Summary: You and Haku sit by the water’s edge as the sun fades, caught in a moment that feels both endless and fleeting. Unspoken words hang heavy between them, a quiet understanding of what’s already been lost. One lingers, holding on, while the other has already let go. In the end, there is no anger, no plea—just a quiet goodbye, a lingering ache, and the bittersweet weight of a love that could not stay.
CHAPTER 1:
The water shimmered beneath the fading sunlight, golden ripples dancing over the surface of the bay. The soft hush of waves lapping against the embankment filled the quiet spaces between words unspoken. A warm breeze, thick with the scent of salt and the distant aroma of street food from the city behind, ruffled the dark strands of Haku’s green-tinted hair. He sat beside you, one knee drawn up, the other leg swinging idly over the edge of the stone embankment. The city hummed behind you both, neon lights beginning to flicker on, but here, by the water’s edge, time moved slower. As if it, too, was reluctant to let go.
For a while, neither of you spoke, caught in a kind of stillness that was neither peaceful nor unsettling. Just... quiet. Haku’s gaze, however, wasn’t as calm as the atmosphere around you. It wandered over the horizon, over the melting colors of sunset, but his eyes, those striking eyes—glowed with a kind of tiredness. They were no longer bright and inquisitive like they used to be. Now, they only reflected something darker. A quiet sorrow, perhaps, or an empty kind of longing.
A sigh left his lips, soft and almost imperceptible against the rhythm of the waves. His fingers twitched against the stone beside him, restless. He had always been the one to pick up after others, the one who held things together, even when the weight of it all nearly broke him. The one who made sure everyone else was fine, even as his own world frayed and unravelled at the edges. But tonight... tonight, there was no fixing it. No clever words, no comforting touch that could piece the broken bits of him back together. And most painfully of all, no fixing you.
"You know," he murmured, almost absently, his voice low and laced with something fragile, "I always thought... if I were to stay somewhere for good, it would be a place like this."
He turned to glance at you, his gaze lingering on your profile, your hair softly rippling in the breeze. The way you sat—so still, so serene—only made the ache in his chest grow. He wanted to say something more, to pull you closer, to hold you and keep you from slipping through his fingers. But what was the point? You were already slipping away.
You didn't respond, but you didn’t need to. You didn’t need to say anything. The silence between you two had long since become deafening in its clarity. He could feel it in the way your gaze never lingered on him the same way anymore. In the way you barely glanced in his direction, and when you did, your eyes were distant, careful. His stomach twisted at the thought.
He wasn’t stupid. He saw it in the way you’d start to say something, only to stop yourself, lips pressed together. He saw it in the tightness of your shoulders when he reached out to touch your arm, the way you stiffened, as if holding him at arm’s length. That was the truth. You had moved on. And he hadn’t. He couldn’t.
“So, this is really goodbye, huh?” he asked, the words leaving him almost too easily, like something that had been sitting on the tip of his tongue for far too long.
You nodded, offering a smile—one that never quite reached your eyes. "Yeah... I suppose it is."
It was final. Irrevocable. The words were simple, but their weight crushed him. He swallowed hard, and his hands clenched into fists. Goodbye. Even the word sounded wrong. And yet, it was the truth. The only truth left.
His breath hitched. He wanted to be angry. Wanted to shout. Wanted to demand you stay, to plead for you to fight for him like he still wanted to fight for you. But he couldn’t. Because he had seen it in you—the way your heart had already left him long before this moment. The way you no longer needed him.
A gust of wind swept through, carrying the distant echo of laughter from the city streets. And then, unexpectedly, Haku reached out. His touch was featherlight as he tucked a stray lock of hair behind your ear, his fingertips lingering just a second too long before retreating. There was something deeply intimate in that fleeting contact, something unsaid yet painfully clear.
He let out a soft laugh, bitter and self-deprecating. "Don’t look so at peace with this," he muttered, a half-smile curling on his lips, but there was nothing genuine about it. "You were supposed to make this harder."
His words hit you like a blow to the chest. It stung because you knew it was true. It wasn’t just him who had been holding on. It wasn’t just him who had been hoping for something that was no longer there. It was you too. But what could you do? You had tried to keep it together, tried to fight for the both of you, but somewhere along the way, you lost it. You lost him.
The ache in your chest tightened as his voice cracked ever so slightly, a tremor of vulnerability in it. It was a feeling you’d never been able to bring yourself to acknowledge. That even though he had always been the strong one, always the steady presence, the one who kept things in balance... he, too, was just as fragile.
"Would it have mattered if I did?" you asked softly, your voice faltering as it left you, so quiet in the weight of the moment.
Haku’s eyes softened, a flicker of something almost too delicate to name passing through them. He looked away, his jaw tightening, and for a moment, the night seemed to hold its breath with you.
"No..." he whispered, the pain almost too much for him to bear. "But maybe it would’ve made me feel less like an idiot for walking away."
The sky deepened further, the colors fading into a dark and peaceful indigo, the soft glow of the city stretching like faint memories in the water's reflection.
He stood up then, his movements slow, hesitant—as if each step took more effort than the last. His gaze lingered on you longer than he intended, but he couldn’t stop himself. You were everything. The smile he gave you was a quiet thing, fragile. It wasn’t a smile of finality, but a smile of loss.
"Well then," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets, trying to hide the tremble in his fingers. "I should get going. The night’s calling, and all that."
You rose as well, standing just a step away from him. His hesitance was palpable. But there was nothing left to say. No words to undo the space between you two. His voice, though, barely above a whisper, reached you one last time.
"Take care of yourself, okay? Don’t push yourself too hard. Just... be happy."
You could see it in his face—the sincerity, the rawness of his feelings. Even now, even after all of this, he still cared. You swallowed, a lump in your throat forming as you nodded. "Alright... I will."
But as you spoke the words, you both knew they were empty. His heart no longer belonged to you, and yours no longer belonged to him. The weight of the choice you had made hung heavy between you both, final and irreversible.
He lingered for just a moment, just long enough to imprint your presence in his memory. And then, with one last lazy wave, he turned, his figure disappearing into the darkening night, swallowed by the soft glow of the streetlights beyond the pier. This time, he didn’t look back.
And that, more than anything, hurt.
You were gone, and he had no power to bring you back. He couldn’t hold on to you anymore. The ache in his chest was unbearable, but it was nothing compared to the quiet, lonely feeling of knowing you had already moved on.
His heart shattered.
But he had loved you, and so, he will always love you.
"Wherever you may be, I hope you’re happy now... even if we won't be together anymore..." he whispered to the wind, his voice barely audible, like the last thread of hope he had left.
He didn’t wish for anything more. He didn’t expect anything in return. But somewhere deep in the silence of the night, he still hoped you would take care of yourself.
"I still love you”
Your heart no longer belonged to him.
Another name, another face, another love had caught your heart. And though Haku ached with the knowledge of it, he still respected your decision.
The sunset had been beautiful.
And like all beautiful things, it had to fade.
CHAPTER 2: The Horizon We Couldn't Cross
Haku stood at the edge of the pier, his green hair tousled by the breeze, his two red ribbon-like earrings swaying ever so slightly. His eyes watched the horizon.
It was the kind of sunset he loved to watch alone. The kind that gave him time to think. Time to feel. Time to reflect. But today, his solitude felt heavier than usual.
Haku had always thought of himself as a bit lazy, always taking life as it came. He liked things to be simple, effortless. And most of the time, they were. But today, the simplicity had crumbled. His easygoing nature had faltered.
His heart felt heavy as he remembered this place. It was when you ended things with him.
His throat tightened. He exhaled, a shallow, almost inaudible breath, as though he could will the words away.
He repeats the scene in his mind over and over again, the weight of it sinking deeper with each repetition. It was such a small line, so simple in its construction, yet it felt like a blow to his chest. His grip on the railings was tight.
Haku had known something was off. He could tell by the way you had been looking at him recently, the way your eyes—so bright and full of life—no longer lingered on him with the same warmth. The way your smile had started to fade into something less certain, less familiar. It was always in your eyes. It was always there when you looked at him. And now, it wasn’t.
He could feel his pulse slowing, each beat like a drum in his ears, and for a long while, all he could hear was the sound of the wind rustling through the trees, the occasional faint hum of the city in the distance.
He felt… numb.
You were the one person who had captured him. The one who made his lazy days feel worth something. The one who had made his heart beat faster than it ever had before. When you laughed, the world seemed to stop for a moment, and when you looked at him with those eyes, it felt like you were looking into him, into the very core of his being. You had been his anchor in the world. The one person who made him feel like maybe there was more to him than just the carefree, detached exterior he wore like a shield.
But now… now you were gone.
Haku’s gaze dropped to the water below, the waves reflecting the colors of the sky. He wanted to scream. He wanted to shout your name, to call you back, to ask why—why your words were so final, so distant. But he didn’t. Instead, he let the silence swallow him whole, the stillness of the world around him a mirror to the emptiness he felt inside.
He thought about the time they had spent together—the moments of quiet companionship, the way you would always listen, the way your laughter would fill the empty spaces between them. The moments that had made everything feel right, even when nothing else was.
And now…
He hadn’t expected this. He hadn’t expected the end to come so quietly, so decisively. But then again, Haku had always been the one to pick up the pieces, to clean up the messes of others, without ever really considering what would happen to his own heart in the process. Maybe that was his fault. Maybe he had let it all slip away without ever realizing it. He had always been a little too laid-back, a little too willing to let things go, trusting that everything would work out in the end.
But not this time.
This time, the end was here.
Haku looked over the horizon again, feeling a strange sense of helplessness wash over him. There was nothing left to say. Nothing left to do. The path had already been set. He couldn’t change it, and neither could you. You had moved on. You had found someone else.
And as much as it hurt, he knew you deserved to be happy. Even if that happiness wasn’t with him.
Even if I’m the one left behind.
A tear fell, unbidden, as it rolled down his cheek. He wiped it away quickly, as if ashamed of the weakness it represented. He had never been good at expressing his emotions, never good at admitting when he was hurting. But this… this was different.
This was you.
The person he had loved without question, without hesitation, even if his love had been quiet and unspoken. Even if he had never been the type to wear his feelings on his sleeve.
It had always been there.
And now, all he could do was stand there, at the edge of the bay, watching the sun set, feeling the weight of everything that had slipped away.
He knew that things would never be the same.
The last lines of your words echoed in his mind, the finality of them pressing against his heart.
"I loved you, and I have to let you go."
Haku inhaled deeply, his chest tight.
If fate wishes to deceive, I won’t allow it to disappear.
The wind tugged at him again, but this time, he didn’t resist. He let it carry the pain, the sorrow, the love. He had loved you with all his heart, even if it hadn’t been enough.
And as the sun finally dipped below the horizon, leaving only the faintest trace of light, Haku whispered to the empty sky:
“Take care… I’ll always love you.”
And he let the wind carry his words away.
I have always wanted to use "The Sunset Is Beautiful, Isn't It?" — The Bittersweet Phrase that I didn’t know it had meaning. Then I saw this Haku card it fits!
> This fic was inspired by this song too, here's the English translation too
> Ao3 vers.
God I am caught between 2 different flavors of beefleaf. One where they both fell in love long before black water arc, and He Xuan knew that heartbreak would eventually come, so he tried to stop it, but inevitably fell harder than Shi Qingxuan. And the other flavor where He Xuan didn’t realize his feelings until it was much too late, and Shi Qingxuan was already caught on black water island crying for mercy from their “Ming-Xiong”
sometimes i see my moots posting cute moreid headcanon and write all these cute fluffy scenarios while all i have in my mind is angst sad moreid 😭😭😭😭 i tried to write a fic and i was like nah.. this is too sad and depressing...
No powers AU- POV of Steve when he figures out Tony pushed him out of his life/broke up with him, because Tony found out Tony’s very sick and doesn’t want Steve to be “burdened” by what may be a very long, hard road.
Steve does NOT take this laying down I assume
Ahhhhhhh anon :((((( this kind of thing makes me soooo sad. Have you read what could’ve been by itsallavengers ? It has this same theme and it will Hurt You 😭❤️💙
