Mikasa wasn't sure what to do. Her hands were trembling as they fought the urge to stay away from you.

She had walked up at the exact moment Ambrose fell to his death. She saw the way your face twisted in horror when you weren't able to catch him in time. The instant regret washed over you like a tsunami.

She was genuinely in shock. She never would've thought you had that in you. The idea of you just hurting someone was unbelievable so killing them seemed so much more out of reach.

But you did. To make matters even more surreal, it was your brother of all people. She would've assumed that since you lost one brother already and possibly another, you'd do anything to keep the last one standing alive.

She expected more of a fight from you. She expected you to defend Ambrose with your life and say something corny like, "If you want to kill him, you have to kill me first."

You didn't have that fight in you anymore. She could tell by the way your body collapsed onto your knees and the way you hunched into the fetal position with exhaustion.

You were defeated. All the things that kept you going were slipping out of your finger tips and it was taking the most unimaginable toll on you before everyone's very eyes.

And there was nothing no one could do about it. It was too late. Everyone you loved was dead and gone. No amount of advice or hugs could change that.

She wanted to say something. She wanted to do anything but just stand there feeling nothing but useless.

A part of her wanted to stay away, hold onto that grudge from the tunnel where she said she was no longer going to run to your side when you needed it. She wanted to prove her point.

The other part of her ached. How could she just let you go through all of it alone? How could she stand here and watch as you suffer? No matter how much you two fought, she loved you more than anyone else.

Armin and Sasha both catch up to Mikasa now. The two stare at your huddled up body as you just sit there emotionlessly. They don't say anything at all. What does one say in a moment like this anyway?

Suddenly, Mikasa sees your hand reach out for the bloody dagger a few inches away from your face. Your finger shake as they wrap around the handle.

Her first thought was that you were going to kill yourself. Hell, if she was in your position, she probably would too. She couldn't even wrap her mind around what you must be feeling right now.

Considering you lost all your family and now your powers, it seemed like there was no will for you to live anymore. Not even for Jean who Mikasa last saw fighting with Marco and now he was no where in sight.

But instead of bringing the dagger up to your throat or wrists, you keep it held tightly in your hands as you use all your strength to stand up, one leg at a time.

"Wait!" Mikasa finally manages to get herself to speak. "Your le...." She looks at you, utterly speechless when she sees your leg is completely healed again. It was like nothing was wrong with it in the first place.

You turn your head slowly to look back at them. When you meet her eyes, chills shoot up her spine. The light that was permanently engraved into your eyes was no longer there. They were dull and lifeless. 

You were standing up in perfect health. There was no limp or pain in your face each time you took a step. It was like she blinked and you were brand new again.

"I don't understand." Mikasa mutters to herself. "She killed Ambrose. She shouldn't have her powers anymore. How did she heal herself?"

Sasha walks over to the edge of the bridge and peaks over the ledge. When she sees Ambrose's disfigured body, she spins back around with her eyes shut and her hand pressed over her mouth.

Armin doesn't dare look. Sasha's reaction was enough for him. "It might not take effect immediately. She probably has them for a short amount of time. Maybe her body healed itself before the powers disappeared forever."

You turn fully to look at all three now. Sasha takes a step back, fear getting the best of her. Armin and Mikasa stay frozen in place.

Beside Sasha was one of Marco's guards, Bertholdt, on his knees. He had an arrow stabbing into his left shoulder and one dug into his thigh. Next to him was a long, shiny sword.

"In that case," You say as you toss the dagger aside. You bend down to grab the sword and point it right at Bertholdt's jugular. "Where is Marco?"

Bertholdt gulps as he attempts to move away from the sharp tip against his adam's apple. He doesn't speak.

You press the sword closer, the blade poking at the delicate skin. "I don't have all day."

He shakes his head as sweat beads down his face. "I don't know where he is! Even if I did, I would never tell you! I hate you Eldian scum!" He spits at your feet.

Sasha wraps her hand around the arrow stabbing into his shoulder and pushes it further in. Bertholdt screeches in pain.

His loyalty wavers as he's blinded with excruciating pain. "If I tell you, will you heal me?"

"Yes." You answer, the sword never moving from his neck.

He squeezes his eyes shut, cursing his insubordination. "I saw him and Jean go that way." He points behind him.

You kick his chest and he falls down on his back, his head smacking the hard ground. "You're lying."

You step closer, just enough to hover over him and you use both hands to hold the long sword above this chest. "Guess I just have to kill you now."

You act as if you're about to stab the sword straight into his chest before he screams and holds out his hands, "Okay! Okay! I lied. They went that way."

You lower the sword. "That wasn't that hard, was it?" You then turn in the direction in which he pointed and leave him behind.

"Wait!" He yells from the floor. "You said you would heal me!"

You keep walking, ignoring his pleas. Mikasa, Armin and Sasha look back at you and Bertholdt's bleeding body.

"Please." He begs them. "Tell her to come back. Tell her to heal me!"

Mikasa is the first to leave after you. Sasha proceeds right behind her. Armin hesitates, wincing as he thinks about leaving the wounded boy behind. "Sorry, man. I'm sure you don't want help from Eldian scum anyway, right?"

"No!" He shouts. "Don't you dare leave me here!"

All three of them disappear into the fog, leaving him on the bridge to bleed out as he curses after them. There wasn't much they could do for him anyway.

❧

Jean held onto his right side. Blood was slipping through his shirt and onto his fingers, no matter how hard he pressed down onto the wound.

He was hiding temporarily. As much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't fighting his best right now.

He and Marco had trained side by side together for years. They both knew each other's every move. The fight was equal until Jean heard you scream in pain and got distracted. That's when Marco took that opportunity to slice his ribs.

He couldn't focus on fighting right now. From the stinging pain on his side and from the haunting sound of your screams, he couldn't concentrate.

"Jeanboyyyyy." Marco sings. He drags his sword against the concrete floor as he walks through the empty halls. The sound was absolutely dreadful. "Come out, come out where ever you are."

Jean pokes his head past the large crate he hid behind. He needed to think of a plan. Right now, Marco only had one working eye so defeating him seemed relatively easy.

However, with every move Jean made, his wound opened up more and more. He could attack Marco at his blind spot but would most likely take himself out in the process.

He needed you right now. A simple touch of your hand would seal his wound shut and then nothing would be stopping him for defeating Marco like he so desperately wanted to right now.

The worst part of all of this was he had no idea where you were right now. Last he saw you, Ambrose had you pinned up against a wall and you were crying out in pain.

He couldn't see Ambrose hurting you. Not badly anyway. Plus, they needed you way too much to do something stupid like kill you. Their whole plan would be pointless without you so atleast he knew for a fact you were alive.

Marco used his one good eye to scan the area for Jean. Jean's heart began to beat faster and faster the closer he got. He was running out of time.

"Come on, Jeanboy." Marco says. "Let's finish this like men. Don't tell me you've given up already. We were just now having fun!"

Jean lifts his hand to look at his wound which only seemed to be getting worse. He shuts his eyes and leans his head back against the crate. He had no choice but to get up and fight him, wounded or not. He refused to just sit here and hide like a coward.

He takes a deep breath before he musters the strength to stand up. Before his knees even unfold, he hears your voice.

"I'll play with you." You say. Jean quickly snaps his neck to the side to look at you. Your nightgown was stained red in several places and the bottom hem was torn.

Marco's cocky smile drops. "Where is Ambrose?"

"Dead." You answer.

Jean's heart drops. It seems like Marco's does too for a second before he masks it with a laugh. "I highly doubt that."

You shrug. "Go see for yourself."

His mouth forms a straight line again. "You wouldn't let anyone kill him. I know you."

You hold out your hands that were stained dark red. "You're right. That's why I did it myself."

He pauses for a moment, literally taking a step back. He chuckles. "No. You wouldn't kill your own brother. You don't have it in you."

You take a step forward. "No?"

[play everybody wants to rule the world by lorde here]

He takes another step back. Jean couldn't lie that it was amusing to watch Marco cower in fear before you. Not even his god complex could save him now.

"You're not that stupid." Marco tries to convince himself. "You know you'll lose your powers if you kill him. You wouldn't risk it."

Jean could tell Marco already knew it was true. Ambrose was dead. Not only was his blood all over you as proof but the fact that you were standing here alone showed everything too.

Jean himself couldn't believe it either. He couldn't see you killing your own brother. However, he could definitely see you doing it so that no one else would.

But Marco was also right about losing your powers. Your whole dream was to heal the world. Why would you do something to destroy that?

You lift your left hand up in the air. With your right hand, you raise the sword and slice the sharp edge against your palm, blood gliding down your wrists.

In a blink of an eye, the cut closes up on its own. Jean bats his eyes in disbelief. Your body was still healing yourself, regardless of the fact that you killed someone. Why? How?

"No." Marco shakes his head. He points a frantic finger at your hand. "That's impossible! You shouldn't be able to do that! It's in the rules!" He shouts.

You lower your hand. "I guess you don't know everything after all."

Marco grits his teeth, anger rushing through his veins. He charges right at you, hands out and headed straight for your neck. Before he even gets close, he slams his hand over his eye and howls in pain.

You smile as you watch him paw at his empty eye socket. Mikasa, Sasha and Armin now join the party and stand several feet away from you. They all had the same horrified expression Jean had.

You were unrecognizable. You were still you but not at all simultaneously. The innocence, the purity, the light in your eyes. It was no longer anywhere to be found.

"You destroyed my life." You say as you step forward. "I lost everything because of you."

Marco growls as he tries to stop the pain in his eyes. It wasn't just his wounded one that was hurting now. His one good eye was now crying blood.

"I want you to suffer the way I did." You continue to approach him, no matter how far he gets from you. "I want you to feel the way I did."

The pain in his eyes seems to get stronger the closer you got to him because he begins to scream even louder. "I had to watch my home burn down in flames. I had to see dead bodies scattered everywhere around it."

The pain then moves to his ears and he falls to his knees, his hands covering both ears. "I had to hear the screams of everyone I love." You say.

Jean could see blood pouring through Marco's fingertips as they flow out his ears. All Jean could do was watch in shock. It seemed that's all anyone else could do too because Eren and Phoenix were now standing beside him with the same facial expression.

Marco tries to stand on his feet but the sensation gravites to his stomach and he hunches over in pain again. "I held my dead brother's stomach for what felt like hours trying to heal him but it was too late." You remind him.

Marco attempts to crawl away, blood spewing out his mouth as he does. You were just a step behind him. You raise your leg and push your foot down on his back, his body falling face down on the ground. "I stabbed my brother in the back because of you."

Mikasa, Armin and Sasha huddle behind the crate too along side Jean, Phoenix and Eren. No one says anything. No one even moves a muscle. They were all far too scared to.

As Marco lays face down, breathing heavily, you release your foot from his back and lift the sword. "I lost everything because of you. Now, you're going to lose everything because of me."

"Wait." Mikasa realizes. "She didn't kill Ambrose. Not technically. Yes, she stabbed him but that wasn't the final blow. He fell to his death. That's why she still has her powers! It didn't count!"

Armin's eyes shoot open. "You're right. That means she's still in the safe. If she kills Marco right now, she'll actually lose them."

"We have to tell her." Phoenix says. "We have to stop her!"

Eren shakes his head. "I'm not going anywhere near her right now."

Sasha squats even lower behind the crate. "Me either."

Phoenix sucks his teeth, irritated everyone else seemed too scared to do anything. He stands up from him the crate and rushes right to you.

Your arms were raised, the sword clutched tightly between your hands and you hold it above Marco. Phoenix grabs your wrist and looks you right in the eye. "Don't do it."

"Let me go." You warn him.

"No." He fights. "I won't let you do this. You still have your powers for a reason. You will for sure lose them if you do this."

"I don't care anymore!" You yell right at him. "I want him to suffer! I want him to die!"

"Please." He attempts to plead with you. "You'll regret this. I know you will. You're angry and not thinking clearly."

Marco begins to crawl further away from you while you're distracted by Phoenix. You notice his attempt to flee from the corner of your eye which only makes you angrier. "LET GO OF ME, PHOENIX. I WON'T SAY IT AGAIN."

He doesn't budge. "No. You can hurt me if you want but I won't let you do this."

From where he sat, Jean could see smoke coming from where Phoenix's hand connects with your arm. He could also see the pain forming in his face as sizzling heat stings his palms.

Mikasa runs out of hiding next. "Stop yn!" She yells as she grabs your other arm. "You're hurting him!"

"I don't care!" You try to wiggle out of both their grips. Since they had a lock on both of your arms, the sword in your hand drops to the floor and Marco manages to crawl even further from you. "You're letting him get away!" You scream. "Let me go!"

The second Eren catches Mikasa in pain, he runs up to her and forces her away from you. Her hand was bright red and bubbling with blisters. If that was the condition of her hand from just a few seconds of holding onto you, Jean couldn't imagine how Phoenix must be feeling.

You use your now free hand to fight off Phoenix who still refused to let you go. "Stop it!" You cry. "Just let me do it!"

"I can't do that." Phoenix groans in pain. "I'm sorry but I can't."

Jean could see the internal conflict inside you. Half of you, the good half, was begging him to stop because you couldn't stand to hurt him. The other half of you, the half that terrified everyone in this room, didn't care if you were hurting him.

That half was willing to do whatever it took to get revenge on the person who made you this way in the first place.

Since your powers were focused on Phoenix, Marco's body gets a break from the constant torture and he stumbles back up onto his feet.

"It isn't working." Armin says quietly. "She's going to kill Phoenix to get to Marco. She doesn't care about losing her powers anymore. It's pointless."

A tear falls down Sasha's cheek. "She was supposed to heal the world."

Jean suddenly got a flashback to all the times you claimed to do just that. When he heard you say it the first time, the day he found you after you ran away, he thought the idea was absolutely ridiculous and impossible. All that changed the more he got to know you.

Once he saw what you were capable of and once he read that book, he knew you were going to be the one to change the world. He knew your dream was eventually going to be your reality and that he would do anything to help make it that way.

So why was he here just letting you throw it all away? He was the one person who knew more than anyone else how much that dream meant to you.

The pain gets too intense for Phoenix and he jolts backward, his hands sizzling with third degree burns. The second he releases you, you waste no time chasing after Marco who was limping away from you.

Jean shoots up from his hiding spot, doing everything possible to ignore the pain shooting at his side and rushes toward you. He wasn't going to let you ruin your dream. He refused.

He hugs you from behind, squeezing you tightly so that your arms stay glued to your side. "Let me go!" You thrash wildly.

He feels the pain immediately. It was so intense that he forgets all about the open wound on his torso. That pain was nothing compared to this. He couldn't believe Phoenix held on for that long.

He refuses to pull away even though his body was screaming at him too. "You can't kill him, yn. You'll lose your powers. You'll lose everything."

"I already lost everything!" You yell as you wiggle in his arms. "It's all his fault!"

He could feel the skin along his arms ignite like he was drenched in gasoline. It burned intensely and itched wildly. He wanted so badly to let go.

His eyes were beginning to blur and his head spun round and round as the blood loss began to take its toll on him. He could feel his body get weaker but he still used all his strength to hold you down.

You tossed and turned, kicked and screamed. You weren't going down without a fight and neither was he. "LET ME GO!" You sob.

He rests his cheek against yours, the harsh stinging sensation spreading to his face now too. "I told you once that I would do whatever it took to help your dream come true. I don't care if it kills me in the process."

"Please." Tears flow from your exhausted eyes. "I don't want to hurt you. Please let me go."

"I can't." He winces in pain. "You're going to have to kill me." He kisses your cheek, his lips burning as they meet your blazing skin. "I love you. I love you so much that I rather die than let you go."

He could feel you slowly stop fighting. The good part in you was finally gaining control again. The fight inside you was still going on.

"If you lose your powers, you can't heal Kai. He'll stay in a coma forever. Is that what you want?" He reminds you.

You stay quiet but your body still fights his grip. The bad part of you was still kicking. It also refused to let you go too.

Jean was starting to loose consciousness now. The room was spinning and slowly getting darker and darker. He could feel his grip slipping.

Before he slips into the night, he says one last thing. "Don't let our deaths be for nothing."

You freeze. "Our?"

Jean's body collapses to the floor, life leaving his body. You gasp and spin around to face him, squatting down to his level and pull him onto your lap. "No. No. No."

While your back is turned, Marco grabs the sword you once held and runs right at you with it.  You turn your head to look at him and the blade is just inches from your face when he goes frozen.

A sword slices right through his back and past his stomach. He gasps as it goes through his rough skin. The sword in his hands drops by your lap.

His brother, Nicholas, stands behind him as he pulls the sword out. He watches as his brother falls onto the floor and looks down at him with disgust and disappointment. "That's for dad and Leon."

Marco's body lands just a foot away from you. Blood pools out of him and he blinks slowly as the life slips out of him along with the dark liquid.

He tries to speak, blood coughs out of him when he does, and he uses his hand in a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding. "You fucking idiot! Don't you see that this was all for us?! I was trying to save our kingdom!"

"You weren't thinking about anyone but yourself." Nicholas tosses the sword coated in his brother's blood aside.

Marco grits his blood stained teeth. "You're just as useless as you've always been."

Nick wipes his hands clean on his pants. "That's why I'm king now and you're just another dead body."

He crouches down to be face to face with his brother for the last time. "If you still feel some type of way about it, we'll meet again in Hell."

Marco uses his last breath to laugh, finally admitting defeat. He turns his head to face you and Jean who was still unconscious in your lap. He looks at Jean before the light leaves his eyes and his chest no longer rises nor falls.

You turn back to Jean who was laying limp beside you, his head on your lap. His face was pale and cold. It wasn't until then that you noticed all the blood coming out from his side. Not to mention, he was covered in burns.

"No." You cry. You tap his face over and over. "Wake up, come on. Please wake up."

Everyone huddles nearby as they watch you shake Jean's lifeless body. Eren was hugging Mikasa who had her face buried in his shoulder as she cried. Sasha had rivers flowing non stop from her eyes. Armin and Phoenix both stood there with grim expressions.

"Please." You beg to no one in particular. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I take it back!" You press your hands onto his open wound as hard as you can and squeeze your eyes shut. "Please fix him!"

You could feel his blood pumping out between your fingertips. "No, no. Stop it!" You scream at his blood that refused to stay inside him.

You try your hardest to focus. As much as you wanted to heal him, you physically could not. "Come on! Let me use it one last time!" You scream at the sky. "I'm sorry! I messed up! Please let me fix him!"

Nothing. You shake him more and more. "Wake up!" You cry. "Please don't leave me! I can't lose you too. Please. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry."

You press your hands on him again, squeezing every ounce of power you had left in you to bring him back. Flashbacks of you doing the same thing to your brother appear in your mind. "No. Not again. Please. I can't do this again."

Your hands were practically sinking into his chest from how hard you were pressing them down. "Please! Use every bit I have left, I don't care! I don't care if I can't heal anyone ever again! Please let me heal him!"

You weren't sure who you were begging. God, the universe, whoever it was. You just wanted them to hear you. "I'll do anything." You sob. "Please let me bring him back. Take all my strength. Take all my health. None of it matters if he's not here!"

It felt like it went on forever. Like you were on some sadistic timeless loop of reliving the same memory. You try and try but nothing happens. The color from his face only drains more and more. It was like you were doing more damage than good.

You look down at your hands. "Stop." You probably sounded insane as you screamed to something that probably didn't even exist. "I don't want to hurt anyone anymore!"

You close your eyes and try your best to calm your nerves. Your breaths were shaky and your body couldn't stop trembling. You blow air from your mouth. "Please just stop."

You close your eyes and place your hands on him once again as you try to only think of good things which seemed impossible at the moment.

You picture your family together at the table for dinner. You and Ambrose bickering. Kai eating too much and falling asleep at the table. Elijah laughing at all of you. Your mother shaking her head and your father trying his best not to crack a smile.

You picture Mikasa staying up all night with you as you go on and on about things and she tries to best to stay awake as she listens.

You picture Jean chasing you around Marley and Paradis. Him telling you that you're too reckless and wild even though he secretly likes it.

You picture the first time your hands touched. The first time you kissed. The first time you made love. The first time he said he loved you and the time you said it back.

It was difficult to only think of good things at a time like this but once it started, it just kept going. You were blessed with many memories that you cherished deeply inside your heart.

Jean coughs as he comes back to life, his eyes fluttering open. His skin was almost fully healed and his open wound was sealed completely.

You gasp as tears pour out of you. "Oh thank god!" You grab his shoulders and pull him up into your arms. He groans with slight pain as you do. "What the hell happened?"

You hug him so tightly that you felt he might just pop. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." You whisper to the higher power that seemed to be watching over you.

He hugs you back, his face sinking into your neck. "If I knew I had to die to get a hug from you, I would've did that a long time ago." He jokes.

He waits for you to laugh or to even playfully smack his arm as you tell him to shut up but you never do.

Instead, your arms that were holding him weaken and fall to your side. "Yn?"

He pulls away from you and your head falls forward. He grabs your face. "Hey."

Nothing.

Your body was now the limp one. "Hey!" He shouts as he shakes you. You move like a rag doll.

Mikasa pulls away from Eren and drops to her knees beside you. "What happened? She was just awake! She wasn't hurt or anything! She was fine!"

They both do everything possible to wake you up. They shake you every which way, scream in your face over and over but you never respond.

Mikasa lays her ear on your chest as she prays for the sound of your heartbeat. "No..." She whimpers. "No." She does it over and over again as if her ears failed her the first time. "No!"

Everyone was dead silent.

"She traded her life for yours." Armin realizes. He looks up at the sky in disbelief. He had thought you looked ridiculous begging something nonexistent but turns out, whoever you were talking to gave you exactly what you wanted.

Mikasa looks up at the sky. "Bring her back!" She cries. "You can't take her!"

Jean never gives up on trying to wake you up. "Come on, baby. Wake up. I know you're in there. I know you can hear me. Come on. Your time isn't over yet."

Nothing.

He couldn't believe you were laying lifelessly in his arms. The one person who could heal everything and anything. The one person who had unlimited health. Dead.

"There has to be something." Jean mutters to himself. He tries to recall something in that book but there was so much information in there that he didn't remember half of it. "God damn it, think!!!"

"I don't think there anything we can do." Armin says. "If her heart stopped beating..."

"My heart stopped too!" Jean reminds him. "I came back!"

"Because she has the ability to do that." Armin responds. "None of us do. No one else in the world can but her."

Jean shakes his head as he looks back down at you. "No. There has to be something. There has to be some kind of loophole."

He tries his best to recall that day. You and him seated on the floor as you read page after page of the endless book until you got overwhelmed and closed it shut. Maybe if he had convinced you to keep reading, there would've been something there to help in this very moment.

No matter how hard he tried, all he could picture was that stupid fucking flower and all the references to plant life.

That's when it hits him.

"Water!" He shouts. Everyone looks at him like he's officially lost it. Which, maybe he has.

"What?" Mikasa asks.

He lifts your flaccid body in his arms. "I need water. I need sunlight."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Eren asks.

"Just trust me." Jean says as he stands up. He races out of the room and outside. The ocean was just right there, all he had to do was make it there in time.

They all run after him, unsure of what was happening but willing to try whatever may work to bring you back.

Once he reaches the shore, he kicks off his shoes and begins to walk right into the water.

"Has he snapped?" Eren questions.

"I think so." Sasha replies.

When he's waist deep, he holds your body in his arms, just above the water. Your white dress immediately becomes drenched and hugs your body tightly.

He looks up at the sky which was covered in gloomy clouds. There was one singular beam of sunlight that managed to slip through the cracks. He holds you right underneath. "Come on, please work."

"Jean..." Phoenix begins. Jean shushes him.

They all stare in silence, waiting to see if he was actually on to something or had just gone crazy. He cups in his hands in the water and allows the water to pool into his palms. He then pours it gently onto your face. He does this three times before actually seeing any result.

You gasp and spit up water as you shoot up. Jean laughs wildly and he doesn't hesitate to bring you into his arms. "It worked! It fucking worked!"

Everyone rushes into the water, not even bothering to take their shoes off as they meet you both in the ocean. They all hug you as your eyes blink back to consciousness. "Okay.. you guys... are crushing me." You groan.

Sasha kisses your whole face and Mikasa refuses to let you go. "I thought we lost you." She says.

You look around in confusion. "Why are we in the ocean?"

Armin smiles brightly. "Because Jean is a genius."

You frown. "You think so?"

Jean scoffs and splashes water at you. Grateful that he can even do that right now.

You look at all your friends who smiled right at you and hugged you over and over. You notice half of them were all wounded. Phoenix seemed to have it the worst of all.

"Did I do that?" You ask him, putting a pause to all the celebrating.

Everyone turns to him and he looks down at his scorched arms. "Um, it's okay. It doesn't hurt that bad."

He was lying. His wounds looked agonizing. Even then, he still jumped into stinging salt water to hug you which you know only made it hurt much worse.

He was a prince after all and they were all taught to disguise their emotions, including pain. A king does not admit he is in pain, even if it was killing him.

You shuffle through the waves to get to him and place both hands on his arms. He flinches when you do but quickly tries to hide it.

"I'm sorry I hurt you." You say as you begin to heal his arms. "I blacked out from rage. I don't know what got into me. It was like... I wasn't in control of myself."

"Don't apologize." He says. "You warned me. I knew what I was getting myself into."

You smile sadly. "Still. Thanks for trying to stop me."

He smiles back and you can see his strained face relax when he feels relief from his burns. "If you want to thank someone, thank the person who actually stopped you." He tilts his head toward Jean.

You smile at the boy who saved your life. It was always you who was helping everyone come to back to health. It seemed it was always Jean who would be the one to return the favor.

Once you heal Phoenix's arms and everyone else's wounds as well, you all depart the ocean and head for dry land.

Nicholas appears with blankets in hand. "Here." He helps wrap the fabric around you.

"Thank you." You say as you hold it tightly around you. "How are you, um..."

"Feeling?" He sighs as he looks up at the castle. "Like an orphan. I just killed the last family member I had left."

"I'm sorry." You reach out for him.

He shakes his head down at the ground. "Don't be. He had it coming. It's not like he didn't deserve it, right?"

You shrug. "I guess you're right. Still, I know it sucks not having any family. I'm familiar with the feeling and I know it hurts."

He smiles softly. "Except you do have one left. Your brother is in a coma, right? There's still a chance for him. You just have to go home and heal him."

You look at the castle that you had just gotten married in a few days ago. You hadn't even realized that Marco being dead now meant you were no longer married to him nor held captive here.

"You're free now." Nick reminds you. "I'm sorry my brother dragged you out here in the first place. None of this was ever your problem to begin with."

"Wait." You stop him. "Believe it or not, I'm actually glad he brought me here. It may not be my mess but I'm the only one who can clean it up."

He furrows his brows. "You don't have to do that. You're not being forced against your will anymore."

"I want to though." You say. "I really do. I want to help. Please let me help."

He looks at you with surprise. "Are you sure?"

You grin. "If I want to heal the world, I gotta start somewhere, right?"