Nostalgia.

It meant "a bittersweet yearning for things of the past" and part of what made up the word was the ancient Greek word "álgos," or "pain." It represented Aero's feelings perfectly. He missed the younger days where they actually felt joy, genuine happiness for the smallest things. Hardly anything made him feel happy anymore, and the few things that did didn't last outside doing them.

She usually lied there at night thinking about the past, how much happier he used to be. He used to laugh at everything, smiling widely at the smallest things, but now all they felt was numbness with the smallest glimmers of positive emotions being known deep down inside. Not even the negative emotions could they feel besides sadness and a dull pain.

Aero ran his fingers across her legs that were close to her torso. The scars were healing, but they were still at a state where they could feel how deep they were. She still had to wear the leg warmers, even if the wounds completely healed up. She quietly sighed, knowing this wasn't something they'd have to worry about in the better days.

They knew that they could do something about it, that they should, yet something deep down prevented him from making much progress on it. It was a torturous cycle of knowing he could make everything feel like the old days again, trying to do just that, and falling down the stairs he attempted to climb. Sometimes, Aero wondered if he should even be trying at all.

He bit his lower lip to prevent himself from crying. She felt so pathetic from the lack of motivation to push themself harder. They just felt so overwhelmed from everything on his shoulders and mind.

"Hey," he felt a hand on his shoulder as soft whispers entered his ears, "are you okay, Aerodynamic?"

Aero looked over their shoulder to vaguely see Dia bending down. Not a word left his lips, not without wanting to cry his heart out. She shook her head to respond.

"If you want, we can go for a walk and we can talk about it." She offered.

They nodded. "I'd like that," they hopefully whispered loud enough for her to hear.

He sat up, put his lenses and leg warmers on, and they went outside for a late night walk. They talked to her and cried at some points.

While Aero couldn't be a kid again to enjoy what was good, maybe he could enjoy what there was to enjoy now with Diamond's help.