vibrafinal | 15th moon [voice]

[He brings his hand to his heart. He wants to say no, I'm only being silly, but he cannot lie now.]

It's not muted as it is during kidnappings. Neither did it fade away. He's truly gone.

[She looks at him for a long moment.

And then she hugs him again, even tighter than before.]

[He just leans into it. He doesn't have the energy to do much more at the moment.]

[After a while, she lets go and takes his hand, entirely ignoring the blood against her palm.]

We should look after where you're hurt.

...It's nothing. Only scratches. The feeling was so sudden...

[Yet even biting his lip had not been enough to hold back his scream.]

[She shakes her head.]

It isn't good if you don't look after yourself. Come on.

[She tugs his hand a little, but gently, to avoid hurting him.]

It's fine. I know how to heal myself.

[However, he gives her his hand willingly.]

You should do that now.

[She doesn't know how. She wishes she did.

...Once she looks after Cecil, she's going to go try to find those spirits everyone has been telling her about. She needs to learn.]

[He starts casting a Cure, but his heart is obviously not in it. The wound looks no different when he's done.]

[She watches. She'd let go of his hand while he cast, but now she takes it again.]

Maybe you should heal yourself later. Let's go find something to clean up with.

...Very well.

[He leads the way towards the bathroom, but he does so rather lifelessly. He mostly reaches the room by instinct, really.]

[It's a good thing Cecil took the lead, because, as much as she wants to help him, Grune wouldn't have been able to find the right place. Not with her memory.

Once she's there, however, she spends a long moment looking about. After a moment, picks up a facecloth and wets it under the tap.

Then, with the gentlest of touches, she starts dabbing at the cut in his lip.]

[He allows her to work silently for a few minutes, until-]

It felt as though a part of my mind was being ripped apart, somehow.

[It comes out a little muffled, with the facecloth and all.]

[When he starts to speak, she pulls the facecloth away. She goes back to carefully cleaning away the last of the blood as she replies.]

...That must have been very painful.

I thought my whole body would be torn apart. I thought the pain of it would drown me.

[It had felt like he had before he returned to the light. He hates that feeling.]

[Finished with his lip for now, she rests her hand on his shoulder.]

Are you all right now?

I doubt I'll be alright for quite some time still.

[Brutal honesty, how he loves you sometimes.]

[She looks at him for a moment with all the sympathy in the world. Then she squeezes his shoulder and goes to rinse the cloth in the sink.]

That's all right. You don't have to feel better right away.

...Even if I had to, it'd be beyond my strength at the moment.

[But the Cure spell he tries on his lip after that manages to slightly heal the cut.]

[She turns back, ready to look after his hands, and blinks. Does his lip look a little better now?

She reaches out to take one of his hands.]

That's all right, too. It's okay to be sad right now, Cecil.

[He gently grips that hand.]

Yet someone will have to be strong for Rosa and Selphie's sakes.

[He knows he's not in a state to be that.]

[She starts carefully cleaning off the marks made by his fingernails.]

Yes, that's very important. But you need time to be sad for yourself.

I cannot need too much of it. It's already been some time since the last experiment. Another undoubtedly awaits us.

Oh, but maybe there isn't one waiting. Or maybe it will be a really nice one. You shouldn't worry about that right now.

...I wish I could be as optimistic as you are about it.

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