( He smells of blood, of ash, of sweat, of salt, and of something sharp and bitter that threatens to tear her heart further; a testament to the trials he's miraculously survived. Jill can only shake his head at his first apology; it doesn't matter now if he's late, not when he came back to her. To all of them; though she cannot great him with as wide a smile as she might like there is still one ghosting over her face as the others rush forward -- she steps back enough to give them all room, and it's the only reason she doesn't stumble down with Clive when everything catches up with him. )
You came, that's all that matters.
( Jill will forgive every lateness, every slight he might ever think he makes against her, just for the fact that he came for her once more. For the last time, she thinks, for she is never letting go of him now. No more days spent apart while they attend to their own separate matters. Nothing she might do needs to be done without him, and he need not shoulder the world's burdens by himself out of fear of harming others any longer.
Now it is her turn to protect him.
Her hand eagerly grips his, threading her fingers in his as he gets to his feet. That he apologies after barely making it through himself -- Jill shakes her head, eyes squeezing shut at her own grief at the loss of Joshua so soon after his return. )
Clive. ( The hand not holding his reaches up to cup his cheek, urging him to look at her. Jill's own tears cut fresh tracks down her cheek, welling at the corner of her eyes. It is unfair, she thinks, that they could have fought so hard against fate to not fully shake free of its shackles. But Clive has done enough, more than anyone ever could, and she knows that were Joshua to find a way to reach for them from beyond the grave, he would tell them as much. ) You did all that you could for him, you have nothing to apologize for.
( He would sooner die than let harm befall Joshua. Jill knows that as much as she knows her own heart; there is nothing Clive wouldn't do for his brother. If Joshua died then it was not for any failing of his Shield, but for circumstances out of their control. Jill presses her face into his chest, finally letting her own tears of grief fall under the sun. )
That even one of you made it-- he would have been glad as any to know you live.
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You came, that's all that matters.
( Jill will forgive every lateness, every slight he might ever think he makes against her, just for the fact that he came for her once more. For the last time, she thinks, for she is never letting go of him now. No more days spent apart while they attend to their own separate matters. Nothing she might do needs to be done without him, and he need not shoulder the world's burdens by himself out of fear of harming others any longer.
Now it is her turn to protect him.
Her hand eagerly grips his, threading her fingers in his as he gets to his feet. That he apologies after barely making it through himself -- Jill shakes her head, eyes squeezing shut at her own grief at the loss of Joshua so soon after his return. )
Clive. ( The hand not holding his reaches up to cup his cheek, urging him to look at her. Jill's own tears cut fresh tracks down her cheek, welling at the corner of her eyes. It is unfair, she thinks, that they could have fought so hard against fate to not fully shake free of its shackles. But Clive has done enough, more than anyone ever could, and she knows that were Joshua to find a way to reach for them from beyond the grave, he would tell them as much. ) You did all that you could for him, you have nothing to apologize for.
( He would sooner die than let harm befall Joshua. Jill knows that as much as she knows her own heart; there is nothing Clive wouldn't do for his brother. If Joshua died then it was not for any failing of his Shield, but for circumstances out of their control. Jill presses her face into his chest, finally letting her own tears of grief fall under the sun. )
That even one of you made it-- he would have been glad as any to know you live.