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oo51 [action / written / video]
[ 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. ]
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. ]
[voice]
[ She does relax, visibly. Sora... he'll be okay. ]
... do you know why I have these wings?
[voice]
Just not for him, or anyone else who knows her. God, Sanji, he has to let him know it's an experiment somehow, and not actually...]
Yeah. Everyone gets them when they show up.
[He leans to the side, enough to stretch his wing beyond his shoulder and flap it a few times. He still hates those things.]
I still don't really know why they're there. [He does glance at the journal, and he does let the side of his lips quirk up a bit.] To annoy the living hell out of us?
[voice]
They hurt... is that normal?
[voice]
[Her stuff is still there. He clings to that knowledge, makes himself believe in it with his whole heart. She's still here. It'll just... take some time.]
They'll stop hurting after a while. Oh, but don't pull on them or anything. They'll just feel worse if you do that.
[Luke would rather not tell her what happens if you try cutting them off, but... maybe later. After she's a little more settled. Provided she doesn't try it before that.]
[voice]
Hey, what's your name?
[voice]
My name is Luke. Luke fon Fabre.
[Should he tell her that he knows her name? Knows her? When he came back without memories of Luceti, he'd been driven to the point of frustration and even a bit of fear by everyone knowing who he was. But...]
[voice]
[voice]
[Still hard. Still so, so hard.]
Hey... Can I ask you something?
[voice]
[voice]
But... he needs to know.]
Did you have a ring on you when you showed up?
[voice]
[ She blinks, having totally forgotten about it. But after a moment's thought she reaches into her pocket and pulls it out, then holds it up to the journal's camera. ]
You mean like this? How did you know? Why do I have it?
[voice]
[That's it. The ring. That proves, more than ever, that this is her. And it makes a small amount of ice still in his veins melt away as relief comes over him.
... But if she doesn't know the significance behind it, then he'd rather she not leave it somewhere, or give it to someone else. He wants to give it to her when she remembers... and keep it safe in the meantime.]
[voice]
[ But she's beginning to suspect that her memories are lying to her. ]
[voice]
But I really have been looking for it, so...
[He's aware of how weird this sounds. But what else is he supposed to do? This is important.]
[voice]
... I have been here before, haven't I? If I have something of yours... plus what everyone else has been saying.
[ Rather somberly. ] And you knew me before. That's why I have something of yours, isn't it?
[ She can be perceptive. Sometimes. But it's gotten impossible to ignore all the clues. ]
[voice]
Yeah. I'm sorry... I was going to tell you later, if we met up. You've probably got a bunch of other people saying they remember you, so...
[voice]
[ There are things she's not saying. It's lurking in the tenseness of her tone. ]
We can meet... if you still want to.
[voice]
We were good friends. Heh... I can probably go ahead and say you were my best friend. We could talk about anything. We related to each other so much, in a lot of ways...
[Oi. He shakes his head, hangs it for a second, then lifts it to look down at the journal at his side.]
I do still want to meet you. I mean... If you want to.
[voice]
Does that mean you were my best friend, too? I didn't think I could have more than two... is there a limit on the number of best friends you can have? [ All asked rather innocently, and wonderingly. ]
I -- I still want to. I want to meet you... [ ... my third best friend. ]
[voice]
[It's said as if asking why you can't have another slice of cake. He has several best friends, after all. Guy, Noel, Ion, Tear... Xion.
He does smile, though. It's mostly forced, because now he has to see her and have to deal with the hurt he seems to feel with his whole body. But at the same time... It's Xion. And he can't help wondering what she was like back then, before he ever met her.]
Then we will. You can hold up the journal and show me where it is; I can probably figure it out from there.
[voice]
More than two best friends... ]
[voice -> action]
[Yeah okay he has no idea where the fuck she is. By one of the rivers, at least, but...]
I'll see you soon, then. [He shuts the journal, sits for a long moment, and presses his hand against his forehead. This will be so hard...
But he finds himself going out anyway, bundled up in a jacket that he actually zipped up this time and even holding one of her coats over his arm - look at him, moving up in the world. He just hopes this is the right river; he walks and searches, his footsteps growing heavier as he does so. He's so tempted to turn around, walk back to the apartment and just stay in bed with a pillow over his head until this is over.
He's braver than that, though. Soon enough, he finds her... hood up again. He hardly ever sees her with her hood up these days... It's strange. It's painful.
It's something he just has to deal with as he takes a few more steps forward.]
Xion?
[action]
She starts, then stands, turning to face him, her bright eyes just visible under the edge of her cowl. ]
Um ... Luke, right?
[ She fishes in her pocket and pulls out the ring. She does not notice the coat he's carrying just yet. She holds her black-gloved hand out to him, the ring resting on her palm. ]
Here.
[action]
It's like being punched in the gut. Really, it's as simple as holding on to something until the person needs it again, and he tries to tell himself that. But in a way, Luke also sees it as her giving the ring back. Like she doesn't want it anymore, nor the promise that came with it.
And right now, she doesn't want that.
...
He reaches out to take the ring, carefully, like he would if she were Guy instead of Xion. Friendly. No brushing of his fingers against her palm, no plans to take her hand and give her a brief kiss on the forehead, nothing.
Because they're meeting for the first time. That's all.]
Thanks. You really don't know how relieved I am to find it...
[Or, rather, that you didn't get rid of it.
Luke studies the ring for a little while longer, then tucks it safely into his coat pocket. It'll go onto his nightstand once he gets back to his room. But now, he looks at her again, before he ducks his head to look at the coat in his arms instead.]
I thought you looked a little cold, so I brought you this. You don't have to wear it right now or anything... I know that one you're wearing now means something to you. [But he still holds out this coat of hers, a bright color with fur trimming, certainly a contrast to what she's wearing now.] But this is a lot warmer.
[action]
It reminds her, in a distant sort of way, of how Roxas looked at her as she faded away. Like he was losing something... even if he didn't realize it until it was too late.
Yes. Yes, that's it. The look on Luke's face is one of loss. And she does not understand why.
But, for some reason, she feels compelled to lower her hood. She looks at the jacket, then at him, then at the jacket again... then ducks her head, lifting her hands to slowly pull her hood down. It pools on her shoulders and down her back, oddly big on a girl who is honestly so little. And she is little - shorter and slighter than he'll remember her, with her black hair quite short and her face still round. But her eyes, blue as the deepest sky, are exactly the same.
Xion looks at the coat with open curiosity. It's very strange. She thinks she's never seen anything quite like it before, and she steps closer to him to examine it. ]
It's so colorful...
[ She looks down at herself, and frowns, a little. This is the emblem of the Organization she abandoned. She has to admit she doesn't really want it anymore. But how does he know it might mean something? Does he know about the Organization?
As soon as she processes that, her eyes snap up to his face. No... he's not a threat. But he knows a lot more than he's told her.
She tilts her head, considering the coat all over again. Then, all at once, she unzips the Organization cloak. It falls to the ground with a muffled sound. Beneath it she is wearing all black - a black t-shirt, black gloves, black pants and those black boots with the silver trim. She takes the colorful coat from him... and abruptly buries her face in the fur trimming with a muffled giggle. ]
And it's so soft!
[ She pulls it on, grinning brightly all at once. Once she's got it all zipped up, she luxuriates in it, pulling the collar up to rub the soft fur against her jaw. ]
Thank you! It was really kind of you to bring it.
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