Past pastel bricks and colorful figures, a happy house could be seen nestled within green hills. Here Lucy could be found lounging in her little yellow house. Her cute, yellow bricked house that her special best fried built for the three of them. She ought to give Emmet her compliments and praise because she wasn't able to see all the work he had done before. The furniture was clean, free of sun-bleach and decay. He must have refurbished them or completely rebuild them. The floor planning was simple but efficient, something that the construction worker was no doubt proud of making himself. Why he indulged himself to a toaster room is still a curiosity for her, but she's the last person to question his choices.

The fiasco with the Systarians is now settled, so the alien invaders are now instead neighbors. Things were looking bright, but there was still a lot of work to be done for the future. Years of battle have torn up the landscape into barren desert, the ruins of Bricksburg no more than shattered glass and hot metal. A cruel reminder of a simpler time before. A simpler time, with simple problems and simple lives. Simple people who are wholly unprepared for the war approaching so soon after peace was achieved. Something that she herself was foolish to believe would last. Her entire life was a struggle, lies after lies as she achieved supposed happiness only to-

"Lucy! Could you grab me a towel?!"

Oops, she was brooding.

Brushing back her now blue and pink hair, Lucy got up to assist her roommate. Emmet had been working with his fellow construction crew in cleanup and supply gathering back in the city. Though in shambles the basic structures were still intact, leaving behind a perfect blueprint for the builders to follow. The new city will be much larger of course, but it currently still holds many hazards that most builders aren't prepared for. Emmet had taken part in leading his old crewmen to help out, and had even gathered new workers to speed up the process.

Lucy knows fully well that she was selfish to admit that she would have rather him stayed silent. Just smiled on, or maybe whisper his idea to her or himself as someone else took charge. Not that she wasn't happy for him! Not that she isn't happy to see others finally see Emmet as the amazing person that he is, but…

She shook off the thought. Now at the laundry room she went in and picked up a fresh towel. Her, Emmet and Unikitty all take part in the house's upkeep, yet it seems that Emmet isn't too fond of laundry. He'll gather and sort the clothes, separate them by fabric, color, and delicates sure, but he recently tends to forget to dry them afterwards. Odd, considering he must have cleaned his own clothes before and had long since created a system to follow. Well, it wasn't as if wet clothes were anything to throw a huge hoopla over.

Lucy had just arrived when Emmet called out again.

"Yeah Ems," she answered, "I got it right here."

He gave out his thanks and threw out an arm. She chuckled at seeing him keeping modest. The steam flew out the slight opening in the door. She couldn't see anything past his shoulder. She took a moment to appreciate the bare skin before her. Emmet was hardly seen without his blue collar, even with the heat Lucy rarely saw him change into anything other than his safety orange. Even his sleepwear consisted of long sleeves!

His hands were marred with hard labor, calluses that had existed long before he had met her. Some smaller scars scattered across the entirety of his arm, faint, hardly noticeable if it weren't for Emmet's lack of sun-touch. She was surprised at seeing light brown hairs unabashedly covering his arm, her special friend wasn't one to sport body hair in massive amounts but she supposed she shouldn't be surprised. There was even an interesting time when he lost a razor and couldn't find a replacement, for a whole week he had…

"Lucy?"

"Right, sorry-"

"Everything okay?"

Leave it to Emmet to be concerned about her even when he's soaked. She had to smile. She lifted her eyes.

"Yeah, everything's good, just a lot on my mind-"

There she saw it. A scar. A massive scar curving down on his deltoid. His arm shifted before her eyes. Dark strands scattered across, muscles and veins grew more defined, his hand was coming towards her face-!

She grabbed his wrist then yanked it down so she could see his shoulder better. She dropped the towel. She ran a finger against the damaged skin. She didn't hear Emmet's surprised yelp.

"Where did you get this?"

"Uh…what?..."

"WHEN did you get this?"

"Is now really a good time?"

"Emmet."

A brief moment passed, then he poked half of his face out to look at her. It didn't help. She could see his hair, dark and messy. She bit her lip. He analyzed her, gray eyes crossed her face and his brows furrowed. He didn't try to break out of her hold but Lucy kept her body tense and ready. She wasn't about to be caught off guard.

"You're taking about my shoulder right?" He spoke softly. "Lucy, I got this back when I was still building the house. I needed more glass and since I wanted this to be a secret I went to the city to find some. Normally I'd ask Unikitty to gather parts for me since you guys never liked the idea of me going out there, but, I didn't need a whole lot so I figured I could just run by and get some myself. Not really the first time I went in but anyway! I built a motorized bike -not a motorcycle-, didn't want the noise to wake anyone up, and I went on my way."

He was calming her down. As he rambled she took in his concern, his flushed face, a slight tapping from his other hand on the door. He was acting like Emmet, and Lucy felt so stupid.

"…And I might have made the mistake of not double checking for shards in my gloves so when I tried to brush off some dirt-"

"I'm sorry."

"What? Why? You were asleep, I made sure before I left."

"No, I…"

How do I tell him? How can I share to him that he seemed so much like- so different just now? How's he's been different lately? Confident and surer, able-bodied and mind, how could she say anything without sounding like such a horrible person!?

She ends up not saying anything. Instead she fiddles with his fingers and presses his knuckles against her cheek. He allows her this, sweet boy, and doesn't move until she opened up her eyes again.

"Lucy, why don't you wait upstairs? I'll be out in a minute and then I'll come straight to you. Is that okay?"

She nods. Emmet gently picks up the towel, and closes the door. She stood there for a second, listening to him scrubbing. A blink and she makes her way up to bed. She passes a brief glance towards the cat room and thanks the Man Upstairs Unikitty opted to venture out for the day.

Their room is a basic model, a large bed with nightstands beside it, a closet, and a dresser on the opposite wall. Despite all this, Emmet made sure to place as much "personality" within it to help it feel more like home. Half a dozen pillows littered the bed, all in various shapes and sizes. Most of the drawers were hers, but Emmet had made extra certain to plaster colored contact paper so they know who's who. They both shared the closet, orange and black hangers holding hoodies and vest as steel-toed boots lined the floor. Miscellaneous storage boxes housed some smaller trinkets and memoirs neither of them felt needed to be on display, so are kept in far corners nor placed on the upper shelf.

Much of the space was not properly in use, both friends having gone used to reusing limited cloths during hard times. The apocalypse did apparently affect everyone, just in different ways. Emmet may have appeared the least changed compared to everyone around him, but even he wasn't as sheltered like we believed him to be. He gave away plenty of his own old cloths for others, he wore the same shoes until they finally fell apart, he made sure to keep around safety equipment, he made sure to fully stock his first aid kit, heck, she's witnessed him tending to small wounds in the medic tents from time to time. She knew this and more.

And she still had the nerve to criticize him so harshly on changing with the times! Little did she realize that the innocent and kind man she grew feelings for was already changing? How similar is he now to the Emmet she first saw? The Emmet who had no clue of his own value or the importance of the relic stuck to his person? How far along was he already?

With three vests to his name, the dark blue glared harshly behind the orange. Why he decided to keep it she didn't know, but she desperately wanted to. She felt she didn't have the right to ask. Just touching it felt wrong, but it looked worse hanging so close to Emmet's safe color.

It was sturdy, thick to offer protection. An embroidered R was stamped across the left strap. The pockets were huge and sealed with Velcro. It was a lot cleaner than his, fresh and ready to be put to the test. She couldn't stand holding it, but throwing it away seemed wrong. The alternative was to lay it on the bed and leaving it. Sitting on the opposite end, she took a purple pillow and hugged it.

Lucy could hear Emmet coming up the stairs. He knocked gently then opened the door, slowly as not to unsettle her further. He wore his casual clothes, a very much worn pair of denim jeans and his collared blue shirt. He even left his buttons undone in his rush to see me, leaving his white tank more exposed than normal. By all means he looked soft, as he should be, right down to his gray, fuzzy socks. His hair ruined the image for her. Apparently another chore he forewent in his hurry was combing his hair. Chestnut hair was replaced with mahogany brown, due to moisture she reminds herself. Careless scrubbing left his hair layering down, only taking effort in brushing away his bangs. She vaguely recalls him stating earlier today that he needed a haircut, something she wished he had done prior as she sees typically neat strands brush passed his ear.

He looks so much like him. It's as if the three of them were back in Undar. Lucy nearly expected to see him peer over Emmet's shoulder with a wicked glare for her.

"Lucy. I'm going to enter, is it okay?"

He was such a sweetheart. What did she ever do to deserve such a considerate guy? Stupid head with stupid thoughts thinking stupid things!

She nodded.

Emmet toed slowly closer. Stupid brain, he's not sizing her up, he's not planning an attack. He paused after each step, making sure to await approval before taking another one. When he's close enough he sits down on the edge, partially blocking the blue vest from her view.

He doesn't make her say anything.

One look in those soft, gray eyes and she clings on to him.

It feels horrible and raw. Her instincts that she was so proud of have worked against her, viewing her most special friend as an enemy. A threat to be wary of. He pulled her up closer and then held, rocking her. Not too tight, not too firm, just right.

She nuzzles against his chest. Her head makes another stupid comparison, but she manages to hold it away. He manages to hold it at bay, with his warm breath, with his caring arms. He doesn't make her say anything.

Yet he deserves to hear her words.

"I'm sorry. It's nothing. Just my head being an idiot."

"You're not an idiot Lucy."

"Yes I am! Just- I… I don't…"

Just say it. You need to tell him. He needs to hear it. JUST SAY IT! Say something at least!

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made you feel like you had to change yourself. I'm sorry to have hurt you like that. I'm so sorry for ever even wanting you to be different."

There's more, so much more she wants to say. How she's ashamed to ever think so little of him, how she always enjoyed him brightening her years, and how she's scared about how much he cares for her, trust her, takes her words at face value. Until recently she never knew the extent of her power over him. Little does she know about his hold over her as well. Of course, he would never abuse it, not like she did.

She can't explain this aloud, the words can't seem to form in time. The lines seem sloppy and clumsy, so she only repeats a mantra of apologies to him.

And like the amazing, spectacular, wonderful person he is, he manages to understand what she wants to say.

"I'm scared of becoming him too. I can't imagine ever wanting to hurt anyone, especially you."

Rex was too fresh of a wound. Of course it affected him too, probably more so. He didn't share Rex's identity with us yet, but this won't be something she'll push for. He'll no doubt share this revelation with the others, or at least share about his experience with him.

Later, thoughts for later. Right now, she wants to enjoy this.

Hours pass, Unikitty will check in and find the two of them asleep. The two special friends curled in on each other, away from the end where a blue vest lies.

The Lego Movie belongs to Warner Brothers.