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" Hiro? " Veronika reached out her hand, yet she couldn't touch anything, even though all she saw was pure darkness, she still could feel Hiro's presence, just like how it was when he was by her side in missions, or when they were resting in some corner in Alterna. Sense of security warmed her heart, just like how it used to be.
She got this nightmare very often, she would wake up with teary eyes, it saddened her because she never saw Hiro in her nightmare, or even heard his calm and gentle voice that she longed for so much.
"Maybe he didn't want to see me." She'd try to shake these thoughts off, but every time she looked in the mirror while getting ready for shifts, all she could see in the mirror was someone that should be gone. "Maybe he hates me, that's why he never showed up." How she longed to see him again, but no matter how she prayed and tried, he never appeared in her dreams, she was always alone and floating in pitch black ink, drowning in guilt and sadness.
Somehow Veronika still managed to go to Alterna to help the New Squid Beak Spitoon clean up the place and research, she thought working non stop would calm her down and distract her from the fact that Hiro was gone.
But sometimes, while cleaning up the fuzzy ink that scattered everywhere, she couldn't help but remember what happened that day, that demonic beast tore its claws in and destroyed her beloved friend's ink. Even though she finished the beast off as quickly as possible, it was all too late, they couldn't revive him, and he was gone, forever. Veronika didn't even have a chance to say anything about her feelings, the last thing they talked about before the final mission was arguing about collecting salmon eggs, now it was the last happy memory she held with him.
After cleaning all the fuzzy ink around her, Agent 1 told her to rest for lunchtime from the earphones, she stopped her Hero-Shot and started to walk back, before going into the pipeline, she gazed around and found out everything felt so quiet and calm, had this place been this quiet before? Even the clear water beneath her looked calmer than usual.
She stared at the water surface for a while, watching it move up and down. "What's under that clear water?" She knew what was under that surface, nothing was there beside rocks and metal scraps, but the thought of letting the water cover her body and dissolving in it felt oddly calm and peaceful. She stepped out one step, and another one, getting closer to the rocky edge.
Suddenly, little buddy bit her boots and shook her out of her thoughts and forced her to look down.
Veronika didn't say anything, no word could be formed in her mouth, so she just climbed into the pipeline and returned to the base.
That night Veronika could not sleep, her head was filled with the roaring of that demonic beast, the gentle voice of Hiro, and the soft sound of clear water splashing in Alterna.
She woke up in that nightmare again, but this time she wasn't floating anymore, but laying on her back in the darkness, she tried to get up but couldn't move her body. She felt so helpless, she tried to call for Hiro but she knew he wouldn't be here, he never showed up in her dreams.
" It's alright, vee." Hiro's voice appeared beside her ears, or was it in her head? She struggled to move, trying to touch him, but she still couldn't see his figure.
"Hiro? No, everything is not alright..." She cried, tears falling down her face, she bit down her lips trying not to lose control. "It's all my fault..." Veronika shook like she was at her limits, and some warm feeling started to cover her gently, as if Hiro was hugging her.
"It's fine, it's not your fault, you saved the world."
" It doesn't matter if you're not here!" She cried out.
" You'll be fine without me." The warm feeling climbed up on her neck and it tickled a little bit, she could smell Hiro's ink, like sun dried clothes on a sunny afternoon, so gentle and safe, just like how he used to be.
.
.
.
Next morning Veronika woke up crying, she hadn't cried since the day Hiro left her, and it had been months already. She tried her best to stop her tears, and managed to get up and wash her face, but just when she saw through the mirror, she noticed there were some marks on her neck, like hickeys or suction cups marks. She started crying again, Veronika felt weak from crying so hard, she leaned her back on the cold tile wall, and slipped down slowly on the ground.
" You'll be fine without me." Hiro's voice and warm touch from last night echoed through her mind, she missed him too much.