Jinx? Dead. Heimerdinger? Gone. Vander? Dead. Everyone’s dead. Everyone but you.

You were the only reason he didn’t jump off the stupid edge when he burnt the paper at the ceremony. You were the reason he started the tree. You were the reason he joined the firelights. You were the reason he’s alive.

And that’s why he ran straight to you the same night of the ceremony. That’s why he sobbed violently into your chest in the middle of a burnt down forest.

Your soft touch on the back of his head fixed everything for him, every tear running down his dark skin was a moment of pain throughout his life. From the loss of Benzo to the loss of his childhood friend. If only the stupid device he created could reverse everything. So the two of you would just be little kids, holding hands and running around Benzo’s shop like idiots.

Back to the present, Your back was against a half-burnt tree with Ekko laid in between your legs — his head rested comfortably on your chest with a damp tear patch beneath his head on your tank top.