You weren't here. Wednesday didn't understand. Everyone was here. Why weren't you?

There was a sort of dread settling in the girl's stomach as she ran through the forest, and not the sort she enjoyed. More like the sort she'd felt when Thing had been hurt. The sort that made nausea crawl through her being. The sort that made killing Crackstone and dealing with Laurel seem like child's play. Wednesday was never the type to allow herself to be so evidently worried about someone. You were the exception. And of course, Wednesday would never openly admit to that. But now, she found herself worried she'd never even get the chance to.

Every step felt like an eternity to the Addams girl as she took it. Entire worlds formed and collapsed with each rise and fall of a foot. Stars had lived their billions of years of life and gone supernova in the time it took to get to you. And then it all froze.

Wednesday had thought she had known what Goody had meant the day you moved rooms to dorm with Yoko. The day you both fell out. But now she realised how naïve that assumption had been. Now she saw the true meaning of the lonely path of the Raven. She wasn't prepared to walk it.

She found herself involuntarily crouched beside you; her legs had given out the second she approached. This wasn't how this was supposed to be. It wasn't supposed to be you, never you. It should've been her. This was never your fight. And yet you were here, the consequences of your loyalty to her hitting Wednesday right in the face.

A trembling hand lifted to rest in your tousled, knotted fur, feeling around your neck for a pulse. Much to Wednesday's relief, she felt one. Barely, but it was there. She observed the miniscule rise and fall of your chest, making sure it was still there. You, barely grasping at your consciousness, open your eyes just slightly, just enough to see Wednesday. Her own are glossy and tear-filled. Wednesday didn't cry. But today, for you - she did.