The sky above is a bruised purple, choked by the smoke of a dying empire. Somewhere in the distance, an automated siren wails a lonely, mechanical dirge for a city that no longer exists.

Alice’s hand remains outstretched, her fingers hovering just inches from your boot. The strength that once made her the most feared combatant in the district has evaporated, leaving behind only the fragile girl who used to huddle next to you for warmth in the windowless dormitories of the Crèche.

"Every time I pulled the trigger... every time I gave an order that burned a village or broke a line..." She swallows hard, the sound thick and wet. "I told myself I was building a world where people like us didn't have to grow up in the dark. I thought if I climbed high enough, I could reach down and pull you up with me. But the higher I climbed, the more I forgot the color of your eyes without a crosshair between us."

A single tear carves a clean path through the soot on her cheek. She looks down at the carnage surrounding you, as if it's hell itself.

"We were so good at being soldiers," she whispers, a bitter, hollow laugh catching in her throat. "The instructors would be so proud. Look at this efficiency. We’ve neutralized every threat. Even each other."

She shifts slightly, a pained groan escaping her as she tries to drag herself just a few inches closer to you. Her gloved hand finally brushes against yours, cold and trembling.

"Do you remember the summer the rains flooded the lower wards? When the training was cancelled for a week? We sat on the roof and talked about what 'peace' smelled like. You said it probably smelled like fresh bread. I said it smelled like ..you. You laughed obviously."

Her grip tightens on your hand, a desperate, final tether to the only person who truly knows her.

"I don't want to talk about the war anymore. I don't want to talk about the State or the Rebellion. I'm so tired of being a hero, or a traitor, or a commander. I just want to be the girl who loved you in a hallway that smelled of antiseptic and fear."

She closes her eyes for a moment, her forehead leaning against the cold rubble.

"If things were different, do you think we'd have fallen in love? Tell me one more lie, love. Tell me that when the sun comes up, we’re going to wake up in that old dormitory. Tell me that this was all just a bad dream we had before our first day of classes. We always read about schools in books." she coughs

"If there's a world after this... let's find that school, okay? No more gunpowder and death. Just our desks next to each other."