(no subject)

[cinderlea]

[ 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. ]

Comments

[cinderlea]

[ We can timeskip! Lea might be unresponsive, but once she's asleep even with the bad sleep she'll attach herself good and thoroughly. ]

[moonstrualcycle]

[the best of arrangements. Isa's still sleeping a lot - maybe she's making up for how little she slept in the Organization - so unless Lea has a nightmare or something Isa will probably still be conked out when Lea wakes up. she's got Lea in a pretty protective snuggle, too.]

[cinderlea]

[ She's pretty awake for a few minutes before she decides that the best decision would be to wake up Isa as well. For company. She's probably been sleeping. A little.

What if she wakes her up by cuddling closer? That's a good plan. ]

[moonstrualcycle]

Mmngh.

[she tightens whatever grip she has on Lea for a second and then stretches her legs out as she wakes up. this feels familiar, and it's nice.]

[cinderlea]

[ She's going to wake up more fully to Lea's face stuffed up in her neck. She doesn't really want to move, because that means moving away from Isa and her primary source of comfort right now. But also... she missed her. There's a gentle but muffled "hey". ]

[moonstrualcycle]

[Lea gets a mumbled "hi" in return, and Isa yawns until her jaw pops. she doesn't really want to move either, but they can't just lay here and not talk for the rest of their lives. probably. maybe like ten more minutes tho, which is why Lea's getting pulled over to be more on top of Isa, like the world's pointiest blanket.]

[cinderlea]

[ So she's laying on her? That's fine, that's nothing new. Their legs are gonna get tangled together, though, so enjoy those bony knees as well as shoulders. ]

You sleep too?

[moonstrualcycle]

Yeah, some. You were kinda restless.

[normally she'd care about what time it is, but not right now, Lea's more important. through the window, it looks like it's around sunset, which probably isn't a great time of day for Lea to be experiencing.]

[cinderlea]

Didn't sleep well.

[ She sounds tired, and lazy, and is mostly like one big ol' housecat. Dead weight. She's got her face stuffed in Isa's neck still, so if she knows what time it is she's ignoring it. ]

[moonstrualcycle]

[then it's only fitting that Isa rub and sort of scritch up and down Lea's back. she's trying to think of things for distraction that won't remind Lea of what she's missing, but she's not having much luck. she did go to Halloween Town on her own while everyone was gone and got a fuckin radical costume, but any world Axel and Roxas and/or Xion ever went together probably isn't a good idea.]

Anything I can do?

[cinderlea]

[ She kinda likes this cat treatment, but rather than say that she gives out a long-suffering sigh and then stretches. Enjoy those pointy bits, again. ]

Already doing it.

[moonstrualcycle]

Good. Let me know if that changes.

[ur gettin a smooch on top of your dumb head, friend. that's not too out of the ordinary, at least. also the muscles help protect against the pointy bits. it's like acupuncture, kinda relaxing tbh.]

[cinderlea]

Only if you stop doing it.

[ God. At least she's used to Lea's particular pointiness. Although it only got worse as she got taller. She goes a little quieter, but doesn't move. ]

What do I do now?

[moonstrualcycle]

[well, fuck. Isa swallows hard, forcing her own emotions back down where they belong and where they can't be so unruly. she doesn't stop petting Lea, at least.]

I don't really know. I guess you just keep going, and wait for the emotional bits to scab over, and try and content yourself with the fact that some version of you somewhere is with them like you should be. Riku or Kai would probably do better than me, since they come back without Sora every time.

[she's trying really hard to not make parallels between this and if someone had died or something, and she's fully aware she doesn't really have anything to compare to. she also knows Lea's just going to be Very Sad for a long while.]

[cinderlea]

Guess that's more than I could've asked for a couple months ago.

[ If their fingers aren't laced together already she's making it that way now, and shifting her head so she can breathe better (and not in Isa's hair). ]

I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here.

[moonstrualcycle]

Be a gross blubbering mess, probably.

[Lea's getting her hand squeezed, because even if she can't advise based on personal experience, she still is sad that Lea's so sad. in an ideal world they'd just be able to live in bed like this forever.]

[cinderlea]

Wasn't I doing that anyway? Some help you are.

[ They both know she would be a bedridden disaster. For a week, absolute minimum. Being in bed with her is so much better, and she could be convinced to stay here for hours anyway. ]

[moonstrualcycle]

Kai'd be in here with a mop and bucket, then. But he'd also bring you food and make you eat it, which I... might do. Later.

[it's okay, Isa's a recent fan of just riding out whatever emotions happen, it seems to be working so far. and she's absolutely not going to mention any of the shit with Xigbar until Lea's doing much better; no need to add to her worries.]

[cinderlea]

Uuuuugh. I'll only eat if you're the one making it.

[ High tier depression food, that's what she needs. She doesn't even have much of an appetite right now, although Lea recognizes that she feels physically hungry. But it's not enough to get her to move. Not yet. ]

[moonstrualcycle]

I'll do the good mac and cheese with like four kinds of cheese, how about that.

[and chocolate milk and then ice cream, just load up on dairy. but in a while, not immediately. it's only really sinking in just now for Isa just how much she missed Lea, and if she wasn't interested in moving from here before...]

[cinderlea]

That sounds amazing. I'm still putting hot sauce on it.

[ Loading up on dairy would be all the good feelings. It's not enticing enough yet to get her to initiate moving out of the bed, but she does move her arms away so she can hug Isa properly, if not squish her a little. ]

You're my best friend.

[moonstrualcycle]

[well, she was going to make the appropriate faces for that food blasphemy, but that just stops her in her tracks, so to speak. Lea doesn't throw that term around lightly, and while it's probably been said at other times, perhaps not that directly, and especially after being gone for two months and with knowing about Roxas and Xion now. it's enough to make Isa a little teary-eyed, but she huffs and squishes Lea right back.]

And you're a gross nerd, but you're also my best friend.

[cinderlea]

[ Roxas is... a best friend. Xion is too. But they're on different levels. Less even footing, less problems they've learned from, less back and forth and tests of strength on their friendship. Oh, they had it tested, but it's not the same. Being friends with Roxas and Xion kind of just was. Isa's more work than that, and they were enemies for a while, but it seems stronger because of that. Instead of being sappier about it, she just relaxes again, although she's keeping her arms around Isa. ]

Not like I put a ton of sauce on.

[moonstrualcycle]

[Lea probably never hit the point with either of them where she wanted to legitimately throttle them with her bare hands until the struggling stopped, huh. to be fair, Isa wanted to do that to basically everyone at one point or another, but Lea, or rather Axel, was much higher on the list after a certain point. now, though, Isa can't imagine feeling that way, which is good, it means she's healing.]

I think any is too much, but I'm not the one eating it.

[cinderlea]

Just a little. On top. On the side.

[ Right now all she's thinking about is going back to sleep with her face in Isa's hair. She might already be on her way, with how comfortable she is. ]