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Polnareff lay on the dirt covered ground, blood spurting out from the deep bite mark in his neck, shivering from the pain and the cold wind that swayed through the long grass. Staring up into the clear night sky above him although, everything felt blurry now.
Just a moment before he was being swarmed by the illusions of Sherry and Avdol, born out of a wish he had made to bring the two people he cared about most back to life after their pre-mature deaths, they were biting into Polnareff’s skin, leaving deep flesh wounds with their sharp teeth as they tried to rip chunks out of him.
He had excepted his fate, he had made those foolish and selfish wishes to bring Sherry and Avdol back and now he had to face the consequences by joining the two of them in death. It was only fair, the one who caused their deaths suffering at their hands. But now, they had seemingly disappeared.
At first Polnareff had thought that he must have become numb to the feeling of the two of them gnawing on his body but it seemed that as quickly as they’d appeared, the two had vanished. As Polnareff focussed his hearing, thinking through his throbbing headache to hear the sound of fighting.
He heard loud punch before a body hit the ground. Were Avdol and Sherry tearing each other apart? But that wouldn’t make any sense. He focused on trying his hardest to sit up and see what was happening. As he moved, he felt a sudden and extreme feeling if pain rush through his body, but as agonising as it felt, he still fought through it.
Polnareff sat up, his body feeling stiff as he grasped onto his bite wound. There was a pile of dirt and sand that was seemingly in the shape of a woman that was slowly being blown away by the wind.
He then stared at the sight in front of him with blurry eye sight, trying to make out the two figures. He must have been suffering from pretty intense blood loss because he swore he could see two Avdols. Just as he thought that, one of the Avdols threw a punch that went right through the other’s stomach and out the other side. The other Avdol fell to his knees, into a pile of dirt and sand, slowly being blown away in the wind.
He stood over the pile of dirt, staring at it as he panted. He gave it a quick kick to make sure it was fully head before letting out a sigh of relief. He looked up from the ground over to Polnareff, still sitting in pain holding his own wound. Even with the blood loss, Polnareff defiantly recognised him, from his unforgettable face to his amber eyes and gold necklace that shone in the moonlight to his long red coat and black ponytail that both swayed slightly in the wind.
It couldn’t be...
He stared at Avdol for a second, eyes filled with complete disbelief. Was this really Avdol or was the man in front of him still the sick illusion Judgement had tricked him with? He had seen the other Avdol crumble back into nothing but dirt and dust, back into the ground beneath him, but he still found it hard to believe.
Avdol had been shot. He saw the bullet from Hol Horse’s gun go right through his head. It was an image that had been haunting his dreams for nights. The blood gushing out of his forehead and the wound on his back, running down his terrified face, his body going stiff.
He had gotten himself killed, for Polnareff. He had ran into save him after he selfishly ran in to fight the hanged man with no plan, Avdol took the bullet for him, literally.
But now, the man was standing in front of him, alive. It seemed impossible. It was impossible.
He tried to stand up, slowly. Every muscle in his ached as he moved upwards, his legs shaking as he tried to stay stand. He wobbled slightly, the blood loss really wasn’t helping him in the slightest. Still though, he ignored his body’s pains.
Polnareff took a small step closer, shaking and uneasy. “Avdol?” he murmured, voice cracking as he spoke. Avdol stared back at him as he slowly nodded.
Polnareff took another uneasy step, then another, and another. Despite his extreme unsteadiness, he quickly dashed over to him, until standing directly in front of him. He stumbled slightly, almost falling but Avdol held him still for a second before he found his footing. He had a look of deep concern at Polnareff current condition, but to Polnareff it was the least of his worries.
He examined his features, staring deeply into his eyes, searching for a sign that he might be some kind of fake, a sign he was just an illusion Judgement was using to play with his mind.
In the time they had spent apart, some finer details of his face had faded a little but still, he looked like just like Avdol, down to the most minute of details. He looked tired but relieved, his body and clothes slightly damaged from the fight.
“Avdol” he said, relief evident in his voice.
He wrapped his arms around the other, pulling him in close, squeezing him a little to tight. It was a bit too tight but neither said anything about it, it was like Polnareff thought that if he loosed his grip Avdol would drift away from him again.
“I- I thought you were dead” he stuttered. His voice cracking with every word from the stress and sheer emotion on display. He continued on, “I thought- I thought you had gotten shot back in Calcutta, I...”
There was a long pause as he searched for the right words, he winced, tightening his grip on the other man further.
“I thought it was all my fault” Polnareff whispered shakily, so quiet that Avdol had a feeling he wasn’t meant to hear it.
A pang of guilt rang through his heart. If he knew Polnareff would be this torn up, he wouldn’t have told the other Crusaders to keep his survival a secret from him. Even if he had a big mouth and could have given away the secret, he should have told Polnareff he was alive this whole time and maybe he wouldn’t have been plagued with such guilt, he wouldn’t have went through such mental anguish.
He wanted to apologise but he didn’t have the words now, maybe later on when they had a moment alone he could come up with something but now didn’t seen like the right time. Avdol took a deep breath.
He slowly wrapped his arms around the other man, laying them down just below his shoulders. Polnareff flinched at the sudden feeling of Avdol’s warm hands around him, he hadn’t noticed how cold he felt until now. He leaned into Avdol further, his shaky legs not fully being able to keep himself up with the blood he was losing. He laid his head down onto his shoulder, sobbing quietly into his red coat.
He didn’t know what to say. Avdol always knew exactly what to say and when to say it, but now, he was at a total loss for words. What could he even say in a moment like this? “I’m sorry”? “I’m alive”? “I’m here for you”? “Are you alright”? There were a million things he could say but none of them felt right.
Polnareff let out as sigh as he rested his head on his shoulder, catching Avdol’s attention away from his bust thoughts. “I’m just glad you’re ok” he said, letting out an odd half hearted laugh, rubbing a comforting hand against his back.
Avdol felt tears beginning to prick in his amber eyes but he quickly blinked them away. He took a deep breath trying to collect himself. He tightened his grip on the other man, pulling him in even closer.
“I’m glad you’re ok too, Polnareff”