Broken Wings
N.W. 2
Broken

Lloyd eyed up today's pile of dirt that hid a bag of shattered exspheres. This one was closer to Iselia, hidden near the shore on the fields between the town and the Martel Temple. He hoped that it would be a good enough hiding spot. Shattering the things only did so much good. The shards weren't as dangerous as the exspheres themselves, but they were still a danger.

And... ow, his shoulders hurt.

One of these days, he wouldn't have to worry about sunburn. Until then...

Glowing pink drew his eyes, and he was smiling even before Colette landed.

That smile didn't last long, however, and Colette's expression had him abandoning his shovel and running over to her.

"Colette? What's wrong?! What happened?!"

"Lloyd... I'm sorry. It's better this way..." Colette stepped back when Lloyd moved to hold her, keeping a distance between them.

"Colette?" What... what was she doing...?

Her hands rose to her Cruxis Crystal, and the necklace he'd made for her that had, for a time, been part key crest. "I... I'm going to live forever. And... I don't think I can do that to you, Lloyd. I'm sorry."

Dawning horror rendered Lloyd mute, because he knew what she was doing, now. He knew... and had no idea how to stop it.

"Colette..."

"I'm sorry." Her hands came away from her neck, the necklace he'd made for her placed into his hand. "Please... Don't linger on me. You deserve to be happy."

"Colette, please—"

She jumped, her wings catching the wind and carrying her away before Lloyd could react, before he could do more than reach out for her—

And she'd kept too much distance between them for him to have ever had a chance to hold her down.

He turned on his heel, racing back to his stuff and grabbing up his wing pack with the intention of pulling out his rheaird and following Colette. He had to catch up to her, he had to convince her...

That what? That watching him grow old and die was better than ending things now?

Lloyd stopped, his eyes locked on his wing pack but unseeing.

Colette had tried to make it sound like she was doing this for his sake, but... She was being selfish. She knew she was going to live for a very long time. They all did.

Lloyd... wasn't.

His legs failed him, knees crashing into the very same dirt he'd just finished shoveling back into its hole. One hand rose, slowly, to the exsphere that now sat at the base of his throat.

He should bury his mother's exsphere. He should, but he couldn't bring himself to part with it just yet. It was all he had left of his biological parents...

No. That wasn't true.

Lloyd forced himself to his feet again, fighting down the tears. Oh, how he wanted to let them loose, but...

"You're the only one I'd ever let myself cry for... I love you, Colette."

He wandered back into Iselia in a daze, shock and pain leaving him unsure of his steps.

Colette was gone. Maybe not gone, gone, but she wasn't coming back, not to him. And that... How was he supposed to take that?

"Lloyd?"

He stopped, the concerned and familiar voice snapping him out of his daze fairly well. He did his best to offer up a smile to Paul, even though he knew it wasn't going to fool the boy. "Morning, kiddo."

And that just seemed to get him more worried.

"Stay right there."

The eight-year-old took off running, likely to go get his mother, and Lloyd sighed.

Great. Now he's gotten Paul and Lilia all worried over him. That was the last thing he needed.

He shook his head, turned, and continued toward the exit to town.

Somehow, the fact that Lilia and Paul caught up to him before he made it more than a hundred yards past the gates told him that he really was in bad shape after this.

"I told you to stay!" Paul complained.

Lilia sighed. "That's never worked on you. Which is why I said we would be checking the gates first." She was silent for a moment before she placed her hand on his cheek, gently forcing him to turn and look at her. "Lloyd. What happened?"

Blue eyes. Not as bright as Colette's, but... blue.

Lloyd closed his eyes and turned away. "Not right now..."

"Nuh-uh! You said if you're hurt, you gotta tell someone about it! Remember?"

He wanted to walk away. Wanted to get home, and go tell his sorrows to his mother's grave. But...

Lilia was right there. Paul was right there. And Paul...

He didn't feel the first few tears, didn't realize he'd started crying until Lilia was wiping the tears away, didn't register the arms around him until there was a second set wrapped around his waist, because that was all Paul could reach...

"I know you're strong. But that strength, it's made from a big ball of kindness... and so, what I mean is, you're really, really kind... And kind people get hurt very easily."

Colette was right. Of course. He'd known that ages ago, but...

But he'd never expected her to hurt him.

"It's okay to cry. Sometimes tears are the best medicine."

He gave up fighting back the heartache. Lilia and Paul had already seen his control break...

And Lilia never once made a comment about her damp shoulder, even as she and Paul dragged him back into Iselia, past the Sages' house and to their own. Lloyd wasn't ready to be alone, and they wouldn't ask him to leave until he was ready.