4: Bond
Musica entered the tent, hoping that maybe the situation had
changed in the last few hours since he had visited.
Sadly not. Haru was stilling
laying still in the cot, unconcious
from his battle with Lucia. Elie sat nearby,
similarly still, her eyes never wavering from the Rave Master. He sighed, and
she turned briefly to notice him.
"Elie, you've been here all night. You should
take a rest."
"No." She said simply.
"Don't be stupid. Lucia's probably got troops looking for us. If we have
to fight, we need you awake."
"I'll stay awake." She spoke dully, her full attention on Haru.
He wished Haru would suddenly wake up and tell her to
get some sleep. But considering the battering Haru
had taken to fend Lucia off, that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon.
He'd been pushed harder than ever before, taking severe injuries.. and he hadn't even been able to
actually beat Lucia.
"He'll be okay." He said. "It's Haru. The guy's freaking unstoppable. He'll come to sooner or later."
"And if he doesn't?"
"That won't happen." He said firmly. It was something he didn't want
to consider. "He won't let it."
Elie trembled and her voice was barely a whisper.
"I can't stop worrying. I've been worrying ever since I met him.
I'll probably never stop worrying about him." He stroked Haru face. "I just... he's all I have.
He's the only thing that's stayed in my crappy life."
A tear slid down her face, and Musica stepped out of
the tent, needing the fresh air, and not wanting Elie
to see the anger in his face. Not for the first time, he wanted to slap Haru hard for doing this to her.
Was Haru so naive that he couldn't see how much he
meant to Elie? That he gave her something to hold on
to, something more than her lost past to live for? That
without him, she had nothing?
Maybe he did. Maybe Haru knew all along, just
couldn't tell her for any number of reasons. Fear,
uncertainty, or just plain cluelessness. But
if he could see her as Musica had just seen her... then maybe his facade would drop, and he'd forget
everything for the plain truth.
They needed each other.
He looked back in the tent in time to see Elie gently
kiss Haru's forehead, before sitting against the cot
and closing her eyes. He waited until she was asleep. Then he entered,
carefully lifted her up, and placed her in the cot next to him. He draped a
blanket over them, and stepped back to survey his handiwork.
Close together in the cot, they looked like a married couple.
"You'd better come back." He growled. "I don't want to lose two
of my friends."