꧁༒☬𝓜𝓾𝓻𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓓𝓻𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼: 𝓐𝔀𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼☬༒꧂

🅸'🅼 🅷🅴🆁🅴 🅵🅾🆁 🆈🅾🆄...

N was filled with a sense of urgency as he sprinted down the hallway toward Uzi's room. His mind was reeling, coming to realize that Uzi was struggling just as much as he was. He had to see her, to make sure she was okay.

As he reached her door, he found it locked. He could hear Uzi shuffling around inside, and his core pounded with worry. Without a second thought, he threw his weight against the door, causing it to burst open.

Inside the room, he found Uzi sitting at her desk, a pen in one hand and a cut on her arm. She looked up at him, startled by his sudden entrance she quickly hid the sight of her arm from him thanks to the darkness N didn't get a good look at it.

"N, what are you doing here?" she asked, her voice shaky.

N rushed towards her, enveloping her in a tight hug. "I had to see you," he said, his voice choked with emotion. "Are you okay?"

Uzi tensed for a moment before relaxing into the embrace. "I'm fine," she said, but N could tell she was lying.

Then N notices the scratch on Uzi's arm and feels a pang of fear and concern in his chest. His mind races with thoughts of her hurting herself, and he immediately questions her about it.

"Uzi, what happened to your arm?" he asks, his voice laced with worry.

Uzi looks down at the scratch as if she hadn't even noticed it before. "Oh, it's nothing," she says dismissively, but N can see the sadness in her eyes.

"Did you do this to yourself?" he asks, his core pounding in his chest.

Uzi looks up at him, and he can see the tears growing in her eyes. "No, N, I didn't," she says, her voice breaking. "I just...I don't know. I-"

N quickly stands up and looks at Uzi with a mix of anger and sadness on his face. "Uzi, how could you do this to yourself? Look at you, you're exhausted and now you're hurting yourself again!" N's voice trembles as he speaks. "Don't you know how worried I am about you? How unbearable it is to see you like this."

Uzi looks down, shame and guilt filling her expression. "I know, N. I'm sorry. I just felt r-really stressed but I have to do this. I have to revive the drones, otherwise, I'm just a f-failure," she whispers stumbling over her words.

N's anger boils over. "A failure? How can you say that? You're one of the smartest drones I know, and you're killing yourself over this!" N's voice cracks as he speaks, tears starting to form in his eyes. "I know Thad is angry with you but that doesn't mean you should overwork yourself because of him!"

Uzi looked up at him with a pained expression. "It's not just about Thad!" She shouted and blurted out the following.

"I'm doing this so I can see my mother again!"

N looked at Uzi his eyes widened and his mouth hung open he never expected to hear this he never knew Uzi had lost her mother before now.

"She was one of the drones that got attacked before the doors were finished and if I can bring the drones back, then maybe I can see her again..."

N's anger dissipated as he realized the pain and sorrow that Uzi had carried within herself. He had knelt still looking into her eyes, taking her hands in his. "I'm sorry, Uzi. I had no idea," he said, his voice softening. "But you can't keep pushing yourself like this. You need to take a break and give yourself time to heal."

Uzi looked up at N, tears streaming down her face. "But what if I can't bring the drones back? What if I'm not good enough?" she asked, her voice trembling.

N hugged her tightly, pulling her close. "You are more than enough, Uzi. You're strong and clever, and you will find a way to bring the drones back," he said, his voice firm and reassuring. "But you need to take care of yourself first. Ok?"