[SE] If the Sun Should Fall

YOU SAID THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THE MOON IT ROSE TOO SOON AND WE'RE DOING WHAT WE SHOULD Perhaps it is true that Amalia has changed: to the sunlit girl she is not much different, still fearful, still anxious, but there is something more to her slender frame. A stronger backbone, a straighter spine, a little less weight on her narrow shoulders, a few more lines around her eyes. She smiles up at her fair-haired friend, though the smile grows troubled as she takes her seat, a shadow passing over sun. "We are," the baker agrees quietly, turning her gaze back to the horizon, a wistful longing in her voice. To be unwelcome, uprooted, uninvited- is this how all the Outlanders feel, tossed by winds of fate to a fickle new home? Though she is often lonely in the Hollowed Grounds, Amalia has at least belonged, always known herself to be part of a place. She wishes she could find that here. It is unsettling to be an outsider, watching through a broken window, hands cut on the glass each time she tries to go inside. Jigano leans against her shoulder and the girl responds in kind, letting her head rest on his a moment, a sigh moving easily from her lungs. "I am sorry if we made you feel unwelcome," she murmurs, earnestly understanding, a mask for an unspoken vow. You belong with us now. We can not belong together. Jigano's reply elicits a giggle, the girl turning around to glance at the starwhale, fondly teasing with a friendly smirk. "Jyoti is incorrigible. Isuma will have her work cut out." Drawn by the mention of her name, the little whale trills and coos, bursting suddenly from the trees to circle around the pair before vanishing beneath the suspended platform, once more attempting futilely to hide. Amalia laughs warmly at the antics, anxiety and uncertainty momentarily assuaged, until Jigano draws them back. Shaking her head ruefully, the girl bites her lips, pulling thoughtfully at a lock of tawny hair. "It was my fault for getting captured. I should have been more alert." Guilt and regret ring through her voice, shame at being such a fool. She had let the anxious excitement of the moment overwhelm her, succumbed to the leopard once again, and how had it turned out? With her and Kiada and Caiside captured, and a whale child cast down from the sky, and her friends left to forge through forest to protect her, utterly and justifiably believing of her inability to save herself. a m a l i a You said it's life that moves too much We're losing touch But I'm not losing you