Author's prattling:

Well I did write that I had more ideas, so here goes. This will be a two-shot (or a duology if you will) and it's gonna deal with the anime ending, so there are MAJOR spoilers ahead. I will write it in the same style as TCK, i.e. not interfering with anything which actually happens in the anime episodes, but merely expand on the already existing scenes, write new scenes, and see just how much I can tweak the ending without actually changing anything (well apart from some of the speech which I might alter a bit, but you can blame my strange subs for that). The story will be in the universe of TCK also, and the whole 'workings of creation' etc. explained there applies to this one as well, furthermore everything which happened in that story can be considered to have happened prior to this one.

And thanks a bunch to all you guys who reviewed TCK, it really got me motivated to write this and get it posted quickly.

Still the imaginary scene changer. The double line shifting from the real world to flashbacks/dreams etc. and back again. The single line indicating a scene switch within the general flashback.

Disclaimer: I own a vast amount of things but Chrno Crusade just ain't one of them. (grumbles, growls and grouches)

So... onward to the story.

Astral Line

By Shnoosh

Chapter 1- Pursue the Dream

He was tired.

Extremely tired.

Leaning wearily on the door to the crude wooden cottage.

He was weak.

So weak.

Barely able to keep his legs from buckling beneath his weight.

He was aching.

Aching awfully.

Trying to keep the pain doused by not moving a single muscle.

His body was beaten and broken.

But not due to any of the reasons he was used to.

It wasn't because of any physical stress, nor because he had overly exerted himself, not because he had been fighting multitudes of enemies, and not because of any disease, poison or injury he was trying to recover from. No, this was simply because he was...

Old...

This was the feeling of strength and vigor being sapped by age.

The feeling of his body wasting away as he died slowly

The feeling of irreversibility

Of inevitability.

It was ironic. He was in fact... extremely old, how old exactly was unknown to him, he might be a hundred years... maybe a thousand, not that it mattered anyway - but actually growing old, which for humans came naturally with time, that... was something he had consciously chosen. The feeling had become evident over these last few months, and at first it wasn't really that bad...

A sore back in the morning.

A leg having problems waking up fully.

Exhaustion from doing mundane physical work.

Eventually it became worse though...

A constantly aching body.

Loss of motor skills in fingers, and limbs.

Shortness of breath for no reason at all.

But...

I don't mind...

He looked towards his contractor. She was sitting, rocking back and forth on the porch swing - his handiwork - enjoying the last rays of light, just the way she always did, just the way she loved. Her eyes were closed, and her lips were curled into a wonderful little smile, as she let the orange warmth of the setting sun caress her face. He could spend hours simply staring at her... and he did too... when she was cooking, when she was cleaning, when she was doing laundry, when she was sitting out here, when she was sleeping...

Yes, he had aged... not in appearance, but in strength, physical as well as spiritual. And yes, he had done it for her, so she could live just a little bit longer. He knew, that he would never stop draining her, but he could take the pain, this contract inflicted upon her, and redirect as much as humanly (or demonly) possible towards himself.

And he would gladly take more, he would gladly take any amount of hurt in the world, if it could lessen her pain by even a minuscule portion of what would be inflicted upon him. If it could prolong her life by even a fraction of a second.

No... He didn't mind being weak, old, aching, hurting.

He didn't mind it one single bit...

But...

She must never know...

The wound, which Aion had inflicted upon him in their final battle, sent a sharp stab through his back, and he suppressed a flinch.

That wound...

A curse and a blessing.

A curse, which sometimes would cause him pain, and sometimes would be bearable, sometimes he would be fighting not to crumble to the ground, and sometimes he would almost not feel it at all. But it would remain with him always, limiting his strength, making him even less physically fit, decreasing his ability to help with all the daily chores around their home...

Home...

Then she would do them, all of them if she had to, and it would make him feel guilty.

She should be resting... not working.

But he couldn't help noticing, how much she actually seemed to enjoy it, walking around the house at a leisurely pace with the broom in hand, sweeping dust and dirt away from the living room out on the porch, and further down onto the ground. Her eyes would be closed, her lips would form a little smile, the sun would illuminate her features, and she would hum a soft tune...

GOD, she's beautiful...

But the wound had been a blessing too.

He had sensed it so clearly after the fight with Aion. Her life had almost become depleted. She would only have about two months left... perhaps three, if he should stay alive and well. But she would have more than a year if he had just died then and there. She could have experienced another birthday... another Christmas... maybe Joshua would even manage to regain his memory in that time with her aid...

But she didn't want that.

She didn't want any of it.

So he did the second best thing he could do for her lifespan, and forced himself to live as far below his own survival level as possible.

He knew, that she would never knowingly allow him to become this weak, never deprive him of the astral, which his body screamed so desperately for right now. She would reprimand him, tell him that it was jake, that he should take care of himself, eventually start beating on him if she didn't notice an improvement in his condition (which of course would be ironic), maybe even threaten to release the seal if he still didn't get better, effectively blackmailing him into using more of her life. Yeah, she was so endlessly stubborn, and she would be determined to win the fight one way or the other. But, he had successfully convinced her that his deteriorating health was due only to that wound, and since it was inflicted by another demon he would be unable to heal it without transforming into his full form. He could much more easily convince her that she shouldn't release the seal and die for that alone.

It's only a lie...

A little white lie...

A lie which allowed her to live.

A lie, without which, she would have died months ago.

A lie which had extended the length of their dream to more than half a year now.

It was just not enough.

She deserved more... a decade... a century... a millennium of happiness, and if he could... only... give that to her he would do so, without hesitating a single moment.

But...

I just... can't...

He couldn't give.

He could only take.

So the best he could do was to take as little as possible.

And that was exactly what he had been doing.

For six months now...

X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X X

"Chrno..." She tried to call out his name, as her demon partner fell to the ground, but she was so terribly weak. She had released the seal, so Chrno could fight Aion in his full form, and now her own body was simply too heavy for her to lift. She could barely breathe, much less scream, and the name she had tried to cry out had only escaped her lips as a whisper.

Chrno had fought Aion, and had used a lot of power doing it. The fight in itself had actually been extremely short, a one-strike one-kill type of battle, very similar to a duel between Japanese samurais. Chrno had used just enough of his power to dispatch of his nemesis in the shortest amount of time. Effectively he had minimized the total amount of astral that he needed to use, but the intensity had been so overwhelming for her, that she had no idea how she had even managed to stay conscious.

CLACK...

The clock snapped shut again and she began feeling the strength return slowly to her body. Chrno had reverted to sealed form, and was lying face-down thirty feet away from her. He was completely still.

She began to move towards him. Thirty feet of horizontal crawling, which felt like a mile long vertical climb...

She dropped down on the ground again, panting breathlessly...

"Chrno..." The whisper was a bit stronger than before, but moving was still a task which felt impossible to her.

With a surge of willpower she raised herself to her hands and knees once again, and continued the trek towards her apparently lifeless partner. Her movements were agonizingly slow and she repeatedly had to stop, gasping for oxygen, which her blood seemed virtually unable to absorb. But she would not let her own body stop her now, she would force it to keep moving.

She finally reached him. "Chrno." Her voice had become stronger, and she could now feel a bit more strength return to her. The demon lay in front of her, his jacket and his shirt were torn revealing a wicked slash across his back, which went diagonally from his left shoulder all the way to the right side of his waist. Crimson fluid was slowly bubbling out from the horrible gash, and she even thought she could see a hint of white bone through the red blood...

Rosette panicked.

"Chrno!" She tried to gently shake the wounded demon's shoulder, to get him to wake up, but he didn't respond.

With all her strength and a cry of exertion she turned the demon onto his back allowing her to see his face. His eyes were closed, his breathing was almost nonexistent, and his body was completely motionless.

"Chrno! Please wake up..."

She managed to sit up, wrapping her arms around her partner's back holding his limp upper body close, trying desperately to force the sides of the wound closer together, trying to shut it tight. Her hands were getting smeared in the sticky liquid of his life.

"Please don't..."

Then tears began to spring forth seemingly unable to stop. Droplets ran down her cheeks, and she gripped the sinner even tighter pressing him towards her chest...

"CHRNO!"

"Geez... Rosette..." He coughed. "that scream could... wake up... the dead..."

"Chrno!" It didn't stop her tears, not by a long shot, but her expression changed from misery to joy. "You're alive!"

"Yeah..." He coughed again, she could hear that he was very badly hurt. "Still..."

"What do you mean still? You're gonna be alright now! Aion's dead! There's nothing to worry about! You just need to get better!"

"I know..." Another cough, a bit of blood came out with this one. "But I will have to use... your life... and I've already... used so much... you have so little... left..." His voice was strained.

"SO? Just do it already!"

"But you... you will... live longer... if you just... let me... die... don't worry... I'll still... be here... to watch over... you..."

Now she was getting angry, just how bloody thick-headed could he allow himself to be? "But I don't want that! I don't want your spirit or whatever the hell you wanna call it watching over me! I want YOU to get better!"

Blood-red eyes widened a bit at her outburst. "But you can... live... longer... you can go... rejoin Joshua... that was what... this was all about... wasn't it?"

Her voice lowered. "Joshua is with the order now, right?" The question was answered with a small nod.

"That's good... they will take care of him..." She averted her gaze from his eyes, and spoke in a sad tone still holding him close. "He didn't... recognize me, Chrno..." Her eyes began to water and her words began to choke on repressed sobs. "I just... feel that... he's never... going to..." She immediately gripped him tighter. "I don't... think he... needs me anymore... Chrno..." She was now pressing the demon towards her, scared of letting him go, scared of being left alone.

The statement had caused Chrno's eyes to widen further, all this time she had cared for little else but finding her lost brother, always been so hopeful and optimistic about their future, and now she just...

But the demon also knew about Joshua's condition. Even after he had lost his... or rather Chrno's horns, the boy had still not been able to remember anything. Furthermore, his mind had stayed being that of a child - some form of defense by denial he had put up, to shield him from whatever memories would otherwise plague him, the sinner presumed. No, Rosette had outgrown Joshua by much more than just the four years, in which they had searched for him, and seeing him in this condition, knowing that he might not recover within her remaining lifetime, knowing that he might never recognize her as his beloved sister again, would only cause her more pain.

"Besides," Rosette said loosening her grip again and returning her eyes to his. "You made a promise! Remember?" Now she almost sounded like she was twelve years old again, it was really adorable, and he couldn't help but smile a bit.

"A... promise?" Honestly, he had no idea what it was.

"Yeah, you promised that when all this was over we would pursue our dreams."

Through the haze of his pain and past the water of her tears he could see the stare in the her eyes. A stare which unmistakably told him 'And I'll hold you to it'.

"I want to do that now. I want to live my dream. And my dream..." She blushed, and her voice quivered a bit, but her gaze was kept firmly locked on his. "It has... you... in it..." She immediately grasped the sinner tighter again burying her face in the crook of his neck. "Please... Chrno... don't leave me..."

The injured demon coughed again. "Are you really... sure about... this... Your life will be... so much... shorter." He still didn't want to heal himself, not until he was absolutely sure that this was what she wanted, and that she was sure of it herself.

"I know..." She smiled into his shoulder. "But I'd rather live a short life with you, than a long one without."

Wow!

Did she actually just... say that... about him? Of course he had always wished that he could stay with her, he loved her more than his demon mind could comprehend, and he would physically hurt by the mere thought of leaving her. But he would feel even worse for wanting to still be alive and feed off her soul, when there was no need for him anymore. Then again, he had always tried to convince himself, that she mostly needed him to help her find Joshua, maybe because it was easier for him to accept that idea, than to acknowledge the fact that she actually needed... him.

Slowly killing the one you love is a truly horrible feeling, especially when he or she wants nothing but for you to continue doing it.

But his own feelings could be damned, his own shame and guilt could go ahead and torture him mercilessly - it didn't matter.

This was about what she wanted, and nothing else mattered.

"Alright then..." He allowed his body to absorb more astral, the hands of the clock sped up slightly, and he could feel himself beginning to heal. He had become increasingly better at controlling his consumption rate over the years, and he could raise and lower it merely by focusing on it. Soon he would decrease it again however, there was absolutely no reason to use any more than necessary, and maybe not even that much. "But... I just hate... taking your life like this."

She turned to look directly at him. "DON'T... say that!" Her response was agitated to say the least. She couldn't stand it, when he began wallowing in this guilt of his. It hurt her too. "You're not taking ANYTHING! It's ME who's giving. There's a big difference."

He smiled meekly and tried to sit up. "I guess... if you say so..." She released her grasp.

As he sat up further, Rosette saw his back, and immediately uttered a startled yelp. The blood had ceased to flow from the wound, but it still looked ghastly, like infected scar tissue having been brutally slashed open.

"Chrno! Be careful! You're still hurt..." Her voice was again laced with fear... the fear of losing him.

"It's alright." He turned his head slightly and smiled at her. "It looks a lot worse than it feels. It will get better in time, but since it's a wound made by another high ranking demon, I can never heal it completely unless I change into my full form."

"So... do you need me to release the seal, so you can heal it?" She asked cautiously.

"NO! I can live with this. Some humans live with injuries for life, and so will I. I will not have you release the seal for something so unimportant! In fact you're never gonna release it again! Understand?"

Rosette was a bit taken aback by his reaction. The authority, he had just spoken with, clearly indicated that he was a lot older than her. A fact that his sealed form and easy going nature made her forget sometimes, and her response was sheepish. "Okay..." She raised herself to her knees and began to get up shakily. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah... but I might need a hand" He was given one immediately, and the pair stood up uneasily, leaning on each other.

"What about that?" He gestured towards the standard issue exorcist gun laying by the outcropping she had been sitting on when he first got here.

"Let's just leave it, it's not who we are anymore..."

Chrno couldn't help but look at her. Her eyes had already started to look towards the horizon, with that wonderfully hopeful gleam which nobody but her possessed. She was so determined... so ready to go forth into her future, to leave everything behind her, practically break every tie she had with the order... with all of her past... with everyone else... that thought made him realize something. "Oh, wait. We need these..." He let go of her, staggered over to where Aion's horns lay, and picked them up. He picked up his own along with them.

"Why? What do we need those for?" Rosette asked slightly confused, she would rather forget everything about this, and leave it all. She didn't need the memories those horns brought with them.

"Just wait and see, you're really gonna like this." He managed to put on a smirk as he made his way back to her again. That smirk always made her blush. It just seemed so diabolically devious and yet so innocently cute at the same time.

He stumbled and practically fell into her arms, when he reached her. His breathing was ragged and his muscles had tensed. Even though he had healed some of his injury, the wound was still severe. "Chrno... are you alright?" She had grasped him tightly, as if he would die should she drop him, and as she held his trembling form, she became aware of her own weariness too. If she didn't concentrate on keeping herself conscious, she could fall asleep any second, and fall would not be figuratively speaking.

"Yeah..." He pushed back a little, allowing him to look straight into the azure depths of his contractor's eyes - they seemed to regain color and life by the second. But she also looked extremely tired and worn out, and she would need him for support.

For a moment they stood in silence, with arms wrapped around each other, simply savoring the feel of the embrace, while blocking out the rest of existence.

Right now, there was nothing in the world but them.

Rosette brought her face nearer his, closing her eyes as well as the short distance separating their mouths. The kiss was not very deep, just the soft brush of slightly parted lips meeting each other in a gentle caress, with just a hint of moisture from the tongue. Just a slight taste, which ended after just a few seconds.

"Let's go... Chrno."

He nodded in agreement. With his right arm kept firmly locked around her waist to steady his own balance as much as hers, and her arm draped across his shoulders allowing her to lean on him, they began walking slowly out of Central Park. They both needed the support of the other to be able to walk, much like two adjacent cards in a card house needs to lean on each other to stand.

He turned to look at her. "So... this dream of yours... what's in it then..." And now he managed to smirk again. "That is... apart from me of course..."

She responded with a little smile. "Well... I'd really like a little house... nothing fancy though, just a nice home in a meadow in the country... where we can live in peace..."

He let out a small breath. "We'd better go find ourselves one of those then..."

"And I'd like for it to have a porch with a swing where I can sit and watch the sunset..." She closed her eyes as she started to envision how it could be like.

"Well, if the house we find doesn't already have one, I'll build one for you."

"You can do that?" Her eyes opened, and turned to look at him.

The cheerfully surprised tone in her voice had made him smile. "Sure." Now he simply had to make her a swing. "How hard can it be to use a hammer?"

"For you, or for someone who actually knows how to?" She replied mischievously.

Chrno stuck out his tongue, in a wonderfully childlike sign of contempt, that caused her to giggle, which in turn made her final stigmata hurt.

Rosette flinched and stopped, gripping her side and buckling over slightly. Instantly the sore demon muscles tensed around the teen's waist, in an effort to hold her steady, in case she might fall. She raised her head again giving him a strained look, which tried to tell him she was alright.

They kept still for a few moments, before slowly resuming their joined walk.

After a little while, Rosette spoke again. "So... what about you Chrno?" The question was asked with cautious curiosity.

"What about me?"

"Don't you... have a dream?"

"Hmmm... well I did... once... but I abandoned that a long time ago... and since... I guess I never really thought about my dreams again after that."

"Then... think about it now."

"Now?"

"Yeah like... who would be in it..." She really couldn't be fishing any more obviously, even if she was holding a 6 foot pole with string and hook attached to it.

"Okay... let's see..." The crimson eyes turned skywards and the demon seemed lost in thought. His face turned into a grimace of almost meditative brainwork, and even though he was obviously just teasing, he could sense how his contractor became increasingly annoyed with the way he purposefully dragged out his response. "Well..." He could almost envision how the vein in her forehead, which told him so much about her mood, had grown to almost double size by now, and he'd better answer before she decided to hit him. Rosette might be weary to the point of passing out, but he felt sure that no matter what, she could always summon the strength to give him a noogie. "You... for starters..."

Now the gold haired girl just couldn't keep her mouth shut anymore. "For starters?" Her expression was not entirely pleased.

"Aaaand..." Deciding that it was too soon to get physically hurt again, he quickly continued.

"That's it."

"That's it?" Her response was a bit relieved, even though it really shouldn't be - but also - he noted, surprised.

"Yeah... that's it." It was the honest truth he needed nothing else... literally.

"And... nothing else?" Her tone began started to become as happy as it had been surprised.

"Nope."

"Just me?" She couldn't get tired of hearing this.

"Yup."

"You really... don't want... anything else?"

"What can I say..." He shrugged lightly with his left shoulder, and smiled. "I guess... I'm just an easy demon to please."

"Oh, I don't know about that..." Her smile widened a bit and became playful. "But I think I'll manage..."

That made his smile widen a bit as well.

The two silhouettes slowly disappeared out of the park, leaning heavily on each other, taking their first unsteady steps together in the direction where the sun was setting and the dream beginning...

So that's it for the first part, seems like a decent place to stop, no attempted cliffhangers or nuthin... damn I'm getting soft.

The promise Chrno can't remember was actually something I made him... uhh promise in the train scene of TCK, it was a smaller thing back then, but of course Rosette is going to remember it.

So now, all you gotta do is review, easy right... go ahead, I promise (there it was again) you won't regret it :)