..do you need help..?

someplace warm and sunny.. with lots of beaches and water. i used to travel a lot with my parents when i was little..

..it would.. um.. be fun to do something like that with you guys, too.. because we're a family.

..maybe we can spend some time together for a while. what if.. what if we went on a vacation? someplace really pretty with no monsters or bad guys.

[ it almost doesn't sound like a real thing. but god, she wants it to be. ]

it's been so long since i've done something like that..

you *are* strong. nobody's invincible.. so it's okay. i was just scared and worried about you.

are you.. better now? maybe not *good*, but.. better?

— sister so.. unlike themself. like a glimpse of a completely different person. ]

...

i did hear you come home.. and i heard you.. breaking stuff. blasting music. aj was crying, but everything was just so loud it got drowned out.. i think i started crying, too.

[ her voice has grown so much quieter, delicate as her mind replays what happened. it was so scary to see her —

okay.. i trust you.

[ they'll always protect her. that's just what big sisters are supposed to do, aren't they? it's what she'd do for aj, too. ]

so.. what.. is this place..? did our house turn into this?

i don't think you're an embarrassment..

[ she mumbles softly. ]

..that'd be good, i think. i know you already said they're okay, but.. i want to see them, too.

[ aj babbles and reaches up to try and wrap his arms around mokou, too. ]

i'm sure we'll figure out something.. 💧

..i'm just really glad you're here.

..but everyone's here.. so maybe it'll be okay. they'll keep me safe..

it's weird.. i still have a really bad feeling..

— voice is firm when she says that; a promise and a vow. ]

neither of us will ever be alone again. i promise..

[ it's such a familiar thing. it's the same thing she's heard in her own head for years.. everyone either leaves her or dies, and it's almost always been her fault. she knows what it's like to lose people, lose *everyone*, so she hugs mokou even tighter. ]

you won't lose me. never.

[ her —

— everybody has their breaking point, and mokou seems to be nearing theirs. so she holds them and hopes they can let themself rely on her, just for a little. ]

..at least.. we're still here, right? me, aj.. ingo and emmet.. you've still got us.

[ she pulls them close; even aj touches a tiny hand on their arm. it hurts to see them so distraught. mokou has seemed so untouchable since the day the two met. strong in every way and the exact kind of big sister clementine hoped she'd be for aj.

..but she knows that nobody is truly immune. —

— she crouches down next to them, shifting to hold aj in one arm while wrapping the other around mokou. ]

don't worry.. we're together now, so it'll be okay.

wh.. hey. hey, it's.. it'll be alright—..!

[ it's a side of mokou that she's almost never seen— they try so hard to hide their vulnerabilities from her that watching them suddenly break down in front of her like this actually shocks her a little. but that shock lasts for only a second before —

— but.. this is definitely mokou. ]

what.. where are we? what's happening..? are ingo and emmet okay?

— survival mode, and before long, she'd picked up her baby brother to look for a way out. or, at least.. someplace safer.

but the sound of a familiar voice catches her attention. ]

m— mokou?

[ clementine softens at the sight of them, immediately running over to them. they look so different, —

— since she'd stopped carrying her gun on her around the house, all she has for protection is a shiv she'd made a couple days ago to ease her own nerves.

she had found somewhere to hole up for the night with aj, but she knew she couldn't stay in one place forever. her brain slipped back into —

[ having lived with her new siblings for so long now, clementine had thought she'd gotten accustomed to the idea of "other worlds" and universes and realities.. but this one she's found herself in is.. strange, in a way she's not sure she likes. it's different and new and scary— and even worse, —

[ she's reading aj a story.. he excitedly grabs at the book and her hands. ]

i don't think i've ever met anyone this silly, ever.. you might even be the silliest.

[ that makes her laugh. ]

c'mon, quit being so silly.

[ pouting.. and then smiling bashfully. ]

..okay, yeah, i guess i 𝘢𝘮 pretty cool.

// her and clem are giving me cuteness aggression

[ blinking. //// .. ]

oh.. um.. do you really think so? i didn't think i was that nice.. or cute.

[ leaning away slightly, embarrassed to be looked at so closely. ]

..cats are cool.. i like them. do i look like one..? or.. act like one?

[ her joy.. her whimsy.. ]

..um.. yeah, really. i don't know what kinda animal i'd be, though.

duh.. i.. love you. a lot.

[ burying her face in their shoulder to muffle her voice. ]