"You have someone… who doesn't want you to disappear."

It's cold, even freezing, the numbness seeping into the very tips of your fingers, and you feel that nothing, nothing was ever going to be right again.

She's gone, gone without a trace, save for the barest trace of her warm smile.

It makes the loss even more tangible.

Why, you ask, why would you do such a thing?

She's never done anything to deserve this.

She was killing you, is all he says in reply.

As if it was the only thing that ever mattered.

As if you were the only thing that ever mattered.

Your knees slip from under you, the surroundings become hazy and your eyes distantly focus on a single blossom floating down, down onto the ground, the same flower that was imprinted on her kimono, before she was…

Before she disappeared.

She was so lonely, you say, your throat constricting as you form the words.

Like me, you almost add, but the words fail to materialize.

You have someone who doesn't want you to disappear.

You fly at him, pummeling his chest again and again until the strength leaves you and you start to fall again down onto the ground.

He catches you, supporting your weight easily with his arms.

And you realize that he's always caught you, has always been there to catch you.

"I'll do anything, even sell my own soul, if it meant that you wouldn't disappear."

Always will be there to catch you.

And you think briefly, as your eyes shut and you sink down into dark, dark bliss, that you might not have been as alone as you thought you were, after all.