The Trial of Tears

"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."