//------------------------------// // Epilogue: Peace // Story: Just One Day // by CardBearer //------------------------------// Gentle Heart moved around the hospital, her wheelchair making a soft mechanical sound as she did so. Her eyes were red, and she was looking at the number on the rooms. One hundred and thirty three – that was the one. She softly knocked on the door, then pushed the handle down and entered, staying completely quiet as she looked, devastated and confused, at the occupant of the bed. Lion Heart was silently staring up at the ceiling. His eyes, generally so full of energy, were now gazing as if they saw nothing. There was no light in them anymore, no laughter, no joy – nothing. The parents of the two ponies were right there by his side, their eyes red as well, from both fatigue and sadness. When the wheelchair-bound filly entered, they rushed to meet her and hugged her tightly; and she hugged them back, holding the sobs back before they returned. "What did the doctors say?" Gentle Heart asked, her voice hoarse and dry. She had not drank water since the... "visit" of her brother, the previous night. Her parents looked at her grimly, the temporary joy at seeing their daughter soon fading. "They have no idea what happened to him," her father answered. "When he landed on the ground, none of his bones broke, but he hit his head on the ground. They say the blow was powerful, but that he shouldn't be reacting..." he choked up, motioning to his son, "this." The blue filly nodded grimly, and approached Lion Heart as her parents watched closely. She put her hoof on his own, and looked at him. They had bothered to clean him up since last time, and his orange coat was back to the way it usually was, but his eyes...she had to look away from them, or she would've started to cry again. "I just don't understand," she said, more to herself than her parents. "Why did he have a knife? Why was he...talking to himself? And where had he gone to?" Her throat became dry as she realized that she might never hear the answer to those questions. But she shook her head, refusing to let despair take the best of her; Lion Heart wouldn't have wanted that. Her mother piped up: "The knife was not found next to him, dear. We...we believe you, and the doctors and the guards saw it too, but they were unable to find it. They're still looking for it, but..." Gentle Heart briefly wondered what could've happened to it, but she soon found herself thinking about her brother once more. Had he intended to hurt her? No, that couldn't possibly have been it. Her little brother had never hurt her before; this was completely unthinkable of him. Although, the whole thing caused her to reminisce about the accident that cost her the use of her legs... *** "Can't catch me, Gentle!" the colt laughed, as he settled on a big branch, high up on the tree. "Get down there, Lion!" his sister said, still climbing after him, but now a bit worried. "You're going to hurt yourself!" "No!" the young Lion Heart answered, jumping up and down on the branch, which wobbled each time he bounced. "If you want me to stop, come up there then!" But even a foal can be heavy, and every time he bounced on the branch, it cracked a little. "Come on, Gentle!" the colt called out. "Come o...whoa!" At that moment, the branch broke off, and the colt fell to the ground. The branch was broken off, and fell directly towards the blue filly, but the foal managed to narrowly avoid it, as the branch luckily fell vertically and did not hurt her. She was about to yell back at her brother, raising a fist to do so...but she lost her balance, and fell directly onto a branch, her neck hitting it and making sickening cracking sound. She was in unimaginable pain, and even though she wanted to scream, she couldn't. Her consciousness slowly faded away, but the last thing she heard before fainting was: "Gentle Heart...?" *** The blue pony sighed. She had considered this in the past often. She had dodged the branch and then acted foolishly, which caused her current condition. This was entirely her fault, and she had never blamed her little brother for it in the past. How could she? He was just a colt back then, and in the end, her own mistake cost her the use of her legs. But she had come to terms with that mistake – after a long, long time, and the help of her brother who tried so hard to cheer her up. And now...well, she looked at him once again, and this time, she could not hold her tears back. She loved her little brother like a sibling does, and she could not imagine losing him forever. Of course he would wake up one day, right? He had to. If he didn't, then she would've lost her legs, her brother, and her happiness for the rest of her life. She leaned her head against his hoof, and briefly wondered, as she sobbed quietly, what exactly was going through his head at that moment... *** "foolcowardlionheartfailureyouhavefailedfailurefailurecowardfearresponsibilityfearrunningawayagain" "you shall never leave here, lion heart" "you will stay here. this is your punishment. stay. stay. stay" "forever" *** The young filly closer her eyes as her parents embraced her closely. She felt fatigue overtake her, as she had not slept the entire night, and surrendered into it. But before falling asleep, Gentle Heart wondered what would've had happened if she had gotten just one day. Just one day to tell her brother that she loved him.