Epilogue

   

"Two choices..."

The power was intoxicating. He could feel it boiling up within him. It was a tangible bubble within him, a bubble he stroked with mental fingers. The thrum that rushed through him at each brush of contact was a mix of sweet pain and pleasure that made the hairs on his body stand up, made him tremble, made his eyes close in the sheer rapture of controlling so much.

"The first is to wipe the slates blank. Weiß and Schwarz will vanish. They will have never existed. We will never had murdered. We will be simple people living simple lives, friends, rivals, lovers. It will be a second shot at the life we were never offered."

Sometimes he thought the power was just too much. It was more than he could handle. He could allow himself to melt into it, but the pain from that was the pain of a million flaming knives burying themselves inside of his skin, slicing him open and ripping him apart. The pleasure was greater than a thousand orgasms all at once, washing his entire mind and body senseless with the pleasure that was too great to understand.

"The second is to make us forget that this ever happened. Maybe I'll just wipe you seven clean of my existance, and head out to where I can play with the world. You seven will continue on as if nothing has happened, Weiß and Schwarz that clash again and again in battles that could be pointless unless they didn't hold such strong personal meanings."

It was growing. He closed his hands on it and felt his back arch, felt the scream that ripped itself free of him instead of hearing it. It was burning him, it was consuming him. It was telling him _now_, _now_ was the time to decide what to do. He forced it open and gazed inside it, into the flaring depths of it, and thought This is mine. This is me. I exist.

And then there was the third choice, which remained unspoken. That was the choice that Omi took, the choice he knew he'd take. He stepped into the power, and exploded.

***

    "What a cute kitten!" Omi laughed in delight, scooping the small creature up. Its nametag jingled and he turned it to read it aloud. "If Lost, Please Meow. Strange, but still cute!" He hugged the creature close to his chest, stroking its fur gently and turning to face his teammates. "Where'd you get it?"

    "It was, uh, a gift from a friend," Yohji answered, exchanging glances with Ken.

    Omi stroked its fur. "What's it's name?"

    "We never really gave it a name."

    "Lets name it Zanzou!" Omi said brightly.

    Ken coughed into his hand, looking towards Aya. Aya lifted one shoulder in a delicate shrug. Ken turned back to Omi. "Good name!" he congratulated. This morning Omi had been returned to them. He was like he had been seven months ago, with the exception of the change in his looks and the faint dark gleam in the backs of his eyes that would probably never go away. Close behind him had been Crawford, coming on a temporary truce with a strange tale to tell about a gift called Zanzou. Omi didn't know Crawford had been there.

    The phone rang and Omi hopped to answer it, greeting with a cheerful "Moshi moshi!" He spoke with the customer for a few minutes before hanging up. "That was someone named Fidori-san, calling to make sure his arrangement was ready. Is there one?" Aya gestured to the arrangement he had just finished. "I'll deliver it," Omi offered, lowering the cat gently to the floor. He padded over to the plant and lifted it, scanning the address attached to the handle of the basket. "I'll be back!" he called breezily, then let himself out of the shop and into the sun outside.

    Schuldig was standing there. Omi paused. For reasons he didn't fully understand, he no longer feared nor worried about the Schwarz assassins. He met Schuldig's gaze boldly. "What are you doing here, Schwarz?"

    Schuldig gave a slight shake of his head. "And the thirst for truth will remain unquenched," he said softly, with what might have been regret in his tone. Omi tilted his head to the side in confusion. Schuldig turned away and starting off down the sidewalk.

    Omi watched him go. Words were tugging at his lips, wispy memories dancing through his mind. He shook his head, half-turning to deliver the flowers. He hesitated, then turned back towards Schuldig. "Davi," he called after the telepath. Schuldig froze in his tracks but didn't turn. Omi trusted his voice to say what was right, to reveal what his mind wasn't sure it knew. "Her name was Davi."

    Silence, thick and cold, fell over both of them. Schuldig didn't move, didn't make a response, for the longest time. Then there were simple words, words that part of Omi grabbed at in mixed delight and triumph, words that the other part didn't understand. Schuldig was leaving. Omi watched him go for a few moments before heading off to find Fidori's house.

    "You were the better cat."


Owari

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