"His breathing sped up a little."
"You think so? A-Apollo?"
A rustle. "I don't want to try waking him too early, though..."
"You're right. He... does need to have some water soon, though, don't you think?"
Water... Water...! I... I need water... My wounds are on fire, the rest of me dried out like jerky. I feel like I'm floating... Am I still in the stream? Maybe if I... tilt my head, I can lap some up...
I twist my neck, feeling the skin stretch. A little farther, and my chest stretches, sending a burning wave out from my torso and making me choke on air. A little moisture comes in the corner of my mouth, but a tap of the tongue proves it's just blood.
Blood... Blood everywhere...
Hugh...?
Hugh. What happened to Hugh? I didn't hear him, I don't think. He has to be okay... If I'm alive, he has to be alive, too...!
I try to open my eye, but it doesn't work. Am I just that tired? Am I completely blind now? I can still... sense some light.
After another few attempts, I realize blood must have clotted around the edge of my eyelid—I can feel a few crumbles shift. If I could get my hand over there, I bet I could pry it open...
I don't know if I can do that...
Instead, I try to open my mouth. My lips are stuck together, both because they're so dry and a little blood binds them together. But I have to find out about Hugh... If I can't see for myself, I have to hear it.
The girls talk as I prod my lips open, some of the skin tearing, but once my mouth is open, I can't speak.
Water... E-even the dry air swirling around my mouth makes it worse.
"Oh! Apollo!" Trucy says. I manage a crackling gargle in response.
"H-here, hold him up!"
I grunt as my shoulders are lifted and I tilt into a seated position. I'm still leaning heavily on Trucy. Side throbbing, I do my best to stay conscious and cooperate as a cool metal rim is rested on my bottom lip. After a moment of anticipation, a draft of water rushes toward my throat. I choke a little but manage to pull my tongue from the roof of my mouth. Even though the water is lukewarm, a cool sensation travels down my chest.
Once I can breathe again, Juniper gives me another sip. Since I don't splutter this time, I'm able to let out a sigh of relief. I'm deathly thirsty, and I'm grateful for every drop.
My throat is still dry when I've finished the bottle off, but my head feels a little less fuzzy. I'm still too tired to get out words as the empty bottle clanks against the ground.
"I'll fill this one up again. You still have two, right?" Juniper says quietly.
"Right. Ready for more, Polly?"
I nod, the blood under my scalp churning in response, but my mouth hangs open, empty, for a moment too long.
"Ah! There's still a little blood on your eye, isn't there? Sorry. One sec."
Water swishes, and then Trucy draws her finger across the edge of my eyelid, wiping the dried blood away. After a few tries, I finally get my eye open. It's pretty bright, and my eye's too tired and dried out to stay open for long. I have to try again.
A bluish blur resolves into Trucy, peering down at me with an expectant look. We're still in a muddy part of the mountain, rocks forming a steep slope to my right. When I turn my head the slightest bit, I glimpse a bit of dark brown that's probably Juniper's hair.
Inhaling shakily, I turn my eye back to Trucy and try to get my mouth working. She has to give me a little more water before I can finally speak.
"He's gone?" I croak.
She looks down and nods. "I'm sorry."
My eye feels dried out again, so I let it slide shut as she gives me more wonderful water.
"It'll be purifying for a while, but it's full." Juniper's back.
"I thought we were out of iodine?"
"I still have some tincture."
"Oh, all right. Great!"
The next bottle is empty before I swallow hard.
"So, if he's gone, why am I still here?" My eyelid flies open. "Why would you save me instead of him?! I'm...!" A dry cough cuts me off, making my side hurt.
"W-we tried to save you both!" Juniper grips her wrist, her eyes squeezed shut. "I worked on Hugh, and Trucy worked on you... b-but..."
"I don't know what that trap did," Trucy jumps in, "but Hugh was stuck in it too long. There was nothing we could do to stop the bleeding." Her breath hitches for a moment before she lets it out. "But we could try to bind up your wounds, and your eyes and mouth weren't bleeding too badly yet..."
I squeeze my eyes shut, my right eye throbbing hard. Why? Why...?
"Why would you even bother trying to save me?" I raise my voice, but it just makes my throat feel rawer than ever. "Not only am I weak and useless, I'm still a murderer. I can't be trusted. Have you forgotten that?" With how much Juniper cried over Athena, I can't imagine it.
"A-Apollo!" Juniper's hands fly to her mouth. "What are you saying?"
I glance at Trucy, who seems less startled but no happier.
"We're perfectly aware of what you've done, Apollo. But we're friends! Have you forgotten about that?"
"That's right!" Juniper straightens up. "You've done your best to protect us, and we're going to do our best to protect you. It has nothing to do with how weak you are, a-and even if you've done something terrible... you're still Apollo Justice. And we still care about you."
I shut my eye again, quivering. Friends... Why... Why did I have to come to a place like this before I found real friends...?
"So, come on. Are you still thirsty? I still have a canteen," Trucy says.
"Yeah..."
We've decided to stop moving. It's no longer so cool my lack of a thick jacket tends to bother me, we're still near a water source, and there's no point in going around looking for traps. And I don't know if I should be moved in this state.
"Come on, I just want to see what you'd look like." Trucy spins her hat in her hands as Juniper fingers the sunflower in her own hair.
"What about this, though? If I start coughing again..."
"That's no problem!" Trucy swipes the flower. "I'll try it on, and you can take it whenever you need it."
"Um, all right." The 11 takes Trucy's hat, rotates it until she's satisfied with its orientation, and pulls it down on her head. "How's that?"
"Great!" Trucy fixes the flower in her own hair and grins. "I bet you could make a great magician! Want to be my apprentice?"
"Eh?" Juniper blinks. "I don't know about that..."
"Here, here." Trucy takes her cape off and wraps it around Juniper's shoulders, carefully fixing the brooch. "Okay!" She backs up a little, scrutinizing her work. Juniper nervously adjusts the hat.
"Yeah, I think it could work!" My district partner bounces on the balls of her feet. "What about me?" She poses with her hand by the sunflower. "Would I make a good gardener?"
"Ha... Maybe."
"Maybe?!" Trucy puts her fists on her hips. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"O-oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I'm sure you'd be, um, excellent at gardening..."
Trucy giggles. "That sounds better."
A gap of silence passes before they turn back to me.
"Here, let's try this!" Trucy takes her hat back and flashes a hand behind Juniper's ear, where the sunflower appears. My district partner pads over to me, kneeling down so she can reach. Before I can object, her hat lands on my head.
She grins. "How about that?"
Juniper removes the cape as she steps closer to me. "Oh, don't force that on Apollo when he can't stop you."
She smiles. "He wouldn't, anyway."
It's true.
"What do you think, Polly? Want to be my apprentice, too?" She pauses, folding her arms. "Actually, two apprentices at once might be a little much for me. The position of lovely assistant is still open, though!"
I yawn. "Isn't the lovely assistant usually a girl?"
She shrugs.
"Okay, get the hat off of me." I shut my eyes, but it takes Trucy a moment to comply. "My hair looks bad enough already, with us out of gel. I don't need to look like more of a mess."
"Nonsense," Juniper says. "You look just as handsome no matter how messy your hair is."
Blinking my eye open, I catch Trucy snickering before Juniper suddenly hides her face in the cape.
"Well, thanks." With a short laugh, I try to catch Juniper's eye.
Trucy has to snatch her cape back before the 11 considers glancing back at me, although she still doesn't meet my eye. She stares at me nonetheless, a hand covering her mouth before tears spill down her cheeks.
"Juniper?" Trucy throws her cape back on and puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Ah, no, I'm fine!" She pulls her hand down enough for me to see her smile. "I'm all right. I..." She looks to me, sniffling. "I was afraid I would never get to see you smile again... But... even after everything, a-after everyone we've lost... There's still a little hope, isn't there?"
I'm barely smiling, to be honest...
Trucy fists her hands. "Of course. It may not be everything we wanted, but there are still three of us who would never kill each other. Your dream is still alive."
Tears still sliding down her cheeks, Juniper pushes the right sleeve of her jacket down a bit. On her wrist, the paint flaking, is an orange bracelet of sorts with squarish clasped hands interrupting the solid band. "Robin made one of these for the three of us in the Training Center. I-I wish... he could be here to make one for each of you..."
So is that strip of paint... Is that the "proof of friendship" that each of them had? Is that why Juniper keeps gripping her wrist when she's upset? If so, then... Robin always gripped her arm, and Hugh his neck... That's where they always reached for reassurance. To remind them of their friendship.
Trucy pauses before silently reaching behind Juniper and pulling out the knit scarf. Wrapping the unfinished end around Juniper's wrist, she winds part of it around her own arm before throwing the far end around my neck.
She smiles. "How's that?"
Juniper hesitates before breaking down sobbing and throwing her arms around both of us.
"You... know we probably can't keep wearing it like this, right?" I rasp.
Trucy nudges my shoulder. "Oh, it's the thought that counts."