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Heart stared at the shoebox on their windowsill. The tiny pieces of cloth used as a makeshift nest. Moonlight bathing the room in a cool silvery glow. It might even be cinsidered serene under a different context. But Heart didn't think of it that way. They forced themself out of bed and over to the box. They moved the top to peer inside. The nest empty, devoid of its owner.
Heart gently grasped it and sat on the ground, hugging it to their chest. A tiny feather, hardly the length of Heart's fingernails, rested inside. The last reminder of her. Maybe they'd toss the box eventually. But not now. Not so soon after. It felt like drowning. Like they were desperately treading water but never truly swimming. They set the box down, staring at the ceiling.
Tears formed in their eyes. Dripping down their cheeks and soaking into their hoodie. Their chest ached with every heaving breath and they dared let sobs escape. Soul was a heavy sleeper, Mind not so much. Heart cried harder at the realization. No one was coming. No one was coming to help. To hold them as they cried. To soothe them to sleep.
They weren't a child after all. They were 14 now, they didn't need someone to protect them. They'd said it themself. Practically screamed it at Soul when he tried to help at all. Grief poured from their body. They wanted to scream, to hit something. To let all the violence of their emotions drain from them through meaningless violence.
But all they could do was cry. They felt paralyzed, stuck to the floor as though it were made of glue. So they cried. For Eliza. For themself. For the lack of someone coming. For pushing everyone away. For all of it. For every deed they'd done that was wrong.
"I'm sorry," they whispered to the air. "I'm sorry for everything I've done wrong," they sobbed.
There was no need to apologize of course, the bird's death wasn't their fault. The tears came faster at the realization until they were uncontrollably wailing for no reason in particular.
Mind came in to get Heart up the next morning. He found them passed out on the ground, dried tear tracks staining their cheeks. Wet spots on their hoodie from the salty tears. Mind sighed and gently picked them up, setting them into bed. He kissed their cheek and tucked them in. Well, at least he found out where the sobbing was from last night. Mind lingered for a while. Unsure of what to do next. Eventually, he opted to just leave. He took the shoebox with him. Heart didn't need any more reminders of what happened.