[She did try. She paid attention, and while some of it made a little sense to her, it never took. She was never particularly good at anything but swordplay and getting from one end of the city to the other in record time.
A smile stays on her face as she looks at him, though it's soft around the edges.]
I know. I wish I got into it, too. I hope I didn't disappoint you too much.
[He didn't lack for apprentices.]
I'm glad we spent all that time together.
[Never enough, especially looking back, but she loved being with him and he loved being with her.]
We did get a lot of time together. All of my favorite days were with you. Every happy memory was because of you.
[He didn't need to try. Simply sitting quietly together, or listening to him talk to Emma about his day over dinner, or a walk down to the harbor on a sunny day--how loved she felt, how safe, even if Lumiere itself never felt right. He did.]
You'd never looked so unhappy with me as you did the day I told you I was going with. But... it was worth it. Every extra moment was worth it.
[No matter how horrific the end. She got more time with him. That's all that matters.]
[ He remembers it, or thinks he does. Maybe it's more that Maelle remembers it, and so he does, too: that afternoon in the Hanging Gardens, his shock, their argument. One corner of his lips flickers up into a small smile, and he reaches to put a hand on her arm, warm and firm and supportive. ]
But you have to go make some new memories now. The others, they need you. Just like I did.
no subject
A smile stays on her face as she looks at him, though it's soft around the edges.]
I know. I wish I got into it, too. I hope I didn't disappoint you too much.
[He didn't lack for apprentices.]
I'm glad we spent all that time together.
[Never enough, especially looking back, but she loved being with him and he loved being with her.]
no subject
[ The very idea feels like an utter impossibility. How could he be disappointed in Maelle simply being Maelle, when he loves her so much? ]
I only wish we'd taken you in sooner. But we got a lot of time together, didn't we? And I'm glad you came on the Expedition, in the end.
no subject
[He didn't need to try. Simply sitting quietly together, or listening to him talk to Emma about his day over dinner, or a walk down to the harbor on a sunny day--how loved she felt, how safe, even if Lumiere itself never felt right. He did.]
You'd never looked so unhappy with me as you did the day I told you I was going with. But... it was worth it. Every extra moment was worth it.
[No matter how horrific the end. She got more time with him. That's all that matters.]
no subject
[ He remembers it, or thinks he does. Maybe it's more that Maelle remembers it, and so he does, too: that afternoon in the Hanging Gardens, his shock, their argument. One corner of his lips flickers up into a small smile, and he reaches to put a hand on her arm, warm and firm and supportive. ]
But you have to go make some new memories now. The others, they need you. Just like I did.