Just woke up. Had an idea for some angst. Enjoy.

(Time's POV)

—

As I walked onto the porch of Sabre's house, I'm greeted by three of the butterflies. They flutter around me excitedly, and one even drops a flower into my hand. Then, they land on me, and I chuckle a bit at their antics.

So far, we've been able to turn five butterflies back into people, with the Professor's help. The most recent one is a kid, adorable little thing. He seems a bit scared of everyone, but I'm guessing it's because he's just getting used to having his normal form again.

"Alright, you three, I gotta go in now." I tell the butterflies.

They go back to their spot above the door, and I enter the house. Something tells me I should be quiet... I then hear Sabre and the kid talking.

"It's okay bud," Sabre says, seemingly reassuring the kid. "They're not going to hurt you. They're my friends."

"But... they hurt you because you're not one of them, doesn't that mean they'll hurt us too?" The kid says. He sounds like he was just crying.

"No, no of course not." Sabre says. "And they didn't hurt me, okay? I'm fine, see?"

Silence, for a moment. During that, I realize... this is why the kid seems so scared of us. He thought we were going to treat him how the Chromatics treated Sabre.

"I know that's a lie..." the kid says. "We maybe didn't show ourselves, but we were always watching what happened here."

"... They're not gonna hurt you, buddy." Sabre says. "I promise you that."

The conversation seems to end. I stand in front of the door to the room they're in, making sure I don't cause any noise. I hate eavesdropping, but this issue is a big deal. Should I tell the Leaders...?

Just then, I notice one of the bigger butterflies sitting on a bookshelf opposite of the door. It looks at me. I just got caught, didn't I? Wait, no... it nods, seeming to know what I was questioning. I mouth the words, "Are you sure?" to it, and it nods again. Then, it flies off into another part of the house.

Thanks, little buddy. I turn my attention back to Sabre and the kid, and make it seem like I just got here by retracing my steps back to the front door, and walk over to the room less quietly this time.

"Who is it?" Sabre calls.

"Hey Sabre." I say, walking into the room he's in.

"Oh, hey Time! What's up?"

—————————————————————————————————————

We're all in a meeting right now, which is wrapping up. It's another check-in on how the research for the reversal cure is going. When Sabre leaves, I begin.

"Hey, there's something I have to bring up to you..." I say.

"What is it, Time?" Light asks.

"Well... I overheard something pretty worrisome from the kid that was recently turned back."

I have all of their attention now. I continue, wondering how they're all going to take this.

"Turns out, all the butterflies have always been here, and they were watching what happened to Sabre." I say.

"I've been wondering why they already knew so much..." the Indigo Leader says.

"So..." the Orange Leader says. "What does this mean?"

"That's not the worrisome part." I say. "What made it enough of an issue to bring it up, is that I overheard the kid asking Sabre if the Steves were going to hurt the rest of them like they did Sabre."

Everyone just freezes, a collective feeling of dread, then guilt enveloping the room. I even hear an expletive or two from one of the few Guards outside the meeting room. I believe that everyone is realizing the fact that... well, we screwed up. Big time.

"I... thought that should come to your attention." I say.

The Leaders and Light gather themselves from their shock.

"You were, uh, right to do so." Light says, still a little taken aback. "...You may go now, if you wish."

I take that as my cue to leave in case an argument happens. You never know. As I'm walking down the hall, I hear the Yellow Leader.

"Well... crap. How do we fix this?"

Honestly, I have no idea either, bud.