piece. The king.

"I guess you won the game, Jeanne." A ghost of a smile traced his lips.

In the end, it all seemed so insignificant, compared to where they stood now. His voice cracked a little with the strain, and he released the chess piece as though burned. It fell to the floor with several clinks; he barely noticed. Instead he concentrated on the beating of her heart pressed against his, fluttering softly, with the same fragility as a dying butterfly.

They remained in each other's embrace; one kneeling, one lying down.

Their silhouettes, a flickering backdrop against the brilliant inferno behind.

On down the road

there's one thing that I can't deny…

The fire had spread, had taken a savage hold on the pillars supporting the crumbling frames of the building.

She pulled away a little, raising her head to study his features, staring into his eyes, inspecting, questioning, fathoming, as though trying to memorise them. His face was covered in a sheen of sweat, attributed to the burning, continually rising temperature. His once-cerulean eyes; they were now glazed in pain and hidden emotion.

"Sinbad, do you truly believe in God?" she murmured. When she received no reply, she continued. "I… I do. And I believe that God wouldn't allow it to end this way. Allow—us to…"

She trailed off as his free hand rose to caress her paling cheek.

Someday love is going to lead you back to me

but 'til it does, I'll have an empty heart…

He hardly knew whether he was trying to protect himself from the weight of his own disillusionment, or trying to erase the pain for the two of them. They were so close; he could feel her ragged breathing against his lips, and wasn't quite sure if they really made contact.

"I love you," he finally whispered, almost smiling. "It's a confession."

To put my broken heart together again...

It would probably be the last time she heard those words from his mouth. The realisation hit her; and tears began to form in her jaded eyes.

She closed the distance between them, kissing him softly. It was bittersweet; the taste of his lips, tainted with the taste of blood and tears. It conveyed all the words she wanted to say, all the things she wanted to tell him, but couldn't. And he accepted it, holding onto her broken frame almost desperately, returning her kiss with all the passion he didn't have time to show.

The hourglass was almost empty.

She never wanted him to let go. "I… I've loved you for the longest time."

If time was on our side

there'd be no tears to cry…

It's not goodbye…

And there they lay: a broken girl and a broken boy, grasping onto their last embrace amidst the blazing, collapsing building; like the fleeting lives of two butterflies beneath a wide, empty sky.

A gentle wind later enfolded all ashes, all evidence. Nothing that could be traced back to the lovers remained on Earth; except, perhaps, their memories.

they whispered,
it's 'til we meet again...

x xx ;

A/N: Critique is always welcome - lots of love to you reviewers. (: Now you can view the illustration in my profile haha. I realised that I love writing Jeanne/Sinbad, much more than Maron/Chiaki. The AMV Maron/Chiaki So Good by GioelleBrokenWings on Youtube gave me inspiration for the content of the illustration.