VI. Reassurance

Wolfrun jolted awake. He was definitely not in his hammock. He rolled over and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling as he slowly remembered all the events that took place to lead him here. Sitting up, he noticed the Precure were all asleep on their mats. Miyuki laid about half a meter away from his, still as a rock. Wolfrun stared at her, holding his breath. She was way too still.

Eventually she let out a sigh in her sleep, allowing Wolfrun to exhale as well. She wasn't dead. Not like...

Wolfrun felt himself begin to panic. He had to leave the room. Get some fresh air. He slowly got up, his bones creaking in protest, and he strode to the door, making sure to not step on any of the sleeping bodies on the ground.

He slid open the panel and walked forward, soon noticing the door to the outside was open. Peeking out, he spotted Tae sitting on the porch, watching the hilltops. She turned her head slowly to Wolfrun.

"Ah, good morning Wolfrun. Do you like to get up to watch the sunrise as well?"

"No, actually. I..." he sighed, went over, and sat down next to her. "Just...dreams."

"Ah."

They sat in silence until the first beams of light peeked over the mountain, seemingly prompting Tae to ask, "How are you feeling?"

"Hmm?"

"The girls told me what happened yesterday."

"Oh..." Wolfrun brought his legs up with his arms, hugging them and resting his chin on his knees. "What exactly did they say?"

"Well, they told me that Miyuki said something that upset you, and you broke away from them to come here. I didn't notice anything was wrong, but I haven't known you for too long..." She gave him a sympathetic look. "I would have helped if you were feeling distressed."

"I...I don't think they told you the whole story."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I lashed out at them and said something...really terrible." He drew his knees in closer. "I should leave soon. Before they wake up."

Tae gave a disapproving look. "Wolfrun, where are you really from?"

"Eh?"

"Miyuki's story is ever-changing and hardly convincing. If you do not wish to tell me, that's fine , but I want to do as much as I can to help you."

"Help me?" Wolfrun turned to her, feeling the kindness of her smile.

She truly wants to help.

That might change when she knows the truth about you.

Only one way to find out.

Tae scooted closer to him and reached a hand out to his back before stopping. "May I?"

He looked at her, feeling tears well up in his eyes. Blinking a few times, he stuttered out, "P-please." Tae's hand pressed down and she proceeded to rub his back and shoulders. Eventually, Wolfrun spoke again.

"Do you know about Red and the Wolf?"

"Little Red Riding Hood?"

"Yeah, I guess that's what they call it here..."

"Yes I know of that story. I read it to Miyuki many times when she was young."

"Well I'm...from my understanding at least I come from that...story."

"Oh? You're the Big Bad Wolf?"

Wolfrun flinched and buried his face into his knees. Tae continued to run her hand across his back. He brought his head back up after a few moments. "I think I'm supposed to be him, yeah."

"You are much kinder than how he's usually written. How were you able to get to this world, then?"

"There was...a man called Joker. He took me and two others out of our world and tasked us with giving all worlds a Bad End." Noticing Tae's confused face, he elaborated. "That's why when you first saw me I tried to drain Bad Energy from you. It was needed to end all worlds." She nodded at this, followed by a short silence. "You...don't understand anything I'm saying, do you?"

Tae laughed softly. "Well, I don't see how I could quite understand something like this, but I know that what you're saying is the truth." She reached up to scratch behind his ear, causing him to flinch a bit at the unusual sensation, before he leaned into her hand. He was not used to physical affection like this.

It feels...very good...

"So, since you are here now and not destroying the world, I'm guessing this..."Joker" man stopped trying to do this, right?"

"He's dead." Wolfrun was deadpan, saying the words out loud moreso to convince himself that it was the truth than to deliver the information to Tae. "And I'm here now, stripped of purpose." The tears returned as he faced her. "I...I was introduced to this world wanting to destroy it. And I don't think I can escape that. I-I'm only going to hurt them, and everyone on Earth." He started to cry, nose sniffling and arms shaking. "I don't belong here and I need to leave!"

The old woman quickly moved her other arm to his abdomen and gently pulled him towards her. He did not protest. She laid him down on his side next to her, his head in her lap as she stroked his long silky hair. "Shhh, shhh you'll be alright, sweetie. I promise. You're Miyuki's friend and I'm responsible for taking care of you as much as I am responsible for taking care of her."

"W-we can't be f-friends. I-I'm not..." His sentence was cut off by his whimpering.

"Now, Wolfrun, I can tell by the way those girls act around you that they think the world of you! And you are so friendly around them, too. The way Miyuki talked about you when you were gone, too..." she began absentmindedly playing with his hair. "Wolfrun, everyone is allowed to be mad, sometimes. What you did may have been a bit mean, but you realize that now and you regret it."

"I'm just gonna keep doing it though...it's just who I am...I can't stop it...I'm a bad person."

"A truly bad person would never admit that they are bad. You understand the bad things you've done and wish to atone. You're not a bad person, Wolfrun." Tae leaned down and planted a kiss on his temple. "Those girls love you very much and I can tell that you love them very much as well. There'd be nothing but pain for both parties if you decided to leave." There was a long period of silence before it was broken by Tae's soft voice once more. "How did you meet them, anyway?"

"...It was over a year ago. They...seemed to appear whenever I tried to gather Bad Energy. They managed to stop the process each time..."

"Did they have anything to do with Earth being spared from this..."Joker" fellow?"

"...Yes."

"I see."

The two of them stayed there for a while longer, Tae stroking Wolfrun the whole time. He could feel himself drifting off to sleep when Tae stirred. "I'm going to go take a walk now, Wolfrun. You should go back to bed."

"Huh? Uh, yeah. Yeah, I should." The wolf stood up groggily and cricked his back before making his way towards the door to where the girls slept. He could hear scurrying behind the door before he opened it up. The covers on Miyuki's bed flipped for a split second. Yawning, he closed the slide behind him and stepped carefully over the sleeping figures back to his own spot.

I should be able to get back to sleep now.

That Tae sure is something else...

Wolfrun wrapped the blanket around himself and smiled slightly. Maybe things would be okay. Yesterday was just a small hiccup in his recovery. He was going to be alright.

I'm going to be alright.

He heard the sound of cloth rubbing against itself next to him, followed by a soft, "Wolfrun?"

It was Miyuki.

Wolfrun's mouth suddenly felt dry. He did not move. A hand was laid on his shoulder and his name was said once more.

"Wolfrun?"

He turned slowly to meet her eyes, which were not full of their usual cheery shimmer. "Uh, what is it Miyuki?" Her expression seemed to soften, but still held its sorrow.

"I...I'm really sorry about last night. It was all my fault! I knew you didn't want me to talk about stuff like that and I went and did it anyway! I...I..." Tears began to fall from her face as she covered her mouth. Wolfrun stared at her, unsure of how to comfort her. He slowly reached his arms up and snaked them around her back, gently pulling her down onto his chest. Miyuki stopped her soft sobbing and sighed.

"Do...do you forgive me?" she asked, sniffling.

"I don't know. Can you tell me why you're so...obsessed with me being 'him'?"

Miyuki seemed a bit taken aback by this. She breathed heavily through her nose a few times before answering. "Stories have been my entire life. Fairy tales and all of that. My life sort of revolved around that for a while. I guess, in a way, it still does." Her hand lazily found its way to his chest fur, which she began to rub. "And when I found out that you guys were...well...y'know...it was so surreal to me. This thing that was such a big part of my childhood! It was real! I couldn't help but get a bit infatuated with the idea. And when you were gone it just got worse. I kept thinking about you and how-" she buried her face in her hands.

Wolfrun gazed down at her. "How...?"

"N-nothing. I don't know. I'll try not to bring up your past again, okay?" Her eyes were on him again, the look pleading. "Do you forgive me?"

"Yeah. Yeah I do. Do you forgive me?"

"Huh? For what?"

"For my outburst last night! I scared you guys. I overreacted."

"You don't have to apologize for that! I was totally in the wrong. You had every right to act that way."

"Just...please say it."

"I...forgive you, Wolfrun."

"Thank you."

The two of them lay together for a few minutes. Wolfrun had never had this much physical contact in such a short period of time, but he now knew he had been craving it his entire life.

"I dreamed about him last night."

"Who?"

"Joker."

"O-oh. I'm sorry. Do you dream about him a lot?"

"Never. This was the first time."

Miyuki pulled herself closer to the wolf. "What happened?"

"He told me I was going to die and-" he suddenly felt a lump in his throat.

"Are you okay?"

"Miyuki, what if he comes back?" Wolfrun sat up quickly, fear in his eyes. "It felt so real, he could actually be inside my mind! He could come back!"

"I'm sure that that's impossible, Wolfrun! He's gone. Pierrot absorbed him and we defeated Pierrot. No more Joker. I promise!"

Wolfrun's breathing slowed once more and he laid down on his side, sighing. "Yeah, yeah I know. It was just a really bad dream."

"I'm sure that if anything like that were to really happen, we'd find some way to get our Precure power back." Miyuki laid down next to him, scratching behind his ears as Tae had done before.

"Maybe I'd be able to help out too."

"Maybe! You might become Precure with us!" Wolfrun began to chortle. "What's so funny?"

"Wh-when you guys were out getting me my clothes I-" he paused as another quiet laughing fit overcame him. "I took Yayoi's Precure thingy and pretended to transform!"

"Oh my gosh! You didn't!"

"I called myself 'Cure Wolfie'!"

"You dork!" Miyuki kissed the top of his head and continued to scratch his ear. After a few minutes it slowed as she started to fall asleep. Wolfrun soon followed.

I'm going to be alright.