Chapter 552 - Incandescent Lights (2/2)
”Huh?”
”It's fine; however much of a cripple he or she is, I won't mind so long as you're happy with them.”
”She—she's not a cripple!!” Alison exclaimed angrily.
”Oh, so it's a she?” Lucky arched her left brow, grinning.
”… I hate it when you do that.”
”Do what?”
”Manipulate me.”
”I don't think that really qualifies as manipulation,” Lucky said. ”Nudging, I'd say, at best.”
”Call it what you will, it's uncool.”
”… so, tell me about her.”
”What do you want to know?” Alison asked.
”What's her name?”
”… June.”
”June? Hm, nice name. What's she like?”
”… she, uh, lost both her parents in the Battle of the Mountain Pass,” Alison replied. ”She turned nine a couple of weeks ago, in the Military Orphanage down in the city. She's… quite clever, quick on her feet. Saw me roaming about, walked up, asked me if I needed something… and then asked me for a few coins when she helped me.”
”Oh? Sounds like my kind of a girl.” Lucky chuckled.
”… yeah, she reminded me a bit of you,” Alison said. ”A tough, greedy surface… yet, after I followed her stealthily, I saw her buying a few sets of clothes and handing them out to other kids. She didn't keep even a copper for herself.”
”…”
”I know that, even if I leave her alone…” Alison said, her voice turning slightly quieter. ”She'd probably do just fine by herself. She'd scr.a.p.e and scuffle and fight, and find her path in the world. Just like you.”
”… yeah.”
”But, I don't want her to go through what you did, just to climb to the top,” she said. ”I don't want anyone to go through it if I'm being honest.”
”…” Lucky said nothing, merely taking a sip of ale.
”I want to give her the best opportunity to blossom into whatever flower she wants to become,” Alison said as the two stepped out of the hallway and onto the nearby balcony, leaning against the railing. ”That's… what I think, at least.”
”… can I be honest with you?” Lucky said after a short silence.
”S-sure. What's wrong?” Alison asked.
”It sounds me like you're trying to project your guilt, Ally,” Lucky said, smiling gently and patting the former's head. ”From the sounds of it, she's just like Lino. Arrogant, boastful, greedy, the sort you're quick to hate, yet once you get to know impossible not to practically worship.”
”… that's what I love and hate the most about you…” Alison said, her shoulders slumping. ”How easy you see through me.”
”…”
”On the other hand, I can only pray you tell me, lest I keep walking blindly about, guessing.”
”… she sounds like a great kid,” Lucky said, chuckling. ”But, if I'm being even more honest, we'll have to reign her in a bit. We can't have another Lino-like abomination walking around, corrupting everyone. One generation has suffered enough.”
”… you're saying…?”
”Yeah.”
”Thank you! Thank you!” Alison spun around suddenly, dropping the wooden table and wrapping her arms around Lucky who stumbled back and nearly fell, bursting out into laughter. ”I love you… I love you so much… so, so much…”
”… I love you too.” She said, her quivering hands wrapping around Alison's thinly-exposed back.
”… you're the best, you know that?” Alison said, closing her eyes, enjoying the gentle touch of arms on her back.
”Ah, I do. It's both a blessing and a curse…”
”Ha ha ha… yeah, I can imagine.”
The two stayed cradled in silence for a long while longer, the streams of gentle sunlight washing over their inconspicuously tiny figures in comparison to the massive world around them. The silence itself was just as, if not more, warming and embracing than the sun itself, lulling them into a peaceful splendor of the ever-fleeting present.