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Gravina found himself to be incredibly nervous tonight. Despite how much he talked to himself about it, how he vaguely remembered the one called Manu and how Evan had mentioned the Page of Chronos was looking for him... The night sky twinkled with stars tonight, and the air was cold, but crisp, an autumn breeze hinting of the winter to come. There were many things on the Knight's mind - what it means to be human, how to repent for his past sins, how to come to terms with Benitoite's threats to kill him once he'd become a human...

Now he was being led straight to someone that knew him as a youma, and Gravina was terrified.

The concept of Manu was fuzzy at best. He remembered someone smaller than himself, someone that spoke to him despite being a youma that could easily snap him in two and devour his soul. Too kind, naive, death wish? Water and waves and screaming and sinking into darkness... the memories were jumbled like a half-destroyed puzzle. Gravina wasn't sure if he wanted to reassemble them, afraid for the emotions that would be born from such a thing.

Delilah had allowed Julian to leave if only because of Evan and the previous connection Evan had described. As Malus, he was asked to find the youma with the necklace that could sometimes think like a human. Now that he'd been found, Evan was doing his duty to perhaps provide the Page a little comfort, knowing the youma had been reborn as a man. Gravina followed dutifully beside the Senshi who originally lived in his dreams. Malus now stood as a Senshi of higher rank - Super? He thought that's what it was called. Malus looked more elaborate and fancier than Gravina remembered him from his fuzzy recollection. The senshi certainly felt more powerful, which was a comforting thing - the more powerful Malus was, the easier he could defend himself.

They were headed to the park, a magical hotspot for nighttime activities, and Gravina had hoped it would remain civil - he was still so afraid of a certain blonde General making an appearance, and had told Malus so. The Knight of Cosmos wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice himself if it meant the Senshi and Page would live.

"...Malus? Um... thank you... for doing this." The Knight was hesitant, though with much practice with his family and phone calls to Evan, his speech patterns had settled into something that resembled normal. "It's... I don't remember him much, really. I'm just... really scared. But it's... part of repenting, right? You know... facing someone you... might've hurt..."

Life seemed to be getting harder and harder as days got shorter and the night lingered on. It was coming close to the holidays, a time where joy and happiness and warmth spread all around the city, even with strange things going on, yet the normal optimism Manu had felt almost nonexistent. While times came every now and then that he would find a reason to smile, or a reason to try just as hard as he normally did, they came less and less to the point that he didn't leave his home at all at night.

Giving up wasn't in his vocabulary, but at this point he couldn't see a reason as to why he should keep as much hope has he had struggled to do. He just... There was no new news of the youma he was looking for, Bazzite. No one had seen him, no one had heard of him... And the more thought he put into it, the less he had the heart to keep looking for him.

He could tell he was worrying people at this point, but... How could he tell anyone why he was so heart broken? He couldn't just go to his sister and let her know that he just felt so hopeless because someone not something, saved him and died because of it.. He couldn't say that a non-human saved him, that he cradled him until he took his last breath... It was all so much more than he could explain.

The moment he received that message from Malus, he felt that heart of his that had reached his feet perk up higher than it had in months. This time when he sprinted out of his house, he didn't even bother to get dressed in his actual clothing or clean up his face which seemed so much more exhausted than he had been even the last time he had seen the young senshi. He just ran.

And ran and ran and ran until he made it to the meet up place, tired and out of breath.

When he saw the senshi of glass, he smiled, tired but excited and thrilled to be here, before his gaze wandered to the man standing close to him... It couldn't be... It wasn't him... Was it? That soft blue hair was far too familiar.. He didn't wait for introductions, or a greeting, no, he was far too exhausted to think of it, and he immediately went to the young man who stood beside Malus.

"Is... Is this him...? Are you... You were the one who saved me, right?"

Malus offered a polite smile; his brows seemed perpetually knit but he greeted Manu silently, afraid to interrupt anything between him and Gravina. He was important in this only as the facilitator of their meeting, and just to make sure that everyone was okay. He was paranoid about running into trouble himself, and so, by extension, he wanted to help make sure these two were safe and protected while they met up again.

He rocked on his heels quietly and drew in a calming breath. He was content to stay silent—until Gravina looked at him. He felt suddenly like he had to say something, and a bit of anxiety bubbled in the pit of his stomach as he tried to muster up some words.

Quietly, as if he was afraid of interrupting, he told the Knight, “Just make sure you aren’t beating yourself up in the process, okay? You’re allowed to try and make things better, but you went through a lot, too. So don’t beat yourself up. You’ve had enough of that, too.”

He glanced to Manu with pleading eyes, silently imploring for backup on the matter.

"M-Malus is... he's... he's helped... very much... A-and the o-others... the o-ones who... who f-fixed me..." Gravina was enveloped in strong, warm arms and let go what fragile control he had to weep into the Page of Chronos. Malus was always there to help, and the Senshi of Glass was truly the only other one who understood. Julian could talk to Evan whenever, about whatever, and it was Evan's strength, determination and kindness were sometimes the only thing that allowed Julian to get through the day.

Malus was level-headed and understood all too well the mixture of emotions that came with rebirth, and his gentle reminder not to be too hard on himself was met with a trembling nod from the Knight. Gravina couldn't - and wouldn't - make any promises, but he would try his best.

Taking a few steps back, Gravina held his trembling fingers together in a bundle and held it under his chin out of anxiety. Malus would recognize the gesture as one Julian performed during their first meeting. "W-well? Um... yes. Y-yes, I... I get to eat, now, a-and... a-and, Delilah, she... lets me... live with her, at least... for a little w-while. Sh-she said... it wouldn't be... f-forever, but... th-that's okay."

Gravina closed his eyes, nodding to himself. Really, giving him this incredible salvation was more than enough. He could be homeless, but still human, and be incredibly grateful. A few calming breaths and the Knight continued. "And... and Malus, he's nice enough to... talk to me on the phone, and... he told me about you, that you... were looking for me. Th-that wasn't very safe, but... I'm glad... I could see you again, not being... blue."

Gravina gave a silent nod. "...M-Manu. Yes, you're... the strange Page. The one who... talked to a youma, as if he was a person."

There were memories there, buried deep in his dismembered psyche, of a fountain and a forest and a lake, somewhere... there was blood and screaming, and an incredible amount of pain. It did not compare to the pain of rebirth, but it ranked highly. Gravina's brows furrowed for a moment before he realized what to do next - with a few clumsy movements, the Knight pulled his civilian cellphone from subspace, something Sita had taught him to do. With trembling fingers and intense concentration, Gravina pulled up his cellphone number on the phone's menu, just like he'd been taught, and showed it to Manu.

"Malus... he has my number, too, and we talk and text a lot. It helped me practice with more fingers than I had before. And... I have my new family here, too. Can... can I... call you sometimes? Or maybe... send a picture? Would... would you... be my friend, M-Manu?"

Maybe, just maybe, friendship would be the best way to repent for disfiguring the Page's lovely tattoo, all those nights ago.