Chapter 10
A Change of Heart
"I'd rather die!"
Tracer had lost her weapons in the pursuit and suffered a gun wound to the shoulder. Despite all the blood loss and pain, her expression was the epitome of defiance. A hellish inferno burned around them. If the rising amount of smoke wouldn't kill them soon, the crumbling halls of Talon headquarters would crush the agents beneath. Still, Tracer stood in the way of her former ally, fists balled and determined to do what it takes.
"Foolish child! Realize that she has deceived you for Talon!"
Lena didn't want to believe Ana, but deep within she knew the old sniper was right. A single tear was shed, trapped within her aviators. The sound of hoarse coughing from a wounded Amélie behind her back steeled Lena's resolve.
"You wankers were the ones that used me to get here! You destroyed everything!"
Ana laughed with indignation.
"We're destroying the worst criminal organization in history!"
"And what about the innocent? There are normal civilians working here!"
Part of the corridor to their left collapsed. Some steel beams were no longer able to sustain the heat and pressure. Amidst all of this, Ana began removing her overcoat.
"Chippings fall where the future is carved, child."
"This isn't what a hero is supposed to be about…"
Ana's white, short hair was bound back by a headband. The veteran woman looked incredibly menacing with her eye patch and hatred amidst the inferno, armed with a rifle and a knife in a holster strapped across her chest.
"Of course, heroes act valiantly. Heroes act with honor. And heroes died at her hands!"
Tracer didn't want any of this to happen. She tried to reach out with her last remnants of hope.
"Amélie isn't the same as back then, Ana. There is still a gentle woman inside her heart!"
The continued defiance visibly agitated her unlikely adversary. Old wounds resurfaced, kindling a vengeful determination that rivaled Lena's.
"Amélie died together with her husband years ago! Step aside you stubborn child, the fallen must be avenged!"
Both woman entered combat stances.
"I won't! I can still save her!"
"Fool! Your cause is lost!"
Their clash was inevitable; the air was sparking with anticipation.
Emily shivered, lying front first on the bed while tapping away at her story on her new notebook. Even though she wrote the scene herself, everything was way too epic not to get excited over! That was especially true with the music that was blasting through her headphones. She sometimes had problems writing scenes of epic proportions, so Sica gave her some anime combat themes that she said would help. At first, Emily was skeptical, but she soon realized that especially the use of violins in that one track had a certain way of getting her imagination pumping.
Still, combat scenes were always hard to write. They were usually drawn out and needed a lot of attention to detail. Emily was at an impasse as to how she should continue. Her fingers were hovering above the keys, impatiently waiting for their mistress to think of something, any spark of creativity.
"Surely she wouldn't want to hurt Ana? I'd try to knock her out and get them both to safety."
Emily nodded slowly at the faint voice behind the music in her headphones.
If she doesn't want to hurt Ana, Miss Amari would surely be in the advantage. Moreover, Lena has to protect Amélie somehow.
"Maybe she'd use the crumbling environment to her advantage?"
Sounds reasonable. That would make the fight unique. She'd lose at the start because of all her handicaps, maybe even get wounded, and then do a clever trick to gain the upper hand!
"Uh! Uh! I know! She could create some kind of illusion behind a light smoke screen with her pilot's jacket! Maybe she just throws it? Even though I'd terribly miss that old piece of leather…"
Emily liked the ingeniousness of that idea. She began typing away at her notebook in lightning speed, not wanting to waste the muse that had possessed her so suddenly.
Wait.
The fanfic author blinked a few times and stopped dangling with her legs. A cold shiver crept up her spine as she took the headphones off her ears. Emily spun around in one sudden motion.
Lena had been peaking over her shoulder, lapping away at what appeared to be strawberry-mango ice cream.
"What are you doing here?!"
"Came home earlier from work! You?"
The unmasked author quickly developed a furious blush. For weeks now, thoughts about revealing herself to her girlfriend were heavy on her mind. How would she react? If Lena had to find out about her favorite pastime, Emily imagined that anything was better than being caught red-handed. Like she was now.
"Uh… I-I can explain!"
"Why, you seem to be writing a story about me being a badass! Anything else?"
Emily lightly scratched the back of her head.
"Yeah, that's basically it…"
"Shocking! How ever darest thou?"
Lena giggled stupidly, but that couldn't put Emily at ease yet.
"It's... a bit more than that. I told you about the fandom that's out there, right?"
"Sure thing, luv."
"Well… there's this thing called shipping."
"Shipping, huh? I'm more into airplanes, honestly."
Emily had to smile at that stupid quip. It was a bit irritating to explain these terms to someone. Emily usually avoided talking about the fandom to so-called 'normies'.
"It has nothing to do with actual ships. It's when you take two characters and put them in a relationship… shipping."
"Uhhh, exciting! From the way that story went you're shipping me wiiith-"
"-it's Widowmaker. I'm… I'm sorry."
Emily had prepared for the worst, but Lena just lapped away at her ice-cream, showing no signs of being upset.
"It sounds interesting! I wonder why I would defend Widow on anything, though."
A few quick taps on the notebook pad saved and closed the story document.
She'll wonder about quite a lot of things.
"Well, that's just a dumb little hobby of mine, so-"
"I wanna read it!"
Lena was all of the sudden all up in her face, prompting Emily to renew her furious blush and back up a tiny bit.
"H-Huh?"
"Your story! Stories? I mean, my lovely Emi wrote 'em! I wanna read 'em!"
The redhead was suddenly feeling a minor panic at the prospect.
"A-Are you sure? They… they're really not that good! You might… not…"
Why am I so nervous?! I knew this was gonna happen! Isn't this what I wanted?
Lena crawled onto the bed after finishing her ice-cream, cuddling up to Emily before the notebook and nodded enthusiastically. The redhead stared at her, at a loss for words. There was no choice anymore. This was the moment she had waited for. All that was left was to let her work speak for itself.
Oh boy.
With a shivering hand, Emily opened the online archives to her favorite selfmade story. Her flight instinct kicked in shortly after.
"I-I'll just go fold the dishes and do t-the laundry in the meantime!"
Emily flailed off the bed after while garbling that sentence. She tried to storm out of the room with her eyes firmly shut out of embarrassment. Not too surprisingly, she collided with the closet on her way out as a result, accompanied by a dull 'Thump'.
"Ouch! ... I'm okay! I'm okay!"
Lena wasn't sure whether to help the disoriented girl or not. In the end she watched Emily stagger her way into the living room.
What's with the clumsiness? Usually I'm the one running into walls!
After pondering for a while with an incredulous expression, Lena vehemently shook her head and shifted attention back to the display. Day after day, she'd seen Emily tap away at this thing. Lena had assumed up until now that those were some kind of reports she was working on for the Evening Standard. Maybe she was doing some intellectual chatting with friends. Stuff that Lena imagined a journalist with an Oxford degree like Emily would do.
This on the other hand was quite the delightful surprise. Lena stared at the title of the story in front of her for a while.
'Lethality of Cheerful Laughter'
Huh. A story about laughing? Well, I suppose I laugh a lot.
Lena giggled self-consciously.
It sounds really poetic!
She cocked her head to the side, dangling with her feet in the air. Then she began to smile happily. There was a fuzzy feeling in her tummy alongside an urge to start reading whatever Emily had to write about her.
Emily sure is smart! I wonder where this goes.
Butterflies flew around the track and in between carefully tended flowerbeds. People were jogging along a path with trees lined alongside it. They were occasionally spending shade against an artificial 'sun' that was blaring almost as annoyingly as the real thing.
Widowmaker wasn't too excited by the realistic re-enactment of a run-of-the-mill park, but it was better than running on a treadmill. Talon had thought so, too, creating this environment on the ground floor of their headquarters. If nothing else, the artificial park was good at surprising visitors who expected the evil corporate vibe.
Widow didn't care much about that either.
Today she wore a violet sports bra, black leggings down to her knees and a headband while jogging around the park at a brisk pace.
"…after that, the medical team has asked for your presence. That's in about… two hours."
"Absolument pas. J'y étais hier." [Absolutely not. I was there yesterday.]
A meek looking blonde girl with blue eyes and thick glasses nodded at once. She scribbled something on the clipboard that she carried around. It was difficult to try and keep up with Widow while pretending to be fine with the pace. The small assistant's heavy breathing was giving her imminent collapse away.
"Then there's your manicure at six… oh and corporal Trginav… wanted to speak to you at half past seven?"
"De quoi s'agit-il?" [What is it about?]
"Personnel development. What… can I tell him, Madame?"
Widow thought about this for a moment.
"Acceptable. Pendant ce temps, préparez mon équipement pour la prochaine mission." [Acceptable. In the meantime, prepare my equipment for the next mission.]
The girl nodded and finally fell behind, reeling and wheezing from the exercise.
It was irritating for Widow, having a personal assistant all for herself. She took it as some kind of reward from the top brass for her flawless success rate. They probably didn't know how else to do that, since she didn't exactly want for anything other than killing people and maybe the occasional fancy dress. Widow complained at first, but quickly grew complacent with the girl. It was at least nice to talk French to someone every once in a while.
It was also nice to be alone. At times like these, she could just reminisce about the stories she had read up until now. She found herself actually looking forward to moments like these.
"¡Hola amiga!"
A noisy voice interrupted her train of thought before it could really get going.
"Did you miss me?"
Sombra fell in alongside her, effortlessly keeping up in stark contrast to her meek little assistant just a few moments ago.
"I almost managed to forget you, amie."
"We wouldn't want that now, would we?"
Sombra didn't need a sports bra per se, since she was quite flat chested. Instead, she opted for a low cut top and hot pants, overall in a mix of violet, neon green and black. Most shockingly however, her hair actually looked normal for once, since she wasn't in need of all her hacking gear.
Not a moment of peace today. I must be cursed.
"You're right. I shouldn't forget to put a bullet between your eyes someday."
"Ouch!"
Sombra shook her hand as if she just got burned.
"Something like that would be a mercy for poor Tiffany though! Working her to the bone is fun to you, I guess?"
Tiffany. Widow faintly remembered that being her assistant's name.
"I don't deal in mercy. Besides, she signed up for this."
"Oh, did she? At least as much as you signed up for this, I imagine? I mean, who wouldn't want to be at the receiving end of your whims all day~"
The thought managed to irritate Widow more than Sombra's snickering.
"Tell me what you want already."
"Oh, just to give my good friend some company."
"I don't need company."
"Of course you do! We all need to speak to someone, sometimes. Like, about the things that worry us."
Widow was getting increasingly annoyed.
"As if I would tell you anything."
"You can't just bottle it all up! And you don't have anyone else, do you?"
"I'd rather talk to my assistant than any of you fools."
Sombra smirked over to her, quite cat-like.
"Oho, getting attached already? She's a sweet little thing, isn't she?"
A vein at Widow's temple was swelling with annoyance.
I don't need to justify myself to that stupid girl.
She tried to regain her cool and switched topics to go back on the offensive.
"You are awfully busy lately."
"Changing the subject, huh? Oh, don't worry, I'll finish the next chapter on the weekend when you're in Dorado."
Widow narrowed her eyes and regarded Sombra carefully. The Dorado mission was top-secret, but 'top-secret' didn't mean anything when it came to the small Mexican.
She won't be grinning like an idiot for much longer.
"You're not just writing, are you? You'll be practicing."
"Eh? Practice? What?"
Sombra obviously didn't catch on, obliviously blinking with her brown eyes. Widow developed a smirk as response. She liked to take these things slow.
"Don't play dumb."
"I'm not-"
"I would be a fool not to notice what you've been planning all this time."
There were signs of panic quickly developing on Sombra's features. Widow was positively delighted. To have someone dangle in her web was one of her favorite pastimes.
Sica: "U cant be serious rite now…"
Miju: "I tell you, she's reading 'Lethality' in the other room!"
Sica: "U took the one where she goes mad as a first read? Good choice Miji LOL"
Miju: "… it's a power fantasy of her."
Sica: "So powerful, she loses an arm LOL"
Miju: "That's AT THE END in the CONCLUSION of the final fight."
Sica: "Still though ≧ヮ≦"
Miju: "What should I have given her to read then?"
Sica: "dunno lol"
Emily let her head fall back against the tiled bathroom wall. The washing machine was in full swing right next to her. She was sitting on the floor in the corner and held up her iPhone. As much as she despised that thing, she couldn't really be bothered to buy a new one. That would just be a waste.
Miju: "Everyone's a critic."
Sica: "When did u show her?"
Miju: "About 3 hours ago."
Sica: "She's probably through by now. Go ask her about it! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ"
Miju: "…"
Sica: "What?"
Miju: "I'm scared…"
Sica: "Awww cmon bby…(｡ŏ﹏ŏ)"
Miju: "… Alright. Wish me luck."
Sica: "Yeah! U GO GIRL! ( ﾟヮﾟ) "
Gathering all her courage, Emily stood up. The act was a lot shakier than she would've liked. She left the bathroom with an eerie feeling.
Come on, there's nothing to fear. What's the worst that could happen?
With that on her mind, Emily donned a hopeful smile and opened the bedroom door.
"I'm finished with the chores! How did you… like…"
She blinked a few times. The bedroom was empty, save for her notebook. A small note was stuck on top of it. Emily moved towards the bed and picked it up. A crappy illustration of mini Tracer showing a thumbs up accompanied the message.
"Heya! Have to go to HQ, I'll grab us dinner on the way back!"
Emily was perplexed. She didn't know what to think about this. There was only this awkward feeling. She had to talk to someone, anyone, so she brought her iPhone back out.
Miju: "She's gone!"
Emily waited a few moments, to no avail.
Miju: "Sica?"
"So you came here?"
"Yeah…"
"Shouldn't you talk with… you know… your girlfriend?"
"I thought you might know about these things!"
Lena was sitting Indian style on Hana's bed in her one-room-apartment at Overwatch HQ. A snowstorm was raging outside right now, covering London in snow and ice. Hana noticed her smartphone vibrating on the side and could only imagine how Miju was feeling right now.
"Of course I know about stuff like that. People ship me, too. Like, a lot."
"Oh I saw that! You're apparently not as popular when it comes to stories though. Even McCree has more people writing about him!"
Hana looked like somebody just punched her in the gut. Oblivious as ever, Lena just continued.
"There's a lot more cosplay of you though. And tons of videos of those cosplayers doing dirty-"
"THAT'S enough of that topic, okay?!"
Lena apparently hit a nerve, as Hana was positively fuming. She breathed through a few times to keep her cool. Then she continued.
"It's sometimes best we don't know what sick shit is out there! Take Angela for example: She'd get a heart attack from her stack of 'fanart'."
"Right? There's so much... 'art' out there about Mom… half of it made me really uncomfortable."
They were both kinda sitting in silence for a short moment there. They might've even blushed a little until Hana finally continued the conversation.
"I'm amazed that you looked all of that up in half an hour."
"Well, yeah! After reading Emi's story, I was really curious, so I wanted to know how deep this goes…"
"Pretty deep, huh?"
"So. Much. Lewdness…"
Lena had a thousand-yard-stare, as if she'd just come back from the horrors of the omnic wars. She needed a moment for everything to sink in.
"What about Widowmaker?"
"Oh, there's tons of porn-"
"I KNOW!"
They both had something they desperately tried to get out of their heads now.
"I was asking what you think about people pairing you with her."
"Oh… uh… well…"
Lena scratched her cheek. She clearly hadn't formed a real opinion on that topic yet. Hana in the meanwhile just swayed around in her gaming chair, patiently waiting for an answer.
"Widow… she's the only person in the world I hate for what she has done! But… I understand, I guess? She was made to do this. It's tempting to hope that she can be saved."
Emotions visibly roiled inside of Lena as she was thinking. It was the most fascinating thing to Hana.
"So there's a chance?"
"No."
"Huh?"
"Emily is my girlfriend."
They stared at each other. Hana gradually developed a blush.
She actually thinks I want her to cheat! Have you told her nothing Miji?!
"Nono, you dummy! I was talking about you saving Widow. And I think your girlfriend wouldn't mind a bit of action between the three of you, if you haven't noticed yet, you blockhead!"
Lena bit her lower lip for a second there and looked away, thinking.
"That's how it is? Huh… I… I guess it would be nice if Widow could actually feel and open up to others, like she does in Emi's story. I mean, she's ridiculously hot. And I only remember positive things about miss Lacroix from back then. Right now though… I don't know. I'm kind of… unconvinced that she can be anything but a homicidal loon."
Lena shivered before continuing.
"Even if trying to save her would be the heroic thing to aim for, I... I just can't."
To Hana, it looked like the little Brit was remembering her past encounters with Widowmaker. It looked like they scarred her, deeply. Hana quickly scootered over and put a hand on the shivering messes shoulder.
"It's okay, Lena. You don't need to force yourself to do anything risky, you know?"
"Yeah, you're right… but I do want to know what Emi thinks about this. Her story…"
"She's really good at writing, isn't she?"
Lena brightened up at that question and clung to it, trying not to think about all the difficult things.
"Oh, she manages to write so dramatic! There are these twists and turns! First I'm sad, then I'm pumped and happy and next thing I know I'm weirded out so much that I'm feeling sick! Then I'm sad again and almost crying until it turns around a last time for a fuzzy feeling in my tummy. It felt like a roller coaster!"
Hana bit her lower lip. It was weird to hear all that coming from Tracer, the one girl they were all writing about.
"I know what you mean."
Maybe I should show her my stuff, too.
"But she never gets really lewd. I loved that about the story. It was about feelings until the end! Then there's this thing called 'smut'? I read a bit about that from someone called Sicka?"
Hana stiffened up.
"Y-You did?"
"Yeah! Apparently, it's all about describing how I have sex with other people! What sick fuck would write that? I mean what the hell, right?"
"...riiight..."
I… probably shouldn't show her my stuff…
Hana was sulking for the rest of the evening.
Sombra, unsuccessfully, tried to calm herself down. She brought a bit of distance between herself and Widow as they were jogging, obviously afraid as was visible to anyone who cared to watch.
Did she really find out?! I'm so done for!
"A-Amiga, it's not what it looks like…!"
"Isn't it now?"
"No! Not at all!"
"I wonder. I've seen you do it."
Widow's voice was calm as they entered what had to be their fourth round around the park. She didn't even break a sweat! Sombra felt entirely inadequate to talk about this under these circumstances, but it couldn't be helped. Her thoughts were scattered all over the place.
She was there?! When? Did I really not notice her following us?
"But… you can't just know from watching!"
"Can't I?"
A distinctive, husky laugh made Sombra shiver and look down in despair.
Yup, I'm done for. If she knows, she'll beat me up any moment now. Or maybe she'll kill me in my sleep tonight or-
"Stupid girl. You've been writing about it all this time."
"Eh?"
Sombra whirled her head around to stare at Widow. Amber eyes looked back, a bit irritated by that reaction.
"What, did you think I would not notice? Are you that dense?"
Wait. I didn't write about my plans, did I? She can't mean…
A brief moment of relief was quickly overruled by furious blushing.
"Amiga, you got it all wrong, I don't-"
"-have a huge crush on that Song girl?"
"N-No!"
"Oh, I think it's quite established. You write about it in every other story."
"T-That's just…"
Widow's voice grew cold and condescending.
"It's pretty pathetic."
"…"
Sombra felt increasingly more embarrassed and hot around the head. She did her best to hide her face behind her hands.
"You even practice that stupid game all the time to challenge her one day."
It was completely true. Sombra had practiced Starcraft for months now whenever she found the time. Even if she barely improved at all, she kept trying.
"Y-You don't know that!"
"Oh, I caught you playing it, remember?"
"…"
"The most pathetic thing though: This whole scheme isn't even your own idea."
"Please don't…"
Widow inched closer, just so she could whisper her words with a greater effect.
"That's from one of Emily's stories."
Sombra short-circuited. She couldn't anymore. The Mexican girl just ran off wailing, aimlessly until she unceremoniously collided with something solid.
Widow was sitting in an elaborate chair in her domain, enjoying a glass of Chardonnay, swaying it about. She wore a white blouse and a blue skirt, mostly because almost nobody would see her wearing something so plain tonight. Something so old and burdened with memories.
Thinking back, Widow had been quite satisfied to watch that stupid girl run at full speed against a street lamp. Afterwards she just continued to jog along at the same pace as if nothing happened.
A small sigh left Widow's lips in celebration of a job well done.
Oh well.
Messing with Sombra wasn't as fun as she'd hoped for. In fact, she hadn't even felt 'fun' in as much as two months. Ever since Tracer installed that alarm in her apartment. They also didn't happen to run into each other on missions anymore.
"Is everything in order, Madame?"
Her little assistant looked up from her work of folding Widow's freshly washed clothes in the other corner of the room. Tiffany already had a neat stack ready to go.
Loin de là. [Far from it]
"Oui."
"Is the champagne to your liking?"
"Oui."
The blonde girl looked like she wanted to pry further. Yet she knew her place and went back to neatly folding clothes. At one point in the past, Widow had thought that she liked that about her.
"Have you signed up to the advanced language course?"
"Yes, Madame, as you demanded."
Amber eyes stared at the assistant.
"Good. Practice well. I detest hearing you butcher French by trying. And talking alone can only entertain for so long."
Widow took a swig of Chardonnay. Her mood had suddenly turned sour and she couldn't quite pinpoint the exact reason. While staring at her assistant, Widow began to notice things that she didn't care for before. Tiffany was neither very slim, nor particularly chubby. She always dressed in a shirt, tie and skirt in boring colors. She was short, but not too short. Not particularly outgoing, but also not too shy. Overall average to the bone, trying to garner as little attention as possible.
"You must hate me."
There was a rare moment where her assistant lost her composure, blinking at Widow while looking over through her thick glasses.
"P-Pardon?"
"Why are you here?"
Composure slowly came back to the assistant.
"To… do your bidding. I am your assistant, Madame."
"And why have you come to be my assistant?"
Tiffany looked back down to finish the last few pieces of clothing.
"I am not at liberty to tell."
The conversation got lost at that point. Widow looked elsewhere, to the paintings she used to cover up the steel walls of her domain.
"Is that so?"
She didn't expect an answer and neither did her assistant give one.
Rain fell in droves on the small prison island. Reaper stood in front of the facility with one Hellfire Shotgun resting on his shoulder. There were no guards, no nothing, just as they had anticipated. Sombra had done a phenomenal job with the shift planning software of the Helix facility. It was all a bit boring though, he had to realize.
A man-sized part of the prison wall was finally busted open by some sort of inhuman force. A hulking, black and bald man emerged from the rubble and approached Reapers position. Rain cleared the man of dust and provided an eerie environment. There was no sound apart from raindrops falling in droves.
Akande came to a halt in front of Reaper. They grabbed each other by the wrist as form of greeting.
"It was about time."
"I would've preferred it sooner myself."
"What took you so long?"
"Helix proved to be a hard nut to crack, surprisingly."
That might as well have been a lie and Reaper knew it. Sombra should've been able to make this prison break happen earlier, but he didn't want to badmouth an underling to his equal.
"So Sombra took her sweet time."
No use keeping things from Akande.
Reaper sighed.
"Probably."
"You are growing soft."
"Only when it comes to my team."
"Good. I wouldn't want to see you go easy on our enemies."
"I saw your fight with the monkey. Welcome to the grudge club."
Akande slightly twitched at the mention of Winston. They both entered the automated aircraft. Engines started up, bringing the bird into the air to leave the storm-ridden island.
"So, what's on the menu tonight?"
"I'll make that mango dish you showed me before."
"Ogbono. Grandma used to make the best Ogbono soup…"
Akande grumbled and licked his lips, reminiscently.
"I'll need to make something else for Widow though. Never would've thought that she's allergic to mango."
"That woman is allergic to anything bright in the world."
"I wonder about that these days."
"Oh?"
"Never mind."
"Alright. Pray tell, where is my weapon?"
Reaper scratched his mask, approximately where his cheek normally would be.
"Well…"
Later that week, on the first day of Christmas
The night flight from Gibraltar to London wasn't even filled to half capacity. They were sitting together, leaning against each other. Emily did seem exhausted from flying around for a Christmas dinner at Winston's, but didn't complain.
I barely ever hear her complain.
The thought just went through her head at random while stroking her girlfriend's leg. Her Christmas present was still loosely lying on Emily's lap beside the gentle hand.
"You really like the scarf, don't you?"
"I do. You like your new earring too, though,"
Lena bit her lower lip.
Got me there.
They gifted these little things to each other yesterday on Christmas Eve. They even had a small Christmas tree at home.
Emi had so much fun decorating it…
"Emi?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you okay? With us, I mean."
The redhead looked over to her in the corner of her light brown eyes. They hadn't moved for what must've been an hour now, just sitting there, leaning against each other.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
It took Lena a moment to respond.
"I mean, I'm always out there. Sometimes I'm not coming home for days. I could get hurt at any day of the week. Worse, somebody could come into our home and-"
"I know."
Lena was a bit surprised. She looked at Emily through the corner of her eyes.
"You're fine with that?"
"Lena, I'm… lonely a lot. Sometimes I'm scared, but I believe in you, that you will manage to pull through for us. I'm not fine with it, but I'm okay with it if that's what it takes… what it takes to be with you."
They were quiet for a bit. Lena developed goosebumps. She took Emily's hand during that time and squeezed it lovingly.
Still, something was strangely off, as if Emily had been dragging along something with her all day now.
"Is there something on your mind?"
"N-No, everything's okay."
"You're a terrible liar, luv."
It was Emily's turn to bite her own lower lip.
"I… I just… you read a lot of my stories now…"
"We talked about this, Emi…"
The atmosphere was getting a bit tense between the two of them.
"I know… What you said about her, I just… I think there is still hope for her. And I think you're the only one who can save her."
Emily was angling her head so that she would be nestling against her girlfriend.
What if Hana was right… Does she really want me to pull Amélie into our relationship?
"What if I don't want to do that…"
"That's a lie."
Emily was whispering her words and it was hard for Lena not to tear up
"You're the greatest hero in my eyes. I know you would feel endless regret if there was just a chance."
"Th-There is no chance…"
"You felt her emotions when she was with us, didn't you?"
Lena shivered. Thinking back was difficult, but Emily was slowly getting her used to dealing with that fear.
"The Amélie of old is too far gone, luv. I can't…"
A squeeze at her hand made Lena pause. Slowly, Emily took out her phone with the free hand, activated the display and opened an image of someone familiar.
"She's at a graveyard?"
Emily nodded solemnly.
"Someone shot that photo yesterday. She's… putting flowers on her husband's grave."
They both stared at that photo for a while. Lena felt as if one by one, all her arguments were falling apart. She felt tears well in her eyes and an apathy to do something against it. There was only one thought that needed expressing, flowing out with a broken voice.
"She looks so sad."
Notes:
This chapter kind of ended on a sad note. I was actually tearing up while writing the last part in the office. That was... interesting to explain.
For this chapter I put the translations in the text, since I wrote such long sentences in French. How did you like it, dearest reader?
As a sidenote: I recommend reading the official 'Reflections' comic by Blizzard if you haven't already, as I was paying homage to a lot of the panels.
Oh and in case anyone wants to know what Emily was listening to at the start of the chapter:
youtube dot com slash watch?v=XHakl2bMQYI