Send Me the Moon

Sweet sun, send me the moon
Empty the skies out, bringing me one step closer to you
Send it soon
And I will breathe in, breathe out
Until you come in and out of view
Sara Bareilles

Having lived the life he has…it's no wonder he is where he is.

Standing at the edge of some randomly placed building while looking down at an empty street, flurries catching in his hair and the cold biting through his skin. A human – but not really human – statue, trapped in time and forever scarred by memories he would rather live without.

Being who he is…it's no wonder he's got that gun to his temple.

Cold metal pressing against fairly warm skin, so hard against it that a headache starts to form. Breath trickling past chapped lips as he tries – and fails – not to cry like the baby he doesn't want to be.

Really. It's no wonder at all.

His breathing is ragged, torn from his lips along with a string of endless sobbing. His body is sagging; ready to fall with each and every violent shake it takes.

But he can't fall yet.

He needs to wait a few minutes more, until his throat comes unclogged and he can speak for no reason but to speak.

At this point, he knows it's not a lie when people tell others that, in near-death experiences, their life flashes before their eyes. Every memorable moment is playing out before him, sucked from his mind and left to flash around his shaking form.

From patrolling with Yuuki – that beautiful, ridiculous girl – to sleeping alongside Ichiru while their world silently fell apart around them. From feeling Shizuka slip away to tasting every last drop of his brother's sweet strength. From loving Yuuki from afar to watching the Headmaster cook up a disaster with nothing but a spoon and some torn pages from a cook book.

From watching Kaname Kuran from a distance to finally, finally drowning in the ecstasy that was the king's blood.

Closing his eyes, the silver-haired boy can still feel the way the pureblood's sweet, royal blood slid past his throat. Against him, he can still feel the way Kaname shook, whether from fear or longing he still wasn't sure. He can still hear that sweet voice urging him to take what really should have never been his in the first place.

All for Yuuki.

Always for Yuuki.

As tears slide past the fine contours of his face – past bruised eyes and pointed cheekbones – he finally feels his own body shaking.

He knows it's time.

To end the game he never wanted to play in the first place, but desperately hoped to win, even if he'd never say it out loud.

Some secret part of him wants to suck it up, to take what he can get and just deal with it, but an even greater part of him knows it's not possible. For too long he's put up with the heartache of not being good enough, and he's sick of living the life he was cursed to live by another's cruel hand.

Wiping his eyes with the back of the hand that isn't holding the gun, he takes one last shaky breath before starting.

"Damn you," he sighs, closing eyes against the comfort that comes with knowing how close the end actually is. He chuckles lightly before shaking his head, feeling the gun slide against his skin as he does so.

"You made a fool of me, you know?" He knows he'll get no answer, but he pauses anyways. "You still do. Even now. People are gonna laugh when I'm gone; I know they will. They never cared about me. I was always so mean to them." He shrugs his shoulders, as if there's someone listening. "I tried. I really did. But they're all so happy, cooped up in cages and locked behind doors. They don't know what it's like…

"You made it bearable. You and Yuuki, although I'll never admit it. I mean, I really did hate you, but…things just sort of slid into place before I could do anything about it."

Cocking his head up towards the sky, the hunter takes a moment to examine the scattering of stars against the night. "You're like all those stars up there, all sparkling and perfect. It's not fair. I'm drawn to you, like the night to the stars, and you don't even care. No one likes the night; all it does is scare people. They only look to see you."

Looking back down, he wishes, for a split second, that things were better. He can almost imagine a perfect life, a life with no human-turned-vampires, no foolishly loveable girls, no rotten purebloods.

It's a fleeting thought, but it doesn't cease to cause more tears.

"If only my parents hadn't died, if only Shizuka hadn't ruined it all…She took everything from me. All that I could have loved…" His hands tighten into fists as anger swells, pushing sadness back down his throat and causing it to stick. "I-I'm sorry…sorry that she forced me to meet you…and Yuuki…and the Headmaster…And I'm sorry that she's taking me away." His smile is bitter. "Not that you're going to care, of course. You'll be happy to know that I'm gone, won't you?

"When you hear, you'll probably break that scary-ass composure of yours and smile, damnit! I only wish I could be there to see it…"

Realizing that he's talking much too much, he squeezes tight on the handle of the Bloody Rose positioned perfectly beside his temple. Sniffling, he wipes his face and gets the one last thing he wants to say.

"I love you, Kaname. Always have."

His breath pours from his lungs until he can't breathe, and the finger on the trigger pulls.

A loud shot rings through the air, slicing through the silence and shocking the night into a state of stillness. Nothing moves. Nothing breathes. Even the stars, which were once so shockingly bright, now seem afraid to shine. They pool their light quietly beside them, eager to shine but scared to do so.

It's only then, when the hunter sucks in a breath, does life move on.

Confused out of his mind, the silver-haired boy barely manages to realize the fact that the gun is no longer in his possession, and that a pair of long, delicate arms are wrapped around his slim frame. He looks back and forth a million times, trying to figure things out and failing to do so.

"W-what?" he chokes, scared out of his mind. No, this can't be hell. But it can't possibly be heaven, can it?

"Why did you never tell me?" a smooth voice questions, tickling the hunter's studded ear and shocking him into a paralyzed sense of stillness. "I would have listened, you know. There would have been no need for…this." A graceful hand motions to the area surrounding them.

"D-did you…" He trails off, shaking and crying and not knowing up from down. "This isn't happening…You aren't here…"

Flower petal lips pull back into a gentle smile, playing with the boy's heart and toying with his mind. "You underestimate your own beauty, Zero. Even the slowest of our race knows that the night draws the stars, not the other way around." He reaches up to brush the tears from his gorgeous hunter's face. "So innocent…Why did you not tell me sooner?"

"I-I…uh…you…" Beneath the tears, his cheeks manage to flame pink. "You can't…You're not…You don't…"

"Zero?"

"K-Kaname?"

"Can I tell you something?"

Wanting desperately to look into the pureblood's eyes but not wanting to spoil what must be a dream, he settles for nodding his head against the vampire's chest, allowing himself to fall limply into the strong arms holding him. Surely, he is dying. He must be.

"I love you, Zero. Always have."

Hearing his own words on repeat, something snaps in the hunter's mind. "What?" Struggling in the strong embrace, he turns to stare wide-eyed up at the pureblood, barely registering the fact that he's no longer standing on the edge of the building anymore. "Did you just…"

"You're mine now, Zero. I was foolish to wait, but you must understand, a lot had to be cleared away before I could just sweep you off of your feet and carry you off into the sunset."

The elegant pureblood places cool hand on either side of the boy's face, loving how warm and innocent he feels. He leans forward until he can feel the hunter's ragged breathing floating across his cheeks, comforting him in a way he never knew possible.

"Zero…"

"K-Kana…"

Whatever he is about to say is pulled from his mouth as delicate lips mold against his own.

"I'll fix things. I'll make you feel loved, perfect. Just as you should be."

AN: If you listen to the song while reading this, then everything seems sooo much better:D