Title: Second Time Around
Summary: After witnessing the deaths of Night Raid and Esdeath as well as dying himself, Tatsumi wakes up on the day he leaves for the Capital. He gets a second chance in life, and hopefully, this time, he can make the right choice. TatsumixEsdeath.

Chapter 1

Tatsumi sank to the floor, Incursio falling away from him as the last of his energy ran out. His blood bubbled out of his wound, falling onto luscious locks of blue hair, staining it a deep red. Tears continued to spill down his cheeks as he looked at the woman before him and he could barely summon enough energy to press his hand to her cheek, prompting a small smile from Esdeath.

"Tatsumi," she said softly, struggling to press her own hand against his, "Don't be sad. I don't regret it."

He shook his head at her words, "No, it's all my fault. I should have-"

"That's what I liked about you, Tatsumi. You followed your heart and you never listened to me. I would have never fallen so in love with you if you weren't you."

He gazed down at her, despondent as he looked down at her dying body.

He had thought her invincible. Even if Night Raid had won, even if they had succeeded in righting the wrongs of the world, he never would have thought Esdeath would have died. For some reason, he still held on hope that she would change for the better, that she would finally realize what that she was serving the wrong people.

Some part of him loved her.

And he had realized it too late.

Everyone was dead. The Prime Minister had turned on Esdeath, just as she had always expected him to. Still, expectation did not stop the Prime Minister from winning. It was a simple enough tactic, one that Tatsumi never thought would've worked. He had drained Esdeath of most of her blood, taking away her teigu as well as her life.

It never should've worked, but the teigu was seemingly comptatible with the Prime Minister. As a result, he had used it to wreak havoc on the remaining Night Raid. Esdeath had always held back on them; the Prime Minister had sliced Mine, Leone, and Akame in half before they even had a chance. Tatsumi had barely gotten away thanks to Incursio, but even then he hadn't been fast enough to dodge a fatal ice shard.

"I never wanted it to turn out like this," he admitted truthfully as he slowly continued to stroke her cheek with care. "I just wanted to live in a world with peace. Where the rich didn't take advantage of the poor, and girls suffering from poverty weren't sold into the lives they didn't want. But it seems as if the rich always win."

"You mustn't blame yourself," said Esdeath sadly. "It's not your fault, Tatsumi."

"It is! I should've listened to you. I should've taken you up on that offer and stayed with you. I should've tried to change things from the inside. The Revolution was always a far-fetched goal, and I don't know why I thought it would be otherwise."

"Tatsumi," said Esdeath, and for the first time, Tatsumi saw tears in her ice blue eyes.

"I wish I did. I wish I could go back in time and make the right decision. Because," he paused here, coughing out blood before finding his courage and energy and slowly leaning downward and pressing chapped lips against her forehead. "I love you, Esdeath, and I think I always have."

The tears finally fell from her eyes as she closed them at his words, "Thank you, Tatsumi."

She was gone in seconds, but she died with a smile on her face.

Tatsumi couldn't stop the hysterical sobs erupting from his mouth as he let go of the rest of his energy, falling forward and landing onto her body. He had fought his feelings for so long before finally admitting them to himself, and now he would die before he could do anything with the revelation.

Life was cruel.

But maybe the next life would be better.

As he closed his eyes for the last time, Tatsumi found himself wishing for a second chance.

He startled awake, a gasp leaving his lips as he fully opened his green eyes to harsh sunlight. Where was he?

The ground was hard, but softened by the grass. He was out in the opening somewhere, and although he was disorientated and should definitely be dead, he recognized where he was. He was only miles away from his village. Slowly, he made his way toward the lake near him, hoping that he would be able to wash the blood away from his wound.

He was confused, and definitely still didn't know why he was alive and not dead, but there were more important things to worry about than how he got there. First he had to clean his wound and find a safe place to hide before the Prime Minister found him. When he lifted his shirt to clean off the wound, he was startled to find that his wound wasn't there. There were no traces of it, and when he pressed down hard on his skin, he felt no pain.

That was when he glanced over at the lake, catching sight of his reflection.

He looked young.

Gone were the scars that had covered his body from multiple fights and he definitely looked as if he had de-aged. He looked...like he did when he had left his village.

But if he had really went back in time, then…

"Incursio!" he shouted out, and was immediately reassured by the feeling of Incursio coming out and covering his body with impenetrable armor. And was promptly shocked at his reflection for the second time of the day.

Incursio was no longer white. Instead it was pitch black, with a cape that was ragged at the edges. Skulls adorned the side of the armor, and chains criss-crossed their way up his legs and arms. And there was a ragged hood on top of his armor, encasing his helmet in darkness and making it hard to see.

But the most surprising change was the long scythe that had taken the place of his sword. It was huge, and although he couldn't feel the weight of it while in Incursio, the scythe towered over him, with the edges gleaming and promising pain.

He looked like Death.

"Greetings, Tatsumi."

Tatsumi whirled around, immediately brandishing his scythe in front of him in order to heed off any unwanted attacks. His green eyes darted around the clearing, in hopes that he would see who was talking to him.

There was a raspy laugh as he did so, echoing eerily throughout the clearing.

"Show yourself," Tatsumi demanded.

"All in due time, little one. Don't you have more important things to ask? Such as, why I decided to send you back in time?"

"It was you?" Tatsumi asked in disbelief.

"Maybe, maybe not," teased the voice. "Okay, fine, it was me and you should be grateful I decided to do so. You were in for a quite the horrible fate down in hell."

"Why did you save me?" he asked warily. He couldn't say he believed the voice, but honestly, the voice had no reason to lie. Other than to drive him insane...but for now he was ruling that out.

"Well, let's just say the Prime Minister winning is something I don't want. And because you hardly reached your full potential in your other life. What with how demanding Night Raid was, you barely even had anytime to train! You had so much potential, but you squandered it away by staying with such a weak band of individuals."

Tatsumi winced at the voice's attack, feeling a spark of anger at the casual way the voice was talking about his life. "Night Raid wasn't weak," he started to protest, but he couldn't continue because he knew the voice was right. There was just too little of them; in reality, they had no chance against the Empire.

"Mmhm," the voice sassed, before becoming serious. "So I decided to give you a second chance. Don't mess it up. Oh, and your teigu isn't called Incursio anymore. Let's call it Death. It may not have the same powers as your old one, but I think you'll like them all the same. And Tatsumi? If you fail me this time, you won't be going to hell, because I'll personally serve you a fate even worse."

Tatsumi waited a few minutes in order to ensure that the voice truly did disappear before turning his thoughts inward and thinking about what just had happened.

So he had a second chance in life.

But this time, someone was watching over him and analyzing his every move. Even now, he felt as if eyes were upon him.

Joining Night Raid wasn't an option in this life. The voice had made that abundantly clear.

But what should he do then? He would rather die than join the Imperial Army, but it was obvious he wasn't going to be getting any stronger by staying away from the revolution.

Esdeath.

He thought back to what he had told her right before she had died, that he would do anything to go back in time in order to take her up on her offer.

He had a chance now.

Mind made up, Tatsumi stood and readied himself for take off.

First course of action: Find Esdeath.

A/N: hoped you liked! :) I just wanted to write a little something for this fandom because the manga is so addicting ! And esdeath and Tatsumi are so cute together _ and although I do like Mine, I just like Esdeath so much better!

Please review/fav/alert! ^_^