WATERFALLS COMING OUT YOUR MOUTH

[bubblegum]

DEAR FRIEND as you know,  your flowers are withering
your mother's gone insane, your leaves have drifted away.
but the clouds are clearing up
and i've come reveling, burning incandescently,
like a bastard on the burning sea.

YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER,
BURIED DEEP UNDER THE WATER.

One she'd once called a friend had told her, just after it'd all happened, that the female's ghost lingered. That he could see it, he could hear her. But, he'd lied about what she thought, what she said. Her ghost, however, still followed. And perhaps that, in part, was why Goldenluxury felt how she did. Perhaps there was a feeling attached to her very presence that Goldie did not realize before. She couldn't say she was sorry anymore - it would be pointless to say sorry, for something she could not change, for something that, in the end, was not entirely her doing. Something that her young mind had not been able to foresee, her young mind had not even been able to recall until it was far too late, that her young eyes had to stare at, to smell. And the snake branding still sat within her slit pupils, slithering, writhing, evading her just long enough for her to lose grasp. But still, she made note, still she tried. The least she could do, she'd thought at the time, was live. Now, she's not so sure what she could give to make it right. She doesn't think she can give anything.

Perhaps if she pleaded, the Gods would hear her begging, grant her a wish to do the only thing she believes would set things right: give Guru a second chance at living. But, if they'd not cared to touch upon the subject before, they likely would not listen now. She isn't even so certain that's what her mama wanted. She has no idea what she would want. But, she wishes she could.

And there was no time to wallow in self pity. Though, the feeling, for now, still paralyzes her. Roan's voice reaches out, tells her to look at him, that it wasn't real. But, if he, too, could see her, surely it was real. Beck had not lied about the female's ghost following her. "How can you say -" she breathes out, her gaze now breaking to look at Roan, though the overwhelming guilt in her gaze does not falter, "- that's not real? You see her, too." She whispers desperately, gesturing to the feline. It was true - he saw her too. That meant it was real. They would not share such a vision. It would be too coincidental; Roan knew nothing of her mama, had never seen her. Very little that were still around had.

But it shatters as Aphra walks up, questioning their sights. She falls silent, looking to the white feline for a moment, teeth grit. Then her eyes go slowly back towards Guru, and there she remains still. "M' mama's ghost..." she answers softly. The female would need to listen carefully to hear. "Don't you see?"

And for once, the captain knew not what to do.