004 Video; UN: Cuddlebunny

[lightthedarkness]

[Usually, Usagi would just make this a text, but this was for Rei.

She took a deep breath as she looks at the camera, her eyes red and swollen, her nose red as well. She offers a wet smile before it falls away completely.

She takes another deep breath.]

For those of you who knew her, Rei Hino went- went home.

[Her breath hitches on that last part but she gets it out without a single sob or tears. Rei would be proud. She's done her crying, though, in truth, she's likely to do more later. Usagi knows she'll see Rei again, their lives intertwined, but it doesn't make her loss hurt any less.

Usagi debates for a moment if she should say anything else, pressing her lips together, and then lets out a breath.]

I know she meant a lot to many of you and those of you who Rei loved, she loved you fiercely, I can say that with certainty. [Rei never loved by halves.

Usagi is silent for a moment and then nods. She leaves it at that, at a loss on what else to say.]

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[lightthedarkness]

I'm terrified... [She whispers.] That one day I'm going to wake up, and everyone will be gone.

[She closes her eyes and hides her face in his chest.] It's a nightmare that wakes me up at night. I'll call out to all of you and none of you turn, none of you even recognize me and I'm left all alone.

Or worse, I don't recognize all of you, that that's taken from me.

[survivalthroughhate]

[Maul's not good with words and so he holds onto Usagi, just letting her tell him everything she needs to while he tries to figure out how to say what he means in return.]

Remember what you told me before we left Deerington? That even if we were separated, we'd find each other again. And you were right.

[His voice takes on a fierce intensity and it's an unusual tone for him. He usually only gets this worked up when talking about his brother but Usagi is someone else he's come to deeply care about as well. She's his family.]

You're a good person. And good things happen to good people even if it doesn't always seem that way at first. Even if everyone deserts you and you are left all alone, it won't be forever. They'll make their way back to you if they have to claw through a sheer rock wall to get there. I know I will.

[lightthedarkness]

[She looked up at him and sniffled, surprised he remembered that considering it had felt like... ages ago. She let out a long breath and even smiled when he said he'd claw through sheer rock walls to make his way back to her. She smiled a bit bigger as she thought about Makoto and Minako and all of the girls who would do much of the same.

She let out another long breath.]

Thank you.

[survivalthroughhate]

[When she smiled, it was like the sun coming out after a thunderstorm had filled the sky with clouds. Maul was glad he had been able to put that expression on her face. Most of his life, all he'd ever been good for was causing pain. Being able to be kind to someone was a new and unusual experience.]

You are one of the most important people here to me, Usagi. I will always try to be there for you the way you have been for me.

[lightthedarkness]

[She KNEW what it meant to love someone and lose them. She knew because it was a favorite tactic of her enemies. But it didn't change how much she loved, how deeply she loved. More than that, she was the being who loved all. What the Jedi preached, she practiced. So her hurting again and again from her love was going to happen. But she continued to love anyway. She couldn't imagine NOT loving.

But she knew how utterly different that was to Maul. Standing back to back, he loved, if he could even say the word, a small handful. And she? She loved all. They both existed in darkness but in very different ways.

Usagi closed her eyes, exhausted emotionally and physically. She was grateful for the warmth and support he provided, for the love he showed her.]

I love you too. [She whispered. Which is why it would hurt to lose him, it was why she was SCARED to lose him, but she still loved him anyway.]

[survivalthroughhate]

[It was strange for Maul to realize he needed Usagi as much as he'd ever needed anyone. He'd always tried to be so tough and a lone wolf but it hadn't worked. Maul's heart was never going to be completely closed and now he had quite the number of people he cared about. The two of them had grown so close together in the almost two years they'd spent, though it often felt much longer to Maul.

If he had to learn how to care about people in order to go further down the path of redemption, then Usagi had been instrumental in helping him to grow. There was not many Maul could love unconditionally, broken and battered as his heart was (and in truth he was afraid to do so), but Usagi was right up there on the top of the list along with his brother and Reaper.

He just continued to hold Usagi, slowly stroking her long hair, trying to give back a little of what she had given him all these months.]

I think I shall sleep over here tonight. [Just in case Usagi was unable to sleep or woke up in the middle of the night.] And tomorrow we shall do something that you greatly enjoy.

[Whether Maul enjoyed it at all was irrelevant. If Usagi wanted to spend the day eating sweets and doing face masks, then he'd stick by her. Right now, she deserved something nice.]

[lightthedarkness]

[She nodded, staying in his hold, her eyes closed as he stroked her hair, grateful for the comfort.

She likely would fall asleep on him, as the night went on, too scared to sleep alone lest the nightmares of everyone disappearing on her started to creep in. It remained one of her greatest fears, to be all alone. She knew exactly how it felt because Galaxia had made sure to make her suffer that feeling.

And even though she had endured, had survived, it did NOT mean she wanted to experience it again, to live through it once more. It didn't matter that she knew she could handle it, it did not change that she was scared of it.

She wiped her eyes, they were sore from all of her crying. And she knew Rei wouldn't want her to be upset, she also knew Rei would absolutely expect this of her.]

Thank you, Maul. I really needed this.