Three was trapped for another day, though time was not a graspable concept anymore. It had been so long Three didn’t remember what exactly they did to be put in there by Four. They were never able to control their crazy amounts of power, so they were often outcasted and feared by the other Algebraliens. But One was always their best friend. Three kept themselves locked away, knowing they weren’t wanted by anyone anyway. One disappeared before Three was even imprisoned. Who knows where she was now.
Three heard footsteps, not paying much attention to them due to the events of the objects from the EXIT escaping. Footsteps weren’t unusual anymore. But then they heard a voice, an oh-so familiar voice.
”… Three?” One hesitated. Knowing how long Three was gone, anything could’ve happened. She heard chains shifting slightly inside the cell.
“Three! Its me! One!” Three gripped the cell bars, and their face was slightly visible in the dark lighting.
“I… thought you were gone.” Three’s voice was barely a whisper.
“I thought YOU were gone!” One could barely hold back her emotions, Three’s voice sounded like it hadn’t been used in centuries. She felt like crying and laughing, she wanted to hold Three in her arms and ruin the others for doing this to her best friend. Her Three.
Three looked at her with silent anguish, a tear running down their face. One could see a glimmer of hope in their eyes though, which fueled her determination to get Three out of there and in the safety of her care. One forced open the door and slightly lit up the room with her magic, to fully witness the situation Three had been in. To her horror, Three had their hands chained together and their feet chained to the floor, definitely restricting their magic. She felt the urge to rip everything off them, but hesitated, she didn’t want to startle or put Three in any kind of discomfort. Three was beginning to cry more violently, all she wanted to do was hold them. But she needed to get the chains off them first and get them out of this place. She carefully removed each restraint, and then carried Three to teleport them into her realm, where Three belonged all along. They would never take them away from her again.
Once she was there, she sunk to the ground and finally embraced them in her arms. Three was in her lap and she could hear their loud sobs as they clutched at her chest. She held them closer and ran her hands through their hair. Whispering sweet nothings, “Shh. You’re safe now.” “It’s ok, I’m here.” “I will never let anyone take you away from me again.” Three’s sobs slowly lost their intensity, until they completely fell asleep from exhaustion. She chuckled, brushing strands of hair from their face and planted a kiss on their forehead. She let her lips rest there for a heartbeat, before picking three up. As she walked to her room, she admired how pretty her best friend was, even after being imprisoned for so long, unable to care for themselves. She made a mental note to take care of them when they woke up. tucking them in her bed, making sure they were safe and warm.
Three woke up, slowly, not abruptly like usual due to the hard ground of the prison cell. The soft blue light of One’s realm and the little yellow stars bringing comfort to the regained consciousness. Three jolted up, confused. They almost felt as if they were dreaming, until they slowly pieced together the events of the previous day. One had come back for them. Their face heated up at the thought of One’s arms around them. How she carried her so delicately in her arms, like a priceless artifact. Nobody had ever treated them like that, nobody but One. They sat up intending to get out of bed, to see their best friend again. The memories almost didn’t feel real, they wanted to see her face, to feel her to make sure she was real. But they were weak from being caged for so long, after a few steps they fell down with a loud grunt.
It was almost like they had summoned One. She showed up immediately at the door, “Three?! Be careful” She crouched down and held up their face, checking them for any injuries.
”I guess I never lost my clumsiness, eh?” Three rasped, giggling a little. They were so giddy to be around their best friend again, they couldn’t help but to act silly.
One looked at them with such a sad but loving gaze. “Same old Three I see.” They cupped their cheek, “Let’s clean you up, you deserve to feel as beautiful as you once were.” Three blushed, and One couldn’t help but smirk playfully. Three was finally here, lovelier than she could remember. “Come on, let’s go to my bathroom. Do you need to be carried?”
”No, no!” Three blushed intensely at the thought. “I can walk, see?” One helped them up, letting Three lean on her, but even then Three still struggled. One didn’t want to see her Three in pain anymore, it hurt her heart. She pat Three on the head and picked them up in a bridal carry with ease.
”We’ll get there, okay?” She cooed. Three weakly slapped her out of playful defiance. “We don’t want you getting any more hurt than you already are, you goof.” She playfully smacked Three’s hand away after setting them down in the bathroom. She then took their hand in hers, intertwining their fingers as she searched for a hairbrush. Three thought they would explode from the emotions they were feeling so abruptly, the change in atmosphere of a hard prison cell where no one cared to One’s loving support throwing them off.
One began to brush their hair, Three couldn’t help but wince at the pain of their knots being untangled. “Are you okay Three? Do you need me to stop?” The last thing One wanted was for Three to be in more pain.
”M’ okay.” they muttered, slightly embarrassed under the worried gaze of One. She put down the hairbrush and began to detangle Three’s hair by hand, scratching and massaging their scalp to soothe them. They couldn’t help but close their eyes and lazily close their eyes, relaxing into One’s touch. Before long, the brush was back and Three did not feel as much pain as before.
“Good job Three, you’re doing so well. I know how hard this must be for you. If we switched places, you’d just know I’d be whining up a storm!” Three laughed at this, One would never be able to go through the levels of isolation Three went through. Although, being trapped in the moon must’ve been pretty traumatic as well. They will have to ask them about how it felt sometime.
Three was amazed at how One could make them look so much more presentable, even if she just started with their hair. One then had to help Three bathe, due to her endless worries about them getting hurt again, and also Three’s lack of mobility. She carefully washed them, making sure they could feel brand new again, carefully massaging shampoo in their hair. Three could barely breathe as One cared for them. They could barely handle the level of care they were receiving, it felt foreign. Tears began to prick at their eyes, but luckily she was done. Once she got a towel around three, she realized Three didn’t have anything to wear.
”Stay here, don’t move, I have to find something that wont clash horribly with you.” Three rolled their eyes as one dramatically ran out of the room, they would never understand her comical obsession with fashion and beauty. Once One came back, she held a black button up with little embroidered yellow stars, and cream colored flare jeans with the same yellow stars.
Three pretended to be exasperated at the fact that One was putting them in such an extravagant outfit, but they secretly melted inside at One’s concerns. They hadn’t felt so loved before.
One helped them into their clothes, then styled their hair, just like she used to do. Once she was done, Three felt hot under her loving gaze as she saw the gorgeous number she once knew again. Three stifled yawned, making One yawn as well. Three started giggling, “We better get ready for bed, huh?” The strange dark blue sky of One’s realm grew darker as the bright yellow sun set.
One picked up Three again, taking them back to her room. Three slowly realized One would be sleeping with them, their face growing impossibly warmer. When they got there, One set Three down in her bed, then went to her drawer to pick out one of her many lounge outfits. Three couldn’t understand her ridiculous obsession with how she presented, she would be beautiful to them no matter what she wore.
One came out of the bathroom, turned off the lights and lied down in bed next to Three. She couldn’t help but stare at them with pure adoration, cupping their face like she was making sure they were real. Three blushed and internally panicked at the intimacy of this situation. One noticed this and chuckled, forcing Three to bury their face in her shoulder, trying to hide their ever worsening blush. One rubbed circles into their back, burying her face in their hair.
“I missed you so much, my love. I thought I would never see you again, never be able to show you how much you really meant to me.” Three froze at the confession. “I love you Three, my beautiful, strong Three.” Three felt tears pricking at their eyes again, and before long they started to sob again.
”I l-love you too.” They sobbed, voice cracking. One tilted their chin up and peppered loving kisses everywhere they could reach, their eyelids, nose, cheeks, and corner of their mouth.
“It’s okay love, you’re precious to me, and I will never let you go again.” Three fell asleep in her arms, feeling at peace for the first time in centuries.