I See Emeralds

Chapter Thirty-Six (Mathias' POV)

(Final chapter. Thanks so much for reading this far!)

I open my eyes, blink, and scream. So does everyone else in the hallway besides Lukas and Emil. They simply stare at us with straight faces. The sensation I'm experiencing is truly overwhelming.

Before I blinked, I couldn't see blue anymore. That was an awful few seconds. But after I blinked, the opposite happened.

The first thing I saw was Lukas' hair, a light color that I don't know the name of. But it's certainly. not one I remember seeing before. None of the colors I'm suddenly seeing are. I knew what the machine was going to do, but that doesn't make it any less amazing.

Nobody can manage to say a word at first, but some of them cry. "How...?" Lovino asks, his voice cracking. There's something so interesting about looking around and suddenly seeing your friends in full color. It's like meeting them all over again.

Emil actually grins, an incredibly rare gesture from him. He blinks his violet eyes. "Isn't it so cool? Magic and dedication can do a lot." He slings an arm over Leon's shoulders and quickly gives him a celebratory kiss. Aww, they're great together.

"You all look way different in color than I expected," Alfred comments and laughs.

"It's interesting how many shades of each color there are," Tino adds. "Like Berwald's eyes are a darker blue than Alfred's and Mathias' and Lukas' eyes."

"Why is your hair still white?" Matthew asks, pointing at Gilbert with a confused look on his face.

"He's an albino. Rather rare, actually. He's the only one I've ever met," Lukas answers.

"Cool! That only makes me more awesome!" Gilbert exclaims. "I'm rare!" He seems overjoyed.

"You two really do look like brothers," I say to Emil and Lukas with a smile.
They scowl, which only further proves my point.

"You know, I figure I might as well tell you," Arthur says and sighs. He points at Francis with his thumb. "I'm dating that loser." Francis beams.

"I know. If you weren't, it wouldn't have worked nearly as easily," Lukas says immediately.

"Why not?" Antonio asks.

"These machines are fueled by the power of soulmates and love. For the soulmates to generate enough love to power them, being a couple works best," I explain for the brothers.

"But me and Berwald aren't together," Tino says defensively.

"We're not? But you said..." Berwald trails off. His expression actually switches from his indifferent neutral one to a more sad one.

"Look, that's the exact moment his heart broke," Gilbert says.

"Okay, fine. We are, but I didn't wanna tell them yet," Tino admits and blushes. I didn't realize blush was a color like that! Interesting!

Francis gives Gilbert a weird glare. "Then that means..." He looks at Matthew.

"Haha, sorry for not telling you Francis," Matthew says and giggles. "We're fine. You don't need to be so protective." Francis is silent and actually seems to consider this.

"Fine. I trust Gil," he gives in.

Then Lukas unlocks the doors and we are released into the world of color.

As Lovino later put it, we no longer see sapphires or ambers or emeralds. We don't see just one color anymore. We see rainbows.

And that's truly the best way to live.