In recent weeks, the mornings had become quieter without Jo's joyful spirit jumping around. However, this morning felt eerily quiet. As Robin cracked eggs into the pan, the sizzle of the yolk as it hit the pan almost sounded like music, the only noise he had heard other than his own voice since Otto had left.

A small sneeze sounded at his feet, causing Robin to jump. Cookie sat with her small tail wagging, silently asking for some breakfast as well.

Robin let out a small chuckle, carefully scooping out a small bit of egg to give to the dog. He began to feel a little less alone in the small dog's presence.

"Careful, Cookie. It's hot."

Cookie only sneezed in response.

Soft footsteps sounded on the stairway, diverting both of their attention. Holly came down the stairs with tousled hair and her green velvet nightgown, halting at the bottom of the stairs before slowly walking towards the mirror near the front door.

Robin quickly hurried after her, haphazardly dumping the cooked eggs onto a plate.

As he turned the corner to the hall, he noticed Holly's face once again twisted in confusion as she squinted at her reflection in the mirror.

"What's the matter, Holly?" Robin asked, suspicious about this sudden behavior, carefully walking to stand beside her and look into the mirror as well.

A sudden chill ran through Robin's spine at what he saw in the mirror's reflection.

While the woman beside Robin looked into the mirror with a face clouded, her gray eyes slightly narrowed in confusion, the reflected Holly stared back with her green eyes wide in horror, a look of sorrowful fear contorting her face.

Robin swallowed nervously.

"W-What is that-" he mumbled, frightened by what he was seeing in the mirror, as if the reflection might move, similar to what he saw in the forest with Margo and Bert. Holly's grayed squint only deepened, her reflection mimicking her actions as a normal reflection would. Carefully, Holly's fingers ran over her reflection, smudging the glass over the eyes and mouth before carefully touching her own.

"D-Don't worry, Holly, we are going to set you free, I just—"

She did the same thing again, smudging her cheeks and nose this time, blurring her entire face, but she still touched her own skin as well, as if in confusion.

"Umm..." Robin hummed as he tilted his head, carefully analyzing her movements, attempting to decipher the meaning behind her actions. She had been given a command to wait at Sunshine Acres, essentially living out her everyday life in a haze until called upon by Hank. 

"You don't have your makeup on today," he suggested, throwing out ideas to see if he might get a hint from her reaction.

It seemed he guessed correctly, as at his words, the rubbing stopped.

"Would you like me to..." Robin began, hesitating in trying to figure out how to handle the situation, "...try and do it for you?"

Holly turned and looked at him, and similar to when he had told her to dry off, she seemed to understand his words. A slight smirk appeared on her face as she turned back to continue to stare into the mirror.

"I can try for you... Um, I've never really done makeup before, but I'll try, if it is bothering you," Robin offered, making his way to the staircase, looking back to see her reaction as he slowly started up the stairs. To his surprise, she began to follow, trailing behind him as he led her up the stairs.

As they entered Holly's room, Holly pushed past him and sat at her messy vanity, blankly staring once again at her horrified expression in the mirror.

"Okay," Robin mumbled nervously, hesitating in the doorway, "I am not sure how exactly you do it, Holly, but I'll try my best."

Robin followed after her and carefully searched the small table filled with vials and powders. He didn't know much about makeup, except for when he had watched his mother apply it when he was a child. However, his mother did not use makeup in the same way Holly did. His mother used it to conceal minor imperfections, while Holly seemed to use it to become a version of herself she wanted to display to the world.

 Still, Robin racked his brain to remember all the little things his mother had done as he analyzed the equipment lying before him, spotting a large, light-colored liquid and a small puff that appeared to have some of the liquid on it. His mother had something similar, something she would pat all over her face. 

Carefully taking the liquid from the vial and gently patting it in with the puff onto Holly's face, Robin smiled as Holly slowly closed her eyes at the sensation. She began to lean into his touch, making his movements slow as he savored the moment. With her eyes closed, he could almost convince himself she was herself again. As he gazed down at her peaceful smile, Robin began to feel confident he could make her look the way she wanted. After all, he had silently been studying her face for months.

The unnatural shiny pink on her cheeks and nose, which matched the shiny pink color she put on her eyelids, brought out the green of her eyes. Her black lashes, which almost seemed impossibly long whenever they blinked up at him, or were clumped together with her tears. The dark, thick eyebrows that always raised in amusement as a warning sign that she was about to tease him.

As Robin picked up the vials and powders on the table before him, he felt like he was painting a portrait of the woman he loved—recalling and recreating her face, desperately attempting to bring that woman back, to see her once again, despite the fact the woman he wanted to see was sitting right in front of him.

As he felt satisfied with his efforts, Robin hesitantly stepped to the side so Holly could view her reflection.

Holly's blank gaze quickly fell onto her reflection in the mirror, and while her reflection still held the look of fear and sadness, the Holly that sat beside Robin smiled at herself.

Robin's heart sped as her grin formed, some of herself beginning to return to her eyes. The gray slowly gaining a greenish hue.

 When Holly turned to look up at him, her eyes quickly became filled with sorrow again. Her eyes darting between his, as another tear ran down her face, her hand slowly reached for his. 

Robin let out a quick breath as his heart leaped in hope, grabbing her hand as he fell to his knees before her, using both of his hands to grasp her outstretched hand, and hold it against his face.

"Holly, please, can you see me? Show me you can. Please. Can you hear me?"

Holly's gaze fell onto their hands, and her face quickly shifted back into that of a blank shell of herself. Her gray eyes stared at their intertwined hands emotionlessly as she attempted to retract her hand from his, causing Robin to grip onto it tighter.

Tears began to blur Robin's vision, and he swallowed the hurt at losing her again, as he carefully wiped the tears away with his sleeve. After a moment, he gave her a small smile and helped her up from her seat.

"Let's go get you some breakfast, pretty girl."