Emil lay there in his dark room, oblivious to anything but his grief. It felt as though someone had blown up a dam he had built in his soul and that all the feelings and sadness that had been blocked by that dam were flooding out in a continuous wave of tears. He did nothing to stop those tears; instead letting them flow, his pillow becoming more and more soaked with each passing moment.
He hadn't noticed anyone entering his room, but before he realized he wasn't alone, someone had pulled him to a sitting position and was holding him, not saying a word. Emil opened his eyes and through his tears he saw that it was Claude. He subconsciously tried to stop crying, but Claude shook his head, his brown hair falling into his eyes.
"Don'." Claude whispered. "Jus' go wit' it. You didn' see any reason to stop cryin' when you were by yourself, an' dere isn' any reason to stop now. Jus' hold onto me instead of your pillow, okay?"
Emil nodded, the tears flowing once more. He felt almost as if he couldn't control them, but he also didn't want to, not just yet. He leaned against Claude, taking comfort in the fact that he didn't have to hug a wet pillow anymore, and gripped the T-shirt Claude was wearing with one trembling hand.
Claude instinctively started rocking back and forth slowly, remembering that when Emil's parents had been killed, Emil hadn't really grieved for them. He had been too angry, too confused. It occurred to Claude that what Emil had said earlier in the day had been true; Emil had just buried the painful feelings and pretended for thirteen years that those feelings weren't there. And now those feelings, all that horrible grief, was coming to the surface, demanding to be felt.
Eventually, Claude felt that if he kept rocking, he'd rock them both right off the bed. That thought almost got a chuckle out of him, but he knew it wasn't the time or the place for laughter. As gently as he could, he moved back and leaned against the wall to give his back some support, taking Emil with him.
Emil's uncontrollable crying had changed as the time passed; he was now sobbing quietly, and Claude kept his arms protectively around his young friend, knowing Emil needed the comfort.
Shortly before dawn, Emil finally fell asleep and Claude breathed a small sigh of relief. 'Now I know what Theo went t'rough de first night we realized how bad off Emil was.' He thought. He was exhausted, not having gotten even a minute's sleep all night. As the early morning sunlight started to filter into Emil's room through the curtains on the window, Claude followed Emil's example and closed his eyes, hoping he could at least get a couple hours' sleep before everyone started disturbing them.
Four hours later, Emil woke up, feeling a bit stiff, but otherwise comfortable. He looked up at Claude and a grateful smile passed over his lips. If Claude hadn't come along, Emil didn't know what he would have done.
When he moved, Claude woke up, opening his brown eyes wearily. He was not ready to get up just yet, and he groaned reluctantly. "Is it mornin' yet?"
The ghost of a chuckle escaped from Emil. "Oui."
"Damn. How ya doin'?"
"Not bad. Not good, but not bad either. T'anks for stayin' wit' me. I don' know what I would've done if you hadn'." Emil admitted.
"Good t'ing I love you, kid…" Claude mumbled, trying to stretch his stiff, sore back. "Oooh…my back…"
Emil glanced away, sadness filling his expression. "I'm sorry…"
"Whoa, hey back up. What for?" Claude demanded, forgetting his back for the time being.
"For last night…for everyt'ing.
"Emil Francois Lapin, you have absolutely not'ing to be sorry for." Claude exclaimed. He put his fingers under Emil's chin and made his friend look at him. "C'mon, Red, listen to me. You have to grieve for dem. Man, you kept everyt'ing you felt 'bout it bottled up inside your soul for de past t'irteen years. An' now it's makin' you miserable. So don' be sorry. Jus' let it out…don' hold any of it back. No one's gon' judge you or anyt'ing like dat b'cause you're finally lettin' yourself feel what you feel."
The tears that had been once again threatening to fall from Emil's sad blue eyes spilled over. "I jus'…I don' know what…it jus' hurts so much…I don' know how to deal wit' it." he said in between sobs.
In spite of his protesting muscles, Claude wrapped his arms around Emil again. "I know it hurts, kiddo. It hurts a lot. B'lieve me, I've been dere. We all have. Theo, Mercy, Genard an' me, we all know how it feels. An' if you let us, we'll help you t'rough dis."
"He's right, you know."
Claude and Emil looked up, startled. Theoren, Mercy and Genard were standing in the doorway. It was Mercy who had spoken. Once they saw that their presence had been noticed, they moved over and sat on the bed with their friends.
"You guys sure you can handle dis?" Emil asked with a wry chuckle. "I got t'irteen years of grief to let loose here…I don' know…"
"Sure we can." Genard grinned, squeezing Emil's hand. "We're a team, 'member? Like we've all been tellin' ya for de past while. We're here for ya, no matter what."
Emil wiped his eyes. "I musta been awfully good in a past life."
"What makes you say dat?" Theo wanted to know, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"B'cause if I wasn', I wouldn' have you guys." Emil explained. "Now, how 'bout we go get some breakfast? I'm starved."
Remy and Zoe were in the kitchen when the five thieves entered. They were both seated at the table various forms of breakfast food in front of them. Zoe was telling Remy about how her brother Shirow was doing in school, but she stopped talking when the others joined them.
"Is everyt'ing okay?" Remy asked.
"No…" Mercy said, glancing at her four companions. "But wit' time, it will be."
Zoe smiled at Emil. "I have faith that you'll be okay, Emil."
"T'anks Zoe." Emil replied, sitting beside her and pouring himself some cereal. Claude sat by Remy and helped himself to some toast and bacon. That was as far as he got, though, because before anyone realized what had happened, the tired thief had fallen asleep, his head dropping to the table.
Remy snickered. "I t'ink maybe Claude needs to go back to bed."
"He was up all night wit' me." Emil said quietly. "He was still awake when I fell asleep an' dat was near dawn. I don' know what time he dropped off."
Remy nodded. "Okay. For helpin' Emil, he definitely deserves to go back to bed. Theo, Genard, give me a hand getting him upstairs, would you?"
Theoren, Remy and Genard returned a few minutes later, having taken Claude up to his room and settling him in bed. As a partial joke, Genard had made a sign and taped it to the door to Claude's room. It read "Disturb this man and suffer the consequences." The three of them got quite a kick out of it and thought Claude would too, after he woke up again.
"He still asleep?" Mercy asked when they returned.
"Oh yeah." Genard replied. "I t'ink he will be for awhile. Didn' even move when we put him in bed."
"Did anybody notice if Gris' come back or not?" Remy asked suddenly, changing the topic. Emil winced but didn't comment. He still felt bad that his idea had failed.
"I don't think so, Remy." Zoe replied. "Why?"
"Bel an' I want to have a little talk wit' him. I know he doesn' want to have anyt'ing to do wit' de unification, but he's still a member of dis Guild, an' dat means more den his own stubborn pride."
"You t'ink?" Emil said cryptically. He wasn't so sure.
"Bel does. An' I'm goin' wit' her on it. She's actually de one who wants to talk to Gris, not me, she jus' asked me to be dere. Yay for me." Remy rolled his eyes.
"Well, I hope Bel can get t'rough to him even a little." Theoren said. "B'cause if she can', he has de power to make dis peace real difficult."
Just outside the safehouse, Gris-Gris was standing on the porch, listening to the conversation between the thieves through the open kitchen window. None of them knew he was there, which is just the way he wanted it. He wasn't going to attack them, but he didn't want them to know he'd overheard them.
"Oh I can make de peace difficult, Marceaux. An' you can count on me doin' jus' dat." he whispered, glaring at the window.