16. Interlude III, Tarot II; The Chariot Causes The Star to Shine (3/3)

I awoke a few agonizing moments later in the dreamscape. The shifting training ground shimmered into existence around me.

I felt sick about killing people who had just been doing their jobs and who I could probably work with or see as comrades- but then I slammed myself back into focus.

I grimaced as I saw Anna and Jessa as their faces etched with evidence of hurt and concern that I had inflicted on them.

I had made them cry.

I don't ever want to make them cry.

The weight of my own stupidity pressed down on me as a suffocating burden.

I shook off the feeling of my immense cruelty back there and got down to business.

I approached them slowly.

My movements were hesitant and unsure but I spoke anyway.

"I'm sorry," I said with as much sincerity as possible.

"For real, this time. I can't say I love you yet, Jessa, but I will try. We've been best friends forever, but if Anna wants us all to be together, I won't disagree about being with a beautiful girl who has always had my heart- even if in a different way." I saw as my words began to coax a smile out of her sullen expression. Then she began to cry.

"What did I do?!" I shouted in panic.

"Never seen happy tears, you big dope! Thank you! Thank you so much!" She tackled me in a hug and bawled into my shoulder.

A few minutes later she had fallen asleep. Then she poofed out of existence into her next loop.

I frowned.

I wasn't able to give her the gifts.

I shook my head and turned to Anna.

"I'm more sorry than I could ever express, so I will try to use actions instead of words."

I stepped forward and went to bring her into a kiss, but Kirin interrupted.

"Ahem. No. Not while I'm here. Bye." Then he poofed out of existence.

I grimaced at his empty location.

It wasn't as if I was going to do anything in our currently reduced bodies. That didn't appeal at all despite how much I loved the woman who would become my wife.

I just turned back to her and gave her a soft and gentle kiss that held all of my love and feelings for her.

There was no steam or lust in the kiss as we just reaffirmed that we exist together in the same place again and that the love we hold for each other is more valuable than anything.

We pressed our lips together and wrapped our arms around each other in an embrace.

I reached into my pocket as she smiled beautifully as her face glistened with tears. My fingers brushed against her face as I wiped her tears away.

My other hand was in my pocket and brushing against the smooth, cool surfaces of the hair ornaments. I pulled them out, holding them out to Anna and placing Jessa's back into my pocket.

The black hair bow shimmered in the false light of the dream realm.

I looked at her with a sincere look of apology.

The golden coronet hairpin gleamed.

"So, I think this is a promise of a future where such nice things wouldn't need to be stolen."

Anna's face softened as she took the hair bow and hairpin, her fingers tracing their delicate forms.

A small, watery smile touched her lips. "Thank you, Darren, this wasn't necessary" she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "These are very precious and I will always wear them. I'll forgive you, because we're all at fault. and these definitely help." A playful smirk touched her lips, a glimmer of her usual teasing nature peeking through the tears.

Jessa appeared in the realm with a scowl on her face that returned a look of relief when she saw me.

So I took the sheath and hairpin, her amethyst eyes meeting mine. "Yeah…" she mumbled, her voice rough, uncharacteristically vulnerable. "Thanks, Darren. I fucked up. Anna fucked up. You fucked up. We all fucked up, and there's blame to go around." She held out the amethyst hairpin, her gaze holding mine. "But this one's yours. To put in my hair." she smirked and then shifted into a gentle smile. A genuine smile that was small but real lifted her lips into a gentle curve. "Whenever you see it, remember us. And remember…we're in this together."

Anna then held out the black bow and golden coronet, a hopeful look in her eyes. "Me too, Darren. Please?" she whispered. "I want to wear these... always."

I smiled and got to work.

----

Darren's perspective

I swung the Daito as the familiar cracking whip-like sound of the blade slicing through the air violently repeated. It was actually a sound that was starting to cause a comforting feeling to fill my body. I didn't know what that said about me, but I didn't want to think about it.

Maybe it was the fact that I was gaining strength, and that made me feel good.

Why was I gaining strength so fast?! What am I forgetting?! Fucking remember! Think! Don't let-

We can't feed them, Darren!

Now FORGET!!

Finding comfort in the strange and ethereal training ground was a herculean feat, so I would take it anyway.