fourteen | oo52 [action / video]

[ Since her "return," Xion has been staying in temporary New Feather accommodations as she gets her bearings. She's had a lot on her mind... a lot of thoughts and fears. She goes to sleep the night of the 19th thinking everything will be the same tomorrow... and the next day, and the day after that. Whatever she was before... this is her life now.

Of course, that's not the case when she wakes up. Which she does with a yelp when she discovers her clothing is too small and pulls in all the wrong places. And her hair is longer, and-- and-- ]

Oh, no. Oh, my gosh--

[ That's all her journal, conveniently open as ever, catches before she slams it shut and races off toward home. Toward Luke.

Once she's met up with him and apologized until she was blue in the face and possibly cried a little, she takes off to Seventh Heaven. There is a certain chef she needs to see and hug and hug and hug until they both feel better.

Finally, once all that is done, she takes to the journals once more. ]

... I can't believe what just happened to me. I know I'm not the first one, but... it was so strange. Being young all over again... not having any memories of this place. They're such precious memories to me... and I think I realized something. I know how a lot of people here feel about Luceti, and the Malnosso, and the war...

But I'm grateful for this place. [ Gently. ] It's given me everything I could never have.... everything important and wonderful to me is here. Well... almost everything. [ Oh, Axel. ] But... I never want to leave. I never, ever want to go home. Not when everything important is here...

I'm glad. I'm glad I'm still here. I'm -- I'm sorry if that makes anyone angry to hear. I know it probably sounds really strange... [ She smiles, warm and sad at once. ] But this is my world now.

[ She ends the broadcast there... or seems to. In fact, she's got a number of messages to get out. ]

( Suki | 100% )

Hey, Suki... I don't think you remember me, but my name is Xion. I need to talk to you... about the Kyoshi warriors.

( Luke Skywalker | 100% )

... hi, Luke. I remember everything now. Thank you for being so kind to me. I could... probably clear some things up now, if you still wanted to know.

( Wreck-It Ralph | 100% )

I'd -- really like to talk to you. I think... I have something really important that I should tell you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah... They can do that?

[He frowns, thinking about it.]

How do you know if they made you younger? I mean, how do you know it was that and not that your younger self time traveled to the future?

... huh?

[ Wow, that's some imagination. ]

Um... I don't know if they could do that. They've done this sort of thing before... making people younger. So it's more likely to be that, I think...

I thought I had traveled to the future... Then I didn't and I've just been made younger?

[So it's not that he will have friends, but that he has them? But he really can't remember being older, it's so confusing.]

How is it fixed?

... wait, you too? [ Blink, blink blink. ] Um... I guess the Malnosso eventually fixed me on their own, or whatever they did wore off. But... who are you?

My name's Keiichi Maebara. I woke up here in a house with Minato and Ange, Minato told me that usually I'm as old as he is and that we're best friends. But I don't remember ever being older so I thought I had traveled in time somehow.

... If it's really that I was just made younger I must have been an annoyance asking so many questions to them.

[To Ange, Minato and Haruhi... And it must have hurt them too, right? That he won't know or remember them. He will have to apologize to them later.]

... Keiichi? [ She tries to hide her surprise, but only sort of manages it.

... Gosh, he makes a cute little kid. ]

Um -- please, don't feel bad. I mean... I did too, when it happened to me. But it's not like we could help it, right? It's pretty natural to ask questions in a situation like that. I asked so many... [ Very sheepish. ] Don't worry. If they're your friends, I'm sure they just want to help you as much as they can.

[Keiichi tilts his head at the journal a bit.]

Do you know me as well?

[He bites his lip and nods, even if she can't see him. She's right, it's not as if he wanted to not remember everyone, he wishes he could remember because they are his friends and he wants just so much to have friends. There's no way he would want to forget them on purpose. But it still feels bad, honestly he already felt a bit bad before, because he was in the place of his older self and he had no idea where his older self was,. He assumed that his older self was in the past, since he was in the future, but it wasn't as if he could check. Anyway it felt wrong because he was taking someone else's place, even if that someone else was himself.

Now, however... Now he knows that he's not stealing anyone's place, which is good. But he also knows that nothing he learns here will matter, right? He can't go back home and go through those years until he's older with the reassurance that one day he will have friends as he wants. Because that already happened. Because he won't return anywhere, he will just grow big again and remember everything again. And in the meantime everyone has to endure the fact that their friend doesn't know them, Ange has to endure the fact that he doesn't love her, he likes her and thinks that she's pretty, but he's too young for love and she's so older... So virtually he doesn't love her now and in movies and such it's always said that it's very painful when the person you love doesn't love you. It must be, it's painful when he can't tell if his parents care about him at all despite him caring for them.]

But it must hurt them, that I don't remember, right? I know it would hurt me if they didn't remember me and I knew that they were my friends. And I even have a girlfriend, but she's so much older than me and I don't remember her at all. I only know she's my girlfriend because she told me herself, she must be hurting a lot.

[Pause.]

Are you hurt?

.... Yeah. I do remember you. We're friends. But it's not your fault you don't remember, okay? Even if it hurts them... it's not you that's hurting them. It's the Malnosso, for doing this to you. Okay?

[ She shakes her head once she's done. ] No, I'm not hurt. I'm fine! I just went through what you're going through... so I know better than anyone you can't help it.

[It may be the Malnosso but it still feels bad to him. He should be a better friend and not hurt his friends no matter what some guys do to him.]

Still... I'm sorry.

[Though asking won't solve it, right? The kid sighs.]

What are you going to do now-... Hmm, can I ask your name?

Oh! Sorry. I'm Xion. I guess it's nice to meet you again, Keiichi!

[The kid hums and nods, wait, she can't see that.]

Yeah... It's nice to meet you, Xion... Sorry, I don't remember you.

[He is repeating himself, he knows it but he can't help it. He hates this, why has he had to forget his friends? It' not fair.]

What are you going to do now, Xion? I mean, now that you are... Uh... Old again? Older.

Hehe. It's okay.

Um, I have a lot of people to catch up with! I know I scared them, so I want to make sure everyone knows I'm still here and I never went home.

Uh? Why would they think you had gone home if you hadn't? Didn't they know it was... Just you being younger?

[He's pretty sure by now that Ange and Minato realized it at least.]

Um... I think most of the people close to me did, after a while. But it was hard to tell at first. I really believed I was new, and I acted just like it, too. I mean... the you I know is a lot older. But when I was changed, I was the same way I used to be back when I first arrived. I guess that's why. It must have seemed convincing!

Oh, that makes sense... I guess.

[Not really knowing how this place works makes it hard for the kid to understand it. But he's not sure he wants to learn how things work that much so...]

I bet they will be happy that you're nor-... Uhm... That you're yourse-... That you're old again? This is very confusing.

[ That makes her laugh quite a bit. ]

Sorry! It is pretty confusing, isn't it? Um... let's just say I'm back to my normal self.

But you were your normal self before too, right? Just... Younger.

Well, yeah! I just mean normal for, you know, lately. Instead of years ago.

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