fujimaru | Reverie Inbox

This is a place shaped by our hearts and hopes and dreams... and I doubt you're the only person who will be wishing for that.

Soooo...

[ he squeezes her hand with a smile. ]

... I'm gonna go ahead and assume that one day, it'll happen.

I'll put my faith in that.

[ Which she does, sincerely, even if there's a part of her that feels detached, still, from the possibility. This smile is sincere, though it's less a positive one and more distant. ]

... I'm glad.

[ That's just said softly, almost gently, but his emotions have settled at a simple, peaceful contentedness. ]

If there's something to hope for and put faith in still, then... sometimes, that's enough.

Sometimes, yeah... but I think it also always has to be there. It's always important, it's just a matter of whether there's more on top of that.

Yeah. I think so too. Everyone needs something to keep fighting for, right? And hope... hope's a really powerful thing.

[ That gets a powerful sense of wistful nostalgia--something that is half-guilt, half-fondness, all tangled up. ]

It is. ...It can make living through years of hell worth it.

[ through hell... there's a flicker of pained sadness that she has to go through that at all, but... he's not surprised. Of course he isn't. He understands it--every word she's saying resonates with him. ]

... I hope that it does. For you, especially... I hope it makes it worth it.

It has for me, so far. But...

[ But. She thinks of Roman, and the things she only learned after he was gone. ]

...there's one person I wish I could ask that. Was it worth it? [ Was I worth it? ] But I don't think I'll ever get that chance.

... Mmm.

[ that's... a tough one. The people they've lost and left behind along the way... it'd be nice to be able to speak with them again. ]

What do you think they would say? If you just had to take a guess.

What do I think... I don't know.

[ That, too, comes with a sense of deep wistfulness--a loss that she has only just barely begun to process, skirting around the edges of that loss. ]

He hid a lot from me. Not because of anything I did or anything, just... he was so afraid of something. I want to believe he would tell me it was worth it, but I can't know.

... I don't mean to bring up painful memories or anything...

[ he says that gently, a little bit of soft apologeticness bleeding through their connection. ]

I only ask because... you're the only one left who's keeping him alive, you know? You, and... whoever else still remembers him. So I think in that case, sometimes... you just have to guess on what he would say, and hope for the best.

I'm always hoping for the best, Minato-kun.

[ But at the feeling of contriteness, she squeezes his hand again. It's all right. There's no real way to avoid this grief, and she doesn't want to forget Roman, either. ]

I think... he'd probably tell me it was. He was kind of a coward sometimes, but I think--I know that in the end, he did want to do the right thing.

Yeah... I didn't know him, but...

Well... I think anyone you respect as much as you respect him would think it was worth it too. That's just how I feel.

[ There's a pause as she takes that in, and then she squeezes his hand harder in a flood of sudden gratitude. ]

...Thanks, Minato-kun. I hope--I think you must be right.

[ Aw... he smiles a little at that, feeling only soft affection in response. ]

Those are just my impressions, that's all. It's nothing you need to thank me for.

It still means a lot to hear. You know how it is.

Yeah... I do.

[ he rubs the back of his neck a moment with his free hand, before he just shrugs, and flops back against the bed again. ]

I'd like to hear more about him sometime... I like it when you talk about him.

You do?

[ That, too, is a complicated feeling, but not a bad one: a sort of tentative hope and a little confusion. There's only been two people she's ever felt like she could talk about Roman--and one has been dead at home for over a year, and the other... isn't here. ]

I'd like to. Eventually.

[ In contrast to her complicated feelings in response, Minato's feelings are simple--a peaceful sort of contentedness, sincerity and warmth. ]

I do. There's no rush, of course... I want you to take your time and only talk about him when you're comfortable.

It's just... you light up when you do, you know...? In a special sort of way.

[ In a way that shows just how special he was, in so many ways. ]

I--do?

[ That startles her a little. Not even in a bad way, but clearly not something she expected; it's not as if she's spoken about Roman that much, or that often, in the years since the Grand Order. ]

...huh. I had no idea.

Yeah, you do.

[ A tiny smile, and Minato shrugs a bit. ]

I think it's just... because you really cared about him, right? That shines through.

He...

[ She's quiet for a moment, then smiles wistfully. ]

I think he was maybe the first person I ever had a crush on? But even more than that--he was always kind of goofy, but he tried really hard. I didn't even know how much he put into helping me until he was gone.

[ That gets a small smile out of Minato in response, soft and fond. ]

... That makes sense to me. He was your Sun, after all... right?

One of them, yeah.

[ She takes a deep breath, holding it for a few beats and then letting it out slowly. ]

In spite of everything, I admired him a lot.

"In spite of everything", huh...? He sounds admirable to me in a lot of ways, so...

[ he doesn't think that's so strange. ]

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