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Fina hadn’t noticed the dark circles under Yuna’s eyes until she had returned from a job the King had sent her on. Apparently it had been a grueling mission according to Yuna, and a gruesome one, so Fina hadn’t gotten too many details from it. But she wasn’t too concerned about the mission since it had gone well, what or who really she was concerned about was Yuna. Because she had nearly fallen asleep while standing up while she had been in the middle of a conversation with Fina.
Looking back on it, she should have pushed Yuna to take care of herself more, she shouldn’t have let Yuna overwork herself. Just noticing she had been tired wasn’t enough and now Yuna was paying the price for it. Maybe if Fina had done something , Yuna could’ve avoided getting sick.
“Yuna, are you getting enough sleep?” She had asked her one night while they were on one of their nightly calls. Yuna had been in the Capital, doing some job for the adventures guild there. Yuna hadn’t wanted to go. She had moaned and groaned about it like she usually did, but she had gone anyway knowing that there was no way out of it. (The people at the Capital were just too scary to say no to sometimes, Fina could attest to that).
“I am,” that was a lie, because Fina was 100% sure Yuna had let out a yawn just then. She was a terrible liar.
“Okay, if you say so.” When dealing with Yuna, it was best not to pressure her at times.
“Well, I’m going to head to bed now, promise me you’ll try to get some sleep Yuna?”
“Alright Fina, I promise. Good night.”
Fina had frowned, because she knew that Yuna hadn’t meant it. She wished that Yuna would stop lying to her.
“Good night, Yuna.”
That had been their last form of communication until Yuna had returned home and Fina’s eyes widened in shock when her eyes laid on the state Yuna was in.
She was a sickly pale, hair mattered, drooping lifelessly down her body. There was no light in her eyes as she collapsed onto her bed.
“Yuna?” Fina breathed out in shock. What had exactly happened during the job?
“Hey… Fina…” Yuna took a deep breath and then slowly turned to face her, head still nestled into her pillow. Sweat was beeding down her forehead, cautiously, Fina reached out her hand to place the back of it against Yuna’s head and froze.
Recoiling, she brought her hand back to her chest, staring at it with widened eyes. Yuna was… burning up!
“Yuna, have you been working while sick?” Fina desperately asked for confirmation, even though she already knew what the answer was going to be. She hated that she already knew what it was going to be.
“I guess? Everything got sort of fuzzy after a while…” Yuna let out a cough at that and Fina watched as it racked through her body.
Fina had to stop herself from asking Yuna any more questions. Not only would Yuna probably not have an answer for her, she didn’t want to risk starting an argument with Yuna, possibly stressing her out even more.
Combing through her mind, Fina quickly made a list of all the things a person should do when someone was sick. The practice had been long since learned, so by the time the first step had formed in her mind, she was already in Yuna’s bathroom washing her hands.
Yuna’s eyes were closed by the time she returned, Fina wondered if she had fallen asleep. She looked so peaceful like this, the gentle rise and fall of her chest comforted Fina. She didn’t want to break the peace, but she knew what she had to do in order to help Yuna. And Yuna wasn’t going to like what she was about to do at all.
Reaching out a hand, she slowly grasped Yuna’s bear hoodie. Fina gulped, clenching the clothes tightly. She didn’t even have a chance to try and take it off, because Yuna’s eyes immediately flew open.
Fina let out a shout as she felt herself get propelled into a wall, it didn’t hurt, surprisingly. But that wasn’t what had mattered right now.
Yuna was panting hard, one hand bracing herself against the wall as she let out loud, harsh, coughs. Fina had never been on the receiving end of Yuna’s wrath before, but right at that moment she knew just what Yuna’s enemies saw when they confronted her. And why none of them could never beat Yuna.
Instead of the cuddly, cute, bear Fina saw on a daily basis, what she was laying eyes on now was a monster. A beast. An angry bear who was just trying to protect herself. Despite putting up this tough act, Fina could see right through the protective barrier Yuna was desperately trying to set up for herself. Yuna was afraid. Afraid of being vulnerable . Even though people tried so hard to claim that Yuna was fearless, it was just not true at all. After all, everyone had something that they were afraid of.
And while she had her own fears, Yuna wasn’t one of them. Yuna was her friend and she’d never do anything that would hurt her.
“Don’t you dare,” Yuna’s voice was low, almost resembling a growl. “Don’t you dare take it off,” she repeated. “Please.”
Fina could hear the tremble in Yuna’s voice and while she wanted to help her, comfort her, and how she wished she could make things better for her she couldn’t. She was just too weak.
“Yuna…” she barely managed to stop herself from reaching out her hand.
“Sorry, Fina.” Something flashed in Yuna’s eyes, an emotion that Fina couldn’t read.
“I’ll be fine, I just need to rest.” The promise felt empty, it was just another piece to add to the countless piles of unfulfilled wishes. But it was coming from Yuna, so like always Fina begrudgingly accepted it.
“Alright, if you need anything…” Fina hesitated just as she was about to take a step out of Yuna’s bedroom. It didn’t feel right to leave. Yuna had done so much for her when her mom was sick, how was she just supposed to sit back and let Yuna suffer by herself?
“I’ll call you,” Yuna said, the words sounded muffled as she collapsed right back onto her bed. Fina took one last glance at her, before she mopily walked out of Yuna’s home.
Fina found that as the day excruciatingly passed by, she couldn’t find it in her to relax. She felt helpless, the feeling all too similar to when her Mom had been sick and she had been unable to help her. Back then, Yuna had been her saving grace. Her knight in shining armor. Swooping in to save her the moment the world looked bleak.
But now, she couldn’t even repay the favor. Yuna would often tell her how proud she is of her, how she always seems to get better and better and stronger and stronger at harvesting. But Fina always felt so weak. How could she possibly be strong?
“Fina? What’s wrong? I thought you had been visiting Yuna.”
The worry in her Mom’s voice caused Fina to halt in her tracks. She turned to face her Mom and when her Mom saw her face, she let out a gasp. Fina stared at her silently in confusion, watching as her Mom brought up her hand to wipe away strands of her tears that had been slowly trailing down her cheeks. Huh? She hadn’t even realized that she was crying.
“Fina, did something happen? Did you and Yuna get in some trouble?” Her Mom gently asked, continuing to wipe away her tears with her handkerchief that she had retrieved from her pocket.
“No, Mom, nothing like that happened, it's just-.”
She wasn’t sure why, but for a brief moment she hesitated. Everything was fine now, wasn’t it? Her Mom was here and alive , things that had once been hopeless ideals and fantasies were now becoming reality. And it was all thanks to Yuna. And Fina quickly realized that was the problem.
“Mom, no, everything’s not okay,” she took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for what was going to happen next. Things would soon have to change around here. They couldn’t rely on Yuna for everything anymore, at some point they’d have to become independent from her. And give Yuna the vacation she so desperately craved for every time she tried to shoot down someone’s request.
“Yuna’s sick and it’s all our fault,” Fina continued, wringing her hands together nervously.
“Mom, we’ve gotten Yuna to do so much for us that she's physically collapsed from exhaustion.”
Her Mom’s expression softened, the worry in her eyes was still present, sunlight making them glisten. But there was also kindness shining in them, kindness that gave Fina hope.
“Alright Fina, I think I understand the situation now,” her Mom stood up, grasping Fina’s hand gently into her own.
“Let’s go do our part, okay?”
Unsurprisingly, everyone managed themselves just fine in Yuna’s absence.
The children at the orphanage were devastated to learn that Yuna had fallen ill, some bawling their eyes out. Those children had left Fina with an uneasy feeling and she couldn’t help but wonder if she would’ve been in their shoes if Yuna had never shown up. Thankfully, the adults had managed to calm them down when they were calmly and clearly explained to that Yuna wasn’t going to die.
Fina watched them now, gathered together while they created get well cards for Yuna. It was a mess of bright colors and paint splatters, but the children didn’t seem to care as they laughed and chatted with one another.
“Why don’t you go and join them?”
Fina jumped, startled, not expecting the headmistress of the orphanage to suddenly appear at her side.
“Oh um, I couldn’t,” she said, staring down at her shoes. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to intrude, they look like they’re having fun just fine by themselves.”
“Nonsense, go on and have fun, I’m sure Yuna would love to get a get well card from you,” the headmistress gave her a little nudge and despite the frown present on her face Fina joined the group who welcomed her with open arms.
Despite having a ton of fun with the children, Fina couldn’t help but wonder…
Would Yuna even want a card from me?
She knew it was a silly thought, because there was no doubt in her mind that Yuna would. She’d probably treasure it forever knowing her. But still… doubt kept creeping into Fina’s mind, slowly eating away at her confidence.
A week passed by and Fina had honestly thought that the days would never end.
Her Mom, keeping true to her word, sent out letters to the guilds and the Royal Capital, explaining Yuna’s situation. A tiny part of Fina was surprised that they had listened to her Mom at all. But there were no more jobs given to Yuna, no one came to ask her for help, any troubles with monsters were either given to other adventurers or were left on hold with adventurers getting sent out to make sure that the monsters weren’t going on a rampage.
Fina now found herself at Yuna’s door, she had been overjoyed when she had received a call from Yuna. It had felt like it had been forever since they had last talked.
Yuna had sounded much better on the phone than when Fina had last spoken to her. Her voice however, still had a slight rasp to it. She was so nervous. The card she had made was placed in a basket that Fina held behind her back that was filled to the brim with goodies that Yuna liked.
She rapped her fist against Yuna’s door, patiently waiting for her to come and open the door.
“Coming!”
The sound of footsteps approaching the door, made Fina clench the handle of the basket so tightly her hands were sure to be a bright red later. The door swung open and there stood Yuna. Who looked better .
Her hair looked light and fluffy, skin no longer looking pale or dripping with sweat. Eyes bright as she beamed down at Fina, with no dark shadows cast underneath them.
“Hey Fina, why don’t you come on in?”
Fina nodded, bringing the basket of goodies in front of her, she presented them to Yuna, bowing.
“Here, these are for you.”
Yuna’s mouth opened in surprise as she took the basket from Fina. Lips curling upwards into a smile. “Thanks, Fina.”
“I’m just glad you’re better,” taking a step inside Yuna’s home and seeing Yuna accept her present made Fina feel slightly better, but she still felt nervous.
“Me too,” Yuna agreed, collapsing onto her couch, Fina following her lead a little more gracefully.
“Let’s see what we have here,” Yuna hummed, rummaging around in the basket and picking out random things that would catch her eye.
It was nice talking to Yuna again, and talking to her again made Fina question why she had been so nervous about it in the first place.
“You made me a card?” Yuna wondered, reading the message Fina had written to her silently.
Fina nodded, staring down at her hands that were placed in her lap. “Yeah, the children at the orphanage also made you some.”
“Really? I can’t wait to receive them, then.”
They soon lapsed into silence. Fina squirmed, trying to bring up the courage to say something that would hopefully start a conversation. Why did things have to be so awkward between them?
“Yuna-.”
“Fina-.”
Fina wasn’t sure what exactly was funny, but for some reason she and Yuna both burst out laughing.
“You can go ahead,” Fina said in between giggles.
“Alright,” Yuna coughed, the laughter probably taking a toll on her, Fina realized.
“Fina, I’m sorry if I scared you,” Yuna said miserably, the mood quickly becoming dull.
Fina shook her head, because Yuna had it all wrong. She wasn’t scared after all, while Yuna had surprised her at first. Fina knew that she would never hurt her.
“You didn’t scare me at all,” Fina reassured her. “What did scare me though, was seeing you like that.”
“I’m sorry,” Yuna repeated, “I shouldn’t have let you seen me like-.”
“No, Yuna,” Fina interrupted, because she was tired of Yuna blaming herself for everything.
“It’s all our fault, mine, the Royal Capital… we shouldn’t be pushing you so hard, you are only human after all, even if you are crazy strong.”
“Guess that is true,” Yuna admitted after a moment of silence, staring at her hands deep in thought.
“But Fina, people need help all the time, how am I supposed to just sit back and watch someone get hurt?”
“You won’t,” Fina said, shaking her head. “Because we’re strong, we may not have the powers you have, but we can also take care of ourselves.”
She moved to give Yuna a hug and she could tell that it had surprised her a little. But Yuna reciprocated it, giving her a warm hug that was reminiscent of a bear’s hug. Fina would always treasure these little moments in life, because who knows when they would disappear and fade away? Leaving nothing behind.
“Fina, don’t blame yourself.”
Fina sucked in a deep breath, startled.
“It’s not your fault,” Yuna continued, her warm breath tickling the back of Fina’s neck.
“Yeah, it’s not,” Fina agreed, “but seeing you like that-.”
“I know, I know,” Yuna soothed, her hands rubbing gently circles into Fina’s back as she sobbed.
“Please, Yuna, promise me you won’t ever do that again, that you’ll take breaks if you’re ever tired,” Fina begged, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Promise me,”
“I promise, Fina,” Yuna said, smiling earnestly.
And this time Fina knew that she had meant it.