Kornstar

You knew well enough with Ada's records, that her name wasn't entirely real. Yet, you still called her by that name. It was her chosen name after all. Everything was wiped clean; no one knew anything about her past life, her family and her friends. It was like she never existed.

But here you were, your trembling hands holding onto a beautifully designed closed urn as your eyes stared over at the open lake. Your thumb would occasionally caress the smooth surface of it as if asking for reassurance. Not so far behind, the DSO man stood by the cherry blossom tree.

It was unfair for the day to be a beautiful one - not when you had lost your friend.

Faint footsteps had gotten closer to your form at the bridge and you didn't even bother to look over to see who it was. Leon stood next to you, hands by his side with an apprehensive look on his face. It was silent between you two. The only sounds were the rustling cherry leaves, the calming waves of the lake, and the very distant city.

You broke the silence by shifting the file tucked under your arm to slide it over to him. Leon glanced down at it then at you as he took it.

"What's this?" Leon opened the file to pull out the main paper only for his eyes to dull at it.

"You haven't signed them." You said blankly but the pain was evident in your voice.

The paper crinkled under his grip and Leon frowned deeply, brows furrowing in hurt as he looked over at you.

"Honey... Please, we don't have to do this. I -" Leon released a sigh, hand ever so gently grasping your upper arm for your attention; your eyes that he oh so loved, "I can't do this."

You refused to acknowledge the ache in his voice, making his tone drop an octave at the heavy weight of his guilt.

A soft tug, "Look at me."

Your bottom lip trembled and you bit your inner lower lip in an attempt to stop it as you inhaled deeply to calm down. When you finally turned your head up at him, you could feel your heart break in half.

The cheeky Leon you knew was gone - being replaced with a broken man.

You wished you could still see him the way you used to before; cocky, caring, kind, protective, amazing in every sense - but you can't.

You won't.

Not after what he's done.

"It's better this way, Leon."

The way you said his name gave him butterflies, but the wrong kind. The kind that made him feel sick to his stomach.

"Y/N..." Leon uttered your name and under the soft warm light of the sunset, you saw his azure eyes glistening with unshed tears - as if holding oceans, "I can fix this - you have to give me a chance."

"There's nothing left to fix." Your voice came out small.

You slipped your arm out of his desperate hold and his world crumbled when you stepped away from him, returning your hold onto your long-lost friend's ashes.

It was ironic - the same cherry blossom park that's filled with new opportunities and love confessions was now holding onto a sad memory. A lost married couple.

A divorce.

Leon only had to take one step, hand holding your wrist and then you saw it.

A tear escaping the confines of his hardened saddened blues.

"I don't want to lose you too." Leon muttered, pleading for your forgiveness.

But how could you?

The same man you vowed your whole life to almost threw you away for a woman on the run. Deep inside, you knew how much pain he was in. His rookie self was still in there somewhere and it pushed him to press the button that would've killed you. It was all some twisted trick anyway - had he chosen you, you would've been the one in an urn or a casket six feet underground.

In a way, Leon saved you. He stuck to his vows and kept you safe. Neither of you knew about the trick, which made it way worse that Leon would've picked Ada's life over yours.

Your eyes stung heavily with tears as you stared silently at Leon. It hurt. It hurt so bad to let go - but maybe it would be better to leave this life all behind. This agency and zombies. You couldn't bring yourself to stay any longer.

"You already did."

Like before, you only moved back and the big hand dropped weakly by the side of your soon-to-be ex-husband. To save yourself some spare dignity, you were quick to turn around and start walking away. A faint whimper reached your ears but that didn't stop you.

You didn't only lose your friend that day.

You lost the love of your life too.