𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏.

[demainvient]

𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 ⊹ 𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒚 ⊹ 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍
 

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[demainvient]

[ She's so calm, so... serene in a way that he has never before associated with Maelle, as quick with her words as she was with her rapier, fleet and light-footed and irreverent. He studies her for another long moment, then lets his hand drop as he comes to sit beside her on the bed. Both hands come to rest on his knees; he looks at the left one, gleaming and perfect, and then over to her. ]

I died.

[ His voice is gentle, but firm. He can feel too many words bubbling up again, threatening to choke themselves off in his mouth, and takes a deep breath, licks his lips, pauses until he's sure he knows what he's going to say. ]

You should probably start there.

[maellum]

[Her gaze trails after his. The memory of clutching his fabricated arm to her chest before putting him to rest is still sharp. Her heart had shattered, and while it's better now, the scar remains. It's enough for her to need to look away and take a steadying breath. They suffered for too long. I died, he says, and she looks to him without a smile and nods.

She reaches out to put her hand over his, slender and pale against his warm skin. A reminder to herself: he's here.

(In a way his death was so much worse than Verso's. The ash and smoke and pain blinded her, the flames took her eye along with her skin, leaving only his screams to burn her ears. She didn't see the life leave his body, his corpse, she didn't kneel beside it and--)

Maelle purses her lips together for a long moment.]

You died. That man was Renoir, and... he. He was trying to protect his family.

[Despite that flawed portrait, that was true between Renoir and her father. He just wanted to protect what was his. Gustave had been a threat. Verso saw him as one, too, but in a different manner.]

He's gone. There's no more Paintress. No Gommage. It wasn't what anyone thought. But... we're safe. We'll never need to send another expedition and no one will ever need to die for another.

[She smiles a little, hoping to see some sort of relief on Gustave's face.]

[demainvient]

[ Two words, and the last flicker of hope he had that maybe, somehow, he'd simply... been incapacitated, perhaps in a coma, that they'd managed to save him after all is snuffed out as simply and completely as a candle. His lashes flutter as he blinks, rapid, his fingers beneath Maelle's warm hand rubbing against one another where they're set on his thigh, and he lifts his left hand — in perfect condition, gliding as easily as the first day he attached it — to that spot at his ribs where it had rested before, as if he might somehow have been able to halt the flow of his own blood through a cage of metal fingers.

But there's no wound there, and his uniform is as perfect as the arm. His breath comes quicker, a little too fast, and he feels it again, like he had when he first woke by that waterfall what feels like a lifetime ago: his heart fluttering, unable to pick up its normal rhythm. He died.

Through the low hum of burgeoning panic — he died, how can he panic about dying again? but he can feel it just like he's back on that cliff looking at the man who killed him, cold terror gripping his heart and making it stumble and skip and forget how it's supposed to beat — he hears her go on, telling him that they succeeded, that the man — Renoir — is gone. The Paintress is gone.

He breathes, fast and too light, through his nose, and tries to find something to hang onto. ]

It's over?

[maellum]

It's over. We're okay. We... we only made it because of you.

[Because of his Lumina Converter, and how much she loved him and wanted to save the people he loved. That's all still true. Not the whole truth, but... one thing at a time.

Maelle watches him with concern, but warmth. She wanted him to know everything. She could have removed the memory of the expedition, left it out of her draft, but he wouldn't feel right. She wanted Gustave as he was, even if that meant some uncomfortable conversations.]

It's okay, Gustave. [As if she could sense the erratic beat of his heart, she puts her hand over it. A hand that can paint life, now.] We get to grow old together, now. I mean, you'll always be older.

[She gives him an encouraging smile.]

[demainvient]

[ Her hand is light and comforting against his chest, but even his distress and uncertainty has to take a step back as what she says finally filters through, lands. It's over.

He lifts his hand to cover hers, hard, and turns toward her with his eyes and limping, stumbling heart so full he doesn't know how he'll be able to stand it. ]

It's over. No more Gommage, no more... you're safe.

[ She's safe, she gets a chance to live after all, his dearest wish granted, and he can't stop the disbelieving smile that takes over, a smile that looks almost like he could burst into tears at any moment. He can't tell if he's happy, it's too big and too overwhelming a feeling for happiness, but there's relief, too, the same way there was when he came through that door and found her sitting alone in the manor room. ]

You're safe. You'll... you have a future.

[ Lumiere will have a future, but in the end, his goal had simply been to find a way for Maelle to live. And now she will.

He reaches again to put his arm around her, his left hand covering the one she has on his chest, and pulls her against him, lowering his head to press a kiss to her hair, letting this aching relief wash through him. ]

You're safe.

[maellum]

[Better. This is better. This is what she's imagined, bringing him back.]

We will have a future.

[He was always her beacon, her anchor. And now he will live a full, long life. He'll create because he wants to, not because he's trying to save them. He'll no longer have the weight of Lumiere upon his shoulders.

He hugs her and she wraps her arms around him as tightly as she's able. The kiss to her hair is a balm she didn't realize she needed--it makes that serene surface crack, a stifled sob escaping on an exhale. Oh, she's missed him terribly. No matter what new memories she has, he's still a part of her. All the parts she loves most feel like they exist because of his care.

She's so happy, and doesn't want him to worry, and so she shifts to hook her chin over his shoulder. After a moment she presses a kiss to his cheek, over the scruff that would tickle hers when he scooped her up in his arms. He's okay and no one will take him away from her again.]

It's okay. It's all okay, now. It's okay.

[demainvient]

[ A choked little sound escapes her and she's clinging to him in the next moment, and whatever else he is, whatever else he doesn't understand, he always understands this: Maelle, and what she needs from him. What she needs now is comfort, to hold onto him, so he draws her close and lets her hold him as tightly as she needs, smiling a little at the brush of her lips over his cheek, the same sweet, innocent kiss he remembers from so many bedtimes and long chats and thanks given.

He leans his head against hers and just lets himself linger there for a long moment, everything he'd ever wanted suddenly here in his arms, suddenly real, before his voice comes again in a murmur, rumbling low in his chest. ]

But I don't understand how I'm... How am I back? How am I.... alive?

[ Destroying death was never going to bring back all the people they've lost, all those Expeditioners they passed on their long trek through the continent. And if he really had died, and not simply been gone, unreachable but still clinging to life, then how can he be here now, feeling Maelle in his arms, feeling the air as he pulls it into his lungs?

And where had he been in all the time in between? ]

[maellum]

[Inevitable questions that have no simple answer. Maelle squeezes him once more before reluctantly drawing back, though she keeps her hands on his arms, her attempt to anchor him. She looks into his eyes, perhaps the most familiar ones she knows, and smiles.

No way forward but through.]

I brought you back. I can bring back everyone. [She'll get around to it, eventually. She thinks she could even bring his parents back, if he so desires. Wouldn't that be nice? An extended family for them all. No need to get ahead of herself, though.] This world was painted. The Fracture occurred when there was a fight over it, and that's when everything became... so cruel, so unforgiving.

I can't fix everything that happened to this Canvas, but I can fix the rest. Our home. The people we love.

[Like him.]

[demainvient]

[ He hadn't known what he expected her to say, but it surely.... wasn't this. ]

Painted?

[ Maybe he's still in shock. Probably he's still in shock. It doesn't stop his mind from turning her words over and over, trying to find sense in them. ]

You mean... by the Paintress?

[ But then how could Maelle... she's his sister, a sixteen year old girl who always said she was never good at anything but swords and running across the city. He studies her, uncertain, wondering if maybe this is some sort of joke. It would be in poor taste even for Maelle, though. ]

How can you fix it? How can... how can you bring people back?

[maellum]

I'm a paintress. The Paintress was my mother. Well... is my mother, but she's no longer here.

[Maelle's brow creases, more at the fact that she doesn't like how there's no easy way to explain this without sounding absolutely insane to Gustave. She gives no thought to her mother and what she might be doing in this very moment. She's not here. She doesn't concern her. Everything is fine as long as she herself remains in this canvas.]

I was never very good at it, but Maman taught me enough. And I've been practicing. I made sure I was ready before I brought you back, Gustave, because... I wanted you to be just as I remembered. And you are.

[So everything else that's left should be easy. She gives Gustave a hopeful smile, but there's a reluctance to it.]

I know it sounds mad, but it's the truth. Maman wasn't the one behind the Gommage. It was Papa, trying to get her to leave. Trying to destroy this place. But everything is okay now. That will never happen.

[demainvient]

[ It doesn't just sound mad, it sounds impossible. Maelle, a paintress? A... Paintress? ]

But... your mother....

[ He shakes his head like a dog with water in its ear, agitated. ]

No... no. That's not right. Your mother and father were here, in Lumière. I know you don't remember them, but plenty of other people do... did... even now.

Why are you saying this?

[ It's some kind of story, it has to be, because how could it be the truth? But then... if it isn't the truth, how is he here?

Gustave looks away from her, around the room, his glance more intent and critical, looking for any small flaws, any changes to the familiar setting. This... it must be some illusion, or the afterlife, maybe. It can't possibly be real. ]

[maellum]

[Maelle waits, patiently, for him to ramble. To try and wrestle with what she's saying. It's difficult. She knows. It hurts to see him so unsettled, but after they get through this, everything will be beautiful again.]

They were. It's... very complicated. I can show it to you, some day. What life beyond here looks like, where I'm really from. [She owes it to Lune, too.] There's the life I lived here, and the life I lived there.

[She smiles, a little sad.]

The one here is so much better. [She can breathe. Speak. See, with both her eyes. She can run and laugh and live and no one recoils in horror and no one blames her anything and no one dies anymore.] So much of that is because of you. You were... everything I could ever want in a father, in a brother. I had so much love.

[How could anyone expect her to leave this all behind? And for what? A life of cruelty and suffering.]

[demainvient]

[ It's too much information, too alien an idea; even if he weren't already trying to claw his way out of muffling shock it would be almost impossible to wrap his head around. Maelle is telling him she's a Paintress, that she brought him back to life, that she's from some other world— what does that mean for this one? For Lumière?

Something does cut through the clinging, claustrophobic blanket of confusion, though: the tinge of sorrow to her smile, the things she's saying. She wasn't... happy, in this other life, and he doesn't understand any of that but he understands Maelle.

(Doesn't he? Does he still?) ]

Maelle, I...

[ His glance lifts to that familiar ponytail, the way the loose strands frame her face: now pure white instead of red. But she's still familiar. ]

I wanted you to have everything you could ever need. Whatever... whatever else is true, you're my family. You're still my family.

[ His mouth opens, but he doesn't say what rises to the tip of his tongue: it would only hurt her. Aren't you?

He swallows it, finds some tiny smile for her instead, wanting to shake that sadness off the corners of her own. ]

At least, I think the paperwork would still agree.

now I can unleash this journal with icons

[tomorrowcomes]

[There he is. He grounds himself, through her, and Maelle's smile comes easier.]

I am. You raised me.

[Just as much as Maman or Papa. Maybe even more, now that she thinks of it. He never pushed her to be anything she wasn't. He encouraged her to be herself, whatever that may be. He loved her fully, and she knows he'll love her fully know, even if he doesn't quite understand. Maelle and Alicia's memories run parallel, two childhoods, two families, but she finds herself favoring one over the other. Gustave is so small part of why.]

Nothing will change between us. Not ever.

[The paperwork doesn't matter at all.]

And now we have forever. You won't be going anywhere. [No Gommage. No death.] You can live whatever life you want, Gustave.

I HAVE REGRETS

[demainvient]

Whatever life I want...?

[ He reaches for her hand, realizing again that his arm is shining and new, moving as easily as if it had only just been fabricated and lubricated. It's not a smoking heap of metal on a cave floor, useless, burned out. He's not—

Gustave clamps down on that thought in a hurry, curling his metal fingers gently around hers as he looks around the room, to the door. ]

Emma— is—

[ He looks back to Maelle, the possibilities yawning in front of him. ]

Is Emma here? She must be worried out of her mind, if she— if you told her—

—Is she here?

[tomorrowcomes]

[She smiles and covers his hand with her other. There's no heart better than his, and she's so glad to see it shine so strongly. Her thumb moves over the metal, ever treating it as if it were flesh and blood. He asks about Emma because of that good heart, because he is a good brother, and Maelle breathes out slowly through her nose before giving him an answer he may or may not enjoy.]

She's not here. Not yet. I wanted to make sure you were okay before bringing her back.

[Gustave would be a greater comfort. Maelle tips her head thoughtfully, smile widening. He thinks of Emma, of course. But there's more possible.]

Are you going to ask about Sophie, next?

[She was actually next on Maelle's list. To give Gustave his happiness, his life. To give him a second chance. He and Sophie would never have to worry about losing one another again, and what wonderful doors that would open for them.]

[demainvient]

...Sophie?

[ No. She... she wouldn't. She couldn't.

(The day he'd said goodbye to Sophie, how she'd looked at him with tears streaming down her face as the realization that it was going to happen, that there was no escaping it, that the end really had come for her, is locked away tight in his heart. If he closes his eyes right now, he'd be able to see every detail of her face: every lash, every freckle.)

His brow rucks up and he shakes his head at her, uncomprehending. The pain blooms in his chest, as bloody and raw as the moment he fell to his knee there on the pier, all that time ago. ]

Maelle... Sophie's gone.

[ His voice is soft, like she's small and he's trying to explain the Gommage, the Expeditions. Death... death is just as final.

And it still is. Isn't it? ]

She's gone.

[tomorrowcomes]

[So was he. So was Sciel, Lune. Maelle knows he's still in shock, but she has to give him this hope. A reward for all of his love, all of his suffering. An apology for not waking up and remembering sooner. Her voice lowers as well, eyes searching his.

The only person that needs to stay gone is Papa.]

Gustave. You're here again. So can she.

[Finding her chroma was difficult, considering the time that had passed since they left with Expedition 33. But it still remained, carried away in the winds and by the sea, and she thinks with Gustave's help she can bring her back and they can all go from there.

She thinks she would prefer to be an aunt rather than a big sister, but there's still time to figure that out. Not every big sister needed to be as cutting as Clea.]

You'd like that, wouldn't you? A chance to see her again and be happy together. Things are better now.

[demainvient]

[ Maybe he shouldn't be.

It's the first thought that blooms quietly in his mind when she says what she does. Maybe he shouldn't be here again. He doesn't understand how any of this works, how... if he's painted, what does that mean? If the Paintress created him and all the others, how could Maelle bring them back? How could she bring them back the same?

Would he even realize it, if he were different from before? Would she? ]

I...

[ This, at least, isn't different. He's sure of that. He remembers wishing with all his poor broken heart for even one more moment with Sophie, to see her smiling and sweet and mischievous in the sunlight. He'd longed for a chance at... at another future. Another life.

And here is Maelle, offering it to him on a silver platter. ]

Yes. Yes, of course I would.

[tomorrowcomes]

Then you'll have it. [A beat. Her smile becomes sheepish.] Just... give me a little time.

[Time to simply have him back. Time to paint Sophie properly. Time is all they have, now, and so she doesn't really feel the need to rush into anything at all. Surely he'll understand, be patient. She'll bring back Sophie and Emma and whoever he wants. Eventually.]

I want to make sure you're okay. It's... it's a lot, I know. You've been through so much and now it's time for us to be a family that never has to worry about breaking apart. We've earned it. This is--the least I can do for you. You took such good care of me. [Ah, and here she thought she was beyond her voice cracking. She clears her throat.] You're still the best family I've ever had.

[Funny, that.]