Death Defiant [Rin]

Care. Concern. Worry. Empathy. A genuine sense of I want to help you. These were things that, in one way or another, Jaz had strayed away from. It hadn't even occurred to her how far she had wandered away from these things that were once what defined her. But when she met Rin, somebody who personified these terms even if she hadn't realized it herself, the fair haired lioness had begrudgingly realized exactly how jaded her mind had become. Selfish. Prideful. That was who Jasmine was. She didn't want to let people see her weak. To those she cared for the most, she wanted to be a paragon of self-reliance. A symbol to show them that it was possible to soldier through anything so long as you kept going.

But, unfortunately for her, things were never that easy. 

Despite how strong she was, too often did Jasmine have to face the fact that, at the end of the day, she was still only human. While she could take the pain, she still suffered just as much as anybody else. If you took her personality and beliefs into consideration, it could be argued that she felt even more things than the average person; things that put an unnecessarily large strain on her mind. And just like any other person, she would eventually break. The seemingly impenetrable walls that she put between herself and others would eventually crack, cave and shatter. But that wasn't the worst part. At least in her mind, it wasn't. At her lowest, Jaz could become almost manic in the way she tried to hide her frustration, pushing away the people who would otherwise want to care for her. Exhibit A: Rinkusu Kurama. The sweetest girl you would ever meet, forced to suffer through Jasmine's self-righteous attempts at fighting her demons by herself. 

As the fiery lioness listened to her roommate speak, her words felt like searing hot knives slowly peeling away at her flesh. What she was saying made perfect sense and it made her realize exactly where she had gone wrong. The idea of burdening other people with her own issues and coming across as weak bothered her ever still, but... how bad could it really be? To go to someone, to lean on them when times would become too hard to shoulder on your own? Was asking for help truly a bad thing? Or could she... try to trust? She didn't know. The answer to that question felt so, so far away. But, at the very least... Jaz thought that she owed it to Rin to be open with her. With her and her alone. Maybe she could eventually open up to others. It was a very big maybe. But, for now, this would have to do. Baby steps, as Michael would say. God, she missed him and his dumbass grin.

A soft sigh left Jasmine's lips as she took Rin's hand and slowly stood up with the girl's help, groaning as her muscles screamed for mercy after their previous shenanigans. Dusting herself off, the blonde sunk into one hip as she stared off into the distance, pondering over Rin's words. Yeah... she could try, couldn't she? Opening herself up was something she feared; too often had she been hurt to the point of breaking. But... that was life, wasn't it? You hurt. You cry. You heal. You learn. It was a process that made you grow. Avoiding that wasn't going to help anybody. Not her. And especially not her friends.

Smiling, Jaz turned over her shoulder, glancing at the raven-haired girl through eyes that showed nothing but gratitude and appreciation.

"Yeah... let's go home."

WC: 602