For disclaimers, please see part I.
Author's Notes:
A friend of mine told me not long ago that you know you're writing well when you react to it. I've definitely reacted to to this story thus far. The song I added at the end of this chapter certainly didn't help any, but it was too good of a story prop to pass up. Hopefully, you will agree.
Thank you for reading (as always), and enjoy.
FORMAT C:
Part II
"Youko..." Natsuki's voice dropped to a low, dangerous growl as the jeep pulled out of the alley. "Get out of my way."
"No." Youko stood her ground and blocked the younger woman's path while Miyu made short work of carrying a blanket-wrapped body inside the small, out of the way hospital through one of the building's side entrances.
"Dammit, Sagisawa! Don't make me hurt you!"
"For God's sake, Natsuki, get a hold of yourself!" The older woman's voice carried more than a hint of authority, and somehow managed to give the impression that she was yelling without her actually doing so. "You can't be sure that they haven't followed you here. Are you trying to alert them?"
For a few seconds, the stillness was broken only by Natsuki's deep, agitated breathing.
"No," she then ground out through clenched teeth. "Which is exactly why I'm not staying out here. Hell if I'm letting those First District bastards lay another hand on her."
Youko hooked her fingers in some of the numerous bullet holes littering the back of the denim jacket as Natsuki brushed by her, and the sudden restriction almost made the younger woman fall over backwards. "If someone were to try taking Fujino-san again, I'm sure Miyu-san is more than capable of stopping them. Do you agree?"
A deep, forcibly calm breath. "I trust Miyu. You know that."
"Good." She shifted her grip to clasp the younger woman's wrist, and tugged her a few feet over to the side, around a dark corner where they would be hidden from anyone passing by on the street, if nothing else. "Then it won't kill you to listen to me for a few minutes."
"You get thirty seconds." Natsuki folded her arms and glared at her. "Talk fast."
Youko was decidedly unimpressed. "Oh, please. Save it for someone who hasn't seen you fawn over ducklings." She waited for the other woman to look away and mumble something rude before she continued. "That aside, there's no way I'm letting you enter the hospital while armed. With how twitchy you are, you're liable to shoot some poor nurse's head clean off."
"I'm fine," was the terse reply.
"You're covered in blood, cuts and bruises, not to mention completely exhausted," Youko shot back. "And no use at all to Fujino-san if you don't get some rest. You haven't had a decent nights' sleep since she disappeared."
"Oh, for..." Natsuki rubbed a hand against her blood-streaked forehead. "What are you, my mother?"
"I'm your doctor," the older woman told her. "Close enough. So calm down, hand over those guns and get some sleep, because I have no qualms about having you shot with a tranquilizer if I have to." She took a breath and consciously gentled her voice. "Natsuki, you're running yourself into the ground this way. That's not going to help Fujino-san any."
"Mmph." Natsuki leaned back against the brick wall and picked at a large, rust-colored stain on the sleeve of her jacket. "Alright, fine... I see your point." She raised her gaze and sighed, then lifted her chin a touch in challenge. "I'll get some rest, but not until we know what's going on with Shizuru." A pause. "And you can take the guns. But I'm keeping the claws."
Youko spent a few moments studying her. There wasn't a square-inch of fabric on Natsuki's body that didn't have some sort of cut, rip or bloodstain on it. Her face – hell, her entire body – was thin and drawn and her hair unusually flat and lifeless; the legacy of a long period of stressful days and sleepless nights. She didn't need to have studied medicine for years to see the obvious fatigue in the lines of her body, or bright lights to make out the numerous red wires that shot towards her irises and made what little white there was in her eyes stand out in stark contrast.
But behind the exhaustion, there was a stubborn streak that ran a mile wide and two miles deep, and Youko knew that her young friend would keep herself going out of sheer cussedness, if nothing else. For as long as she deemed it necessary.
She had never in her life known a more loyal human being than Kuga Natsuki. But she'd never had a worse patient than her, either.
"Alright." She ran a hand through her hair and sighed in resignation. "I think that's the best I'm gonna get from you at the moment, so I'll take it. For now."
Natsuki took the warning for what it clearly was, and nodded as she unbuckled the straps that held the guns to the various parts of her body. "Fair enough." After a few seconds of clicking and the shifting of fabric against fabric, she held out the collection of holsters with a sigh. "Here," she muttered. "Safeties are on."
"Thank you." Youko wrapped one hand around the straps, then slung her free arm lightly over the young woman's shoulders as she steered the two of them towards the doors. "I told Midori to get some clean clothes from your house. You can use the shower near my office while we wait." She sniffed the air and grimaced. "I don't think even Fujino-san would come near you right now."
A snort that the hiss of the sliding doors didn't quite drown out. "Your bedside manner ain't exactly smelling like a bed of roses either, doc."
-----
She did feel a lot better now that she had showered and put on the clean clothes that Midori had stopped by with, Natsuki privately admitted as she and Youko walked down the mostly empty hospital corridors in silence. She missed the security of the handguns that she'd left behind in the older woman's office, but the familiar sensation of the claws' metal casing pressing against her lower left arm helped.
"This way." Youko turned down a hall to the right.
Of course, even these clothes probably wouldn't stay clean for long. The cuts she'd acquired during the night had - courtesy of the shower - shed what little scabbing over they had accomplished, and the quick cleaning of them that Youko had stubbornly insisted on hadn't helped any. And now that the aftersurge of adrenalin was wearing off, she could very clearly feel every single ache, sting and stab of discomfort where the jeans and sweatshirt rubbed against her skin.
The older woman was not happy with her, Natsuki knew, and gave the stiffly set jaw a glance out of the corner of her eye. Youko had not been satisfied at all with just giving her wounds a swift cleaning, but had eventually backed down when her patient steadfastly refused anything further. Natsuki knew that she needed more thorough treatment, especially for the gash across her upper right arm which was the only wound she'd agreed to at least get a bandage on, but...
Well, tough. She sniffed mentally. That would just have to wait. She had more important things than a few dings and scratches to focus on.
They turned another corner and emerged into a narrow, dead-end hallway with a small smattering of doors lining one of the walls at even intervals. About halfway down its length, she spotted Miyu leaning against the wall across from one of the doors, the android having obviously chosen to stand rather than sit on the linoleum floor, which was the only other option.
Instinctively, she walked faster.
"Natsuki." The cyborg straightened as she drew close, and inclined her head in greeting. "I'll leave this to you. Miss Alyssa is calling for me."
"Alright." She clasped the android's shoulder to stop her as Miyu made a move to leave, and knew somewhere in the back of her mind that if the last three years hadn't happened, she'd probably have gotten a few broken bones for her troubles. "Thank you, Miyu."
The cold, red eyes warmed for the shortest of moments. Then Miyu simply nodded, and Natsuki retracted her hand and watched her walk away.
"Miyu-san," Youko's voice called out softly, making the android pause and turn her head in question. "If you can, please come back once you're done. I know this stubborn old warhorse won't be sensible and sleep until you do."
"Oi!"
"Very well." Miyu nodded once more. "I will return when possible."
The sound of footsteps echoed softly in the silence that followed. Then Natsuki drew in a breath, but found a hand being held up in front of her before she'd even started to speak.
"No," Youko told her firmly.
She placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head. "Some day you're gonna tell me how the hell you do that, right?"
"Some day," the brunette amiably agreed. "But I don't think you should come in there with me right now. Hano-sensei will be able to work much more easily without his patient's banged-up, exhausted and very overprotective girlfriend breathing down his neck."
"Hm." Natsuki scratched her nose as she acknowledged the truth of those words. "Fine. But tell him to hurry his ass up."
"Can I quote you on that?"
She met the lightly twinkling blue eyes and smirked. "Quote all you want. He shouldn't be too surprised."
"Probably not." Youko patted her shoulder lightly. "Now... for God's sake, sit down. You're making me tired just looking at you."
"Yeah, yeah." Natsuki obediently settled herself on the cold floor and watched as the older woman turned towards the door. "Keep me in the know, willya?"
"I will."
A soft snick echoed down the deserted hallway, and Natsuki sighed as she tucked her knees against her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Then she fixed her gaze on the closed door, and waited.
-----
"Here."
Wordlessly, the android set herself down on a wide branch, the landing soundless even as she brushed aside a few dead leaves and surveyed the warm coat that wrapped around the girl to keep the chill of late winter at bay.
Alyssa beckoned to her once she'd settled in a safe position, and Miyu crouched down in front of her charge and felt the short tickle of warm air against what made up her skin as a whisper brushed against her ear.
Confirmed Alyssa Searrs' voice pattern. Mythril dress. Mode: Emerald.
"Understood." She inclined her head once, then straightened and surveyed the remains of the compound from their hiding place in the tree as her system rerouted itself in preparation. "Please keep your eyes closed for the duration, Miss."
Mission category: Termination. Power level: Maximum.
"Be careful."
"I will." She watched the heavily armed soldiers as they tried to fight the still-burning fire, some of them carrying bodies away and others again standing warily on guard around the edges of the property.
All futile efforts. But she supposed that they didn't realize that yet.
"Miyu?"
She watched the soft, golden hair waft gently about the young face in the mild, cold breeze, and waited.
"In order to exterminate a weed, you need to find and destroy its roots," Alyssa told her quietly, and gave her a small, somewhat sad smile.
Auto-targeting initiated. Mission start.
She nodded in comprehension, and spared a return smile for the girl. "As you wish, Miss Alyssa."
"Thank you, Miyu."
Another nod, and she held her arms out as one shifted in favor of the Gatling gun while the other gave way to a sturdy, razor-sharp blade. Then she leaped.
"Hey, who is that?"
"No clue. Halt!"
"Whoa! Whoa, fuck! Call for backup!"
"Shit!"
For the second time that night, Death paid a visit to the First District in the form of a young woman. His thin, cold touch chilled the life out of anyone who dared to come near her, and his deep chuckles rang out across the gruesome scene over the screams of the dying. Every drop of spilled blood shimmered with the reflection that the light of the full moon cast from his blade, and he was determined to have his fill tonight.
No one but his agent would leave this place alive.
-----
"Well." A familiar voice intruded on her silent vigil. "Don't you look like a five-day old turd that's been left out in the sun."
"Oh yeah?" Natsuki was certain that her tongue would outright shrivel up if her tone grew any more dry. "Well I hate you and your ass face." Nevertheless, her expression was friendly as she raised her chin from its place on her knees and looked up at the young man who had come to a stop next to her. "What are you doing here, Yuu-kun?"
"Following orders." Tate Yuuichi yawned and leaned one shoulder against the wall. "Midori called to fill us in, and I know better than to argue with my wife at oh-dark-hundred in the morning."
"Your couch must be getting lonely."
"Har har, funny girl."
A weary grin pulled at her lips. "I try. How are you?"
"Tired," the young man admitted. "But doing a lot better than you, it looks like." He nodded towards the door across from them. "How about her? Is she okay?"
"She's alive." Natsuki studied the surface of the door for a few long moments. "That's all we're sure of right now."
"How long have they been in there for?"
She shrugged. "No idea. What time is it?"
Tate tugged up the sleeve of his shirt and studied the watch that wrapped around his wrist. "A little past four."
"'Bout an hour, then." She rubbed a hand over her eyes to keep the dry stinging away for a little while longer. "I know they're running tests and whatnot, but they haven't said anything about any actual results yet."
"Hm." Tate sat down next to her on the floor and studied her. "You need to rest, Natsuki-chan. Go home for a bit, eh? Find some food, get some sleep... I'll keep watch."
Green eyes gave him a dour look. "Beat me in a fight of any kind and I'll think about it."
A snort. "Like I could. Much as it bruises my allegedly fragile, male ego to admit it, Miyu-san and Shizuru-san are the only ones who can beat you."
"Hrmph." She shifted her gaze around the corridor. "My point exactly. Damned if I'm gonna give them a chance to grab her again."
"Mm."
They sat in silence for a while.
"How's Mai doing?"
He glanced over, and his face crinkled into a wry grin. "Puking her guts out every morning and shoving me out of the way while she's at it."
"Feisty as always," Natsuki noted needlessly, and welcomed the distraction. "Why does she need to shove you out of the way?"
"Because I'm a sympathetic barfer," Tate told her dryly. "Anyone else hurls and so do I, so she'll just have to get used to making room by the toilet."
She wrinkled her nose. "Ew."
"Oh yeah."
The image of her two friends vomiting in shifts pulled a tired chuckle from somewhere. "How long do you have to deal with the whole morning sickness thing, anyway?"
"Ah." The young man crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall behind them. "According to the doctors, it should wear off at the end of the trimester. So we have a few weeks of shared mornings in the bathroom yet."
"Sounds like fun."
"A boatload of it," he agreed with a half grin. "Where is Miyu-san, anyway?"
Natsuki rested her cheek on one knee and peered down the hallway. "Hell if I know," she replied. "Alyssa-chan called, and off she went."
-----
"You are in no condition to offer resistance." Miyu curled a hand in the front of the man's uniform and lifted him up, and the captain's insignia on his shoulders sparkled in the light of the flames that licked at the walls around them. "I advise that you provide me with the information I require."
He glared at her with the one eye that hadn't swelled shut, and spat blood in her face. "Why should I? You're gonna kill me no matter what."
"Correct." Miyu forced the sword through his belly and released it from her arm with a whoosh of hydraulic pressure, sending both the blade and its cargo flying through the decimated room. The tip sank into the charred, wooden wall with a solid thunk, and she watched the man struggle with the hand guards that had extended and now kept him from hoisting himself off of the blade while the flames tickled his back. "But I am capable of killing you both swiftly and without pain, or slowly with a high amount of uncomfortable stimulation," she told him as she crossed over to him. "I will leave that choice up to you."
"Bitch."
Miyu cocked her head and studied him disinterestedly. Then a slim, curved blade emerged from the android's arm and made a perfectly straight slash across his eyes.
"Invalid option." She placed her hand on the end of the sword and pressed down lightly, then released the metal and watched the now blind man bounce up and down on the sharp edge. "Please try again."
"Fine, fine!" His face contorted as he fumbled at the sword. "What do you want?"
"Names."
Through harsh breathing and low moans of pain, he provided them.
"Thank you." Miyu placed a hand on the side of his face, and snapped his neck with a swift jerk of her arm. "Target terminated." She retracted the sword from the wall, and paused only shortly to watch the body slump to the floor before she headed out of the burning room.
"Termination list updated. Locating next target."
-----
Natsuki chafed the cold hand gently between her own as she perched on the edge of the hospital bed and eyed the two doctors across the two-bed room. "So what have you found?"
"Miyu-san was kind enough to transfer the results of her scans before she left," Hano Ryo told her, one hand gesturing towards the colorful charts displayed on the screen that sat on the metal desk behind him. He was a fairly rotund man with an age-lined face and long, gray hair. "While we weren't able to name any of the drugs found in Fujino-san's system either, the majority of them seem to be hallucinogenic in makeup."
She frowned. "They were trying to make her delusional?"
"That's possible." Youko folded her arms and leaned back against the edge of the desk. "But it's more likely that the drugs were injected in order to make her just confused enough to accept whatever they were telling her. Either way, it's impossible to know for sure exactly what happened until Fujino-san herself wakes up."
"Which," Ryo then interjected, "we are a little leery of letting her do just yet. If she finds herself in these surroundings while under the influence of such powerful medicines, I'm honestly not sure what would happen." He folded his hands and rested his chin atop them. "We'd like to keep her sedated until we are certain that the drugs have left her system."
Natsuki felt her jaw clench. "You want to put her in a coma."
"An artificial one that we are in control of, yes." Ryo glanced to the side as Youko cleared her throat. "Sagisawa-san tells me that you too could do with some rest, Kuga-san." His lips twitched into a faint, sympathetic smile. "Not that I can't see so for myself."
Green eyes rolled in annoyance. "Forget about me for a second," she told them. "What about the scans of her brain?"
The elderly man regarded her for a moment, then dipped his head in acknowledgment. "There are signs of memory loss," he told her bluntly. "But the data Miyu-san gathered isn't completely consistent with what the hospital has in the records of patients who have suffered total amnesia."
She considered that. "And what does that mean?"
Ryo shrugged, which she honestly didn't find at all reassuring. "Again, we won't know for certain until Fujino-san regains consciousness. But I will make a guarded statement that she has only lost her memories up until a certain point in time. When, exactly..." He shook his head. "I don't know, Kuga-san. I'm sorry."
"Hm." She gave the IV that leaked fluids and sedatives into Shizuru's body a glance out of the corner of her eye. "How long will it take for the drugs to get out of her system?"
"That could take anywhere from three days to two weeks or a little more," Youko spoke up. "We'd know more specifically if we could study a strand of her hair and see how long she's been on these drugs and how large the doses were, but..."
"... yeah."
"Kuga-san." Ryo waited until he had her attention. "While this is not normally something we do, I would recommend that you let modern medicine aid you in getting the rest your body obviously needs. We will, of course, wake you up before Fujino-san."
"Oh, no." She gave both of them her sternest glare. "You are not knocking me out. I promised that I'd rest, and I will, but it'll be on my own damn time and without the two of you drugging me."
"Natsuki." Youko straightened and walked over to her, and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "How long has it been since you were able to fall asleep on your own time, as you put it?" she asked softly. "Without sparring with Miyu-san until you wore yourself out?"
She looked away, focusing instead on the unconscious body that rested under the sterile covers of the bed. "You know how long."
"Mm hmm." The hand on her shoulder squeezed lightly. "And when have you last been able to sleep for more than two consecutive hours?"
Natsuki sighed and closed her eyes. "Dammit, Youko, you know how long it's been." She held the hand between her own a little tighter. "I can't help the fact that I have nightmares."
"No." Youko glanced up as the door opened, and nodded in greeting to Miyu as the android stepped inside. "I know you can't, but you still need to rest."
"I know that!" Natsuki snapped. "But I will not be put into a fucking drugged sleep for it! Not while those First District assholes are still out there!"
"If they were not," Miyu now spoke up, and leaned on her hip against the side of the desk. "Would you do it?"
Green and red eyes met for a long moment.
"Yes."
Nodding slowly, Miyu raised her fist and pointed it towards an unadorned wall, and with a small click, a compartment on her lower arm opened and a small projector raised itself up. "Starting video capture."
There was a brief flicker of light before a large image popped up on the wall in front of them; a greenish tinged headshot of a husky-looking man in his late forties.
"Mokari Kenji," Miyu spoke up with all the passion of someone reading aloud from a case file. Which, Youko supposed, made sense, since that was probably what she was doing. "Function: First District soldier, captain. Information source." The image on the wall shifted and left them with a view of a mangled body, slumped over against a badly stained, charred wall. "Target status: Terminated."
No kidding. Youko felt her stomach turn and had to look away.
Another flicker. This time, the headshot was of a young woman whom, she noted with a sense of dread, shared a fair number of physical characteristics with the woman who sat next to her.
"Nakehana Momi. Function: Model and actress for the Kuga Natsuki 'ghost' hologram."
The only sound in the room was that of the low snarl from the woman seated on the bed, and Youko clasped her hand more firmly over the shoulder that fairly sang with tension to keep her patient from rising. "Easy."
The doctor had to cover her mouth at the sight of the next image, which reminded her of an old patient of hers who had gotten his hand and arm badly torn by getting it caught in the blades of a harvester. Only here, it looked like the entire body had gone through it.
"Target status: Terminated."
Soup. Youko felt an icy chill run down her spine. She turned her into soup.
More images followed. More headshots and pictures of corpses, through none came close to matching the grisly fanfare of the second one.
She stopped counting at the fifty-seventh life.
"Total remaining First District entities: Zero." A short clip slowly panned over a smoking forest clearing that had probably once been the base that Fujino-san had been brought back from. "Mission status: Accomplished." The projector turned off and tucked itself back into the android's arm with a loud snap that eerily reminded the young doctor of the sound of a gavel slamming down. "End video capture."
Silence reigned.
"Well." Youko cleared her throat and resolutely pushed the thoughts out of her head. "Are you willing to rest now?" She turned her head to look at her patient, and was stunned by the sight of the numerous, wet lines that glittered on the pale face under the bright overhead lights.
She watched as Miyu bent down in front of the woman and pulled a woven tissue from one of the compartments in her dress. The gentle way in which the android then lifted the young woman's chin and proceeded to dry her cheeks was a very odd counterpoint to the icy reserve that had all but lowered the room temperature during the slideshow.
But perhaps that was one of reasons that the two of them got along so well now, she considered, odd though their partnership was sometimes. Human and robot, yes, and for that reason different in a very fundamental way that should have made any kind of relationship between them impossible. And yet, they also shared the same equally large capacity for both ruthless cruelty and tender affection that in turn made them very similar.
"Natsuki."
Youko watched as the tissue was put away again, and almost felt as if she was intruding on something very private when Miyu cupped Natsuki's cheek and caught her eyes, moving her lips around words that were too low for the doctor to hear even though she was standing right next to them.
"Alright." Natsuki nodded and got to her feet, sending the cyborg a mildly irritated look as a supportive hand closed itself around her elbow. "I can walk, y'know."
"I believe that if your system was outfitted with alarms, it would be impossible to hear a nuclear explosion over the sound of them at the moment," Miyu responded. "Please forgive my caution."
Youko tugged a chair over next to the empty bed and seated herself in it, lining up the implements she needed on a small metal table. Just in front of her, she could make out the soft slither of cotton against skin as Natsuki – with the android's assistance – removed her sweatshirt, and she felt her brow furrow as she glanced up and saw the array of bruises that the bullet-proof vest hadn't managed to spare the young woman's back from.
"You're a mess, my friend," she noted needlessly as her ears picked up the sound of the door closing behind the older doctor.
"Ungh." Natsuki grunted as she swung her legs onto the bed and gingerly settled on her back with only a mild twinge of discomfort showing on her face. "I feel like it," she quietly admitted. "Got a headache that could fell a damn bull at forty paces."
"Mm." She selected a bottle from the small collection on the table, and used a syringe to slowly suck up some of its contents. "That's what you get for running yourself ragged like this."
"Didn't have a choice."
"I guess not." When she rose, it was with the intention of crossing to the other side of the bed so she could make the injection, but an outstretched palm entering her field of vision made her pause.
"Allow me." Miyu gave her a few seconds to answer, and when none came, bowed her head a touch without breaking her gaze. "Please."
She hesitated. No matter what, it was hard to make a connection between the deadly killing machine that had snuffed out life after life without any signs of remorse, and the young woman who was now asking to be given the chance to care for her… her what? Friend?
Could she really feel confident in the fact that Miyu wouldn't hurt Natsuki?
Youko turned her head to catch her patient's eyes, and got a small, tired smile and the crook of a single, dark eyebrow in response.
"I trust Miyu. You know that."
That, she supposed, would have to be good enough for her, too.
"Alright." She handed the syringe over.
"G'wan then, robot girl." Natsuki raised her arm and held it out. "Hit me up before I change my mind."
Miyu's lips twitched slightly, but she kept silent as she swabbed the inside of Natsuki's elbow, then methodically selected a vein and carefully injected the drug.
"Tsk tsk tsk." Youko shook her head as she slowly freed the blood-soaked bandage on the young woman's right arm, revealing a gash that had cut through both skin, flesh and muscle and reached the bone. "You're gonna be sore for a while."
"Worth it." The strong sedative was already starting to take effect, and there was a decidedly hazy look in the green eyes as they focused on the bed behind the doctor's back. "Found 'er," she slurred softly. "Right, Miyu?"
"Indeed." The android ran a soothing hand over the dark hair. "Rest. I will watch over her."
"Hmm." Natsuki nodded once and closed her eyes, and it only took a few seconds for her breathing to even out in sleep.
Youko threaded a thin needle, then gave the deep wound another careful cleaning before she set about stitching the muscle together. Halfway through the third stitch, she paused and looked up as the gentle sound of low music reached her ears. And with some surprise, she realized that it was coming from Miyu. One of the android's hands was resting lightly on the sleeping Natsuki's forehead, and a mild, silvery glow seemed to emanate from her palm along with a mechanical humming noise that was almost impossible to hear.
"What are you doing?" the doctor asked over the tinkling notes.
"What the drug cannot." The cyborg used her free hand to wipe away the single tear that was tracing its way down from corner of Natsuki's eye. "I am making certain that she does not dream."
Youko watched as the lines of stress on her patient's face lessened and then disappeared completely, before she sighed and went back to her stitching. Ruthless cruelty and tender affection, indeed.
"I gotta admit, Miyu-san… sometimes I think you're incredibly weird."
"Acceptable. I have no concerns regarding your opinion of me," Miyu told her calmly, then fell silent as a clear voice rose above the music and melded with it.
Who are those little girls in pain
Just trapped in castle on dark side of moon
Twelve of them shining bright in vain
Like flowers that blossom just once in years
They're dancing in the shadow like whispers of love
Just dreaming of place where they're free as dove
They've never been allowed to love in this cursed cage
It's only the fairytale they believe