cinderlea | (no subject)

(no subject)

[ Riku disappears first. Vanished in her sleep, in the middle of the night, collapsing in on herself in a shimmer of starlights. This isn't like last time. No warnings, no chances to say goodbye, no hesitation or resistance. She just isn't there.

Lea goes minutes after Riku, in the same way. But she's awake, lounging on her couch, having a conversation as she flips through her phone. Here and then gone, like a flame. This isn't the first time either of them have gone home, but it's the first time it's so abrupt. At least it isn't death. The last time Riku went home was seven years ago. She was gone for a month, and she came back with shorter hair and the Mark of Mastery. The last time Lea went home, no one really noticed. She thought she was used to it by now.

Things are different this time. Disorienting. Lea meets Kai in the training, for real this time. Riku has her memories, or at least most of them. They're hazy, dreamlike, but real. She has them all. She remembers how old she really is and how long she's been gone. She remembers everyone she cares about, and everyone that won't change here. She keeps her ice magic and takes what she's learned here to use there. But time is fluid. She doesn't feel like she's been gone for seven years.

Lea's are gone, for now. She lives everything new and fresh, with the dressing room appearing only in dreams vivid enough to unsettle her.

Things aren't the same for every world.

Things go better than expected.

The core story is the same. The heroes rescue the ones that need it, they bring everyone back, they defeat the darkness, and they go home. How and when and who — these things vary, but they do it all together and they go home together. And then their story is over, at least for now, and they come back.

Unlike how they went out, Lea and Riku reappear together on the beach. Coming back is just as disorienting, and neither has their phone, so they get their bearings and confirm memories with each other, of the dressing room and of home, and then separate to find their friends.

They've been gone two months. ]

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He tried to let me see photos, but I wasn't through sleeping. I'm glad you had a good talk though.

[he's gonna eat one of these ribs while Riku's finishing her stuff. he could almost go for some fries, but why waste space on potato when there is only meat.]

[ Carbs are delicious, is why. ]

Oh yeah. Do you want to see them now?

[ Her phone is still on the table, she can easily unlock it. ]

Yeah! I wanna see what everyone looks like, I've only had my imagination until now.

[for all these ladies, he means, not the people in general, obviously. especially Sora, it's been ages since there was a girl Sora around here, same with girlxas.]

[ Why is everyone fixated on Sora!! Whatever. She drops the utensils she was using to flip the chicken (chopsticks? probably) and moves her hand to unlock the phone. The gallery is still up, presumably, unless Hachibi closed out of it. ]

Here, go nuts.

[because he/she's cute!!! he grabs a napkin to wipe his hands on, especially since he's been touching raw meat with them, and then takes the phone in both hands to start browsing. he doesn't really linger on anything the way Hachibi did, but anything with Kai and/or Nami gets a soft, happy smile. once he gets into the ones of the former Organization he looks a lot more interested, and then:]

Oh, wow, Aeleus is uh.

[thicc? a Big Girl? taller than him, probably.]

Intimidating.

Something like that. We haven't really talked.

[ Why would they, honestly. Although neither one of them seems to hold a grudge for their fight back in Castle Oblivion, or the results of it.

Moving this piece of chicken over to your plate now, Axel. ]

[o thx. gonna munch on that, taking a few seconds to really savor it and enjoy it.]

Not surprising, I guess. And I see Dilan looks like as much of an asshole as Xaldin ever was.

I— what? Linda, Axel.

[ What kind of woman is named Dilan. Thank you for taking the time to enjoy the meat, though. ]

[the regular kind? what kind of woman is named Even? what kind of name is Aeleus or Ienzo, period? he just stares at her in disbelief for a moment before snorting with laughter and resting his head on the table to look sideways at whatever photo's currently on the screen.]

No wonder she looks mad all the time, if that's true.

[ Here she is, rolling her eyes at him, resting her chin across her knuckles. This is what happens when most of them are fantasy names and then you have Dilan, unfortunately. ]

... She does look like that.

[true story, Dilan's not going to be around much in my fic because i have zero idea what she would do besides snark at everyone and have scientific input from time to time. o shit, his other rib is still on the grill. good thing he likes charcoal also, even though it's not as good as perfectly cooked meat. gonna eat this sideways, he's feeling lazy. still scrolling through pictures:]

I— hm. Oh. He says you two already talked about Even.

[he was a little slower to notice than Hachibi, but he got there in the end.]

[ Needs more sausage on the grill (as if she hasn't been cooking this entire time) and now she's eating a slice of raw beef and taking a sip of water. ]

Mm. Why, what were you going to say?

[oh give, he wants some raw beef. he's sitting back up, anyway.]

Just the scarring she probably has. I um. Don't really have experience with people who've survived something like that.

[this is not really lunchtime conversation but here we are, she asked. his gaze is downcast now, but he doesn't seem too bummed.]

She didn't, right?

[ Sorry, maybe that was too... detached from the situation. She pauses, feeling a little bad, but... it's the truth. That's what killed her, at least. Here, have some raw beef on your plate too. Why is she momfriending Axel now. ]

[because someone needs to and Isa's busy now. hmmmmmmm beef.... good.]

Well, no, but she's alive now with the effects of it. Sort of the same, in the end.

[ It's very good, yes, although for cooked meats she still prefers this absolutely juicy sausage. ]

Yeah, but... You know what I mean. Do you see anything in there that isn't depressing?

Hmm.

[scroll, scroll— oh, well, his face just went really soft and wistful but happy at the same time. he found the pics of Lea and her kids.]

You should send these to Lea, after she's had some more time to being back here, without them.

[ Oh, those dorks. She leans against his shoulder so she can look better. She's happy about all of that too, and they are nice photos. ]

I will. Or maybe to Isa first. She'll know when Lea needs them better than me.

Yeah, true. She'll appreciate them too, I know they both mean a lot to her now, Xion especially.

[god, it's so weird seeing a Roxas, there aren't nearly as many around as there used to be, and he still doesn't think of his ever. and he has to wonder if Xion would've happened in some form back on his world, eventually.]

I forgot about Xion when I went back. I could sort of remember? But not his name.

[ Probably. It seems like a good setting for the kind of weird shit origin Xion had, to be honest. Riku... is just glad Axel hasn't said anything about Sora yet. ]

It's so weird to see them all together.

[he's got your back, Riku, he knows better than that. and that's about what i've got for Xion, the norts and Saix mostly remembered once he was back among them, but Xion didn't remember hardly anything, and everyone else had whatever wisps of memory Lea was working with.]

Weird but good. They all look really happy, I'm glad they had that time together.

Me too. They deserved more than what they got, but... I don't really hope anyone else shows up here.

[ Roxas, Sora, Xion, they all deserve not to have to put up with this place. Besides, they're so much younger. It would be weird. ]

I'm glad they had it.

And you too, all that time with people. A lot of people, but at least most of them were already friends.

[look man don't talk to him about ages, we've been over this. time is a mystery that he chooses not to think about most of the time.]

What? Most of my friends are here these days.

[ Stop it, don't act like this was super important for her!! It was just going back 'home' to do what she had to do, right? Things are good now. Fuck Xigbar. ]

I know that, not friends like here but people you're familiar with and don't mind spending time with. Like Mickie!

[you stop, he's being nice and not being like "so how was it being around Sora again for all this" because he's not that guy, he doesn't do that to her. but it was clearly some pretty climactic shit that was super important in general, and she's allowed to be affected by it being over and having experienced it. don't make him say all that, Riku. B( he's resting his chin in his hand now, and giving her that pretty specific look that says he's not buying her shit but he's not calling her out on it either.]