#yayeee

"Hey Mira!” (You say, and automatically follow up with,) “have you thought about doing a sleepover tonight?"

“. . .” (She opens her mouth to reply, o-oh, stars- you slap a hand over your mouth.)

(Smooth, idiot.)

“S-sorry. . .” (You mumble, looking away.)

“H-hey! There’s no need to be sorry, Siffrin.” (She smiles at you and offers you a hand.) “It’s, i-it’s just, habit, right?”

(You look back up at her, then away, then take her hand, stumbling to your feet.) “. . . Y-yeah. . .”

“And that’s!! Okay!!!” (She opens her arms.) “Hug?”

(You nod. She hugs you. After a second, you hug her back.)

(. . . You’re, really out?)

(Of course you’re out! What, you woke up halfway through a loop in a room that no-one else knows about? Stars you’re an idiot.)

(Yeah, yeah that was a pretty stupid thought. . . Wait.) “. . . Mira? W-why am I, here?”

(Mirabelle pulls away from the hug, worry clear on her face.) “I-I was going to ask you!! We’ve all been looking for you all morning!!”

“HUH?!?!?” (You jump up. They, what?!?!) 

“YOU SCARED US HALF!! TO!!! DEATH!!!!” (She pouted.) “And you don’t know why you’re here either?!?!”

(You shake your head.)

(Weird.)

>>>

(You’re sitting down in front of the frozen statue of the King, with Mirabelle and the Head Housemaiden talking a few feet behind you. You couldn’t see his face through his hair, or his hands. But you knew deep down he was smiling for maybe the first time in a very, very long time.)

(You don’t know why, but you wanted to look at him one last time before you leave.)

(Why did he get a chance to see it? Why didn’t you?)

(Because the Universe isn’t fair, that’s why.)

(No, the Universe has a reason. If the King wanted to see the Island, then, maybe this was the only way?)

(The two behind you are still talking, you don’t pay much attention. You were too busy looking at the flowers some people had left in front of him. Why? Why would people do that? Are the people of Vaugarde really that forgiving?)

(No, look at that one. It’s, you know, that one. That flower. It’s, it’s. . .)

(Just a flower.)

“Siffrin?”

(You jolt to attention when Mirabelle touches your back. You look at her, putting on your smile for a moment before a look from her wipes it off of you.) “. . . Y-yeah?”

“Are you alright?” (You nod.) “A-are you sure? You seemed really out of it.”

“Y-yeah, sorry, I’m. . . I-I’m okay now. Thank you.” (Your face twitches into an awkward, yet genuine, smile.)

(She smiles back and giggles. Standing up to turn back to the Head Housemaiden.) "A-as you were saying, Crafted Sadness?"

"Yes, Mirabelle, you could also call them Fused Sadness."

(Crafted Sadness? Fused sadness? Oh, you missed a lot more of the conversation than you thought.)

"That's my little theory, anyways!" (The head housemaiden says cheerily.) "So overcome with his own emotions in this house frozen in time, he spawned his own bonded sadness, and fused with it."

". . . . Is. . ." (You thought about your interactions with him, how he talked, how he, killed.) "He. . . He didn't, always, act normal. . . . Tears. . ."

(You shook your head, and looked down. You feel dizzy, so, so dizzy. Oh. . Why, why did he get, to. . .)

"A-are you sure, Head Housemaiden?" (Mirabelle asks.)

"It's just a guess, but, it's what I think." (The Head Housemaiden replies.)

(Why. . ?)

>>>

(You kept your head down as you walked away from the House of Change, as you walked through Dormont, and as you waited for the others to finish up anything they needed to do. You hold Isabeaus hand tighter, the two of you're sitting on the bench outside the library. You shuffle a bit closer.)

(It’s, over.)

(You felt it in your bones, it’s over. The birdsongs were different. The wind was different. The weather was different. It was all different. You were free, it’s over. It’s done. It’s done it’s done it’s done.)

(Isabeau puts an arm around you and pulls you a bit closer.)

(Neither of you said a word, you didn’t want to talk. You probably couldn’t talk even if you wanted to. All you needed, wanted, right now, was to breathe, and to be close. In, and out. You close your eye.)

(Odile was returning the familytale, having read it twice over. Bonnie was thanking that nice blind man for all the veggies, and Mirabelle was saying hi to her fan. Isabeau didn’t have anything to do, and you didn’t have anything you wanted to do. Before, you thought that maybe you could give everyone that perfect day. Help pick the right earrings, do the frog spell thing, go fishing. . .)

(Stupid.)

(. . . You turn and hide your face in Isabeaus' shirt.)

“Gwuh-” (he replied, despite “gwuh” not being a word. He rested a hand on your back, a hand in your hair. You wrapped your arms around him.) “. . . You'll be alright, Sif, okay?”

(You nod, and close your eye. You'll be alright. You'll be okay. You'll be okay. You'll be okay. . .)

(You're going to Bambouche next. There, you'll finally meet Pétronille, and hope that she'd be okay with joining you all. It was a couple weeks journey, which would be fine for you all. But. . .)

(You could only imagine what she must be thinking. She told Bonbon to run, got frozen, and in a blink, she's back. It's almost half a year later, and Bonnie's disappeared. Stars, and the first thing she'd probably learn about Bonnie is that they're one of the Saviors of Vaugarde!)

(You’re starting to feel dizzy.)

(Oh relax, the hard part’s over now. You can relax, alright?)

(Right. . .)

(. . . You don’t know how long you’ve been sitting here, or how long you were hiding in Isabeaus' shirt. But you hear the voices of the rest of your family nearby. You breathe in, and out, then sit up to look.)

(Odile was waiting just a step away with her nose in a book, and Mirabelle was coming back from east Dormont, Bonnie in tow. Bonbon had a big, juicy carrot in their mouth. You couldn’t help but smile at the sight. You’re all here, happy.)

“Everyone ready to go?” (Odile snaps the book shut.) 

“SUPER READY!!”

“Y-yes!! All ready!”

“Ready as ever!”

(You open your mouth to reply, but no sound comes out. So you just nod your head.)

(Look at that now the researcher is giving you a look. Well done! Very natural!)

(It’s not one of suspicion, it’s one of understanding.)

“I’ll lead the way this time!” (Mirabelle says excitedly.) “T-there’s no rush now, so Siffrin can have a break from leading the charge!”

(You smile at her, a silent “thank you.”)

(And your party’s underway. Bags; packed, legs; ready, excitement; peaked. You walked to the road that led north by northwest. For the others, they were re-treading a route they had just taken to get here not a week ago. But for you? It was almost a year ago.)

(176. One hundred and seventy six loops. Odile’s low estimate for your days trapped in Dormont, it was 225. For the average it was around 280, and the worst case scenario? A full 350 days. You didn’t want to think about how many pastries you ate, how many banana peels you slipped on, how many stab wounds you suffered, how many. . .)

(You’re at the edge of the town.)

(You shuffle to a stop and glance back. The others stopped too, waiting for you. They understood.)

(You looked back, the town felt a lot smaller from here. Most of it was blocked by the surrounding trees. In the distance, poking above the canopy, you could see the favor tree. Somewhere, a child was running in circles, flowers were being tended to, and daydreams were being daydreamed.)

(You take out the coins. Two coins, two identical coins. You thought you gave yours to Loop, you saw them take it, after all. The question of why you had it had been eating at you all week, but you just took it as a sign from the Universe.)

(You take one coin, and flip it, once, twice, three times! Because you know, you just know.)

(You take the other coin and flip it a fourth, fifth, sixth time. You know you’ll see them again.)

(Looking at them again, you couldn’t tell Loops from yours anymore. You think you’re alright with that.)