The echo shattered against the concrete walls.
She screamed without sound.
She suffocated.
Her body trembled so violently she looked feverish.
Her nails scraped the ground, searching for air, searching for an exit, searching for meaning.
The smoke rose around her again, thin, grey, like a soul leaving a body.
And under the white moon…
Aera had been keeping an eye on Nari since the beginning of the shift.
A discreet eye, almost invisible.
An eye no one could notice… except when you truly loved someone.
She followed each of her movements.
The way her hands trembled.
The way her gaze drifted into the void.
The way her breath caught in her throat, as if every second was an effort.
Aera was scared.
Truly scared.
Because she saw Nari disappearing.
Day after day.
Like a silhouette losing its shadow.
When she saw Nari set down the cloth and slip outside, expressionless, Aera felt her heart skip a beat.
She put down her tray, panicked, apologized in a trembling voice, and rushed into the storage room.
Then she heard it.
The sobs.
Not ordinary tears.
Not tired crying.
No.
Sobs that come from the stomach.
Sobs that sound like farewells.
Aera felt a candle go out inside her.
She opened the door to the courtyard.
And there…
Her world stopped.
**
Nari was on her knees.
Collapsed.
Her face devastated.
Her hands trembling.
Her breath broken.
Her skin pale as the moon.
Her shoulders shaking with spasms that twisted her body.
As if she were dying alive.
Aera froze for ten seconds.
Twenty.
She had never seen anyone cry like that.
Not even herself, not even in her worst moments.
Then she rushed forward.
She literally fell to her knees in the snow, grabbed Nari, pulled her into her arms, held her so tight it looked like she was trying to glue her back together piece by piece.
She was already crying.
— Nari… Nari! Talk to me! I'm begging you, talk to me!
Her voice was breaking.
She almost shook Nari, unable to bear seeing her like that.
Nari breathed heavily, hiccupping between sobs.
— I… I can't…
It was barely audible.
A whisper.
A breath.
Aera took Nari's face in her hands, her thumbs wiping her tears without her even realizing it.
— Look at me. Please, look at me.
Nari lifted her eyes.
Two destroyed eyes.
Two oceans of sorrow.
Aera felt a physical pain stab through her heart.
— Everyone is worried about you! she shouted in a trembling voice.
— YOU don't eat anymore, YOU don't sleep anymore, YOU don't talk anymore, you walk like a zombie for weeks, you smile at no one, you're fading in front of all of us, you're disappearing, Nari!
I'M WORRIED!
I'm dying of worry! Do you understand that?!
Nari burst again into sobs.
Aera continued, her voice broken:
— If you don't tell me anything… I'll go find the cause myself.
She clenched her teeth, her eyes blazing.
— And I swear… I SWEAR he will hear from me.
The word "he" made Nari tremble.
She shook her head violently, panicked.
— No, Aera… don't do that…
She grabbed her friend's hand, squeezing so hard her whole body trembled.
— He… he might go after you…
Aera froze.
The world too.
She spoke more quietly, with a trembling but firm voice:
— Nari… you can tell me everything. Everything. I will never judge you.
The sentence seemed to break something inside Nari.
She rested her forehead against Aera's shoulder, trembling like a child, her voice coming out in shreds:
— I don't have the strength to live anymore…
Aera closed her eyes.
Her breath stopped.
— I love him… so much… too much…
Her voice became a torn whisper.
— I can't… endure anymore…
She inhaled as if the air burned.
— If I abandon him… he'll feel alone…
A tear slid over her lips.
— I swear to you Aera… he's not mean… not really…
A sob shook her.
— He's broken… destroyed… by his life, by his father, by everything…
She pressed herself against Aera as if to survive.
— I'm the only one he has. I can't… I can't leave him alone… never…
And her words fell into the cold night, heavy, tragic, irreversible.
Aera gently ran a hand through Nari's hair soaked with tears, a tender, maternal, almost sacred gesture.
She pulled her closer, as if she wanted to protect her from the cold, from the world… and from Sion.
Her voice, when she spoke, wasn't Aera's usual bright and loud voice.
No.
It was a low voice.
Broken.
Filled with immense love.
— I understand, Nari… she murmured.
— You're doing all this for him. For his sake. Because you want to save him.
She gently caressed the back of Nari's neck, almost kissed her forehead.
Then she lifted her friend's face between her hands, forcing her to look at her.
Her eyes were red, shining, full of a soft anger.
— But tell me something…
She inhaled deeply.
— Does HE think about your well-being? About you?
Nari swallowed.
A shiver ran through her.
Aera pushed, slowly, each word like a knife digging up a buried truth:
— Does he feel his heart hurt when you're alone?
— Does he feel bad when you cry?
— Does he wonder if you're doing okay?
The silence around them turned icy.
The air no longer moved.
Aera continued, her voice trembling with contained rage:
— He cages you because he's afraid you'll slip away from him.
She wiped a tear rolling down Nari's cheek.
— But that, Nari… that's not love.
Nari closed her eyes.
She shook her head, slowly, as if she knew but refused to hear.
Aera whispered, heartbroken:
— Love is wanting to see the other happy. Laugh. Breathe. Live.
She pressed her forehead against Nari's.
— Not become a zombie who belongs only to him.
Nari burst again into silent sobs, her shoulders shaking.
Aera continued, even softer:
— So the real question is… are you happy?
She waited.
One second.
Two.
Nari didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
— You already know the answer, Nari.
Aera kissed her temple, a sister's kiss.
— Think about your health. Think about yourself. And… try to talk to him. Tell him everything. If he truly loves you… he will understand.
Then, with a voice vibrating with promise:
— And if you need… you can come sleep at my place.
She cupped Nari's cheeks.
— I'm here. I won't let you go. Even if you hate me. Even if you scream. I am here. I stay.
Nari broke.
Completely.
She threw herself into Aera's arms, grabbed her back as if her life depended on it, tears falling like a waterfall.
— Thank you… thank you from the bottom of my heart… she sobbed.
— I'm going home. I'll try to talk to him… I promise you.
She held her even tighter.
— You are… the friend I never had. The one I always dreamed of having.
Aera cried too.
Both of them, under the white moonlight, in the cold of the courtyard, clung to each other like two survivors.
And for fifteen long minutes, Nari told her.
Everything.
The nights.
The crises.
The violence.
The kisses.
The dependency.
The fear.
The love.
And Aera stayed there.
Silent.
Present.
Her heart in pieces.
Because she finally understood:
Nari wasn't drowning.
She had drowned a long time ago.