𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐘 | 𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈 𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐂 (𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐀 𝐗 𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈)

𝐢𝐢. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫

Nanami finally gets to an area where the crowd has thinned, just as he watches the elevator doors slide shut with Tiana inside. He briskly walks up to the doors, trying not to draw too much attention to himself. The last thing he needed was people asking questions, or stalling him any longer.

When he reached the elevator, he looked at the top of the doors that had a thin panel that indicated what floor it stopped on. The numbers kept climbing up, and up until the letter "R" was lit up in a bright yellow light, indicating she made it to the roof. Nanami quickly presses the up button repetitively as if it would speed up the descent of the elevator. He huffed as he seemed to wait for an eternity for the doors to slide open, and he hoped inside. He quickly clicks the button to close the silver doors, then clicks the button that will take him to Tiana. The elevator creeps up at a snail's pace, and gives Nanami time to battle his abnormal sense of impatience.

What will I do once I get up there, Nanami asked himself. In the moment, he couldn't help but rush to her aid as quickly as possible, but now that he was physically on his way, he wasn't sure how he would comfort her properly. He didn't know the details of her mourning, he wasn't even supposed to know that she was in mourning to begin with. He gulped, adjusting his glasses as his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat. He wipes the corner of his mouth, chewing on his bottom lip as a sensation of nerves washed over him.

He didn't know how he would tackle this, but he did know that he couldn't let her go up there alone. This wasn't even about what Lottie wanted him to do, but what his heart urged him to do. The right thing to do.

The doors slide open and a whipping breeze hits Nanami so hard, it blows his jacket around his body. He shoves his hands into his pockets to keep the fabric in place as he steps out of the metallic room, the doors sliding closed behind him. It was bound to be cold up here, they were hundreds of feet above the ground on the last night of October. If it weren't for the dire situation that had ensued, he would have loved sitting up here admiring the skyline by himself, or with newfound company; the way the stars seemed to reflect off the glass panes of the surrounding buildings, and the lonely half moon that never seemed to be whole these days. He walked around the cemented roof; a place where people often came to smoke or have lunch, or even to run away from their work. Multiple benches were stationed about, and a few shrubs and plants strewn about for a bit of greenery. Nanami paced about, looking for a flash of brown or the heap of tight coils, any detail that led him to Tiana. As he turned the corner of the tiny enclosed space that hid the stairwell behind some sturdy doors, he saw her. Well, more so her back.

She was crouched down, hands squeezing the metallic bars that enclosed the roof for safety reasons, tremors rolling through her body. Over the sound of wind whistling in Nanami's ears, he could hear her shortened breath mixed with sniffles and a few restrained gags. Nanami wasn't sure if she was crying, hyperventilating, or trying not to vomit; maybe a mixture of all three. Nanami took a step forward, his shoe scuffling against the ground, and causing Tiana to scramble up at the grating noise, turning around abruptly. It was so fast that Nanami himself jumped. As Nanami gazed upon her face, he couldn't help but feel his own heart squeeze. Her arms hugged herself, guarded as tears poured endlessly from those big brown eyes, making them look much larger as the light of the moon was caught in her irises. Her ankles wobbled slightly, as her body curled over.

"Mr. Nanami, I'm..." She shook, lips trembling as the wind dried the streaks on her face. She used her hands to wipe her mouth. "My apologies, I just need a moment."

You need more than a moment, Nanami thought, his eyebrows furrowed with worry. "Are you alright?" He asked, and immediately tried to correct himself; the question was so cliche and insensitive. Of course she wasn't alright. "No, I mean-"