All this time, Prota had treated this man as though he had intentionally caused this catastrophe. It never crossed his mind that maybe he hadn’t meant to make people suffer. He just wanted to prevent… the same thing that Prota thought had happened to Tiki.

Prota breathed a sigh of relief, having felt Tiki’s living, breathing body in his arms. He was so thankful that he hadn’t really killed her. “Anta…” He addressed his other half by his name for the first time.

“Yes?” Anta replied warmly, as though Prota were a long-time friend.

“When I stabbed you,” Prota began, nervously, “I sensed what you were feeling… a desire for death.”

Anta nodded, knowingly. “I thought you would feel that.”

“But,” Prota nervously blinked as he tried to collect his thoughts, “why would the man who created immortality wish for death?”

“I never wanted to be immortal,” Anta confessed. “I wanted immortality for everyone else, and I had to stay alive in order to do that, but in actuality… I wanted to move on.”

“I understand that feeling,” he said, without looking at the beautiful man beside him. “I’m in excruciating pain every day. I don’t know what causes it. I can’t find a treatment. My heart is just… broken.” The boy clenched his hand in front of his chest. “Tiki knows about my pain, but I never told her…” His hands moved to his lap, and he dug his nails into his pantlegs, “that part of the reason I wanted to restore death… was because I wanted it for myself.” He closed his eyes in defeat.

Anta listened patiently.

“But I didn’t want it immediately,” Prota added. “I thought that death was the kind of thing that I could choose to have when the time was right. I thought that…” he rested his hands back at his side, “I’d be able to spend some more time with Tiki before then. But I hadn’t realized that death was so… instantaneous. Now I realize that, if I restore death, no one will have the time to say goodbye. You pretended to kill Tiki so that I could see that, didn’t you? So I’d understand what death really is?”

Anta nodded. “Death isn’t a choice,” he said, somberly. “It comes when you least expect it, to the people you least want it to happen to.” His hand was right next to Prota’s, their pinkies nearly touching.

Prota could feel his magnetism. It felt good being close to him like this. “Um, I learned something,” he said, nervously, “since I met you…”

“What’s that?”

“The constant pain that I mentioned…” Prota said, as he looked at his enemy, “disappears when I’m next to you.”

“I feel the same way around you,” Anta said with a gentle smile. “Our bodies aren’t meant to be separate. It’s only natural for us to feel pain when we’re apart… And for that to lessen when we’re together.” His smile slowly faded as his eyes drifted away.

“What’s up?” Prota was surprised by how comfortable he had become around his enemy after learning the truth. It felt surprisingly natural.

“Remember what I asked you when we were battling?” Anta asked.

“To join you?”

“Yes, to help me build the resurrection machine,” Anta clarified. “I would still like your help. I know we don’t see eye-to-eye on immortality, but… Whether the world remains free of death or not… I would like to see him again.”