Chapter Text
Why.
Why did this have to happen to me? Why is it that just as I finally found a reason to live and people to live for, that that all gets taken away from me?
It all happened so quickly. One second she was wrestling in a tournament, the next her head slammed into the floor and blood started oozing out. Everywhere. What's worse is that it splattered. Everywhere.
On the court, on her coach, on the crowd, on Citlali, on me. It was so bizzare like a fever dream, it was like time had stopped, the crowd went silent, my heart stopped beating. I was dizzy, I felt like I was gonna faint.
The saurian that she had been wrestling, who was supposedly one of the strongest in the tribe but also trained not to be aggressively violent while wrestling had for some reason tried placing his foot on varesa's neck, which he, apparently,wasn't supposed to do and was not what his opponent was trained for. so, in an attempt to spare her life without harming her opponent, she forced her foot against the saurian's foot, the saurian panicked and used more force than he was using before leading to varesa's body getting slammed against the floor and her head almost getting split open.
That same Tatankasaurus was now stepping back in shock and confusion.
And then like time had just been unpaused
Everyone started screaming. "VARESA!!" her coach instantly came running over to her "SOMEONE GET THE DOCTORS QUCK"
And from all the screams there was one that stood out to me the most. And that I hated hearing the most. A high, screeching noice calling out the girl's name before it started evolving into uncontrollable cries of desperation.
I hated it the most because that sound was coming from me.
Before granny could hold me back I jumped into the court and held her helpless body in my hands.
I remember calling out her name but her not responding. I wanted to believe it was because it was too noisy for her to hear me. I remember seeing her eyes rolled back in pain and feeling the heat slowly leave her body.
I don't remember much after that though. I think I carried her to the emergency tent inside the stadium from what. And the doctors needing to pull her off of me because she didn't want to let go.
She didn't want to let go.
That was two weeks ago. And now here I am sitting on the bench I had put in my garden to watch my plants grow.
"Oooh, Ororon, I already know these fruits are gonna turn out great!" Varesa would say to me as she sat next to me on this exact bench while clinging on to my hand.
"How do you know?" I asked her once "oh, I don't know, they look familiar to the way the plants in my garden look. And they always turn out sweet so I'm assuming your's will too. Especially considering how good of a gardener your are!" Then she flashed that smile that made my heart flutter and that I would always hope to see whenever we saw each other.
Ahh. Good days. I wasn't expecting it to end like this. Not at all.
I thought that either I would do something to mess up our relationship and make her break up with me or that we would get married one day on a farm. The latter was what I always assumed was going to happen though I wanted the other to happen so, so bad.
But now I can't even see her.
.....
Citlali sighed before preparing herself to call out to Ororon
"H-hey! Ororon! I thought I would come around and see how you've been doing."
She was standing not too far behind from the bench that Ororon was sitting on. Yet he didn't move an inch. He didn't even flinch or anything, it was like she didn't say anything at all.
"Hey! Ororon? Did you hear me? " she said, this time in a louder tone of voice
This time he tilted his head slightly her way
'At least he acknowledged me. That's an improvement.' She thought to herself
"Ororon, you haven't said a word to anyone since- uhm, her death." She stuttered not wanting to bring up the subject, but still acknowledging that she can't just ignore it. Not when he's like this.
"This isn't good for you. I know your grieving- we all are. But you should at least out in some effort into living! It's like you do nothing but move from your bed to you garden now. Sometimes not leaving the house at all. "
She walked over to the bench and sat beside who she always thought of as her non-biological grandson
The instant she layed her eyes on him she instantly realized what had changed in him.
"Y-your so pale! And," she held his wrist in her hand "you lost so much weight?? Do you really think this is what Varesa would have wanted??? For you to neglect yourself and your health?? She always 2anted you to take care of your well being!" Her tone was scarily serious for how she would usually talk to Ororon. He hadn't heard her talk like that since he was a child.
She looked at him wanting an answer but all she found was the him frowning to himself with a type of pain that Citlali thought she would never see again.
The type of frown that looked so, so painful. Like he was bleeding inside and his heart was cramping.
The only times she would ever have seen that frown was when he was at his breaking point in his depression. When he would come to Citlali, crying, asking her what the reason to his existence is, his and why everyone except him looked like they actively had a purpose and something to work towards in life, except him.
Gosh just looking at him like this made her heart ache in such an unbelievably painful way.
"Come. I'll make you something to eat in your kitchen." She said before dragging Ororon by his wrist with the knowledge he probably loathed her presence at that moment
As Citlali made her way over to the kitchen, Ororon stared at the bed in his room. She used to wrestle with him on his bed playfully, being extreme careful not to use her real strength on Ororon. A game she only played with him because of their playful relationship. Sometimes the only way that Ororon would be able to 'win' in their matches was if Ororon tickled Varesa until she couldn't breathe anymore and would beg him to stop while slapping him playfully on his back, signalling game over.
Other times she would let him lay his head on her chest and vent about his struggles while she played with his hair and kissed his head
Other times they would just sit on his bed talking and cracking jokes while sometimes telling stories about about each others lives and experiences. Her favourite stories were his silly adventures with Ifa, ever since they started hanging out with each other after their trip to fontaine (referencing the event).
Ororon's favourites were when she would tell stories about her parents, mostly her dad or about Iansan. They would make him laugh.
They would often tell stories with a bowl a fruit beside them, often a mix from her and his orchards.
After a few hours would have passed by they both would have been hungry (more Varesa though) and went to the kitchen that Citlali now stands in cooking a meal for themselves to eat. Sometimes Varesa would insist on making a dish that was popular back at the collective of plenty.
Of course, this would only happen when Varesa came to visit on the days she had off. When he would visit her, he would often offer to come with Varesa while she worked in her parents orchard and would look at the ocean while occasionally laying his head on her lap while they talked about something even if they're words ment nothing. He also spent 'family time' with Varesa's parents since they adored him so much, something Ororon never understood.
"Oh he's just adorable!! You two are the cutest together" his father would say while aggressively ruffling his hair, her mother on the other hand would often tease her daughter, mumbling things in her ear before Varesa would blush and take a few steps back yelling "MOM!?"
Her orchard was also the place where they had their first kiss.
But I guess that all means nothing now. Nothing? No, it still means something. Even if she's gone.
Even if the memories may now seem like a burden feeding into his unimaginable grief eventually, one day, they won't.
He slumped onto his couch with the pit in his stomach growing deeper from more than just hunger
"How about I make you you your favorite? The one you always ate as a child?"
The boy took a deep, sharp breath that sounded painful more than anything and opened his mouth to say something
But he couldn't. It was like he would burst into tears if he did.
"..you don't have to answer. I'll make it for you anyway" Citlali said then turned to grab the ingredients she needed.
Fifteen minutes had passed in silence except for the noice of food sizzling on a pan until the granny bad finally finished her dish.
"C'mon time to eat, it took me a really long time to remember this recipe you know? " Citlali tried to joke by what Ororon replied to with nothing but his presence on the chair with the plate of food in front of him.
But as I looked up from my plate to granny something felt off. Almost like she was pondering something.
She silently slid herself into the seat next to me and wait a minute before finally opening her mouth
"Ororon..." She hesitated "Varesa. She wants to see you at the hospital" he paused. "Varesa? She's alive?"
"Yes? Did no one tell you yet?"