The Trial of Tears

While standing next to Heather in the doorway, Bonnie couldn't help but just smile at the sight before her with Lia and Alessa, having been previously worried about her friend's well being but now it appeared things were looking up for her now that Lia was cheering Alessa up in the best way after she had witnessed a traumatic horror earlier in the night. Bonnie's faint smile would turn into grin before suddenly laughing once she heard Alessa's statement about Heather being mean to Clyde, prompting Bonnie to start chuckling aloud while resting her hand on Heather's shoulder just after her own amusing reaction to Alessa's words, cracking up against Heather until tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

"Hehehahaha... She's gotta point ya know? You is mean to 'em!" Bonnie would declare, joking and teasing Heather as Alessa's statement caught her off guard. Bonnie would eventually relax herself however and look at Alessa and Lia while hearing their words, smiling warmly as Lia declared Alessa to be hero. Bonnie felt that those words were indeed true. Without Dante and Alessa, her brother would have bled out alone in the bar until death came to claim him.

"She really is a hero, ain't she? Her and Dee..." Bonnie would whisper to Heather with her hand upon her shoulder, while her head hung down, fighting back a few tears while she forced a smile. "I can't stay in this room anymore... I gotta leave..." Muttered Bonnie almost painfully while looking at Her Brother's body on the bed.

"Wh-I am not!" Heather would let out as Bonnie rested her hand on her shoulder, though she would turn to her and notice the tears forming at the edges of her eyes. "Ah...Bonnie I.." Heather would continue, trying to find the words to say, but even she couldn't help but feel incredibly sad inside.

Hearing Lia's reaction to her touching her ear, Alessa couldn't help but add to her smile, loving the whole thing. As she thanked her for the compliment, Alessa would nod her head, letting go as Lia stood up. "R-really?? I definitely need some of that about now." Alessa would say, seemingly warmed up to the girl just from the simple things that she had done. "Ah. w-well I-" Alessa would let out as Lia softly touched her on the nose, causing her to blush slightly. "Oooh, that would be great!"

"Yeah...they...really are..." Heather would say, nodding her head as she watched Alessa's exchange with Lia. She would hear Bonnie's next words and would turn back to her, blinking a few times before nodding. "I...hear you..Just..Im going to say a bit longer...as long as I can."

"Close them? O-ok." Alessa would say, nodding her head as she shut her eyes tight, anticipation building up in her as to what Lia had for a surprise for her. She would feel something slip on her head, but would keep her eyes shut as she as told. Finally though, as Lia told her to open her eyes, she would slowly, seeing the mirror in front of her giving her view of the rabbit ears on her head. She would gasp and her eyes would widen large as she stared at them, reaching up to touch them as they were on her own head now.

"W-w-wha...How did you??" Alessa would let out as her expression would go from one of shock to a huge smile forming on her face. "Haaah! Th-this is so cool!"

Lia did not let the two girls' palpable sorrow bother her. She knew that feeling, she had been there, and she had seen it before. Lia's goofy demeanor was her defense mechanism, her default state. Very few things penetrated it, and she could not let anything break it here, where a bit of cheer was most needed.

Lia giggled cutely as Alessa was amazed by her gift. "Just a little rabbit trick, cutie." Lia patted her on the head. "Now, you gotta promise me that you'll take good care of them. You took good care of Clyde so this should be a piece of cake." Lia shrugged, "Of course, part of having ears like that is for crazy stuff to happen so don't sweat it too bad if they get beat up." Lia added, trying not to pressure the girl too much. Lia knew full well what all could happen to rabbit ears like that. She had boxes of spares back home just for that reason. "It gives them character. Makes them your own!" Lia wanted to know a bit more about how Alessa found Clyde. She must have known something that could give a clue... But, given Alessa's state, Lia decided that she would rather not force a sheltered girl like Alessa to relive something like that. There HAD to be better ways to solve this case.

"Oh, and you also hafta promise you will try to smile no matter what." Lia winked at Alessa, "You're the hero and you have the ears, so you have the responsibility to spread happiness. C'mon, show me your best smile!"

"Ooohh.." Alessa would let out at Lia's words before she would pat her head. She was almost entranced by it all, not being able to prevent herself from playing with the ears that were on her head every once in a while, but paying attention to all that Lia was saying. "O-of course! I'll take real good care of them!" Alessa would say before nodding at her next words, telling her not to get worried if they do end up getting beat up. Her comments about it giving them character would cause her to give a serious nod, almost like she was listening to a mission briefing before a small pep talk. Her mind was luckily straying away from the traumatic thoughts by the second as Lia was treating her like she was.

As Lia told her to promise to always smile no matter what, Alessa would blink a couple times before nodding her head. "Ok! I will!" Alessa would let out, almost proud of herself as she heard Lia tell her to give her one right there. Doing as she was told, a big genuine smile would form on Alessa's face, having gotten sucked up into the moment and becoming quite happy due to the situation.

Lia grinned along with Alessa, "Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. That's the ticket!" Lia pulled in Alessa and gave her a quick hug. "Excellent, it's like you're a pro. How much practice do you get smiling?" Lia pointed over to Heather, "Be sure to show her those pearly whites too, now."

Seeing that her friend Alessa was now in brighter spirits than ever thanks to Lia Cross. Bonnie would begin to smile brightly once she saw Alessa smiling as well, chuckling at the ears she wore, but was none the less happy that Alessa was as well. The only person left to be happy was Heather, whom Lia would address to smile, prompting Bonnie to lightly jab her elbow into Heather's arm, looking at her with a smile as if to tell her to smile as well.

"I thank you... For all you and Dr. Matu are doing... Going to do... Means a lot to me..." Bonnie would say to Lia, turning to Chesna as she did so before giving Heather a sudden hug. "You take care of yourself kid... I'm going back to that bar where the shootin' was before I head on over to Tokyo... Don't you worry bout lil' ol' me though..." Bonnie would say within the hug, already making plans for her to head over to the crime scene before going to Tokyo and deliver some well needed street justice to The Gatt Attack, alone if she needed to be, she wasn't about to ask Heather to leave Clyde on this night.