ROSE & OPEN TO MULTIPLES (ooc: just post whichever one you want to throw at her!)
The past several days had been rough. Rose had been lucky in the sense that she hadn't lost anyone really important to her. She'd known some of the people who had died, of course, but the most important people in her life were still here. They were still alive. That didn't mean she wasn't sad about what had happened. Watching Jim and Regina and her other friends lost people they cared about, watching them lose their homes and their livelihood, was hard. Watching all of the people who were now homeless and all of the destruction around them wasn't easy and neither was that sense of helplessness that still threatened to overpower her if she stopped moving long enough to let it. She'd kept busy, helping where and however she could. Sometimes, that meant something as simple as keeping Roland and Xavier for a few hours so that Robin and Regina could have their time alone. To grieve. To figure out how they were going to get past this. Today, it meant having this party. Regina had been planning it for over a month and Roland had been really excited about the fireworks. Rose knew some people didn't agree, but she and Regina had decided it was important to do this. To show the boys that it was important to celebrate the good in life, even when things like this happened. Maybe especially when things like this happened.
It reminded Rose of what Mason had said after the Badica massacre. She hadn't understood how people could be so excited about the ski trip when it was born out of such a tragedy and he'd reminded her that they were still alive, that it was important for them to keep living. It was ironic that just a week later, it was Mason who was dead, but no matter how hard she'd found it to take his advice after that tragedy, she knew he was right. She couldn't help thinking that if Mason was here now, he'd approve of this. The thought of him made her smile and she wondered if he would ever show up here. It could happen, she guessed. She hoped it would. Even after all this time, she missed him.
Pushing her somber thoughts aside for now, Rose picked up a tray of vegetables and carried it over to the table that was housing all of the food. She glanced around the room and decided she was happy with the way everything looked. She and Regina didn't expect a big turnout, but that was okay. They'd be happy for a quieter celebration with those who did decide to be here. Hell, they'd have been happy if it was just their motley crew of what had become family for Rose or even just Roland clapping in delight at the light show later on. That's what they would focus on today, anyway. Tomorrow, they'd be right back to trying to help figure out how to rebuild what they'd lost and how to help the town move on from the tragedy, too, but today they were going to focus on the good. Or at least they were going to try.