It was coming closer, closer and closer. Time had stopped in Tamao's world, nothing else was moving, but still it came closer with a speed that made her heart beat ten times faster. Was this it, then? She'd fail this early on, without being able to do anything?
Tamao couldn't hear anything but her heart beat echoing in her ears. All she could feel the throbbing beat, as if trying to escape her chest. All she could see was the dark ray approaching, filling her eyes with sizzling darkness. A horrible sight.
She was done for. She was sure of it. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see it. She waited. Waited, waited and waited, for a time that seemed to be an eternity. And then some. She squeezed her eyes close, and stayed still, waiting for the pain.
Why didn't it come already? Why wasn't she hit yet? There was absolutely no way the ray could have missed, but there was also no way it would not have reached her yet!
Carefully, Tamao opened her eyes. She raised her hand in front of her eyes, and her heart skipped a beat. Around the pale hand, red-edged black rays sizzled, like trying to get in her skin. So that was it. She had been hit.
But she did not feel pain, neither did she see any injury in herself. She was as fine as one could be in a situation like this.
" Ah…" Tamao gasped, in awe. Slowly, the rays started fading away from her; she had survived the attack with absolutely no damage.
" Amazing," Tamao could hear a gasp echo in her head. A burning voice she knew belonged to Entei.
Amazing indeed. But why? Why had she not been hurt? What was…?
Tamao's eyes started picking up her surroundings again. She could see Raikou and Entei staring at her, seemingly as awed as she was. When she turned her head slightly, she could see Suicune standing behind her. It wasn't easy though; the black mist was so thick, it was only the pale light of the moon in the sky that somehow managed to pierce it. As Tamao gazed in front of her, she once again saw the canine figure in the mist, bathing in the silver light.
Umbreon. It was the first time she saw him after she found out what had happened to him. Tamao felt a tight grip in her heart, and for a while she couldn't breathe, but she shook it off.
"Not now. Not here."
Her feet were still shaking of fear, but Tamao got up. She looked at the form of the pokemon she once knew in front of her. His shining yellow eyes flickered and dimmed down a little, and he seemed to get smaller as he looked right at her. He avoided her eyes.
Tamao reached her arms far and wide, and tried to capture Umbreon's eyes. She could clearly see his feelings in them. Guilt.
But not the guilt that had eventually lead them here, this was simpler. It was merely the guilt of hitting her with an attack, she could see it. Umbreon had no intention to hurt her.
Tamao spoke.
" See? I'm all right. It's okay."
Umbreon took a wavering step backwards. His backleg blended with the mist for a while, but quickly found it's from again.
Tamao took one step closer. Umbreon's eyes flashed, but he didn't move.
" I'm fine… just fine. Please… let me…" Tamao muttered, not sure what she was going to do herself. She took wavering steps towards the pokemon formed of the mist, who just barely seemed to be able to stay put. But somehow, she was getting closer.
The three legendary pokemon didn't interrupt her. They had done their part for now, and the being in front of them did not seem to wish to harm the girl. All they could do was hope that she would be able to take care of him for now.
Tamao stood right in front of Umbreon now. She did not know what to do, what to say what to think. But she still had to try.
" Listen… I just want this to…" she muttered, and reached her hand towards Umbreon. Her eyes didn't even manage to react well; suddenly, she just realized there had just been a shining flash of yellow light. Before she even managed to get confused, she heard a loud roar from behind her.
Tamao turned back in fear, and saw Raikou on the ground. Some of the mist had seemed to gather especially around him, and he roared wildly, apparently very much in pain.
" Ah!" Tamao gasped, and took one wavering step. In that instant, she could see the mist gathering around her, making it harder for her to see.
She turned towards Umbreon, in horror, just to see his eyes shine so bright it hurt her eyes. The mist was getting thicker and thicker, and it became harder for her to see, and breathe. It was like being in a fire, once again. She coughed, and could almost feel as the air around her flinched.
Tamao stared at Umbreon, or rather just the thick black mist around her, knowing it was a part of him. Even so, she couldn't understand why it had suddenly become so hard to breathe; Umbreon didn't want to hurt her, she was sure of it.
Tamao started coughing harder than she had for ages. She could feel the mist getting colder, and surprisingly, she was able to understand it. Right now, it wasn't up to Umbreon whether she was hurt or not. This was what Ho-oh had said; he couldn't control his own powers. Apparently, her presence had only managed to startle him so much he got out of control. Now he was probably so upset he wasn't able to pull himself together.
Tamao fell on her knees, and coughed again. She had to find a way to stop this. Umbreon was scared because he was hurting her; she had to find a way to get herself out of the mist, safe, so he would calm down.
Tamao took a deep breath. It hurt, since the mist in the air wanted to make her cough again, but she had to hold it back. It really, really hurt.
" Umbreon!" she shouted in a wheezing voice. She couldn't see or hear anything, but she knew he was there, all around her.
" Umbreon… I'm fine! See, I'm not hurt the… least…" she tried to continue, but her voice faded away, and she found herself coughing, no matter how hard she tried to hold it back.
Tamao fell on the ground. She was getting weaker all of the time. Right now, it felt like there was nothing she could do.
Her fingers fell gently on her bag, which was right by her. She could feel something cold and round through the fabric. A freezing pokeball.
It was Glacias'. Even though the sharp cold hurt her finger, Tamao felt calmer. Once again, the one sentence Ho-oh had said returned to her mind.
"Those pokemon in your bag, they would do anything for you, would they not?"
No. She wouldn't let them. Leafia and Glacia had nothing to do with this; she would not have them get hurt. In the moment she thought that, the cold in the pokeball became sharper, as if the pokemon inside would have guessed the thoughts of her trainer.
" No…" Tamao muttered. Her eyes began to close, and she knew she was about to lose consciousness. She started losing control of her body.
Slowly, her finger slid down the pokeball in her bag, but accidentally stopped on the spot of a button. Tamao's body shook, and a wild coughing took over again. It was all that was needed.
Tamao could only hear the sound of her bag ripping, and in the instant a red light had appeared, driving some of the mist further away. Tamao could once again think a little clearer.
" Oh no!" She thought, and looked, as the icy pokemon materialized in front of her.
Glacia looked furious, and howled towards the darkness caused by the mist. She tapped the ground with her paws, and seemed to be ready to attack.
Tamao found an unknown source of power in her. She jumped up, and grabbed her pokemon.
" Glacia, no! You can't do it!" she shouted, but the pokemon fought back, trying to escape.
" Glacia, please stop! I know he's your brother, but we can't have you getting hurt…! It'd just be worse for him, for me!" Tamao cried, without tears, but she was horrified. She was more afraid than she had ever been. Now it wasn't about her and Umbreon, it was about basically everyone she knew! Each person added to her fear, and with Glacia in instant danger like this, Tamao just wanted to believe this was a horrible nightmare.
Glacia wasn't listening to her. The usually cool and collected pokemon was now nervous, and didn't seem to be thinking at all. She was more reckless than Murkrow was usually!
The mist was once again gathering around them, and it was getting even darker. Umbreon was getting more and more upset. Not only Tamao now, but he was hurting his sister too. Even with her having evolved, he had to know who she was.
Tamao coughed again, and so did Glacia, who was still trying to free herself from Tamao's grasp. But Tamao wasn't going to let go; she didn't want this to become any worse than it already was.
The mist flinched harshly, and Glacia became silent. Dead silent. She didn't' even move.
" Glacia?!" Tamao gasped, and looked at her pokemon. She had a petrified look on her face, and she was getting warmer and warmer. Not good for and ice type pokemon.
" Glacia! Glacia?! Glacia, answer me!" Tamao shouted, and her heart pounded like crazy.
" No… Please no… Please don't let it come to this!" Tamao screamed in her head, and started furiously looking around for something to help her pokemon.
A golden bag could be seen from the hole that had appeared on her bag when t had ripped from Glacia's appearance. As Tamao stared at the bag, she could remember the words of a sage who she had spoken to years and years ago.
" The magnificent item, Sacred ash. Once scattered on a human or a pokemon, it had the power to heal any wound, sickness or injury. There is nothing it can't heal."
Tamao didn't even stop to think. While still holding Glacia, who still wasn't moving, she grabbed the golden pouch. Some ash fell on her knee, but she ignored it.
" Please… Please work! Don't le tit end like this!" Tamao shouted aloud, as she poured a lot of ash on Glacia. For a while, nothing seemed to happen, but suddenly, a huge flash of a light blue light pushed Tamao harshly backwards. Glacia stayed on the spot, but Tamao flew right across the mist.
" GLACIA!" she screamed again, and looked to the way she had flown from.
The same light blue light shone again, clearing the whole area from the mist. Tamao could once again see Suicune, Raikou and Entei, all gathered close to her, with those black and red rays all around them. Umbreon was standing behind her. However, right now, Tamao only had eyes for Glacia.
Tamao gazed, horrified, as the blue light shone from the whole body of the small pokemon. Suddenly, the brightly shining pokemon got up, and turned her head towards Tamao. Their eyes met, and the Glacia smiled. She seemed to be fine.
But before Tamao managed to become relieved, Glacia's form disappeared into the light. Tamao gasped, as the light started growing. It was like Glacia would have been evolving, but that was impossible.
The light took the form of a big canine, and slowly faded away, leaving only two brightly shining spots, in the place that would be the beings eyes.
Tamao gasped, as she looked at the being that had appeared from the light. It was Glacia, she knew it, but… She looked different, other than the size too. Actually, she looked like a legendary beast to be exact.
Tamao gazed in awe, as white cloudlike substances danced on both sides of Glacia's head. Her face was fiercer, but it still looked a lot like it had been before. Her legs were thin and elegant, but they were obviously full of strength that could not be seen now. Her body was covered with icicles, bigger than before. Some of them stood out especially. Her single tail had become many, each of them ended in a sharper icicle Tamao had ever seen.
The legendaries did not seem very awed. Apparently, they had known this would happen when the ash would be used. Umbreon didn't move either. Ether he was as awed as Tamao was, or then he was scared. This would be too much to take for anyone who did not know why it had happened.
Tamao could feel her heart calming down a little. It seemed that Glacia had gained strength. She wouldn't be in instant danger anymore. However, there was one thing bothering her. Even if they did manage to solve this now, what would happen next? Would Glacia stay like this forever?
As if as an answer to her question, Tamao saw that the shining light in Glacia's eyes dimmed down a little. Just a little.
The black mist had stayed gone for a while, but it was now starting to return. Tamao could feel the air getting thicker all of the time, and an awkward feeling took over her. Umbreon was losing control again.
As fast as she could, which was rather slow, since the flight had hurt her, she got up. She gazed at Glacia, who was now calm. She was looking at her, waiting.
Tamao's heart ached, and skipped several beats. She despised what she was about to do.
Tamao nodded, just slightly.
Glacia took off with an amazing speed. In a split of a split second, she was standing in front of the shining yellow eyes. Umbreon's form was hardly visible, though.
Tamao had turned as fast as she could, and feared that she might have missed something important. The speed of these beings was just too much for her.
Glacia stood and gazed into the bright yellow eyes. The mist in the air flinched once again. Tamao could feel Umbreon's fear.
Glacia made low growls, but Umbreon remained silent. Obviously, the sister did not want to fight her brother. There had to be some other way to solve this.
Umbreon's form dissolved even more. For a while it seemed like he was going to disappear completely, but then… time seemed to stop. The mist around the three legendaries, the girl, and her powered up pokemon seemed t stop moving, and remained on its place. Everything was silent, and all that moved were Glacia's shining blue eyes. Once again, they seemed to dim down just a little.
Then, suddenly, three horrifying roars echoed through the air. Tamao turned, and saw Suicune, Raikou and Entei on the ground, covered in those dark rays again.
Tamao gasped, when the air echoed again, in a higher pitched roar. She turned again, just to see Glacia covered in those rays too, but she was still standing.
As her heart made awkward beats, Tamao reached her hand towards her pokemon, just to see that it, too, was covered in those rays. However, unlike the others around her seemed to do, she did not feel an amazingly terrible pain. She felt nothing at all. She only knew she was under the attack because she could see it with her eyes.
After staring at her hand for a while, the seriousness of the situation hit Tamao. This was getting really bad. Umbreon… was obviously…
Umbreon had no form anymore. There were just two yellow eyes occasionally shining through the darkness, with a devastated look. He couldn't control himself at all, he was as horrified as his sister and trainer from five years ago where. Tamao was hurt when she understood this. She had seen this coming when she had nodded to Glacia, but she had, nevertheless, hoped…
But it was no point in crying after what could have happened. What was going on was going on. Right now, she had to make a decision. It was painful, but Tamao understood this was not the time to settle this for once and for all. Right now, Umbreon was too startled she'd have to give him time to think this all over, time to calm down, and then meet him again.
So all that she had to do now was to stop him from rampaging. From what the legendaries had said, she came to the conclusion she had to make him dissolve somehow. Not completely, but to the state he was in when he did not cover areas with this mist. But how was that done?
Tamao couldn't come up with anything. She stared at Glacia fighting back, and felt numb. Why wasn't she hurt at all? Entei, Suicune, Raikou… they were all still down. Glacia was just hardly putting up with this strange attack that had seemed to come out of nothing. She could see the rays flying across herself too, she could hear their hissing and sizzling. But she could feel no pain. Not a single sting.
Tamao's hands were cold, and her head was heavy. She had to stop thinking this now. She had to stop wasting the time she hardly even had!
" Glacia! Hold on!" she shouted, and suddenly barged towards her transformed pokemon.
In the instant Tamao's hands touched Glacia, she saw a flash of light. She gasped and closed her eyes. She felt how Glacia relaxed beside her. She opened her eyes, and saw that the black rays had disappeared from Glacia. As she watched her hand, she saw that the number of those rays had increased in her. She had literally taken the hit. But she still felt no pain.
Tamao withdrew her hands from her pokemon, fearing the attack might return to her. Glacia looked at her with worry in her shining blue eyes. They seemed to have dimmed down a little again. Tamao could now see her pupils underneath the shine. They were the same icy, but extremely warm eyes Tamao was used to. But right now they couldn't see the danger that was glowing in a yellow colour in front of them. They were blinded by the worry for her trainer. Of course, she wouldn't know that Tamao wasn't feeling any pain.
Tamao smiled sadly.
" Forget me for now. It seems that I'm not in an instant danger. Even so, right now all I can do is…" she told her pokemon, and looked down.
" Please… Glacia," she mumbled, hating herself for asking it.
Glacia understood. She turned towards the gathering of mist, where she could occasionally see a yellow light shining. However, it became more and more rare all of the time. Tamao didn't know what it meant, but she didn't like it. What if it meant that…?
Suddenly, she heard a deep voice in her head.
" He is alright! He is just losing consciousness! Once he faints, his powers will be left roaming around, but he will be gone by then! You will be able to fight off the mist without hurting him!" Suicune shouted, but his voice was followed by a painful roar. Tamao looked behind her, and saw that the legendary pokemon were getting weaker every moment. Right now, they would not be able to do anything. It was up to her and Glacia.
Being able to think clearly didn't mean she was having it easy. As Glacia charged forward towards the occasionally flicking eyes, she had a feeling that she should be jumping ahead to protect him. Fighting that feeling was just unbelievably hard. Tamao knew she shouldn't, but she closed her yes. This was too much for her to watch. Unlike Glacia, she was not that brave; she didn't even have the strength to look, where Glacia had the strength to actually charge against her own brother.
Tamao felt like she was going to cry. Why? Why did it have to be like this? Why?
Right then, she heard something. It wasn't clear; it was like a whisper in her ear. It was a strange, hissing, no… almost purring sound in her ears. It wouldn't stop.
She opened her eyes, and saw that Glacia was circling the place where Umbreon had stood. She didn't know if she should attack yet. But Tamao knew.
" Glacia, prepare yourself!" she shouted, and saw Glacia fasten her pace.
Tamao waited, without moving a muscle. And then, just like that, the yellow eyes flickered one last time, and the sound in her ears stopped.
" NOW!" she shouted, and Clacia made a roar so loud Tamao felt like her heart would have become deaf with it.
From Glacia's open mouth, a white, cold beam erupted. It shot right to the point where the mist was thickest, where Umbreon had been. The white beam made everything around them freeze, and Tamao could see the breaths she took as solid foam in front of her eyes. Snow appeared on the ground, and suddenly a big part of the forest had been turned into a winter wonderland.
Tamao shivered in the cold, and watched as the source of the black mist was severed by the freezing beam. Slowly, the mist started dissolving into the air. When she really looked, Tamao could see small black crystals in the snow. Eventually, they'd melt away with the snow.
It became silent. Not one of them moved. Not the legendary beasts, not Tamao, not Glacia. They all just remained on their places, staring into the snow occasionally covered by the frozen black mist.
Then, Tamao moved. She ran, without thinking, right to Glacia, and hugged her.
" I'm so sorry! I didn't want this to happen! Please…! Please don't, please don't…" she whispered, and could feel Glacia's gentle heartbeat in her hands.
Glacia pushed her head slightly, so that she could see into her eyes. Tamao looked deeply into the snow dimly shining blue eyes.
" I'm sorry… Now you're… like that too…" Tamao muttered, but she didn't even manage to finish her sentence, when the light in Glacia's eyes dimmed down completely. In the instant that happened, the icy pokemon started shrinking, and just in a few blinks, she had returned into her original form. A perfectly regular Glacia.
Tamao heard Entei's voice in her head.
" As you can see, there is a time limit," the burning voice said calmly. He sounded a little shaky, probably from all the damage he had taken.
Tamao made a hateful glare towards the legendary beasts. There they stood, as if nothing had happened. Didn't they care about anyone but themselves? It was not like she was worried of how long Glacia's powers would last when she'd use her as a weapon like this! Battling was one thing, but this was different. This'd be just…!
As Tamao was about to express at least some of her anger, she could feel a cold tongue licking her cheek. She turned, and saw that Glacia had climbed to her lap, and was standing on her knees. Tamao knew what she meant, but she wouldn't have wanted to admit it.
Yes, Glacia had done this of her own free will. But that didn't mean she was up for using like that! If she'd use her free will like this every time, she'd just wound up who knows how badly! It was out of the question.
Glacia started purring like a cat in her arms. She was trying to calm her trainer down. Tamao felt ashamed, and looked at her pokemon. Her icicle fur was dirty, and she was clearly very exhausted. She needed some rest, at the least.
" I should be going back," Tamao said in a blank tone.
Suicune turned his head towards Entei. The fire pokemon shook his head. They were both very exhausted. Not that Raikou wasn't, but apparently the electric pokemon had a better defence towards ray-based attacks than the others. He was of the electric type, after all.
So, while retuning to the theatre, Tamao ended up riding Raikou. She held Glacia in her arms, without saying a word. Raikou, luckily, didn't try to start a conversation either. They zoomed through the forest in silence.
Glacia had fallen sound asleep. So Tamao was left alone with her thoughts.
So. That's what the sacred ash could do. It wasn't just with Glacia either, without a doubt. It probably did the same with Leafia and Murkrow too. Not that Tamao was gong to use it.
As Tamao held Glacia tightly, she came to think of another thing. The attack. Why had it not hurt her? The others had clearly been in an amazing pain, why not her? It surely wasn't about Umbreon; he wouldn't have hurt his sister, if it were up to him!
So why? When the others had trembled in amazing pain, why hadn't she felt a thing? Not in her heart, not physically. Nothing at all.
Tamao looked at her hands. The attack had not left any marks or scars. Not on Glacia either. But that didn't explain why it hadn't hurt Tamao.
Now that she thought about it, there were other things she didn't quite understand. The black mist, for instance. She had never questioned this before, but this meeting had gotten her thinking. Apart from those with a power like the legendary pokemon, the mist seemed to make everyone faint and see horrendous nightmares. But she had not felt anything on the first time, and even less just now. So the black mist didn't affect her either.
The more she thought about it, the more of an enigma it became to Tamao. In the end, she ended up so frustrated, she just stopped thinking about it. She was probably thinking too much anyway. It probably wasn't a mystery; surely Morty or Ho-oh at least knew the reason. She'd just have to ask.
Speak of the devil. Right now, the dance theatre could already be seen from behind the trees. The snow had not reached this far. Luckily, it would have caused quite an uproar, taking that it was not winter. Morty was still standing on the yard, and seemed to be glancing nervously at the forest. In the instant Raikou appeared from the forest, he moved nervously, and ran to them.
" Are you alright?!" he asked, sounding even more worried than he looked.
" I'm just fine. It's Glacia I'm worried about," Tamao answered, as she let Morty help her down.
Raikou didn't bother to bid farewell or anything. Once Tamao was safely on the ground, he just took off without a word. Tamao gazed after him, thoughtfully.
" What happened to her?" Morty's voice was calming down.
" I'd rather not talk about it." Tamao bit her lip.
" But -" Morty started, but Tamao shook her head.
" If she gets some rest, she'll be fine," she ignored him completely.
Morty sighed, but seemed to understand. Tamao didn't feel that sorry for him; he'd probably find out in a vision soon enough, if he didn't already know. He might be just pretending to make her feel more comfortable. He often did that with people.
" You're dirty," Morty said suddenly.
Now that she looked, Tamao noticed that she really was. Her clothes were covered in dirt from the ground, and when she tried her face, she realized there was mud on her cheeks. She could see some black crystals on her sleeves. They were smaller already though. There was a hole near the spot of her knee, and a cut on her knee had apparently just stopped bleeding. That was when she remembered her bag.
At first Tamao panicked, since her pokeballs were in that bag, but suddenly, she noticed that the ripped bag was on her feet, with the pokeballs sticking out. Raikou had probably brought it without her noticing.
" Well… I guess they can be nice too," Tamao thought, somewhat bitterly.
She then turned to Morty.
" How long was I gone?" she asked, trying to be calm. The truth was, she was still shaking.
" For about an hour. I told you sister you needed to cool off your head while taking a walk."
An hour huh? It felt like a lot longer time. Miserable things always seemed to take an eternity. But all that drama had managed to fit itself into one hour? Tamao couldn't help but to feel a little impressed.
Before she managed to say anything, Koume's head appeared from the door. Once she saw Tamao, an oddly sad expression visited her face, but disappeared before Tamao could be sure whether it had actually been there.
" Goodness, Tamao! What has happened to you?" Koume asked, sounding as gentle as ever.
" I fell."
" Whoa! That seems to have been quite a fall!"
" Indeed."
Tamao felt uncomfortable, and Morty remained quiet. Koume just smiled at her gently.
" Well, I think I'll be able to have your clothes washed by tomorrow. You should be going to bed now, don't you think? You'll be departing on a journey tomorrow, after all," Koume then said slowly.
Tamao faked a smile.
" I guess you're right," she said, and turned to Morty. He had a serious expression. Why didn't he even try to hide it?
" Excuse me for my rudeness, but I'll really be going to bed now. I'll come over to the gym tomorrow, okay?"
Morty smiled. Was it genuine? Tamao couldn't tell.
" Okay. I'll look forward to it," he answered, sounding both cheerful and serious. An odd combination.
Tamao walked towards the door, and thought she heard Koume sigh behind her. She didn't have the courage to turn to look, however. She'd let Morty take care of her. He'd probably be happy to.
As Tamao stepped inside, she could hear Sakura and Sumomo squealing and apparently having the time of their lives upstairs. Wonder what they were packing, for giggling so much? Tamao did not look forward to finding out.
As Tamao turned to her room, she noticed that Satsuki had seemed to appear out of nowhere, and was leaning to the wall by the door. Tamao flinched, but managed to hide it.
Satsuki looked at Glacia in Tamao's arms.
" What happened to her?" she asked quietly.
Tamao shook her head.
" She just fell asleep while we were taking a walk. That's all."
Satsuki looked at her quietly. She didn't seem to believe a word Tamao said, but was not protesting. Tamao had to admit that at times like this, Satsuki was really wonderful.
Tamao's eldest sister straightened her back, and placed her hand on Tamao's head. Tamao felt weird. She was still as short as she had always been, when compared to Satsuki.
" Take care," Satsuki said, and Tamao thought she heard hints of several emotions in her cool voice.
" Oh, don't worry; she'll be fine by tomorrow," Tamao answered, a little confused.
" Of yourself too."
With that, Satsuki withdrew her hand, and walked past her. Her long, straight hair was dancing behind her back as she walked away. Tamao stared after her until she had disappeared into the dark stairs.
"…" Would be the best way to describe how Tamao felt right there, right then. However, there was nothing she could do anymore, so she just quietly entered her room.
When there, Tamao put Glacia gently on her bed, and took up another poekball. Leafia's. She called out the poor pokemon, who seemed to have started panicking for his beloved before he even got out. Leafia jumped on the bed, and went to lick Glacia's cheeks. Glacia responded by wiggling her left ear calmly. Leafia seemed to calm down a little, but was still very anxious. He shivered harshly. Tamao felt terrible for making him that worried.
Tamao looked Leafia straight into his eyes.
" I'm sorry. She'll be fine by tomorrow. Take good care of her, okay?" she said, and her voice broke.
Leafia nodded.
" We'll explain everything to you tomorrow, once we have the time and strength. After that… I don't know. We'll just have to play cool for a while, until we can really think this over."
Leafia tilted his head slightly to the right, but seemed understanding.
Tamao smiled.
" Right now I'm in shock, so I'll be no use. Glacia probably understands this a little better than I do, too," she said, and her voice broke.
Leafia looked sad, and started letting out a very sweet, soothing scent. He then returned to Glacia's side, and Tamao smiled sadly.
" Thank you," she whispered. Leafia would hear.
As Leafia's attention was completely shifted on Glacia, Tamao changed into those clean pyjamas again. She took her dirty clothes to a basket near the bathroom, like she had always done when she was a kid. Koume would pick up the basket, and wash the clothes in it.
" She'd going to do laundry at the night again… I guess she still likes it," Tamao thought, and remembered the night she had first caught Koume washing clothes in the middle of the night. She had always said it was her idea of relaxing before going to bed.
As Tamao returned to her room, she decided she'd wash her boots tomorrow. She was tired now.
Carefully, watching out for Leafia and Glacia, she entered her bed. The sheets smelled clean, but they didn't comfort Tamao. She was simply miserable.
While avoiding thinking about anything. Tamao fell asleep. Who cared if she'd have nightmares? They, at least, would not be real.