A/N: Yet another introspective piece done by me. It certainly has been a while since I've done one of these. Actual little plots for oneshots have seemingly taken over. But here's another little something. This is just what I think the poor guy might have been feeling in that small moment between Celes and Nihon. Hmm, I don't seem to have much to say for this one, maybe it's because I'm tired. DX Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Lose

No. No. This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't be. It was impossible. None of this was suppose to go this way. He should be the one that was no longer with them. He was the one that should be lying there without breath. He-

No, no, no, no, no! He wasn't dead yet. Red eyes still caught the light of a strange sun and breathe still passed through his lips. He knew he should do something, anything. He couldn't just sit here and watch while the man faded away. But his muscles seemed frozen, cerulean eye glued to the crimson fluid that flowed from his shoulder. He couldn't understand it, couldn't puzzle out the mystery of why he was still here instead of trapped in a distant world. Why did the man do it? Why did he save him? Twice? He had no reason to; he should have just left him behind, left him to die. So why hadn't he?

Hot tears rolled down from his single eye, mixing with dirt and blood. The king's blood. This man's blood. He felt almost drenched in it even though there wasn't that much that covered him. It was a weight, a sign of his sins. Maybe if he hadn't have been around everyone would be alright. Maybe he should have been the one to fall from that tower. Everyone would be happier if he wasn't there.

He opened his mouth as if to speak but no words pushed past his chapped lips. His breath came in short, ragged gasps and he felt as if he wasn't getting any air. His chest was so tight. His mind kept repeating the same thing over and over again, running in a loop that didn't know how to stop. In that one, endless moment, he was trapped in a new, more horrifying hell.

It was all his fault. He had been the one to tear the last remnants of this family apart. Why did this have to happen? Couldn't something have been done to prevent this? He as losing, everything was slipping through his fingers like ice water.

A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. He moved his frozen head to look at a young girl who had suddenly appeared at his side. But he didn't truly see her, his eye still seeing that same cold image. It was burned into his mind and he wasn't sure if it would ever go away.

"Don't worry," the girl said. She smiled kindly at him but worry and concern were obvious in her eyes. "We'll take care of him."

That was when he saw the soldiers surrounding them. Several of them reached down to pick up the man that lay bleeding on the cruel earth. The other one, the dazed one, looked on in horror as he was taken away.

"No!" Words finally came to his lips but they were meek, barely there and too faint to hold any strength. "No!"

That soothing hand lightly squeezed his shoulder. "Don't worry," the girl repeated. "My name is Tomoyo. I'll make sure he is taken care of. He won't die."

Though he heard the words as she spoke them, they didn't register in his head. His whole attention was focused on that one dim point of light.

No. The thought reverberated in his mind, an endless chant turning within him. Don't die. He would not be able to stand it if he did. Don't die, Kurogane. I can't lose everything. I can't.

Because Fai didn't know what he would do if he truly lost everything he held dear inside him.