But my words, like silent raindrops fell

A shuddering exhale left Ronin's lips as Remi drew him close, the ex-captain's muscles bunched tight as if he could somehow defend himself against his own grief. He couldn't, of course, and as the warmth and familiarity of a friend enveloped him he felt the dam within him crumble to nothing. And then the dark tide of loss and fear and sadness that had gripped him for days was loose; there was no putting it back behind its wall. The next breath Ronin took hitched in his throat, and the one after wouldn't seem to come at all. He released it with a sob that had him all but collapsing against Remi, his hands clenched tightly in the alchemist's shirt as the tears he'd blinked back for so long were finally given release. He had been so frightened, trying to save her, so utterly out of his depth. And she had known - that dawned on him now - she had known she was dying and he'd wasted so much time looking for other answers. Ronin sobbed hard against the alchemist's shoulder, trying and failing to pull himself together. "Why?" There wasn't an answer, of course, but he had to ask anyway. ronin the long and lonesome road