Ciara's heel clacked on the floor as she closed in on Neron.
Her eyes were narrowed in pure rage, and her heart raced in sheer anticipation. She had thought it would take her an eternity to reach this man, but it had happened so fast.
"I remember all your faces. Everyone who was involved in that ambush..." She spoke in a hushed tone, advancing even more.
"'I've taken care of some of them. The last one being Giovanni."
The impact of her heels and the ground created an echo across the room.
"He actually pleaded with me. Begged me to forgive him." She gritted her fist, and her heart tightened with every word she uttered.
"But do you know what I did?" Ciara smiled broadly, almost like a demon would.
"I made sure to kill him, while making sure he suffered in every second before finally giving out."
Stretching her hand out now, ready to begin her round with Neron, her eyes bulged in excitement and anticipation for revenge.
"Now it's your turn."
She closed in, and in just a second, she would have finally been able to touch the trembling Neron.
However—
>VWUUUUUUUUSSSHHHHH!!!<
A sudden bright surge of energy cackled from behind her comrades, and it was also a sign of teleportation.
"Cease your actions this instant!" The voice echoed, deep and commanding.
Ciara had already reached a point where she couldn't stop even if she wanted to. It would be foolish for anyone to tell her to cease her actions now.
Or furthermore, expect her to listen.
However...
"H-huh...?" He instantly froze, her eyes widening as she mechanically tilted her head behind to witness the owner of the voice.
'N-no... this voice. No, it can't be—!'
"I said... cease your actions this instant!" The blue energy that was accumulating in the voice's origin suddenly dispersed, and the man within it suddenly became visible.
Ciara's eyes widened instantly, the moment she saw who he was.
His auburn brown hair was longer than she remembered, and his build was much buffer than she remembered. He was also dressed as a Grand Federation officer, something she found very odd.
However, despite all these differences, there was no doubt on her mind. The person who stood imposingly behind her was...
"J-Jerry?!"
Ciara's eyes instantly grew wet with tears as she saw him—healthy and alive.
A smile instinctively formed on her pink lips, and she couldn't help but keep her gaze on him, despite the enemy being right before her.
>VWUUUSHH<
He vanished from his position and appeared right in front of Ciara, separating her from Neron.
"J-Jerry, you're... you're alive. I... I..." Tears fell from Ciara's face as she watched him with awe and nothing short of an emotional intensity.
"Ciara, hold on. Something isn't right here." She heard someone say from behind her, but she paid it no heed.
The only one that mattered now was right in front of her.
'Why isn't he saying anything? Why isn't he smiling? Didn't you miss me too? I'm sorry... I... I...' Reaching out to touch his face, her eyes glittering with grateful tears, Ciara smiled softly.
"Ciara wai—"
>SQUELCH!<
"H-huh...?" Ciara felt something sear through her—like a blade of some kind.
This feeling was accompanied by stinging pain, and it slowly began to course through her whole body while intensifying at a point.
"W-wha....??" Her gaze fell to the injury she sustained.
It was a strike directly into her heart.
And it was at the hands of the man she loved most.
"W-why...?"
"You are an enemy. Enemies must be neutralized. All enemies... must be neutralized." Jerry's tone sounded so stiff and mechanical, even though it was still the same voice.
His dead eyes showed Ciara that this wasn't the Jerry she knew, and his unfeeling expression served as more evidence.
How could she have been so fooled?
No, perhaps she knew all along, but her heart couldn't bear it. After seeing him for so long, she couldn't help but hug him.
And so, even with her extremely fatal injury, she drew closer to the one who pierced her and hugged him tightly.
"Jerry... I..." A smile coursed through her face as tears fell.
She felt hurt all over her. It seemed his blade was coated in poison as well, so her entire body felt like it was melting off.
And even though her suit provided her enough vitality to move even after fatal injuries, she could feel herself fade away.
Despite all of that, though, she still clung to him closely.
"M-my biggest regret... was that... I never told you how I felt... even at the very end." Her voice, hoarse and low, whispered.
"You have up your life for me, and you treated me very dearly to you, but... I must have feared that deep down... you didn't see me the same way I saw you..."
Biting her lips as even more tears and blood leaked out of her body, Ciara struggled to breathe now.
Still, her mind was set on finishing everything she started.
"... But I... I didn't have the courage to ask you that...nng..." Her body shuddered as she failed to let go of Jerry despite him bridging out of her grasp.
"... It's too late to ask, but... I will at least say this to you..."
A sad, loving smile coursed through her face as she whispered it into his ears.
"... I love you, Jerry."
And with that, all the energy in Ciara's body finally left her, and she slumped to the ground, drowned in her own pool of blood.
'I-I'm sorry everyone...' She closed her eyes and felt her mind floating away.
No one needed to tell her before she realized it for herself.
This was the end of the line for her.
'In the end... I couldn't have my revenge.'
But that was okay. She got to see Jerry one final time. She got to hold him tightly, and she was able to confess her feelings to him.
Even though she wanted more... she had to settle for those things.
And it made her far happier than how she felt after enacting some form of revenge.
It was a shame that she wouldn't see Neron die, but she took solace in the fact that her newfound allies would avenge her and kill the bastard.
And then, after they were done, she would finally be able to rest in peace with her beloved.
'I know it's selfish, but...' With a final sad smile, she finally felt everything go blank. '... I'll be going ahead now.'
... And then she breathed her last.
