It took a while for Kavo to find his way back to the deck after he’d gotten lost again. By the time he finally emerged, the crew was already working into a battle-ready position; Hawk must have seen it, as well. Kavo made sure he still had the knife Aizel had given him, and then he began loading cannons with the rest of them.
“Kavo.”
Kavo turned. Esryn was behind him, looking extremely worried.
“What is it?”
“Kavo, that’s Laed’s ship.”
Kavo’s eyes widened. “What do you mean that’s Laed’s ship?” He looked to it. “That’s the commander’s ship! Since when—”
“Laed’s on it. They said that he was the best shot they’ve seen, but now I’m thinking maybe they just wanted someone who couldn’t talk.”
Kavo cursed. “We’ve got to do something. Let’s… let’s talk to Gwendolyn, and maybe…”
“You know that won’t work. The commander won’t back off just because the two of us are on this ship. After all, we were both failures.”
Kavo sighed. “Okay, how about… fuck, I don’t know…” He had to do something, though. He knew that if anything at all happened to Laed, Esryn would never recover. Together or not, Kavo had never seen two people more smitten with each other. He’d make sure this worked out somehow.
Slowly, a plan began to form in his mind. He could make it work, and make it look like they’d lost. All he’d need was Laed’s cooperation, and with Esryn onboard, that wouldn’t be difficult. This would work.
“Esryn, I have an idea.”
Five minutes later and Esryn declared that his idea was doomed to failure.
“It’s just… it’s ludicrous, Kavo! There’s no way. We’d have to get Laed to know, and you know it’s hard to explain things to people who can’t ask questions.”
“Es, you know he trusts you more than anyone. We’ll just get you over onboard, and it’ll be fine.”
Esryn bit his lip. “Yeah, but then you’d be alone here.”
“Hey, I’ve survived this long. I’ll live.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“Positive. Just one thing: don’t let him shoot me too badly.”
Esryn laughed. “No promises, but I’ll try. Should we… tell them?”
Kavo shook his head. “No. They won’t like the idea of surrender; they don’t believe in accepting defeat. Besides, they still don’t like you. They’ll think you’re just trying to get back with the government.”
“I guess you have a point there… but I just want to save Laed. Who knows what they’ve made him do over there?”
There it was. That glimmer of love that told Kavo that there was something else to life than just existing shone brightly, like it always had when Esryn had talked of Laed. He’d forgotten how compelling that look was; he couldn’t tell Esryn no when he wanted to help Laed.
“I know. But we’ll be fine. Laed needs you more than we do; I’m sure of it.”
A soft smile spread across Esryn’s face. “Thanks, Kavo. I don’t know how to repay you.”
“Just make sure Laed’s safe. He was my friend, too.”
“Of course.”
The ship began to come into view, and Kavo pushed Esryn toward the edge. “Get ready. I don’t want them too close for long.”
Esryn grinned over his shoulder. “Yes, sir, Captain Dula.”
Cannons began to fire as the ship grew closer. The familiar smell of gunpowder filled the air as cannonballs soared, but both Esryn and Kavo ignored the chaos that erupted; they had a plan to execute, and it needed to be executed nigh perfectly.
The moment they were close, Esryn leapt like a gymnast. He soared through the air and landed with a perfect somersault on the other ship’s deck. Kavo let out a shaky breath; at least part of their plan had already worked.
Kavo could see a smaller blonde stop in his tracks at the sight of Esryn, and he smiled. They already had Laed’s attention, luckily enough. Now all Esryn had to do was convince him to shoot Kavo and not make it a fatally wounding blow.
Kavo nearly groaned when Esryn grabbed Laed. They really didn’t have time for that sort of greeting. He really did groan when Esryn decided to kiss Laed. Had Esryn entirely forgotten about their plan? If he didn’t remember it soon, one of them was going down at the very least.
Finally, Esryn pulled away and whispered something to Laed. Laed’s eyes widened in shock, but he nodded. His crystal eyes searched the ship until they landed on Kavo. With what was probably as close to an apology as Laed could manage, Laed raised his revolver, aimed, and fired.
The bullet pierced Kavo’s chest, far too close to his heart for comfort. Still, Laed had the skill that it wouldn’t kill him as long as he received treatment. That was what Kavo had been counting on.
Unfortunately, Kavo couldn’t quite communicate that it was a job well done. A mixture of shock and blood loss was already doing him in. He choked on air as his knees began to buckle. Slowly, he crumpled to the ground.
Around him, he heard the chaos come to a head. Maybe his plan hadn’t worked as well as he had thought.
Then, he felt their ship begin to land; it was fast enough that he was all but free-falling. Maybe it had worked; maybe his life was important enough to them to forestall the battle for now.
“Kavo!” a deep voice shouted. That voice should have been much farther away if they were still fighting. It had worked.
Kavo smiled dreamily. He’d done it. Esryn and Laed could have their happy ending.
“Kavo, this is no time for napping. Open your eyes.” When Kavo didn’t obey Hawk’s orders, he felt his shirt being ripped open. “How dare they…”
Kavo gripped Hawk’s arm. “Don’t. I asked them to. It was… the only way… I’m sorry…” His voice trailed off into a coughing fit.
“Do not apologize. Stay awake.”
A shaky smile came over Kavo’s face. “You’re panicking,” he whispered.
“It does not matter if I am panicking,” Hawk hissed. “Please, do not leave me…”
“I’m sorry,” Kavo managed.
Those were the last words Kavo could even think before the demon that was unconsciousness took him into its claws. He didn’t feel Hawk gripping onto him desperately. He didn’t hear Aizel’s yells. He didn’t feel it when he was lifted and carried away from sight.
He only felt peace.
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