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“What are you doing?”
“Y’know,” Jaiden muses, gazing out at the horizon as the sun sinks into the sea. “Just taking in this beautiful world.”
As she utters its name, the earth grants her a gust of wind, leaves, and flowers dancing in the air. Her hair flows gracefully, and she closes her eyes, allowing the breath of the Earth to run its course around her and against her skin. She knows she isn´t an obstacle--merely a divergence in the road to their non-existent destination. When the wind dies down, she smiles, calmly picking a leaf from her hair. “And the world gives back.”
Tommy plops down into the grass with an oof. He looks out as well, falling onto his back so that all he can see is the orange that fades into pink before deep blue, blending with the sea. It almost seems painterly behind the strokes of clouds.
Sometimes, he almost misses the days when he could watch the display from his simple cobblestone bases, or while sitting on the bench and talking to Tubbo, a conversation about nothing and everything at the same time. He recalls the days when he would glide through those acrylic clouds. How he hated his tiny wings in the beginning, that sinking inferior feeling as we watched everyone else having fun with their ‘cooler’ powers. Now that he’s grown and matured, he’s learned to appreciate what he had. It wasn’t a lot, but he had his own advantages, and that’s just how life is sometimes.
Being a vegan still sucked.
Jaiden, on the other hand, recounts her time spent with Roier before she left the island. The laughter they shared well into the night. The tears they shed together over the loss of their son. She misses it all. She wishes she could go back, running into his strong arms and hearing him tell her it's all gonna be okay, mi amor. She wants to tell him it’s all gonna be okay. That everything will work out. She wants a second chance with Baghera, and to get a chance to really trust Cellbit, Roier’s beloved husband. She wants to love everyone on that island. She wants to help. She yearns to help.
To help them. To help Cucurucho.
Now it’s just her and Jacob. Once she gets back to the real world, of course. For now, she’s stuck with a different loud, obnoxious blond. She appreciates it nonetheless.
“You…get so excited about the little things,” Tommy says hoarsely, voice breaking. From lack of use or stubborn tears? He can’t quite tell. Neither can Jaiden, he hopes. Distantly, he can almost hear Mellohi playing. The scratches obtained from being thrown around cause the disc to skip, and it will never sound the same as it once did, but that made it all the more special. Tommy’s special disc. Tommy’s special victory…before he lost it.
Jaiden closes her eyes again, a silent tear slipping down her cheek and into the cold grass. The streak will dry naturally, so she doesn’t take the time to wipe it away. She’s too busy digging her nails into the soil, feeling the thorny roots of roses that surround her as she pretends her son is still alive, flocking through the endless red petals. Pretending as if there is a reason to keep a third seat at the table--one that no one is allowed to move, touch, or even dare take for themselves--as if some little boy is gonna run down from upstairs with a new drawing for her and Roier to gush over before hanging it proudly on the fridge.
Tommy smiles at the bee that floats overhead, eyes tracing its trail as it buzzes away, off to complete its task of pollination.
“Well, that’s--” Jaiden’s voice cracks unexpectedly, emotion seeping into every word. Tommy glances at her, turning his head with curiosity, not worry. “That’s how you get through it.”
She smiles as cheerfully as she could with tears streaming down her face, cheeks already reddening from the strong emotional reaction. Tommy feels reality punch him in the gut as tears spring from his waterline. All those battles, all those hardships…yet the only thing truly ever driving him was two stupid little discs and a small ass plot of land. At what point did he lose sight of the little things? At what point had he lost all joy for those small things he once enjoyed and held so close to his heart?
“JESUS!” He sits upright, unable to handle the strong wave of reality, scrubbing his face and trying to stop the tears. He can't, so he swears instead. Every curse word he knows falls into an unintelligible string until he can stop crying. That won't happen for at least a few minutes.
If he truly had the heart to, he would tell her to shut up. But he doesn't. He knows it’s true, and he knows it so deep within his soul that he can’t even argue. He knows it’s so pointless, so futile, that he can’t even manage a single comeback.
Jaiden falls back, cackling. It's rough, wet, and pathetic through her own tearful state, but she can't stop laughing. Tommy curses her name as he would anyone who saw him cry, especially if they laughed at him while he did it, but she just keeps laughing. She laughs until it hurts. She laughs until she's crying.
She laughs until it's not laughter anymore. It's sobs. Eventually, Tommy’s curses turn to sobs as well. They are now simply crying as the sun sets behind them, casting them in growing darkness. They sob about all their cares and discuss their loved ones through weeping and murmuring. They hold onto each other and take turns whispering reassurances before being sent right back into their own fit of sobs and despair.
No matter what they do, it always puts them right back where they started. They just can't stop crying. Happy tears? Repressed tears? Angry tears? Maybe it's a mixture of more than just one, but one thing was for certain: they are tears, and they need to be released.
And, by the Gods, they are going to be released.