Ya'll're lucky my boyfriend likes this fic or else my hiatus would've been longer lmao. Love ya'll. Be prepared.
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“Shh, shh. You’re safe, Tasha. You’re safe, sweetheart. Safe with Milo, safe with your family.”
Milo spoke softly, taking your place- holding her to his chest and petting her tentacles. You now understood. You saw it: the true family. Milo held Tasha as if she were his younger sister, Leo stood off to the side, worried. Just like a younger brother would. He eventually went to sit on the edge of Tasha’s bed, resting his hand near her to let her know he was there. Milo breathes with her, guiding her. Tasha was so vulnerable, you could almost see a younger version of her in her place- a small child who needed to be cared for. You softly asked if you could do anything for her. Milo answered for her, she refused to speak with such a shaky voice. She wasn’t embarrassed- not at all. It simply hurt too much.
“Stay.”
So you did. You stayed as long as she needed you. You already thought you were as close with your family as you could be, but these past few days have brought you infinitely closer.
You debated throwing the match so that Tasha could get her bearings. You’d gladly do whatever it took to make her not feel rushed, to make her feel safe.
She shakily took a breath in and told you she was okay now. You lost track of the time, but it was into the early evening now. Leo and Milo both helped her get up so that she could trail behind Milo as he went to make supper for the family. Her legs were shaky, and her face was puffy. She kept her mask off for the time being. She assisted Milo in making supper, wanting to feel needed, you thought.
You sat on the couch next to Leo after making sure that Tasha and Milo were doing well.
Your mind felt static.
You began to wonder if you were needed in this family.
You just intruded all that time ago, didn’t you? This was a happy family, and you just busted in and began taking charge.
You don’t even belong here.
None of this was right-
“Thank you.”
You shook your head from your daze, finally noticing Milo who was standing right before you. You didn’t quite register his words.
“Tasha’s not quite ready to speak yet, but I want to thank you on her behalf for keeping her safe. She told me that you put yourself between him and her. She told me that she felt safer with you. So, thank you.”
Maybe you did belong.
You didn’t do much, but your presence alone comforted her.
You then asked if you could go talk to Tasha alone for a moment. He nodded.
She was at the kitchen table, cleaning her weapon. She tilted her head up towards you and her gaze softened. You weren’t used to seeing her without her mask. She was gorgeous. You felt you were finally seeing the true her. An inner child that needs healing. And she’s doing amazing, you thought.
You sat across from her, silently asking if you could hold her hands in your by opening them out in front of her. She put down her weapon and held your hands.
As sincerely as you could, you spoke.
“Hun,”
She was fully focused on you.
“Do you want to forfeit tomorrow’s match? It’s okay if you need some time off.”
She blinked in surprise, you were so… genuine. Tasha removed one of her hands to form the ‘no’ sign, paired with shaking her head and smiling kindly. She rubbed her thumb along the palm of your hand, almost to say ‘thank you for caring’. You nod and stand up, leaving her to get back to her weapon.
Well, you knew what that meant. Game on.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
The following morning came quick. The lot of you couldn’t sleep in no matter how hard you tried, too hyped (and nervous) for the upcoming battle. You all decided to go for a small jog in the morning to get yourselves moving. You came across some fans wishing you good luck for the battle against Emperor.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
You sat with your chin in your hand as you tried to come up with any last-minute issues you might run into. You’ve been preparing for this ever since you got here. Milo started on a big but light enough breakfast for the family. Leo played on his switch as he waited for the food, and you probably already know what Tasha’s doing.
“Do you guys have any ideas?” You decided to confide in your family.
“I’m confident in us. We’ve been training for this ever since we met.” Tasha began.
“Yeah! We can kick their butts, ‘specially since our idols’ll be watching! Ooh, do you think we can become their idols? Wait, how would that work…”
Leo begins to mumble to himself as you chuckle. Having them watch isn’t so scary, especially since you know for a fact that they’re cheering on your team, not theirs.
…Maybe the right thing to do is to hype yourselves up? That’s quite important.
“Hey, how about we spend some time with them before our battle? Leo, wanna call up Aloha and ask?”
“Heck yeah! I’ll ring him up right away!” … he just has to finish his match first. Well, you understand what it’s like- you don’t blame him.
Soon enough, you ended up having the S4 over at your place. Milo didn’t have too much cleaning to do as you all helped out, and there wasn’t much to do in the first place.
Aloha blasted some hyped up music, to which Army claimed was too loud so it got turned down. Skull was enjoying the bowl of sweets Milo always had on the counter that you had to smack Leo’s hand away on multiple occasions, reminding him not to eat any junk before the battle. Mask sat at the far end of the table, playing squid racer on his own switch. You noticed the joycon colors- one cyan, and the other one was your own ink color. Hm, must be a cool coincidence. It even had a tiny cyan squid charm where the earphone jack was, how cute!
Aloha spent his time hyping you up, while Army went over some battle plans he had in his manual. You all paid attention, your team sometimes butting in to offer some advice on his plans.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
It didn’t take long before your family had stretched and were standing on the respawn pad, shaking with anticipation.
