Title: Abyss fragments
Character/Pairing: Alice, Oz, Lacie, Gil, Ada, Leo, Elliot, Oswald
A/N: These are some really short drabbles, ideas I had that I can't make into longer pieces
Summary: They would meet again. Someday, somehow, they would all find each other once more.
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1. Promise
"Oswald!" Alice yelled, running up him. "Are we going somewhere today?"
"...not today."
"Boo…" Alice pouted, huffing before grabbing his hand. "Fine, but next time, right? Promise?"
Her hand was so tiny, so small compared to his. When Alice looked up at him, tilted her head and smiled, it was like Lacie was a child all over again.
He tightened his grip on her hand. This time he would not fail her. This time, he would not let her go. "Promise."
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2. Glass
"I'm coming too. I work for Pandora just like you."
Break shook his head. "Not this time."
Sharon bit her lip as he walked away. He treated her like she was glass, like she was fragile, and she wanted nothing more than to stamp that out of him.
Why else had she taken the contract? She was not a child, not anymore, and it was time she showed him that.
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3. Sleep
They spend a hundred years traveling the abyss. It was a short as blink and as long as a millennia.
"Where's Vincent?" Noise asked, one of those rare moments of clarity. She started to panic, not sure of where she was, of where they were going. "Where's Vincent?"
"I'm here," Echo replied, trying to calm Noise down. She just had to keep her calm long enough to find the exit, long enough for the next Echo to come.
"Vincent?"
"I'll find him," she promised, before putting Noise back into the water's embrace. "Now sleep."
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4. Voice
He never wanted to hear Elliot's voice again, not like this. Not when he looked like this. Leo lifted his head and maybe that was his curse then, the curse of still living.
"Get up, Leo!" Elliot commanded, his voice ringing clear through the murk. It was impossible to ignore and Leo smiled bitterly.
He never told Elliot just how much he needed those words, his words.
"You didn't have to order me," he said, standing up.
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5. Farewell
"Good bye, little one," Lacie said, petting the stuffed rabbit.
The rabbit couldn't say anything, just cry as he watched the girl disappear into the light.
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6. Novel
"What are you reading?" Elliot asked, peering intently at the book in Gil's hands. The words were too complicated for him to read, at least right now.
"It's a series about a knight and his master," Gil replied, shifting the book so the boy could see it better. His littlest brother stared at the illustrations inside for a moment before looking up at him.
"Read it to me!" True to form, Elliot's requests came out more like an order, but Gil was used to it by now. Oz had started reading them when he was that age, if Gil remembered correctly. They'd read the newest volume the day it came out, secretly carrying a candle with them to bed.
And now Gil was reading them alone.
"Hurry!" Elliot demanded, tugging his brother's clothes impatiently.
Or maybe he was not as alone as he thought.
"Alright, alright." Gil smiled, standing up to get the first book.
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7. Protect
Alyss let her body dissipate into light, felt her mind slowly slip away as she started the hundred year journey to rebirth.
Alice hadn't started yet and Alyss smiled faintly. She'd be the big sister this time, then.
And maybe this time, she could protect Alice instead.
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8. Voice
He was tired, so tired. He had waited a hundred years to fix everything and he had failed to do that.
But he had tried. He had tried and that had to be enough, right? To make up for not stopping Jack, for letting the Abyss lose its light, for killing Lacie.
It had to be enough. Gil was holding his hand, trying not to cry, and Glen gave him a wane smile. To think his valet had grown up now.
He didn't need him anymore. Leo didn't either. There was nothing left to do.
Somewhere, Lacie called to him. It was impossible, he knew, but he smiled.
Maybe now he could finally rest.
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9. Diary
"So this was Ada's diary?" Oz picked the book up delicately, turning the pages.
"She wanted you to see what you missed."
Oz frowned as he read a passage. "Wait, she got married? I didn't even get to approve."
Gil laughed. "He was a nice man."
"Only you would think that," Oz muttered, shaking his head as he flipped through more pages. "Next time…" his voice trailed off and he closed the book. "Though I guess there won't be a next time."
"Huh?"
Oz looked over at Gil. "Ada won't be born for another thirty years, right? I can't be her big brother again."
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10. Record
"Gil, you haven't aged at all," Ada remarked, shaking her head. He still looked hardly a day over 24, his body frozen in time. Even now, she could remember those long-lost days, a time that could never come back.
"You're not that old," Gil replied, kindly, and Ada almost laughed at the lie. Already her hands were wrinkled and worn and she was sure her face wasn't faring much better.
"Only to you." Ada chuckled before pointing at the book on her dresser. "I want you to take this later."
Gil looked at it curiously. "What is it?"
"It's...a diary." Ada smiled faintly. "Oz missed everything again."
"He always liked to come late."
"And you promised you'd see him again. So please give him that." Ada clenched her hands. "I won't be able to do that."
"Oh." Gil's eyes widened as he realized it himself. Death lurked around the corner now and she wasn't sure how far off it was before it would swoop in and take her.
"It's fine. I had a long life. I had a lot of happiness." Ada looked up at Gil. "Tell Vincent that he won't have to watch from outside the garden now. I expect him to attend my funeral."
"He wasn—" Gil sighed, giving up the subterfuge. It wasn't like he was a good liar anyways. "I will."
"Oz will be reborn soon, won't he?"
"Another forty or so years." Gil frowned. "I bet he'll be hiding too."
"He always liked winning at hide and seek." Ada laughed. "But you always found him anyways."
"And then he'd torment me with cats." Gil shuddered, remembering the torture.
"He was a poor loser. Will he be the same when he comes back?"
"Maybe." Gil hesitated. "Reincarnation…it keeps some traits, some memories, depending on the person."
"I see." Ada nodded. "Then, I will have to try my best to remember."
Gil looked at her questioningly and she clarified. "I can't be his sister this time."
"Oh."
"But it's fine." Ada smiled, determined. She had waited ten years. She had waited another sixty after. It was time Oz waited for her. "I'm sure we'll be connected some way. I'm sure we'll all find each other again."
Maybe they would. Maybe they wouldn't. The chances were low and Gil knew he would die before Ada was reborn.
They probably would never meet again, never be together again as they were for this one moment in time.
But she was looking at him confidently, as though she would change fate if she had to.
He wanted to believe.
"Me too," he replied, covering her hands with his. "Me too."