Eh?
I woke up in my bed at home, staring at the ceiling.
I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, as I started to wail out in anguish, crying my eyes out before mommy rushed into the room.
"Lachy!? What's wrong, what happened!?"
She lifted me up and hugged me tight as snot and tears streamed down my face.
"I-I had a nightmare!!" I wailed out again, clinging tightly to my warm mother.
"Oh baby, I'm sorry." I felt my mommy hug me even tighter, caressing my head as she said soothing words to me. "There, there, it'll be alright."
"I-it was scary! There was a bad man, and the bad man did awful things to people, a lot of people, and, and-!" I suddenly couldn't catch my breath, the nightmare coming back to me, and I felt my mommy put her forehead against mine.
"Deep breaths, okay? Follow my lead, it'll be okay." I did as I was told, taking deep breaths with her, finally starting to calm down.
"You feeling better now?" I looked up at her and nodded, sniffling. "That's a good girl."
I sniffled again, snuggling up to her warmth. "It was really scary."
"I bet it was. I'm sorry you had to see something like that." She caressed my head once more, still hugging me tightly.
Footsteps, and I peaked my head to see Daddy by the doorway, a worried look on his face.
"Hey, what's wrong? Is everything okay?"
Mommy nodded, smiling at him. "Yes, don't worry. She just had a nightmare is all. A frightening one it seems." She looked at me again, sighing softly. "You wanna sleep with us for the rest of tonight?"
I nodded, and my parents led me to their room, where I snuggled in between the two, their warmth guiding me to a far happier dream…
December 25th, 2009, 12:40 am.
Yeah, I guess that night would be where it all started, with that single nightmare of mine…
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"Lachy's a big ol' crybaby!"
It was the afternoon of that same day, and the three of us, Major, Captain, and I, were all playing outside in the snow that had fallen the night before. The snow was piled high all around us, being taller than even we were. Oddly enough, the place where we were playing at, Major's backyard, was the only place with not a lot of snow. We had just finished making three snowmen before Major decided to start teasing me.
"I am not a crybaby!" I yelled out, pouting at him.
"Uhuh, I heard you cry last night really loudly from my room! It woke me up!" Major continued, laughing to himself.
"You're so mean Major!"
"Stop fighting!"
I felt a snowball hit my face, and I fell on my butt, wiping the snow off me. Major had also got hit, although he didn't fall over.
We turned to the culprit, Captain, who had his arms crossed over his chest as he sniffled at us. "Friends shouldn't fight one another!"
"Does that mean we can't have a snowball fight?" Major asked, frowning.
"Eh!? Uh, no, that fighting is okay? Um, only bad fighting is bad!" Captain said, nodding to himself.
I threw a snowball in his face, laughing. "Major, let's attack Captain together!"
"You got it Lachy!"
"Hey, don't fight against me!" Captain complained, and we all started to laugh as we threw snowballs at one another.
"Hey, how are you not getting hit Major!?" I yelled out before getting planted with another snowball, falling backwards again, my hat falling next to me.
"I could ask Captain how he's making so many!" Major exclaimed, lying down next to me, breathing heavily.
"Hehe, had enough already?" Captain said, taking my other side as he also laid down, also breathing hard.
Major sat up, grinning at the two of us. "Oh man, I can do some really cool things now guys!"
"Not as cool as the things I can do!" Captain said, sitting up as well.
"Nuhuh, I can do way cooler things than you!"
"No, I can!"
I frowned, looking at a nearby snowman. "Oh, I wish I could do cool things too…"
"It's okay Lachy, I'll do enough cool things for the both of us! After all, I'm gonna marry her!" Captain yelled out, shooting to his feet.
"No, I'm gonna do even cooler things so I can marry her!" Major retorted, standing up also.
"No, I'm way cooler than you are, no way she'll marry you!"
"I know way more about cool than you Captain!"
I sat up, starting to get annoyed. "Don't fight guys! I'll just marry both of you! There, problem solved!"
"Wait, you can do that!?" They both exclaimed, and I shrugged as I got back to my feet, brushing the snow off my back.
"I dunno, but it'll be fine!" I said, smiling at the both of them. "But what cool things can you guys do?"
"I wanna see Major's first, so that way I can blow his stupid thing away with how awesome my thing is," Captain said with a hmph.
"Fine, but you'll be so amazed, your thing will look stupid in comparison!" Major exclaimed before clearing his throat.
"Alright, look at Lachy's snowman for me please!" I couldn't help but feel a little bit excited over what cool things they were about to show me, before something strange happened.
"Now, I'll use it on Captain next!" Major exclaimed, and Captain nodded.
"Ready when you are Major!"
"Lachy, what do I do?" Major asked, tears and snot running down his face. "I, I can't bring him back!"
Huh? I blinked, frowning to myself as I wiped my eyes. Major noticed and scowled at me.
"Hey, you can't look away Lachy! It's important!"
I shook my head, twirling my hair around my finger. "Sorry, I imagined something weird!"
"Then stop imagining it!" Captain said, and I pouted.
"I couldn't help it!"
"You guys!" We turned towards Major, who was pouting.
"Oh, sorry Major. We're watching, promise!" I said, keeping my eyes on my snowman. He nodded, grinning at the two of us.
"Alright, watch as I make this snowman, disappear!"
And then the snowman was gone like that, the only thing remaining was the slight indentation it had left within the snow. I blinked, squinting my eyes.
"Wait, it's gone?" I asked, and Major gave me two thumbs up.
"Yeah, isn't it cool! I can make stuff go away! It's why there isn't snow around here, so we could play!" He said, nodding excitedly. "Isn't it super cool!?"
I was speechless, and I glanced at Captain, who was having a similar reaction.
"Since when can you do that!?" We exclaimed, and he started to laugh.
"I dunno, when I woke up this morning, I just knew I could," he said, shrugging. "But my thing is way cooler than yours, right Captain!?"
"Eh!?" He exclaimed; a bit taken aback before shaking his head. "Well, while your thing may be pretty neat, my thing is still cooler though." He hesitated, looking back between the now gone snowman and Major.
"But, can you try it out on me?" He asked, and Major grinned.
"I knew you thought it was cooler than yours!"
"N-no! That's not it! I just have to see how cool it is, so use it on me next!"
"Hehe, well if you say so!" Major said, and he turned to Captain.
"Now, I'll use it on Captain next!" Major exclaimed, and Captain nodded while I frowned.
Huh? That's weird, didn't he say that when I was daydreaming?
"Ready when you are Major!"
"Then, I'll make Captain, disappear!"
And then Captain was gone, just like the snowman from before.
I felt my stomach start to hurt as I started to get a weird feeling, and I looked at Major, who was smiling to himself.
"Hey Major?"
"Oh, do you wanna do it too?" Major asked, and I shook my head.
"No, I was just wondering. Can you bring Captain back?" I asked, the feeling starting to get worse.
"Huh? Oh, I never thought about that. I think I can?" Major said, frowning to himself.
"Um, can you bring him back then?"
"Yeah, all I have to say is, reappear!" But nothing happened as the place where Captain stood was still empty, and the feeling that grew within my stomach grew even worse.
"Um, give me a second, I can bring him back, promise!" Major said, nodding to himself.
"Reappear!" Nothing happened.
"Appear!" Nothing happened.
"Emerge!" Nothing happened.
"Show up!" Nothing happened.
"Come back!" Nothing happened.
"Come back!" Nothing happened.
"Co-come back!" Nothing happened.
"COME BACK!" Nothing happened.
I could only watch as Major collapsed on his knees, the feeling worsening by the second as I stopped playing with my hair, slowly approaching my dear childhood friend Major.
"L-Lachy…" He murmured, and I fell to my knees in front of him, tears starting to well up in my eyes.
"Lachy, what do I do?" Major asked, tears and snot running down his face. "I, I can't bring him back!"
If only I realized what I could do earlier, if only I knew what I saw would come to pass, maybe that wouldn't have been the last day I saw my dear childhood friend Captain
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He cried a lot that day, words unable to comfort him. He cried the next day, our parents unable to console him. He also cried the day after, and it was that day I was finally able to see him.
He was in his room, hugging his legs as he was leaning against the wall, his face buried within his clothes, his black hair messy.
"Major, it's me, Lachy," I said, and he looked up at me, his eyes red and puffy from the constant crying.
"L-Lachy…" He murmured, and he sniffled before diving back into his clothes. "I, I'm so sorry…"
I felt my tears start to well up, but I shook my head, not allowing them to fall. "Major, it's not your fault. No one thinks so."
"But, if only I thought ahead…" He trailed off as he started to cry again, and I walked to his bed, sitting down next to him.
"Major, I miss him," I started, and I watched him tense up at my words. "I miss him so much, and we both don't know if he can ever come back…"
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" Major whimpered out, starting to shake.
"But he would want us to be happy!" I yelled out, grabbing Major's shoulders, and he looked up at me, startled.
"Huh?"
"I, I think he would want us to be happy Major!" I said, my lip quivering. "He would want us to have fun, even without him. I don't think he would want us to be sad…"
I trailed off, unsure of what exactly I was trying to say, but Major looked at me with wide eyes before wiping away his tears.
"I think I get it," he said, sniffing up his snot as he wiped his face off. "I don't know if I can make him appear, but I'll make sure I don't forget him so if when he does come back, I'll be able to laugh."
He turned to me, a small smile on his face as he started to cry again. "So, I'll keep at it, okay?"
I nodded, giving him a watery smile. "I won't forget him either, okay? Pinkie promise."
I held out my pinkie, and Major did the same as we wrapped them around each other.
"Cross my heart, hope to die, swallow a thousand needles if I lie!" We connected our thumbs at the top, sealing the promise, and I let out a soft laugh.
"I'm glad I was able to help Major," I said, laying down on the bed.
He started laugh at my reaction, giggling to himself, wiping away his tears that continually fell.
"How are you supposed to help when you're a crybaby?"
"Eh!? Hey, look who's crying right now!" He laughed harder at my reaction, finally stopping his tears, laughing for the first time in three days.
After that, he always tried to smile and help people as much as possible, but he always managed to cry too.
He cried that day, with Erebus as they wailed out by the edge of the forest.
He cried that day, with Eros and Erebus after his plan worked for against his parents.
He cried that day, with Aether, Eros, and Erebus, huddled together after conquering the problems that plagued Aether.
He cried that day, with Hemera, Aether, Eros, and Erebus and I, after we gave Hemera one of the best presents imaginable to her.
But he laughed that day, with Nyx, Hemera, and I, after we saved Nyx from the darkness that haunted her wherever she went.
Tears of Happiness and Laughs of Gratitude.
However, he cried and wailed out in despair on that day…