Predator. Prey.

Reborn.

It was the moment my skin was stinging profusely as I sank below the acidic chemicals that I realized the fragility of life, and how foolish I've been to overanalyze it all these years.

The thick green soup blinded me, devoured me, and enveloped me, but as I slowly veered towards unconciousness, all I could feel was gratefulness towards my angel, my savior.

I believed I was saving him, but how I could not see that after all this time it was me who needed saving? I was the crazy one, believing that death actually meant something, that our lives actually meant something. I followed society's standards, not once stopping to question anything. I woke up everyday, went to school, got a degree, cried when my parents died; I followed all of the rules: I was endlessly obedient to a system devised to manipulate toys. But now I understand, rules are no better than chaos. Rules are an illusion; they bind you. We are trapped, all of us, in cages we have built ourselves. Once you've freed yourself from logic and reasoning, you are liberated, and the steel walls you've built around yourself crumble away.

Liberated.

I am liberated.

I am cured.

The uncertainty of whether I was about to die or live couldn't even phase me as I hit the bottom of the vat with a smile on my face. Uncertainty breaded chaos:

Chaos broke the rules.

My eyelids fluttered shut in pure bliss, allowing the bubbling green toxins to carry me into a peaceful eternal sleep. My vision went blurry, but my hearing still remained. And I heard the faintest sound from above me, a splash, and hands pushing the chemicals aside so they could swim downward. I wasn't conscious enough to process much more.

Cool air hit my face moments later, and a pair of lips against my own woke me suddenly. I gasped, not realizing how desperately I needed air as I opened my eyes, and a smile played across my face:

J had pulled me out from under the boiling liquid and was holding me in his arms, staring with intense desire as I immediately grabbed the back of his head to pull him closer, silently begging for a kiss.

He obliged, and when our lips met once again red and white and green fireworks exploded inside my eyes as I wrapped my feet around his torso, his hands grabbing and fisting and exploring and roaming and forcing me to see stars and moan in ecstasy. I reached down to tug at his shirt but noticed I was only grabbing skin, and I half opened my eyes in confusion.

The vat had stolen the coloring and fabric from our clothes and was claiming it as it's own. The blue dye from my deteriorating blouse was swirling harmoniously in the green chemicals with Joker's purple shirt, which was practically just a few threads hanging on his chest. He pulled away to stare in awe at the rainbow we had created, and still holding me in his arms, threw his head back and laughed with such a devious intensity I could do nothing but stare at him, awestruck, and hold on desperately to his arms, praying I would never have to let him go again.