She would never be ready. She fought it against it for so long. She had avoided death countless times, not yet prepared to leave this world. Every time she was faced with the prospect of meeting her end, she pushed back with that little bit of fight left in her, and gained herself another year.

Another decade.

Another century.

She had since lost track of how long it had been. How long had she been roaming this earth, just looking for a place to settle down? How many times had she felt like she was close to belonging, but being forced to flee once her secret was revealed?

How many times had she gone through that, and still chose to do it some more?

It took a long time, but eventually she found her people. She found a fire-eyed man who she had grown to see as a brother, and his young daughter whom she had absolutely adored. She had found a stunning, auburn haired woman that she got to call her wife, and eventually a father-in-law that loved her as though she were his.

They knotted themselves into a family, keeping her undying secret in the heart of the ropes, safe from the world.

A lonely soul such as herself wasn’t used to such a life. Such stability and love.

And, perhaps, she never should have been.

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Death had come for her once more, its centurial checkup. A question whispering, are you ready yet?. The family had come undone; a father running out of time and a young girl not having enough of it, an auburn-haired woman breathing shallow breaths in bed and a brother hiding from the world in a shell of what he used to be, all while she stayed timeless in a photograph. She knew what was soon bound to happen, and yet she still said no. She still pushed back with all of her dampening might. She needed these last few years, however short they may be. She needed to see through what she had started. Give a proper send off of the last of her first real family.

As she knew would happen, they all left her eventually, suscumbing to time as every mortal does. Fire turned to smoke and drifted into the sky, auburn and her world faded to grey.

She started a countdown.

Ninety-seven…

Ninety-six…

Ninety-five…

Seconds were longer than years, her movements were so slow she turned to mulch, absorbed into the ground, yet still breathing. Though the ropes were gone leaving nothing to keep her above ground, the heart in the middle — her undying heart — continued beating. She stayed covered in moss, breathing and beating and yet not quite alive, until a familiar whisper reached her ears and tore the moss from her eyes.

Death had arrived.

Her one true constant.

She laughed at the irony of it.

When it asked its question, it seemed bored, almost like it knew what her answer would be. Like trying to force mortality upon her was a wasted effort, if all she would do is push back.

Like even it didn’t have the energy to fight anymore.

It felt as though in their long, long lives, the two of them had seen everything. And yet, she managed to bring to them both something new. She said what she knew, deep down, she had secretly wanted to say since she had first been given the option. Her mouth filled with smoke that started to drift into the sky as she opened it to speak.

“I’m ready.”