Abandoned Heroism

by MasterMartin

Another Day in the No-Zone, another bunch of Sonics and Lilacs milling about their lives. But one Lilac, having lost all that she held dear, is looking for a place to sit and drink and cry her troubles away. It may take a fellow alternative to help her come to terms with the tragedy in her background - and one she would be sure was long gone from her life.

===
*BRR BRR BRR*

"No-Zone Anti-Paradox Action Response Team. Zonic speaking."

"Chief, we've got a problem. Not a big one, but we got one."

"What is it, Zespio?"

"Well, you know that girl I was supposed to be guarding? The Homeless one?"

"Wait, what? You were supposed to ensure she didn't wander off until she got the full briefing on her world and the No-Zone. I made that VERY clear. What happened?!"

"She, uh...wandered off."

"...Oh for fu-"

"It wasn't my fault, I swear! It must've happened last night! I checked on her this morning in the dorm room I left her in, and she was gone! She just left the covers in a mess and put a little note on the dresser."

"What did it read?"

"It said, 'Comfy beds aren't my thing'."

"Hmm. Any idea where she could have gone?"

"I told Zuttski about it since he's good at sniffing out scents, but other than that, no!"

"Well, let's just hope she hasn't gone far. Get searching. Now."

"Y-Yes, Chief! Zespio out!"

*click*

===

Funny little place, Lilac thought, this little garden in the middle of nowhere. What was it called again? She turned back weakly, eyeing the sign that hung above the entrance to the garden complex itself. It was one of those wooden signs where it swung calmly in the (in this case artificial) breeze, hung up on two large wooden posts, and with a message inscribed on either side. The other side, the one you saw while going in, that was just a standard one saying 'welcome to such-and-such'. This side of the sign was similar in that regard, with a fairly standard message inscribed upon it;

"You are now leaving No-Zone Gardens Block #23. Enjoy the rest of your stay."

"No-Zone Gardens Block #23. Sounded like an office block rest space back in Shang Tu. Catchy name, Lilac thought sarcastically. Well, catchier than Sash Lilac of Universe FP-560, at least. Was that her designation to these people? Just a girl with anumber? She felt slightly annoyed at that, but with so many Lilacs all in one place, it would perhaps be little more than pure lunacy to do otherwise. Not that this Lilac cared all that much. By now, she was beyond caring. She was beyond any form of concern or indeed any emotion outside of misery and pure and undiluted guilt from the things she had seen. And she was not sure if the No-Zone was making it worse.

She sighed, calming herself ever so slightly, and instead took to looking around at her location. It was...well, a garden. It was a big expanse of green and trees and flowers and paths everywhere. To be more specific, the garden just sort of...started. The wall separating the clinical green halls of the No-Zone to this were behind Lilac, who was already standing at merely the entrance, with the walls painted to be a little like a forest behind a fence. It almost kind of looked like an ACTUAL garden, with the sky hovering above being a peaceful blue and looking really realistic. Beneath Lilac's near-bare feet was a gravel path, each stone coloured beige and of a similar size and shape. The path stretched out for a good long while, snaking around this way and that, ending in the middle of the room where it began to circle a giant stone fountain that constantly leaked water from the three tiers back into the main basin. On either side of the path were waist-high hedges and flowers, some red and some white arranged into pretty patterns all along the sides. There were even some white wooden arches installed along the path, while all around was tons of grass that seemed to stretch on for miles at a time.

And Lilac barely cared about any of it.

All she wanted was a nice little corner, a place to sit and cry, to actually rest. After so many months of sleeping rough, soft beds just didn't work for her anymore. She was, somehow, used to it. Perhaps it was the self-applied punishment. Perhaps, she thought, she didn't DESERVE anything better. Nevertheless, she began to slowly hobble further into the garden, the feeling of the stones digging into her feet barely affecting her; she lost most of her feeling in those things a long time back. She continued, passing the fountain and going further to find where this block ended. She passed a number of other Lilacs, Carols, Millas, Sonics and more, talking and playing in the strong sun and just having a good time. A number of them, a dark-clad Milla especially, slowly turned to look at this miserable Lilac clad in blue rags and wearing a backpack hobbling past them saying nothing. Lilac herself ignored them; she didn't care about what others thought of her.

She just kept going and going, before finally, she saw exactly what she wanted to see; a corner. It was at the edge of the block and was furnished with an abandoned building. She went inside what remained of the building, taking off her backpack and planting herself at the corner of where the roof had just vanished. She took her knees in and hugged them, setting her backpack by her side before opening it and dragging out a bottle from the endless amounts of clutter that sat within. The bottle was full of a clear liquid, that when opened gave a powerful waft of fermented potatoes. Lilac sighed heartfully, took the open bottle to her lips and took a mighty swig of it. She cried out as the sheer strength of the liquid singed the back of her throat, but she did not care. She continued to sit in her spot, tears in her eyes but a sort of calm sensation washing over her. This was exactly what Lilac wanted, to be alone. She liked being alone. No-one to annoy her, no-one to get on her nerves. And no people to befriend...and to lose.

"Hey there..." came a small voice, one so familiar to her it was almost a revelation when she heard it. She slowly arched her head up, her neck almost audibly creaking with the strain, to look at the creature that had called out to her. It was...it was her! It was a little cream-furred dog, with shining green eyes and frizzy orange hair that only reached to the middle of her already-short neck. She was a little younger than the dog she was used to, being a little shorter and reminding her of the good old days when they were on their first adventure. She also wore VERY different clothing, and yet at the same time it felt so...familar. She wore a black jacket lined with red and white trimmings, as well as white pants that stopped at a pair of white and red sneakers. She wore black woollen gloves, where the thumb on the right-hand glove had seemingly been long chewed away. She also wore a massive red scarf that wrapped around her chest several times, and even then it trailed behind her a little. The little dog spoke again, her voice as smooth as butter and as sweet as a cube of Dragon Beard candy, "Uh, excuse me? Lilac, is it? Are you okay? ...Do you want to be left alone?"

There was a vivid flutter of emotions within Lilac's heart as she stared at this creature. After so many months of loneliness and self-hatred, so many weeks of sleeping rough and crying the nights away, it was her. The dog, in her vision once more. She jerked back somewhat, before trying to speak but only coming out with a pained blubber. She stopped, catching her breath, before sighing and trying again, "...Who are you?"

"I'm...Milla," the dog said, pointing to herself, "Don't you recognise me? I'm Milla. I'm just...not yours."

"But...i-it can't be!" Lilac whispered, "You can't be here! I saw what that freak Serpentine did to you! I...I..."

Lilac couldn't get any further as the memories already came flooding back. She pulled herself back into her old sitting position, hugging her bent legs for comfort. Milla sighed, before slowly crouching down to see Lilac face-to-face, "...First time in the No-Zone, hmm?"

Lilac remained silent for a little while, before she gathered up the courage to speak again, "...What's going on here? Why are all these guys in red suits and why're there so many of them and so many of me and Carol and Neera and..."

"Well, it all kinda makes sense after a while..." Milla sighed, before slowly shifting herself so that she was sitting next to Lilac and beaming like the sun at her, "You don't mind if I sit here, do you? You look like you need some company."

"I'm fine by myself. I've been alone for a good year now."

"I can sorta see that. You're in a...bad state..." Milla said, her tone carrying a pang of worry. She studied this Lilac closely, but even the most deranged of Lilacs didn't look as ravaged as this one did. She had long abandoned the standard set of clothes near every Lilac wore, instead opting for what could only be described as rags. Her top was patched and sewn together in multiple places, with the sleeves ripped and short, though at least it was the same light blue as all the other Lilac shirts. She didn't wear shorts, instead wearing a skirt of some form that was brown in colour and just as ravaged as the rest of her outfit. She wore no gloves or shoes, wearing only the green and orange anklets that only Millas tended to wear. Her hair was frazzled, her skin was bruised and worn, and her tendrils were tied into a long braid and wrapped in bandages. She was a wreck.

Milla felt quite sorry for this Lilac. She looked like she was homeless, and smelled like it too, and her face already was entrenched deep into the kind of inescapable misery Milla herself was once subjected to. She decided to stick around a bit, maybe see what happened. After a pause, she cleared her throat and chirped, "We should introduce ourselves! I'm Milla, though everyone back in my homeworld calls me Scarfhound. Universe FP-612! What's yours, Lilac?"

"...Lilac?" The young dragon asked, a small chuckle escaping her throat as if she found it in some way amusing, "It's been a long time since I called myself that. It's not Lilac anymore. It's...Abagail, I think. I don't deserve the name Lilac, I told the No-Zone Bozos that. They put me down as Lilac, anyway. Said I was from FP-560 or something."

"FP-560?" Milla (or rather, Scarfhound) asked, "Well, that's a new one for me..."

"It's a new one for me too..." Lilac (or rather, Abagail) continued, slowly taking another sip of the clear drink that she had, grumbling at the taste before turning back to the little dog, "...Heh, Scarfhound. That's a cute name. Well, you're a cute dog. Mine was too..."

"I...do you wanna talk about your Milla?" Scarfhound arched a little closer, not enough to scare Abagail but enough to take her hand in her's, "About...what happened to you? I won't judge, I promise..."

There was a silence that pervaded the two's conversation. The only sounds that continued were the artificial tweeting of birds and the whirr and splashing of the fountain in the background, that many others were crowded around. A few of them, such as a Lilac clad in a purple latex catsuit and a Carol in Steampunk attire, were glancing briefly at the two girls having their conversation, but would often turn back around to give them privacy. Lilac, or Abagail, or whatever, was clearly deep in thought and Scarfhound was in no mind to rush her. Clearly, this was something that was going to take a while to build up to. Abagail cupped her face in her hands in such a way so only her eyes were really visible, and they were visibly cringing and tearing up even now. Her eyes were very much bloodshot, so this seemingly happened a lot, and she only-ever-so-audibly sobbed a little. She regained what little remained of her composure and turned to Scarfhound;

"Can...can you go first?"

"I would love to," Scarfhound chirped, remaining to softly grip Abagail's hand as a form of comfort, "Well...where do I even begin, eh?"

"I dunno..." Abagail said, "It's your story. Gotta say, you're a bit more...energised than my Milla."

"Call it a confidence boost, if you know what I mean," Scarfhound smiled, "Anyway, where to begin...oh yeah! I might as well start with MY Lilac. You see, I sorta come from around the same time as you, maybe? We beat back Brevon and I'm not even sure he returned. I'll never forget what he did to me...I don't think ANY Milla will. Serpentine was distraught that his master had vanished, but he found a way to get back at MY Lilac. He kidnapped her, gave her a few more shocks and then...I dunno, he injected chemicals into her."

"...What chemicals?"

"We don't know," Scarfhound shook her head, "All we know is that they were alien compounds. Similar to the mutagen that Brevon used on Serp and...and me...but seemingly corrupted through tampering. Next thing he sees is Lilac mutate into this massive fluffy beast and...well, let's just say he should have quit while he was ahead. Y-You know, before he lost his head? Because Lilac...tore it off, or..."

"Y-Yeah," Abagail sighed, "I know what you're talking about. So, what happened? She became some sort of...were-creature?"

"Well, from what I've been told, yeah. She went mad from the trauma and tore the guy to shreds! She vanished from the cities after the guilt got to her, Carol changed jobs and followed her into exile, and I...ended up in Neera's care."

"Oooooooooooh..." Abagail winced, "That must've been hell."

"It was..." Scarfhound whimpered, her ears drooping slightly, "She tried her hardest, too. But frankly, she wasn't prepared for it. She got angrier and angrier and then...she screamed at me. She yelled that I was a useless little brat and that I should grow up. I felt so horrible, so useless, so...childish. I burst into tears and ran away the night after. I think Neera kinda got fired from her position for that. Next thing you know, I'm somewhere in the hallways of the Red Scarves base, in front of Spade's desk, shaking his hand and being welcomed to the Red Scarves! I kind of became his pupil in the whole thing and...eh. It was fun, I guess."

"Well, guess that explains the outfit, I suppose?" Abagail asked, "Well, sounds like you had a pretty hard life. I guess a lot of Millas do, if they all started out like mine did. They were shot, stabbed, tortured, mutated, almost killed and in my case...well, in my case...oh god..."

"It's okay..." Scarfhound whined, moving a little closer still, "I understand. Just...just go at your own pace, if you wanna tell me at all."

"No, no..." Abagail sighed, taking a final chug of the liquid in her bottle and throwing it away, "I gotta...*HIC* I gotta get it off my chest, okay?"

Scarfhound reeled slightly from the smell of Abagail's breath. Cheap vodka. Like, REAL cheap vodka. She remembered that even Neera had a little nip of it every now and again. She enjoyed the rough-as-nails taste, Neera had told her, plus being one of the few things that wouldn't freeze from her touch helped a little bit. To Scarfhound, any sort of cheap vodka was a bad sign, one that screamed of a person trying to forget something, and Abagail had clearly taken a lot of it in. Scarfhound already was a bit scared of what was to happen, but she sighed and set back a little, "Okay. Whenever you're ready."

"Thank you..." Abagail said solemnly, slurring slightly. She stared at the ground for a bit, hands balled into fists and thumping the ground, before she shifted herself so that she was staring directly at Scarfhound and cleared her throat, "Okay...Serpentine. That sick, oily snake...he was the cause of everything. I remember the day so simply. It was a good couple of months after Brevon had gone. We don't know where he went, but he went SOMEWHERE, and he'd left Serp all alone on the planet. Goes without saying, but he didn't take it well. Like, at all. Next thing you know, I sent Mills into town to pick up some bread and she didn't come back. For hours. Then DAYS. I got worried right off the bat and tried to look for her, with no success. Then...fifth day in, I get this phone call. It was from Serp, and he told me...everything. 'I've got your superdog', he said. 'I'm gonna make you regret everything', he said. And...he did..." Abagail's voice began to crack from the stress, "Oh god, he did..."

"So..." Scarfhound asked carefully, "What did he do?"

"...He took her," Abagail sniffed, "He tortured her. He threw her in a casket and buried her under six feet of dirt, in some random location he thought I'd never get to. The sociopath gave me an HOUR to find her. ONE hour. I found her within the timeframe, sure. Buried right outside The Magister's gardens, the cheeky little...whatever. Me and Carol got there, I Dragon-Boosted my way down into the dirt to get out the coffin, while Carol slashed at the top of it like a deranged wild animal. But..."

It was suddenly here that it all hit. Trapped in a coffin? Buried underground? Only an hour? It all made sense now; a tightly sealed coffin under the ground. Even with the most air you could get in there...you wouldn't have long. She gasped as the emotions hit her with full force, covering her mouth with her hands as tears now slowly leaked from her own eyes, "Oh my god...he didn't, did he? Your Milla didn't..."

Abagail was clearly struggling now, hands shaking in a mixture of hatred and rage, her face contorted into a bitter sneer, mucus dripping from her nose and tears staining her cheeks and causing her eyes to get more and more bloodshot, "...SUFFOCATED. Ran out of air long before. And he just left a tape there for us! A TAPE! Of his mocking laughter playing over and over and over and OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER!" she stopped, trying to catch her breath, "S-Sorry, I...I get a little emotional about it. I don't even remember that much after. I remember Carol screamed towards the sky with rage while I just sorta cradled her lifeless body, sobbing until I could sob no more...then I was at home. I...I woke up at home. Nothing changed elsewhere. Serpentine had gone, Carol had gone nuts and gone missing too, and Magister didn't even ATTEMPT to help me. Milla was gone. The sweet, little cinnamon roll was gone...and NO-ONE CARED!"

"A-Abagail?" Scarfhound whined at the sudden outburst, "Please, try to keep calm!"

"Calm? CALM?!" Abagail raged, foaming slightly, "With that Magister still doing what he does and NOT EVEN TRYING to help me?! I'd saved his ass multiple times, I took shots the lazy prick would never attempt to! I got shocked, I got tortured, I got beaten, I LOST EVERYTHING I EVER OWNED! And what does he do to repay me? He SITS there, with his STUPID PANDA WITCH, and berates me. 'It's not their problem, Lilac'! 'They've got other things to deal with, 'LILAC'. You're juST A THIEF LILAAAAAAAARRRGH!" with a screech of rage, she sprung to her feet and turned to the wall behind her, punching it repeatedly with every last ounce of strength she had. There was a rumble as the concrete that made up what was left of the building actually began to crack and crumble from the stress of it all, leaving blood on the cracks with every strike. She continued to scream, "IS THAT ALL I AM?!" another punch, "JUST A NAME?!" another punch, "JUST SOME FREAK WHO WE'LL ALL BLAME FOR SAVING THE WORLD?! FOR PUTTING HER LIFE ON THE LINE?! FOR GETTING HER FRIENDS KILLED?!"

"Lilac, please!" Scarfhound blurted out, trying to grab Abagail's fists, "Please stop this!"

"MY!" *PUNCH* "NAME!" *PUNCH* "IS!" *PUNCH* "NOT!" *PUNCH* "LILAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAC!" *CRACK*

There was a final sickening crunch as something in one of her hands finally gave way and she yelled in pain. She slowly slid down the wall, blood slowly seeping through and down the cracks in the wall, and she landed with a painful thunk as she lay on her side with her back against the wall. She clutched at the remains of her broken hand with the remains of her not-as-broken one, the anger in her voice and her body having left just as quickly as it had appeared, "Not anymore...I couldn't go on. Not like I was. I left my home and travelled. I renounced my name and heroism all together. I don't want my name. I don't want my life. I don't deserve it...I d-don't deserve it..."

Abagail stopped and then suddenly burst out sobbing in loud, unsubtle screams of emotion. She cried heavily, fluids flowing from wherever they could, and she rocked pitifully in place, cradling her wounded appendage. Scarfhound had been driven back by the sheer rage of the display, herself on the verge of tears and crying, shivering in the corner as she watched the dragon's meltdown ensue. She didn't know what to feel, she didn't know what to do. Should she approach her and risk getting attacked? Should she go off and get help, but leaving her alone? It was a miracle the outburst did nothing to grab the attention of the others, despite how relatively close they were from the others in the garden. Scarfhound sighed; she saw a lot under Spade's rule, and Neera's own outburst, but nothing like...this. As it seemed that Abagail was too busy sobbing to notice, Scarfhound slowly and surely hobbled over to her. Against her better judgement, she grabbed Abagail's body and pulled her into a hug, softly stroking her back and parts of her ruined hair. Abagail reacted little to the sentiment, continuing to cry into Scarf's shoulder, clutching her back tightly with whatever strength she had left in her hands.

"MILLA!" Abagail cried out between loud sobs, "Milla...why? Why did you go away?"

"I..." Scarfhound sighed, close to tears, "I don't know...but it's okay..." she continued to stroke her hair, "I'm here now..."

Time seemed to pass at a rate unseen by others as the two sat there, sharing their pain, one comforting the other as she cried and sobbed her misery away. The floor was cold, the sobbing was making their ears hurt, but neither cared. Scarfhound took some time to slowly rub at Abigail's tendrils, bunched up in a braid and covered with bandages as mentioned before; the bandages, upon closer inspection, were stained red and slightly cold and soggy to the touch. Her back was awash with cuts and scrapes, and even now Scarf could remember the number of acid burns and grazes that had covered her skin. Abagail really was a wreck, and it was a sure thing that she hadn't taken care of herself for so long. Perhaps, Milla thought, now she knew why. No Milla to keep in check, and no Carol to rely on, a Lilac without either was nothing. She was...alone. And Abagail had clearly been alone for far too long. She became lost in thought at just what a pitiable creature she was, and Scarfhound continued to hug her as Abby's sobbing slowly became quieter and less powerful. Finally, Scarfhound thought, she was running out of energy. She was slowing down. And indeed she was, for her sobs got slower and slower before it eventually stopped. Soon, there was a soft snoring from Abagail as she passed out on Scarfhound's shoulder, nuzzling slightly deeper into it while her hands trembled intensely from the feeling. Scarf sighed and continued to sit there, slowly stroking her back as she could hear the clomping of boots approaching from the path outside.

The figure rounded the corner and spotted the two. She was a sort of lemur, encased in the red suits and grey armour these No-Zone guys were known for. She stared at the two for a second, "What the..." before she shook her head and, spoke into her transponder, "Sir, I found them! Garden Block #23!"

"Fantastic, Zangle!" came the voice on the other end, "Give me a second!"

"Roger..." she sighed, placing her transponder back on her armour. She arched down to Scarf and Abby, "Hey there. I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm just looking for Sash Lilac, of FP-560?"

"Shhhhh..." Scarfhound shushed softly, "It's Abagail. And she's asleep. Trust me, she needs it...and she needs a doctor too."

===

"Okay, she's stable. Her wounds have been covered and treated."

"Fantastic, doctor. What about her..."

"Her hands? They'll take a while to mend, she messed 'em up pretty bad. She'll be out of bed and ready to go in a few weeks, after a few good meals and PLENTY of rest. Well, she's table, and I need to go check on another patient. So I'm trusting her to you for now. I think Zespio will be coming over to check on her as well. He sounded MIGHTY relieved when he found you two."

"Thank you, doctor...ooh, she's waking up!"

Abagail groaned as her heavy eyes fluttered open. There was a soft whirring in the background as only a smattering of white met her gaze. She felt sleepy and lethargic. But at the time she felt so...relaxed. Her skin no longer shivered with the everlasting cold that she was so used to, instead bristling with feelings of warmth and comfort. Her wounds that she had forgotten about so long ago no longer stung when exposed to the air as they had before, instead having the wonderful feeling of plasters and bandages covering them. Her skin, once dry and blotched, felt properly moisturised and clean, while her stringy hair has been washed and combed. Even her tendrils had been split, and washed, and then set by her sides. Her left hand had been wrapped in a cast of some kind, while her right was covered in a sort of bandage glove that wrapped around tightly and showed only slight seeps of blood in the fabric. She arched her head up to see where she was; it was a hospital room, clinical and sterilised, and she was lying in a bed covered by a white sheet. She looked up and, standing in front of her, was Scarfhound. A sense of calm and happiness she hadn't felt in a while filled her being.

"Scarf..." she whimpered, too blissed out to say anything else.

"Hey, Abby," Scarfhound chirped, wagging her tail, "How're you doing? Better now that you've got some treatment and some love?"

"...Yeah," Abagail smiled weakly, "I feel so...fresh. So...revived."

"That's great," Scarfhound said, "Zespio found you, in the end. Well, one of his subordinates did, anyway. He should be on his way soon. Don't worry, I'll stay here for ya."

"And..." Abagail said quietly, "You asked for them to take me in?" Scarfhound nodded, "...That is..." Abagail's face twisted into a dreamy smile, "That is the sweetest thing anyone's done for me. No-one in my world has ever been that nice to me..."

"I know..." Scarfhound sighed, "Zespio told me everything. You got ignored by the Magister, kicked out of Shuigang by Dail, mocked publicly by Zao, and branded a coward who failed to save Milla by everyone else. What a horrible life...I feel sorry for you..." she slowly grabbed Abagail's non-broken hand, so softly as to avoid damaging it further, "You poor thing."

"Why're you feeling sorry for me?" Abagail asked, "I am a coward. I failed to save Milla, I let Serp get to her when I needed her the most. And I don't deserve the name Sash Lilac. Lilac means hero...and I'm not a hero..."

Scarfhound took Abagail's remaining hand in BOTH her own and whimpered, "That's not true. You're as much a Lilac as any other in this place. Heck, even more so than some others. I couldn't tell you of all the Lilacs I've met in this place that deserve that name less than you. All sorts of violent, crazy, selfish people. You're not any of those things...well apart from crazy I guess," Scarf giggled at her sort-of-joke, but Abagail only stared blankly, "I...i-it was a joke, I promise. Look, you ARE Lilac. You're still a hero. You still went after Serp when Torque crash-landed outside of Dragon Valley. You still took a powerful shock to save Torque from Brevon's clutches. You still did what's right even when everyone said you were wrong. And you still made Brevon pay for the things he did to you and I. You saved your world, Abby. I know you did."

"...But how DO you know?" Abagail asked, shocked.

"Principle of Consistency," Scarfhound said proudly, "One of these guys told me. Any Lilac who makes it as far as Merga without any serious changes never deviates much from that sorta path. And that DOES make you a hero, as much as any other. You saved your world and you were ready to go save it again! S'more than I ever got to do cooped up in Spade's office all day! And..." Scarfhound edged closer to stroke Abagail's hair, "I bet, wherever your Milla is now, she is looking down at you. She is sad but happy, crying but smiling. 'There's my friend!', she'd say, 'There she goes, saving the world and making rights! She's the bestest friend I could ever hope to have, and she's my friend, and I'll follow her to the ends of the earth, with Carol too!'" Scarfhound paused, unsure as to if she wanted to say the last of what she wanted to say. After a bit of soul-searching, she decided it would be best to do so. She resumed the dainty, Milla-like voice she had put on, "'She's MY Lilac.'"

Abagail had nothing to say. She lay there, paralysed, moved to the ends of the planet by Scarfhound's little speech. A wave of emotion washed over her again, a confusing smack of happiness, sadness and peace, all in one. She didn't know what to do, but she found herself snivelling, her eyes twitching and her throat letting out sobs. Not sobs of pain, or of anger, or of regret. But happiness, and love, and loss. She didn't know what to think, what to feel, what to say, what to do...so she just let it all out. Another round of wailing sobs escaped her, tears streaming down her cheeks, while she hung her head low and gripped Scarfhound's hands with all the strength she could muster. Scarfhound didn't seem angry or scared now, only peaceful and happy as she walked even closer and pulled Abagail into a hug, muffling her cries into her scarf and petting her hair again, "Sssshhh, it's okay. Everything's going to be juuuuust fine..."

"I'm sorry..." Abagail sobbed, "I'm sorry, I just...I'm so lost now. I feel like I've been wandering for months on end with no hope in sight. And now...now I got you..."

"You got me," Scarfhound echoed, "And every other Milla in the No-Zone. But sometime soon, I gotta go back to my world. I've got a lot to do myself, you know. Some tough guy is challenging Spade to the title of the Red Scarves Grandmaster or something, I gotta make sure nothing gets outta hand. I'll come visit you here, obviously. I promise!" She winked at Abagail as she hugged her, "And Red Scarf members always keep their promises. But, what do you wanna do in the meantime?"

"Well..." Abagail sighed, regaining her composure, "I'm sure no-one back home will miss me if I...vanish. I'm not even sure anyone cares. I'll probably stick around here for a while, see if I can stay here full-time. Get to know the other me's, mess around, make some friends...maybe find a new calling, I've been running in circles for a year now, sleeping rough and scrounging for the most basic of things...it's time I settle down and get back on the path, yeah?"

"Yeah..." Scarfhound smiled lovingly, "Good choice. You'll love it here, I'm sure of it..."

"I..." Abagail sighed peacefully, nuzzling further into Scarfhound's scarf, "I love you, Milla..."

Scarfhound jumped a little, a bit surprised at Abagail's choice of name. But she wasn't going to question it, not now. She only continued her hug and hummed, "And I love you too, Lilac."

Nothing else was said between the two. Really, nothing more needed to be said. It was like Abagail's own faith in humanity was restored, all in the space of a couple hours. The two were almost in perfect sync, friends and beyond, locked in each others' grasp and letting their bond grow closer still. And there they remained, hugging it out, until Zespio finally burst into the room, sweating like a melting ice cube. He explained that, sure, Abby wasn't as needed in her world anymore, the No-Zone was given the go-ahead to police it and keep back danger in her stead. He did have to wrench Scarfhound away and return her to her home dimension, but Abagail didn't mind. She felt at peace with herself, a feeling she had not felt for a long while, and she settled back into her bed, cosy and satisfied. As soon as her hands healed, maybe even just ignoring that and just getting out of bed herself, she'd be off and down to the rest of the No-Zone, meeting all the other Lilacs and seeing their lives. Hearing their stories. Seeing how she could have been and what she was glad she wasn't. As she drifted back off to sleep, she sighed, knowing the dreams she would have and the people she would meet in them. And her Milla, just as Scarfhound said, was happy and watching Abby sleep peacefully.

Through a crack in her hospital room doorway. Through the eyes of a marionette doll.

THE END...?