oo51 [action / written / video]

[fourteen]

[ It's a clear, cold day when a girl comes walking out of the forest. She is slow and careful about her way, as if she's not quite sure what she's doing - which she isn't. She also has the unmistakable air of a person who is hopelessly lost and not entirely willing to admit it, and thus is soldiering on nonetheless.

She feels very confused. Very much like she's forgotten something very important, but she just can't remember what. And she's very tired of that feeling, too. Memories... and loss, and fear, and confusion. It all feels familiar and she wishes desperately it wasn't. She wanted to be done.

She'd died. She'd faded away in Roxas's arms, that was supposed to be the end! She was going back... why was she here? Had something gone wrong?

What had happened to Sora?

Xion finds her way, somehow or other, into the village. She is not wearing the typical New Feather garb - instead, she is carrying that dress over one arm, garbed instead in her normal Organization uniform, which she found beside her when she awoke. Along with ... one other thing. There was a ring on her finger. It was very pretty, but it certainly didn't belong to her. After all, how could it? She'd never seen it before in her life. It ends up in the pocket of her coat, largely forgotten. If this is all a trick of some kind, it's a really elaborate one.

Of course, in the village she finds people. So many people! More than she's sure she's ever seen before, and initially she shrinks from them and runs to hide. She peers around the corners of buildings and skulks along pathways, keeping her hood up when she must walk out in the open. But she's obviously pretty frightened and distressed when she's unable to tuck herself out of sight, jumping at small noises and then trying to pass it all off as if everything were fine. ]

... I don't understand. Roxas... Sora... what happened to you?

[ Such are the things she muses worriedly out loud to herself. Eventually, she just goes to sit by the river. Her hood remains up, reluctant still as she is to reveal her face, but she's looking over the journal. It reminds her a little of the one she used to keep at home... but there's writings from other people in it! So strange...

She'll finally pick up her pen, her curiosity getting the better of her cautiousness in the end. ]

Hello? Who's out there? This little book... it feels so familiar, but I don't remember why. I know I've never seen it before.

This world feels familiar, too. How can a place you've never been to feel familiar? I don't have any memories of this world at all. I wish I knew what was going on.

[ She crosses something out. ] I probably shouldn't write this like a journal entry... there are other people out there, right? People who can read this, too. Just like I can read what you say. It's so strange. I guess it must be magic.

[ There's a pause, then. She doesn't dare write her name, does she? What if the Organization is here? She pauses a long moment. Well... well, there is one thing she can try. She doesn't have to give her name... no one should know her, anyway... and even if they did... they shouldn't remember. It should be safe.... shouldn't it?

She puts down her pen, and hunts around on the journal page some more. She knew she saw a little picture earlier-- there! Xion manages to switch on the video function. At first her cowl hides her face in shadow, making her features somewhat inscrutable.

Then she transfers the journal to one hand and slowly, somewhat reluctantly, pulls her hood down. This is Xion, alright - bright, uncertain blue eyes and raven dark hair. But her hair is short, and her face still somewhat round and very young. She will very different from the accomplished young woman who normally goes by her name.

After a hesitant pause, she speaks up again. ]

I'm... I'm looking for someone. He's ... he's a boy with spiky brown hair. [ She makes a somewhat silly gesture over her own head with her free hand, indicating at the shape of his hair. ] And he, um... he always wears red. And he's got blue eyes, like mine...

[ She pauses for a second, swallowing a wince. Like mine...

Xion doesn't dare say his name out loud, for some reason. ]

I don't know if he'll be here, but... it can't hurt to try. If I'm going to start anywhere... I guess it should be there. But I really should go home...

[ She looks off to the side, concerned and a little sad. She can't think of anything else to say, so she just awkwardly presses the journal shut. ]

Comments

[Voice]

[the_tv_is_a_lie]

[There's only one person with brown hair that he knows, but he isn't here. So that leaves one other possibility.] ...Would this person be Sora-san, by any chance?

[Voice]

[fourteen]

Sora! He's here?

[ Read: Yes. ]

[Voice]

[the_tv_is_a_lie]

Mm. Do you need to get in touch with him?

[Action]

[blessingone]

[ You probably thought the riverside was a safe place to sit and work on the journal, right? Think again.

Which is to say that Fenimore likes to take walks down by the river. Most of the time, she wades, and sometimes will even swim, but it's a bit cold for that today. Though the wading bit is still tempting, especially since it will soon be too cold to be in the water for the whole season, ugh. She looks away from the water to avoid the temptation and notices...

By this point, Xion's done the video broadcast and probably has her hood still down. Even if not, Fenimore's seen that black hooded shape before I think. Wait a second. That's...too small. Too young. But -- ]

Xion?!

[Action]

[fourteen]

[ She jumps out of her skin, startled in many ways not only to hear her voice, but to hear it from someone utterly unfamiliar.

She scrambles to her feet, clutching her journal protectively to her chest and staring with complete uncomprehending. ]

... how do you know my name?

[Action]

[blessingone]

[ ..........Bad sign.

Xion had been kidnapped, right? Someone would have said if she had been sent home, right? This was just a shift.....right? ]

I...I'm not sure if you'd believe me if I told you. [ Oh, because that was reassuring. Let's try again. ] It's...complicated. [ ...She actually puts her face in her hands for a moment. Good grief, Xion looked like a deer in headlights enough without vague explanations. Okay, lifting her head and -- ]

I'm from the future.

[ ...Maybe she should just stop talking. ]

[action]

[perplexme]

[...you know what. He's just going to approach her from across the way, grab her by the wrist, and silently start dragging her...well...actually he's not sure. He's just aware he needs to get her away from people to try and piece together what's going on.]

[action]

[fourteen]

Wh-- Roxas?!

[ What's going on? Why is he grabbing her? ... why does he look so different? ]

Roxas, what--

[action]

[perplexme]

[Nope nope big ball of nope. He's not going to say anything still as he drags her through the village toward one of the community housing buildings. He's got a place he's been staying at in there, more like a place he's just been camping on. KH house was hard to live in these days. His grip tightens on Xion's wrist ever-so-slightly, but he's got the smallest of grins creeping up. Is someone amused? Maybe.]

[voice]

[fabrecation]

[The voice, while familiar, has a tone to it that makes it largely difficult to pinpoint at the same time. It does, however, make Luke stop what he's doing, which is writing a few lines of a poem of sorts, and open his other journal.

What he sees feels like a knife made of ice just stabbed him in the chest and twisted for good measure.

It's Xion. But... younger. Wearing that cloak. Acting like she just arrived, like she didn't remember anything at all.]

Xi -

[Luke probably should've asked questions, tried to help her. But instead, he shuts the journal as the ice in his chest seems to spread all the way to his fingers and toes, making him want to curl up and hug himself and never open that journal again, to flee to safety, to never look back.

She's... gone, isn't she? That's why she was missing. They returned her to her world and this - this is her, just arriving from when she - when -

She doesn't remember him, it's over, it's over, it's over it's over it's over.

Luke should've expected this; he knew it wouldn't last forever and he knew it would be painful, but this? He feels like he wants to die. It's over, it's over, she'll look at him and there'll be no recognition, not even if she sees their apartment, not even -

It's then that he shoots his head up, only just realizing that he had it pressing against his knees. Her room. He - He has to look. He has to make sure. Some of her things are still here in his room, but that could just as well be counted as his. He has to see her room.

At the same time, facing what might be an empty room is just like facing a huge, ugly monster that could devour him, the same one that stabbed that icy knife into his heart in the first place.

It's with a few deeps breaths and shutting his eyes and counting to himself that he stands. It's with a glance at the journal, then at the picture beside their - his bed, that he steps out the door. It's over, it's over, it's over.

Soon, he's in front of her door, and he just... stares at the door, hand hovering over the knob. He's so afraid, but -

It's over.

He turns the knob, pushes the door open -

...

Everything's still there. Just the way she left it - or, rather, just the way he left it, when he decided to clean it while she was gone.

A thunk resounds as he falls to his knees, hand gripping the doorknob so tightly that his knuckles turn white, and he lets out a long, long sigh of pure relief.

It isn't over.

After a moment of collecting himself, he's sitting on his - their bed again, staring down at the journal now. The ice in his veins, while melted to quite a degree, still hasn't totally melted. This is a kidnapping effect, he's sure of that now, but she still doesn't know him. He wants to learn about her, discover what she was like before he met her, but at the same time, he's scared to. He knows she'll look at him with confusion, and he knows he won't see her eyes light up when she sees him.

Is this how she felt when they returned him as his past self? And she still talked to him, despite being so sad that whole time...

It's with that thought that he finally does open the journal, takes a breath, and... lets it out, words catching in his throat. What does he even say? How is he supposed to do this? He wants to shut the journal and lock himself up until this is over, what should he do, what - ]

It's... It's pretty confusing, huh?

[voice]

[fourteen]

[ ... that's strange. Who is this boy? He seems almost like he's having a hard time, somehow... ]

... yeah. I just wish I knew where I was, or ... or why.

[ She does not recognize him at all. ]

[voice]

[generalflirt]

...Hooo. Xion-chan, is it?

[That's. A weird feeling]

[voice]

[fourteen]

... you know my name too?

[ Oh, dear. ]

[voice]

[personafalsify]

[ ... She doesn't remember.

Reading, listening, the realization crawls through him like it's turn his veins to ice. Xion, the one person here from his world, who had any idea what it was like to be him... the Xion who helped him, who showed him he didn't need to avoid places that Riku had already been to be himself... was gone.

Nobodies don't have hearts. Replicas don't have hearts. Both things he's heard, both things that apply to Xion... but reading those words on the page, there's no way. He knows it, he's known it for a long time, but it's crystal clear right now. There's no way those can be true. ]

Maybe... your heart remembers.

[voice]

[fourteen]

... maybe. I keep feeling like ... there's something there. Something I can't reach.

[ His voice is familiar, though. Is that Riku...? ]

[Voice]

[savedtheworld]

Xion?

[Does she... not remember?]

[Voice]

[fourteen]

... I'm sorry. [ Said apologetically. ] I don't remember you either.

NOPE NOPE NOPE VIDEO

[heartisabattleground]

[Well...Sora now will know what it feels like to be forgotten...or at the very least not to have the same relationship with a person. He had gotten back from the land of zombies a little worse for wear but beginning to get over it. It's been a handful of days but now, he see's a certain girl pop on the journal.

He's about to say hi when he freezes. Was she...asking and trying to find him? But, that was ridiculous. They already met why would she need to-

Then it hits him. It must have been the same with him, except with Xion. She forgot about Luceti and all the friends she made. Sora's catching on even more now considering how young she looks in comparison to the girl he met a few weeks ago.]

Xion...you're looking for me aren't you?

VIDEO

[fourteen]

[ She jumps at the sight of him. ]

Sora! I ... how-- how do you know who I am? I thought...

[ Her eyebrows knit in deep confusion. She's tempted to shut the journal and run, but that would be pretty counterproductive. At the same time... it's him. It's really him. How does she face him? She could never have prepared herself for this moment in a million years...

And something tugs in her heart. She thinks it's just seeing him that does it. It does not occur to her that there might be more to it than that. ]

video

[risingwinds]

[Whoa, is that really Xion? She looks so much younger...

Ven blinks, rubbing his eyes. Man, this is bizarre.]

Well, it looks like Sora's already gotten in touch with you! You doing okay?

[Weird as this situation is, the least he can do is handle it with an upbeat attitude.]

video

[fourteen]

[ ... whoa. ]

You look just like Roxas...

[Voice]

[ledbythewind]

[Richard has spent much of the past few days just dozing, resting with Isamu while he recovered from being infected. The journals and what's been going on over them has been something of a last priority for him, though he's kept his open just in case there's something that needs to be addressed.

What he isn't expecting to hear is what sounds like a very confused Xion.]

... Xion? Is that you?

[It's automatic, escaping his mouth before he even really thinks about it.]

[Voice]

[fourteen]

... yes, that's my name. I'm sorry, though... I don't know who you are.

[voice] let's pretend this isn't a million years late

[stilldontgotit]

[Riku's taken the time to listen in on some of the other conversations. Enough to get a rough idea of what's happened here...

Two thoughts cross his mind: kidnapping, or she really did go home. Hopefully it's just the former.

Still, he might as well say something, right?]

You know, Sora'd probably say to listen to your heart at a time like this.

[Because, hmm. If it feels familiar...]

Maybe he already has.

[Riku didn't listen to the whole conversation, but knowing Sora, he's probably at least touched on it a little.]

[voice] kay :D

[fourteen]

... Riku?

[ Said wonderingly. He, too, looks different, but... this has got to actually be him, right? ]