"Ah..." Life stared at nothing in particular, feeling a familiar regret begin to stir in her chest.
Kayin seemed briefly stunned. He went stiff for a moment before tentatively hugging his mother back, eyes darting around the room as if for some kind of explanation. When met with none, they shifted to stare at the ground, apparently lost in thought.
"...Did we even have it in the first place?" Life asked, a strange emptiness in her voice. Even now...thinking back as far as she could, Life could hardly remember a time when her and Death were actually happy together. Sure, there were good moments between the two, but they were always fleeting. Every positive interaction they had was always stunted by the war between them--the war between their very existences. They were opposites, through and through.
Life and Death.
In a way, one wasn't significant without the other. Life was only so precious because it was fleeting--if cherry blossoms bloomed year round, then they wouldn't be considered nearly as beautiful nor as special. It was because their majesty could only be witnessed in spring that they were so appreciated.
And of course, death wouldn't exist without life. If nothing lived, nothing could die. And...in a sense, nothing could truly 'live' if it didn't die. Even if they were opposites, both life and death needed each other. Otherwise, neither meant anything.
And I tried to get that across to her, but no matter what happened, it always ended in a fight. She never understood. Or maybe she just didn't care. Life frowned, finding herself caught up in one of the arguments she and Death always used to have. Of course, Death never had a sense for those things. No, she only liked destroying things I made because it was fun for her. It gave her a twisted feeling of power, so she exercised it over me whenever she could. She enjoyed watching me suffer.
Life scowled to herself, fingers tapping on the end of her chair. I was only ever a plaything to her. A way for her to feel superior, a person she loved tormenting. And when she was finally too fed up with my attitude, she had my own son toss me in the garbage. Gosh, I hate that woman...
It was only after a minute more of thinking about all of the ways Death succeeded in being a terrible person that Life snapped back to her senses. She blinked a few times, rubbing her eyes exactly once before re-attuning herself with her surroundings. It was getting easier and easier to get lost in the past these days...
Life took a deep breath. "Well, at least it's nice to see you again, Bennie. ...And, um...if you see Maria anytime soon, please tell her...that I said 'I'm sorry.' For everything. ...She'll know what I mean."
I never should've dragged you into any of this. This wasn't even your fight to begin with...