[Her smile falls slightly at his quiet answer, but she tries to fix it quickly before he can look back at her and see how it fades. Being out here in the trees, walking alongside the creek where the water moves along without a care in the world, where the birds sing their morning songs, where the fireflies in the fog dim their lights to make way for the sun that's about to rise, it reminds her of those happier mornings they spent out here.
It's so brisk and smells so fresh, just like it had on those days when she woke up beside him in that tent with a smile, and it should be refreshing and invigorating to her senses, but each time she looks at the back of Eustace and sees how his shoulders tense beneath that burden he's trying to carry all on his own, it obscures those memories more and more.
Tifa nudges the sides of her horse to pick up the pace, and the mare breaks into a gentle gallop down the path until she's able to pass Eustace and move in front of him. It's easier to hide her face this way.]
Should we go back up to that same spot? On top of the waterfall?
[There's a joyful inflection to her voice that feels very out of place as soon as she hears it, but it's there to mask the frailness and unsteadiness of it when she feels her nerves flaring up the moment she realizes how close to their campsite they are. They are going to need to talk about everything, and she is going to have to ask him those questions that have been burning an aching hole in her heart since she woke up and suddenly, she isn't sure if she wants to get up there sooner or draw out the walk for as long as possible.]
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It's so brisk and smells so fresh, just like it had on those days when she woke up beside him in that tent with a smile, and it should be refreshing and invigorating to her senses, but each time she looks at the back of Eustace and sees how his shoulders tense beneath that burden he's trying to carry all on his own, it obscures those memories more and more.
Tifa nudges the sides of her horse to pick up the pace, and the mare breaks into a gentle gallop down the path until she's able to pass Eustace and move in front of him. It's easier to hide her face this way.]
Should we go back up to that same spot? On top of the waterfall?
[There's a joyful inflection to her voice that feels very out of place as soon as she hears it, but it's there to mask the frailness and unsteadiness of it when she feels her nerves flaring up the moment she realizes how close to their campsite they are. They are going to need to talk about everything, and she is going to have to ask him those questions that have been burning an aching hole in her heart since she woke up and suddenly, she isn't sure if she wants to get up there sooner or draw out the walk for as long as possible.]