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|•You never know what you have until you lose it•|
Strawberry jam, that was all he could remember from the incident, he had been too weak to stop the corruption from taking over his mind and it ended up hurting others, especially him.
Wind Archer Cookie was walking through the Millennial Tree forest, replaying the scene over and over again in his mind, he never cared that much about Fire Spirit Cookie but... Now he couldn't get him off his mind, he didn't knew why and it was eating him up inside.
He tried to concentrate on his duties, but the thoughts of what he did were coming back to him as much as he wanted to forget. Sure, it wasn't entirely his fault, he had been controlled to attack everything he saw, but getting corrupted was his fault, there was no excuse for that.
He kept walking, the feeling of the strawberry jam and the wince of pain of the other were clear as water, as if it was happening now, except it happened a few days ago. The guilt was eating him up from the inside, so he decided to sit by a tree so he could get a chance to get a break and clear his mind.
He sat in silence for a while, silently missing Fire Spirit Cookie coming to annoy him at the forest, he hated it then but... now he missed it greatly, he slowly realized that he always had this feelings for him, he just never payed attention to it.
He sighed, leaning against the tree while looking up at the sky, the only things he could hear were the sweet chirping of the birds and the bothersome self-depricating thoughts that came onto his mind. He was lost in thought, until a calm voice snapped him out of it, he moved his gaze to look at the cookie that was now standing beside him.
"What a beautiful day it is" The cookie, which was Millennial Tree Cookie, said "What's the matter, Wind Archer Cookie? What is the reason for your tears?" He asked, looking down at him.
Hearing that, Wind Archer Cookie just realized that he was tearing up a bit, some small tears rolled down his cheeks and fell to the ground.
"Guilt" Wind Archer Cookie answered bluntly
"Ah, I see... And what is the reason for this guilt? if I may ask"
"Do you remember what happened when that cookie corrupted me? That" He answered, wiping down his small tears.
"I see, I see" Millennial Tree Cookie said "I will not stop you from crying, my dear guardian, but just know that what happened was never your fault" He said softly, gently placing a hand on Wind Archer Cookie's head.
Wind Archer Cookie looked at him, his face showed no expression as always, but his teary eyes showed gratefulness for the small moment of comfort.
"Well, don't let me bother you, I'll go now" Millennial Tree Cookie said as he got ready to leave "Goodbye, my dear guardian, don't let the guilt consume you. It's good to cry and vent out your feelings, but nothing is good in big amounts" He said, giving Wind Archer Cookie a small smile and leaving as quick as he came.
Wind Archer Cookie gave him a small nod and sighed, looking down at the ground. The accident crossed his mind again, he wanted to go back in time and prevent it, but he knew it was impossible, as much as he wanted to.
It took him too long to figure it out, but he realized he reciprocated Fire Spirit Cookie's feelings very well. It was late, it was too late, but he repeated the words Fire Spirit Cookie always said to him, the three simple words he took too long to say.
"I love you."