Silver ice storm (Ami thread, Lime warning)

[Anastasia]

Shortly after you munch away, Viluy returns. She looks happy enough, sitting down. "Miss Nakahime is doing alright," she says without preamble, relief in her voice. "She's in no critical danger now, as I understand it."

[Liddo-kun]

"That's great to hear," Haruka says, and she meant it too.  The situation Miss Nakahime found herself in was almost too cruel.  "I hope she recovers quickly and is able to live a long and happy life," she comments with hope coloring her voice.

I hope this doesn't mean she'll go back to reproducing that Oxyite statue... Haruka mentally mutters, shuddering inside at the thought.

[Anastasia]

"So do I. Having cancer and then...Terrible, dreadful." So nodding and idly placing her hands together. "Something like that...

It kind of strikes close to home. Who wouldn't make a deal like that to save themselves, or someone they cared about?"

[Liddo-kun]

"I wouldn't do it to save myself, but for someone important to me?" Haruka glances at Viluy, "Yeah, I could do it for that," she says simply without hesitation.

"How does this strike close to home for you though?" she asks, studying the girl seated to her right.  Haruka felt a tingle of misgiving, that maybe she should have let the matter sit, but....

[Anastasia]

Viluy looks away, sighing. "I...do you remember that day at the cafe, when I told you that I was fonder of my father than my mother? About how he fostered my skill with computers...and was the only one who could drag me away from them?" Smiling at the memory, Viluy pauses for Haruka.

[Liddo-kun]

Haruka somewhat recalled the conversation having taken place, but now found herself wondering where this was going.  "Yeah, I remember," she tells Viluy, allowing her to continue.

[Anastasia]

"One day, he started to throw up...and it wasn't really stopping. He lost weight, paled, and couldn't even hold down water," Viluy replies quietly, staring down.

"The doctors said something was wrong in his stomach and that he needed to have an operation....and, they said he may very well not make it...." Repressing her emotions, Viluy goes on. "There was a week before the operation...I spent it worrying and hoping about him so badly...."

[Liddo-kun]

Haruka holds Viluy's hands to give her a sense of security, wanting just to be a presence for her as she tells her tale.  She doesn't say anything, but prompts her to continue with her eyes.

[Anastasia]

"I'd have given anything just to go play with Daddy again..." she says, voice breaking. "I'd....I'd have taken that offer from Celcia without thinking twice if it had happened back then."

[Liddo-kun]

"Viluy..." Haruka says softly, the girl's words - thick with emotion - conveying the pain all too clearly.  Standing at her side now, she gives her the support she needs and a shoulder to cry on as she embraces her.  "You can let it out, you don't need to hold back," Haruka consoles.

[Anastasia]

Viluy does that, words fading as rawer emotion works it's way out and down your shirt collar. It doesn't last long, though, Viluy pulling herself back together and away a bit, wiping at her eyes. "Sorry...it's just a bad time I don't like to remember often," she explains, looking right at you. "I...I imagine you can relate, if you remember what happened with...Michiru at all."

[Liddo-kun]

"Memories shouldn't be forgotten, even painful ones..." Haruka laments, the comment about Michiru being a poignant reminder and example.  "Good or bad, they're all precious in their own way," she says sadly.

[Anastasia]

"I guess..." Viluy murmurs, mostly to herself. Looking up at you, "If...oh, damn. If...that ever happened to one of us...

It's almost the par for the course if you look at it that way..."

[Liddo-kun]

"That's part of something beyond our control.  At any minute of any day, we could find ourselves caught in fate's cruel twist," Haruka states humorlessly.

Seeing the effect the statement has on Viluy, she sighs, softening her stance and tone.  "Look, how you live is more important than trying to rationalize the if's and how's of death," Haruka says with a shrug.  "Try to live a full and happy life - enjoy all that it has to offer, and when it's time, then it's time."

"Besides," she begins to say with a crooked smirk, "it's not as if dying managed to keep us apart forever, right?"  Haruka draws close to the seated girl now, "And if we do get seperated, I'll come find you again if you wait for me, okay?" she asks with a wink.

[Anastasia]

Viluy bows her head at all these words from Haruka, chewing them over mentally. "That's another promise, Haruka," she says, rising to smile, eyes watery. "You'd better not break this one, either."