lunarborn | [Action]

[After the events of the previous week, the mature thing to do would have been to would have been to take the awkward stares and deliver his humble apologies like a man. Yet after spending a week steeped in the most negative emotions he'd indulged in even the darkest of fantasies, it was easier to keep to himself.

He'd been spending quite a bit of time along the southeastern banks of the river running outside the village, staying outdoors to avoid the all-encompassing yet entirely oppressive forgiveness that awaited him at home. He would make amends and pay his dues in time, but for now, there was still the matter of coping with what was within him that the experiment had tapped to affect his actions.

The man lying faceup on the riverbank would still be visibly bruised despite sharing living space with a mage proficient in the healing arts. He'd been grateful to have been pulled from the precipice of death, yes, but wished to let the tender achy muscles, dark bruises, and angry gashes heal on their own as penance. It was in this way that he watched the sky begin to darken, chronicling the sun's slow journey towards rest.]

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I've done nothing to earn their forgiveness.

['Awkward' didn't begin to describe it. She bit her lip, caught between diving into the water and reaching for her clothes. In the end, she reached for her leotard. The truth was, she had been no more eager to seek out Cecil than he had with her, and that cowardice moved her to shame.]

I...well...I'm better? Uh, you?

But they shouldn't stay mad at you if you didn't mean it either..

They're too kind. As are you.

Then they should forgive you!

[She was making enough noise to be dressing, but he didn't move. As much as she sounded like she was covering up, there was still the chance that she wasn't.]

As well as can be expected. [Dead silence. When he did speak again, it was in a smaller voice.]

Thank you. For stopping me.

[A long, awkward pause, then a sigh.]

You're welcome. I had to, you weren't...yourself.

You can turn around now, if you want.

[Just the leotard, but at least it covered the important bits?]

[Stealth is not something Golbez is good at. Wearing a suit of plate armor does not exactly aid in this. So Cecil will probably be able to hear his brother coming by from quite a great distance.

He doesn't say anything at first, just sits down cross-legged next to Cecil and looks him over. After some time, he speaks up, his voice calm and understanding.] Atoning, are we?

[He turned, hesitantly, facing her while his eyes stared somewhere off to the side of her.]

You've gone to a healer, I hope.

[Her gaze couldn't quite meet his either, so she wasn't about to criticize. If only they could get past this extremely awkward phase...but some matters were difficult to rush, if not impossible.]

I am a healer, now. Not on par with Rosa, but the local healing spirit taught me. So, I'm...recovered.

[Though he heard Golbez coming to join him, Cecil didn't move to acknowledge him until after he spoke, even then without taking his eyes from the sky.]

I did terrible things. It warrants atonement.

[Rydia had grown so much since he'd last seen her. It somehow fit for her to be able to use white magic again, like things had come full circle and she'd reconnected with a lost part of her youth.]

Congratulations. I remember how much you'd loved it before. [His thoughts drifted to the games she'd make over healing his light wounds, and how much gil he'd wasted on the little treats and whims she'd demanded. The memory made him smile and chuckle softly, which in turn reminded him of the pain, and the fact that laughing wasn't very pertinent of him. The mirth petered out.]

Even if it wasn't truly your will? [It's mostly a rhetorical question. Golbez knows full well how Cecil would think in a situation like this.]

I should have interfered.

[Those memories briefly came to mind at Cecil's triggering and she smiled a little, remembering how easy it was to bend the guilt-filled dark knight to her whims. With those big eyes and a refrain of 'Mommy would have bought it for me' there was little Cecil wouldn't have done for her. What a brat. Her smile faded as Cecil's chuckle did.]

Cecil...I don't want us to avoid each other forever. We shouldn't be doing that here anyway, not when greater forces are set against us.

And if it was my will? [It was a quiet admission, one he would never be able to bring to someone other than Golbez. Nobody else would have understood it.] What if, somewhere deep inside me, that's the person I really am?

If that were true, how would you have overcome Mount Ordeals? How would you have bested Zeromus? No, Cecil, the dark shrouded your heart for a long time, but you don't truly belong in it. I would know.

Nor do I. And yet... [he paused, sighing.] You've no reason to forgive me for the things I did, less for the things I said.. The pull of this place is stronger than I'd anticipated.

[She couldn't argue with that last statement, having felt the same way before. However, Rydia wasn't about to let him slip away again without getting in some important comments.]

But I do forgive you. What happened...that wasn't you, don't you think I know that by now? You would never have behaved that way, where it not for the manipulations of our captors.

Perhaps. [He tilted his head to focus on Golbez' face, or at least the face he imagined existed beneath the helm. It wasn't quite relevant to the conversation at hand, but truly Cecil wanted anything but to be having the conversation at hand.] Do you remember our parents?

[He looked at her then at last. Though she'd become a woman physically, her face hadn't changed since he'd first met her. There was maturity in her young face, but also irrepressible innocence. He cherished that trait in her. It horrified him that he had nearly torn that innocence away from her.]

You've always been too quick to trust me. Though I thank you for it.

I do. In fact, a while back, there was an experiment where "Ghosts" of those we've seen dead appeared before us... Our father was one of the ones who came to me.

Truly? [This piqued his interest.] What was he like?

Our father was one of the most noble, kind-hearted, and giving men the world has ever seen. He was a teacher, first and foremost, always eager to share his knowledge, and determined to get those around him to learn.

Hnn. Interesting; x2 first name.

[And with that, Minamimoto smirks before waving at all the injuries]

Tree fall on you?

Not really.

[Rydia shook her head and smiled a little. She took a step closer since they finally made eye contact.]

I made you earn that trust, remember? As for...recent past, I can't blame you for what was beyond your control. Let's place that blame where it belongs and not let Them tear us apart.

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