caughtinanetwork | 25 ★ v i d e o;

[ Gracia shows up on the feed with rather curious expression. She sits by one of the cafes in the plaza, the SFC atop the table. She takes a sip of a warm vanilla milk, and with a slender finger on her lower lip, she begins to speak. A small dog can be slightly glimpsed running around behind her. It barks twice before Gracia's able to get her question out in the open. ]

Tell me something, Vatheon! What does it mean to be an "adult?" [ She leans on her elbows, and pouts. ] Is it really all about how old you are? Or is it more about how you act? That's what Father said to me once...[ Once? More like every time xD ] If that's the case, then how should an adult act?

[ Gracia sighs. This looks like something she's been pondering over for a while now. But speaking as a child at heart herself—regardless of her twenty years of age—Gracia only confused herself trying to look for an answer on her own. ] It's confusing! No matter what I do, it seems that my actions aren't those of an adult! Are adults not allowed to protect their loved ones the way they see fit?

[ Her dog, Futon, barks again. Gracia smiles and reaches down to pet him under the chin. ]

I wonder if to be an adult, I really only need to smile to become part of his strength...? I wonder if that will be enough...?

[ Her last words are no longer aimed at Vatheon's general public; they were questions aimed at herself, concerning a particular person. Her Father was always right, even if tried his best to tell Gracia otherwise. She believes in him fully, and so she wants to protect him no matter what. That was her reason for fighting—to make his dream of peace a reality. But how will she protect him now, when he gave her explicit orders not to? And that, whenever she disobeys him out of love, she is childish? Selfish, even?

Gracia is desperate for answers! (The last thing the SFC shows before she switches it off is her gulping down the rest of her milk with a satisfied and giddy smile. She sighs contentedly.) ]

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[ Well...that got her stumped. She looks like she's immediately ready to retort, her mouth opening and closing as if her mind thought of the words too fast for her reaction to catch. She goes through a rather silly pattern of facial expressions; one shocked, another pouting and frustrated, the other a mix of both and then some...Eventually, Gracia comes to sigh deeply. She looks down at her feet once more, shuffling in place. ]

[ He made a very good point. She wasn't quite sure how to approach it now. ]

...

[ So she tells him how she feels, as honestly as she can. ]

I just...want a part in helping father out. Because even if you tell him, I still find you sitting by the gardens looking so lonely. I always thought that Motochika and I could work together to help you.

This is where I truly get confused, Tama, because you do help me. I cannot understand why you think you must hear everything before you can do as such.

[Mitsuhide tilts his head in a way that ensures his face becomes mostly concealed by his fine, black hair.]

You cannot solve all problems immediately. Not everything can be fixed by asking questions and giving answers. Sometimes, only time and comfort together can ease the burdens of a man.

[Mitsuhide is not going to tell her that he isn't sure if that will work completely. He especially isn't going to tell her that he isn't sure if he even deserves to have that pain lifted from his heart.]

[Some part of him will always be closed off to the young woman. It is for the best.]

[ She speaks hesitantly. ]

You mean...you're really content with me being me, even when you're down and depressed? That is enough to help you?

[ Gracia exhales heavily and shakes her head. ]

That's what I don't understand...How can it help at all? I do that, but still, you are sad...I thought it wasn't working, I wasn't sure how much time was enough.

[ She knows of the pain of waiting for time to heal a wound - back home, that's all she could do, fighting the doubters who tell her Mitsuhide was dead - but she did something about it. She ~~ran away~~ went out to find something she was looking for. Gracia assumed it was how it all worked, for everyone. ]

Of course.

[He shifts so his face is fully concealed by his hair now.]

Nobody can tell. The human heart is not so simple.

[Mitsuhide's voice grows quiet, and as soft as it can possibly become. Her way of seeing the world truly was unique, and incredibly simplified.]

You cannot expect such a thing to heal quickly.

[ She rubs her arm absentmindedly. She's not quite sure what to say now. ]

But it will, right Father? Even if it seems like it won't?

[ She's asking for both their sakes. ]

I...

[He wishes she had not asked that. He cannot lie about it, but the answer can only hurt her. A soft sigh passes from his lips before he continues.]

I do not know. It is likely that the wounds will never fully heal.

[ It's painful to hear it from the one person she looks up to the most. Then again, this wasn't the first time she's had to hear something she never wanted to hear from him. She closes her eyes and turns her head away from the SFC, as if it would shield her, protect her; as if her father's embrace was somewhere out of his own reach. ]

[ But she knows the feeling of despair. She takes herself back to before Vatheon, to a time of uncertainty and darkness. Alone, and isolated, and frightened, and confined to an empty manor. Whispers of "he's dead, he's not going to come back," fill her mind, keeping her awake on the coldest of nights. Perhaps she shouldn't be so pained to hear that wounds may never fully heal.

Once upon a time, even Gracia believed in the same thing. ]

...It will heal. One day.

[ But she is a woman bound by hope and light. Even the tiniest part of her can still believe in a better day. She is defiant that way; it is what Motochika admires the most about her, and what sets her gentleness apart from her father's. ]

I'll...I'll fight for that to happen. I'll do whatever it takes for it to be so!

[ And that was how she was back home. The only one who held on to Mitsuhide's shadow, the only person who never gave herself time to think that maybe, just maybe, Mitsuhide was actually dead. ]

25 ★ v i d e o;

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