[Her words are quiet, but no less sure. Of course she knows.]
Sometimes I think the orphans have it easy. [They're all orphans, aren't they? Just fortunate and less fortunate.] The younger ones, anyway. They don't remember losing their parents.
[Like yours. She knows it's coming before he says it, the inevitable way he can turn anything into a way to lift her up. She smiles, appreciating where his heart is. Her voice is lighter when she next speaks despite the words.]
I can't imagine spending your last few years with an accident that needs to be fed every few hours and doesn't sleep through the night. [To Gommage tired is a terrible fate. There's no way she was anything but a mistake--three years is nothing with a baby. They were gone before she could even form memories of their faces. Maybe for the best. They likely resented her making their lives more complicated.]
And who knows? If they had me any longer, we might not have crossed paths.
[She might not have been between families, and he and Emma may not have been open to taking in a child. Maelle knows she wouldn't be anything like the person she is today without them.]
[Oh, that's not fair and he knows it. Maelle wraps her arms around herself as if she's hit with a chill, looking to Gustave with a frown.]
... your apprentices can warm my seat while I'm gone.
[Maelle knows she's not just a seat at the table. She and Emma may not be as close as her and Gustave, but she's encouraged Maelle to be herself. So, maybe she's the one to blame for this stubbornness.]
But... I'll miss her, too. She does a lot of good here.
[For what little time Emma herself has left. Maelle keeps that remark to herself, shifting from one foot to the other in effort to shake the new layer of guilt. It doesn't work.]
[He's serious. More importantly, he's right. Maelle nods.]
She does. I will. Promise.
[Gustave can get her to do just about anything for the foreseeable future as long as it's not staying home. Maelle watches him in silence for a moment.]
[ Anything else. Stay here, he wants to say. Please don't go.
But if anyone's going to have any chance of getting her to change her mind, he can't keep arguing it now. She'll only dig in her heels, mulish, and lift her chin in her stubborn way, and he'll be right back to the beginning of this argument. ]
You'd better start training with the rest of the team. I'll talk to Alan tomorrow.
[Obediently, she nods. No complaints there. No smile, either, even when she feels a swell of excitement in her chest. Yes. This is what she wanted. She never wanted to upset Gustave, but no matter how she imagined this going, she knew he'd end up hurt.]
You were pulling punches? The huffing and puffing is really convincing.
[He's an old man. One she'll stay with to the end, if she can help it. Parting is inevitable, but Maelle will spend every moment she can by his side. Besides getting out of this place, this island prison, that's her greatest desire.]
[ He gives her a wry look — Maelle is faster and more precise than him and they both know it, but is she fast enough, is she precise enough — and feels like finding a rock to throw.
It wouldn't help. But it might help him, just a little. ]
We'll see if Lucien or Lune let you beat them so easily.
[As much as she loves to flaunt her skill, she worries. She worries about him. He's so talented with his blade, an excellent marksman, and his fabricated arm is more useful than his flesh and bone one would have ever been, but she hates the thought of him fighting for his life. Losing him here would be bad. Losing him in some strange, unfamiliar place... worse.].
I'll beat them. I'll beat everyone... and then I can tell Emma, see? I told you I'll keep Gustave safe.
[ It sighs out of him as he closes his eyes, then opens them again to look up at the arc of the Shield Done, high above. As if he could possibly find any answers there. ]
You know. The person you're supposed to listen to.
[Once she settled in with him and Emma, she was fairly obedient. Happy, actually, to please--especially Gustave. She quickly realized she hated disappointing him because he simply cared so much, and seeing him frown was worse than a slap. Making him smile or laugh was like finding gold.
But sometimes, she did have to disappoint him. Like now.]
Quite an exception to make. No wonder you've been so suspiciously obedient lately.
[ Except she hadn't been. Of course they've had their rough patches, but overall Maelle is sweet and he and Emma are lenient and... how had this happened? How had he not even suspected it?
(Had he suspected, and convinced himself it was impossible?) ]
[Maelle scoffs. She knows she's sweet, and he and Emma are lenient. They respect one another. They allow her freedom, and she doesn't cause trouble.]
I thought about having breakfast ready for you this morning, but that might have been a little too suspicious. You would have known precisely what I was going to ask you.
[Perhaps not. She does wonder if some part of him expected this, though. Attached as she is to him, something was going to happen the closer and closer his expedition approached.]
[Boyfriend? Independence? Maelle laughs at both suggestions. She doesn't think she would be a good girlfriend, protective of her alone time as she is, and she has very little limitations on what she does as long as it doesn't cause trouble. He's really reaching.]
... this is way more likely than either of those. Point proven, huh?
[ He pinches to bridge of his nose and rubs at his eyes. The headache that had been threatening before is beginning to bloom in his temples, thudding gently. ]
Imagine my surprise, then. Seeing as I never imagined this to be likely at all.
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You know it's not like I wanted to say goodbye to you, either.
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[Her words are quiet, but no less sure. Of course she knows.]
Sometimes I think the orphans have it easy. [They're all orphans, aren't they? Just fortunate and less fortunate.] The younger ones, anyway. They don't remember losing their parents.
[She will.]
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[ But they all carry the never-ending grief and the fading hope of Lumière with them, no matter when they lose the ones they love.
Sometimes he wonders if he was right or wrong, not to try again for children, a family, after Sophie. Too late now. ]
But then I feel sorry, you know. For the parents who never got to know them.
[ He slides a glance over at her. ]
Like yours.
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I can't imagine spending your last few years with an accident that needs to be fed every few hours and doesn't sleep through the night. [To Gommage tired is a terrible fate. There's no way she was anything but a mistake--three years is nothing with a baby. They were gone before she could even form memories of their faces. Maybe for the best. They likely resented her making their lives more complicated.]
And who knows? If they had me any longer, we might not have crossed paths.
[She might not have been between families, and he and Emma may not have been open to taking in a child. Maelle knows she wouldn't be anything like the person she is today without them.]
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[ He folds his arms across his chest and delivers a precision strike. ]
She'll miss you, you know. She'd have had you for a while longer after I left.
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... your apprentices can warm my seat while I'm gone.
[Maelle knows she's not just a seat at the table. She and Emma may not be as close as her and Gustave, but she's encouraged Maelle to be herself. So, maybe she's the one to blame for this stubbornness.]
But... I'll miss her, too. She does a lot of good here.
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[ He can see that it hit, even if it didn't have the full effect he'd hoped for. But Maelle loves Emma, he knows. This will be hard on all of them. ]
Look, I'll talk to Emma. But I think you owe it to her to have a conversation about this once she and I are done.
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Even if there's no changing my mind?
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[ His voice is no longer raised and he's no longer animated with all his upset, but there's still a sternness to him now. ]
She deserves that much, Maelle.
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She does. I will. Promise.
[Gustave can get her to do just about anything for the foreseeable future as long as it's not staying home. Maelle watches him in silence for a moment.]
Anything else?
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But if anyone's going to have any chance of getting her to change her mind, he can't keep arguing it now. She'll only dig in her heels, mulish, and lift her chin in her stubborn way, and he'll be right back to the beginning of this argument. ]
You'd better start training with the rest of the team. I'll talk to Alan tomorrow.
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I'll let you beat me in a duel, if you want.
[She tries to joke, but it falls flat.]
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[ He can't quite joke with her yet: the words are there, but the easy humor is stilted and subdued.
He'll try, though. ]
I won't be pulling my punches anymore. You'll have to train like a real expeditioner.
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[He's an old man. One she'll stay with to the end, if she can help it. Parting is inevitable, but Maelle will spend every moment she can by his side. Besides getting out of this place, this island prison, that's her greatest desire.]
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It wouldn't help. But it might help him, just a little. ]
We'll see if Lucien or Lune let you beat them so easily.
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I'll beat them. I'll beat everyone... and then I can tell Emma, see? I told you I'll keep Gustave safe.
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I'm pretty sure I'm the one who's supposed to keep you safe, not the other way around. Big brother, and all.
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[She offers him a small
smile. They'll protect one another, she thinks.]
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[ It sighs out of him as he closes his eyes, then opens them again to look up at the arc of the Shield Done, high above. As if he could possibly find any answers there. ]
You know. The person you're supposed to listen to.
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[Once she settled in with him and Emma, she was fairly obedient. Happy, actually, to please--especially Gustave. She quickly realized she hated disappointing him because he simply cared so much, and seeing him frown was worse than a slap. Making him smile or laugh was like finding gold.
But sometimes, she did have to disappoint him. Like now.]
... usually. Today's an exception.
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[ Except she hadn't been. Of course they've had their rough patches, but overall Maelle is sweet and he and Emma are lenient and... how had this happened? How had he not even suspected it?
(Had he suspected, and convinced himself it was impossible?) ]
Lulling me into a false sense of security?
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I thought about having breakfast ready for you this morning, but that might have been a little too suspicious. You would have known precisely what I was going to ask you.
[Perhaps not. She does wonder if some part of him expected this, though. Attached as she is to him, something was going to happen the closer and closer his expedition approached.]
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[ His hands have lifted back into the air, gesturing widely at each option, but now they fall back to his sides. ]
No. I wouldn't have expected this.
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... this is way more likely than either of those. Point proven, huh?
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Imagine my surprise, then. Seeing as I never imagined this to be likely at all.
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