Acceptance

At this point in her career Asuka had gotten used to staying up for long periods of time. Sleep was a commodity in these times, and Asuka was glad she'd finally be able to get some. Her gait as she enters the mansion she calls home is nothing more than her dragging her hooves along the floor. She still wasn't used to how silent the mansion was now. Even if it was 4 AM. Someone was usually rummaging around the kitchen for snacks at this point in the night, but tonight there was no one. The kitchen, living room, and backyard were empty. All but one of the bedrooms were empty. Asuka knew better than to disturb the person inside. Well. She COULD disturb him this early in the morning, but she can't remember a time when Gray was up before 9 so she has no idea how he'd react. After grabbing herself a quick snack from the kitchen Asuka trudges upstairs to her room. Asuka takes a quick shower to get the 'fresh from the ambulance' smell off of her before she goes to bed. She neatly places her uniform in the separate uniform laundry bin she has, and heads over to her room to get some sleep. The cool air filling her room was a stark contrast to the hot shower she had just taken. Asuka quickly huddles up under her covers only to get up to turn off the room's light. After lying back down again Asuka shuts her eyes to sleep for the night. Asuka is asleep for around 40 minutes before she wakes up. Dazed, drowsy, and confused Asuka rolls out of her bed to head to the bathroom for some water. She stops when she catches something out of the corner of her eye. Asuka leans over to turn on her bedside lamp. Once the lamp has illuminated the majority of the room Asuka can see her reflection staring at her. It had been a while since she'd noticed it. She'd thought this kind of thing went away after the last time she saw it months ago. Yet, there her reflection stands. It's gaze accompanied by no sound. Just silent resentment, and detestation. Asuka can feel the hatred burning through her thoughts. With thoughts of her sessions with her counselor Asuka turns to face her reflection. "How many times am I going to have to talk to you like this?" Asuka's reflection speaks with a huff. "How many times am I going to have to tell you that the life you're living will get us killed?" Asuka listens silently as her reflection continues. "You told me you'd listen. You told me you'd do what you could." It pauses. When it resumes it's voice is shaky. "You lied. You did nothing." Asuka was aware of how untrue that statement was, but she continues to stay silent. "Why don't you ever listen to me? You never take any of my advice to heart." The reflection was visibly shaking at this point. "You. Never. CARE!" The reflection jumps forward, and somehow manages to pass entirely through the mirror. It's body now sticking halfway out of the mirror the reflection stares angrily at Asuka as it breathes heavily. "It's okay. I've been taking what you've said to heart. I've been doing everything I can to make sure we stay safe." Asuka forces herself to smile pleasantly despite how terrified she is. 'She can't hurt me. I'll be fine.' Asuka tells herself. "But It would help if we could talk outside of times like these." Asuka pauses for a moment to gather her thoughts. "I really want to show you I'm listening, but it's hard to understand exactly what you want when you're only around every few weeks or so. If you want me to work with you, you have to work with me. We have to do things together." Asuka waits for a response. The reflection does nothing. It continues to stare at Asuka angrily. After some time it speaks. "What are you saying? You know what I want. I want you to quit your job so we can find safer work." She's not shouting anymore. "And we talked about that earlier. We agreed that the Tactical Paramedic stuff wasn't good. So we dropped it. What's going on right now is only temporary. We're going to be okay, but we'd be better off if you helped me." Asuka can't believe she's speaking to her own reflection as if it's a different person. "Do you think you could do that? Could you help me?" No response. "C'mon. You wanted me to listen to you. Now you need to listen to me." More silence. After some time Asuka speaks again. "If you won't promise to help me, at least tell me what it is you want." Without warning tears begin to stream from the reflection's eyes. "I don't want to loose everything. I don't want to die." Then, full on sobbing. Asuka's reflection seems to fall onto the floor in front of the mirror, sobbing loudly as she exclaims "I don't want to die." repeatedly. Asuka kneels down as she draws closer. Then, like a mother Asuka wraps her reflection in a hug as if it were her child. "It's okay. We're not going anywhere." She stays kneeling, hugging her reflection for 20 seconds before quietly speaking again. "From now on we'll make decisions together okay?" A few moments later her reflection ceases crying, and the two sit quietly in the middle of Asuka's room with the reflection wrapped in a hug. //Jingle because why not (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx1l6lBpGg0) "I think you'll need a name so we don't get confused... How about Maddy?"