𝐼𝑁𝑁𝑂𝐶𝐸𝑁𝐶𝐸 𝐿𝑂𝑆𝑇 // 𝐴. 𝐷𝐸 𝑅𝑈𝑁𝐸

𝑋𝑋𝑋

| XXX. The Sins of Our Fathers |

—

and Marion–later joined by Lucas and Mélie–had sat by Amicia's bedside for nearly an hour before the brunette woke up, gasping and disoriented. She immediately tried to sit up, breathlessly calling out for Hugo... who was nowhere near.

"She's awake!" Lucas called out to Rodric and Arthur, who were outside by the forge.

Marion gently cupped Amicia's cheek, letting out a quiet 'shh' as she urged her to lay back down. The brunette complied reluctantly, her eyes flickering around the room for her little brother.

"Rodric, Arthur and I tracked you down." Mélie said, "You were gone for three days... you almost died!"

"Hugo..." Amicia muttered, ignoring Mélie's statement as her eyes found Marion's. The dark-haired girl frowned, gently rubbing her thumb along her companion's cheek.

At the subtle shake of Marion's head, Amicia looked at Lucas, then Mélie, then Rodric, and then Arthur. Each shared the same expression; sadness, alongside thinly veiled guilt. Marion moved her hand from her companion's cheek, to her hand, only for the latter to pull away as if she'd been burned.

"Leave– leave me alone." Amicia choked out, rolling onto her side, back facing the rest of the group.

Everyone complied, following Mélie out like ducklings trailing behind their mother. Marion didn't make any intimations that she was going to leave. She sat at Amicia's side, eyes locked on the blazing hearth. They sat in silence for a few moments, before Marion's hand inched back over to Amicia's. The brunette squeezed her hand, a quiet, strangled sob leaving her lips.

"I– I said leave!" Amicia whimpered, though her tight grip on Marion's hand said otherwise.

Marion simply let go, before laying down next to Amicia. She reached under the cloak draped over her companion's figure, wrapping an arm around her waist, and pulling her body flush to her own. The slight swell of her belly poked into Amicia's back, but it didn't seem to bother her– and if it did, she said nothing of it. They laid in silence for a while before Marion spoke; it could've been ten minutes, or thirty.

"Remember what you said to me?" Marion whispered, nose buried in the crook of her companion's shoulder. "That night, in the crypt..."

'Your burdens are mine, and mine are yours.'

"Your... your burdens are mine, and mine are yours." Amicia responded, her voice frail and shaking.

Marion held Amicia tighter when she heard her let out another sob, the sound just barely louder than the previous one. The poor girl's walls were very quickly cracking and breaking, though with Marion they were never truly up in the first place.

The dark-haired girl couldn't see Amicia's face, but she could guess that her eyebrows were furrowed, cobalt blue eyes filled with hot tears, and lips downturned in a shaky pout. She had always made the same face when she cried, ever since she was a little girl.

"Please... my love, don't push me away." The term of endearment didn't really glide off of Marion's tongue– it more or less was shoved out. It was a bit awkward, yet it still made a little ball of warmth grow in Amicia's chest.

In the moments Marion had witnessed Robert and Béatrice in the same room, they had always used those silly names for each other. As a young child, she and Amicia thought it was funny... well, it seemed to still be funny now, seeing as Amicia couldn't hold back her chuckles.

If what Marion and Amicia had was anything similar to what Robert and Béatrice had, it seemed fitting to use silly names on each other... even if it made them giggle uncontrollably. Amicia needed that.