You can't help but grin.

You try not to laugh, but it's useless. Wicked and ugly, a haughty huff as you look at your handiwork. His ugly face is just a bit uglier now, blood trailing down his face from a broken nose.

Yeah, you deserve all that and more, you fugly little--

You're tempted to sit and gloat, spill all the things you wish you could do to him now he's been caught. But you're getting ahead of yourself. You're not free yet, the proof's not there. You're still a fugitive on this boat.

And besides, hasn't the camellia turned over a new leaf?

You'll brew a fine tea later, steep all your resentment and hatred into it. For now, there's still business to attend to. You look down at the key card in your hands, freedom lying in wait. At least, if your instincts are to be believed...

No time like now for your faith to waver, huh?

"You're a fool, Tohru, and you always have been. To think that I'd resort to... to cyanide, of all things... you can test for that shit, idiot!"

That's all you have to say for yourself. It's your pride he wounded, most of all. Not the fact that he attempted to frame you for murder. That, you don't care much about, strange to say.

Serves your former partner right. That he was this stupid, this incompetent. You remember that talk you got from your superior, the moment you and Tohru joined the Rockets together. If you murder someone, the law comes down hard. So you don't kill. Never kill. Just hurt people, threaten them, blackmail them. Use as much force as necessary, but never, ever kill them, unless it's the only option. And if you do, make sure they're never found.

They were on a boat! The perfect way to dispose of the body was right there!

But he broke that rule, and now he was gonna pay for it for the rest of his sorry life.

"I've turned over a new leaf, so you won't see me join you in prison. I'll see you in hell, or whatever comes after, Tohru."

That's as much of a goodbye as he's gonna get. For all your history, there should be more to say. But you don't wanna deal with this anymore. He has his reasons to hate you and he always will, but that's the life he signed up for. There's no remorse in a pit of vipers. You can't look back at what you did to survive, or you'd never be able to face the future. The past is dead and gone, only the future's left.

He's proof of that.

You take your leave, so Navy can rough him up as much as he wants. You know he was holding himself back because you were there. He's not crooked, but he's got principles, and framing a young girl with the rest of her life ahead of her for murder, that's pretty fucking low. Even for a Rocket.

Instead, you just make your way to the cabin, sort through everything with a pair of gloves on. The Rotom in your hand has seen some things, but the contraband here's pretty terrible, even for your standards. You wonder just how many things this ghost in the machine has seen that it wishes it could forget.

You and it both.

Finally, you send the pics and get out of there. Flag down the security officer staggering out of the restroom, pale and disheveled.

"Dunno what was in the coffee, but it's got a kick, missy!"

You grimace, and show him the pics.

Explain the situation. Turn yourself in for more questioning. Navy will be upset you're in cuffs again, no doubt. But it's temporary, while they sort out everything. There's a lot to explain here.

Thankfully, there's all the time in the world for them to sort it out on the open sea.

"I told you before, Michael Navidson."

You catch him at a private moment somewhere along the way, when everyone else is out of earshot. When it's just you and your savior. The only person on this boat besides you who believed in second chances, who believed you when you said it wasn't you.

"Just cause I didn't do it, it doesn't mean I'm innocent."

A smile accompanies that. Not a smirk of hatred or a laugh filled with malice, but the first authentic smile in years. You had thought it was over, your life ended before it could begin. As soon as you got a ticket out of that place, framed on a murder charge.

Now, though... what comes after?

You never thought you'd get that far.

You look down at his open hand.

That's such a complicated question.

Everything he's taken on since he met you, all the glances that he's made toward you, all the danger he's put himself in... it's really frustrating to sort that all out.

You wish it was easier, but it never is. These things always have a tendency to tie themselves in knots like a bunch of snakes slithering all over one another.

It wasn't any easier back in Kanto, but at least there wasn't the expectation that she'd act like anything more than a beast. That somehow made everything less complicated back then.

But now, this girl named Tsubaki, you're supposed to act like her. You have a name. You have a line you're not meant to cross. Never, ever again. And now there's this guy that you can't just run off, because he's given you your only chance. He's your last ticket to a normal life.

He's even somehow arranged a scenario where he's living with you, telling you what to do. He's a real scumbag, through and through. A scumbag who just wants the best for someone who's looking for a second chance...

"Yeah? And if I refuse, what'll you do?"

It's a barb. Like a thorny rose.

You can't help but smile, even as you say that. At the man standing there, giving you your freedom at last.

You and he both know that's not an option for you. He knows you're in his debt. And he's leveraging that for everything it's worth, isn't he?

You reach out and take his hand.

It's calloused, but hard, firm. Warm. Comforting, the way he squeezes so gently. It's clear that he cares a whole lot.

He's really just a fly reaching for a taste of honey in a pitcher plant, isn't he?

"Guess I don't really have a choice, do I?"

It's said as a joke, but it's not wrong, either.

He's put himself in a position you can't really refuse. Nobody's ever done this much for you in your entire life. Even if they had, you aren't sure you'd care til now. But considering what he's done for your sake, at a time you needed someone the most...

"Gonna say it just once, so... don't make me repeat it!"

It's so sappy it makes you wanna puke. But you choke through the words regardless.

"This'll be a debt I keep, sign it in blood if I gotta... But I owe you everything, Navy. My life, my future. It's in your hands... treat it gently."

He already knows it, but to hear it is different. You and him are entwined now, inseparably. He has to know, from your lips directly, just how much weight this holds.

Before he runs off like a wild animal, abandons caring for this flower in bloom, and gets himself killed.