It'll be Okay
Dawn X Scott
As Scott stared out into the cool night that he was observing from the beach, he felt a tingle of annoyance. It was nearly eleven at night, and Dawn was not yet back from her parrousing of the island. She might have fallen asleep meditating again. Scott growled in frustration at the air-headed girl; she was so irresponsible for herself sometimes. Something that in Scott's adolesence meant a sure beating.
"Damnit Dawn, do you always have to lose yourself?" Scott growled under his breath. He stiffened a moment later when he heard a light crackling from the underbrush. Turning his head towards the vast forests that grew not far from the beach, he spotted a small, thin figure walking through the shadows towards the Rat's cabin.
Scott got up, his annoyance dimming a little bit. He began to walk towards Dawn. "There you are! Moonbeam, I swear, sometimes you- Dawn?" Scott stopped when the albino girl looked at him with a deep redness around her sherry-colored eyes. "Dawn? Have you been crying?"
The moonchild nodded. "Yes." Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"I... Are you... What happened?" Scott finally asked, taking her arm to walk her away from the cabins, back to where he'd been sitting on the beach. The others would more than likely just upset her by questioning her without restraint. They both sat on a smooth, flat rock.
Dawn sniffled, and shook her head when Scott tried to coax her into talking. "I did something awful." She rested her face in her hands. "I'm an utterly horrible person." She began to sob into her green sweater sleeves. "I should be put to death!"
The freckled boy stared in surprise as the aura-whisperer began to cry again, thoroughly unsure of what to do. After staring at the trembling girl for a few seconds, he slowly, uncertainly put an arm around her, pulling her close to his body warmth. "You... Uh... You wanna talk about it?"
Dawn looked up at him, her cheeks stained with tear trails. "I was walking in the woods to try and find some of the squirrels so I could feed them and..." The moonchild took a deep breath, looking uncertain if she should continue. Scott tried to rubb her back encouragingly, feeling awkward. "And I found this... This bird, lying under a fallen tree branch. One of his wings was broken, but his neck was... Bent at an unnatural angle. But when I went to bury him, he was still alive! And oh god, how he hurt! He was in such awful pain and suffering so much that... That..."
Dawn clammed up again, once more sobbing into her sweater sleeves. Hesitating only an instant, Scott wrapped his other arm around the blonde and pulled her into his lap, laying her head on the nape of his neck and rubbing her back in a manner he hoped was soothing. It seemed to be working, because Dawn's arms came to loop around his neck. "I had to do it. I found a heavy rock... And I slammed it as hard as I could on his head..." She was whimpering now.
The confession shocked Scott, and he wrapped his arms tighter. "Oh Moonbeam..."
"I killed him. The first blow... He didn't even feel it," She sobbed, tightening her grip so that Scott's lips were touching her shoulder. "I know I had to do it but... Oh I just feel wretched!"
"Moonbeam- Dawn, you had to do it. A broken wing could have been fixed but... There's no helping a bird when it's neck has been broken." Dawn pulled back from him slightly so she could look at him. The sadness on her face was heartbreaking. Rubbing her back again, he murmured, softly, "But he would've suffered really badly if he'd starved death in all that pain if you hadn't been merciful and killed him when you did. You just saved him from being in anymore agony."
"Then why does it feel so awful?" Dawn sniffed.
"Because you're sensitive to that kinda stuff and... And the bird didn't deserve it." The moonchild whimpered a little but rested her head back down on Scott's shoulder. The red-head rocked the aura-whisperer back and forth carefully like his own mother used to back when she was still alive, hoping it would calm her down.
He heard Dawn give a sad, heavy sigh. "The poor dear. I just hope that he can forgive me."
Scott didn't cease his rocking. "Dawn, I'm sure that when you see him again, he'll thank you."
The moonchild suddenly turned her sherry-colored eyes on him. "Thank you, Scott. I feel a lot better now."
The awkwardness was back. "Sure... Anytime." Thinking the moment was over, Scott unwound his arms from Dawn's body. But Dawn still held fast, her soft eyes gazing at him. "Something still the matter, Moonbeam?" Without warning, Dawn closed her soft eyes and lent her face in close to his. A few seconds later, Scott felt his heart skip a beat when he felt her soft lips touch his. They stayed there for what felt like an eternity, before Dawn pulled back all to soon. Seeing the moonchild's eyes half lidded and her petite mouth in a small smile made Scott turn red.
"W-What was that for?"
"For being so kind to me," Dawn said simply before she rested her head back on his shoulder. Scott, without any hesitation this time, wrapped his arms around the moonchild again and hugged her without any intention of letting her go.
