#it’s also Lucario day today but I haven’t had the time to draw more than this

[atompalace-official]

July 16th 🌈🤍 happy birthday Cure Prism!!! 🩵💕

[11jj11]

Far From Yesterday - Ch 18 - Marissonshipping

Here’s chapter eighteen.

Alex sighed as his claws dug at the dirt.

He still wasn’t quite sure how he had let Lucas convince him that trying to tunnel out was a good idea– because the Charmeleon knew quite well that you couldn’t dig your way out of a building. However here he was, claws pawing at the compacted soil as he tried to claw his way deeper.

He was currently about four feet deep, and the earth was only getting harder the farther he down he went. His tail flames were the only light in the shadowy corner of their enclosure, but on the bright side the shadows did hide their hole from the humans. Lucas was keeping watch for any sign of their keepers as he dug, and also spreading out the dirt Alex was digging up in an attempt to make things looked undisturbed as possible.

‘This is stupid,’ Alex declared after several more minutes of digging, peering out of the hole. ‘Even if we could dig out of here do you know how long it would take to make such a tunnel?’

Lucas was currently laying in the dirt, half asleep. The Electrike lifted his head as Alex spoke, before laying back down, stretching out.

‘I am the alpha for today,’ Lucas declared. ‘And today we work on the tunnel!’

The Electrike type had decided that they’d switch off every other day being the “alpha of the friendship”, and Alex wasn’t quite sure why he was playing along. He was stronger than the canine– and could win any fight for leadership with ease! In fact, he technically already had, with their first fight from when he first arrived here several days prior!

‘Well then, Alpha,’ Alex said, making no effort to keep the sarcasm out of his voice as he jumped out of the hole. ‘I’m going to take a break.’

‘W-wait– what?’ Lucas cried, sitting up in alarm. ‘No! You gotta keep digging!’

Alex grinned, slowly approaching the Electrike. He took up an aggressive position as if hoping to scare Alex back into digging, fur up and bristled as he growled, sparks coming from him. The little Pokemon looked more cute than intimidating however, and Alex simply lean down and grabbed him by his scruff, setting him aside before he could even release an electric type move.

The Charmeleon stretched out, sinking down onto the dirt ground, right where Lucas had been laying. Honestly, he didn’t care where he was, but it was definitely funnier to take his “alpha’s” spot. He let out a content sigh, flexing his claws in hopes of getting the dirt out from between them.

‘H-hey! I was there first!’ Lucas cried, slamming into his side with a Quick Attack. When that failed to make Alex move the Electrike switched over to a Thunder Fang, biting down onto Alex’s arm. The fire type flinched, opening his silver eyes to glare at the green canine.

‘...You know too many electric type moves,’ Alex said after a moment of thought, yawning. ‘If you ran into a ground type all you’d have is Quick Attack, which won’t win you a battle on its own,’ Alex laughed. ‘And if it was ghost type too, then you’d have nothing!’

‘...What?’ Lucas asked, pausing from his attacks. ‘Types what?’

The Charmeleon lifted up his head. ‘You do know about types, right? I’m fire, and you’re electric? Your moves reflect that?’

‘Well, yeah,’ The Electrike said, sparking his fur. ‘I use lightning like the rest of my pack. But what does ground Pokemon have to do with anything? I just zap my enemies until I fall! I mean– until they fall!’

Alex blinked, realizing that a wild Pokemon probably wouldn’t have a good idea of how all of the types matched up. They trained to survive, not for battles like human-raised Pokemon did. They probably didn’t need to know every little matchup there was– because why would a wild electric type care about something small, like poison resisting fighting type moves? It had nothing to do with them.

But shouldn’t he at least know the basics of his own type? Like that against a ground type his electric moves would be useless?

‘Ground type Pokemon are immune to electric moves,’ Alex explained. ‘And ghost are immune to normal. If those are the only types of moves you have then you can’t damage them.’

Lucas blinked at this, sitting down in thought. He tilted his head slightly. ‘Oh. That’d explain why I could never hurt the rock Pokemon in that cave back at home.’

‘Rock types aren’t immune to electric types,’ Alex said. ‘Ground types are.’

‘Then why couldn’t I hurt the Geodudes with lightning? They’re rock Pokemon,’ Lucas said.

‘Well, they’re ground types too!’

‘Too complicated,’ Lucas said after a moment of thought, flicking his tail in dismissal. ‘What does matter though, is the idea of other moves,’ His eyes gleamed, and he took a step towards Alex. ‘Can you teach me a move that can hurt the rock Pokemon?’

Alex glared at him. ‘Moves that can hurt ground types.’

‘...A move that can hurt a Pokemon made out of earth...’ Lucas said after a moment of thought– clearly not about to say anything that would suggest that he had been wrong, and Alex sighed. But teaching a move did sound much more fun than digging a hole, or even sleeping, since that was basically all he did at home.

He studied the Pokemon, wondering just what move he could teach him though. His claws were way to small to learn a scratching based move like Shadow Claw, and he knew that a non-dragon-like Pokemon would probably have no chance of learning Dragon Pulse.

But Lucas did have a strong looking jaw, and he already knew Thunder Fang.

Alex’s teeth lit up with flames, the Fire Fang forming as he launched himself towards Lucas. The electric type yelped, leaping back as Alex crunched down on where he had been moments before. Smoke curled up from the Charmeleon’s jaw as he rose to his feet, stretching out as the Electrike trembled in surprise.

‘I will teach you Fire Fang,’ Alex said. ‘You already should have the basics down, your Thunder Fang wasn’t half bad after all. I just need to teach you how to summon fire, and teaching you that could be useful for me as well since I’ve been trying to learn a new fire move for a while now.’

‘What move?’ Lucas asked, bouncing forward excitedly. ‘I wanna learn that one!’

Alex held his head up proudly. ‘It’s only a move certain fire types can learn,’ The Charmeleon said with an air of importance. ‘It requires vigorous training– it’s a man-made move, not natural. Mother always told me that if I could learn it then I could learn the even more powerful Blast Burn too.’

‘Show me the move!’ Lucas demanded.

Alex pulled back slightly. ‘I, um, haven’t fully mastered it yet.’

‘Show me!’

The Charmeleon sighed, before turning to face the wall. He closed his eyes, concentrating on heating up his body. He knew how to breath fire, but forming it outside of his body took a lot more effort. He focused on his tail flame, trying to will the embers to spread across his body. He could feel his scales heating up, and he curled his claws into a fist, trying to draw all of his fire energy to a single point.

A burst of fire surrounded his claws, the mass of fire surging up in size, before exploding as it formed. The force of the energy being released knocked him to the ground, a grunt of pain escaping him as the flames surged up around him. The flames only lasted for a moment, dying as quickly as the energy had flared out, smoke drifting up towards the ceiling.

Alex heard Lucas coughing on the smoke, but as a fire type Alex was fine with the smoke. He struggled to his feet, a sinking feeling in his chest knowing that he had failed again. As the smoke cleared he could see Lucas grinning at him, looking very pleased.

‘Awesome,’ He breathed. ‘What move was that?’

‘It was supposed to be Fire Pledge,’ Alex muttered, looking away. ‘I’m supposed to form a bunch of fire, and then you strike the ground. Then a huge column of flames rushing towards your target, and engulfs them in a pillar of fire,’ He sighed. ‘But I can never get it to work.’

‘Who cares– that was awesome!’ Lucas cried. ‘I want to learn it!’

Alex scowled. ‘I already told you, only certain Pokemon can learn it– and you’re not one of them,’ He huffed. ‘Besides, if I don’t have it mastered then how can I teach it to you? I’ll show you how to use Fire Fang, but nothing else.’

Lucas let out a frustrated growl, but Alex simply glared at him. The Electrike pulled back slightly, before looking away.

‘...Fine,’ He muttered. ‘Teach me Fire Fang...’

-------------------------

He let out a sigh, before glancing at the bars. He was surprised that no humans had come by to see what the explosion was. He stared for a moment longer, before shrugging and returning his attention down to the small canine at his feet.

“Mairin jump– Mairin you gotta have him jump–!”

Mairin swore she was smashing the jump button, but yet the little character on screen stayed in place as it was blasted with an attack– her health bar falling to zero.

“I was jumping!” Mairin protested, letting the controls fall into her lap. “I was pressing the jump button– I shouldn’t have died!”

Max grinned at her, the screen fading to black as the video game took them to their last spawn point. “You were pressing the A button– B is the jump button.”

She glanced down at her controls, before realizing her mistake. “Oh... sorry. I really haven’t played this game before, at least, I don’t think I have.”

“You haven’t,” Max confirmed, his focus returning to the TV. Mairin picked up her controls, guiding her character after Max’s. “But you have watched me play this game many times before. Okay, remember to keep your aura bar high– we’re going to need it for the next boss battle– Registeel.”

“Easy enough,” Mairin replied, pressing the jump button a few times to make sure she was pressing the right key, the digital Lucario on screen jumping in response. “We have the type advantage.”

Max’s ‘Sir Aaron’ character swung his staff at an attacking glob of energy. “We actually do for all of the bosses– all of the Regis are weak to fighting types. Something you think the Tree of Beginning would have figured out.”

Mairin grinned, charging an Aura Sphere before releasing it. “It’s just a story Max, I mean, this whole game is based off of that movie that Ash and Serena were in– which I still want to see, by the way– if you have a problem with the characters you should complain to the director.”

“...The Tree of Beginning is a real place,” Max said quietly. “I’ve been there– and there really are golems guarding it.”

“Cool,” Mairin said, gritting her teeth as her shoulder flared up in pain, but she simply focused on attacking an Aerodactyl-shaped glob with another Aura Sphere. “What was it like– woah!”

Lucario sudden sped across the screen, so quickly that it looked like his character had teleported.

“Nice, you’ve unlocked Extreme Speed,” Max said. “Definitely one of the better moves– I usually play as Lucario and I use it all the time. If you’re on low health you can use it to get away, and it can deliver decent damage as well. Press the R and L keys at the same time to use it.”

“Um, okay,” Mairin said, looking down at the controls to find the buttons Max was talking about. As she did so one of the enemy globs attacked her. She yelped as she heard her health going down, but fortunately Max had Sir Aaron move in to cover Lucario, an aura shield covering them. “Sorry...”

“You’re good,” Max said with a grin. “It’s fun to have someone to play with. Bonnie will play with me, but she’s not over here that often,” He glanced off to his left. “And then Alain will never play with me.”

Their gazes turned towards the dark haired man in the corner, who was taking a sip of his coffee. Alain glanced up as they looked at him, sighed, then returned to reading the book he had in his hands. Mairin chuckled at this, her gaze swiftly returning to the screen to make sure she wasn’t attacked again.

“You should play, Alain,” Mairin said. “It’s a pretty fun game.”

“Queen Rin’s character is still available,” Max said with a grin. “I think she’d suit you perfectly~ She even has a fire type like you, a beautiful shiny Ninetales, and–”

“Max, shut up,” Alain said, not looking up from his book. Ruby was curled up at his feet, the Absol fast asleep.

“Be nice,” Mairin chided, eyes still on the TV. “And he’s right, you should lighten up a bit, and have some fun.”

“This is fun,” Alain replied, turning a page in his book. “And if anything, you should be resting. You just got out of the hospital a few days ago, you don’t want to stress your body more than it has been.”

She grinned. “I’m playing a video game, I am resting.”

“Aura crystal up ahead,” Max said, drawing her attention back to the game. “That means a checkpoint! I think Registeel should be right after this, if I’m remembering right.”

Their characters touched the giant blue crystal, their health bar and aura energy bar rising to full. Mairin leaned back against the couch as Max saved their game, flexing her fingers. She wasn’t use to holding the controller, so her hands felt a bit stiff. But the game was fun, and it helped take her focus away from the pain of her wounds.

“We good to go?” Mairin asked as they saved at the checkpoint.

“Yep,” Max said, having Sir Aaron move across the screen. “You’ll want to stick with Aura Sphere and Bone Rush for this fight– Bullet Punch will be useless. Extreme Speed won’t do much either, but it will be useful for dodging attacks,” He sat up a bit. “This Registeel knows Shockwave, so the only way to avoid being hit by that is to be behind Aaron’s aura shields, so if Registeel starts to spark get behind my character.”

Mairin tried to listen, but she was still new to the concepts of the game. She did understand Pokemon battling, but having that format in a video game was different than a real battle. She tried to have Lucario follow after Aaron, but she discovered she had no control over the character– it was a cutscene.

The camera dramatically panned over Registeel, and Mairin blinked, the graphics looking much more realistic than the video game so far. As the screen panned over Sir Aaron though, and she saw the familiar gaze of Ash. That’s when she realized that this wasn’t video game graphics– it must be a clip from the movie.

She knew that most movies used Zoroark illusions when it came to legendaries– but man did that Registeel look real!

“It always goes straight for an Iron Head,” Max advised. “Be ready.”

As Max promised, the Registeel’s form began to gleam silver– rushing straight at Sir Aaron. Max’s face was calm, fingers flying across the controls as he had his character form an aura shield. The steel type legendary slammed into the shield, and Max followed up with an Aura Sphere. He glanced briefly at Mairin, and then she remembered she should be fighting as well.

A loud ringing filled the room as she had Lucario slam a Bone Rush into the Registeel. Alain pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, glancing at the number. He blinked, closing his book and setting it aside. He pushed himself to his feet, heading towards the door, careful not to disturb Ruby as he did so.

“I need to take this,” He said, sliding off his reading glasses as he answered the phone. “Hello? Yes, this is Alain...”

Mairin glanced over her shoulder as he left, before returning her gaze to the TV. Max’s gaze was locked on the TV as well, brown eyes narrowed behind his glasses, his whole focus on the game. He was definitely experienced at the game, guiding his character through the boss fight with ease.

“Mairin, cover me,” He said, throwing up an aura shield as the battle continued. Mairin nodded, though he couldn’t see this, moving her Lucario in closer to strike with a Bone Rush. She grinned as Lucario landed all five hits, before she swiftly had him retreat from a Hammer Arm with an Extreme Speed.

“It has a lot of hit points, doesn’t it?” Mairin commented, used to having their foes fall by now, but the Registeel was still standing.

“Wouldn’t be a boss fight if it was easy,” Max said, a small grin on his face as he blocked another attack. “I should be Sir Aaron more often, having a force shield is nice.”

“Um,” Mairin began, trying to both talk and battle at the same time. “Who do you usually play?”

“Lucario,” Max replied, slamming Aaron’s staff against the Registeel. “He’s my favorite character... I guess you can say I have a personal history.”

“Oh,” Mairin said. “Sorry I took your favorite.”

Max laughed. “It’s just a game, I’ll survive. Besides, playing as Aaron is pretty fun,” He paused. “Here comes the Shock Wave– get behind me.”

She had Lucario jump over towards Aaron, and Max formed an aura shield just as a burst of electricity was released from the iron golem. Mairin charged an Aura Sphere, releasing the burst of energy out at the titan. It staggered back, health approaching half. Her fingers were feeling a bit stiff, her burns from Alex hurting as well, but she stayed silent.

“Let’s combo an attack,” Max said.

“How?”

“Charge an Aura Sphere and press the C button,” Max replied, forming an Aura Sphere of his own on screen. Mairin mimicked him, a glow surrounding the two characters as soon as she pressed ‘C’. The twin Aura Spheres began to grow, the glow becoming brighter.

“Focus Blast,” A deep voice echoed from the TV speakers, and Mairin had to stiffen a laugh at the voice. The two Aura Spheres merged, surging into a giant blue pulsing orb, the Focus Blast being launched at the Registeel– sending the titan flying across the screen. The attack took a fourth of its health, causing Max to let out a cheer.

“Come on, let’s finish it off before it can heal,” Max said, leaning forward eagerly.

“It can heal?!” Mairin cried.

“If you don’t defeat him quickly enough,” Max replied, having Sir Aaron charge forward with his staff raised.

Mairin quickly flexed her fingers, before swiftly rejoining the fight. She wasn’t as engrossed with the game as Max was, but she still had a smile on her face as they played on. While she didn’t remember how she met Max, she just found she was always so much happier around him. He was just so genuine, and she simply knew that he was her friend.

“Come on...” Max whispered, leaning forward eagerly as they brought the Registeel’s health down into the red. Mairin couldn’t do the same, it was easier to just stay still because of her injuries. “We don’t have enough aura to combo again... um– use the rest of your aura to use Heal Pulse on Aaron– if I faint there’s no way we’re going to win this.”

“I won’t be able to use Aura Sphere again if I do,” Mairin said, hesitating to lose her only ranged move. She wasn’t the best at fighting in close combat, since she wasn’t that great at dodging.

“I know, but Bone Rush should be enough for this fight,” Max replied, blocking a Hammer Arm with an aura shield. “Just do it– Heal Pulse is the L and A keys.”

She glanced down at her controller, doing as Max asked. Her aura bar fell to zero as the Heal Pulse was released, but his health bar began to rise. Max grinned, clearly more confident to get closer to the Registeel now that he could take some hits. He had Aaron swing his staff as he charged, starting to chip away at the last of the steel type’s health. Mairin had her Lucario character form a Bone Rush, but she lingered back, not wanting to get in Max’s way.

As an Iron Head hit Max she decided now was her time to charge in, the Bone Rush striking three types as she attacked. Registeel turned to face her, a Hyper Beam surging to life in front of him. Mairin yelped, barely managing to remember the buttons for Extreme Speed– rushing away moments before the move would have hit her.

“Perfect,” Max said. “It has to recharge now– come on– attack!”

She guided the Lucario in for another Bone Rush, while Max used his remaining amount of aura to launch two Aura Spheres. There was only a sliver of its health left as Mairin struck with the Bone Rush, the glowing rod striking four times. On the final blow the Registeel’s health fell to zero, the mighty golem staggering to the ground.

“Nice Mairin!” Max cried. “You defeated the first boss!”

She let the controller fall into her lap. “Heh... you did most of the work...”

“But I’ve been playing this game for ages, and this is your first time playing,” Max said, grinning. “It took me three tries to defeat Registeel the first time I played– you were awesome!”

“Thanks,” Mairin said, knowing that she would have lost if Max hadn’t been playing as well. “Um, is it okay if we stop here? I’m pretty tired...”

“Of course,” Max said, saving the game. “We’ve been going for a while anyways– I’m sure Sycamore is going to drag me off to help with dinner soon anyways. Are you going to eat with us again tonight?”

“Yeah, my morning sickness hasn't acted out since I’ve gotten home from the hospital,” Mairin said, leaning back against the couch. “You don’t know how nice it is to just be able to eat now, you know?”

Max was about to reply– but a loud thump from upstairs cut him off. Silence settled in the lab for a moment, everyone looking up. Even Ruby raised her head from her nap, a look of concern in her eyes. No sound followed the thump, and Max gave an uncertain smile.

“Alain must have knocked something over,” Max said, standing up to turn off the TV.

Mairin didn’t reply, her gaze on Ruby. The Absol was completely tense, her expression unreadable as she dug her claws into the carpet. Her namesake eyes were wide, a nervous look slowly crossing her face. Mairin sat up a bit, gaze still locked on the dark type as she did so.

“Ruby?” She asked quietly. “Is everything okay?”

The Absol looked at her, giving a low whimper.

The door opened to the TV room, and Mairin looked up expecting to see Alain, but instead Professor Sycamore entered. The man had a gentle smile on his face, nodding at Mairin once, before turning his attention to Max. “Can you come help the girls with dinner?”

Max flashed Mairin a smile, before looking at the professor. “Of course, sir, what are we having tonight?”

“Pulled pork sandwiches,” He replied. “They have most of it done, but the more hands we have the sooner we can eat. Are you going to join us tonight?”

“Um–” It took her a moment to realize the question was for her. “Uh, yeah, I am. Just count me in from now on, Professor. Is there anything I can do to help.”

“You can stay in here and rest,” Sycamore said, crossing his arms. “And don’t say it doesn’t hurt as much, no matter how true that is your body still needs plenty of rest.”

“And I can rest and help,” Mairin said, pushing herself to her feet. This caused the boys to flinch, Max stepping towards her nervously. While her body did flare up in pain, it faded just as quickly. “It doesn’t have to be something big– just let me help! You guys have been doing everything for me!”

Before any reply could be formed the door swung open once more, and Professor Sycamore glanced over his shoulder. “Ah, Alain, my boy– could you please explain to your wife that she needs to rest–” He suddenly paused, concern washing over the professor’s face. “Is everything alright?”

Alain stood in the doorway, gaze slightly distant. He didn’t reply right off, skin pale, eyes sweeping across the room. Mairin frowned as she watched him, his head hung low as he looked at them. His piercing blue eyes settled on her, and her stomach twisted when she saw the look on his face. Alain looked away, mouth opening, but it took several moments for any words to form.

“I... I need to talk to Mairin,” Alain whispered, voice shaking, gaze slipping down to the ground.

“Is everything okay?” Professor Sycamore asked again, taking a step towards Alain, who looked away.

“I just need to talk to her,” He muttered. “Alone,” Mairin took a few heistent steps towards him. He glanced at her, before turning and heading towards the door. She stood there for a moment, before realizing he probably meant for her to follow him, and she stumbled after him. She could feel Max and the professor watching them as they left, but she didn’t glance back.

Alain was silent as he headed through the lab, and Mairin wasn’t quite sure how to break that silence. He paused at the end of the hallway, waiting for her to catch up, before once again heading down the hall. He refused to look at her, which only made her insides twist.

“...Alain?”

“I’d rather talk about this when we’re alone,” He whispered, turning to climb up the stairs.

She placed her hand on the rail, going upstairs being the last thing she wanted to do. Going up the steps only made her wounds hurt, and she was sure that he’d take her elsewhere if she mentioned this, but she didn’t want to press him when he was like this. She took in a deep breath, before following after him. Silence lingered around them as they went through the lab, Alain not saying a word until they came to a stop outside of his room. He paused, hesitating, before glancing at her.

“Is it okay if we talk in here?” He asked.

“...Yes?” Mairin said uncertainly, and he pushed the door open.

Not much had changed since she had last been in his room– all of her stuff had been officially moved to her current room a while ago now, the only sign that the two of them had once shared this room was her empty half of the closet. He closed the door behind them as they entered, pressing up against the wood, a slight tremble in his body.

“Alain, is everything okay?” She asked in a hushed voice, and he turned to face her.

There were tears in his eyes.

“Alain...?”

“Mairin, that phone call I got, it was from the d-doctors,” He said quietly, taking a few steps towards her, and she frowned.

“The hospital said I was fine,” Mairin said uncertainly, but her words did nothing to lessen the tension in the room. He took in a ragged breath, clearly trying to keep himself composed as he spoke.

“It wasn’t about you...” He began uncertainly, his eyes locked on hers. “...Do you remember h-how I told you that they ran some tests on the b-baby...?”

A wave of cold washed over Mairin.

“Y-yes?” She whispered, a sense of dread running through her. She told herself that everything was okay. None of her injuries had been near the baby, everything was just fine...

“Th-they got the results back,” He whispered, and he swallowed. “M-mairin, it... it isn’t g-good...”

Her heart was hammering in her chest, Alain’s words echoing in her mind. She shook her head, taking a step back. “Alex’s attacks didn’t land near her,” Mairin whispered. “Th-that’s what you said! She sh-should be fine–!”

“It wasn’t the attack,” Alain whispered, reaching for her. “Mairin, the baby isn’t developing right... they said its a genetic defect, she’s–”

She stumbled back as he spoke, swiftly turning away from him as she took in these words. Alain fell silent, and Mairin’s arms wrapped around herself, staring at the floor, heart thumping loudly in her chest. A genetic defect... a birth defect of some kind...

“I... I don’t care...” Mairin whispered, hands going to her stomach. “It’s my b-baby, that doesn’t matter, she’s still my baby... I don’t care if something’s ‘wrong’ with her– she’s still just a baby!”

Alain’s hands grabbed her shoulders, and she could feel his trembling fingers. “Mairin, she’s not growing enough...” Alain whispered. “Th-they said her body won’t be strong enough to support itself and... a-and...” His voice cracked, and she knew he was crying. “And she probably won’t live past f-four months in the w-womb and... and...” A sob escaped him. “I’m s-sorry, I–”

Tears were running down Mairin’s face, but she was barely even aware of them, her vision blurring. They pooled in her eyes, no words able to escape her as she stood there. Her body was slowly starting to shake, fear thundering through her as she tried to take in what Alain had just told her. Her baby...

Her baby...

After everything she had lost, she was going to lose her baby as well.

“N-no...” Mairin whispered, chest aching. “N-no, they must be mistaken? Th-this isn’t happening, this isn’t...”

She didn’t say anything else, sobs escaping her. She hunched over, shaking harder as the tears came faster. Alain pulled her into a hug, trying to offer some comfort as she broke down. She grabbed Alain’s hands, trembling and twisting in his grasp. She spun around to face him, burying her head into his chest, hands grabbing his shirt. The sorrow was burning, making her chest ache, and everything in her screamed.

Alain was safe, Alain was warm, Alain was there. She had to get closer, but yet the pain wasn’t going away. He was crying too, she felt his tears as he buried his head into her hair, arms pressed against her in a desperation. Her baby... this wasn’t supposed to be happening... not to her baby, not to the innocent child inside of her...

Somehow her sobs became louder, even more painful as they were forced from her. Her body was crying with a sorrow she had never knew before– but yet it felt so familiar. Her muscles were making no effort to support her, simply going weak in Alain’s arms, and he gently set her on the bed, his grasp never loosening. It was terrifying how familiar all this was, how her mind whispered that she had been like this before.

The pain hurt, it hurt far more than the wounds Alex had left.

A child– her child– was dying.

And there wasn’t a thing she could do.

------------------

Mairin woke up feeling heavy.

Each breath was painful as she laid there, chest aching as she was slowly drawn out of her sleep, eyes remaining closed. A pair of warm arms were wrapped tightly around her, holding her close in almost a desperation. Her head was pressed up against a chest, where she could hear a familiar heartbeat thumping.

Perhaps a part of her should have been panicked, wondering how she had gotten into such an embrace, but there was only an empty look in her eyes as they fluttered open. She stared at Alain’s shirt, one of her hands grasping the material so tightly that her knuckles were white. She blinked slowly, turning away as she took in her surroundings. The sun was coming in through the window, lighting up Alain’s room. The sight was a gentle one, a peaceful one, one that should have been happy.

But there was simply an ache in her chest.

She blinked once, slowly remembering Alain holding her yesterday, cradling her long after her tears had run dry. They must have been up here for hours, but neither of them had wanted to go downstairs, neither of them had the will to move from the safety of the other’s arms...

The baby.

The single thought was like a knife– piercing straight into her aching chest with deadly accuracy. Despite the dryness of her eyes, the way they stung as she blinked, she could feel more tears entering them as yesterday began to flood her mind. Her eyes pressed shut, Mairin leaning into Alain as a sob began to build up.

Alain was awoken by her shaking, the silent sobs forcing themselves from her. His hands dug into her hair, bringing her head even closer than it already was. His warm fingers were ran through her hair, running down her back, searching for anyway to ease the pain rushing through her. But both of them knew there was nothing that could be done, that this pain they were feeling was there to stay.

“P-please...” Mairin rasped between her sobs. “A-alain, please,” She didn’t know how to face what life had placed before her– let alone know what to do next. “P-please don’t leave.”

He pressed his head against hers, his chest rising and falling as he breathed. It was strange to be this close to someone, to feel their every movement as he held her– but yet it was the closest thing to comfort she was feeling. The pain wasn’t lessened– but with him near it wasn’t pressing down onto her alone.

“I’m not going anywhere,” He promised, voice even quieter than a whisper.

Mairin quivered, another sob being forced from her.