Keeping Him Loved

Chapter 10

        She watched him slowly open the door and merely stand there to look at what was left of his carefully written research. She stood behind him and couldn't see his expression. Even his dynamos were unmoving despite how they remained actively floating behind him. (Y/n) was afraid to say anything to him not knowing what kind of response it would trigger.

        "Can you do something for me, (y/n)?" Add didn't turn back to look at her when he spoke. His voice was surprisingly calm.

        "Yes, of course."

        "Do you remember that place I took you? I want you to go back there and get the box that Dynamo was in. If you find any flowers along the way, take them with you and leave them for my mother." She saw his fist begin to shake and his dynamos were finally starting to react to his held back emotion. He gave a deep sigh. "Stay there for a bit before you come back."

        "Okay," (y/n) quietly spoke. She didn't want to leave him like that, but he was making it clear that he needed some space. Without another word to him, she headed towards the collapsed library to retrieve the old rusted box. When she could no longer see Add from the distance that she stood, a shockwave blasted through the area and sent a gust of wind rushing from behind her. With it came a shout of rage that she never would have thought would come from Add, but she was certain that it was his voice. It had her freezing in place for a moment. What he expressed in his actions was a feeling that (y/n) didn't fully understand, but she could sympathize with him.

        Forcing herself to go onward, (y/n) found her way to her destination without turning back. Her ankle kept her bound to the ground, so the trip took longer than it would have otherwise. It was also a little more difficult to reach under the moon's guidance rather than the sun's, but she managed to find the small grave without any real problems. Unfortunately, there hadn't been any flowers growing on the path that she had to take, but she did go out of her way to find some.

        "I don't know what he needs you for, but you'll be coming back with me," she said moreso to herself than the unresponsive nasod within the metal box. The box was shockingly light making (y/n) wonder what Dynamo was like.

        Instead of sticking around near the grave, (y/n) went ahead and made her way back albeit far slower than her arrival. Her burn was starting to become a little more than she could ignore, and Add had specifically asked for a little more time to himself with his request.

        "He looked like he had run into some of the same nasods too," (y/n) thought while she paced down the dirt path. Even though she had been happy to see Add back alive and well, she hadn't failed to notice that he had experienced an incident of his own. She couldn't think of anything in the area, thief nor animal, that would give Add any troubles. (Y/n) had gotten a few opportunities to witness his combat prowess and didn't understand how he could even begin to consider himself weak.

        She spotted Add sitting outside on the grass waiting for her. It was unusual to see him directly on the grass rather than his dynamos. He looked at her with a blank expression as she approached him. There were a few gashes across the trees in the surrounding area, but nothing else left behind any signs of Add's emotional outburst.

        "Feeling better now?" she decided to ask as she sat down next to him and placed the box aside.

        He let out a hum and nodded. "If you hadn't already completely obliterated those nasods, I'd have destroyed them even more myself." His shoulders were relaxed and his dynamos indicated that his mood had lightened. "Everything that was in there, I already know. I can always rewrite it all down again. It was my fault for using such a primitive method to keep track of that information."

        "You remember everything? All of that stuff??"

        "Of course I do. It isn't that difficult when its burned into my memory. I'll start keeping everything filed away on a computer based system from now on. The problem comes when I have to put all that knowledge into practice. Everything else comes naturally."

        (Y/n) nodded in understanding. "Sounds like a safe option. You'd be able to salvage it easier if something were to happen again. Uh, not that it will. I'm sure everything will be fine." For a while, neither of them said anything else. Time passed further into the night but (y/n) nor Add felt the need to go inside the messy home that sat behind them. They were on high alert in case more nasods came to finish the job.

        "I need to leave Elder," Add spoke up.

        "I kind of figured." (Y/n) glanced at the box she had brought back. He wouldn't have asked for it otherwise. "I'm going with you then. You can't say no."

        Add briefly smirked. "I wasn't going to say no. I was going to warn you."

        "Warn me? About becoming a target? I mean, that's pretty much a given regardless of where I go."

        "So then you do understand. Good," he mumbled. "That's all I needed to know. Let's get some sleep. We have somewhere to stop by before we leave tomorrow."

        "Add wait." She stopped him before he could get up. "Could you help with this, please?" Her slight burn was seriously bothering her at this point, but she had kept quiet about it because Add appeared to still be hurt himself. She knew he would ignore his own well-being to help her first, and hadn't wanted him to do that. Now she didn't have much of a choice since the slight injury had become more than she could handle. Add was already going through his bag to find what he needed to treat the burn.

        (Y/n) watched him work, not realizing how her own expression softened as she did so. Even now, she could not see the Add that she had grown to know. That version of him was filed away in a corner of her mind. Looking at him now, there were so many things that she wanted to know. There was still time to figure those things out about him especially now that she'd decided not to let him go off on his own. Her mind was made up. She accepted her changed feelings and intended to grow them until she was sure that there was no doubt left in her mind.

        "You sure like to stare, don't you," Add commented as he finished his task. "Not that I mind it," he quietly added. (Y/n) blinked at him and wondered what he was trying to imply. Maybe she was just overthinking it because of her current thoughts.

        They gathered their things from outside, and entered the ransacked home. Upon her request, Add brought (y/n) a change of clothes. They were his. Before now, she would have thought nothing of it. Now it brought forth an unconscious smile from her that Add didn't fail to notice.

        "I'm going to burn it. All of it." Add picked up a torn sketch. "I don't want anyone trying to recover my work."

        In wordless agreement, (y/n) started to help him gather all of the papers and damaged books. Anything that contained any nasod related information was taken outside and gathered into a pile. Thankfully, the wind had calmed down considerably which allowed for them to keep a majority of the fragments in place. The task didn't take them long. When they had everything in one place, (y/n) searched her bag for an orange stone and handed it to Add. They stood a safe distance away from the pile and watched as it all burned away when the stone was activated.

        This was their last night here. (Y/n) found it a bit ironic for flames to be present near the place she had called home. Flames yet again. Like some sort of cruel joke, the wind picked up and fed the hungry fire. Add's hand caused her to flinch when it landed on (y/n)'s shoulder. She looked over at him in realization, for she hadn't noticed how lost within her mind she had become from the blaze before her. He had apparently called her, but she hadn't heard him.

        (Y/n) would have to tell him about those memories. Now wasn't the time, but he eventually needed to know. For now, their focus was on the loss of their home and the start of a new journey, one that would hopefully lead to a better end.
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Totally didn't just make a reference to something. If you know, you know. Until next time you amazing readers!