I looked around as Serena and her friends nodded off into sleep, before slowly getting up. Careful not to rouse my companions, I made my way to the riverbed and sat down.
"Hey."
"H-hello," Eevee replied, nervously.
"It's late," I whispered.
"I'm sorry," Eevee stammered. "I-it's just that sometimes at night I like to stay up and watch the fireflies." I stared out at the river, and the two of us watched the Volbeat in silence.
"Aren't they beautiful?" Eevee said in awe. "It's almost like they're dancing on the water."
"Yeah," I said, recognizing the familiar routine as the bug twirled about. "You did good out there today."
"Thanks," Eevee smiled, nervously. "But we didn't win. It's my fault. If I hadn't fallen, we might have." She gave a small chuckle. "My first performance and I mess up. Maybe I'm just no good."
"Don't say that," I muttered.
"Huh?"
I got up. "Don't say that again," I repeated more forcefully. "Y-you don't know this, but..." I paused. "You're braver than I could ever be."
She stared up at me with her innocent, round eyes. "What do you mean?"
"You got up," I replied. "You got up and finished the performance regardless of your mistake, which is something I could never do," I confessed. "In my first performance I fell. I was so afraid I had disappointed Serena... I didn't get up again."
"A-and then what?" Eevee asked softly.
"For a while afterward, all I could feel was regret. I thought, if only I had gotten up, maybe we still could've won," I replied. "I was so mad at myself. I almost quit."
"But you didn't quit," Eevee replied. I turned to her with a look of surprise. "You might not have gotten up then, but you've stayed with Serena all this time. That has to count for something."
"Yeah," I smiled. "Thanks."