"It will be hard to manage this in one loop, but you must get Beatrice to accompany you," Sekhmet told Subaru, who nodded.d "How can we do that?" Sekhmet thought and then shrugged. "Well, in her contract, it says she has to protect the forbidden library until it's gone, so we probably have to destroy the mansion." Subaru gaped in shock. "Isn't there some other way?" Sekhmet shook her head. "Not unless you want to die again for a similar end result."
Subaru nodded Grudginly "That makes sense, but I can't let anyone die. You understand that, right?"
Sekhmet smiled. "That won't be a problem, You'll know exactly what you have to do when you get there."
Subaru's eyes widened. "Get where? What are you talking about?"
Sekhmet laughed and held out a hand. A glowing purple rift split open in front of them, and she gestured towards it.
"You will have to conduct your business in the sanctuary and then come back. Keep in mind that things will be somewhat dicey when you get back, however."
Subaru looked at her and then to the portal. "When do I come back here?"
Sekhmet laughed. "You must come back when the snow begins to fall. make sure to check in with everyone there before you come back, or you will lose people."
Subaru nodded and with a grin, he turned and walked through the portal.
With a flash of purple light, he arrived in front of the trial chamber.
"So this is the first thing I have to do..."
Inside, he saw Emilia sitting against the wall looking Discouraged. He walked up and sat beside her.
"You really thought this through, didn't you, Emilia-tan?"
"You knew no one would find you if you holed up in here."
Emilia looked at him before returning her gaze to the ground. "Why... are you here, Subaru? You left and you don't..."
"Get forced back as hard as Roswaal? I mean, I'm here, but I'm fighting pretty hard to endure."
Emilia looked up half-heartidly "I... see..."
Subaru continued, "Half of me believed you'd be here and half of me just wished for it."
Emilia wasn't fully there and muttered, "Half... and half..."
"I'm so relieved I found you."
Emilia looked surprised, being somewhat shaken from her trance-like state. "Just relieved?"
Subaru looked at he confused
"You're not angry?"
Subaru smiled. "What's this Emilia-tan? Were you actually afraid I'd be mad at you? I'm not angry. though I did panic and wonder if you were alive."
Emilia sits with her hands crossed. "I see..."
Subaru was confused by this reaction. "Emilia?"
"You're not angry with me, Subaru. You won't even get angry. Why won't you get angry? What I did was selfish, wasn't it? It caused trouble, didn't it? You left and trusted I could handle this, and I ran away. Are you not angry because you didn't expect anything in the first place? You're kind to me even when I mess up. because you're not even disappointed in me. Because you know it's never going to go right?"
Subaru looked at her wide-eyed. "No, Emilia! That's not what I think!"
Emilia only tensed further. "Then!, Then why...? Why didn't you keep your promise!?"
Subarus eyes widened
Emilia cried, "You and Puck both broke your word and went away. You went away and left me behind. You're a liar. Puck is a liar."
Emilia leaned against him, still crying, "Liar."
"Emilia..." She cried over him. "You shouldn't lie; you shouldn't break a promise. It's wrong!"
She cried softly, Subaru stared at her for a moment before stating.
"Emilia... I love you."
Emilia opened her eyes, tears still running down her face. "Huh?"
She looked to Subaru, who went on. "Night after night, you go rushing into the same damn trial over and over. What the hell is that trial, anyway? It's just the past! Don't keep moping over stuff that's over and done with!"
Emilia had stopped crying in surprise "Uh, wha-"
Subaru clenched his fist in earnest. "When I tried to do it for you, you insisted that only you could do it. So when you blow it, that just means you were all talk!"
Emilia whimpered, "S-Subaru..."
Subaru raised his hand. "And in the end, when your pet and guardian takes off, you abandon your duties and run off to sulk and cry your eyes out? I can't put up with it any longer!"
Emilia's eyes widened, and she looked away weakly. "You're right. It only makes sense you'd think of me that way. "
Subaru still looked at her. "Even still, I love you, Emilia."
She looked back at him with teary eyes, and he repeated himself.
"I love you so, so, so much; I don't know what to do with myself."
She stuttered back, "Wh-where did this all come from?"
He smiled. " I love that beautiful silver hair of yours; I love those damp purple jewels you have for eyes. I love your voice and how just hearing it puts me in a trance. Your long slender arms and legs, your pale skin, and your height are all so perfect to me that I just can't stand it. Just being with you makes my heart race out of control. It's scary, honestly. I love how you're a little absent-minded, too. the way you give everything your all is adorable. and I respect the way you do your best to help others. It's hard to leave you alone when I see you putting others before yourself. I want to see all the expressions you make from right here beside you."
Emilia shook slightly. "Th-this is no time for... STOP PLAYING AROUND! Why are you suddenly saying all this?! That's not what we were talking about! You were saying I'm utterly useless, that you couldn't put up with me!"
Subaru's expression stayed calm. "Yeah, you're right." Emilia interjected, "So why would you forgive me for being useless?!"
Subaru nodded and firmly stated, "If that answer is what you want, I've said it over and over! It's because I love you!"
Emilia whimpered. Subaru was nearly standing now. "I'm head over heels in love with you! Everything about you shines in my eyes! Yeah, of course, parts of you aren't perfect. You're not an angel or a goddess, you're an ordinary girl. You'll feel so bad that you want to cry sometimes, and you'll want to run away from things that hurt! I get that! But even including that weakness and the parts you might even call ugly... I love every part of your being, Emilia."
Emilia was on the verge of tears again and cried out, "That's just... T-too selfish! You named all the things that make me useless, and you still say you love me? How can you expect me to believe you?!"
Subaru leaned over her. "You're wrong! You've got it completely wrong! It's not because I believe in you that I love you! I believe in you because I love you!"
Emilia postured and retorted, "Just loving someone isn't a reason to believe in them!"
Subaru clenched his fist once again. "If just loving you isn't a reason to believe in you... Then who the hell would willingly go through all this suffering to come help a pain in the ass like you?!"
He fully stood up and put a hand on his heart. "I love you so much it makes me crazy! So much that I could die! That's why I put up with the pain and suffering! Even now, I might puke, but I'm standing before you!"
Emilia gasped. "I never asked you to do that!" she stood up fully to face him. "You're just being selfish! You're not thinking about my feelings at all! You have no idea how I feel every time I see you getting hurt because of me!"
Subaru passionately replied, "How would I know?! I don't even think about it! All I think about is how to look good in front of you! I'm suffering for you here! At least try to look as cute as I hoped you would!"
Emilia clasped her hands together. "Don't talk as if I'm some doll! Why did you break your promise?! If you'd just done what I asked you to, that would've been enough! Why wouldn't you even do that?! You actually hate me, don't you?!"
Subaru leaned forward with passionate anger in his expression "I love you!"
"Liar!" Emilia cried
Subaru shouted back, "I'm not lying! I love you!"
Emilia looked down. "Then... why? Why did you break your promise?"
Subaru's eyes widened, and he looked away. "I... I can't tell you."
Emilia tearily continued, "If you'd stayed with me till morning then... I think I could have believed you. I could have believed you and entrusted you with everything. but you..."
She collapsed to her knees in tears. Subaru looked down at her in worry. "Since Puck left, my memories have been slowly coming back. Sights in my mind I don't recognize, conversations I don't remember... more and more of them keep coming back. I thought I remembered everything all this time, but I went and forgot them as if they never existed. When all the memories do come back, what's going to happen to me? Is this me... really me? I forgot so many important things. I even forgot about Mother. and yet... I'm not wrong?"
Subaru remembered what his mother had told him before he left his trial of the past. "Emilia. No matter what memories you get back, it won't change anything. I love you. I'm always going to love you."
Emilia shook her head. "I can't believe that... If the me that you say you love... g-goes away, could you still..."
Subaru looked at her with a calm expression. "I could. No matter what happens, you're not going to go away. I love you."
Emilia was looking up at him, tears streaming from both Purple eyes. "But you're a liar. You wouldn't make me believe you."
Subaru sternly looked at her. "Them, I'll make you believe me now."
He placed both hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "Suba-""If you don't want this, then dodge."
She stared at him tearily, and he leaned in; she closed her eyes in apparent acceptance, and He gently kissed her on the lips.
He peeled away and once again stated, "I love you. No matter how many hopeless sides of you I see, and even if we argue like this... I'm never going to stop loving you. That won't change no matter what happens. I'll just love you even more than before. That's why I'll always believe in you. and if you want to know why..."
Emilia blushed and, with wide eyes, softly said, "Because... you love me?"
"With those unfamiliar memories flooding you, it's only natural you'd feel scared. But the path you've walked until now won't go away. You're going to be fine."
She looked him in the eyes with a sad yet hopeful expression. "How can you say that for sure?"
He smiled back. "What matters isn't how you start. It's how it ends. The woman I respect most in the whole world said so. You'll be fine, Emilia. I'm on your side. It's ok if you don't remember anything, and if you're still scared, we'll find it."
She had calmed slightly. "Find... what?"
"Just like my feelings for you make me able to keep running forward, You'll find your most precious feeling, the one that makes you able to blow away all of the anxieties and run forward. Of course, I'd like to hope that this precious feeling will be for me."
"My most... precious feeling..." she looked down and felt pucks of broken crystal around her neck. "I wonder if it's among all these memories I've been getting back. My most precious feeling..."
Subaru looked at her in awe. "Yeah, I'm sure it is. your reason to keep walking is there."
Emilia stared back at him for a moment. "Yeah!"
Subaru helped Emilia to her feet and the pair walked outside of the trial room. Outside waited Garfiel tinsel. who looked slightly worse for wear and angry.
"Yo, sorry to keep you waiting."
Garfiel looked at him angrily. "Ain't like I was waitin' for you."
Author Note
We are so back. I put this entire story up on Webnovel and Rewrote the first 10 chapters and formatted the rest differently, so if you're reading this on Wattpad and want to check out the new version, you can. If you want to check out the original, it's on Wattpad under the same name.
We are almost done with this arc (Thank god), and I was going to write more, but ending it at this moment feels better than going right into Subaru vs Garfiel. Also, I hope I don't mess up any connections I wanted to make as I've taken so much time off this story, but since most of this is one-to-one with the anime, it's fine. I can't wait to add some original stuff, though.
Anyhow thanks for 2k Reads on Wattpad and 12k views on Webnovel I should see you soon hopefully.