[4]
AND FAI GENTLY TOUCHES HIM
Fai gently extends that small connection, still new and fresh between them. Lava Lamp has been physically apart from them during his recounting of his story but now Fai closes that distance to give him support for what he knows is surely coming next.
And I love that it’s Fai that does this. It’s Fai who ALSO knows what it’s like to make a promise as a child that will define the rest of your life in an ugly and torturous way. When you don’t understand the full meaning of the words you say it’s easy to say them, but then you have to live with the unknowable consequences of that or know that you let that person die and then gave up on them.
Fai has the unique parallel of having also been manipulated into a pact as a child - but he’s also a sign that you can survive it. That you can let it control you forever or you can slowly heal and let it all go. But Fai’s promise was made on the grounds of a lie that Evil Wolverine told him, and in reality his brother was always out of reach. Lava Lamp’s promise is a bit different, given that Sakura's fate is still up in the air, but he’s still the closest person to understand that kind of burden.
And regardless, the point of the moment is that Lava Lamp is not alone anymore, and they communicate that between without a single word.