Chapter 684 Goodbye

Background Music: Saturn by Sleeping At Last

____

"Put me down and run!!! Now!!! You, dumbass!!!" she yelled at him, tearing up. It was bad enough that he came back for her. She did not want him to be held back and die because of her.

"Sorry, Laiza my love... but I can't bear to leave you alone. We'll get out of this together." He reassured her, looking at her tenderly as he struggled to walk away with her in his arms. "Hang in there, okay? It's not over yet. We still can make it."

Laiza shook her head, she still couldn't believe he's here. Her vision blurred as her eyes welled up with tears. "You're such a dumbass... a big dumbass... you should've been in a safe place by now..."

"While you're left here alone and by yourself after saving us? No way!" Levy's smile became so emotional. "Sorry, but this dumbass will not be able to bear it. If I didn't come back, I don't think I would be able to ever get over this regret for the rest of my life. I just know that your image, being left behind after you had saved us, would haunt me forever." He forced a grin again, stumbling a little as he continued moving forward as fast as he could. He wasn't even half as fast as he used to be. He was obviously hurt too and she guessed it must be because of his fall from such height. "So here I am... Please don't worry about it, Laiza. This is my choice. This is what my heart wants."

When Levy fell from the dragon, he had been smiling by himself in disbelief. A small part of him had been telling him 'what have you done? Are you really sacrificing yourself like this for a woman? How about the queen? How about your brothers?'. He had imagined his brothers calling him 'dumbass'. The tears in Luc eyes had him feeling hurt. He didn't want to make them sad and leave them behind. But...

His body started running, looking for her and the moment he saw her, alone and badly hurt in the dark, Levy felt that he had done the right thing... for himself. His heart... it ached and rejoiced at the same time. The excrutiating pain just evaporated and all he wanted to do was hold her, be with her, stay with her. His heart was filled with so much emotion there was no room for regret. Nothing at all.

Her tears fell. She had always heard this person confess his 'love' to her. But it is not until this instant that her heart was truly touched and filled to bursting at his confession through his actions.

The earth suddenly shook, causing Levy to fall on his knees. But he still held onto Laiza, never letting her out of his arms.

They turned back and they felt it... the end...

Time seemed to stand still as they felt the change in the air around them. They could just feel it... the explosion was going to happen soon.

Their eyes met and locked together. Laiza teared up. Fear and sadness filled her eyes. She had thought she was going to die alone. But here she was in the arms of the man who claimed that he loved her.

"Don't be scared, I'm here... Laiza... please don't be sad." He told her as he wiped away her tears.

"Do you really love me?" she asked even though she already knew. She had thought he was merely infatuated. But if this was infatuation, he would not come back for her and be willing to die with her. If this was not love, she really did not know what is. It still sounded impossible. She had thought that falling in love at first sight was something impossible. But this man proved her wrong.

"I love you." He told her, smiling tenderly. This time, the silliness and playfulness were all gone. This was a serious Levy who was confessing his heart to her. "The moment I saw you, my heart was shaken so violently like never before. It might sound silly and unbelievable to you, but... I know my heart. I knew I loved you because my heart had told me so."

"You're... such a hopeless... little... dumbass, Levy..." she mumbled in a broken voice, laughing even as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her heart was full. It was filled with those loving words and the gentle look in his eyes.

She had never thought her end would be this emotional. Before this war, she had always thought, she would get killed one day in the battle and that was it. She was not even afraid of death. To her, it was something that would be as easy as getting knocked down by an opponent. Only that she will never be able to regain consciousness again.

But here she was, crying and smiling in the arms of a beautiful â€" yes, she had acknowledged now that this man was really handsome â€" man. Most especially right now. No, right now, to her, he was the most handsome man. His brown eyes gleamed brightly and had pierced her soul.

And she reached out to wrap her arms around his neck and kissed his lips. Shocking him. She was happy but so sad at the same time. Sad that she had only found him now at the end of her life, and even sadder that he had only found love in this hopeless time and place. This man, she thought, deserves better...

"If there ever is to be a next life..." she whispered against his lips as she cupped his face lovingly, "Please come find me again, Levy... come find me early. I promise... I will give you my heart and love you as you deserve."

Levy's smile widened and he tightened his grip on her.

"I promise, Laiza. I will definitely find you. I love you." He told her and as thick miasma of darkness came at them, he bent and kissed Laiza's mouth with a kiss full of nothing but love and eternal promise.

...

Evie saw Levy. She felt the connection that she had left in him. But she couldn't go save him. It was... too late as she had gone to shield Beatrice along with Onyx and herself.

'I'm so sorry Levy, I couldn't â€"' Evie mind-spoke to him. The magic she had placed to the vampires could only be used once.

'No, my queen. I'm the one who is sorry. I failed to keep my promise to you. Please don't worry and don't be sad... because I'm together with Laiza right now. I'm not alone. Please take care, my queen... please tell my brothers 'I'm sorry'... tell them not to be sad as well. I will just be here, watching...'

Evie teared up as a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She saw an image of Levy and Laiza kissing. She felt his emotions through the connection and though it was painful, she understood him. How could she blame him? She would choose the same path if it were Gav and herself in this same situation. She would run towards him too.

'Don't worry about the others. I will take care of them....' She told him, her tears flowing down her face like rain.

'Thank you, Queen Evie. You're the best queen ever! Goodbye...' Levy replied one last time.

'Goodbye Levy, please watch over us.'

And then Evie watched him hug Laiza close to him, not breaking their kiss even as the darkness slowly turned them both into dust.