"Break?"

Ah. Right.

He was gone.

Forever.

Sharon sighed, it appears she had to do her hair herself today.

A week had passed already. And her habits still refused to be changed. He had always been the first person she'd greet in the morning, and the one she'd count on to arrange everything for her, and the one she'd bid goodnight to right before she slept.

15 years had been such a long time. Sharon couldn't even begin to imagine what her life would have been like if she hadn't found him that day.

But she reckoned that forever was a time longer than anything she could conceive of.

It had barely been a week, and she was already missing him so, so much that it felt as if her heart could shatter into a thousand fragments with the slightest touch.

How was she going to live with the knowledge that he was gone forever?

From time to time, the sensation of his head resting on her shoulder still remained. It plagued her to no ends.

His exhausted, raspy voice. His pale complexion. His skin losing its temperature. All of it...

...had felt so surreal.

They all knew Break was going to die one of these days. Besides, he had had just about a million near-death occasions due to his one-man show persona, this really shouldn't come as a surprise.

But it didn't feel right at all.

It didn't feel right talking about him in past tense when she delivered the eulogy, he had always been the liveliest creature in the room.

It didn't feel right seeing him being placed in a coffin and buried underground, left to rot and perish and decompose, alone.

It didn't feel right placing little flowers there, those flowers belonged in his once beautiful long, silver hair, not on that dreary, grey tombstone.

It didn't feel right not being able to watch over him as he rests while calling out his name, pleading him to wake up. That was what always happen when he had used too much of Mad Hatter's power. It was always terrifying, but at least she'd see his weak breath and his slight movements, at least she'd be by his bedside, clutching his hand, praying.

She had been allowed to hope every time he had collapsed. But she had smelled the sweet aroma of candy when he had breathed his last on her shoulder, and that had crushed every glimmer of it.

Setting down her hairbrush, she felt a churn in her stomach. The truth had been so abrupt, so nonsensical, so uncomfortable, it made her feel sick how her life seemed to be unchanged still.

It was almost repulsive to her. How dare the Earth continue to orbit when he was gone?!

She clutched her head, messing up her hair again. She should not think this way — Break would not want her to think like this.

If Break were here, he'd...

"Sharon-sama?" Reim's voice came with a few knocks on the door.

"Oh, come in," she called out, forced to regain her composure.

How rare, Reim was in a casual suit instead of Pandora's uniform. She tried to remember if today was some special occasion.

Reim saw her assessing his getup, he sighed, "Today is the tea party, Sharon-sama, have you forgotten?"

"Tea party...?" she murmured, and then practically jumped up when the memory hit her, "Oh dear! I did forget! Ahhhhh...! How careless of me! Why did Break not... remind... me...?" She slowed down on the last few words as Reim's brows furrowed instantly.

"I..." she stuttered, faking an apologetic smile, "Please... pay it no mind, Reim-san. I have yet gotten used to daily life without a valet is all. It's noth—"

"If you do not wish to go," Reim said, "if it's too painful to bear, I shall inform Gilbert-sama of your predicament so that he would not expect you."

"No. No, I'm fine. Truly." Honestly, she thought she didn't really have a reason not to go. Almost everyone who would be there lost someone precious. Leo lost Elliot. The Baskerville lost at least half of their comrades and Fang. Ada lost her family. And even Gilbert, the one who insisted on organising this tea party Oz proposed, lost his master, and a dear friend, and someone who he had almost treated as his own uncle.

Gilbert probably learnt that if sorrow and grief were kept locked away in the darkest depths of a person's heart, that person would never see the light and might do something foolish they'd end up regretting, mostly because of Vincent's case. As such, he wanted to do something for everyone, he wanted everyone to get along and try to be happy, even for just a brief hour or so.

Sharon understood Gilbert's intention, and she did not want his efforts to go to waste.

"I will go."

Though she doubted his efforts would be of any help to her.

---

"Glad you both came, Sharon, Reim," Gilbert welcomed the two of them as they stepped out of the coach.

"Good morning, Sharon-chan," Sheryl was already there with Rufus.

"Good morning, grandmother. Good morning to you too, Duke Barma," Sharon curtsied, and went along to greet other people she knew.

The Baskervilles were surprisingly friendly, it was actually nice to hang out with them and to know that they weren't sworn enemies anymore. Lottie even complimented her dress, and she complimented her hair in return.

But it was no use. Her mind refused to let go of her precious Xerx-niisan for even a second.

She was constantly picturing him standing right beside her, glancing at the scrumptious-looking desserts in front of her over her shoulder. Or him sitting on a table and laughing at the most ridiculous thing ever. Or him bickering with Vincent with an apparent hint of bloodlust behind those sweet smiles of theirs.

Her surroundings felt eerily empty when he wasn't in it.

A child's voice pulled her back from her trance, "Hey, Eques... I mean, Sharon."

She turned to see Lily tugging at her skirt to get her attention.

"Hello, Lily-san," she immediately put on a smile, as any proper lady would to appear polite, "You look very cute today."

"Thanks," Lily looked at her feet like a child found guilty of shattering her mother's favourite vase.

"Is something the matter?"

"Well, not exactly~~" Lily drawled, "I just really~~ wanted to apologise for what I said and did back... when the Hatter... died. It must've scared you, when you were in that state of mind."

"I..."

"I'm sorry! Tell me how to make it up to you, I'll do anything I can~~"

"It's... it's all water under the bridge now," Sharon quickly said, half-genuine, half only wanting to drop the topic, "Besides, you and Bandersnatch protected us afterwards, no? I'd say we are even."

"Eh?" Lily snapped her head up at once, eyes sparkling with joy, "So you'll forgive me?"

"Of course."

"Yay~~! Since you and Reim seem to be really close, I thought we might as well be friends too!" she flashed Sharon an innocent smile.

"Friends... that sounds... very nice," taken aback by the little girl's proposition, she stuttered, but at least she was genuine this time, "I would... love to be your friend too."

"Yay~~~!" Lily jumped to hug her, "Oh, I almost forgot~~" She landed back on her feet and delved into a little pouch she was carrying, "I have to give something to you~~"

"To me?"

"Yup! Lottie found it back then~~" she whipped it out and placed it in Sharon's hands, "Here!"

Sharon's eyes shot open, gasping, "E... E... E...mi...ly..." Her hands trembled violently, dropping Emily on the ground, herself dropping to her knees along with the doll, tears spilling out uncontrollably, blended with screams.

Reim and Ada both rushed to her side, worried, trying their best to calm her down.

"Lily, what did you do?" Lottie and Leo interrogated the little girl.

"Eh...? I... I don't know!" Lily was also freaking out, unable to comprehend Sharon's extreme response.

"No... I..." Sharon defended her, "It was my... fault... When I... saw... Emily... I just..."

She picked up Emily again, held it close to her chest, and continued crying.

At that, Ada also couldn't help but start weeping along.

"Ada-sama..." Vincent placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I... I am sorry... My mind... starts thinking... about Onii-chan and Uncle Oscar again..."

"No fair..." Lily pouted, "I wanna cry too...! You're not... the only ones... who lost people you loved...!"

"Lily..." Lottie embraced the child tenderly.

"Fang~~~~~~~~!" Lily bawled, yanking on Lottie's arms.

"Sharon-sama..." Reim knelt in front of Sharon, not that he knew what to do, he was about as scared as Break had been when Sharon cried.

"Sharon-chan..." Sheryl clearly yearned to take it upon herself to comfort her granddaughter, but Rufus didn't move her wheelchair.

"The grief of the bereaved could only be fathomed by those who bear the same heartache, 'tis best to allow them the liberty to manage the situation by themselves," he said.

Sheryl was about to retort. In her eyes, the scene was full of depressed and confused children, unable to pull themselves together in the midst of woe.

But those very children proved her wrong.

Gilbert trod to Sharon wordlessly and placed a hand on her head.

"Master Gilbert?" Reim questioned.

Gilbert took Emily and strained his voice to sound like how Emily usually sounded, "ShARon, yOU cRyBABy! KeKEkEkE!"

He continued in his normal voice, "It's a lame quip, I know. But I had the feeling that Break would've tried to cheer you up with some distasteful jokes of his if he were here."

More tears trickled down Sharon's cheeks when he said that, but she nodded with certainty.

Gilbert joined his brother and Ada next. "Ada-sama, if Oz were here," he gave Ada a quick embrace, "he would surely allow you to weep on his chest like this."

"And if Oscar-sama were here," Vincent added, stroking Ada's short hair and wiping her tears away tenderly with his thumb, "he would have done this."

Gilbert turned his focus to Vincent.

"I'm fine, nii-san, Noise... Echo did well. I'm proud of her."

"Leo... Master," Gilbert continued.

"I already know what he'd do, Gilbert," Leo gave a small smile and glanced at a book he brought, "He would've punched me playfully and quoted from Holy Knight volume 11, when Edwin taught the readers how to cope with such grief."

Gilbert reciprocated the smile and moved on to Lily, the (physically) youngest of them all. Lottie seemed to be at her wits' end as well, for Lily hadn't had the chance to go on a rampage like this to mourn for Fang before.

"I... don't know much about Fang, Lily, I'm sorry. But..." he scooped her up and placed her on his shoulders, "but I know how much you loved the piggyback rides he gave you."

Lily bawled even louder and bashed him on the head, "Gil, you idiot~~~~! Your piggyback ride is NOWHERE NEAR AS GOOD AS FANG'S! I want Fang's piggyback rides! I WANT FANG TO BE HERE~~~~!"

Lottie couldn't help but let out a whimper at that too and Doug clasped her shoulder in comfort.

"And I'm sure that," Gilbert declared to everyone, "if Stupid Rabbit... Alice were here, she would've offer to bite everyone's cheeks."

Some managed to laugh at that, which proved Gilbert's attempt fairly successful.

"I cannot speak for everyone," he returned Lily to her companions and continued to announce, "I understand that everyone deals with grief differently, and that it may be painful for some to remember the past where your loved ones were by your side, only to be pulled back to the present, where they are not. But for me...

"For me, as painful as it is to remember, these wonderful memories also brought me solace. I had cried like you all, I had screamed like you all, but when I cry and scream, they faces would always come to mind. They are not gone, they are and will always be living here in our hearts, forever." He averted his eyes from everyone, "That is... what I think Oz would've said to cheer everyone up."

"But... But I don't want Fang to be in my mind~~~!" Lily bursted out, "I want him to be HERE!"

Surprisingly, it was Sharon who approached the little girl and hugged her tightly.

"Eques...?" Lily sobbed.

"I... understand you, Lily-san..." Sharon spoke with her still trembling voice, "Break... was like a caring elder brother to me too... just like... Fang-san was to you... And I... I do not think I can bear... with the knowledge... that he can only be... in my mind from now on... either...

"But remember... Fang-san must've... left the stage... while pursuing the path he had believed in," she looked Lily in the eye, her cranberry-coloured one's about as teary as Lily's light blue ones, "If we... halted in our steps now... they would surely be... disappointed... would they not? For they... had created our paths... one way or another..."

The memory of the blade protruding from Fang's back instead of her own, the image of his body crumbling to dust, the terror and the fury and the sorrow all recurred to her now. She leant into Sharon's chest and shrieked madly.

"We must... advance... on their behalf," Sharon wasn't very sure whether she was saying this for herself or Lily anymore, "We must... carry their courage... and their will on our shoulders... and move forward..."

If Break were here, he'd surely have implored them to do so. He'd surely have ushered them on the path to that sunlit finale he never managed to reach.

A pair of arms wrapped around the both of them and caressed their heads softly. It was Reim, dutifully holding back his tears even now.

"That's right," Gilbert nodded in agreement to Sharon's words. He spoke with the decorum befitting a proud (adopted) son of the Nightray House, "We stand here today, thanks to our loved ones who had instilled in us the strength to live. Let us commemorate their courage, perseverance and love; and let us remember their fears and mistakes, so that we learn from them."

Lily looked up at Reim and Sharon, and forced a smile, "Thank... you... I'm happy... to have become friends... with you~~"

Gilbert raised his teacup, "Let us celebrate, today, the wondrous memories they had etched in our hearts, and the lives they had relayed onto us."

"Happy unbirthday!" everyone cheered, on behalf of those who had cheered alongside them the last time.

And the morning sun shone upon the hopeful paths of those who had overcome the tears and would continue to advance on.

---

The End