Welcome to Gaia! ::

For a moment, he eyed her, but then nodded slowly to her in response to if he was sure about how he felt about falling and failing.

"Maybe so.. but would it really help? You've been sleeping much more and you haven't been gaining much of your strength back at all," he said quietly. She had a hard time staying awake. Shun knew that much. It was really concerning.

"I will warn you if there's something on the ground," he urged while shifting his sight ahead so he could pay attention to where they were going. He thought to himself quietly as he was trying to figure out why she seemed to struggle here. Maybe it was her own weariness... He wasn't sure.

"Perhaps being in such a bright place for so long desensitized your eyes a bit. I don't know.. but you do have your ears and nose," he noted. Humans seemed to like things really bright for whatever reason. She might have gotten used to that. He didn't know.

In any case, it didn't take long before they were at the reaper gardens, even with the slowed pace. Guiding her carefully, he stepped inside the place, pausing momentarily as he recalled a few times they had spent here. There was a sort of sad reflective look in his eye as he brought them over towards one of the benches.

"Here we are.."

Nodding quietly, Shun sat down next to her as she pulled him close. He looked her over for a few moments, trying to decide what to do. While he thought on this, he was actually shocked by the little tidbit of information she had just dropped. That wasn't something he had mentioned to her before.

"Yes... actually. It.. was a disk of a yin yang symbol. Two of them actually. They eventually turned into my two falcons..." he whispered while peering into her eyes.

"Do... you remember anything else?"

There was hope. He had hope. And he was practically holding his breath here as he anticipated her answer. Did the garden somehow manage to spur the old memories..?

"Yes..."

Despite her saying that, he wasn't too convinced yet. Given how he had said they had come from yin and yang symbols, it might not be too hard to guess how the falcons turned out. Or even their names for that matter. Shun wasn't sure if she was guessing or if she actually recalled that. Though, his hopes were soon dashed anyway when she admitted that everything was muddled.

They weren't there yet. Letting out a sigh, he lowered his head. Disappointment and pain set in. He should have known better. The Reaper was about to face forward, but her question caught his attention. Slowly, he brought his eye up to meet with hers.

"You can ask me anything. Anytime."

The exact question came a little unexpected. And right away, Shun was reminded of what Lizzy said about how it's harder to figure out why you like someone than why you hate them. He didn't answer right away as she continued to stare at him, though his features softened as he felt her fingers brush against his cheek. As she rested her hand on his shoulder though, he shifted a little uncomfortably since that had been the one he managed to dislocate. It was still a little sore. But, he didn't move away.

"The easy answer would be to say.. everything. It's.. hard to describe and I'm not really good with explaining these things," he said quietly before closing his eye to gather his thoughts.

"You're.. remarkably loyal. And protective when you need to be. You enjoy the simple things in life and you always sort of have an optimistic view of things. Well. Usually at least. Not as much for things that deal with yourself... But you're also determined. Willing to try things for the sake of me or the others. You aren't put off by my ways. You're kind.. beautiful.. smart.. and though you were kind of naive there was something a little endearing about that," he managed to say.

"And well.. you were.. you."

The question was... was she still that? He had picked up on little differences here and there. Changes in her personality. She had been given a blank slate and some things were not the same as a result. Not without her old memories. Feeling a pang in his heart as he thought about this, he lowered his gaze again.

"I never knew what love was before coming to this school. Never experienced it. Even now I barely understand it..." he whispered before saying in an even quieter voice, "I wish I knew what to do.. I really do..."

That question hurt. Tensing a bit at it, he stared towards the ground, leaning over his knees with his arms resting lightly against them. The Mitsu she represented. The Mitsu she was now.

"Even... if you're different, you're still Mitsu. I can't stop loving you. I don't think that's possible," he said quietly, "With time, yes I'm sure I could grow to love you as you are now... sh-should you never regain those memories. You will always be my brightest light. Just as the moon is in the night sky."

It sounded like he was struggling a little to speak now. The fact that tonight was a new moon probably did not help him say that metaphor he often used for her.

"The real question... is if you will ever love me in turn a-again.."

His voice cracked. And he flinched at that. The Reaper breathed deeply as he shook lightly, staring hard at the ground. It had been hard to think about it. But actually admitting that to her? It was that much harder.

Shun's despair was enough for him to not notice that she was being hesitant at first. He wasn't looking at her at that time either. He just felt her gently pulling him close and he didn't fight it at all. Still trying to control his breathing, he just let his head rest on her chest with his eye closed, taking in some comfort in her gesture.

"That may be so..." he said with his voice barely above a whisper, not really daring to speak any louder due to not wanting his voice to crack again, "But I can't... and I won't try to force your heart. If you've changed... the one you give that to could easily shift as well.."

Quite frankly, he wasn't sure if he would really be able to handle seeing her in the hands of another man. Unrequited love would be hard enough with out that. In any case, he was struggling to keep his composure thinking about this, just as he fought for control when he had been talking to Lizzy earlier that day. But he was tired and emotions were running rampant.

In a way though, his guard was always a little lower for Mitsu. And talking about this with her was considerably harder.

The reaper leaned into her touch. He missed this contact too. Though, Shun had been trying to refrain due to being afraid that he would make her uncomfortable. But with her offering it herself? He was taking it up as much as he could. As she began to speak, he slowly lifted his head slightly to try and look at her more. It wasn't hard to see that he was vulnerable right now. Though, he was looking at her softly with his one good eye, which was a little glossy at the moment.

She was listing good things of him.. but what of his flaws?

Right now, he tried not to think about that too much. He just wanted things to return to normal for them both. He took comfort in her words, deciding to hold onto the idea that she would still love him rather than fall for another.

"I love you..so much.." he managed to whisper into her. A little liquid manage to leak from his eye as he buried his face into her chest.

Thankfully, no more tears managed to escape him aside from the one. Shifting himself a bit, he wrapped his arms around her her body to lightly pull her closer to himself as well. Hearing her proclaim love back to him, caused his body to relax against her. Her former words had done well to comfort him, but hearing that did so much more for him.

Keeping his eye closed, he just relished this moment, not seeing the pained look in her features. He was none the wiser.

Though, after some time of relaxing himself against her, he lifted himself up and leaned close before gently brushing his lips against hers for a soft kiss.