"Don't let me go."
"Don't worry, I won't ever let you go. I promise."
Ikari's scar is the first thing that people notice. And it drives them away, since it is the symbol of her father, one of the most feared villains of all time... before he died.
...
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*warning: mention of death
Tether
POV— Hebinoya Ikari
Don't let me go.
The tether tightens.
It desperately tries to tug her down, but to no avail.
She is left floating amongst the stars,
in a wondrous galaxy all to herself.
She is meant to never see him again.
Don't let me go.
There is something tightening around my ankle.
The rest of my body does not exist— lost elsewhere in this dark, endless void. Millions of stars shine above me, bunched and clotted together to form a radiant web of cosmic wonder. Thousands of different colors dot the night sky, twinkling, as if inviting me to come closer.
There is no other sensation, no other feeling— I can only sense the tether, gripping onto my foot tightly. I am steadily floating upwards, to where I assume I will be spread amongst the stars, but the tether keeps me attached below, clawing at my foot as if it is alive.
I've never seen something like this.
Not in my lifetime.
And I know I've never felt so weightless— never felt so tranquil, so unworried about anything in the world. If I just let go of the tether and continue up in the sky, I'll never be in pain again.
But...
A twinge of regret pangs in my chest. The unworried sensation tries to consume it, bat it out of my system, but the twinge stays.
I didn't say goodbye. In my last moments with him, he had been in pain.
I could tell.
I wanted to tell him so many things. Tell him I love you because I never said it enough. Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't live any longer. Tell him he means more to me than life itself.
But now, I've lost life too.
So...
Am I dead?
Not quite.
What?
Shojiro's comforting voice echoes in the void. Curiously, his voice is coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Despite this oddity, I'm not panicked by his disembodied voice. The tranquility in my chest furls and unfurls as I arch my head to the stars, where I know he resides.
