Heavily inspired by a song from Panic! At The Disco, so if ya wanna feel true angst play the song n' read my dear children.

BEFORE DANCING WITH A DEVIL

In the presence of the Great Time Baby, we find Bill Cipher attempting to persuade Time Baby in getting a pass on the mindscape.

"You may bypass the mindscape," Time Baby raised his hand,"...On one condition."

My eye twitched in annoyance. Of course. There's always a catch. I most of all should know this by now.

"Hit me, what's the deal breaker?" I sigh, and nearly grinding my teeth.

"By the end of your summer she must accept you for who you are, and by that, I mean requiting your love."

I freeze on the spot. what.

BillCipher.exe has stopped working.

My mind is racing as fast as my mouth, "But-but, I don't—It's not—"

"Silence!" His booming voice caused me to flinch. Me? Flinching? Yeesh, when have I gone soft?

Time Baby pinches his nose, "Look, Cipher, I see clearly you do in fact care dearly for the girl," he closed his eyes.

"She must not have any knowledge of this meeting, or of the condition. She must say her confess to you individually, or by other variants."

I fold my arms. There's no way this is the catch? A confession? Too easy. I'm a mind manipulator, I can get her to do it easily. As long as I stick with the conditions and find a loophole, this ship is gonna sail smoothly.

"And what does that do? The whole 'I love you' speal?"

Time baby lets out a dignified yawn then stretched his arms. "It will... confirm your salvation."

"Now leave, I have a nap to take," Not a second later, Time Baby clapped his hands and teleported me back to my mansion within the blink of an eye.

I blink. Multiple times in fact.

Confirm my salvation? That...That's so vague! What the hell that's supposed to mean?!

                                                                 ---△---

Ford hit me with the gun, so I don't have much time. There's only one memory I would want to hold onto. I know I can't. And there's barely minutes until everything I remember of Bill disappears, but I'd like to relive it.

I tear through door after door, searching for one memory. The halls spin around me in circles. I feel like nothing will matter if I don't hurry.

Just when I'm about to give up hope, one voice as clear as crystal cries out.

"Diana!"

I stop in my tracks.

Bill. It has to be.

He calls me again and I break out full sprint. My body transforms before I can even think to, and I am racing through halls, following his voice. Doors are burning. Smoke clogs the air. Blue flames engulf my vision as my search brings me closer to a door glowing brighter and brighter.

Almost there! This has to be the memory I want!

The door shatters into splinters as I body slam it. All feelings of anxiety and tension dissipate. I transform back into my true self, finding tall grass swaying around my legs.

This is it. The meadow.

A breeze blows by, almost identical to the one I experienced that day. I spot my Bill standing in the middle of the field, arms out open for me. Tears have already broken past my cheeks, and I immediately I run to him.

His body curves to mine as I launched myself into his arms. Bill's embrace leaves me breathless and takes away all my tears.

"I missed you." I choke into his suit, "I know you're just a memory but this will be my last memory of you."

"I know, doll." He strokes my head lightly.

"What do we do? Everything's ending. As we speak, your being is being destroyed, and my memories get erased."

"I can't do anything, my little rose. You gotta move on without me."

Bill kissed my forehead then pulled me closer to him.

"I don't want to forget you."

I can almost hear his heart shattering against my ear. "I foresaw this as an outcome, but you know good ol' me. Arrogance stepped in the way and trying to avoid this only got me closer than before. It was...inevitable."

"A doomed love, huh?" I give a dry laugh but more tears threaten my eyes.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, sweet cheeks."

I want to hide from the fire spreading along the memory's edge. Pine trees catch fire, the tall grass burns quicker than I anticipated, and to shield it all away I duck my head into Bill's chest.

"You know that song you were playing in the fear-amid?" I can nearly smell the smoke overwhelming Bill's tailcoat, "could you sing it for me?"

He hums and without missing a beat, begins to faintly sing me the song.

"We'll meet again..."

"Don't know where don't know when~"

My heart is in splinters when I hear his voice crack. The flames are here, he knows it, so do I, and even so, he continues to sing for me.

"But I'm sure we'll meet again, some sunny day," Bill hugs me tighter, not wanting to let go, and I do the same, "...keep smiling through. Just like you, always used to. Til the blue skies...chase the dark clouds...far away."

I cut off the song, "Bill?"

Pulling out of our embrace, I can see this memory is engulfed by fire. The meadow I once considered a heaven is now a visual hell, but the emotions it holds burn brighter than the embers tearing it apart.

I don't know if it's the smoke or my racing mind, but my eyes let everything go. I want to swallow the frog in my throat but I can't. Tears are streaming down my face. I don't want to forget but I can't move on if I don't. 

Bill's hand gentling touching my cheek breaks me away.

"Diana?"

I don't waste any time to draw Bill's face to mine. With closed eyes, I give him a chaste kiss. Passionate but short-lived.

"I love you." Confidence radiates off my lips and onto his.

I think this is the first time I've ever said I love you to anyone.

We shared eye contact for a moment. Black to green; yellow to Purple; one kindred soul to another. Bill's eyes are different this time around. More human, more scared than what a demon should be. His eyes crinkle and shine as he smiles.

Bill closed the distance between us. As the flames began to swallow us both, he whispered to me softly, "I know."

And it all went white.