My Last Breath by Rondomness

Rating: T

Summary: When Kaname loses the battle of the ultimate leadership of vampires, how far will he go to keep his beloved safely hidden away?

Warnings: Character Death, angst, yaoi.

Spoilers: Only spoilers for the most recent chapters of Tears of Blood, since it's not really a part of my other fanfictions and just a stand-alone oneshot.

Pairings: Kaname x Zero/Zero x Kaname. Possibly implied Toma x Zero.

A/N: This is a side story I just HAD to write after chapter 75 of the manga. Yeah, I know… it's kind of like a million years ago but due to me having to wait until I had reached a point in my main story were Kaname and Zero sort of love each other for it to not be the world's biggest spoiler, I had to patiently wait. Completely AU to the real story and completely AU to my main story… actually, it doesn't fit anywhere… It's set around five years out in the future.

It's just a small bit of something to entertain yourselves with while I finish chapter 19 :D

Name taken from the Evanescence song of the same name.

Disclaimer: This fanfic is for entertainment purposes only, no money is being made from it. The characters are made by Hino Matsuri. I do NOT own Vampire Knight nor any of the things mentioned in here.

Zero was beautiful like this. His eyes closed, asleep, unconscious, his head resting on Kaname's shoulder. The pureblood carried him through the woods near Cross Academy, wanting to have him as close to the academy as possible. The closer he was, the bigger chance he would be found soon.

"Zero, you would hate me for this if you could," Kaname whispered to himself more than to the boy. "You would say I care too little about myself. Say that I should love myself more. But that's not true, Zero. It is out of love I do this, out of love for you. It was always the plan. It was always the plan to make Yuki human once again. It was just not meant to be you instead."

If Kaname hadn't. If just he hadn't been so horribly weak, if he'd just been wiser and known what he had planned to do all along, then Zero would never have ended up in danger. He was creating an army. An army to destroy Kaname's power and take over governing. He was creating an army of ex-humans and he wanted Zero. Not only because Zero probably was the strongest ex-human alive, but also because he knew it would break Kaname's spirit if he lost him.

No. Zero should never belong in that pureblood's army. Zero should be free. Free from the devastating curse of blood. He should never have been dragged in anyway. For nine years, the hunter had suffered and suffered under the great weight of vampirism, but not anymore.

Kaname placed the unconscious ex-human on the soft forest floor when they were close enough to Cross Academy. Once again, Kaname let his hand slide through the silver locks, let his fingers touch the perfect porcelain skin, let his ears hear the sweet sound of Zero's breathing. No price was too high to pay for this boy. Zero was the tender existence that was Kaname's only one and to ensure his happiness, the pureblood would do anything. After Yuki's death, Kaname's only reason for living was Zero and for Zero, the pureblood would also die.

Die… It was strange to think off. But even if this was the end, Kaname would go through with it with a smile because it would make Zero happy. "I will free you of this horrible curse of blood. Of this world of fears, dangers, all because of me. I will free you of memories, feelings, needs. I will even free you of me," Kaname whispered slowly, holding Zero close to his chest as he began an ancient ritual, a ritual capable of changing lives forever.

"Natus de Sangius, de Opus, de propinquus haec vitam de Opus apud signaculum de Sanguis."

The pureblood looked down at the hunter as blood started spilling from his forehead. He had not planned this, but there was no other way to make sure Zero was happy than this. Kaname knew that together with him, Zero had been happy, but that did not change the fact that the hunter would only ever be truly happy once the urge for blood was gone.

That pureblood hardly was any older than a child, not more than a few years younger than Zero. But still, he was deathly and he'd taken advantage of the fact that the Council had restrained and suppressed Kaname's powers for years which had infected the entire Vampire Society. And he'd seen his chance.

Kaname's failure had consequences and Zero was not the person to pay for it. If that little brat wanted to control everything, then he certainly would do that without Zero.

The small drops of crimson seemed to rain down on the unconscious hunter as Kaname felt his control, his powers fade away. The blood did not remain on Zero's white skin but got absorbed into his body where it changed his cells and genes. Kaname could feel his consciousness slip away from him and his eyes sought Zero's face again.

"I wish I could have seen your beautiful, silvery eyes… just once more," Kaname whispered before learning down to kiss the hunter's lips. A small crack appeared on the pureblood's chin and it hurt. But it was okay, all pain in the world would be okay if it would make Zero happy.

Forgive me. I love you. Goodbye and… be safe.

That was the last thought that ran through Kaname's head before he turned to glass.

x-x-x-x-x

The morning dew was still on the ground when the Chairman of Cross Academy, Cross Kaien, made his way through the outskirts of the school on the lookout for rouge ex-humans. He and some of the other hunters, including Yagari, had been on high alert ever since news of the army of Level D's on the move had reached their ears, although the hunters' main objective was to kill as many of them as possible and thereby stop the army from continuing to exist, while Cross's was to protect his school.

He would make sure that not one of the poor, mad creatures laid a hand on his students. But even as he despised them for threatening the peace, he couldn't help but feel sorry for them. The true monster was not those pitiful beings, but the pureblood who was behind it all and pulled in the strings. Touma.

This morning however, something which had not been there before, was lying in the brink of the forest. When Cross came closer he recognized the slender form of his almost adoptive son, although something was off. Very off.

Cross was by him in a second but he seemed to be asleep. What was he doing here? It was dangerous for him to be asleep here, Kaname should know that. Cross had long ago accepted that Zero and Kaname was a thing, so why hadn't the pureblood made sure that Zero stayed out of trouble?

The hunter's hair was full of pine needles when Cross lifted him off the forest floor. After a rough little shake, Zero's eyes began to open up. "Kiryuu-kun, are you okay?" Cross asked in concern when Zero a little disorientated got into a sitting position and shook his head. Zero was still Zero. So then, why didn't he feel the same as before?

Zero sat boldly upright when Cross reached out a hand for him to support himself on. The boy suddenly became aware of the older man's existence and then jerked away. His eyes were big, questioning and very, very confused.

"Wh… Who are you?"

The words Kaname say is Latin and means: "Born of blood, of need, of desire. I close this life of need with a seal of blood."