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~~~~~~~~~
He was dead.
Gone.
Forever.
No mystical reprieves. No Hail, Mary plays. Just the end- nothing.
He knew it was the epitome of selfishness, but with him gone all he could think about was how he'd never told him. He'd let his stoicism and impenetrable walls kept him from showing him how much he meant to him, how much he needed him. Kept him from admitting the way his too rare smiles gave him hope and his fathomless eyes gave him peace.
He wished with all his being he could say he would have said something if he'd known, done something different, but he knew that would be a lie.
Now, it no longer mattered, the battles were over, the hope gone, his reason for fighting a fading dream in the emptiness that remained.