I am still reeling from this horrible news and am still mostly at a loss for words, but like that ever stopped me...
The call I got from his mother yesterday will haunt me for the rest of my life. I thought at first that it was him, as their voices had an eerie similarity. When she ID'd herself as Nero's mother, I knew right away that something horrible had happened and my worst fear was realized.
I still feel as if I have failed him. I tried with every ounce of my being to offer all the help I could give him in his darkest hours, but in the end I was unable to save him from the same demons that had plagued me for most of my life and had recently slain. In many ways, we were peas in a pod, he was the yang to my yin and we were flip sides of the same coin. We had spoken many times of the uncanny parallels our lives. I loved hearing his take from someone coming from the other direction.
The fact was that Nero had an incredibly difficult life that was rife with suffering and loss, and I am honored to have known him for the short time that I was allowed. As he was bereft of both of his sisters and missed them dearly, I had declared him to be my honorary adopted brother, and in turn, he began to shed his defenses and really open up to me. I now wish I could have been there more toward the end. I know there was more he wanted to tell me, but now it is something that I will never get to hear.
I will never forget you, Nero, my brother.
"I may have nothing, but in all my dreams I am King of the World" -Nero "FA" Walker