The silence between me and Zane felt heavier than anything I'd ever faced on the battlefield.
Outside my hospital window, the storm clouds had finally parted… but inside, a new storm was beginning.
Zane hadn't moved from his seat. His hand was in his coat pocket, trembling.
"What is it?" I asked.
He looked at me — and I knew something was wrong.
More than wrong.
He hesitated before pulling out a folded, slightly blood-stained envelope. My name was written on the front in shaky, familiar handwriting.
Zane's voice was raw. "She told me to give you this… if she didn't wake up."
Time stopped.
He placed the envelope in my hand like it was a final goodbye.
I didn't want to open it. Something in me already knew.
But I had to.
I had to.
Anos,
You idiot. You lovable, stubborn idiot.
I don't even know how to start this letter because I hate that I'm writing it in a hospital bed, while you're unconscious, on the edge of death. But I guess that's us, huh? Always fighting. Always chasing the impossible.
Always surviving.
But this time… it felt different.
When your body started failing and you collapsed, something in me snapped. I didn't even think — I just knew I had to help. I remembered what the scientists once told me about my nerve quirk… how it could act like a living conductor, a bridge between life and death. But they warned me too.
They said if I pushed it too far, it could shut everything in me down. My heart, my brain, my soul.
But I didn't care.
Because it was you.
It's always been you, Anos.
Since we were kids. Since you defended me from those bullies in the courtyard. Since you stayed up with me after I flunked my first combat test. Since you patched me up even when you were the one bleeding worse.
I loved you before I even knew what love meant.
And yes, I'm hurt you didn't tell me about Dark Phantom. That you kept this wall between us. But I also understand. I really do. You carried a weight none of us could begin to imagine.
And you carried it alone.
So I made a choice.
If there's any part of me that can save you — even if it destroys me — then I give it. Freely.
Because you were the one who saved me long before this war began.
I don't know what happens next. Maybe I'll wake up and punch you in the face. Maybe I won't wake up at all.
But if I don't… then promise me something.
Live.
Not for the mission. Not for revenge. But for all the moments you've never let yourself feel.
Promise me you'll live and love like you were meant to — like the hero I always saw in you.
Goodbye, or maybe… see you soon.
Love always, Diamond
The letter fell from my hands.
I couldn't breathe.
My legs moved on their own. IVs yanked out. Monitors shrieking. Zane shouting after me.
But I didn't stop.
I tore through the hallway, heart pounding like it was about to burst, blood singing in my ears, vision blurring with tears I didn't know I was crying.
Room 402.
I burst through the door.
And there she was.
Diamond.
Unmoving.
Pale.
Her face was peaceful, too peaceful, wires laced along her temples and chest like threads holding her to this world. Machines buzzed softly around her, but her hand… her hand was ice.
"No…"
I dropped to my knees beside her bed, gripping her hand with mine, pressing it to my forehead as the tears broke free.
"You're not allowed to do this to me," I whispered. "Not after everything. Not after that letter."
Silence answered.
I shook. My body still weak, still broken, but none of it hurt as much as this.
I wished I had told her. I wished I had said it back. I wished I had kissed her that night on the rooftop when she looked at me like I hung the stars.
And now all I could do was beg the universe not to take her.
I leaned in, pressing my forehead to hers.
"I love you too," I choked out. "I always did. I just… didn't know how to show it."
The machine beside her gave a slow, single beep.
And then another.
And then…
A pause.
A long, terrifying pause.
"Diamond?"
Nothing.
"Please…"
Another beep — slower. Fainter.
"Please stay…"
And then—everything stopped.