Is this... death?

Am I dead?

Sen felt warm as darkness enveloped her. She faintly heard Madara calling her name and saying that he loved her. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She wanted to go back to him, to be with him forever. She fought against the force pulling her soul away from its body. However, her efforts were futile.

All of those nights spent dreaming of life with him felt so far away now. She would never feel his warm touch again, nor his lips against hers. She would no longer wake beside him as he nuzzled her neck. They would never be married, never have children, never grow old together, and never see the Uchiha and Hyuga clans expand.

Her heart ached as she saw his handsome face in her mind's eye. She wanted nothing more than to run her fingers through his dark hair and hear his melodious, rich laugh. She wanted to see his smile and hear his deep voice call her name or say that he loved her.

Madara... I'm so sorry. Wanting to spend forever with you must have been too much to ask for...

She felt lighter as she floated in total darkness. Her eyes opened and she saw the twinkling light of what looked to be little stars twirling around her. She held her hand out and captured one of the stars between her fingers. Whenever she opened her hand, the small iridescent ball had disappeared back into the dark void.

Where am I? What is this place?

She looked around and saw nothing but the flicker of stars as they danced. She floated through the strange place she was in and let her gaze wander around. She felt at peace here. This was so unlike what she thought death would be like.

It hadn't been scary, but she had been held tightly in her lover's arms. There was no other place she would've rather taken her final breaths; she just wished they could've been postponed for a few more decades at least.

A wash of sadness came over her as she remembered Karasu, Yama, Yuudai, and Sora. She hoped they wouldn't be too sad over her passing. She missed them so much already. She wandered around the void and hoped that one day she would be able to see her little family again.

As she walked through the garden of stars, a familiar voice called out, "Sen?"

Her heart froze as she turned around to face her older sister. Mina looked as beautiful as ever, her short chestnut hair hanging around her lovely face. Standing beside her was their father, his white eyes soft as he looked upon his youngest daughter. Both were wearing sad smiles as they took in the sight of their beloved family member.

"Mina? Father?" she croaked out, stepping toward them slowly.

A smile broke across Mina's face as she ran to her little sister and enveloped her in a hug. She laughed loudly and then cried out, "Oh, Sen! I've missed you so much! But... Why are you here?"

"Well... I died."

Mina rolled her eyes playfully and kissed the girl on the cheek. "Obviously... but you still look so young? How long has it been since I passed?"

Their father lay his hands on the girls' shoulders, silencing Mina, and gave Sen a sorrowful look as he asked what happened. She sighed gently and said, "This may take a while... I wanna make sure I tell it right."

Mina grinned broadly again and plopped down onto the bed of stars. She patted the space beside her and chirped, "We have all the time in the world, Sen."

Tears fell down Sen's face as she smiled and sat between her father and older sister. As they sat, she told them about everything that had occurred after their passing. Her father was upset to hear about Mizura, but happy to know that Sora had begun to see his twin's true self. He apologized to Sen and Mina for failing them as a parent, to which both of the girls shook their heads and crashed into him with hugs.

Mina held Sen's hand and begged for forgiveness for her actions and the pain they subsequently caused. Sen shook her head and told the girl that she could've never known the outcome, so there was no reason to apologize. A soft pink tint was on Mina's face as she dropped her eyes and whispered that Sen was as loyal and kindhearted as ever.

As the family lay reunited in this strange place, a sense of warmth drifted over Sen and calmed her spirit. Of course, she would have rather been in Konohagakure with her lover and her boys, but this starry world with her family didn't seem to bad either.

A sad smile formed on her face as she remembered her and Madara's conversation about whether or not the stars had company up there in the sky. She looked around at the flashing little lights before peeking over to her father and sister before thinking contentedly:

You were right, Madara.

The stars aren't lonely after all.

◇ ─ ◇ ─ ◇─ ◇ ─ ◇ ─ ◇

Well... This is it. No one hate me please haha. I never originally intended on ending it like this; however, as the story progressed, it felt... right?

I do intend on writing an epilogue, but I don't know which character's point of view it should be focused around. I have considered Madara (of course), but we all know how his story ends up.

Let me know in the comments which character(s) you would like to read about.

xx