Iris - Goo Goo Dolls {V, Joshua/Lisa}
~And I don't want the world to see me,
Cause I don't think that they'd understand
Cuz everything's made to be broken,
I just want you to know who I am.
She was the hope of their people. Their chance to be more, to be better. Even thrown in a cell, forced to watch as her mother led their people further into darkness, Lisa shone like a star.
A fragile, beautiful star.
More than anything, Joshua wished he had the luxury to enfold her in his arms, to assure her that they would make things right. Unfortunately, he could make no such promises.
All he could do was bring her news of events Anna didn't want her to know about, of plans the Fifth Column were developing.
Eventually, he knew they'd find a way to free her. It would be dangerous and he was willing to give his life for her. Aloud, he would say it was for the cause and, for the longest time, that would have been true. Somewhere along the way though, Lisa had become important to him as a person and not just as what she represented.
He didn't have enough experience to truly identify the emotions he was feeling, but whatever they were, he was glad for them.
He was her hope, her touchstone, her contact with the world outside her cell. Again and again, he risked himself for her, saving her sanity as he had her life. Joshua was the one bit of light in an otherwise cheerless day.
Every time he arrived, she had to fight the impulse to run to him, take comfort in his warmth. She felt almost foolishly glad, on the occasions after her mother's visits, when he'd touch her skin, gently tending to the signs of mother's rage.
His hands were warm and dry in the constant damp chill of the swampy cell.
During their brief meetings, he'd tell her what he could about the resistance, assure her that the fight was still on, despite the fact that majority of people on Earth had been blissed. It would be easy to fall into despair, to give up in the face of such adversity, but she would not.
She would remain strong. Strong for her people. Strong for Tyler, dead at the jaws of her doppelganger. Strong for the humans caught up in Mother's dangerous games.
Strong for Joshua, who looked at her with unfathomable eyes, who had seen strength in her before she knew it needed to exist.
When the time came to act, she would not hesitate again.
For now, she took comfort in Joshua's gentle words and soft hands and told herself it was enough.
It wasn't, but it was all they had.