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first

Who: Uchiha Sasuke
Broadcast: Fleetwide!
Action: Marsiva
When: This very moment.

(broadcast)

[ Sure there are bound to be the occasional less-than-thrilling broadcasts but this one may be a new low, with the camera focused in on a nondescript blob that turns out -- with some acquired distance -- to be a knee. The feed shakes then and there's the loud metallic tap tap of the device being knocked against the framework of one of the generic cots aboard the Marsiva. Tap. Tap. Tap. The only other sound is that of the painfully bland music in the background, without a word being spoken.

At least this inept user finally turns the communicator around to inspect it at another angle, granting any viewer a flash of dark and impractically spiked hair before the camera then focuses on equally shadowed eyes and a severe expression.

No, he's not going to panic. He probably already did that internally before he even tried to figure out the communicator ~~less than successfully~~. Send aid. ]

(action)

[ Sasuke will be easy to encounter either sitting on that cot and fiddling with his communicator, exploring the bay thoroughly, or staring with incredible and difficult-to-read intensity out into the murky void of space. Godspeed. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She understands several general aspects. [ What Konoha is, how to use chakra, what it means to be a shinobi or a samurai or a civilian. But... the overlap in their lives has shrunk spectacularly in recent years; talking to her in a way that's more than an exchange of information sounds difficult. ]

My responsibility isn't to emulate another version of me she knew at one point.

No, your responsibility is to yourself, and what that means now.

[ so -- they're in general agreement. but -- ]

... I used to be in this world called Adstringendum, and when I arrived there, it was right after I... put myself back on the right path. So I knew what I wanted to accomplish, but I hadn't actually done anything yet. But the people there had no idea who I was, or what I had done, or hadn't done. So I didn't tell them.

[ which had been... freeing, really. and nice. really, really nice. ]

People knew that something had happened to me, or I had done something, but no one knew the actual truth because I didn't tell them. But someone from my world showed up a few months later and she knew me as someone who had destroyed... a lot of what she had cared about. And she told everyone -- and luckily, most of the people that I had already met understood why I hadn't told anyone, but it was a hard lesson to learn in trust. And honesty.

[ pause ]

The version of you that I knew there told her to shut up, it made it a lot worse than it already was.

[ katara and sasuke, if zuko remembered correctly, did not get along swimmingly at first. ]

[ Katara and Sasuke generally just sounds like a Bad Mix. ]

... it doesn't sound like she was unjustified in saying what she did. [ If someone like Danzou showed up here Sasuke certainly wouldn't hold himself back from warning everyone he knew about the disgusting nature of his past actions. Still, though... ] If I was close to you I can understand why I'd react that way, however.

Are you trying to advise me to air my crimes as public knowledge?

She was completely justified in saying, and doing, what she did.

[ zuko still wonders why katara cares about him to this day, tbh. ]

[ but then zuko stares a bit blankly and immediately shakes his head, holding up his hands. ]

No -- no. Please don't.

[ THAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU SHOULD DO. ]

I'm just trying to tell you that -- time works weirdly in places like these, and if you're not telling her because you don't want her to find out, chances are -- she might find out anyway. I should have told the friends that I made in Adstringendum the truth before someone else could, but I didn't. That's my point.

[ And again there's the word 'friend' with a reference to Ino just before it. Has he said more than two words to her in their world in five years?

He can't remember. ]

Already she's been told a number of secrets about me and my life by people that are just phantoms to me. [ Even if one of them is himself. It feels like a crushing invasion of privacy, but then it isn't as if that's not the case here with Zuko either. ]

If she asks me directly for more information, I'll consider answering her. But if someone else comes here and chooses to put me on trial again before I do... It won't be the first time. I'm ready to accept that too.

Welcome to the club, it happens to me all the time.

[ at least zuko has the grace to say it a bit tiredly. a lot of people here knew him, which didn't bother him so much. it bothers him that they all seem to be intimately familiar with his batshit crazy sister, but there's not much to be done about that. ]

It's your life, Sasuke; you can choose to share it with whoever you want. As long as you know that it doesn't always work.

[ obviously. considering their conversation. ]

One thing I've learned over the years is how to have fewer expectations for life. That includes in my dealings with people. [ And he's so emotionally constipated that he's become incredibly good at keeping himself repressed and therefore able to deal with severe anger and general depression remarkably well. Sort of. Maybe this isn't the healthiest form of self-control. ]

I won't be disappointed if my talks go badly. [ He's not really a shining beacon of hope or anything. ]

... it's still a little hard to believe that you know this much about me and still are maintaining this conversation. [ Sort of like how he never understood Naruto doing the same thing. ]

I've concluded that you have extremely shit taste in people.

[ zuko seemed to be expecting something entirely different out of that train of thought, so there's a blink before a surprised short laugh escapes. it's more of an incredulous exhaled breath than anything else, but it still counts. ]

Maybe.

[ it's a very likely possibility. ]

You don't know anything about me, right now, except for the fact that I probably get it. You might change your mind after you know more.

[ pause ]

But probably not, you are a pretty terrible person.

[ it's said with no malice, though ]

Sure. [ Thanks, man, thanks for that. ]

I know that you're likely royalty coming into your leadership role, that you "bend" fire, that you're somewhat awkward socially and are struggling with performing your augmented role here as a result, that you're trying to redeem yourself for past actions, and that you carry a lot of complicated feelings about your family.

I wouldn't say I know nothing.

[ oh well you know it's good to know sasuke does listen under all of that ]

Mostly right.

[ he would take offense to 'socially awkward' but it's entirely true.

but zuko is pretty clear on how he feels about his family. there's nothing complicated about it. except for his mother. ]

Edited 2016-01-18 03:22 (UTC)

[ STILL COUNTS ]

Which parts were incorrect?

[ well. ]

... my father, the former Fire Lord, Ozai, is a lunatic who continued a war that killed thousands of people, and conquered millions more. He's responsible for the death and destruction of more innocent lives than I can count. And my sister, Azula, was complicit in that. Neither of them have any role in my life now, outside of being jailed for their crimes in the dungeons of the royal palace.

[ zuko doesn't hate them, and he hasn't forgiven them. but both of them have no role in his new kingdom. ]

My father is also the reason why my mother is probably dead.

[ talking about his mother causes a heavy weight to settle in his throat, but he'll just ignore it. ]

My feelings about them aren't complicated.

[ the rest, though, is fairly accurate. ]

Edited 2016-01-18 03:35 (UTC)

[ Sasuke listens quietly and it's a hell of a lot for a first conversation with someone but he's never shirked away from harsh truths -- at least, not about people he's not related to. Part of him wants to say he hadn't intended to force him to share that but Zuko's done it on his own; acting otherwise would be a disservice to his honesty. ]

... I understand. I won't use that wording a second time, then. [ It's a little awkward and stiff but he isn't quite sure how to express sympathy in any decent way despite feeling it. ]

It sounds difficult. [ No shit. ]

No more or less difficult than your burdens.

[ zuko doesn't comment on the understanding, because doing so would be awkward, and he doesn't need to say anything in order for it to be understood. ]

You can't choose your family.

[ but you can choose whether or not you want to be an active part of said family, and zuko has cut his ties ]

It feels wrong to compare. [ That's something he'd done with Naruto and was one of the things he was more ashamed of, trotting out the tally of his losses and abuses to pin them against Naruto's and showcase how he didn't understand enough. When he was angry it was the only argument that had made sense. ]

... but you're right, you can't. I wish I could say that my own feelings weren't complicated on the issue.

Maybe they weren't meant to be simple, then.

[ zuko has met a lot of sasuke's family. madara. itachi. izuna. sasuke's mother. zuko would feel complicated, too, if he was in that mess. and if zuko were truly honest with himself, his own feelings about his family are complicated.

azula and ozai, after all, aren't dead.

zuko draws in another breath, letting it out slowly. ]

I'm sure my opinion would change if one of them somehow managed to show up here.

[ azula would be his responsibility. he could deal with azula. ozai -- well. hopefully ozai dies en route and zuko won't have to deal with him. ]

[ Itachi is definitely the hardest one for him to see but also the one he wants to see the most. Emotional masochism at its finest. ]

I'm stronger because of what I've been through. [ That's the truth and maybe that in itself was 'fate' -- or part of Itachi's complex design -- but he's spent the last few months spitting in fate's face in order to deny the cycle his family started. Now what? ] That's the most I can say about it.

It's better for me, and likely also better for you, if we're left alone.

It's best for the both of us.

[ just an affirmation that sasuke is right, a quiet hum of agreement. zuko wants no part of his crazy family drama in the fleet. he wouldn't say no to iroh, or if his mother miraculously managed to turn up here, but the rest of them? they can stay. and rot. ]

These worlds don't always care about that, though.

[ zuko won't go into detail, or press sasuke into talking, but -- it is possible, that those people sasuke doesn't want to see can and will turn up. he should be prepared, at least, for the possibility. ]

For now, though, I've been lucky.

Aa. I already heard from Ino that it's possible for the dead to show up here. [ Another blunt testimonial to previously acquired knowledge; if they're discussing his family then the word 'alive' isn't about to crop up anytime soon. He spent so long thinking he was the only one aside from his brother, then after learning that he wasn't expending even more energy to kill the ones that were left. Another Uchiha tradition, maybe. ]

We had differing views on the matter.

[ well, at least ino was the one to break that news, because zuko didn't want to do it. he's not really surprised to hear that ino and sasuke disagreed, and he can also guess who felt which way. ]

... I've never had it happen to me, from my world.

[ at least, not with people he cares about. who gives a fuck about jet. ]

But I've met people who are supposed to be dead, and I've had friends meet people that... were supposed to be dead, too.

[ like. sasuke. ]

It's never a simple thing.

[ He can't even wrap his head around the concept right now, too intimidated by it to even gauge what his own reaction would be. Anger? Sadness? Guilt? Even Obito and Madara could bring some of that with them, two men that he aided for a short while despite their intentions. ]

In my world... it's possible to give the dead life again, but the price is always very high. Forbidden techniques can bring someone back underneath your command as long as you have a body for them to possess, and I've had to face people I knew under those circumstances.

It's not just the dead that need to move on from the living world. The living also need to move on from the dead. They should stay in their graves.

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