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hiraeth - part one hundred-eight

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       The sky that had once been turned white finally began to fade. Even as it faded, it took Gohan a minute for his eyesight to come back, blinking his eyes. Everything was dead silent, even the wind having disappeared. Looking up, Gohan's eyes fell upon the crater where Cell Max had been. It took a moment for his wits to be gathered from the force of the explosion, but when he did, his eyes widened, his blood freezing over.

Cell Max stood in the middle of the crater, frozen in place. His body twitched as the light in his eyes flickered. Half of his arm was gone, his skin discolored and grey. He was still standing. And Y/n was gone.

"No..." Gohan rasped, forcing himself up. His legs begged him to stay down, his heart pleading with him to just lie down. "Y/n!"

Gohan took off running towards Cell Max as fast as his legs would carry him. Everything they had been through, everything Y/n had ever done for him, he couldn't let it all disappear now. He never got to fix things between them, he never managed to fix the friendship Y/n had offered him after everything. All of the pain he had caused her, he couldn't just let her disappear without helping to heal.

Jumping down into the crater where Cell Max stood completely paralyzed, Gohan whipped his head back and forth in search of Y/n. Right he began to look, something caught his eye, turning to it with wide eyes.

Hair that spiked out almost in the shape of a star, her faint blue form shaking as the wind hit her. Sitting on the ground, just beside her, laid Y/n, lifeless eyes staring up into the sky. Gohan hesitated, barely even registering in his mind as the others caught up to him, wondering if he were dreaming. It was only because the others too could see it that he knew he was wide awake.

"You're..." Gohan breathed in, his heart thumping against his rib cage as he stared into her blank blue eyes. Sitting before Y/n, it was unmistakable. The soul of the Saiyan that had been reborn into Y/n, Saffa. It was her.

Hesitantly, Gohan lowered himself onto his knees, taking Y/n's hand into his own with such care that it might break if he touched her. His gaze fell onto her empty eyes, and the tear stained skin of her cheeks. "Please..."

Gohan looked up to the soul of the Saiyan that sat before him, eyes welling with tears as he intertwined his fingers with Y/n's. "You have to save her, please. There must be something you can do."

She stared at Gohan, and it was only then that he noticed she lacked almost all features to her appearance, the only thing standing out being her empty eyes, and unmistakable Saiyan hair. Gohan startled at the movement of her hand as she raised it, grazing Y/n's skin, raising her hand over Y/n's eyes.

Gohan's heart plummeted into the pit of his chest as her hand slid over Y/n's eyes, closing them and hiding the pools of lifelessness that rested just beneath. Pulling her hand down Y/n's cheek, she wiped away the streaks of tears that ran down her face. There was nothing left to be done. All of her energy, every last memory in her body had faded, and there was nothing more than a shell left.

Gohan didn't even realize his own tears were pouring down his face as he looked up to the soul, pleading with her. Even though he knew, it was all over. And just as he looked up to her, his eyes widened. A smile had formed on her face, one that was all too identical to her's, to Y/n's.