mortevatem:

   _{And a solemn nod was given to that statement. He never lied, not all that time ago when he said he wouldn’t die. There was no way, not a chance he would let something happen to himself, not when so many counted on him just as much as he did them. Besides… it simply wasn’t an option.}

            _{Eventually a hand rose to place itself atop her head, to lightly ruffle the strands that were longer and a little more in-the-way than before.}

    _{“… I’m not leaving.
                 But if I’m going to be here for a while,
                                        maybe you should treat me to that ice cream?”}

         _{The touch atop her head was both foreign and familiar all at once—neither of them touched each other very often, only when it had a meaning associated with it. Still she felt pleased by it and peered at him at the suggestion of ice cream, which she hadn’t had in far too long.}

                           _{Naturally that meant that she had no qualms whatsoever about getting some.}

                  _{”Of course,”}

                           _{—there was a brief thought to bring her bag, but it didn’t seem important—}

                  _{”follow me.”}

         _{Striding past him easily she felt oddly nostalgic, thoughts cast back to the day that they first met, when she led him around Twilight Town, showed him different places and people and mentioned sea salt ice cream. It had been so long ago… yet not very long at all.}