Half an hour later, we were still there. Sitting in the clearing with my arms wrapped around him as he clutched his chest tightly. We sat in dead silence, neither of us moving an inch. All I could feel was the coldness of his body, it was like all positive emotion and feeling was drained from him when he played the memory of his first death back in his mind. The look on his face broke my heart, his eyes wide with his pupils being small dots which seemed to shake, a single tear rolling down his cheek and his lips in a constant frown.

I didn't exactly know what to do. How does anyone try to counsel someone who had previously died? I'm sure there's some kind of club for people who've been brought back in the Multiverse, but how many of them almost faded completely out of existence. Maybe...getting him to talk about it would help, maybe get it off his chest. "What was it like?" I asked quietly.

He blinked, his eyes returning to normal before slightly turning his head to look at me. "What?"

I looked away from him for a moment before pulling away slightly, but still keeping my hands on him to let him know I'm still there with him. "What was it like...to almost fade away?"

He looked to his shaking hand before closing it and sighing. "Imagine this...you start to feel parts of yourself disappear, your arms and legs suddenly gone, as if they where never there to begin with. Your very sould is fading, your memories, emotions and senses all start to disappear. You forget who you are, you can't feel anything, everything is fading away, not to black, but to nothing, since there is nothing. You're there, but you're not there, somewhere in between until finally...you're just...gone." He explained in a hushed tone while keeping his eyes closed.

I just looked to him confused. "How do you remember something like that if your memory was fading away?"

"Because when I was restored Roden had to restore my memories...all of them...or I wouldn't be complete. I'm still not...but for other reasons." He rubbed his face while groaning. "Why can't I just have a fucking simple existence?" He asked to no one. He let his arms fall limp and looked up to the sky. "The second Xram and the Nightmares are defeated, I'm done."

"What?"

"I'm fed up with training, I'm fed up with fighting, I'm fed up with all this crap screwing with my emotions and mental stability and I'm fed up with constantly being reminded that I'll never be able to get my sister back!" He slammed his fist into the ground, causing it to crack under the force of his punch. "I just want to live normally...I just want to be happy with my existence..."

I remained silent for a moment, just staring at him as his features softened. I decided to be a little bold and moved in. I planted a soft kiss on his cheek and immediately pulled back. He just sat there, a look of suprise on his face. He looked to me confused and I looked away. "Well, your life can't be all that bad."

"Wha-"

"I mean, you help so many people, you give others hope, you fight because there's no one else that can. You're a hero, you may not like this life, but you're always wanting to do the right thing, and you are." I pulled away from him. "So many people would be possessed by Nightmares of wiped from existence if it wasn't for you." I got to my feet and turned around, trying to hide my violent blush. "I think we should keep walking, get away from the bad memories y-EEP!!"

I was caught off guard as Symbol came up behind me, turned me around and hugged my gently. "I'm glad I picked you to displace."

I was struggling to keep both my body and emotions in check, from the kiss, so much physical contact and the emotional connections made I was pretty much ready to burst at that point, my face completely red and slight tears in my eyes, hidden from him during the hug.

"You're right, lets just keep going abd enjoy the walk." He said as he let go of me and turned towards the path we had broken off from. "You coming?"

I realised I was standing completely still for a full minute before shaking myself. "Y-Yeah, just you go on ahead, I just gotta do something first."

He raised a brow at me before shrugging, leaving me in the clearing. I almost collapsed completely when he left, a huge, dorky smile on my face as I hugged myself and giggled with possible stars on my eyes.

Symbols POV

As I reached the dirt path we had left once more, I put a hand to my cheek where Ashley had kissed me. It left me confused, but more so suprised due to how suddenly it came. I guess she's just that comfortable around me, either that or something else I've been wondering and piecing together for awhile now.

The next day, Symph's POV

I noticed that Ashley seemed to be acting a little differently since she and my father returned the previous night. I wasn't a sure why, because unlike Eris and Abi, I didn't run off to spy on them only to lose sight of them. I guessed whatever had happened did bring the two closer. I'm glad, my father deserves to have someone who loves him so deeply. I won't lie, I was more looking forward to have some form of mother in my life than I was for them to actually get along.

I mean...I do technically have a mother...but that's not important. Whatever happened between them was a good thing, and I was looking forward to seeing how their relationship would develop. I just had to keep any of the others at bay by stopping any plans or setups.

It was no easy task that's for sure...