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She sits crouched against a cold wall, the only sound echoing through the cave is the continuous dripping of water falling from the ceiling down into a puddle. And her sporadic sobbing. Her tail tightens around her body as Towa places one of his legs on it, looking at her sympathetically. Another sob escapes Neeko's throat.

She doesn't know how much time has passed since that day, how much time has passed since her family was mercilessly torn apart. When she watched helplessly as her sister was consumed from the inside out, by a darkness she had never known.

It feels like years since she last saw her family. What wouldn't she give to have another chance to change everything, to do better. To get her family back. To not repeat her mistake.


~ * ~




His chest tightens painfully as he stares at her from the side, studying her features closely. "What is it? Why are you staring at me like that?" She glances at him in confusion, looking around inconspicuously. No sign of Zoe, a small sigh of relief escapes her lips.

"You remember, the old days? When we-"
"No Rakan, I don't remember anything. I can't remember. And you know that, you've asked me often enough."

An apologetic smile flits across his lips and he nods. "You know, I used to tell you a story that you liked a lot. I thought since we're alone right now, maybe you'd like to hear it again?"

Surprised, she looks him in the eye, hesitantly nodding. "Why not, we have nothing to do anyway until Zoe gives us a new order." He nods, the smile on his lips widening.

"There was a girl with an entire sky full of stars shining in her eyes. She tried to be strong and face the world, do her best and accomplish everything she wanted to, but she was sick and her life just passed by and left her behind.

She ran, for days, trying to continue her duties, but days turned into years without any success, so slowly but steadily she lost hope. In the world and in herself.

And her precious smile turned into tears, which ran down her face as her condition worsened and she simply gave up on herself. She could no longer walk and eventually all those who cared about her saw nothing but her tears.

But even if her smile was lost, it wasn't forgotten and although she thought her dreams and her future were lost, all she had to do was to stand up and follow the voice of her heart, which had been out of her reach for so long.

But someday, when the time came, she could hear it.
And so the girl gathered all her courage and went back into the light, knowing that everything would be all right again."

Gently, he strokes her cheek with his thumb, resting his other hand on the jewel at her chest. For a brief moment she stares at him, lower lip quivering, before shaking her head and backing away from him. "I can't believe I actually ever liked that. The story doesn't make sense," she hisses quietly, turning and hurrying away.

'It does make sense... And if you can't see it, then I'm going to make you see it. Whether you like it or not. I can't bear to see you like this any longer. This isn't you.'