Work Text:
They’re both lying on the dirt floor, around them the walls are beautiful painted murals— sea creatures, buses, cities, and people—Above , only glass stands between them and a never-ending ocean.
Everything is a beautiful blue.
Skye turns to the man beside her. She can’t quite make out what he’s thinking, but for all his rough edges, Skye thinks Yoru isn’t as complicated as he seems. It’s in the furrow of his brows, the difference minuscule enough to seem like nothing. It’s in the slant of his downturned lips. It’s in the look in his eyes.
Indecision.
She thinks about the bullet she had to extract from his arm and bandage up, of the way he hesitated when he pulled the trigger. She imagines his thoughts are ricocheting endlessly in his brain, trying to make sense of this mirror world so incredibly familiar and… not. Skye understands. She understands because the moment she laid eyes on the majestic whales of this world and heard their mournful song, and when she saw the flowers in the town square curling up against the walls like they were home, she felt the same.
They were dooming a world to save their own.
She doesn’t think of the person he had hesitated to shoot. Or the all-too-familiar freckles and green eyes they had. She doesn’t.
Skye looks away from his messy hair with the gel all but gone, and away from his too-expressive eyes. He still hasn’t looked over at her.
The endless sea stares back at her, and her heart tightens in her chest. She can hear waves crashing and children laughing and can feel the sand below her feet. She can feel the smoothness of the sunscreen and sweat intermingling on her face. Can feel the smile on her face as she turns to grin at-
Then she’s on the farm she grew up in. She’s watching as the cows graze, and the way the blades of grass sway and dance in the wind as the sun beams down on them. It’s tranquil and lovely. And -
Then there’s blood on a gloomy day in the city and Ja-
Then Skye feels her eyes burning as she stares into the abyss of this world they’re killing as she desperately tries to pretend Yoru isn’t madly in love with her. And god what is taking Neon so long to power up the portal and take them back home where Skye can easily pretend she needs no one, because she doesn’t, what she needs is to keep her distance because relying on others, trusting others-
She refuses to do it again. If she were to lose someone again… If she lost Yoru-
Oh.
She loves him too.
It’s like the glass breaks and sea water comes flooding in because there is no oxygen. And all she can think as she drowns is he should run as far as he can while she swallows up the tide, as she gulps down mournful songs lost at sea. Maybe there’s still time for him to leave and avoid the flood.
Please don’t say you love me.
She cuts the silence before he can sink them both. “I’m sure they’re done by now, don’t you reckon?” They ignore the raspy quality of her voice, and the emotion behind it.
He’s silent for several moments. “Yes.
I suppose so.”