The room was chaos — chairs broken, tables overturned, shards of glass sparkling in the air like cruel confetti. Skull stood in the center of it, panting, shaking, fists bloodied from the wreckage he'd made. His Mist Flames boiled off him in wild, choking waves — frantic, directionless, desperate.

He hadn't even realized he'd stumbled closer to you. Hadn’t noticed your Sky Flames stirring, instinctively reaching for the chaos, trying to soothe the screaming wrongness that poured from him.

The moment your Flames brushed his, everything stopped.

Skull froze — a choked noise ripping from his throat — as your Sky Flame embraced his Cloud, not recoiling, not mocking, not forcing it down. Just… accepting. Inviting. Healing.

His knees buckled almost immediately.

He didn’t even fight it — couldn’t. He sagged forward, grabbing handfuls of your clothes like a drowning man clawing for air. His forehead pressed hard against your shoulder, body wracked with tremors. His Flames surged out, latching onto yours hungrily, needily, finally tasting the bond they'd been denied for so long.

"S-Stop," Skull croaked, even as he clung tighter, voice wrecked, fragile in a way you'd never heard. "I-I can’t — if you — if you do this I won't be able to—"

But your Flames only pulled him closer, and Skull shattered.

Sobs ripped free of his chest — ugly, raw sounds he'd buried for what felt like centuries. His Vloud Flames twined with your Sky in frantic, starved patterns, pulling more and more from you, flame-drunk on the sheer relief of belonging.

"I tried…" he gasped between sobs. "I tried to be enough... for them... for everyone... I thought — I thought I didn’t need this — that I didn't deserve it—"

His hands fisted your shirt tighter as if you might vanish if he let go.

"Don’t leave me," he breathed, voice small, broken open completely. "Please... don’t let go."