017: Vengeance

"You okay, Red?" Boxer looked down to her and lightly nudged her with his knee. She was sitting on the steps of their new home with her chin in her hands. She sighed.

"I always sang about going to The Country," she said quietly. "I guess I just never expected I'd be getting here so soon." Boxer took a seat next to her and looked at her with a hint of sadness in his eyes. She straightened and began to wring her hands in her lap, not making eye contact. "Don't get me wrong, I love being here with you, and I don't regret my decision at all. It's just…"

She trailed off, and he took one of her hands in his. "You're thinking about what could have been, right?"

She sighed. "I can't help it."

"I hear you. Every time I even think about those Camerata bastards I just—" Red brought a hand to his cheek and smiled softly.

"I know. I understand. But we can't stew over it. There's no need getting vengeance now that we're, well… here." She smiled softly. "Actually, I'm a little surprised we haven't seen them around. Hope they're not mad enough to come looking for us." They both chuckled.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about—" Boxer cut himself short as something caught his eye in the distance. "No way." His voice was much smaller than it had been.

Red turned her head and laid eyes on the last person she expected to see: Asher Kendrell. Reluctantly, Boxer came to a stand, and Red followed suit. When Asher finally made it to the house, he stopped just a few feet short of the porch.

He glared at the pair with fire in his eyes unmatched by the flames of a devil. Boxer clenched his fists at his side. "What are you doing here?" was all he could say. He was surely here to exact revenge of some sort.

Asher's poisonous glare remained for another beat, and just like that, it was gone, and he opened his mouth to respond. "On behalf of myself and the rest of the Camerata, I would like to… deeply apologize."

Boxer's mind was reeling. Before he could come close to forging a reply, Red came to the rescue. "You… You're sorry?"

Asher sighed. "We… had our plans. At the time, I firmly stood by them. Maybe things would have been better if executed properly—" He stopped briefly when Boxer scoffed. "But make no mistake, Red. We are truly remorseful."

Red closed her eyes in thought.

"Oh?" Boxer started. "I take it the other three have been immobilized by guilt then, seeing as they couldn't make it here."

"Boxer," Red scolded.

Without missing a step, Asher said, "The others don't know that I am here. Not even Grant." Boxer's jaw twitched at hearing the name of the man who killed him.

"Then what are you even doing here?"

Asher held his arms out at his sides. "Apologizing. Obviously."

Boxer nearly growled when Red cut in. "Thank you, Asher."

"What?" The word slipped from both of the men's mouths.

She offered a completely genuine smile. "Thank you. Really. I know this isn't easy for any of us. We all lost."

Asher's lips twitched upward to smile somberly. He bowed his head, and left without another word.

When he was gone at last, the couple went inside their house. "Red, why did you do that?"

"Why did I what? Accept his apology?"

"Yeah. What he did to us, Red, what he did to Cloudbank—"

"I don't think anything is unforgivable. Yes, what they did was horrible. But we can't just live here in anger forever. It's not fair to them, or to the memory of Cloudbank."

It was Boxer's turn to sigh. "That is so you."

She winked at him and he grinned. "You just hate when I'm right!"

"Which is always."

She rolled her eyes playfully and reached up to kiss him. "I know."

A/N: Jesus, I did not intend to leave this story for like two years. My inspiration regarding this game just sank months after beating it. No new content, ya know? If you're reading this, thanks for sticking around!