driftfleet | 3rd light

Who: Kairi
Broadcast: Yep
Action: For anyone who's on the Blue Fish!
When: Later tonight

[It was just a simple message, asking what he was doing, making sure he hadn't fallen asleep again. But she couldn't find him. Like he hadn't ever been there, his name was gone from the list.

No.

Kairi quickly types in Sora's number, hoping maybe it was just a hiccup. She tried sending the message, but nothing. It couldn't find it. She frantically keeps hitting send, willing it to work, to send it to him. She did everything she could think of to try and fix it, in hopes that she was doing something wrong or the device was broken or there was interference or anything but what the cold dread in her stomach told her.

When her options were exhausted, and her panic turned into sadness, she then finally began to cry. He was gone, wasn't he? There was a chance she was wrong, but something in her told her she wasn't wrong. But she had to try, to ask, just in case. So she stubbornly wiped away her tears and opened a new post to address the network.]

So, um. If a person is gone from - if you can't find them on your communicator...

[This is harder than she expected. She has to fight to keep her voice steady. This is not only the first time someone she's known here that has been sent back, it's one of her best friends.]

Unless something isn't working? Is... anyone else's communicator not showing names? It could be that, right?

[But she doesn't believe it. Her voice cracks at the end, and she quickly ends the feed before she starts crying again.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She assumes Riku is another friend, one to both Kairi and the one she's lost. At least there's someone else who knows the loss.]

That doesn't have to be a bad thing. We don't know what happens when someone leaves here. Maybe he's back where you came from.

[From her, it sounds less like comforting optimism and more like simple fact. She doesn't do consolation, not really, but she does know tact.]

That's... what a few people have been saying. He has to go back at some point, so maybe...

[The tact is working to help comfort her, for what it's worth. She's not ignoring Kairi's pain and is trying to help. For her, that's enough.]

I just wish we'd stop being separated all the time. He's away more than he is with me anymore.

Edited 2015-07-01 20:09 (UTC)

This was a regular thing for you back home? Friends vanishing? [It had been for her, as a child, but she didn't think Kairi was from that sort of world. She still had too good a heart for that. Could still think of people as friends.]

Not until the last year or so. I... it's a really long story, but Sora and Riku have been away from home a lot. Some bad things happened, and I was left behind for most of it. Hopefully that's going to change soon, once I get back.

The bad things happening, or the being left behind? [ It could be both, she supposes.]

Being left behind. There's- a lot more bad things are going to be happening yet, unfortunately. There's not much avoiding that.

And you'd rather be with them, in the middle of the bad things. [She can understand that, in a way. Not that she's really had friends like that, before, but the idea of being sheltered isn't one that holds much appeal.]

Exactly. I know it's dangerous and I'm not as strong as they are, but I still want to help. To try and protect them. [Her tone is insistent, almost shrill. This is clearly something she has a lot of feelings about, and strong ones at that.]

[Natasha nods. She doesn't disagree. There's nothing worse than feeling helpless.]

That's fair. They probably thought they were protecting you, leaving you behind. Which was a mistake, I think.

That's exactly what they were thinking. Well, Sora, at least. [Riku, not so much.] I'm sure Riku doesn't want me to get hurt either, but he did bring me to get trained, right before I got brought here, so... [In short, Sora gets most of the blame for that.] I guess I'm afraid it'll happen again, even if I do learn how to fight better.

[At that, Natasha gives a gesture that's half shrug, half headshake.]

So next time, you don't let them. You can't keep someone safe by holding them back. All you can do is make sure they can take care of themselves, or stay close enough to protect them, if necessary. Trying to keep you away isn't going to help.

And I don't think you'll make it easy for them, next time.

What, just... refuse and put up a fight? [She's certainly stubborn enough to do that. Arguing was something she tried to avoid though, especially with Sora. Not that he was much of one to argue. Usually he just... got a "kicked the puppy look" and a lot of the time, Kairi caved. But then she remembers the time he said she'd just get in the way, and she can feel her blood boiling a bit. Its accompanied by the usual sting the memory brings, but she ignores it.

Okay, so maybe Nat's in the right here.]

Maybe... yeah, I should. There's got to be a way I can help, and we're going to need all the help we can get.

[Another shrug.]

That, or you let them leave you behind again. Pretty much sound like your options. As long as you keep letting them leave you behind, it sounds like they will, and they'll do it in your best interests. And you'll be left behind, and miserable.

If you want to fight, fight. Just learn how to do it right, at least, so you can prove them wrong.

Right. I'll definitely try. We do tend to get separated a lot, but that's all the more reason I should learn how to fight. [Fate, and Xehanort, likes to screw with them and keep them apart.] I do know how to use a sword. Somewhat. I always watched Sora and Riku when they practiced. [Sora was pretty impressed. And Riku was not at all surprised. And maybe a little proud. It was kind of hard to tell, though, since he was still in Ansem Form and made an effort to hide what he was feeling.] Though I don't know hand to hand or how to use magic.

I can help with hand to hand. At least teach you enough to defend yourself. Magic's a little out of my wheelhouse, though. Seems like there's no shortage of it, here--I'm sure you can find someone to teach you, if you've got the ability.

[Kairi hadn't struck her as the magical sort, but you never could know--especially here. No one was exactly what they seemed, not even her. Especially not her.]

[That offer totally brightens up Kairi. Not enough to make her just up and forget why she's been so upset, but enough to at least get her mind off of it, for now.]

Really? You can teach me? I'd love to learn!

[Kairi's not worried about the magic. She's not sure if she can do it, either, though many from her world seem at least capable. The augment might not let her do it, anyway. But hand to hand? Yes please.]

I can try to teach you. I'm not exactly the best instructor.

[It's caution in her voice, not derision. She's got all the faith necessary in Kairi's ability to learn, but it would be different, teaching someone like her as opposed to someone like Mal, who already had the basic fighting skills and aptitude. But she'd try. It'd make her feel a little more comfortable about things, and besides, it might keep Kairi a little distracted from this funk. Keep her from thinking about their current predicament, as well.]

Well, I don't want you to feel like you have to or anything, especially if you're not comfortable. But if you're willing to try, so am I.

Come by the Windrose sometime. No promises, but we'll see.

[She's already teaching Mal to dance--what's one more set of lessons?]

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