asgardmeridiem | END OF ARC 1: DAY 169-170 DOWNTIME

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END OF ARC 1: DAY 169-170 DOWNTIME

[The first battle is over, but the second will begin any time. For two days, the enemy forces will remain on the other side of the battlefield, working on strategy and tending to their wounded. Both sides have taken heavy losses, and the Arena is full of the hurt and dying.

The battlefield itself has turned to a bloody, muddy mess. The elves will be asking the Army Engineers group and anyone else willing to help them lay timber and gravel out to make the ground easier to walk on for the next battle.

What will you do in your breathing space? Keep working, mourn your losses, or retreat from the horrors of war?]

[ooc note: This log takes place IC on Days 169-170/Nov 4-7. Please be sure you've read the plot post and the battle log's starting info thoroughly. Make absolutely sure that you include the day/rough time in the subject line of top-level comments, as well as if your thread is open or closed.

In addition to the battle log, there is a full-event log for those hiding out in Folkvang here. If you have any questions, please direct them to the mod post so everyone else can see them!]

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She nodded.

His heartrate soared and he closed his eyes, taking in deep breaths. He wasn't going to let this end the same way it had with Iwanoko. He'd come too far for that. All the stress of being in a war coupled with a lack of sleep and a lot of physical exertion - all these factors were conspiring against him. But he wouldn't let them win. The girl he loved just told him without words what he'd been yearning to know for so long now. And she was lucid, not drunk. She owed him nothing and had no reason to lie to him. The world was being brought down around their ears by Gods and Giants and the armies of men and elves, but knowing that she loved him... well. It was a bight spot in an otherwise bleak horizon and he was going to hold onto that no matter what his physical heart decided to do.

"....I love you, Hanako Ikezawa."

He opened his eyes and took a step forward. He was still pale and his breathing was a little labored, but the look of determination on his face was unmistakeable.

"I wish I was brave enough to tell you so before the world went crazy, and I wish I'd been the man you needed me to be before so we didn't have to spend the last month apart."

...

It wasn't a shocker, not as much as she might have seen coming. Her fear, though, overruled the certainty that Hisao felt that kind of love towards her. The fear of rejection, the fear that after this they would have been separated forever. It would come off as irrational after this, but... the the revelation brightens her heart even stronger, thanks to that.

"Hisao..." Hanako was speechless. As he walked towards her, so pale and rigid, her senses came back, and her hands reached a little forward to support him in case he was going to collapse right there.

"Hanako..."

He closed his eyes again, forcing himself to slow his breathing, as much as his lungs were trying to hyperventillate. In through the nose, out through the mouth. He felt her reach for him, her hands supporting him more than she could know.

"I'm OK... I'll be fine. Sorry. This isn't.... I sometimes wondered, if I ever got the courage to confess, how I'd do it. I always pictured a picnic or a romantic dinner or a moonlit walk beside the lake. And in my mind's eye, I always had a gift of some kind. Roses or some jewelry. Not... well. Not the middle of a warzone in a field hospital, empty handed except for a cup of black tea."

"Hisao-"

She was growing worried. Even with such development, seeing him so pale and stumbling was no good development. The least thing she wanted was him collapse in the middle of... this.

"Don't worry about it, you need to sit down." She held him in support, face flushed, almost dropping that cup of tea before she noticed she had one still in hand.

"OK.. OK.. I'll sit."

And he did, forcing his legs forward to the wall, he leaned against it and slid downward, coming to sit carefully.

"Yeah. That's better. Phew... Sorry, Hanako. It's been a long couple of days. That's all. Still... as tired as I feel, I'm really happy."

Hanako lowered herself when he did, sitting next to him, close enough so she could intervene if he felt worse.

"After this, we should both have a rest." She murmured. At the mention that he was happy, she tried to smile. It came out a little weary, because they were both tired. "Me too..."

He turned and smiled back at her. Yeah, it was a weary smile, but it was big and genuine. He'd meant it - he felt happier now than he had in a long time.

He reached into the pocket of his apron and took out a small paper packet of pills. His evening dose. Opening it up he crunched them down dry, pulling a small face.

"Now, we just have to hold on until things go our way out there."

"How long are we going to hold on, though?"

Hanako bent her legs together, and placed her hands on her knees. They were going to go on talking as if the confession didn't happen. No fireworks, no big hugs and celebrations. Just sitting there, waiting for the nightmare to be over. In a way, Hanako preferred it to be this way. It suited her inclinations.

"As long as we can. There are great fighters out there doing everything they can. They need our support and help and we'll give of ourselves just as much as they do."

Because they had to win. Especially now. It was selfish of him, he knew, but now that he knew where they stood he was more determined now than ever to do the best job he could and heal people as completely as he was able. They had to push through and finish this. And maybe it wasn't the night of their confession, but he still wanted to do all those things with her - picnics and moonlit walks and fancy, sweet dinners. He wanted that for the two of them so bad, he wasn't going to allow this war to deny them those moments.

"Everything will be fine. We're going to win."

... There was nothing Hanako couldn't agree with here, nodding. They were currently surviving a dire situation that looked hopeless, the more people were taken here, either alive and injuried or already dead. But losing hope would mean they'd let the enemy win. They would certainly die, and then what next? There would be nothing. The confession would mean nothing in the end.

She... couldn't let this happen.

"When you feel better, we're going to resume working." Until even the last injuried human was cured, even if it meant they would take weeks to meet each other againn and... be an actual couple.

"We will. As soon as my legs work - sorry. When I get like that they tend to get pins and needles and they don't want to be useful for a few minutes. Maybe five or ten minutes longer tops."

At least his breathing had slowed to a normal rate and his color was returning to his cheeks. His chest still felt just a little tight but not painfull. Thank goodness for small blessings.

"Hey, where's Nashi? She's OK, right?"

"Then you're not going to stand up until the pain passes, alright?" With the pills, it should be alright, but Hanako was all the more concerned after she heard what she heard from him.

"She's in a safe shelter along with children and people who can't fight." Upon hearing there was actually a shelter, Hanako sent her dog there- and of course they didn't refuse taking her in. "They guaranteed me she'll be fed and taken care of while we're here."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Hisao replied with a small, dry smile. He couldn't get up and run around right now if he wanted to.

"I'm glad to know she's alright. I worry. I've missed her."

"We're going back and pick her up when this is over." She promised, briefly reaching out to pat his arm. It was brief, but such initiative from her was a big leap for the both of them, probably.

"That will be nice. Having us all back together. I--"

Oh. Wow - she'd patted his arm. Without any kind of prompting or curse or alchohol. He was speechless for a moment.

"....I'm looking forward to having our little group all together again."

"Me too." She agreed briefly, retracting her hand, and falling into a quiet silence, just sitting there with the person who was supposed to be her boyfriend from this moment on.

Hisao was silent for a little while too, just letting the blood flow back into his legs and the tightness in his chest subside. He took a deep breath and then started moving, standing up - a little shaky at first but pushing himself to stand stable and stretch. He was OK. He had work to do and he had a new resolve. As tired as he was, he felt somehow refreshed at the same time.

"Well then, let's get back into the swing of things. We both have more than enough to do to keep us busy."

"You sure you can continue?" Hanako rose as well, concerned about him shaking at first. "Please take a break later if you can't take it again."

"I will. I promise. I won't work myself to the point of collapse or anything crazy like that so be sure not to worry too much, alright?"

He smiled as reassuringly as he could.

"... Alright." Another, short pat on his shoulder. "I'll see you... whenever we can meet again."

In return, he gently patted her forarm. Hopefully that was OK. It was a very brief touch.

"I'll see you soon. If you need anything, please call me on the bracelet, OK?

She tensed up just a little bit, but she nodded then. It was a long, long way to go before she could get used to be touched by him at all, even after all this.

"I will." She murmured, and turned around, walking. It was terribly hard to do such thing, she... wanted to stay with him, be sure that he was going to be okay, but no, there were more important things to do, more people to take care of. So, she left.

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END OF ARC 1: DAY 169-170 DOWNTIME

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