Red's eyebrows rose, and Auden watched curiosity displace determination in her eyes as she slowed her pace and eventually stopped running.
"Why are we stopping?" he asked. "You okay, Red? You're not hurt, are you?"
She shook her head, then shifted the Transistor to her left hand while she reached into his jacket pocket with her right. Inside the Transistor, the blue wheat-like stalks around him swayed with the motion, and he craned his neck to watch her, though he knew exactly what she would find.
He could see in her expression the moment her fingertips brushed against the little velvet box in his pocket, and he felt what was left of his heart break in tandem with hers.
"It's exactly what you think it is," he told her when she removed it. "I've been carrying it around for days, waiting for the right moment. Guess I waited a moment too long, huh?" He gave a rueful chuckle.
"You don't have to open it," he added as she moved to do just that. "Just forget about it. Put it back, or throw it away. You don't have to—hey. Red. Red. Don't do this. Don't do this to yourself. To us. Just…please."
She glanced at him, her jaw set, her eyes brimming with tears, then defiantly opened the box with a swift, violent motion. She looked at the ring inside, glittering gold on a black velvet cushion, and pressed her fingers hard against her lips to stifle her sobs, letting her tears overflow.
"You like it, at least, I hope? I know it's not a conventional design, but…"
She nodded rapidly, sniffling and wiping at her eyes.
"…you're not a conventional woman."
She smiled, briefly, unleashing another round of tears, then lifted the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger.
A perfect fit.
"Whew! I wasn't sure it'd fit when I bought it—" He stopped short when Red knelt and wrapped her arms around the Transistor, drawing it close. Though he hadn't been able to feel anything of the outside world since he'd been absorbed into the Transistor, he swore he felt her. Her warmth, her heartbeat, the pressure of her slender fingers against the unyielding material of the sword. Her tears, hot and plentiful; her muted, heaving sobs; her shuddering sigh when she finally ran out of tears, for the moment, and broke her embrace to tend to her face.
If only he could've hugged her back. If only he could wipe the tears off her cheeks now, tuck the wayward locks of hair behind her ear and kiss her better. If only he could've asked her the question properly.
If only he could've heard her answer.
She exhaled sharply and looked straight into the eye of the Transistor, her face filling the red sky above him. She smiled again, more broadly this time, though sadness still tugged at the corners of her lips.
Yes, she mouthed, blinking rapidly. Yes, I will. I love you. So much.
She bit her lip and closed her eyes against another rush of tears, and for a moment, he said nothing, feeling empty and overwhelmed at once, as if he'd just taken a punch to the gut. As she rose, however, he began to laugh, in relief, in disbelief, at the simultaneous absurdity and beauty of making a promise in the midst of an apocalypse.
He watched her adjust his jacket on her shoulders once more, and saw her smile fade into a determined frown. But before she continued on her trek toward Bracket Towers, toward the people they hoped might have some answers, she brought the ring to her lips and kissed it.
And somewhere in the digital wasteland in which he was trapped, somehow, on the flickering semblance of his body, he felt it, soft and warm and full of love, and he knew she'd do whatever it took to bring them together again.
Together again, once and for all.