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Jackie cradles Diamond closer to their chest. She doesn’t care that her shirt is getting soaked in blood. She doesn’t even want to acknowledge that it’s coming from the girl she’s holding.
All Jackie wants to do is hold her gem close.
Dirty, bloody, hands move to stroke some hair away from Diamond’s face. As they do, she watches as Diamond’s now dim eyes flutter open.
A pained smile is in Jackie’s face. She's trying to be strong for Diamond and this is the best they can do.
“H-hey there… t-teddy bear… Don’t close those eyes… It’s not b-bedtime y-yet..” Jackie’s voice breaks slightly as she tries to contain her tears. She doesn’t want to make this harder than it already is.
For either of them.
Tired, dull eyes look back up to her but even now, there’s still a smile on Diamond’s face.
Jackie wants to cry at seeing the smile. She wants to cry so much. She doesn’t want to lose Diamond.
But they have to be strong. They blink away the tears as a hand moves to hold Jackie’s hand close to her face. A weak hand wraps around Jackie’s wrist to keep her hand still.
Jackie hates how weak the hands she once felt protected in are.
When she regains her vision again she can see Diamond leaning into the hand but she’s smiling up at them, trying to keep them calm despite the situation.
Even now, when Diamond is dying in Jackie’s arms and she’s trying to distract her with the same dumb smile they love so much.
“D-don’t wor-” Diamond starts, her voice hoarse. But she couldn’t even finish her sentences as her body tenses and starts to cough violently. Her hand moving away from Jackie’s wrist to cover her mouth.
Jackie’s eyes widen, she pulls Diamond closer to try to sooth her. “Shh… Shh… Don’t do a-anthing… Save… Save your strength..” Jackie begs, resting her forehead against Diamond’s head. “Just… Just keep your eyes o-open… That’s all I ask…”
She can feel Diamond curling up against her. It hurts her that this is happening to them and how no one can help. They’re in the middle of nowhere.
She looks into Diamond's now dulling eyes, refusing to look at the red coming from the corner of Diamond’s mouth.
Jackie opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out. She tries to control her breathing before trying again, “You’ll be okay… I know you will.”
Their own eyes close. Jackie can’t deal with the fact the once vibrant blue eyes that were once so full of life are dulling. She can’t deal with the fact Diamond is dying in her arms.
Jackie jumps a little when they feel a hand on her cheek. She slowly opens her eyes to see Diamond's hand. Diamond’s own bloody hand resting on her cheek.
And she still has that damned smile on her face.
“Diamond… Pl-please keep your strength…” Jackie chokes out, still trying to keep calm but it’s getting hard to keep the tears back with Diamond treating her so softly even when bleeding out.
“May… Maybe we'll be together in… another life…” Diamond coughs and curls up against Jackie even more.
This is when the floodgates open for Jackie. She doesn’t want to be with Diamond in another life. She wants her in this one. Just this one.
Jackie holds Diamond close as tears start to fall on her hair. “D-don’t say that… we’re going to be together in this life… Dumbass..” Jackie chokes out. They hate swearing but they can’t help it. They have to get it through Diamond’s thick skull that she’ll be okay.
Or is she doing it for themself? Jackie doesn’t exactly remember right now.
She soon hears a weak laugh leave Diamond, more like a wheeze rather than laugh. Their eyes snap open and stare down to Diamond with fear.
“That… that’s… seven times…” She curls up more.
Jackie can tell it’s getting harder for Diamond to stay awake, let alone speak. But she still gets confused about what Diamond had said.
“W-what? S-seven what?” Jackie’s tears stop from the momentary confusion. She watches Diamond turn her head towards them with a cheeky yet bloody smile.
“Times… I’ve heard you… swear… sort of.” Diamond laughs but falls back into a coughing fit, reminding Jackie that Diamond is injured and that she’s dying.
“S-shut… just shut up… stop talking.” Jackie tries to act more annoyed but there’s so much pain in her voice that it’s clear she can’t.
But clearly, Diamond doesn’t like to listen to Jackie.
“It’s getting hard… to keep my eyes… open…”
Jackie freezes and squeezes Diamond. They watch as Diamond’s eyes keep drooping but she keeps them open just for Jackie.
“I… want to close them… I’m… tired…”
Jackie quickly shakes her head and pats Diamond on the cheek to keep her awake. “H-hey… focus on me… keep your eyes open…”
But what Diamond does instead is lean into Jackie’s head with her eyes closed. The exact opposite Jackie wants Diamond to do.
“Diamond, keep damn your eyes open!” Jackie’s voice is starting to become more frantic, trying to keep her awake.
“But… you’re so warm…” She mumbles, leaning more into Jackie’s hand. “And I just… want to sleep in your arms…”
Jackie wraps her arms around Diamond, pulling her into a tight hug. “D-don’t… no… stay awake.” Tears are starting to fall again, staining Diamond’s face more than it already is.
It didn’t take long for Jackie to feel a familiar hand on her cheek, leading her into familiar lips.
A pained whine leaves Jackie’s throat. A shaking hand moves to cradle the back of Diamond’s head as she pours every ounce of love she can into the kiss.
Her heart hurts. She's never felt this pain before. She doesn’t want this pain. Her heart hurts so much. The thought of losing Diamond is getting too much for her.
When they pull away from each other, Jackie can see how much of Diamond’s life has left her eyes.
“We… we’ll find… each other ag-... again.”
Jackie leans into Diamond’s hand as they help keep her hand on their cheek. “Don’t leave me…” she croaked out.
The pain in her heart getting worse
“I love you… my…”
Jackie opens her eyes when she doesn’t hear Diamond finish her sentence. “Diamond…?” Jackie mumbles in a weak voice.
But then Diamond’s hand slips from her cheek. Falling to rest on her waist.
“D-Diamond…? Hey… don’t joke… open your eyes…” Jackie begs and pats her cheek again. “Teddy bear…? Don’t sleep… o-open… open…” Jackie couldn’t finish her sentence as she realises that the inevitable has happened.
She’s gone.
Diamond is gone.
Jackie looks down to Diamond’s now lifeless body. The stillness. Her body is starting to get cold. The warm body she loves it’s getting cold.
It’s all too much for Jackie. Her heart hurts.
“No…” Jackie mumbles.
She keeps Diamond close to her chest as the realisation sets in. She starts crying again. She can’t stop. The tears keep falling against Diamond’s head.
“Y-you broke it…our promise… y-you… y-you stupid… annoying… dumbass…” She sobs against Diamond's dirty hair.
Jackie doesn’t know how long she’s sat by Diamond’s side but they have no more tears to shed. She stays sat by Diamond’s side, leaning against a tree.
Their eyes feel heavy.
Probably just the tears.
They look down to Diamond’s forever sleeping face. A pained look comes onto their face but they still lean down to place a kiss on her forehead.
Probably the last kiss she’ll ever give her soulmate.
It’s getting harder for Jackie to keep her eyes open. Her heart is hurting more.
Maybe I should sleep… My eyes hurt so much.
And so they decide to sleep where she is. It doesn't matter if they're in the middle of the forest. Her life had died the moment Diamond did.
They let their eyes close, falling asleep.
The pain in her heart never subsiding, not until she fell asleep.
Not knowing it’ll be the last time, just like her lover that she holds close.
—
The next time Jackie wakes up, they feel someone stroking her hair whilst humming a soft tune she recognises.
They lean into the hand, it seems oddly familiar to her. So Jackie stays in this blissful moment for a while later.
That was until a voice speaks up.
“You shouldn’t be here yet, you know.”
Jackie simply hums at the familiar voice. “Well… it’s just a dream… why shouldn’t I be here?” they mumble softly.
“You’ve always been delusional, buttercup. This isn’t a dream..”
This confuses Jackie greatly. If this isn’t a dream then what is it? She’s here with her gem but she just watched her gem die.
She had also fallen asleep in that forest. So surely this should be a dream.
Jackie slowly opens their eyes, the bright sun momentarily blinding them. Once their eyes get used to the sun, she turns to face Diamond from where she rests on her lap.
“What…? What do you mean?”
All Diamond does is stare down at Jackie. They’re still confused. If this isn’t a dream then where is she? Where are they?
A hand moves to cup Jackie’s face before she feels a soft kiss against their furrowed brows.
“You look so cute when thinking.”
Jackie looks back up to Diamond before she moves to cuddle into her stomach. “Whatever… I’m just going to enjoy this…” She mutters to herself.
She can hear Diamond let out an amused huff before a hand moving to stroke their hair again.
A small breeze hits the two of them. It seems perfect. A dream where they laze around in a field where no one can bother them.
Oh how Jackie will miss this when she wakes up.
If she’ll ever wake up.
—
In a forest somewhere, there lies two girls. Two girls forever entangled with each other and nature. Two girls who will be together forever.
Somewhere in a city, there are people grieving the two girls. Grieving the loss of a daughter and the loss of friends.
But somewhere far, far away, those two girls are together. Together in a field where they spend their days doing whatever they wish.
They are happy where they are. They’re happy together.
They realise where they are but they are together and that’s all with either wish for.
That’s all what either wants.