SEVENTEEN
She is seventeen again, clutching Kanade's limp body in her arms.
Everything had been going so well. Her nerves had all but disappeared and they were having fun and it was going so well—but then something had shifted and gone terribly, awfully, irredeemably wrong.
"Tsubasa, darling, please let go of Elfnein. The doctor needs to do his job. Tsubasa?"
Of course, this is an entirely distinct situation. The person in her arms is a slight child, who breathes evenly, despite having fainted—she is certainly not her best friend, whose life force trickles steadily down the corner of her mouth and wells up from the depths of her heart.
A warm touch runs against her cheek. She lifts her eyes to meet Maria's mournful smile and sad gaze.
"She'll be okay," Maria says. "She just has flashbacks sometimes."
Who?
Does she speak of the child or of Tsubasa?
"Well, please do not hesitate to ask one of the nurses should you want or require assistance. Elfnein will be out for a couple of hours, however, and I cannot say if she will or be in a state to receive visitors. It depends on the severity of her panic. I'm sure you understand."
It filters through a remote lens to her mind.
Elfnein has flashbacks—panic attacks.
"Can we," she begins to ask before she can stop herself, so she might as well continue, "ask questions? About her condition."
"Please," Maria begs.
It occurs to her that Maria must be feeling so helpless; that awful, vile emotion that seethes up from the most profound reaches of the heart.
The doctor, an elderly man she only now notices, regards them cautiously. Nonetheless, it is with sympathy that he informs them, "You are not listed as her family. Only Elfnein herself may disclose details, if she so chooses."
Perhaps it is her imagination that makes her hear a note of warning in the doctor's words.
It is true. They are not her family. They are utter strangers to Elfnein.
However.
She wants to be much more than a stranger. She wants to take this fragile little person in her arms and chase away the demons and never, ever let go. She wants to—
Maria is leading her away.
Are they not? "We aren't going to wait?" she asks and is taken aback at the faintness in her voice.
"Tsubasa." Maria's voice is stern. "You have to take care of yourself, too. Let me take you home. I asked the matron to call us if Elfnein agrees to let us visit her tomorrow. But for now, we need to think of you." Her voice is stern and her touch is firm but her embrace is an anchor that keeps her from getting too light-headed.
Did she miss all that?
"Okay."
She agrees.
But it's for her. For Elfnein.
a/n: Please review!