22. In a rush of adrenaline + any ship
There was fire raining down around them. The air was thick with smoke, their clothes were singed, their face was smeared with soot and streaked with sweat, but they felt no fear at this moment. There were joy and adrenaline rushing through their veins, as the world was burning around them.
They were surrounded by burning ruins and there were blisters on their skin, yet they had never felt more at peace.
“I love you!” they screamed, to no one. Their arms went around them in a parody of a hug as they spun in circles. This was ecstasy. This was the feeling they had sought for their whole life.
It was more than worth the cost.
They continued to hug themself and spin until the motion and lack of oxygen made them fell to the ground, disoriented but fulfilled. They closed their eyes and laid back on the ember-covered ground, still content with the false hug.
A hand brushed through their hair. They didn’t open their eyes, even though they knew that they should be alone. It could be Death, coming to claim them.
As the adrenaline started to die down and as the joy dimmed, they reluctantly opened their eyes. As they had thought, it was Death that was sitting beside them. They would always know, as they were Death’s master.
Hah! Master of Death. It was ridiculous that a cloak, a stick, and a stone made them master of an entity as big as Death. Yet here they were.
“Your time is running out,” Death broke the silence, the words calming the hysteria they had been thriving on. “The balance can only be kept for so long.”
A vibration went through their body, as triggered by Death’s word. In one moment, there was them, and in the other, there was two.
Two boys who shouldn’t make sense together, but they were both opposites and reflections. They were made for each other, both to love each other and ruin each other.
Fuelled by a new rush of adrenaline, Harry gripped Tom’s collar and brought their lips together. It wasn’t a kiss per se, but it wasn’t not a kiss either. It was everything and nothing, it was a goodbye and a hello.
It was two boys trying to once more become one, even if they knew Death wouldn’t allow it.
They could become one every millennium, at the cost of a century of being apart. At the cost of a century without their other half, without their soulmate.
But they had agreed. It was more than worth the cost, to become one once every millennium.
They broke the kiss with matching smiles. Harry stood up from the ground, knowing that Death wanted to leave.
He took one last look at Tom before allowing Death to take them away.
A century wouldn’t take long.
