Takoroft, after
By diav

Genre: Friendship/Hurt/Comfort
Rating: T
Characters: Lara Croft, Samantha Nishimura, Tako-san
Story Type: one-shot
Summary: What ever happened to Takoroft (Tako-san) after the Yamatai Ordeal?
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Tomb Raider. Tako-san comes from the Takoroft drabble, you might want to read that first.

"Lara, sweetie?" Sam knocked on the door but heard no response from inside, so she opened the door and stuck her head in.

Lara was still sleeping, so Sam quietly made her way over to a chair beside the hospital bed. After they were rescued by a nearby fishing liner, they were taken straight to Japan and holed up in the hospital to recover from their injuries. Of the survivors, Lara was in the worst shape; they had to perform surgery to clean out her rebar puncture wound, fix up broken ribs, and test for any head injuries. Reyes and Jonah had very minor flesh wounds, and had been released after a few days' stay.

Sam was also just as fortunate, but she decide to prolong her release to stay with Lara. While her foot had healed, she was still struggling to put things together as a result of the shock. Nightmares kept her awake most nights and her only consolation was that Lara was a few doors down.

Jonah had visited her a few times to keep her company and his last visit had caused Sam to wander over to Lara's room. They had been in separate rooms since their arrival and Sam had asked countless times to put them in the same room, but was denied every time. The doctors had told her that Lara needed to be monitored and that Sam's constant presence would more or less be unwelcomed by the medical team.

Resigned, Sam had been upset but was granted permission to visit during Lara's free periods. Right now was one of them.

Sam squeezed the item she brought in. It still smelled like saltwater, but Jonah had told her he did his best to wash it. The search and rescue team that arrived in the Dragon's Triangle after the Himiko ordeal had attempted to look for survivors trapped in the Endurance wreckage, but came up empty. When Lara had heard of this, Jonah had recounted, she specifically asked the team to do two things: try to recover the bodies of Alex and Grimm, and to retrieve some things from the sunken Endurance wreckage.

The former had small success: Grimm's body couldn't be recovered, but Alex's body was and funeral services were in preparation. Lara had explained to Jonah that she felt it was her fault for everything and that the least she could do was to give everyone a proper burial. When Jonah had confided in Sam about this information, she felt hurt that Lara was not so forthcoming about these feelings. They had only seen each other a few times in the hospital, mostly it was Sam travelling between their rooms, with each visit feeling like Lara was pushing her away.

Lara had seemed like a completely different person; she was no longer the stoic Brit who had put up with Sam's rambunctious behaviour in university. If Lara seemed introverted and quiet before, she was much more quiet now, almost pensive about everything that surrounded her. Sam hugged her inanimate companion as she watched Lara sleep.

Everything was different now, she knew, but they couldn't exactly turn back time and be the same people they were pre-Yamatai. The nightmares kept her up, made her vary of confined spaces, and skeptical about most strangers. Sam had often wondered during her sleepless nights about how that would affect her work; she wanted to continue with her passion in film and videography, but she would still have to interact with people. Interact with strangers. She'd felt so lost on Yamatai without Lara's constant presence. It was hope that pulled her through, hope that Lara would come save her - a hope that gave her strength.

But now she was doubting everything again because Lara seemed like she was in her own world. It wasn't fair of her to think like that, Sam knew, but she wished Lara was there to help ease the pain she was going through. Sam knew that whatever Lara was feeling was probably a hundred times worse than what she felt: Lara had to kill people to save her. Grimm, Roth, and Alex had sacrificed themselves to let Lara live - Sam wasn't sure how she could deal with any of it if she was in Lara's shoes.

She stifled a cry; it just wasn't fair to Lara.

As Sam wiped her eyes with her hand, she noticed that Lara was awake and watching her.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Sam croaked out, conscious of how she appeared to her best friend.

"Better, things don't hurt as much... are you ok, Sam?" Lara slowly sat up on her bed and reached out her hand to cover Sam's.

"Yeah, I was just... thinking about what happened on Yamatai... and... yeah." Sam offered Lara a pained smile before changing the subject. "Jonah gave this to me... Do you have any idea why?" With her free hand, Sam wiggled the object around; it was Tako-san, the octopus plushie that Lara had made and given to Sam prior to their Yamatai expedition.

Lara cracked a smile; a genuine smile that Sam hadn't seen since Lara saved her from Himiko and Mathias. "I asked the search and rescue team to pick it up since they were going through the Endurance wreckage... I'm still glad it's in one piece."

"He smells like salt water and looks a bit washed out, but still good as new."

"That's good. I was afraid I would have to make you another one."

"Oh yeah?" Sam tilted her head inquisitively. Lara seemed to be in a better mood today and she wondered if it had to do with Tako-san.

"You know, it took me three days to sew him up for you."

"So that's why you were up during those nights... I thought you were rereading all the Yamatai texts again... But, no, Lara Croft was dabbling in arts and crafts."

Lara let out a chuckle.

"But, seriously, you didn't have to ask them to get Tako-san back..."

"I wanted to."

"Why?"

Lara closed her eyes. "When I was back on the Endurance looking for Alex, I stopped by our room. I would've taken Tako-san and all of our pictures then if I could've... But I had to get to you and Alex... You don't know how afraid I was for you... It felt like the trip to the aquarium was so long ago and that we were both ok and, well, happy."

She paused, for maybe a bit too long because Sam quietly asked, "Are you not happy now?"

To that, Lara squeezed Sam's hand. "I'm happy I managed to get to you in time."

"But you're unhappy about everything else," Sam said slowly. Not the best way to phrase it, she thought.

"When I was trying to get to you, Roth was telling me that I only knew about loss, not sacrifice... I understand it a bit better now..." Lara dropped her gaze and stared at the hospital sheets. "After what happened."

Sam could only squeeze Lara's hand because she had no words to comfort her friend. It would be a very long time before they could both get over Yamatai, but seeing how emotionally and mentally wounded Lara was made her feel helpless. She placed Tako-san on the bed, and turned him to face Lara, who had lied back down and closed her eyes.

They stayed that way for several minutes before Lara spoke again. "Sam, when I'm all healed up, I won't be going home."

"I had a feeling you'd say that."

Lara's eyes fluttered open. "You did?"

"If anything, Yamatai's opened up a whole new world for you..." Sam patted Tako-san on the head. "And we'll be with you as you make your discoveries."

"Sam-"

"-Lara, someone will have to be there to document your discoveries. How else are you going to be 'Lara Croft: World Renowned Archaeologist'? Hmm, that title is a bit too long... how about 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'... though I don't really want to see any tombs for the next little while..." Sam grinned.

"Sam, it could be dangerous and I wouldn't want anything to happen to you-"

"-and you don't think I feel the same way?" Sam lowered her gaze and mumbled, "You're hurting right now, Lara, and you're not letting me in."

Lara replied softly, "It's my burden to bear, Sam."

Sam leaned closer and shook her head. "No, it's not. If I hadn't been so trusting of Mathias, we would have never had to go through all of it... I'm at fault too, Lara, it's not fair for you to blame yourself for everything. I'm why you have to go through all of this... You shouldn't hate yourself for what you did... You should..." Sam let her voice drop because she started crying. "...hate me... Grimm, Roth, and Alex are gone... and all because-" She tried to wipe her eyes but Lara was one step ahead of her and had enveloped her in a hug. Tako-san fell off the bed in the process and, when Lara let go, Sam bent over to pick him up.

When she placed him back on the bed, Sam noticed that Lara was looking at her intently. "No, I could never hate you... It's not your fault too... I did what I had to do... You mean too much to me, Sam... If anything had happened to you, I would have never forgiven myself."

"You mean a lot to me too, Lara." Sam had blushed a little but she took a deep breath to calm herself from her outburst. "Don't be a stranger and close yourself off. Not to me. We've been through so much..."

Lara was silent for a few minutes before she took Tako-san and placed him on her lap. "It's hard to talk about the things going through my mind... I can't sleep because I keep having nightmares about Mathias succeeding and that I've lost you forever." She brushed her fingers on the patch of cloth on the octopus' head. "Everything is just so vivid and fresh in my memory that I'm not sure what to make of it."

"But I'm here, alive and not a sun queen," replied Sam as she played with one of Tako-san's legs. "We can get through this together... I just wish you wouldn't clam up like this. We're best friends, Lara, and we've been through thick and thin..."

"I know, Sam, I guess... Just give me some time... It's just there are days where I think everything that happened was a really bad nightmare..."

"Tell me about it.. I can't really sleep at all since it's happened. It's like I'm afraid Himiko will come for my soul in my sleep or something."

"Oh, Sam," Lara leaned over again to hug her best friend. "You're safe now. Himiko's gone."

"I know, but I still can't sleep... And they won't let me bunk with you here."

"Maybe..." Lara picked up Tako-san and smiled. "Maybe Tako-san can keep you company while you sleep." She kissed the doll on the head and gave it back to Sam.

Noting that Lara had blushed a little, Sam accepted the doll and nodded. She wasn't sure why Lara kissed Tako-san, but she knew it was her friend's odd way of comforting her. The doorknob wiggled a bit and a nurse walked in: it was time for a check-up and Sam had to leave.

"I'll come back during the next break," said Sam as she gave Lara's hand a squeeze.

"Try to get some sleep before then."

"I'll try."

Sam had turned to go with Tako-san in hand, but hovered back to the bed. Lara was about to ask what was wrong when Sam leaned over and kissed her on her forehead. Her best friend scampered out of the room without a word, leaving Lara to blush and think about what had just transpired under the nurse's gaze.

Sam hugged onto Tako-san tightly as she wandered the hospital halls. Things'll get better, she thought as she reached her room.

She sat on her bed and turned Tako-san in her hands. Lara had made this for her and it had survived, just like them, the entire ordeal in the Dragon's Triangle. They were all survivors and they would get through this. Sam brushed her fingers over the top of Tako-san's head and kissed the same spot that Lara had earlier.

We'll be all right, I just know it.

Author's Note: Everything I touch turns to angst. Why...?!