Punch: Mr Gilgamesh! Donāt fall into the curse! If it is to end here, it can only be by me, choking the life out of you with my own hands! Stay patient! Try to grip my hand if you hurt so much or are scared so much!
Gilgamesh start to collapse in his dream and starts crying alone in the darkness. He can cry alone after all; this is his own dream.
Gilgamesh: Is there... a meaning to any of it? If this is what it's like to feel "Grief", it's okay, after all, I am nothing but a mere tool anyway who destroys everything....if this is my punishment.....I'll accept it, even this loneliness.
And Gilgamesh awoke from his dream
Gilgamesh: Sigh................*Depression* For a while, I did nothing but chase after my brother in my dreams...this is so painful....unable to do anything...despite knowing everything from the start......But, I won't give up....
Punch: Are you awake?
Gilgamesh: Punch..?
Punch: *Shock* You're crying.....!
Gilgamesh: I had a nightmare again. Don't worry about it.
Punch: Of course, I am WORRY about you!
Gilgamesh: Do you...hate me for who I am? I'll still fulfil my purpose for my existence. No matter what, I will protect you...But it scares me too, to think about vanishing...If this has to continue, I'm not going to be a part of this anymore. I'll keep going, but I'm so tired.
Punch: You can share your sadness with me.
Gilgamesh: If I share my sadness, you'll break!
Punch starts gripping Gilgamesh's shoulder very tightly, making him whine. Punch accept listen to all Gilgamesh's crying in pain in his heart, Punch heard his sound and doesn't care what Gilgamesh tried to stop Punch.
"I wasn't hiding who I am... I really don't know anything about myself. A long ago, I woke up all alone without you...Ā I went to see you so I could save you, but I ended up causing you so much karma....I can't....I felt hurt so much...Even...even if it meant you'd hate me for it...You're all I have in the world... I want to protect you, but I don't want to be with you...to hurt you....I don't want you to die and leave me behind. I'd rather give my life than be alone...That way, I can always stay with you!"
Gilgamesh: A.....ah!
Punch: PUNCH! Try to not punish yourself like this! Your nightmare will haunt you!
Enkidu: Punch, if you don't hurry, do something, Gil will--
Gilgamesh: Don't leave me behind......*Crying*
Punch: Remember what I once told you? If you can't handle this situation, promise me that you'll share this burden with me, even if I have to do it alone, for you and me.
Enkidu: Punch?!
Punch: *Embrace Gilgamesh very tightly* I...thought I knew all too well the pain of being left behind...You show me so many things that I had let myself forget...*Start crying* Because our bonds are so strong, there's no solution to this where no one gets hurt...If you gave up without making a decision like this, you'd be running away from the pain our friends and family must still face. But the time has come when you are forced to face the truth, and make your choice...
Gilgamesh: I want to see my brother again...I don't care about anything else! I just want to see you again!
Punch: PUNCH.....you remind me so much about myself....
Enkidu: Punch.....
Punch: That's why. When I made my decision to walk this path, I decided to put the past behind me, and look forward...there's no way to truly put the past behind me. In the end, I only succeeded in running from it.
Enkidu: Punch. It's painful to face, but if you don't, your wounds will never heal.
Punch: My feeling is his feeling. I swore deep down...If something ever happened to make you suffer, I'd put my own feelings aside and stand with you.
Later, after Punch comforted Gilgamesh as she could as his brother, Gilgamesh finally calmed down and fell into peaceful sleep.
Punch: You're right, Enkidu. To lose someone you had with you is agony. But there's no need to suffer alone, just like you taught Mr Gilgamesh in the past. You have with you. Isn't that the whole point of forming such bonds?
Enkidu: *Nod*
Punch: *Pat Gilgamesh's head* Don't you remember, my brother, my other half....I told you that I wouldn't leave you behind.
Gilgamesh: I remember my words.....but still....No matter how hard I try, I canāt fight these nightmares. My despairā¦ my hurtā¦ they never leave me. They crawl back into my chest, haunting me like a curse I canāt wake up from. Every time I close my eyes, they drag me screaming into the dark. My body aches as if the pain itself has a heartbeat, clinging to my bones, tearing me apart from the inside out.
But every time Punch comes to me, the darkness trembles and fades. When Punch is here, the nightmares choke on their own voices until they fall silent. The curse loosens its grip, finger by finger. All the pain in my body, all the wounds carved into my heartā¦ they fade away, as if they were only shadows that light canāt reach anymore.
Punch is my light.
When Punch holds me close, when Punch whispers my name, I remember that Iām not just a tool built to break and suffer. As long as Punch is by my side, even if the nightmares come clawing back a thousand more times, Iāll keep reaching out through the dark. Because when Punch is hereā¦ I can finally breathe without fear again. I can finally, truly rest.
Peter watched from a short distance away, quiet and still.
Gilgamesh was smiling.
Not the sharp, proud smile of a king. Not the arrogant grin he used to hide fear.
It wasā¦ genuine.
Soft. Unguarded.
And beside himāonly Punch.
They werenāt doing anything dramatic. No fighting. No grand speeches.
Punch was talking, hands moving as she always did. Gil listened, eyes warm, leaning slightly toward her without even realizing it. Every time Punch laughed, Gilās shoulders eased, as if something heavy inside him loosened just a little more.
Peter felt his chest tighten.
(So thatās itā¦)
He finally understood.
Gilgamesh wasnāt just hurt by curses, trauma, or the long shadow of Kujaku.
Gilgamesh was waiting.
Waiting for Punch to be there. Waiting to see her breathe. Waiting to know she still existed.
Peter remembered all the times Gil had collapsedā how his breathing stuttered when Punch vanished from sight, how his fingers always reached out blindly, searching.
The nightmares. The dizziness. The way his magic went wild was only when Punch was gone.
(Heās heartbrokenā¦ and it will never heal.)
No medicine could fix that. No seal could stop it. No victory over Kujaku alone would be enough.
Gilgameshās heart was anchored to Punchās existence.
As long as Punch stood beside himā alive, stubborn, infuriatingly recklessā Gil could smile like this.
But if Punch fellā¦He wouldnāt just grieve. He would fade.
Gil laughed softly at something Punch said. His eyes shone, bright and alive, like a child who finally felt safe.
Peter turned away before they noticed him watching.
He understood now why Punch was willing to carry the weight of the world alone.
And he understood his own role too.
(Then Iāll be the one who makes sure Punch survives.)
Not for destiny. Not for the world.
But because Gilgamesh would never truly heal unless Punch was alive to exist beside him.
I will wait. I will wait for the day we'll be together....forever.
