Momentary Peace

Taiga was down on her hands and knees in front of the slowly swaying punching bag after finishing; breathing heavily and sniffling every now and then. She was crying after thinking back on all that's happened over the years. Even if it helps to take it out through exercise, remembering everything never hurt any less. Digging her fingers into the dirt, Taiga opened her eyes back up and blinked through the rest of her current stream of tears.

"I can't accept it... I know you're out there somewhere, Luci." Deep down, Taiga was still very scared, especially whenever thinking of Séthyan's image, which burned into her memory. But she was determined to keep getting stronger. Taiga's confidence in going up against Séthyan wasn't high, but she'd do anything to get her loved one back. And she had a feeling it sure wouldn't be an easy task.

Taiga grimaced, trying to push back the negative voices telling her once again that she should have tried harder, that now since she's more successful and doing better for herself, she will forget all about Luci and saving her. "No... No, I'm doing all this to have a better chance at helping her, along with myself... I'm not being selfish. I deserve to have a roof over my head. I-I already accomplished so much that I previously never thought possible. D-Don't do this to yourself, Taiga!"

Carefully, she got up from her earlier position and sat back against one of the dead end's brick walls; the coolness of the ground underneath Taiga's body slightly comforting her more. "She will pay for what she's done to those innocent kids... I won't stop until I make sure of it." Wiping her face and gathering her composure, Taiga looked up at the sky.

It was already around dusk at the moment, and Taiga definitely started to feel how sore she was. "I guess I kind of overdid it today... Oh well." The befalling quiet of her surroundings, besides the constant white noise of the Earth and the passing of cars every other minute or so combined with the nice weather set Taiga more at ease. She loved and truly appreciated moments like this.

Her more feline looking ears lowered slightly at the thought of not having been able to just sit and be like this for a while. Taiga perked up again though at the sight of the Salicaceae seeds flowing about through the air. She loved all seasons greatly, but the changes in between Spring and Summer really brightened her days. Everything seems so... Alive. Thriving.

After finishing those thoughts, her ears perked up more and turned back towards the sounds of distant cicadas calling, it echoing throughout the town's nearby streets. "Wow... They're here earlier than last year." Smiling to herself at that, Taiga's tail lightly swished back and forth. Spark didn't share in her joy for insects or anything of the sort, but he promised to Taiga long ago to never kill any.

She never chastised him for killing them, but knowing it upset her made Spark not want to as much as possible. Taiga sat in the alleyway for a while more until the stars started to come out. She was excited when she spotted the first star to show up in the sky. Looking back down and now staring off into space, Taiga was brought back to the time she was in that box; reminded about another, more happy, memory.

~~~~~~~

Mika woke up after a long sleep, and at first didn't recognize her surroundings, starting to panic. But hearing Markus' purring again brought her back to reality; Mika recalling the recent events they both went through. She wanted to cry again, but nothing came. Her body felt warmer than earlier since it was now late in the afternoon, and Markus certainly helped, but Mika noticed something... There were now some little bags of half empty chips, an unopened water bottle on its side, with some differently colored rags resting on top of it, and a can of peas.

"...M-Markus, where did you get all this?" He turned around, focusing his attention on her, sitting up more proudly, happy he got her something at least. "I went around begging... Some people were nice enough to get me a few things. I worked really hard to get you the best." He felt a bit guilty for stealing the bottle from a store and ripping off different parts of people's clothing while they were walking by, but he didn't say anything else about it. He was chased a lot by most of them, but thankfully made it back unscathed.

Mika knew something was off about what Markus said, but was feeling too hungry to question him at the moment, so she put it at the back of her mind for now. "Well... Thank you so much for this, Markus. I don't know what I'd do without you." Markus gently nuzzled her hand in response.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Mika... I know it's not the best, but-" Mika's eyes slightly widened, and she quickly piped up. "No, no, it's more than fine! I'm happy with anything you get." Mika did realize he most likely stole, and she'd be sure to voice her concerns later, but he looked so happy at the moment, and she knew he probably had no other options anyway.

Right now, she decided to just silently eat the chips. Markus looked exhausted and ended up falling back asleep, and Mika watched over him while finishing eating. Once it became even later in the day, she shivered and covered up once again with the blanket, certainly feeling the chill grow more piercing. She started to wonder what would end up happening to the both of them. They obviously couldn't stay here forever.

Mika's mind started running rampant; her thoughts showcasing to her all the things that could possibly go wrong. But she tried to stay hopeful overall after looking back down at Markus' form. Smiling to herself, she softly pet him while looking up at the night sky. Suddenly, she witnessed a shooting star; her eyes widened, shining back brightly themselves from the painted, glowing canvas that was up above before her.

Mika gaped a bit, gently hugging Markus closer to her. She frowned slightly, thinking back on when she saw her first ever shooting star. Funnily enough, she felt more at ease than then. Deep down she wished to have Aito to hold once again, but at least Markus was with her. Mika carefully lied down and kissed the top of his head.

Something quickly flashed like a headlight above Mika's own head but by the time she looked back up, nothing was there. She was confused and stared at the sky again for a while more, but then dismissed it, thinking it was just her imagination again. Mika softly whispered to herself, "Maybe I need more sleep... I shouldn't worry... Markus will protect me, too. We'll protect each other."

She settled down to rest and closed to her eyes, never letting go of Markus.

"We can get through this... You help me believe so."

~~~~~~~

Taiga was still smiling until she reached into her pocket to grab her phone and saw the time. "Oh fu- OW!" She shot up to try and start to leave, but tripped over some of the trash in the way, landing onto the pile.

---

Spark was wondering where Taiga was and trying not to worry, since it was already almost 11:30 PM by now, as shown by her bedside alarm clock. He was staring out the window and immediately felt relieved seeing her rushing back from the alleyway relatively unharmed, albeit covered in some scratches and dirt. Once Taiga made sure she wasn't followed or being watched, from her knowledge at least, she got home and sighed tiredly, but didn't look upset. Spark turned to face her, speaking up, "Have a nice time?" He was holding back on being snarky for once this time since he was actually curious, and calming down from his previous worrying.

Taiga looked up at him and smiled genuinely. "Definitely. I'm glad I made myself get up and go." Spark looked pleased at that too. "So am I... But you fell again, didn't you?" He couldn't hold in his chuckle this time, but he truly was glad to see her in good spirits, and that she was alright.

Taiga slightly rolled her eyes. "You already know the answer to that." Spark chuckled more, and she started to as well; it turning into full-on laughter. After they stopped she lovingly pet Spark. "I'm so glad to have you, buddy... Really. I hope you don't forget that."

He purred loudly and slowly blinked up at her. "Never." Before Taiga got too into her emotions, and head again, she knew it was time for her to at least get in bed for now, since she had her first day of work tomorrow. Taiga got cleaned up and into a clean pair of pajamas. Spark happily joined her once she got into bed and laid down. He cuddled up next to her on top of the blanket and softly spoke again, sensing her budding nervousness.

"You'll do great... I know it." Taiga relaxed a bit at that and smiled again. "Thank you, Spark." "Of course."

He closed his eyes, and she gently pet him until he stopped purring and fell asleep. Taiga closed her own eyes and started thinking again. 'I feel so lucky... to have a friend like him.' After a while of imagining random fantasy worlds, and characters in different scenarios in her head to try and distract herself from any negative thoughts again, she ended up dozing off peacefully, feeling safe and sound before falling into unconsciousness.