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The sun was shining, bright and beautiful. The trees swayed and birds flew overhead, their songs echoing.
It was a beautiful day. No clouds in the sky, the flowers on the hill vibrant and colorful.
Kronii thinks it's a horrible day for goodbye.
She despises it, the sun in her face blinding her, the birds chirping giving her a headache.
Kronii despises how beautiful it is for such a terrible occasion.
“Kronii?”
Said woman softens, her annoyed scowl lessens, falling off her face entirely at the look Fauna was sending her way.
She was silhouetted, the sun shining on her like a spotlight, with only her in the center stage.
“Yeah?” Kronii says, walks closer, standing next to a heartbroken Mumei. She wraps her arms around the owl, wings wrapping around her in turn.
Fauna smiles, soft but tinged with something sad. She walks closer towards them, the sun following her every movement, an opposite to how it usually is.
The sun needing the flower, such a twist makes Kronii smile slightly.
Fauna stops in front of the Warden, arms crossed in front of her, looking like a goddess descent with the sun as her halo.
Mumei lets out a whimper, the wings around Kronii's shoulder moving with their body to wrap around the Kirin.
Fauna laughs, light and twinkling, like the flowers and lakes and the swaying trees around them.
Bae sniffles, coming up next to the gathered concepts, Irys following behind her.
“Do you have to leave?” Chaos asks, voice small, not at all like her usual exuberance. Irys wraps her arms around her, bringing Bae to her chest.
Kronii relates. She still remembers Sana. (She still remembers Amelia.)
Fauna sighs, sadness wrapped around her like Mumei’s wings.
“No.” And that's that. Fauna doesn't have to leave.
Bae's face crumples, the tears she was trying to hold falling down her face like a waterfall.
She doesn't have to. And yet the fact she is, is the most damning.
Kronii exhales, ragged and deep, the thorns in her chest making it hard to breathe. “I wish you wouldn't.” She whispers.
Fauna smiles, walks forward, Mumei wrapped around her. The owl's wings extend, wrapping around Kronii, followed by Fauna's arms.
“I know.” She murmurs. “I wish I didn't want to leave either.”
Irys’ footsteps, Bae's tail and the tell tale sound of crying.
“It's been, a wonderful three years. We've had our ups and downs, lows and highs. And I am so, so happy I got to spend it all with you.”
There's silence following Fauna's words. Kronii tightens her arms around the Kirin, Mumei and Bae's cries in her ears.
“We are the ones that are happy, Fauna. To have gotten to know you, and see you shine.” Irys says, voice low and wet. “And it hurts. To see you leave.” Her voice cracks.
“Oh Irys..” Fauna sighs, bumps her head against the nephilims shoulder. “I'm so sorry.”
“Don't be.” Mumei says, raises her head to glare at the Kirin. “Don't you dare be sorry for daring to leave because you were unhappy.”
“Yeah!” Bae says, some passion returning to her voice. “Mumei is right. It's sad, to lose you, and it hurts. But that's not your fault!”
Irys nods, wings extending and lighting up the huddled five. “It's proof, just how much we love you. And just how much you mean to us.”
“It won't be the same without you. You leave too much of a hole to fill.” Kronii says, slumps against the Kirin, the weight of lost loved ones pulling her down.
And yet.
“But we'll survive. We'll live and we'll go on. We'll miss you, so, so much. But we'll see you again, in some way.”
Fauna laughs, sounding suspiciously like a sob. Her arms tighten around everyone, feels their own arms holding her together.
“I'll miss you.”
Kronii grits her teeth, holding Nature as she falls apart. “We'll see each other. No matter what. In whatever life, in whatever way.”
“You're not gettin’ ridda us, Fauna. You'll always have us.” Bae says.
“Always.” Mumei echoes.
Fauna laughs, brighter than before, like the sun peaking through the clouds.
Kronii thinks she's brighter than any sun.
“Thank you.”