I don't want to look like you...

I had cried... and It had hurt so much. Those words... his words had been so cold. I had been the only one for so long; enduring the onslaught of the Flux with no sign of it ever retreating, but I had learned to live with it. It wasn't that bad, in truth. A couple flashes of insanity was really all I had to suffer through; Lalna being the only one able to shake me out of it. He was cautious though; refusing to get too close in fear that one day he would also develop a menacing tattoo like mark.

I understood that enough, and he never blamed me for anything. It was the Flux that was bad. It was the Flux that was spreading on it's own. I was merely a victim who couldn't quite control it and for a while, things mellowed out. We destroyed the castle; the huge sphere that had turned me into something else, and after that, we finally felt that things were done getting worse. That the Flux couldn't infect anyone else, but we were wrong. Very wrong.

The morning after the destruction of what we thought would give us a break, we woke up in confusion and fear. My sight was terrible in my right eye as I stumbled towards a mirror to see just what had happened. Through the cloudiness that I would have to get used to, I could see the Flux had moved in further across my face; blanking out my pupil. If I didn't look like a monster before, I definitely did at that moment.

From behind me, I heard the sounds of Lalna waking up and as I turned to show him what had happened to me, we both looked at each other completely dumbfounded. He was definitely struck by the way I looked and I was the first to realize what had happened to him. Trembling a bit, I lifted a finger and pointed at him, "You've been Fluxed too, Lalna."

The fear in his eyes multiplied as he got up quickly; running passed me to look at his own reflection. The uncomfortable silence that followed forced us both to think more clearly. Even with all the effort to keep the Flux at bay, one of us had gotten much worse while the other had finally fallen victim. We were both Fluxed up.

Though I didn't know what it was going to mean, I did not pity myself. Even though I was undoubtedly worse off, I reached out to comfort him. He was the one who would be going through the early stages of it, and yet, as my hand laid on his shoulder, he shrugged me off.

Confusion hit me again as he turned away and headed towards the stairs. Managing to turn my head, I called out to him, "Lalna, where are you going?"

He stopped at the top of the stairs, but he wasn't staying. "Somewhere alone. I'm sorry, but I... I don't want to look like you... I never wanted this..."

My heart sunk to the pit of my stomach as he left me there alone; partially blind and feeling guilt for something I still didn't do. That was the first time I had touched him in a long time. The soft feel of his lab coat clung to my hand as purple fluxy tears fell to the floor. For the first time in a long time, I felt the grief that only the Flux could give me.

Catching my reflection in the mirror again, I almost sent my fist through it, but instead of breaking things in blind rage, I covered myself in a blanket to hide my appearance from myself and anyone else. Curled up on my bed; turning the pillow shades of purple, I wished that I was normal like I was a long time ago. Before I fell into the Flux sphere and became a monster. When I could have held Lalna's hand without fear.

Hours passed. I had fallen asleep somewhere in between all the crying. It had been so draining and I had felt so cold even though I had escaped beneath the covers to hide away. Waking up, I really didn't want to open my eyes. For awhile, I had forgotten how sad I was. Just for a tiny little bit, I forgot I was a monster, but as my senses began to awaken, there was a strange weight and warmth against me.

Too curious not to look, I opened my eyes only to be met with a sight of nothing but white. Pressed into the soft warmth, I realized almost immediately that I had been snuggled very closely into Lalna's chest. My heart began to beat fast as I glanced up to see his peaceful face; fast asleep. Glancing down, I looked to see his arm draped over me. My face grew embarrassingly red just thinking about it. He had climbed into bed with me on his own.

"Nano..." I jumped a bit at the sound of his voice, but I turned to look at him once again as he smiled at me. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry before. When... when I said I didn't want to look like you, I was scared. It's scary, you know?"

Studying the purple creeping onto his face, it didn't look as bad as I originally thought. Compared to mine, it didn't look too bad at all. At least he still looked vaguely more human than me. I suddenly felt really bad for making such a big deal out of it. I'm sure I didn't help to ease his fears much. "It looks like we're the only two who do know."

"Yeah..." He agreed, "but I realized it's not so bad yet."

"Is that so?"

"Well yeah...," his face grew red too and I was actually really curious about what he would say, "Now I can hold you without fear like I've alway wanted."

My face grew even redder at such a sickenly cute thing. I probably looked like a purple and red tomato. Burying into his chest while hiding my expression, I grinned where he couldn't see. It had been a lot worse before. When I was battling the Flux alone, I felt very down on myself, but with him, we could actually be okay. I could actually live happily even if the Flux continued to change me. "I'll forgive you, but it's not like I wanted this or something... jerk."

He pulled me in closer and before I had any chance to protest, he kissed me softly on the forehead; chucking like an idiot. "Whatever you say, Flux Buddy."

A/N: I hope this is alright. I just wanted to do something with that quote. Also, how he actually asked her in canon if she touched him after he got Fluxed. I really, really want to know the real reason why it spread though. If not through touch, then what could it possibly be? Anyway, thank you for reading. I love you and your face. xxx