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"Lucky? Are you alright?"
Was he alright? Of course not! He was certainly anything but alright. But he couldn't just tell anyone about it.
Though...
Lucky was grabbed by his shoulders and forcibly made to stop pacing. Stinger got into his face, giving him a hard look.
Clearly he wasn't getting out of this without talking.
"I'm fine." Lucky said. His voice wavered as he spoke.
Stinger narrowed his eyes. "As if. You're not you. Something is bothering you."
"Well... I mean, there's a lot going on right now." Lucky offered with a nervous smile.
"Yes, but what part of it is causing this anxiety in you?" Stinger wasn't deterred that easily.
Lucky wished he had been. He didn't exactly want to talk about this. He knew he should. It was going to come up whether he wanted it to or not. He was only delaying the inevitable.
Lucky sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. "It's just... I'm afraid to go back. They don't know me like this. I... was a girl the last they saw me."
Stinger's grip on his shoulders tightened. "Oh..."
"Yeah... that's what I'm nervous about. Would they even believe me if I said who I was?"
"I'm sure you could get them to. You're good at making people listen." Stinger stated. "You can't just hide from them."
Lucky sighed. "I know... I know I have to face this but it's terrifying. Everything already going on for them is enough as it is and then I just come in? It's not going to end well, is it?"
Stinger frowned and in a swift movement had him in a hug. "Not like you to overthink something."
Lucky tensed for a moment at the hug and then sunk into the embrace, letting Stinger carry some of the weight of this. "It's my home, Stinger. This is... something I need to get right."
"And you will. You always find a way." Stinger replied. "You need to believe in yourself."
Lucky didn't reply. He brought his arms up and wrapped them around Stinger. Stinger tightened his hold on Lucky slightly.
They stood there in silence for a while. Stinger wasn't willing to let go until Lucky initiated. He would offer whatever comfort he could.
"Are you worried about how they'll treat you for being trans?" Stinger asked quietly.
"A little bit, I guess. I don't really know what I'm worried about more." Lucky replied.
"You have all of us here for you. If they give you a hard time, we'll put them in line. They're not going to get away with treating you poorly for being yourself."
"I... but won't that make them resent me more?"
"If they can't accept you for yourself, then why do you want them around? You don't need that negativity around you. No one does." Stinger scoffed. "Don't let their opinions matter."
"But they're my people. I... can't just turn them away because they don't like me. That's not fair to them." Lucky whispered.
Stinger sighed. "We'll figure it out. Together. You won't know what will happen until we get there. Come on. We should get going."
Lucky pulled away from the embrace. He took in a deep breath.
"Okay... let's do this. I... I'll show them who I am and... see what happens. No matter what the outcome is."
"That's the Lucky we know." Stinger said, a smile forming on his lips for a brief moment.
Lucky nodded to him and the two returned to the bridge. It was time to do this.