~•Aphmau•~
I run as fast as I can into his room. Tears flow quickly down my eyes. I give a gentle knock on the light brown wooden door. I try not to sob loudly, but it's incredibly hard.

The door slowly opens. Zianna quietly steps out, her hair slightly messy and her eyes red from crying. My mom hugs her tight. A man with light brown hair and dark blue eyes steps out behind her.

Zianna steps away from my mom and wipes away her tears. She sighs and looks over at the man. He gives a soft smile, a genuine but sad smile.

"This is Tobin, Garte's brother." She says as she leads us in.

He gives that same smile he gave Zianna and shakes my hand. He has a strong grip. My grip is weak compared to his.

Tobin looks at Garroth, "He... they just put him on life support. He's only gonna hold out until his brothers come."

I slowly walk over to Garroth. His chest moves steadily up and down, up and down. As the machines breathe for him, I realize that's not Garroth. He's not breathing, he's just being kept alive.

But I still decide to talk to him.

"Hey," I say softly, delicately grabbing his hand. "I'm right here, we're all here. It's okay, I promise."

Then, he slightly opens his eyes. His blue eyes lost that spark. He looks pale, almost grey. His hand is cold, not shaky but still. He looks at me, his eyes showing thoughtfulness and hopefulness.

I smile at him, "There's those blue eyes."

His eyes seem to start to shimmer, though tears form inside them. Tears slowly flow down my cheeks, but I'm not going to allow him to cry. He doesn't need it.

"No, Garroth, don't cry. Please don't. It's okay, all of us are right here." I say.

Garroth, machines still giving him a steady pace of breath, closes his eyes once again. A tube taped to his mouth prevents him from talking. I lean down next to his ear.

"I love you, Garroth..." I whisper.

~•Vylad•~
I ride up the elevator with fidgety hands. Grandma took us here and told us what was going on. I cried, I cried a lot.

I still am.

I look over at Zane. He's wearing a grey coat and black hat. His eyes look towards the wall. He didn't cry, he doesn't cry much. He deals with stuff strangely, but he still deals with stuff.

The elevator doors slide open. We walk over to his room, making sure not to run into anything. I squeeze grandma's hand tightly. She knocks on the door, and mom slowly steps out. She hugs Zane first, and then walks over to me.

"Hey, Vylad," she says quietly while kissing the side of my head. "It's okay, alright?"

"B-But he's-"

"It's gonna be okay buddy," she strokes my hair and stands up.

"Boys, I don't think he is gonna hold out for much longer. Your gonna have to say your goodbyes now," she says and then leads us into the room.

Say the goodbyes now?

But I didn't even get to see him!

I try not to cry while walking over to Garroth. He has a thin tube taped to his bottom lip. I reach his bed and gently put a hand on his arm.

"Hey, Garroth," I whisper. "I love you, I'm gonna miss you."

I slowly lean down to his ear, making sure no one hears me.

"Say hi to dad for me. Bye, G."

I stand back up and run over to Aphmau. Tears flow down my cheeks as she engulfs me in a hug. She strokes my hair and shushes me, in almost a motherly way.

She's like a sister, to me. I can't ever leave her.

~•Zane•~
I was always jealous of Garroth. He was the golden child, the survivor. It almost felt like he was the favorite, even though I knew that wasn't true.

Vylad runs over to Aphmau. She hugs him. I sigh, knowing its my turn to say goodbye. You know that feeling when you have to stand up and give a big speech? Yeah, that's how I feel.

It's like, these are the words that he'll remember me by. When he dies and goes to the afterlife, those words are what he's gonna tell Dad that I said. So I have to choose them very carefully.

I grab his hand gently, realizing so many things I've done wrong to him. Tears form in my eyes, I blink them away and wipe what tears did flow.

Then, I think of exactly what to say.

"I know we may not have the best relationship but... we're still brothers, you know?" I lean down to his ear and whisper.

"I love you, Garroth. I love you so much."

~•Zianna•~
I can't believe it. The moment I promised would never happen. The moment a mother fears most, it's happening. My little boy is dying.

There's a moment when you become a mother that everything changes. That, instead of the word revolving around your marriage or something else, it revolves around your child. It's almost like nothing else matters in that moment but your child.

"Look at him, Garte. He's beautiful," I said while looking down at my newborn son.

Garte couldn't take his eyes off him. He had been smiling for hours, a shimmer in his eyes was never taken away. He stood at the side of me, tears flowing down his face.

"I know," he said quietly.

"Here," I said while handing him Garroth.

Garte gently took him, trying not to shed tears. He was never sensitive, but he was crying hard in the delivery room.

"He looks just like you," I said.

"He looks like all newborns." Garte said.

"No, he looks like you. He's got all your features, even your eyes," I said.

"Sure, we'll go with that." He smiled at me and turned to Garroth. "Hey, little man."

I looked at them, promising myself to never let anything happen to him. To let him be okay forever.

Clearly, that didn't happen.

A soft knock comes from the door and a doctor walks in. Chart in his hand, he presses his lips together.

"Is it...?" Tobin asks.

The doctor sadly nods. I walk over to Garroth, letting the doctor across from me. Tobin puts his hands on my shoulders. I lean down near Garroth's ear, ready to let him go.

"Goodbye, baby boy. I love you," I say. I hug Tobin tightly.

It's over, all of it. I love you, buddy.

~•Garroth•~
I feel the tape slowly rip off my mouth, the thin tube slides out my throat. I try to breathe on my own, I try hard. But I can't.

Coughing a few times, I shut my eyes tightly. I open my eyes, to an amazing place. There's grass, greener than green. Flowers of all sorts of bright colors. Clear water gently flowing down rocks.
I look around with tears in my eyes. I'm not happy, I'm not sad, I just am. There's no feeling, beat or melody. Just what you would call nature sounds.

I decide to walk around and discover things. I touch rocks with strange patterns. I let my hand go under the gentle flow of water. I smile and decide to climb the rocks.

Stepping up, I see a man in what seems to be a camouflage uniform. I look closely at him. He has short, blonde hair. He has broad shoulders, it's almost too familiar.

"Dad..?" I say quietly. He doesn't turn around.

"Dad!" I say louder.

He turns around with a bright shimmer in his eyes. He smiles brightly, standing up with tears in his eyes.

"G-Garroth!" He exclaims, running over to me.

We hug each other tightly. He still has that safe smell. We hug for a long time, dad putting a hand on the back of my head. We laugh and seperate.

"Look at you, you've grown so much..." he says.

"W-Well, it has been four years." I say.

"I know," he says. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, dad," I smile.

"Though, I did want to see you again but... not like this." He says.

At first, I am shocked at his words. But then I realize what he means, that he didn't want me to die to see him. But I know he loves me and he will take care of me.

"I know," I sigh. "D-Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Will mom, Zane, Vylad, and Tobin be okay?" I ask timidly.

"Of course they will, Garroth." He says.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

Dad pulls me into a hug again. I sigh, scared for their future. Dad strokes my hair.

"I'm positive."

••••••••
*Thinks about Its Quiet Uptown*

Epilogue should come out tomorrow, guys!

I'll give a speech at the end of the epilogue.

Thanks for reading! Bye!
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