Worth More Than Gems

She gripped the handle and pressed the gas harder. Her car tires screeched like a bird. She gritted her teeth and roughly swiveled her left. At the corner of her eye, she saw in the mirror the black car rumbling after her.

Why, she thought, why did the plan fail?

She was one of the greatest thieves in the world. Now, she had stolen the best treasure any thief would want to steal. Her name was Avery. She had a rivalry with a thief named Nox for over 10 years. Their duel hadn't ended yet, but she knew that she might not make it out this time. Perhaps the Elf's Tears was too big of a target.

She turned back onto a straight road, loaded her gun, and lowered her window. Quickly turning back, she shot the first thing she saw.

Bang.

The bullet hit the large screen, cracking it, but not breaking it. Hearing shots being fired back, she quickly ducked back into the car. Quickly typing in a number, she called her partner.

"I'm listening."

"Hey Carly- I don't think I can escape them. They've found out I got the 'Elf's Tears in my hands."

"You mean the world's largest emerald? You got it?"

"Is that all you care about!" Her voice rose as she jerked her handle to the right to avoid a close hit at the brick wall. Carly laughed.

"Anyways, I need help now! You can track my current place. I think the Elf's Tears won't be able to last in our hands for long!"

"I don't think I can do that anymore, Avery."

"...what?"

"My whole life has been dedicated- isn't it time I live a little!? I've received a message to lock the door to your exit, but it seems you have escaped more easily than I thought."

'So you’re the one who closed those doors? I could have been shot to death if I hadn't thought of an emergency plan."

"Yes, indeed." Her voice turned undeniably cold. "What a pity."

Avery bit her lip. Her partner she has lived with for over 10 years just betrayed her. Now she only had herself to believe in.

"Then, good luck, old friend."

"Wait-" the call glitched out as a bullet pierced through the back windshield glass and shot the phone. She pressed down harder on the gas. The emerald was in a briefcase beside her. With one hand, she unlocked the bag. Another loud bang popped from behind. This time, her handle flew off the outside. Her eyes widened and her hand movements became faster. She grabbed the emerald and stuffed it into her jacket. Up the road was another brick building. Placing the weight on the gas once again, she kicked the door with a strong force. Her leg rippled with pain, but the door seemed to fall slightly. Seeing hope, she whacked the door again. This time, the door flew out, tumbling into the other car's windshield. With the right timing, she jumped right behind a brick wall, just enough so that they couldn't notice that she had leaped out. The speed caused her to slam against the wall, but it was worth it. They continued to chase the empty car and she ran away with the emerald tightly in her arms. She suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed. She just remembered like a bolt of lightning she had been shot in the back with a gun. Blood trickled down her shoulder and back. The hot, red liquid dripped down her lips. Was she going to die here?

Time passed. It felt like forever. Her vision became cloudy and her head felt like someone had hit her on the back of her head with a baseball bat.

Well, I guess it was a good life. I was famous, cool, and happy.

I forgot to pay the hotel owner before I left. 

I should've stomped on that person's foot harder if I'd known I'd die today.

Carly- I never expected her to betray me. She was always by my side. Perhaps she was planning this all along.

I kinda regret leaving Nox, but it's fine.

Maybe.

Footsteps. Had they finally found her? She scooted herself against the walls and tightly closed her eyes.

"I found you." She froze. This playful and jokester voice could only belong to one person.

"...Nox?" He held out a hand.

"I think you need help. Should I give you a lift, Miss?" The handsome thief smiled. Her eyes widened in surprise, but then she smirked and held up the emerald. Despite their endless battles, they had always maintained a friendship between them.

"I'm not gonna share it."

Perhaps their history would continue after all.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to anyway." He grinned and picked her up with a grunt.

"Are we heading to your place?"

"Let’s go to yours."

"Oh, this is a surprising change."

"I don't have anywhere to go anymore."

"Mind to explain?"

"Carly betrayed me."

"Yikers. Welp, my place it is. Don't even think about stealing anything while you're at it."

"Good idea." She feebly joked back. He turned his head down to see her face whiten. Her blood continued to flow down his arms, staining the cloth with crimson. Wrinkling his eyebrows with worry, he quickened his pace. Avery's breath was now in short gasps. Pain grabbed her like the devil.

"Hey Nox. You better take the emerald if I don't make it out here." Avery chuckled. Dying didn't seem so bad when he was near. It felt as if there was some meaning in her life whenever she was fighting against him.

"Don't die." He whispered in her ear. But she could barely hear it anymore.

He jumped up into the hole in his roof and slipped inside. His athletics and skillfulness were amazing. If he hadn't been a thief, she knew he would have been scouted for a bodyguard of somesort.

Feeling like up in the clouds, she laid her hand on his shoulder. "Imma die, Imma die."

"You really aren't the type to drink, huh?" He said, pretending to be annoyed. She giggled in response.

Nox set her down on the table. Typing some codes into the computer, he walked away so that the robots could get her in the robe and started the surgery. Avery honestly didn't really know what was happening, but when she woke up in new fresh clothes, she understood everything.

"Ugh." Avery winced when she sat up.

"A patient shouldn't move too much." The thief came into the room with a tray of hot breakfast.

"You're acting like a butler."

"I am kind of like one, aren't I?" He sat the tray down and did a fancy bow. She laughed, but stopped after her wound twinged with pain. He flinched and set her breakfast before her and headed out.

It was a quite bountiful meal. Scrambled eggs, pancakes with syrup, cooked sausages, blueberry yogurt, and more.

"He even knows my favorite juice." She quietly murmured. It was a mango and passion fruit mix that she usually drank for breakfast.

Well, it was pretty normal for him to know that. He was an expert at disguising himself as someone else and he could copy someone's voice, habits, and appearance perfectly. Avery specialized in hacking. That was why their rivalry was more difficult. She would be the best at stealing things at jewel museums when Nox loved the spotlight and always stole the most famous of the famous. Their ways often overlapped because of their interests.

Their first meeting was back 10 years ago when Nox was 15 and Avery was 12. When Nox was already known as a thief and a trickster. He came across a mysterious young girl. Of course he tried to pry what this girl was doing behind a meeting of the Council of Night. He froze when a knife was pushed towards him in threat. She was broken at a young age. Opening her computer, she began to hack. Of course, Nox didn't care and moved on as he was going to steal the ruby of 3 carats. Smiling, he slipped inside as a fake member, keeping a low profile. He was about to slip the gem when he realized the security was much tighter which meant it would be harder to steal the ruby. He was thinking deeply about his next decision when the lights turned off. In the darkness, he felt a gush of wind and as the lights returned, he could remember a flash of blue- just like her hair color. Smirking, he was interested in this girl now. She'd hacked the lights and the glass cover of ruby so that the alarms would be turned off. The Council of Night wasn't that easy to hack too. The roar of chaos gave him a chance to slip away. The girl hacker had also thought that the boy was weird. Although it was hard, she could tell that he was hidden amongst the black capes. Very delicately too. Since then, they ran the race, not showing any sign of slowing down.

Maybe until now.

Her fork clacked down onto the tray as she finished her meal. Slowly, she tried to step out of bed. Like a pair of jelly sticks, she fell down forward with a loud thump.

"Hey? What's going on?" Nox opened the door. "Hey! What's wrong?"

"What kind of poison did you feed me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I feel like a jellyfish."

"It's probably from the surgery. It's going to hurt badly if you try to walk now." Gently holding her arms, he brought her back to her spot.

"Where's my emerald?"

"It's in the vault, no worries."

"Are you sure?"

"Geez, can't you just trust in me for once?" He flipped back his long black hair and tied it up in a ponytail.

"Have you ever thought about cutting that?"

"Nope."

"C'mon, Rapunzel."

"Shut up."

"I'll shut up when you cut your hair, idiot." He rolled his eyes.

"Won't the Council of Night be after you?"

"They probably want to kill me this time. I stole the Elf's Tears! I heard it's worth more than 30 billion dollars since it's so big. I could barely fit it in my jacket. 400 carats- pretty neat, huh?"

"I guess so." The sunlight flew through the window, shining on them both. They both sat in silence, admiring each other.

It was a rare sight to see Nox in such casual clothes. He looked like an average college student- only he wasn't. Avery's blue hair was the shade of the ocean. Her eyes were just like the Elf's Tears. She eyed his hair and brushed it with her fingers. It was smooth and silky like water. Brought it up to her face and kissed it. It smelled of sweet and fragrant shampoo. Avery looked up with her cat eyes. It surprised her to see Nox blushing. I guess what she did was considered flirting. She smiled softly and he bit his lip. Carefully, he took her hand and kissed it too. Now, it was her turn to be flushed. He smirked and touched the back of her hand to his forehead. His head was warm, like the sunlight beside them. Avery began to laugh, the whole situation beginning to look hilarious. Nox was still smiling. How much he wished for her to smile and laugh more.

Wait… what?

He quickly stood up and left the room. As soon as he closed the door, he slumped down against it, his heart hammering in his chest. What was this? It was Avery, his rival in thievery and nothing more.

But was that really true?

He couldn't help thinking about her eyes. They seemed like they were worth more than any other gem, let alone the Elf's Tears. He wanted them to shine forever, like how they were while she looked into his eyes. He sighed in exasperation. He felt like a pervert.

Avery was also blushing too, her lips pressed against each other. She grabbed her hand with the other shaking. What was the problem with her?

Although they wish the sweet moments would last- there is no such thing as a forever lasting moment.

Nox had gone out that night to steal the 'Mermaid's Heart'. He couldn't help himself. The second he laid his eyes on the gemstone, it made him think of Avery. An aquamarine that was the size of a pinky fingernail. Such an azure blue couldn't do anything against her lightly curled hair, but it was something that he wanted.

Avery knew she had a feeling she had to go. Something was wrong. Her legs were okay by now, but the wound on her back gave her a great hesitation to go. But for some reason, she knew it. She knew she had to go.

Nox opened his eyes. He was caught. His arms were chained up in a dark place that seemed like a dungeon. The door creaked open and the moonlight flooded in. A lean man with gray hair smiled as he spotted the thief.

"The great thief of gems, Nox, finally caught with my own two hands!"

"You didn't catch me, your men did." He grinned. The smile on the man's face disappeared and he squatted down to eye level.

"Look here, thief. I'm not here to joke around. Where is Avery?"

"I don't know."

"Nonsense!" He grabbed his cheeks with his boney hand and roughly pulled him closer. "One of my men saw you taking her away. She has my emerald. Where is it? Where is the dirty mutt hiding my gem!?"

"Don’t call her a dirty mutt!" Nox lashed out. The eyes of the man went cold.

"We'll see who laughs in the end, thief. You or me, the Lead Council Member, Howard. The emerald will soon be in my hands-" His teeth glinted with a smile. "-as well as the dirty mutt's dead body. You will regret being a thief, Nox." Howard laughed and walked back outside. Nox growled and clenched his fists in anger.

"Whip him. Let's see how long he lasts before he betrays her." Another bulky man came in before the door closed. A whip smacked the floor in menace. Nox smirked. "Come at me."

Avery searched through Nox's recent research. It was about the Mermaid's Heart. She froze. That gem was in the Council of Night! The gem was in a place especially hard to get, and it was not an excuse for Nox either. Frantically, she took her computer, stuffed it in a backpack, and left the house.

Still wet blood covered his back. The whip slashed onto his abdomen, making him cough out more of the warm liquid. His body was now covered in gashes, his clothes ripped apart.

"You should talk before you die meaninglessly."

"Nah, rather not." He rasped out. The attacker raised his hand once more. Suddenly, the door burst open and something flew in, hitting the man face first and knocking him out.

"Nox!" She immediately felt herself freeze. 

"Avery? Why are you here? You're still injured- can you even move? They're after you-"

"Your body… did they do this to you?"

"That's not the problem here!"

"Shut up and let me release you first." But before she could do anything, a loud gunshot rang out. In an instant, she was on the floor, unable to move. She screamed in agony. Somehow, this was much more painful than before. Her injury was reopened and the effect of the bullet doubled.

"Avery- So you came. Care to join us? Ah, I see you're in no state for that." Howard mocked her, snickering.

"You little-!" Nox pulled against his chains, but then stopped as the gun was touching her skull.

"Now, tell me. Where is the emerald?"

"I don't know," she barely responded. Howard aggressively grabbed her collar.

"Where is it?"

"STOP! I have it, come take it!" Nox cried. Howard paused and let go of Avery. "Release me."

"Like heck I would."

"Then you won't be able to find it." He spat on his face and released his chains. His one hand was still holding the gun, pointed at the female thief. Carefully, he took out the emerald and gave it in his free hand.

"Lower the gun, Howard."

"And if I saw no?" Nox growled, but flinched when he heard a small whisper from the girl.

"Shoot him."

"But-"

"Shoot him!" Her eyes stood intensely back at him. His heart beated even louder, now shutting everything out.

As quick as he could, he held out the gun at the man's face.

BANG!

The man's body flew back, limp and dead. "Avery!"

Nox dropped down and let her body onto him comfortably. She was trembling hard. He held her close and began to cry.

"Avery! Avery!"

"Shut up you idiot, I'm not dead yet."

"B-but!" The bullet was near her artery. Her blood had created a red canvas on the floor.

"Your hair …" she reached up with a great effort and combed through the black cascades again. Except now, the hair was short. The whip had snapped off almost all of it.

"Nice hair cut."

"Don’t joke around when you're about to die!"

"Don’t kill someone that easily. I'm strong."

"Avery…" the hand slid down to his face. She rubbed it against her cheek which was dirtied with red. He clasped his own hands over it, wistful.

"You know what? I love you, idiot.".

"What,""

"Do you love me, Nox?" Avery said, on the verge of closing eyes. He tried, but he failed to smile. Everything was so unfair.

"I love you, Avery. I really really do." Avery widened and shaped into crescents as she smiled. The ocean's life began to fade and she breathed out, now knowing it was her last minute.

"Nox."

"Yes?" He sniffled.

"Kiss me." Without a second thought he kissed her- and her soul ascended away.