R4 Viewing Party - no crying til the end (if you can help it)

[serrata]

I'm sure this is fine.

WELCOME TO THE R4 LIVEWATCH: AIRLOCKED REACH EDITION

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[daughterofthemark]

[Oh hey, Arianna knows that feeling. She knows it perhaps excessively well, lately.]

It is not over. These events have already occurred, but we have already seen Dame Chloe appear with the other dead. There is still hope.

[serrata]

[ That isn't a comfort -- not like it used to be, because no matter where Kurumi and Miki are now, Yuuri's still failed them. Still been unable to protect them, just like always.

But. Maybe, just maybe, when they take this fight to the Network, she can do something then. Maybe eventually she can make up for failing them like she has. ]

... We'll get them back. Won't we? Kurumi and Miki-san and-- and all the others.

[ she doesn't sound determined or sure of herself or anything like that -- she sounds lost. ]

Won't we?

[daughterofthemark]

We will.

[Arianna doesn't sound determined, either, unlike a moment ago. It's just... a statement. This is what will happen.

She pulls Yuuri into a hug. Sorry, Ardyn, emergency sword training is a good idea and she'll allow her to go soon, but this is a very important hug.

It's important for both of them. Arianna can't fail her sister at a time like this. Her place in this little family they've found is all she has in this world.]

We will find where their minds are being kept, and reunite with Dame Cece, and all will be well again.

[serrata]

[ God. What has she ever done to deserve a sister like Arianna? Someone who's spent her whole life being strong for other people, who's been thrown into a hell like this but somehow -- she's still strong, still shining bright and holding Yuuri up when her own two feet won't do it.

She holds onto Arianna as tight as she can for a moment, so hard her arms ache. Whatever accident of fate decided they were going to end up together in this history, Yuuri's more grateful for it than she'll ever find words to say. ]

We will. I...

[ What can she say to Arianna, to let her know how much she's loved? How much Yuuri appreciates everything she does? There's nothing she can say or do to ever really convey it. Instead, all she can do is give a shaky sigh and an equally shaky smile as she pulls back. ]

... thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you.

[daughterofthemark]

...it is the same for me.

[What would she do without her Rii-san? What would she have done the evening after that first trial, if she'd had to stay strong for everyone all by herself? What would she have done when it finally came time to go back to the room where Mai belonged? Or after they rescued Ardyn and the others, when it was finally too much for her, who else could have picked her back up?]

I never wish to learn the answer.