circleof5ths | I met you, drifting along.

[ As things usually went, night was a time where sad thoughts drifted back to the surface from the back of Tyr's mind. It was...a confusing day. It didn't feel real. How could he lose one of his best friends and gain another one back in the same day? It felt like a cruel trade... In his own thoughts, he could admit to himself that he didn't actually wish they had both went home and stayed there. As glad as he was to have Rita back, there wasn't anyone in the City or outside of it who could take Katara's place in his heart, and...it was empty and cold and heavy there now.

He expected his dreams to be a little disturbed for as long as it took him to fall asleep. Yet, as he finally slipped into a deep sleep, that dread faded away. Surprisingly, a warm, calm feeling spread over him, and he realised that it was morning again. Late morning. The sun shone in his eyes, and shone in his eyes.

With a groan, he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes before he opened them up to his familiar bedroom again.

And a familiar face sitting at the edge of his bed. He blinked a few more times to get the blotches of sunlight out of his eyes, or maybe just to confirm they weren't playing tricks on him. ]

...Katara?

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[The lazy morning sunlight casts an almost surreal orange glow on her sun-kissed skin when she first laid eyes on him. He, too, is almost glowing that she wonders if all this is real. With all her heart, she puts her faith on what she currently feels.

This is real.]

Hey, Tyr. [She begins with a soft smile as soft as the rays of light peeking through his slightly parted curtains. She doesn't know what to say, so she just utters the first words that come into her mind.]

Good morning.

[She would have asked if he had a good sleep, but she knows how his nights are, so she opted not to say anything after that, leaving a long pause where she just continues to smile at him. She really doesn't know what she should say next because it's always hard to say goodbye.

Especially when she doesn't want to leave.]

What do you want for breakfast?

[ This didn't feel real. There's no way it could be real.

He shakes his head quickly and scrambles to sit beside her, knocking his blankets out of the way. ]

No, that's fine. Forget about that.

[ She's really there. He stares at her dumbfounded for a moment, and rather than pinch himself to be sure he's not daydreaming, he throws himself forward and wraps his arms around her shoulders. Her hair smelled like lavender, and her body was as solid and warm and soft as he remembered it.

At least they were alone in his room. His words are muffled against her neck. ]

What are you doing here? Toph thought you left...

[The moment his arms capture her in a cosy embrace, she returns it immediately. Just like what Tyr felt, Katara's perfectly convinced that this is really happening. She can smell the scent of the sea, that aroma she had been used to but found it unique in Tyr's.

It almost feels like a long time has passed since she held him like this.]

I wanted to see you. [Katara whispers back, closing her eyes so she can prevent any tears from spilling. What she said was true for the most part. In the end, she doesn't have the heart to say that she wanted to see him for the last time.]

[ Hearing that makes him smile. For him, it does feel like a long time. He thought it would be weeks (at the least) before he saw her again. And maybe even longer before he could hold her like this. ]

I wanted to see you, too... [ There's a note of laughter in his voice. ] I was starting to miss you already.

[Miss her already, huh? There's a slight ache in her chest upon hearing that. Telling him that this will be the last time they'll ever going to see each other again is getting harder and harder.]

Really? [She laughs back a bit, the sound foreign in her ears.] You don't have to miss me. I'll always be with you. [Which is the complete truth.]

[ He doesn't know what to think of it, either. It's still melodic, but...it doesn't feel right. What if this is only for the day and she'll leave him again? She could come back and forget about him... Rita's words that she didn't remember him or even feel different back in her world come back to him then—

Instead of replying right away, he cuddles into her neck with a sleepy hum. At some point, he became someone who didn't want to be forgotten. And at that point, he wanted to believe Katara even if it would be "better" if he were forgotten. No-one needed to know that, though. ]

[Katara places a gentle hand at the back of his head while the other holds his back. A part of her wishes that this will last forever, as selfish as that sounds. Maybe she should wish for something less selfish like remembering all this. The part within her that ached for a transient moment earlier throbs again upon realizing that she can't even hold him in her memories. It's like when she leaves, he wouldn't exist.

The smile on her face fades once she fully discerned this. She can't even keep him in her memories, keep replaying this scene over and over in her head. The pain intensifies and so is her embrace.

She doesn't want to forget. She doesn't want to leave.]

[ He doesn't miss the way her arms tighten around him. She knows this is temporary, too. She has to know. He clenches his teeth together bitterly. Even if he's reading into her movements too much, but it's his thoughts and interpretation that are making things painful now; embracing her in itself never hurts.

A shaky sigh escapes his lips as he tries to find the words to say that wouldn't hurt her. It felt like no matter what he said, though, something would break. The air around them was too fragile. ]

[She also notices the shaky sigh and how it only seemed to worsen the air around them. She can tell he's coming to realize what she feels; he's good at that. They know each other too well. In a blink of an eye, Katara almost decided that she would never let go until the time the City makes her leave, hoping against hopes that maybe, just maybe, she'll be able to take him along with her. But that's selfish because she knows he has a life to live back home and back here in the City.

Searching her head for the right words to say, Katara wants to break the awkward silence, this moment where they're both sinking into these realizations of bitterness and longing. She hopes she doesn't sound broken.]

Tyr, listen. [Her voice betrayed her.] I want you to know that the day we first met is the day my stay here made sense. [At this point, her eyes are betraying her too. Everything seems so blurry.]

You erased the pain I felt from being alone.

I met you, drifting along.

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