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Alisaie was not the only one with hero worship. She was simply more outspoken about it, and Alphinaud couldn’t blame her. Their friend was helpful, kind, and strong. She welcomed nearly everyone who came their way with delight. She could make people smile and laugh, and she found it easy to do the same herself. In a word, she was wonderful.
What Alphinaud admired the most about her, however, was her beaming smile. She greeted each day with warmth, and very little seemed to phase her. Even when he knew she was sad or distressed, she would smile her way through the pain until it was better.
Her name suited her: Moonflower. She was a beautiful, happy, bright blossom amidst a dark night their world found itself in. He wondered, sometimes, if she ever lost the will to smile or to see hope in the future. Not even when they were betrayed and chased out of Ul’dah did she waver in her belief.
He met a very different person when they were reunited in Norvrandt. She was silent and withdrawn. Her beaming smiles had disappeared sometime during their separation. In fact, her lips barely twitched upward now, and he only realized then that happiness and optimism had kept her appearing whole. Now, at the moment of reunion, which he made every effort to express his joy and relief to see her, she simply pulled him into a hug and whispered, “I missed you, Alphinaud.” She looked so empty without joy buoying her, and he felt that emptiness in her hug.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered back. Sorry I wasn’t there. Sorry that this happened. “I missed you too, my friend. Come, you must tell me all that I have missed.” He hoped he could distract her from whatever had her so listless, as well as distracting himself from the horror of the world he had tried living in for a year.
She said nothing about what made her like this. Alphinaud was left to assume it was the horror of war. His sister had mentioned a great battle at the Ghimlyt Dark, plus apparently the Garlean emperor himself had spoken to the Alliance at one point. Something must have occurred then, but he did not want to press her.
So he would have to smile for her instead. It wouldn’t be easy—he wasn’t one for such bright, outward displays of emotion—but he could at least be a little more open about how much he valued her friendship. Now that he knew what she was like when she lost her will to smile, he never wanted to see it again, and he would have to help her.
Alphinaud started with smiling when he saw her every morning. Moonflower began to smile back to him, even if it was just the tiny lift of her lips that it was now. He started telling her that she looked nice. It was a rather nerve wracking decision, if he were honest.
“Your hair looks nice like that,” he said as they went back to the Crystarium. That was simple enough, because she’d worn it differently when he last saw her.
Her hand went to the braid subconsciously. “Oh, thank you. I learned how to style it this way and—well, I like it.”
Alphinaud gave himself a mental pat on the back at how she held her head a little higher after that.
Gradually, his efforts began to produce results. Moonflower stood straighter and she moved with more energy. Perhaps simply being with her friends again gave her cheer, but he still hoped he had been able to give her some measure of comfort while she worked her way back to how she was before. At least, he hoped it would be the same beaming smiles as before. Perhaps she had changed too much to be that person. If that were true, it wouldn’t change his respect or admiration for her, but it would sadden him. Moonflower was a ray of hope for everyone, and if she could not smile for herself anymore, he couldn’t help but think that would be a tragedy.
But her smiles did come back, and it made him glad. Alisaie had caught onto what he was doing, and joined in. She was far more vocal about it, and that was fine; he knew that sometimes, girls could say things to one another that boys could not say to girls without it coming off as strange. Together, simply by giving back some of what Moonflower had given them, she blossomed again.
When the whole world was saved after the defeat of Hades, she beamed. It was almost blinding in how happy she was. “We’re all together again,” she said with a laugh. “I love you all, so much.”
“I’m happy to see you happy,” Alphinaud told her, and was granted with a warm, fierce hug. She was alive again, alive and happy, and his heart lifted.