a willow's bloom | ✓

scene five

     TWO seconds. The remaining time left on the clock when she dropped the phone, and grabbed her cup instead. Her smile seemed radiant, yet almost manic, as though a final straw had been cut and she lost all sense of direction. 

Sherlock looked terrified, and Mycroft's eyes were sad. Terribly sad. John looked like he would either vomit or faint, or both. Even Eurus looked slightly surprised at the outcome of the situation, and a faint smirk covered her lips in sudden admiration.

Lilith on the other hand, at first, made no reaction. She simply could not. A part of her had been happy that Molly finally stood up for herself and her feelings, but another part was scared for the woman's wellbeing. 

Everything was still. The next couple of seconds were a blur for Lilith, but she remembered watching Molly take a big gulp of her tea, and then continuing to gulp down her tea, until the whole cup was empty. It would not have been a big deal, if the next thing had not occurred. 

Choking. Sherlock began to yell and shout, panic absolutely exploded around the small room, and suddenly the room felt too small for Lilith. She began heaving as Molly heaved, trying to find air, attempting to keep herself upright. Molly was grabbing onto the counter so tightly her knuckles were white, and she kept choking, and choking, and choking.

She fell backwards, and landed flat on the kitchen floor, spazzing, and then, she stopped. Just like that; she stopped. No more breathing, no more smiling. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Lilith was crying and rocking back and forth repeatedly saying "No, please, no!" and Sherlock began breaking away at the coffin. Yelling in agony, he ripped it to shreds, he broke the broken wood, making it go flying everywhere. Mycroft had his whole body pressed against the wall, and his fingers were rubbing his temples. John was tearing up, but he kept trying to control it. 

"How interesting," Eurus piped up. "I never had any explosives in her house— I'm not clumsy, Sherlock." She frowned and tilted her head. "She committed suicide. How interesting."

"It's all my fault. Everything is my fault." Lilith sobbed and tightly grabbed her hair, and she felt like she was back at home, when her parents would be sleeping with their door shut, and Amber would come in and tell her how disgusting she was. Awful, awful things.

"Don't say that, Miss Beche," Eurus commanded.

"Why not?" Sherlock asked, frustration filling him. "She was with Molly before this. She was close to her. Why isn't it her fault?" 

"She had no control over how Molly Hooper felt," she snapped. "Molly did that all on her own."

Everything was silent and they all got control over themselves again.

"Now, please, pull yourself together. I need you at peak efficiency. The next one isn't going to be so easy." On the right of Sherlock, a door emerged, which led to another room. The three men quickly made their way to the next room, eager to finish this already. 

Lilith had been dragging behind, until she felt something hit her neck, and with wobbly legs, she fell back into the darkness.

❖

When Lilith awoke, she was back in her side of the chamber, laying on her white sheets. Everything was cleaned up, as if nothing ever happened. Confused, she walked towards the main glass divider and pressed her hand against it. She frowned and was thinking of the reasons she could be here again, until Eurus' face popped up onto the television screen on the wall.

"Hello my Little Tree," Eurus simpered.

"Are you sure it wasn't my fault?"

Eurus' eyes widened and she looked at Lilith as though she grew two heads. Lilith, however, was tired and looked like she needed to rest for at least a couple of days.

"She did that on her own, dear. It had nothing to do with you." When Lilith made no point to answer, she hesitantly continued. "Little Tree? I was not going to actually kill her. I knew you cared for her, and I care about you being happy and fulfilled."

Lilith looked straight into her eyes and faintly smiled. "Do you really?"

Nodding, Eurus genuinely smiled back. "I care about you, dear. I really do. I'm just not the best with showing genuine feelings," she frowned.

After that, Eurus went off-screen, and Lilith was left to herself once more. The only difference, was that soft classical music played through the speakers, causing Lilith to lay on the floor and focus on her breathing. Whenever Eurus played on the violin, it always calmed her down.

❖

Hours passed until there was noise. Shuffling could be heard outside of Eurus and Lilith's chambers, and she groggily blinked her eyes. The doors opened, revealing a bunch of security looking men outside, and two guards holding Eurus' arms. They saw each other and smiled, a longing feeling finally satisfied, and the guards asked if they were going to clear the room and move Lilith to a different containment area.

They said yes.

Immediately both women were concerned and Lilith started hitting the glass wall in disagreement. Eurus kept quiet the whole time though, like she no longer had any energy left in her to talk to anyone.

Mycroft stepped inside, and whispered something to both guards, and when they looked at him in hesitation, he sternly stared them down until they gave in.

They placed Eurus inside the chamber, and then the extra glass divider came in. Mycroft looked at Lilith and gave a stiff nod, and he turned to Eurus, who was only paying attention to Lilith.

Then, he turned, and walked out of the room.

Days had now passed, and both girls were doing their own things. Eurus was playing on her violin, and Lilith was reading a book she was given. It was on the human anatomy because some interests are never really grown out of.

Eurus stopped playing, and put her violin down. She walked towards their glass, and sat down with her back pressed against it. Lilith noticed, and slowly followed her movements.

She remembered the first time they met, how similar it was. Except now, they've been through so much together, it felt unnecessary to speak at all.

Pressing their hands together on the glass, they made eye contact, and smiled in content. In that moment, it was just the two of them and nothing more. 

They were no longer lonely in this world. 

Fin.