Reasons for Waiting
By SMYGO4EVA

"Captain Vangeance!"

William looked up from where he stood in the doorway, the precipice between stepping forth to where he thought he belonged, and to leave the place he once called home.

"Oh, thank goodness, I was worried that you left," Mimosa spoke the moment he had walked in the Golden Dawn headquarters. If William was correct, he thought he had heard a hint of relief in her voice.

Looking away from her gaze, William placed a hand on his mask, tracing its curvatures for a while before responding. For once, he wasn't even sure what to say. He could just say that he hadn't thought about that option, or he could simply just admit that he indeed thought about resigning from being Captain and leaving everyone behind, living in a self-imposed exile.

That would have been punishment enough.

"I-I have considered it, Mimosa," he finally admitted, his voice barely a whisper. "I believed that it was the only way to live with what I had done, what I never intended to happen to the Clover Kingdom," William frowned as he looked back to Mimosa.

A woman who had proven herself to be one of the kindest, strongest, and one of the bravest individuals he had ever met. She stood by him, as a member of the Golden Dawn, and as one of his dearest friends, perhaps wanting to be so much more.

"William, oh, I mean, Captain..." Mimosa started but then stopped, at a loss for words. William didn't blame her, not for a second.,

Nodding his head, William kept his eyes down, "In all honesty, I don't know what to say to make things right either."

"But I'm sure, I'm sure there must be a way, and we can figure it out together." Mimosa took a few steps forward, reached out, and held one of William's hands with her own, gently. "It won't be easy, but I promise that we can find a way. We will find a way; all you have to do is trust me."

William lifted his head, and his eyes met Mimosa's; her eyes shimmered with determination that was unyielding, along with the unshed tears she held back.

He smiled, nodding slowly, and put his other hand on top of Mimosa's, the warmth a welcome change from the cold. "Very well, Mimosa, I'll try. I trust you, as I always have."

Mimosa nodded, smiling, even when the tears finally streamed down her face.

"Thank you, William."