After the Storm (Norman Ray Emma)

I Love You Both

For the first time ever, Emma overslept. When she looked at the clock to see it read 10:15am she panicked. Usually, she'd be up between 7 and 8. She scurried out of bed to breakfast. By the time she opened the door to the dining hall, she realized not everyone was there.

"Sorry everyone, I overslept!" she exclaimed.

"It's okay, we did too," A tired Anna responded. Most everyone did look sleepy to her.

"How did you sleep, Emma?" Jemima asked giving her a hug.

"I slept good, I haven't slept this good in a while!"

"That's great! Are you going to get breakfast?"

"Of course," Emma took a seat next to a girl named Mary, someone freed from Goldy Pond.She felt her hair being ruffled by someone's hand, a hand she knew immediately.

"Ray! Good morning," she greeted him.

"Good morning, Emma." he smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her temple. "Where's Norman at?"

"I'm not sure, maybe he's still asleep?" Emma suggested.

"Oh no, he woke up before everyone else. As of right now he's in his office working on a few things!" Hayato informed them.

"I see. I suppose we'll have to bother him later." she joked, though part of her wanted to storm into his office and drag him to breakfast. She goes two long and exhausting years thinking he was dead, struggling to live for him and with Ray, and the only thing Norman does when they've reunited is stay cooped up in his office. It was almost infuriating to her. Emma knew Norman missed them so much, so why isn't he here with them? What could he possibly be so busy doing that he misses out on seeing his lovers only the second day they get here. And sure, they played hours of board games the day they arrived (Yesterday) but that's just not enough. Norman's right here, but he's not HERE.

--Emma's --I ate my breakfast next to Ray, the whole time thinking about how I should scold Norman. I think I may just scold him in a few days if this keeps up. I guess, who knows. Maybe it will be the same thing every night of board games. That would work, right? Ray and I may not see him in the day but if it's a nightly thing, I simply can't be too upset over that.

I went around gathering all these kids' dirty clothes along with Ray. I don't know if Ray's thinking what I'm thinking but I hope he is.

We make our way to a good spot to do laundry. Ray and I scrub out dirt and wash them with very condensed soap. Once there were enough cleaned shirts I moved to hang them up to dry."What's on your mind, Emma? You seem upset."

--Norman--

"What I'm saying is, we should focus on the cure for our seizures before we put the genocide into action," I've been trying to convince them, but Barbara, Cislo, and Vincent have their priorities set on killing them first. I once considered not long ago that I should do the same, and focus on the paradise for all the cattle children, excluding myself. Then I came to realize, I want to live with Emma and Ray again. What kind of a friend would I be if I were to leave them behind a second time. Friend? No. It's more than that. And with that being said they'd be all the more angered and sad. I will find a cure for myself and the others. The one thing I won't do is tell them. Both Ray and Emma would worry way too much over me if I told them I could die so soon, but I promise to fix things before that happens. A secret promise to them and myself.

"The quicker we kill them, the safer everyone will be!" Vincent argued.

"Vincent if we're going into battle we can't be the first ones already dying. If one of us has a seizure in the middle of it so much can go wrong. If we kill them first we'd be killing ourselves right afterward. We need to be prepared not sick and dying you three!"