"Don't."
They were standing on a high ledge, face to face. His was contorted with rage, hers was pleading, with the slightest hint of the upcoming sadness, her eyes already sparkling with fresh tears.
"You don't understand, this is what I have to do!"
"No! Nobody's forcing you to do this! You don't have to!"
"It's not like that..."
"Then what is it? Why are you so convinced of your right?"
He sighed, trying to exhale some of his rage and sorrow with it. He didn't want his rage to overcome his explanation.
"I can't tell you exactly why, because it doesn't make sense at all. I know for myself that it isn't right, but if only I actually said it, would I fully realise what it means. What the impact is. And if I do that, I'll get scared."
She looked at him, tears now swimming in her eyes, filling them up, trying desperately to break free, to help her by taking away only the tiniest bit of grief with them. But she wouldn't cry, not now.
"B-But... What's so wrong with that?"
He looked at her, hearing the words but losing the content right away.
"I mean... What's wrong with being scared? Everyone's scared once in a while. It's part of -"
"Not me."
She stopped, startled by the fact that he had interrupted her. His voice had been so silent, almost a whisper, and there were strong gusts whipping at her hair, yet she had understood him perfectly.
"I lived my life without fear. That's not because I chose to, but because I couldn't do any different. I couldn't help it. I simply didn't know the concept of fear, however strange that may sound."
She smiled at him. Once again, he was able to reveal so much of his inner self with only one sentence.
"I see. That's why you were always so strong. You were never afraid to take on stronger foes that could kill you, because you didn't fear death. You were able to protect me, over and over again, because you didn't fear for your own life... Oh!"
A soft laugh escaped her when realisation dawned. He looked at her, now confused since she had gone from teary-eyed to smiling in such a short period of time.
"What's so funny about this?"
"Nothing, except... You're wrong. I just realised that."
"Wrong? In what way?"
"You said you didn't know fear. But you do. I never understood why you did all those things for me, but now I know. You live your life without fear because you only allow a single one to fill up your entire life. But that fear becomes an obsession. You can't think of anything else."
She smiled a little broader, becoming more and more certain of her theory by the second. His face, however, grew darker and darker as she continued her explanation, although there was the most minute flicker of love to be found every so often. She was too immersed in her theory to notice.
"And I know your fear. Your only fear, allowing you to neglect all others, is losing me. That's why you protected me from the moment you met me. Hell, you saved my life over a thousand times, always just in time, a nanosecond before disaster would strike. But you couldn't help it, like you said. You were obsessed with the fear of losing me."
Happy that she finally found out his true motives, she looked up, only to see him glow, radiating some kind of inner light. She became terrified, because it was obvious that it hurt him. He was struggling, and it took all of his concentration not to scream out in pain.
"W-What's wrong? What's happening?"
He gasped, gaining enough focus for just a bit of time.
"This is happening. You said I was obsessed by my only fear, and it gave me strength, and you were right. But the amount of strength that someone obsessed with only one fear receives can not be handled for very long. It's that moment where a mother lifts a tree to save her baby, where a husband throws himself in front of his wife and kids to protect them at all costs, leaping ten whole yards if he has to. That's the kind of power we're talking about. But that power..."
He stopped, having used a lot of energy to speak, and it took a whole minute to contain the struggle inside him before he could speak again.
"That power... It's not meant for us. For short periods, yes. But I used that power continually for an entire year. The human body is simply not capable of handling such exceptional power. I knew this moment would come. That's why I ran from you."
That last statement made her gasp in fear. She had always guessed he had ran away, but she was never sure, always hoping, in vain, that he was forced, that it was just another attack on her life.
"I ran from you to protect you. I know the power would explode out of my body, once it was no longer able to keep it inside. So I came here."
"No! You said you would always be there to protect me! You said you'd never let anything bad happen to me!"
The tears finally broke from their boundaries and dashed from her eyes, making their way across her cheeks, who were pale with fear and childish anger.
He smiled, the first and last smile he ever smiled, and even though he had never done it before, it was such a warm and natural smile that he could have been smiling for his entire life. And she knew that every second he had spent with her, he had been smiling, only on the inside. And now, with his end approaching, the final act almost finished, the curtain ready to drop, only waiting for the actors' final conversation, he smiled, and waves of happiness, his happiness rolled over her and engulfed her, forming a last and permanent cocoon around her, an invisible barrier of good against any and every evil. Even his dying deed was to protect her, even if it was only with his smile.
He opened his mouth, never letting the smile fade even the slightest, and spoke his last words.
"And to protect you, I have to do this."
And he leapt from the cliff, far from her reach, should she try to save him. But she didn't. She just stood there, understanding. It tore her apart inside, to see him fall there, he who had always been there to protect her, to keep her safe, and now she was incapable of doing the same. But she understood. And she stood.
He saw her not moving and realised that she would never forget him, but that she would forgive him. One single deed of evil against her who he had been protecting for that entire year. He looked at her, and just before disappearing beyond the ledge, a single tear leaped from his eye. He hadn't expected it, but it was simply there, floating momentarily in the sky as he fell down.

He never said goodbye.
He never gave her a final wave.
He had done none of those things.
But he had smiled.
And he had cried.
And for that, just for that, she knew she loved him, and she would never forget him.

"Nemo... How long has it been since I gave you that name. It's become unfitting. I won't remember you as Nemo, but as Neo."