2 weeks, 5 days
She trudged her way through mud silently.
“How’re you feeling?”
She shrugged. “Not dead.”
“Good start.” Argo sighed. “What’s on your mind, then?”
She cast him a suspicious glance, with the barest hints of a smile. “You always know.”
“Well, you’re MY Guardian. I wouldn't be a very good ghost if I couldn’t read you.”
She shrugged again.
“Is it Cayde?”
She groaned. “How?!”
“You have the spade clutched in your hand.”
She looked down at her hand, where that piece of her cloak was bunched up in her fist. “I didn’t even realize.”
“You were really deep in thought.” Argo gave the impression of a shrug. “So? Talk to me.”
She hesitated, stepping over a tree root in the process. “Do you think he’s okay?”
“He’s even harder to kill than you are. I’m sure he’s fine.”
She smiled slightly. He *was* unnaturally lucky. “What about the others?”
Argo hummed. “The last time I saw their locations, they were together. And on the ground.”
She ran her thumb over the white stitching. After all this time, the cloak proved to be sturdy. “Is that good?”
“It means they were closer to evac than we were. And in Zavala’s words, we’re stronger together. I have hope.”
She smiled tiredly. “You never fail to cheer me up. Now if we could just find anybody else.”
He nudged her cheek as she maneuvered through the trees. “I’m sure it’ll be soon. We just have to stay alive.”
“I’ll sleep soon.”
“I was going to add ‘eating’ to the to-do list this time, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“You sound like Leo.”
Argo’s voice lilted amusedly. “Because I sound like a waiter?”
‘I was gonna say very polite but I see the manners have left you anyway.” She smirked at him.
“I wasn’t wrong.” He suddenly flicked his shell forward. “The forest edge is up ahead. We can have a little picnic in the sun!”
“That sounds nice. Can’t wait to eat leaves and twigs.”
He laughed. “We have some berries too. And maybe after, you can take a nap, grumpy.”
She playfully swatted at him, and they made their way to the edge of the trees.
“I’d give anything to know if they were okay.” She sighed, dropping abruptly into the warm grass. “Just to see anybody. Anything.”
“We have to run across somebody soon.” His voice lilted hopefully. “Until then, we just have to survive. We can do that, right?”
She laid down, covering her eyes from the sun. “Yeah. We can do that.”
--
Nalim pet Europa’s hair quietly, watching the line of sunlight stretch across the floor. The head in her lap hadn’t moved for hours, and every time the paranoia won over, Nalim would check her pulse. But Europa hadn’t died yet.
Asha floated around the room, scanning the sleeping Guardians.
“What’re you doing?” Nalim whispered.
“Checking their heart rates.”
She quietly laughed.
Asha returned to her, hovering over her boot. She pointedly looked at Europa.
She shook her head.
“Have you had any dreams lately?”
“Regular or…”
Asha shrugged. “Just any.”
She nodded. “I’ve had nightmares. But they’re the normal kind. Thankfully. Ash...if I do…”
“I know.”
“That means it wasn’t of the Light.”
“I know.”
“If I stray too far…”
“I’ll yank you back. You’re my Guardian.”
They sat in silence for a minute. Both of them knew that wasn’t the answer she was looking for.
“But...so far so good.” Nalim sighed, eyes drifting down to her sleeping charge.
Asha settled on the tip of her boot. “Tell me about your nightmare.”
“You sure?”
“I’m keeping a log. And it’ll be a nice change of pace to hear something that doesn’t foreshadow catastrophes.” Asha smiled.
Nalim rolled her eyes. “Fair enough. It was Cal.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Not prophetic.” She traced her finger over Europa’s nose, but the dark cloud had already appeared in her eyes. “I was floating over her, trying to get down, but I just kept getting further away. She was…” Nalim tilted her head back on the wall. Her expression visibly hardened.
“Lim?”
“She was dead on a grave. Just laying on top of one.”
“Damn. That is dark.”
“Yeah, I wonder where my mind got that idea.”
Asha’s voice started up again, but the sunlight had passed over Europa’s eyes, and she started to wake.
Nalim nodded quietly. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“About...what?” Europa sat up, rubbing her face. “G’murnin.”
“Nothing you need to be concerned about. Worry about your projects.” She set a gentle hand on Europa’s back before standing. “And good morning.”
“My huh?”
“Eat and find Alexi. Okay?”
“Mkay.”
Nalim smiled, unbeknownst to anyone but her, and ruffled Euri’s hair, quietly chuckling at all the ways it stood up.
--
Alexi leaned on the fence, staring off into the view. In between his hands, he rolled the stem of a flower back and forth.
Lady spoke from behind him, surprising him out of his thoughts. “How’re you feeling?”
He offered his hand to her. She floated down into it gratefully.
“I feel...okay. I don’t feel weak. I don’t feel strong.”
Lady hummed. “Sometimes that’s all we can ask for.”
He nodded quietly, and his eyes wandered again over the horizon’s hills.
“Is the flower for Cali?”
He nodded again.
“Would it make you feel better to let it float away in the water?”
“Why?” His tone was merely curious.
“To…” She flicked her gaze past him, and resolved to speak to him again. “So you can have something to let go.”
He looked at the flower again, face almost unreadable. “Oh.”
“You don’t have to. It was just an option.”
“Would she like that?”
“I think she would’ve liked anything that helped you.”
This time he smiled slightly, and Lady’s eye lit up brighter because of it. “You’re right.”
“I’m getting better at doing that.”
He chuckled, a deep rumble of a noise. “Good for you.”
--
When she approached, he didn’t seem to acknowledge her presence. He kneeled on the wood of the docks, almost oblivious.
“Lexi?” Europa tilted her head, kneeling next to him.
He jumped. “Euri!”
“Heh, sorry to scare you. You seemed focused. What’re you doing?”
She saw the stem of the flower, and his submerged hand. But he didn’t seem to be moving.
“I’m…” Just like Nalim, she could watch the cloud form in his eyes. “It’s for Cali.”
“Oh. I see.” She raised an eyebrow. “You want to let it float into the water?”
He nodded.
“Then you kinda have to let it go.”
He didn’t move.
“Oh. I get it.” She sighed, putting her hand on his back. “That’s the hard part.”
“I...don’t want to.” His big shoulders started to shake. “I don’t want to let it go.”
“Hey hey, it’s okay. It’s okay. It’s not her, alright? It’s just for her.”
“I don’t want to let her float away.” The tone of his voice scraped at her ears. He sounded so full of grief.
She nodded, rubbing his back. “It’s not her, Lexi. It’s not. It’s okay.” She struggled to bite back her own emotions. “Hey, how about this. We both let this one go. Together. And then tomorrow morning, we get a different flower and do it again.”
“Again?”
“Yeah. So it’s less final.” She smiled slightly. “And she gets more flowers.”
“Deal.”
“Deal.” Europa rolled up her sleeve and stuck her hand in the water, wrapping it around the other side of Alexi’s. “3...2...1.”
They let it go, and one single blue flower floated in the water, ever so slightly leaving the shadow of the docks.