Ardbert listens intently. Her touch is soothing. The explanation helps, partially by the fact it's in her voice.
"Every precaution we can take is mandatory, as far as I'm concerned," Ardbert runs his hand along her back; he's relaxed a little, knowing they'll have plenty of time. "I refuse to be a widower so soon."
He leans his head closer to hers, letting his fear show. "... but I don't think I can watch you do it. My back will have to be turned."
"As one of my precautions... I cannot tell you all of my precautions." She gives him a small, lopsided smile. "If he becomes at all suspicious he will be forced to kill me, and as of late he seems more actively focused on you."
Keep that wonderful Hades aggro for her, Ardbert.
"...I don't want anyone to watch, or to see. If I could do it all alone I would rather that, but... It is too dangerous. I'll have my eyes closed, and most of the bleeding should be internal, so it should not be too traumatic a sight."
Ardbert strokes her back as she speaks, waiting until she's finished, as always, to speak in turn. To the fact she can't tell him every precaution, he simply nods as affirmation. It makes sense.
"He'll be forced to kill us all or die trying," Ardbert's heart aches at the thought; they either completely succeed or fail. "... it's good no one will have to watch. Everyone's going to go through enough as it is.
A soft smile crosses his lips. "But I can keep Hades's attention until then. We've... been flirting, mostly with wordplay. It's nice to go at it slow."
"Not all of you. Just me," Era corrects him. This fact is something that brings her no small amount of comfort. "I am the only one capable of removing Zodiark's influence and he will know it."
This brings to mind something she hadn't dared consider before. Era focuses on the feel of Ardbert's face against her palm; the soft skin and the coarse stubble. Something to keep her grounded.
"...Ardbert, if I should fail I need you to order a retreat. I need you to drag all the others away and leave me there to die." Era doesn't expect this to happen. She fully expects to win against Zodiark's influence. Yet there is always the slimmest possibility... "If I fail to remove his tempering I am consigned to death. I need to know that you will not allow anyone else to die needlessly along with me."
Of course, just her. She's right. Hades has always skirted the edge of his tempering. It's the reason why he can live with the two of them, why he can share a smile or even a kiss. Emet has no reason to do that other than his own personal preference; he'll struggle against it all the harder to prevent himself from murdering everyone in the fight.
Gods, he's going to need so much support to deal with the monster that tempering made him versus the kind and gentle soul he once was.
... Ardbert needs to figure out a source to help with mental health, and soon. It's not just Era or himself that'll need the help. Of course, no one would be fully equipped to help Hades, but....
He hates the words she says, but he can't fight the truth. Ardbert let's out a shaky sigh and closes his eyes. They won't win, not without her.
Ardbert opens his eyes to look into hers, gaze firm but sad. "I-I know. I'll lead everyone away if it comes to that. You'll be able to... able to die knowing that everyone else shall live."
Era can't see him die alongside her, even though that would be exactly as he'd want. But he can't do that to her or to Hades, not to mention the birds. One tragic death is enough.
Era offers him a sad smile. Strokes his face with her fingertips and leans in, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips; chaste, but lingering, only pulling away to speak again, and even then only just enough to speak them.
"I ask too much of you, and you give it without question. You are too good to me." Another kiss, to the corner of his mouth, followed by an emotional whisper: "I'll keep trying my best to deserve you. I promise, okay?"
Ardbert returns the kiss softly, and it's the words that hit him hard, making his eyes wide, his half-open mouth tremble.
For a moment, he can see what will happen if they fail. He'll have to leave her to die.
Except he won't.
The others won't leave her side despite it being hopeless. Hades will be forced to kill the woman he loves more than Ardbert, and it may break him. In his grief, he might not have the strength to resist his Tempering enough to spare everyone else.
If they fail, Era will have to die not by Hades's hand, but by Ardbert's. He'll have to end her life by the same way they ended Hades's life: by an axe in the chest.
He cannot tell Era all of his precautions, either.
But he can bring himself back to the present instead of suffering through images of the worst future. Ardbert's eyes refocus. He grips her tightly with his arm.
"You've already more than deserved me many times over." Ardbert's lips find hers again, and the kiss is chaste as before, except it desperately lingers.
His kiss is reciprocated, though there is no desperation from her in return. Era leans into him, letting his lips warm hers as she breathes in his scent, committing it all to memory. While it's clear she loves him dearly and so enjoys being this close with him... It's also clear in the subtle ways she holds herself back that she doesn't believe she deserves him at all.
He can sense her hesitation. Ardbert knows why. It's the same feeling that he felt for over a hundred years, feeling he had failed his entire world.
To see her grapple with it now, over deserving him, is heartbreaking. It's just something more he can't fix. He can only stay by her and hope it helps, if only a little.
But that doesn't feel like enough.
Ardbert lets go of her and brings up a hand to stroke her cheek, breaking off the kiss so he can rest their foreheads together. He keeps his eyes closed and just lays there with her. There's only so much he can do to hide the dip in his mood.
It's easier to hide it in the dark, or so he hopes.
She isn't blind to the shift in his mood, and is well aware that she is the cause. It seems like no matter what she does it always upsets the ones she loves most. Her fingers card gently through Ardbert's hair, trailing along his scalp with the amount of pressure she knows he likes best.
"You don't have to, Era. You're doing the best you can."
Oh, it hurts.
"It's all right to be sad," Ardbert adds quietly. "For our hearts to ache for each other. Real love isn't about making your partner happy all the time—it's about sharing happiness and sadness."
He chuckles sadly, making himself relax into her touch. "Over a hundred years of watching people taught me that, at least. I am sad... but I am happy to be sad at your side. So let's be sad together, aye?"
Her breath catches and her hand falters, though she resumes stroking his hair a moment later. Era says nothing yet, focusing on simply having him there by her side, whole and hale; a soul in the flesh. Her breathing is even and purposeful, accented with a dampness she can't quite manage to repress.
"My best is not good enough, so I need to do better." Ardbert has spent over a century in sadness and self-loathing. He deserves a wife who isn't so selfish. Someone who isn't so crippled by her own mind. "Against all odds you are here by my side. What reason do I have to be sad? I should be grateful for this blessing."
"Your best is more than enough for me." Ardbert means it; he's also clearly had time to think about this, having had plenty of time to himself throughout this entire thing.
"You're still grateful that my presence brings you a measure of comfort in this very moment, even as the guilt about having emotions and feelings eats at you, aren't you?" He moves his arm back around her waist to let her have more room to touch him. "... But—and let me explain it to the end—I suppose some of this is my fault."
He pushes a breath out and takes one in gently before continuing. "Although 'fault' implies I could've done better. I couldn't. I did my best, back when I was... made anew. You saw some of the times I was upset, but there were many—many—times where I hid away, when I should have sought you out. Times where I felt guilty for being full of grief, pain, anguish, anxiety... worthlessness."
The last word seizes in his throat, cracking his words. "But, I—" A catch of breath. "But I didn't, and that means you didn't learn from me how to let yourself be upset, and that it's okay to be upset. I suffered alone sometimes when I didn't need to."
His arm tightens around her to punctuate his next thought. "So you don't need to, either. You don't need to be perfect. I'm not perfect. Perfect is godsdamned boring, and if you were perfect, you wouldn't be human, and you wouldn't be you. I'm in love with you, Era. Your imperfections and anguish and anything else you go through—it's all a part of the woman I love. And as terrible as it feels to not be perfect, as bad as you might feel in this very moment, I wouldn't trade you for anything."
"You are my wife, and I am your husband, and that is good enough for me," Ardbert tilts his head up and shifts back just enough to kiss the tip of her nose. "And some day, it'll be good enough for you."
Ardbert asks her to listen and so she does, opening her eyes to look at him while he speaks. When he struggles to push the words out through his emotions she slides her hand down from his scalp to rest against the side of his face, stroking her thumb along his cheekbone. She hums a quiet, soothing note— shhh, shhh—as she continues the motion, encouraging him the best she can.
As he reaches the end of his speech he surprises her with a kiss to her nose, so gentle and sweet. Combined with his words Era is caught off guard. Her eyes grow bright with tears and her throat grows sore as she chokes up.
Despite all that Ardbert has said, her first instinct is still to remove her hand from his face to cover her own—to hide her emotions until she can gather the strength to shove them away.
The touch is reassuring, and it does help him get through his words. She does it so automatically, now. Ardbert's heart swells through his pain. Era is beautiful.
His words hit home. Ardbert kisses the back of Era's hand with the same gentleness as her nose. Era isn't the only one with bright eyes.
"You don't need to hide your emotions. Not from me. And I won't hide mine from you anymore. Emotions aren't always logical and don't always make sense. But it's always okay to feel them. Sometimes I felt worthless or lost in grief here, even though I should have been happy to be alive, to be with you, right? But I hid those moments from you. I-I already relied on you so much that I was scared to lean on you even more, to take even more advantage of your kindness."
He strokes his hand up and down her back; there's tears down his face now. "But I should have. You would've seen it's normal."
Ardbert's voice catches in his throat. "I'm sorry I didn't let you see me during my weakest moments. I'm so sorry. But I won't purposefully hide from you ever again. So please..." A crack, a sharp shuddering intake of breath. "try not to hide yours from me. Just try. That's all I ask."
See, Era? He's crying, even as he smiles so softly. It's okay to cry.
"Because I love you, Era, and I want to be there for you, through thick and thin."
It isn't hard to tell that Ardbert is crying, and she hates that she's made him feel such sadness. Era knows he's trying to help her. After all, she had said similar things to Noct not so very long ago. That it's okay to cry.
Tears don't wash away one's strength, they just make it shine brighter.
She'd said that, and she meant it. Just... not for herself. To Era her own unfavourable emotions are akin to a cancer festering in her flesh, eating it away until there's nothing left. With the heavy burdens she bears—the hopes of so many—she cannot risk falling apart.
Era shivers at the warmth of her husband's hand stroking her back so lovingly, but doesn't remove her hand from her face.
She takes a deep, steadying breath. Holds it for ten seconds, then exhales it at a slow and even pace. Once she feels more grounded she returns her hand to Ardbert's face, wiping his tears away with gentle fingers. Her eyes are damp, but no longer shine with unshed tears, nor is there any sign on her face that she came so close to tears at all.
"No matter how tumultuous your emotions, they have never hurt me." Her voice is quiet; gentle, warm, and loving as she speaks of him. The undertone shifts subtly as she continues, the warmth turning cold and the love suddenly absent. "My emotions have only wrought pain upon myself and others. I won't let them free to cause more harm than they already have."
Her expression is one all but pleading with him to understand.
His gaze is already hurt by the time she removes her hand from her face. Ardbert knows what she's doing. Shoving her emotions away, burying them once more.
It would be best for him to shove his down, too. Except he had just told her that he wouldn't hide from her again. He lets her brush his tears away, focusing on the tenderness in her voice.
Then suddenly, it's gone, as Era speaks about herself. Ardbert sucks in a breath. He's trying so hard to be patient, to be supportive, and still, it isn't enough for her to open up. There was a moment in which he had reached her, but only a moment. It's too much to bear, seeing her beg him to let her be an unfeeling thing.
For the first time ever, Ardbert pulls away from her touch and rolls onto his other side, away from her, and wraps his arms around himself. "It isn't. Not for me. You won't let me be there for you, and it makes me feel worthless."
His last word drips with transient but powerful emotion.
"It makes me fear I'll lose you." The kind of lose, he doesn't know, but it terrifies him all the same. "That some day, you'll break, and I'll be left with the forever shattered remnants of the woman I love."
He pulls away from her and it is so unexpected that she freezes for a moment, trying to process the sight of his back to her in such a pointed gesture. It... hurts. It hurts, but she deserves it. Era rolls onto her other side as well, back facing his, hugging her knees to her chest and curling her tail around her ankle in a futile attempt to make up for the sudden loss of warmth.
"...You weren't allowed to break," Era begins, after a long stretch of silence. "You weren't allowed to until you were dead, Ardbert. Why would it be any different for me?"
Ardbert feels Era turn in bed and shift. He waits for her to speak, knowing she has to process him turning away from her. (Something he already regrets, dearly.)
Then she does speak, and it hurts. It's the first time Era has mentioned his death in as long as he can remember. But it's not that which hurts, so much as the misconceptions.
"I didn't break while I was alive or while I was dead on the Source because I didn't have to. 'Allowed' has nothing to do with it. I had friends with whom I could share my burdens. We leaned on each other in our times of need and put each other back together before we broke."
He wraps his arms tighter around himself, memories flashing in his mind.
"But after they were gone, and I was nothing more than a shade... That was when I broke. I broke, and I broke, and I broke until I thought there was nothing left that could break, only to break again until my very soul began to unravel."
He breathes out with a shuddering sigh, and unable to keep himself from Era for a moment longer, he rolls over to wrap an arm around her from behind, if she'll allow it. "... But I can't make you open up to me if you don't want to. All I can do is let you know that you're not alone. I can see and hear and touch you, and I love you almost more than my heart can bear."
Once they save Hades, Ardbert has a plan: ask how to learn about mental health on the network, then start charting his own path forward that Era, and everyone else who needs it, can use to chart their own paths forward.
Edited (Ardbert keeps other plans secret :)) 2021-05-28 00:23 (UTC)
Era curls herself up more tightly as he speaks, drawing her legs up further into her chest and making herself smaller; secure. She had assumed her and Ardbert's experiences were similar, but apparently they weren't.
For all that her senses alert her to his movement, Era still startles when he wraps his arm around her. While she doesn't pull away from him, neither does she relax into his touch, and when he says 'I love you' she can't hide her small, reflexive flinch.
"...I had someone, once," she tells him, so soft and quiet she doesn't know if he can even hear her. "For just a little while... I had a friend like that."
Pulling away only ruined the mood further rather than get his point across. Godsdamnit. Era was entirely too stubborn.
She startles when he touches her but doesn't pull away, and Ardbert reads that as permission to continue to gently hold her. Her flinch is outside his view, but the fact she doesn't relax tells him more than enough. Ardbert will keep the middle ground, not pushing forward and waiting to see if she wants him to pull back.
"... and then you lost them." He guesses correctly. "Like I did, without warning, and it left a gaping hole where your heart once was."
"The attack was meant for me." It was Haurchefant's choice to intercept it and protect her, but it was her fault he made that choice. "I was not paying attention and he died. After that... I was just the Warrior of Light again."
Ardbert knows who Era's friend was. He had even seen the man die through the Echo. The guilt Era feels at Haurchefant's death is similar to the guilt Ardbert feels towards his friends.
It had been their choice to go with him, but he still felt just as responsible.
Then, they gave up everything they had left to stop the Flood, and he had been entirely alone. All he was to the world at that point was one of the cursed Warriors of Light. Those few that spoke out in their favor eventually died, and then people only said his name to curse it.
"I know the feeling all too well." Ardbert murmurs to her, his heart resonating with the anguish she feels to this very day.
"You had a papa who raised you, and friends who adventured with you," Era tells him. "From the beginning you have always been Ardbert... And I have always been mother's Crystal Bearer."
"I wasn't always Ardbert. In the last years before you showed up, I was almost nothing." He sighs tiredly. "But I understand what you mean. Aye, I had a life before we became Warriors of Light, while all you've ever had is the life you know now."
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"Every precaution we can take is mandatory, as far as I'm concerned," Ardbert runs his hand along her back; he's relaxed a little, knowing they'll have plenty of time. "I refuse to be a widower so soon."
He leans his head closer to hers, letting his fear show. "... but I don't think I can watch you do it. My back will have to be turned."
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Keep that wonderful Hades aggro for her, Ardbert.
"...I don't want anyone to watch, or to see. If I could do it all alone I would rather that, but... It is too dangerous. I'll have my eyes closed, and most of the bleeding should be internal, so it should not be too traumatic a sight."
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"He'll be forced to kill us all or die trying," Ardbert's heart aches at the thought; they either completely succeed or fail. "... it's good no one will have to watch. Everyone's going to go through enough as it is.
A soft smile crosses his lips. "But I can keep Hades's attention until then. We've... been flirting, mostly with wordplay. It's nice to go at it slow."
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This brings to mind something she hadn't dared consider before. Era focuses on the feel of Ardbert's face against her palm; the soft skin and the coarse stubble. Something to keep her grounded.
"...Ardbert, if I should fail I need you to order a retreat. I need you to drag all the others away and leave me there to die." Era doesn't expect this to happen. She fully expects to win against Zodiark's influence. Yet there is always the slimmest possibility... "If I fail to remove his tempering I am consigned to death. I need to know that you will not allow anyone else to die needlessly along with me."
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Gods, he's going to need so much support to deal with the monster that tempering made him versus the kind and gentle soul he once was.
... Ardbert needs to figure out a source to help with mental health, and soon. It's not just Era or himself that'll need the help. Of course, no one would be fully equipped to help Hades, but....
He hates the words she says, but he can't fight the truth. Ardbert let's out a shaky sigh and closes his eyes. They won't win, not without her.
Ardbert opens his eyes to look into hers, gaze firm but sad. "I-I know. I'll lead everyone away if it comes to that. You'll be able to... able to die knowing that everyone else shall live."
Era can't see him die alongside her, even though that would be exactly as he'd want. But he can't do that to her or to Hades, not to mention the birds. One tragic death is enough.
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Era offers him a sad smile. Strokes his face with her fingertips and leans in, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips; chaste, but lingering, only pulling away to speak again, and even then only just enough to speak them.
"I ask too much of you, and you give it without question. You are too good to me." Another kiss, to the corner of his mouth, followed by an emotional whisper: "I'll keep trying my best to deserve you. I promise, okay?"
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Ardbert returns the kiss softly, and it's the words that hit him hard, making his eyes wide, his half-open mouth tremble.
For a moment, he can see what will happen if they fail. He'll have to leave her to die.
Except he won't.
The others won't leave her side despite it being hopeless. Hades will be forced to kill the woman he loves more than Ardbert, and it may break him. In his grief, he might not have the strength to resist his Tempering enough to spare everyone else.
If they fail, Era will have to die not by Hades's hand, but by Ardbert's. He'll have to end her life by the same way they ended Hades's life: by an axe in the chest.
He cannot tell Era all of his precautions, either.
But he can bring himself back to the present instead of suffering through images of the worst future. Ardbert's eyes refocus. He grips her tightly with his arm.
"You've already more than deserved me many times over." Ardbert's lips find hers again, and the kiss is chaste as before, except it desperately lingers.
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To see her grapple with it now, over deserving him, is heartbreaking. It's just something more he can't fix. He can only stay by her and hope it helps, if only a little.
But that doesn't feel like enough.
Ardbert lets go of her and brings up a hand to stroke her cheek, breaking off the kiss so he can rest their foreheads together. He keeps his eyes closed and just lays there with her. There's only so much he can do to hide the dip in his mood.
It's easier to hide it in the dark, or so he hopes.
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"I'm sorry," Era whispers. "I'll do better."
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Oh, it hurts.
"It's all right to be sad," Ardbert adds quietly. "For our hearts to ache for each other. Real love isn't about making your partner happy all the time—it's about sharing happiness and sadness."
He chuckles sadly, making himself relax into her touch. "Over a hundred years of watching people taught me that, at least. I am sad... but I am happy to be sad at your side. So let's be sad together, aye?"
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"My best is not good enough, so I need to do better." Ardbert has spent over a century in sadness and self-loathing. He deserves a wife who isn't so selfish. Someone who isn't so crippled by her own mind. "Against all odds you are here by my side. What reason do I have to be sad? I should be grateful for this blessing."
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"You're still grateful that my presence brings you a measure of comfort in this very moment, even as the guilt about having emotions and feelings eats at you, aren't you?" He moves his arm back around her waist to let her have more room to touch him. "... But—and let me explain it to the end—I suppose some of this is my fault."
He pushes a breath out and takes one in gently before continuing. "Although 'fault' implies I could've done better. I couldn't. I did my best, back when I was... made anew. You saw some of the times I was upset, but there were many—many—times where I hid away, when I should have sought you out. Times where I felt guilty for being full of grief, pain, anguish, anxiety... worthlessness."
The last word seizes in his throat, cracking his words. "But, I—" A catch of breath. "But I didn't, and that means you didn't learn from me how to let yourself be upset, and that it's okay to be upset. I suffered alone sometimes when I didn't need to."
His arm tightens around her to punctuate his next thought. "So you don't need to, either. You don't need to be perfect. I'm not perfect. Perfect is godsdamned boring, and if you were perfect, you wouldn't be human, and you wouldn't be you. I'm in love with you, Era. Your imperfections and anguish and anything else you go through—it's all a part of the woman I love. And as terrible as it feels to not be perfect, as bad as you might feel in this very moment, I wouldn't trade you for anything."
"You are my wife, and I am your husband, and that is good enough for me," Ardbert tilts his head up and shifts back just enough to kiss the tip of her nose. "And some day, it'll be good enough for you."
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As he reaches the end of his speech he surprises her with a kiss to her nose, so gentle and sweet. Combined with his words Era is caught off guard. Her eyes grow bright with tears and her throat grows sore as she chokes up.
Despite all that Ardbert has said, her first instinct is still to remove her hand from his face to cover her own—to hide her emotions until she can gather the strength to shove them away.
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His words hit home. Ardbert kisses the back of Era's hand with the same gentleness as her nose. Era isn't the only one with bright eyes.
"You don't need to hide your emotions. Not from me. And I won't hide mine from you anymore. Emotions aren't always logical and don't always make sense. But it's always okay to feel them. Sometimes I felt worthless or lost in grief here, even though I should have been happy to be alive, to be with you, right? But I hid those moments from you. I-I already relied on you so much that I was scared to lean on you even more, to take even more advantage of your kindness."
He strokes his hand up and down her back; there's tears down his face now. "But I should have. You would've seen it's normal."
Ardbert's voice catches in his throat. "I'm sorry I didn't let you see me during my weakest moments. I'm so sorry. But I won't purposefully hide from you ever again. So please..." A crack, a sharp shuddering intake of breath. "try not to hide yours from me. Just try. That's all I ask."
See, Era? He's crying, even as he smiles so softly. It's okay to cry.
"Because I love you, Era, and I want to be there for you, through thick and thin."
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Tears don't wash away one's strength, they just make it shine brighter.
She'd said that, and she meant it. Just... not for herself. To Era her own unfavourable emotions are akin to a cancer festering in her flesh, eating it away until there's nothing left. With the heavy burdens she bears—the hopes of so many—she cannot risk falling apart.
Era shivers at the warmth of her husband's hand stroking her back so lovingly, but doesn't remove her hand from her face.
She takes a deep, steadying breath. Holds it for ten seconds, then exhales it at a slow and even pace. Once she feels more grounded she returns her hand to Ardbert's face, wiping his tears away with gentle fingers. Her eyes are damp, but no longer shine with unshed tears, nor is there any sign on her face that she came so close to tears at all.
"No matter how tumultuous your emotions, they have never hurt me." Her voice is quiet; gentle, warm, and loving as she speaks of him. The undertone shifts subtly as she continues, the warmth turning cold and the love suddenly absent. "My emotions have only wrought pain upon myself and others. I won't let them free to cause more harm than they already have."
Her expression is one all but pleading with him to understand.
"It's better this way, Ardbert."
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It would be best for him to shove his down, too. Except he had just told her that he wouldn't hide from her again. He lets her brush his tears away, focusing on the tenderness in her voice.
Then suddenly, it's gone, as Era speaks about herself. Ardbert sucks in a breath. He's trying so hard to be patient, to be supportive, and still, it isn't enough for her to open up. There was a moment in which he had reached her, but only a moment. It's too much to bear, seeing her beg him to let her be an unfeeling thing.
For the first time ever, Ardbert pulls away from her touch and rolls onto his other side, away from her, and wraps his arms around himself. "It isn't. Not for me. You won't let me be there for you, and it makes me feel worthless."
His last word drips with transient but powerful emotion.
"It makes me fear I'll lose you." The kind of lose, he doesn't know, but it terrifies him all the same. "That some day, you'll break, and I'll be left with the forever shattered remnants of the woman I love."
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"...You weren't allowed to break," Era begins, after a long stretch of silence. "You weren't allowed to until you were dead, Ardbert. Why would it be any different for me?"
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Then she does speak, and it hurts. It's the first time Era has mentioned his death in as long as he can remember. But it's not that which hurts, so much as the misconceptions.
"I didn't break while I was alive or while I was dead on the Source because I didn't have to. 'Allowed' has nothing to do with it. I had friends with whom I could share my burdens. We leaned on each other in our times of need and put each other back together before we broke."
He wraps his arms tighter around himself, memories flashing in his mind.
"But after they were gone, and I was nothing more than a shade... That was when I broke. I broke, and I broke, and I broke until I thought there was nothing left that could break, only to break again until my very soul began to unravel."
He breathes out with a shuddering sigh, and unable to keep himself from Era for a moment longer, he rolls over to wrap an arm around her from behind, if she'll allow it. "... But I can't make you open up to me if you don't want to. All I can do is let you know that you're not alone. I can see and hear and touch you, and I love you almost more than my heart can bear."
Once they save Hades, Ardbert has a plan: ask how to learn about mental health on the network, then start charting his own path forward that Era, and everyone else who needs it, can use to chart their own paths forward.
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For all that her senses alert her to his movement, Era still startles when he wraps his arm around her. While she doesn't pull away from him, neither does she relax into his touch, and when he says 'I love you' she can't hide her small, reflexive flinch.
"...I had someone, once," she tells him, so soft and quiet she doesn't know if he can even hear her. "For just a little while... I had a friend like that."
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She startles when he touches her but doesn't pull away, and Ardbert reads that as permission to continue to gently hold her. Her flinch is outside his view, but the fact she doesn't relax tells him more than enough. Ardbert will keep the middle ground, not pushing forward and waiting to see if she wants him to pull back.
"... and then you lost them." He guesses correctly. "Like I did, without warning, and it left a gaping hole where your heart once was."
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It had been their choice to go with him, but he still felt just as responsible.
Then, they gave up everything they had left to stop the Flood, and he had been entirely alone. All he was to the world at that point was one of the cursed Warriors of Light. Those few that spoke out in their favor eventually died, and then people only said his name to curse it.
"I know the feeling all too well." Ardbert murmurs to her, his heart resonating with the anguish she feels to this very day.
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"You had a papa who raised you, and friends who adventured with you," Era tells him. "From the beginning you have always been Ardbert... And I have always been mother's Crystal Bearer."
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