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If she had to describe the last week or so in very few words, Tina wouldn’t hesitate to compare it to what she imagined hell on earth would feel like. First, her agonisingly-long search for the Federation’s headquarters, and hopefully the very prison her friends were being held captive in, had hit a dead end. Nearly two weeks of searching as far as her aching legs could take her, sleeping in small caves and ditches under a thin blanket in the disgustingly cold weather, and all she had to show for it were a collection of wounds littered across her body and a pair of broken hands. Then, as if coming home with absolutely no leads on the Federation and a body so badly damaged she felt as if death itself was dragging her down wasn’t bad enough, their second-in-command-deluxe was returned completely battered and shaken, his shirt that had once been a gorgeous shade of pearly-white now stained a deep maroon, nine days worth of torture present even in just the one article of clothing. His left arm had been broken far worse than even he had expected, the deep-red bruising across the limb almost an exact colour match to his ruined shirt. He’d barely been home for a day before Tina decided that being the temporary general, it was in the best interest of The North as a whole for her to find where their actual general was being held, hoping to return to a calmer situation at home with all the information she could gather. However, even after being away for almost two whole weeks to find the prison he and their general had been held in for so long, she returned to see the bright blue cast still holding his arm in place, the rest of his injuries barely healing in the time since his return. It broke her heart to see the once overly-confident and outgoing person he had once been erased by the very people in charge of their island, even if she herself knew deep down that something so brutal was always on the table for the Federation. And, of course, as if that wasn’t already bad enough, their general was just…gone. He’d been returned to the island shortly before Tina herself had returned, but just like Juan, had returned a shell of who he once was. The strong-willed general of The North was long gone, the man they thought they knew replaced by an almost entirely apathetic person with no fight left in him. Of course, she was fully aware that his return wouldn’t have fixed everything in the first place, that being kidnapped would leave scars far deeper than she could imagine, but she hadn’t expected him to completely switch up on everything he had once planned to do. Resigning from his position as Generalissimo of the North, fully moving into his castle, hanging around with a Federation employee as if he hadn’t been eager to tear that very organisation down just two weeks prior, it was almost as if he’d never really cared for anything at all in the first place. It was funny, really, to see herself replaced by someone he’d sworn to destroy for weeks before they’d taken him. But to see him react so coldly to her return? To act as if they’d never been friends at all, as if she’d made the last few months of their lives up? It hurt far more than she’d ever willingly admit to his face.
Being Generalissima of the North was far more stressful than any day as the general’s right-hand had ever been. Not only was she expected to be the sole defense of their household until she herself rebuilt the war department, but she also found herself responsible for a handful of smaller jobs around the island, leaving her with no time to heal from the wounds she’d sustained while on her own personal mission. With an agonising headache and both hands tightly bound by a full roll of old bandages she’d found in her nightstand, she forced herself to get some kind of progress made on the many tasks she was expected to complete, no matter how little it seemed to other residents of the island. Truthfully, she knew she wasn’t exactly the most productive in her household even when she wasn’t injured, but after almost two weeks of sleeping on rocks and throwing her sword into the bodies of every hostile creature that came her way, surely she was allowed a pass just this once. Just one day to catch up on the weeks of sleep she was missing, that’s all she was really asking for, but with her new rank, rest was the last thing on her never-ending list of duties. As if the Federation weren’t bad enough on their own, her fellow islanders just had to add to the mountain of stress she was already dealing with. Still, Tina tried her best to keep working through her unhealed injuries and clouded mind, keeping a small smile on her face to keep her friends from worrying despite the constant cries of pain from every inch of her body. And sure, maybe moving heavy furniture around and working on her mace skills while she was one wrong move away from collapsing on the spot wasn’t exactly her greatest idea, but could anyone really blame her? If she stopped while there was still plenty of work to be done, she’d be criticised by absolutely everyone, her rank as Generalissima questioned all because she dared to rest for more than five minutes. However, if she kept moving as if she was perfectly healthy and sane, she knew it was only a matter of time before something drastic happened, forcing her to choose between disappointing the few people that still cared for her or allowing herself to crumble in front of them all instead. Was it truly worth sacrificing the little reputation she had left to keep them from leaving her too?
Her breaking point came just barely two weeks after her return to the North, her body holding on for much longer than she had anticipated. She hadn’t been doing anything too different from her usual tasks, having returned to her room to grab extra materials for Ewron’s office in the casino, when she felt the clear signs of complete exhaustion finally kicking in again. Blurred vision, legs too weak to hold her body weight, her body clearly protesting against her constant overworking. It was all just the same symptoms she’d been battling the last few weeks, both while she’d been away and once she’d returned, and was far from enough to get her to give up on the task she needed to make some kind of progress on. Stuffing the materials into her backpack, she pulled her warp stone from her pocket, only just managing to pull it back far enough to open its menu before her vision completely clouded, unable to blink the blur away. With a frustrated sigh, she fumbled her way across her room, using her limited sight in an attempt to make it to her sofa before things inevitably worsened. The moment her body made contact with the soft pillows, every muscle in her completely gave out, her backpack slipping from her shoulder onto the floor beside her. Great, of course her body had to pull some kind of stupid stunt on her the one time she was actually prepared for a full day of work. Not only was she supposed to work on the casino, but she had also wanted to explore a few new dungeons she had found on her journey home, the coordinates scribbled on a piece of paper and stuffed into the pocket of her damaged uniform. The article of clothing laid neatly folded on the armchair across from her, the torn and bloodied fabric staring at her as if it were silently mocking her for allowing herself to become so weak at such a high rank. She was the Generalissima, she was expected to keep the North from whatever danger they encountered, and yet here she was, curled up on her sofa as if she’d actually earned the rest. Pathetic. How was she supposed to keep her family safe if she couldn’t even stand on her own two feet for just a little longer?
“Tina!” someone yelled from the room above, the paper-thin walls only making the sound ten times louder.
“Huh? Juan? Is that you?” Tina questioned, using the little energy she had to push herself up a little, doing anything to make herself seem a little more productive than she really was in that moment.
“Yeah! I need to talk to you about something, stay there, I’m coming to your room.” Juan responded, his voice a little quieter than it had been moments before, the yelling no longer needed as he made his way through the tunnel linking their rooms together.
Tina found herself briefly laughing at the irony of his words, knowing that even if she could, she had absolutely no plans of moving from where she sat. While it had originally been simply because her lack of energy had made her physically unable to move, the few minutes she had laid there unable to focus on anything but the pain crawling across her body had completely stripped her of any motivation she previously had to get any work done. Of course, that didn’t mean she was actually going to do nothing at all for the rest of the day, but it definitely meant she wasn’t in the greatest of moods about having to do anything she had been looking forward to earlier that day. When Juan eventually made his way down her loft’s ladder and towards the sofa, she’d finally gathered the strength to force herself to sit completely upright, trying to look as if she hadn’t just been laying down feeling sorry for herself for the last five minutes.
“What’s up, Juan? I thought you were working on your art today.” Tina asked, dragging her backpack towards her to recount the materials she had thrown in it earlier.
“I am, I have lots of paintings to finish today, but I need to ask you about something first.” Juan nodded, putting his hands behind his back, almost as if he was a little ashamed to ask such a question.
“Of course! What do you need? You need me to chase up some unpaid debts or something?”
“No, no, everyone on the list finally paid me this week, I’m okay. Actually, I need two things, but one isn’t really a thing, you know?”
“What do you mean by that? Juan, dude, if you need someone killed, you could’ve just messaged me, that’s kinda my job.”
“No! Not right now, nothing happened, it’s not like that. It’s, ugh, I don’t want to ask. It’s awkward.”
“Juan, seriously, it can’t be that bad, c’mon! I’m your sister, and as the older sibling, it’s part of my purpose here to help you.”
“It’s two minutes, Tina, that doesn’t count! We’re the same age!”
“Whatever! Seriously, what’s up? You’re like, I don’t know, you don’t get embarrassed like this. Come sit down, you look like asking me for help might actually knock you out.”
“I’m gross, Tina, there’s paint on my clothes, do you want it on your pillows too?”
“I can wash them, man, just sit down and talk to me before the whole house comes back and interrupts you.”
“Okay, fine, but no laughing. Seriously. I will leave the North for real this time.”
“Yeah, no, you won’t. I wasn’t even going to laugh at you in the first place, dude, I’m not that much of an ass.”
There was a brief moment of silence as Juan made his way over to sit beside Tina on the sofa, his hands pressed against his knees almost immediately, taking a deep breath before turning to look at the girl beside him. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he turned to face the TV screen, almost as if looking at her made the conversation much more embarrassing than he already thought it would be.
“I need advice on a situation. I wanted to wait to ask you but I can’t paint when I can’t stop thinking about this. I don’t know what to do, I just thought maybe you would know at least a bit more than me.” Juan spoke, his voice shakier than it had been moments before, having switched to speaking the language he felt more comfortable with.
“Oh, you meant really serious, fuck, uhm, okay. Wait, why me? You usually go to Foolish for this kind of help, right? What changed?” Tina questioned, making her communicator’s translation window a little bigger to keep up with her brother’s anxious words.
“Nothing! He’s just busy with the temple, I don’t want to go to the desert covered in wet paint, I’m not washing my apron just because sand got stuck to it. I can get a second opinion from him later if I need to, but after I paint.”
“Hmm, fair, I get it. So, what’s got you all worked up then?”
“It’s, ugh, this stupid love thing. I’m still hurting from him, but I want to be better, I don’t want to be scared anymore.”
“It’s barely been three weeks, Juan, of course you’re still scared. You don’t heal overnight, y’know? Trauma like yours is pretty serious, it takes more than a couple days of thinking about it to heal.”
“So you think I should be thinking about it more? I need to be more scared to get better? Really?”
“No! Not like that at all, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant, like, when you got back, I don’t think you really let yourself process it much outside of that day. With things like this, it’s like, I don’t know, you have to let yourself feel things, Juan. And I know it’s really fucking scary, love’s really weird on its own to be honest, but you have to hurt a little to heal, y’know?”
“Hmm, I get it, I need to deal with that feeling first to feel safe with love again, right?”
“Yeah, exactly! Maybe not while you’re working, don’t go being that vulnerable when you’ve got the Federation literally everywhere. Those fuckers feed off our fear, seriously, it’s crazy.”
“Clearly, they wouldn’t hurt us if they cared, I know that now. I’ll work on it at home then, maybe we need a secret room somewhere for talking like this.”
“Juan, man, I’m so serious, if you give me more work right now, I think I might lock myself in here for a month. Our rooms are fine for now, that’s why we have them! We need somewhere to be alone for a little while, right?”
“Mhm, right, maybe we need better locks though. I can work on them later probably, but I have to finish my paintings first. Thank you, Tina.”
“Wait, wait, you can’t be vague like that and just leave like you didn’t just drop some kind of bomb on me, come on! Why’d you even need my help with this? I thought you ended that whole back-and-forth with Graf a couple days ago, no?”
“I did! It’s nothing! I was just curious! I have work to do, Tina, and you do too, I’ll talk to you later!”
“No, nuh uh, you’re not leaving this conversation like that, how do you expect me to work if I’m thinking about this the whole time?”
“Fine! But if I find out you went and told anyone about this, I’ll pay Ash to hunt you down too.”
“I swear on my rank in this house that I won’t tell anyone. Not even Foolish, you can tell that guy yourself if you want him to know.”
“He can’t know, he would never let me hear the end of it, I think he’d laugh at me for the rest of my life if I told him.”
“Wait, is this about him?! No fucking way, are you serious?!”
“Fuck no! Ew, Tina! That’s not embarrassing, that’s just stupid.”
“Who then? There’s not many guys here you actually get along with enough to like them enough to talk to me about it.”
“You can’t laugh.”
“I already swore I wouldn’t, dude! Seriously! I’m not that mean to you, come on.”
“And you can’t tell. Nobody knows. No one.”
“I know, nobody knows, no laughing, don’t be an ass about it, I promise I won’t judge you.”
“So, uhm, you know the dates I had with Graf? And you know I told him I need time to get better, right?”
“Yeah, you told me last night, what about it? You didn’t lie to him to get out of it, did you? Juan, man, I love you, but you can’t do that shit to the poor guy.”
“I didn’t, I meant it! I’m still scared, I’m really scared, but I think…I don’t know. It’s nothing. Nevermind.”
“Hey, hey, I was just joking, I don’t seriously think you’d do that to him. You don’t really have to tell me, I didn’t mean to make you feel like you had to tell me before you’re ready to.”
“No, it’s okay, I need to tell someone, I can’t do it alone. I need help, Tina, just for a little bit. Please.”
“Of course, as long as you need me for, I’ll help however I can.”
“I think-” Juan started, cutting himself off to take a deep breath and to properly form his words before starting to speak again, “I think I might like him a little bit. Just a little. I don’t know, maybe I’m confused because he’s really nice to me and acts like he really cares about me, and he never did any of that. It’s so much scarier now, I don’t think I can actually love him, even if I want to.”
“It’s scarier to think of love when you’re actually considering it again, isn’t it?”
“Really. And I can’t work like this, but my work is very important, I don’t know what to do.”
“Be patient with yourself, that’s all you can really do. If you really do think you could love him someday, let yourself. It’s scary now, but one day, you’ll be glad you were brave enough to let yourself love again. And I’m not saying it’ll be easy, I mean, it’s really not, but that’s why you focus on healing first. If he really likes you as much as it looks like he does, he’ll wait for you to be ready. Spend time with him like you have been the last few weeks, be there for him when he needs you, you have to be patient, Juan. Healing takes time, you know?”
“I know, I just want him to think I’m worth the wait, I don’t want him to move on because I took too long to be ready. It’s so much harder now, that stupid fucking bear ruined everything.”
“Well, yeah, that’s kinda all he does. Even on the old island, that bastard loved ruining our lives. I mean, it’s not our fault his life sucks, he chose to do everything he’s done to all of us. But we’re stronger than him, we have family to get us back up on our feet, that’s more than enough. Sure, ours is a little broken, but we’re still here, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, we are. Thank you, Tina, this means a lot to me. I’ll think about everything you said, I’ll work on it, on myself. You’re the best.”
“I mean, if you say so! But seriously, I’m here for you, I’ll always be here for you. We can talk like this again whenever you want, make our own little girls night out of it, y’know?”
“I’m not a girl, how is it girls night if you’re the only girl?”
“Girls night isn’t just about being a girl, dude, it’s about gossip and movies and demons, it’s like a sleepover but way better. I mean, last week’s girls night was literally in the nether, we just fuck around and have fun!”
“So, sleepovers with adventures?”
“Exactly that! Or just regular sleepovers when you wanna talk about shit, I don’t know, I just think we’d actually get to talk about that stuff properly when you don’t have to worry about people listening in.”
“Hmm, maybe sleepovers every week then? On Tuesdays?”
“Perfect! Wait, wait, you wanted something else from me too, right?”
“Oh! Yes! I need you to go to Żabka and get me the bigger paints set, please. I’m running out already and the waiting list is very long.”
“What? Really? You came all the way back home to get me to buy you stuff? Your store is literally right around the corner! You could’ve gone by yourself!”
“Mmm, no, because I have to finish painting before it dries. If I’m not quick, I have to restart it, and I really don’t have time for that. I’m a very busy man, you know?”
“Hey! I’m a very very busy woman myself, I’m literally the general! We’re literally equally as busy, I was on my way to get work done in the casino!”
“See! You’re going to be there anyway, you can grab them on the way! Come on, I’m fragile, let me have this.”
“Dirty games, man, dirty games, you can’t use my emotions against me! You know what? Fine, but you’re cooking for tonight’s sleepover and next week’s too.”
“Deal! Thank you, Tina!” Juan smiled, giving the general a brief but warm hug before running over to the waystone by her window, teleporting away before she had the chance to say goodbye.
Smiling to herself, she watched as her brother disappeared from her room, sighing to herself as she finally forced herself to stand up again, throwing the heavy backpack over her shoulder as she made her way to the waystone, her hand tightly holding onto the structure as she teleported to Żabka. As she paid for the item he had requested and made her way to Mi Arte, Tina found herself thinking back to the conversation they’d just had. There was something so weirdly comforting about it, her brother finally feeling safe enough to open up to her about just how deeply his trauma had truly affected him, asking her for help instead of continuing to deal with it alone. Ever since she’d come back from her week-long mission, she’d watched as he pushed his own healing aside to continue working on his paintings, acting almost the exact same as she had been since her own return. It was almost as if the two siblings really believed that if they ignored their issues for long enough, they’d be magically cured of any hurt they’d ever experienced. Thinking about how she’d been dealing with the mix of her issues from this island and her previous home on Quesadilla Island, she almost laughed at herself, the similarities between the twins being so painfully obvious she was almost certain someone else must’ve picked up on it by now. And while it was a little funny to think about, it was far more heartbreaking to think about than she had imagined it would be. She hadn’t really had time since becoming Generalissima to think about everything she still hadn’t exactly processed properly, the bittersweet memories of an island that’d crumbled beyond recognition years ago resurfacing as if she had the time to be thinking of anything but her work. She’d yet to tell anyone on the new island about everything the Federation had stolen from her, only a small handful of the returning residents really understanding the reasons behind her pure hatred for the organisation. It wasn’t as if she didn’t trust anyone enough to tell them, nor was it that she hadn’t considered letting anyone see her so vulnerable, it was more the fear of her recklessness with such delicate information causing them to take another of her loved ones. The idea of such horrors happening to her ever again was absolutely terrifying, forcing her to stop just around the corner from her destination as she pulled herself together for just a moment longer, only continuing her task once she felt her slightly quickened heartbeat slow back to a regular speed. Dropping the paints off in Juan’s art studio, she quickly made her way out of the building and towards the neighbouring KFC’s waystone, flicking through the menu’s pages before finally landing on the one she’d been looking for. While looking for the Federation’s headquarters earlier that month, she’d stumbled across several biomes she had never had the chance to explore for more than a few minutes, noting down each location on her clipboard to revisit whenever she had the time to. However, there had been one place in particular that she found herself completely stunned by, using a spare waystone she’d stolen from a village to get herself back there much faster than walking would. A mystic grove is what her communicator had identified it as, the grass a vibrant teal and the trees a mixture of pale blues and deep purples, the calmer colour palette giving her plenty of peace to really allow herself to think properly for the first time since arriving on this island. Dumping her backpack on the ground, she dropped herself right beside it, staring towards a nearby lake as she finally felt her body relax.
Maybe hiding away in a forest thousands of miles away from her home wasn’t the brightest idea with the nightmares the North was currently facing, but allowing herself to get lost in her own thoughts at home in the middle of the day felt far worse than the dizziness caused by teleporting such a far distance in such a short amount of time. From where she sat, she could just about see the start of a redwood forest, the deep red logs standing tall, towering above the much smaller trees surrounding her. To her, those red logs felt like a taunt, some kind of sick joke to purposely pull the memories of the blissful life she’d once lived forward. A faint memory of a deep red wooden home came rushing to the front of her mind, the gorgeous cherry colour standing out amongst the pale green of the ground it’d been built upon. Its owner often wore a very similar colour scheme to the home she’d built with her own two hands, a gorgeous chestnut brown jacket usually thrown over the light blue shirt she was most often found wearing. Funny, Tina swore she remembered the owner telling her just how much she really disliked the colour of the planks she’d used to craft her home. Something about seeing something so similar after all these years broke her, a few silent tears falling from her eyes as she continued to look into the distance. It was as if she truly believed that if she stared for long enough, it’d somehow bring that gorgeous home and its remaining residents back to her, as if it hadn’t come crashing down with the rest of that island the day the outbreak took over. Even now, with her rank as Generalissima and her twin brother finally back in her life, she found herself desperately wishing she could go back to her days on that island. Hell, she’d much rather sit in the ruins of that very home than continue to watch the Federation harm the ones she loved, willing to allow herself to be consumed by whatever remained of the code outbreak. She wanted nothing more than for her family to come back to her, to hold her baby girl in her arms just once more, to have her darling wife comfort her one last time, to be with them for one final moment after everything this new island had done to her. Maybe it was stupid of her to think the universe would ever grant her such an outrageous wish, but for her girls, it was always worth the risk. Thinking of them after so long ached like nothing she’d ever felt before, far worse than the raging headache or broken hands she’d only just healed from, far worse than any of the thousand times she’d had a sword plunged into her body. Losing them felt like her heart had been torn from her chest, almost as if the Federation knew just how much she needed them and chose to take them from her on purpose, just as they’d already tried to do again with Juan and Aldo. It was almost as if they had it out for her in particular, as if she’d been the biggest threat to whatever they did when they weren’t tormenting the ones they were supposed to take care of. Hadn’t they done enough? Was taking her entire universe away from her not enough? Was she not supposed to feel happiness ever again?
Thinking of her family back home in the North, Tina couldn’t help but imagine how different things could’ve been if her wife and daughter were still around. Instead of spending her days feeling sorry for herself and putting her work aside to try and fix the bonds she’d already broken, maybe she would’ve been much easier on herself. Maybe, instead of blaming herself for everything she loved collapsing right in front of her eyes, she’d finally learn to take her own advice and allow herself to heal before jumping right back into her work. It felt selfish to ignore her new friends when they tried to help her heal but wish for someone else to come and take that job instead, but it wasn’t like she was actively choosing one part of her family over the rest, she was just desperate for familiarity. And if that familiarity just so happened to be the only people that kept her from going insane after the things she’d been through in the past, who was she to reject two of the most important people in her life?
Truthfully, part of her still held on tightly to the hope that someday, she’d see her daughter and wife again. It didn’t feel right to move on as if they’d never existed in the first place, but it still didn’t feel right to tell everyone around her about everything she once had. The night she’d returned from her mission, standing in the pouring rain at the top of Aldo’s castle, she’d almost considered telling him about them. About why she couldn’t let herself sit back and “enjoy” the island while the Federation continued to torment everyone around her. If she’d known her silence would cost her one of the greatest friends she’d ever had, maybe she would’ve gone through with it, allowing herself to finally tell someone just how deep her hatred for the ones that took everything from her really went. But in that moment and several more conversations that followed, she found herself unable to go through with it. The thought of someone sinister finding out such delicate information and using it to harm her sent shivers down her spine, causing her to give up on the idea of ever telling anyone about the family she’d lost. Well, perhaps she’d ignore that rule for just one person in her new house, simply because she couldn’t bear the idea of never telling her brother a single thing about the person she used to be and the ones that kept her that stable. She would’ve loved to see what he thought of them, feeling bittersweet for a life she’d never had the chance to experience. He would’ve loved sitting in his art studio with his niece, the two of them painting together all day long as if nothing in the world could ever harm them again if they only allowed themselves to think of the art they were creating. Maybe they would’ve worked on paintings for his clients together, the museum decorated with plenty of artwork from both of her family members, the artistic duo adored by the entire island. Her wife would’ve loved working on her investigations into the Federation and its history of questionable actions with the holder of her brother’s heart. In an ideal universe, the five of them could love freely, unafraid of what anyone on the island had to say about who they dedicated their love to. Seeing her brother so scared of such a beautiful feeling was heart-breaking, and knowing that she herself wasn’t much better despite wanting to love again, it just made it all so much worse. Maybe if her wife was still around, she would’ve been of more help to him than Tina herself could be. Her wife had always been good with her words, always the one to calm their daughter down when Tina found herself unable to help. It just seemed to come so naturally to her, almost as if helping those around her was exactly what she’d been born to do, her point proven by the line of work her wife had been in. Thinking of what could’ve been if the universe had been kinder to her felt so wrong, as if she wasn’t grateful for the few good things she’d been allowed to keep hold of. But really, all she ever wanted was her family to feel complete, to finally feel truly loved again. She wanted to share that love with the ones she cared about, for them to feel the warmth she had once felt as if they’d always been together. Was it really that selfish of her to ask? For her fragile brother to see that love didn’t always have to end badly for him, that he was worthy of being adored by someone?
By the time she’d finally had enough of the bittersweet memories flooding her mind, the sun was already tucking itself behind a blanket of fluffy clouds, a gorgeous golden hue painting the once vibrant blue sky. Another day completely wasted, not a single block in the casino placed once again. With a sigh, she reached into her backpack to retrieve the communicator she’d tossed in there hours earlier, re-attaching the device to her wrist as she switched it back on. To her surprise, there had been a number of messages waiting for her response, most of which came from her brother. Of course, she’d almost completely forgotten their arranged sleepover that evening, a string of curses escaping her mouth as she rushed to type out a reply.
ElJuaniquilador sent you a message : Tina???
ElJuaniquilador sent you a message : Where are you??
ElJuaniquilador sent you a message : Are you okay??
TeanaKitten sent a response : juan omg i’m so sorry D:
TeanaKitten sent a response : omw home, see you in my room in five?
ElJuaniquilador sent you a message : See u there!
Quickly standing up and throwing her backpack onto her shoulder, Tina sprinted towards the waystone, her warp stone still deciding it didn’t want to do its job. Flipping through the list of locations again, she finally landed on her room, holding onto the stone structure tightly as she allowed herself to be transported back to the North. Finally back, she rushed to change out of her dirty clothes, swapping her explorer’s attire for her favourite pyjamas. As she prepared the room for the night ahead, she found herself thinking of them again, only this time was much more pleasant than the hours she’d spent crying for the life they should’ve had together. Maybe, just maybe, opening up a little to the only family she really had left wasn’t such a bad idea after all. He’d been brave enough to open up to her earlier that day, perhaps it was finally time to allow herself to be a little more vulnerable for once. Maybe he too would find comfort in the beautiful life they could’ve had with their loved ones had the universe not been so cruel. A perfectly peaceful world, crafted with care for the two twins, finally allowing them a break from the nightmares they were forced to endure.