Gwen sat in a chair outside of the Sheriff's office with Scott and Isaac as Lydia was inside giving her statement to Parrish and Noah. She rested her head in her hands as her boot tapped on the floor anxiously.
"You okay?" Scott asked, seeing her jittery-ness. She looked over at him, a look of pity on her face.
"You're really asking me that?" She asked sarcastically, but not in a mean way. Scott let out a small sigh as he stared back at the floor.
"I don't know. I guess..." he trailed off and Gwen leaned back into the bench, putting her hand on Scott's leg, causing the alpha to look at her, somewhat surprised she was showing affection.
"I understand what it's like losing someone important to you. Trust me, I've lost nearly everyone I've ever loved because of my immortality. But I promise you, Scott, it won't hurt like this forever. The pain won't ever go away, you'll never forget your love for her, but it'll get easier." Gwen said, reassuringly rubbing his leg with her hand. He couldn't help but smile lightly as his eyes teared up.
"Thanks, Gwen." He said, voice quivering as he struggled to keep himself together. She patted his shoulder, squeezing lovingly.
"Don't thank me, man." She assured him.
Before he could reply back, they heard the door to the Sheriff's office open and she leapt up quickly, taking in Lydia's appearance as the redhead was escorted out. She had tears streaks down her face, her mascara smudged and her lips pouty after crying hard, but Gwen still thought she was the most ethereal woman she'd ever laid eyes on.
"Scott," the Sheriff called the boy's name and he stood up, sighing deeply, "it's your turn." The Sheriff said solemnly and Scott nodded,
"You ready?" Gwen asked and Lydia nodded. The blonde took Lydia's hand and looked back down Isaac who would now alone outside.
"You want us to stay till Scott's done?" Gwen asked and Isaac shook his head.
"No, go ahead. I'll be fine." He said quietly. Gwen knew Isaac was definitely taking this hard so she was apprehensive to leave him.
"I'll stay." She heard someone say from a far. She turned and a few feet away was Chris. He'd just arrived after confirming Allison's identity at the morgue. Gwen nodded and gave him a look as if to say 'how are you?'.
"We'll be fine." Was all Chris said and Gwen took that as her confirmation.
"We'll see you later." Gwen said, departing from the men and leading Lydia from the station.
The vampire opened the door for her friend and closed it once she was inside, rounding the car to get in the driver seat.
She got herself adjusted as she clipped in her seatbelt and looked over at the redhead, opening her mouth to speak but not knowing what to say at first. She went against herself and decided to just close her mouth, putting the car in reverse and preparing to back out.
"Can you take me to your place?" Lydia spoke up, her eyes not leaving the road ahead of them. Gwen stilled at her question and put the car back in park, leaning back and looking at the girl with a quirked brow.
"Are you sure?" Gwen asked, figuring she'd want to be with her mom at a time like this.
"I don't wanna go home. Not right now. All those pictures of Allison in my room, all of our memories.." her voice broke before she could finish and she closed her eyes tight, exhaling deeply as she willed the tears to stop.
"Lydia," Gwen whispered as she took her hand and squeezed it. Lydia let the tears fall when she felt Gwen's hand. She couldn't hold them in anymore.
"I should've known it was gonna be her.." Lydia cried and Gwen felt her body sag as a wave of sorrow hit her at the girl's words. She figured that out of everyone in the pack, Lydia would be blame herself the most and she was right.
"Lydia, you couldn't have known that-"
"Yes, I could've!" Lydia snapped, but game didn't take offense. She just looked at the girl dumbfounded at how she could blame herself, "I've known when someone is gonna die every time. I hear it every time, but I didn't with Allison. I only felt it.. I felt her die and I couldn't- I couldn't.." she broke off into more sobs and Gwen leaned across the center console to hold her close.
"Hey, it's okay. I got you." She said as she rubbed Lydia's hair lightly as she felt the girl cry into her chest. She knew helping the banshee grieve would be long and difficult but she'd be there for every second of it. She'd never leave Lydia.
•••••••••••••••••••••
Stiles sat at the Yukimura's house waiting for his friends to finish up at the Sheriff's station. He sighed deeply as he continued to try and keep himself warm. As the seconds passed, it felt like his body was slowing down and it was becoming harder to stay wide awake.
Noshiko poured him some hot tea to help and handed it to Stiles.
"Here, it'll help calm you, as well." She stated softly, her tone surprising him for she was usually rougher around the edges.
"What is it?" He asked as he took it from her, inspecting the contents inside.
"Tea." She said simply.
"What? Like, magic tea?" He asked and she looked at him exasperatedly.
"No. Chamomile. Drink it." She said sternly and he obeyed.
Mr. Yukimura entered the room, looking at his wife disapprovingly when he saw Stiles on the couch.
"He's not safe here."
"He's not safe anywhere." Noshiko argued back and her husband sighed.
"But Allison killed one of them. Doesn't that mean something? She killed an Oni." Kira reminded.
"Is that even possible?" Mr. Yukimura asked and Noshiko merely shook her head.
"I'm not sure how." She admitted, face puzzled.
"But she did it. She killed one of them.." Kira said and Stiles scoffed.
"Yeah, and then they killed her." He said bitterly. The Yukimura's all put their heads down in sorrow, thinking about the warrior. Kira shook her head in disbelief. She could see it replaying in her head over and over, and yet, it feels like a dream. It just didn't seem real. It all happened so fast.
"Allison's dead. Now, I guess the only good thing is that it looks like I'm dying too." Stiles said as his voice quivered, the weight of the guilt hitting him hard.
Noshiko moved to sit next to Stiles, her eyes looking into his and he felt himself tense at her closeness.
"He made a very powerful move by splitting the two of you." She said.
"So, what's our move?" Kira asked her mother.
"At this point," her father interjected, "you need a divine move."
"What's that?" Stiles asked and Noshiko spoke up.
"In the game of Go, it's what we call a truly inspired or out-of-the-box move. The nogitsun has had sente, the advantage, until this point. What you need is a divine move in order to turn the game around."
"Well, is anyone feeling divinely inspired?" Stiles said sarcastically.
"Mom, you said you trapped it in a jar, right?" Kira asked.
