The words sunk into her, almost quieting her a bit, and leaving her weak in Sakura’s arms, sniffling and crying silently rather then shaking with sobs. No one had ever said that to her in her entire life. She had needed to hear it from someone – someone who meant it, someone who hadn’t done anything to prove that she didn’t care. Sakura had always tried to get in and Asuka had always pushed her away, but at that moment, she had let her in completely and made it clear just how important her friendship was to her.
She sighed some, her eyes closing. She was still broken, still weak, and she knew that it would take a while for her to be better. Anything painful could remind her of it, send her into another loop – though not nearly as bad as it had just been – but for now, she was alright. For now she was quiet and seemingly contented by being close to someone who had said the three words she had longed to hear for years.
“Thank you, Sakura…” she muttered, not even bothering to add honorifics onto it, feeling too tired and too close to her at the moment to notice or care. She stayed still for quite a few moments, eventually letting her hands loosen from their grip on her clothes and letting them fall to her sides weakly. She pulled away eventually, staring into space so she wouldn’t have to look at her, too vulnerable to let herself do that right then and there.
“I… I’m tired… I think… I think I’m going to go to sleep…” She muttered, standing slowly and waiting to make sure her legs were steady enough to hold herself up this time. Her legs less wobbly now, she managed to make it across the floor and to her bed, crawling on to it and curling up in a small ball, not even pulling the covers over herself. “I’ll see you when I wake up.”