paradisa | ten paintings burned (and one girl lost)

[He awakes, and his head is still swimming with thoughts of useless inventions and painted roses and ferocious queens. It takes Garry a few seconds to realize that he's back in his room, and dressed in what seems to be a full suit of white armor which he definitely does not remember ever being in his wardrobe, ever.]

[But then he remembers riding a horse, and talking to people as if he knew the entire strange world on the back of his hand, and it all comes back. That...that dream was all real, wasn't it? And he had behaved as if he had lived there the entire time...]

[After checking his blue rose is alright, he heads right over to Rapunzel's room. Of course he would. She had been there too, and he couldn't wait to have an amusing conversation about how they both acted there, and how silly he looked in this armor of his, and how beautiful she was, no matter where they were, until he's realized that he's already in front of her room.]

[It's a blank door.]

[Oh, well...that's odd. He knocks, frowning slightly as he tries to understand what it meant. And he knocks again. And again. There's no answer, so he goes and opens the door because he's suddenly feeling the fear rise up in his chest like bile, and...]

[No. No no no no no. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.]

[...No, wait, this isn't what it looks like, this has got to be the wrong room, he thinks as he goes back into the hallway. He just chose one of the empty rooms by mistake, he probably wasn't thinking straight about the whole thing after his experience in Wonderland. Garry feels a nervous laugh bubble out of his throat. Hahaha, this was just a mistake on his part, silly old Garry, silly old him...]

[And after a few minutes of walking up and down the hallway, he sinks to the ground against the wall, his legs no longer feeling like they want to walk anymore. He's taken his journal with him, he realizes, and after a few seconds, he opens it, not even looking down to see what the rest of the castle is up to.He doesn't care about that. He doesn't care about anything right now, except...]

[The voice on the other end is unmistakably Garry's, but this time, it sounds broken. Hollow. An odd sort of state for someone who usually seems full of so much life.]

She's gone.

[There's a sharp intake of breath, and a few quiet mutters of "god god god this can't oh god", before there's another period of silence. And then he begins again, but with more difficulty this time:]

R-r-r-...she's left. Ra-rapunzel, she's no longer here...

[A shuddering sigh.]

Just wanted you to know.

[And with that, he's closed the book and thrown it harshly against the wall. People will find him sitting against the wall in the hallway, looking rather ridiculous dressed in his white armor, head buried in his hands.]

[Is he...sobbing?]

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[It takes a while for him to finally address Tsuna, and it's in a very muted, timid sort of voice as he raises his face out of his hands. Why did everything bad have to happen to him, huh? They had been so happy, and...then the castle just went and took that away. It wasn't liked she moved to another country and he could just send her a message or something- she had been sent to another universe, and it was a big fat chance that he would ever see her again.]

[God, this place was just as cruel as the gallery, if not crueler...]

It's not fair, really. It's really not fair...

[He looks up at Garry, ears twitching a little. It definitely wasn't fair, but there was very little that either of them could do about it. It wasn't exactly like they could threaten the castle into giving her back, or just go out and search and find her somewhere. And, well, they weren't anywhere close to figuring out the castle's secrets.

But...]

She may come back.

And forget all about me when she arrives?

[Oh, he'd read people complaining about that. So, no, he'd rather not have the castle twist a knife into the very open metaphorical wound that's dripping red at the moment, thank you very much.]

That would be even worse, really.

She could be one of the ones that remembers. And, well... even if she doesn't...

[He looks at Garry.] She's still the same person, isn't she? If you gave her a chance, I'm sure she'd warm up to you again.

Maybe the old memories aren't there anymore, but you can still make new ones. And you could always tell her about what happened before, too. Right?

[He's silent for a moment. What they had...it all started because of the magic of the castle, really. The room where the fairy wine had addled their heads and spun the feelings in their chest to make it seem perfectly normal to be together, and then the relationship that grew from that point onwards.]

[How could you reproduce such a unique start, though?]

Maybe...but maybe she wouldn't want to associate with me. I bet it'd make her uncomfortable...

Because she didn't know you, while you knew her?

[Tsuna contemplates this for a moment.]

I think she's friendly enough that it wouldn't bother her, but then... I don't really know her that well. What I do know is that it can be weird at first, to have someone know you and you not know them, but if you give each other a chance, things will work out well, I think.

Back at home, I actually thought that person was an enemy of mine. It wasn't until later that I found out he was an ally of mine. So... even though we didn't start out so well, we're actually good friends now.

That's...I'm happy for you, Tsuna. But you at least knew that person back home. We come from different worlds entirely.

[A heavy sigh as he leans his shaggy head against the wall, closing his eyes wearily.]

All I know now is that she isn't here, and that there might be a chance that I'll lose her for good even if she came back...and really, the future isn't looking good on this.

I know it's scary to think that a person you were really close with might not know who you are anymore. And they might not react well to someone they don't know knowing them.

I think in that situation... all we can do is put our trust in them, and not give up. They're still the same person, even if you can't have the same experiences again.

[He looks at Garry, giving a small, encouraging smile.]

You're a nice person, Garry. You're friendly, and talkative, and really generous. There's no reason she shouldn't warm up to you a second time. [Give yourself some more credit, bro.]

Trust, huh...?

[He lets out another sigh, though this one wavers, as if he wants to sob but can't bring himself to do so in front of his friend. But when Tsuna says that, he cracks open his eye and turns his head to look over at him, looking somewhat surprised.]

Y-you really think so?

[He nods.]

Mmn, I do. You're easy to talk to, and you're considerate of others' feelings.

I'm sure if she comes back, she'll be more than happy to be your friend again.

I...that's...

[He want to deny that, but Tsuna is being so kind and probably very honest about what he's saying that he can't bring himself to talk against it.]

[He turns to look at Tsuna, looking touched.]

You know...you're a really good friend, Tsuna. I'm lucky to have you...

[Tsuna's completely honest about what he said; he never says anything less than the truth. Despite the rocky experiences he's had with Garry, he's honestly one of the nicest people he's met here, if not the nicest.

At the sudden compliment directed at him, he starts, bunny ears pinning back as he gives a sheepish, embarrassed look away.]

Ah, no... I'm sure your other friends would have said the same thing!

[He lets out a short laugh, shaking his head.]

I don't have many other friends. I mean, my time here...I think this is the greatest amount of friends I've ever had at one time.

So...I mean it. I really do.

Well, having a lot of friends doesn't matter, does it? So as long as they're good friends. [Says the boy who's friends with some dozen people and then on good terms with at least two dozen more...]

ten paintings burned (and one girl lost)

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