Finding Ada
One Shot

It has been 1 months, 3 weeks, 5 days, 17 hours, 48 minutes and 9 seconds since Spain. I normally wouldn't be counting down this time, but it just shows me how long I had been without her. The only reason that time has reset is because I had found her again.

Finding is a strong word for this encounter though. When you find someone, are you supposed to find all of them? Not just physically, but mentally as well? Shouldn't they be relatively the same person you knew at one point?

That's not what it was like seeing her again. She was someone else completely. Worn to a point of death for most. It's amazing that she is still living.

I walked into the small room. It was damp and cold, unsuitable for any living creature, yet, this is where she was being kept. The lighting was extremely dim. A child's book with fairly large print would be difficult to read, yet I could still see my hands in front of me.

To add to the miserable room, it was dirty. Disgusting would be a compliment to it. I could be scraping the caked grime from the walls for a good few years, and it may be somewhat cleaner. The words to describe the repulsiveness are not even in the human language.

This was not the part that appalled me. It was the woman in the center of the room. Both her hands were bound together. Large, thick, rusty chains were holding her above the floor by her wrists. Her feet were bound the same way, only attached to the floor. There was no escape by any means.

She was stripped to next to nothing. Only enough clothing to hide two specific parts. Her entire body sagged. Her head hung loose on her shoulders, her dark raven locks appeared unwashed and hung flatly off of her head. Her usual ivory skin was dark and covered in lacerations, bruises and dirt, all indistinguishable from each other.

Was this the once confident Ada Wong that I once knew? Surely not… I needed a look at her face.

"Ada?" I murmured softly.

I didn't want to startle her. She didn't even twitch at her name.

"Ada?" I said slightly louder this time.

Again, she didn't appear to notice it. I walked cautiously up to her body unsure of what to expect.

"Ada?" I whispered a third time, already beginning to lose my hopes.

I couldn't lose her like this. I wouldn't. I refused to.

I was snapped out of my daze when I heard a faint hum. She was still alive. I watched the effort she exerted to lift her gaze to hold mine. Her jade eyes locked with mind, and it was like looking into a hazy glass marble. Her eyes were so cloudy with exhaustion it appeared as if she hasn't slept in weeks. They were awfully dull and showed barely any signs that her soul was still living. The dark circles under her eyes were like tattoos. They practically match her hair, and it was sickening.

She shouldn't be treated like this. No one should. Her head nodded slightly from fatigue, and I held her chin gently in my hand, letting her relax. She blinked her gratitude.

Looking at her like this was painful. I was almost at the point of tears, but there was no way I was going to cry in front of her.

On the other hand, she held herself together as if she hadn't been mistreated for weeks on end. She showed no sign of giving up whatever she was fighting for. I was here now. I would save her from this seemingly endless torture.

"It's too late, Kennedy." She breathed, seeming to understand what I was thinking.

"What's too late?" I murmured back, playing dumb.

"Too late for me." Her eyes were burning into mine, but the fire was beginning to weaken. "I'm sorry, Leon, but this is the final goodbye."

"No. I'm getting you out of here alive." The words sounded very familiar to my ears, like they were once said in a forgotten dream. But the past wasn't a dream, no matter how much either of us wanted it to be.

"You can't." Her voice became a whisper as her eyes shut. "I can't take it anymore."

"You won't have to. Look, I have the keys." She didn't move at the sound of the good news.

I let go of her chin, letting her head go slack once more and began to release her from the shackles. I removed the binds at her feet first, revealing the raw and worn skin that had been under the cold metal for some time.

It appeared to have been injured and reopened several times. There was no way to fix that mess of skin anymore. I moved up to her wrists and released them slowly, hoping to cause as little pain as possible. At this time, it looked as if she couldn't possibly hurt anymore then she already was.

I maneuvered myself so I caught her instead of hitting the grimy floor. I dropped the key, because it was of no use anymore, and pulled her into my arms. I sat myself onto the floor, not caring about my clothing. Clothing could be recovered, but a human life could not. She sighed.

Her relief of pain was obvious. She opened her jade eyes one last time. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." I tried to smile, but it was next to impossible.

The only woman in the world I had ever loved was dying in my arms. Again. There was no way back this time. I didn't want to put her through anymore agony, but I wanted one more answer.

"Why were you being tortured like this?"

She smirked. It was playful and slightly seductive, and it reminded me of the old Ada. The one who wasn't dancing with death. She brought her hand up and ran her fingertips delicately across my cheek. The touch was so light and angelic; it felt as if I was in a dream. I knew what she was asking.

I brought my face close to hers, and pressed our lips together. The kiss was as alive as it was static. I knew that it wouldn't last forever because time was counting down against her. When I finally pulled back, Ada had the most content look on her face.

"Before I tell you, you must promise me something."

"Anything."

"Just let me sleep."

I knew exactly what she was asking. She wanted to rest. Fall into an endless slumber until the end of time. I wasn't sure I was willing to let her do that, but if that's what she wanted, then I would give it to her.

"Alright."

For the last time she looked into my eyes, the beautiful jade becoming duller as each second passed. "You were the answer they wanted from me." As she finished that sentence, she sighed and blinked for the last time. Her eyes never reopened.

This is a product of being so tired I can't keep my eyes open. But I can't sleep. I don't know why. I'm half an insomniac. It's kind of depressing, I know. I just happen to get good idea's late at night. You don't want to know how much sleep I'm getting, or how much sleep I'm NOT getting. That's beside the point. R&R I hope you like it as much as I do.