2nd Crystal

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

[Bodhum, the beginning of everything. This is where the destinies of the six l'Cie intertwined, where everyone watched the same fireworks, and watched the same sunset. Then ultimately, tried to get purged.

But that was all different here. In this little dreamscape, there was no purging, no fal'Cie, no l'Cie, nothing. It was a peaceful marina beach-scape where there was nothing but the beautiful sunset that Bodhum was famous for, the water, and little beach houses and restaurant shacks.

Tourists bustled around, chatting animatedly about the upcoming fireworks for the evening, what they've done that day, or buying souvenirs.

But Vanille herself sat there, watching the sunset on the horizon of the ocean on a pier. This was the area where she met Serah.

What sort of company would grace her this time around?]

Comments

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[Why not? She's earned the chance to enjoy a simple pleasure.]

The best seat should still be near the water, to watch them explode over the waves.

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

[She shakes her head]

Over there!

[She points to a central area]

They fire them over there in a big dome. Follow me!

[She takes her hand again and skips off in that direction]

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[This time, Ami does pull her hand away, in a quick, firm motion.]

I can come on my own.

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

[She stops and looks back at her. Her smile falls a bit before pushing up another one to replace it]

Right. Sorry!

[She continues to lead her towards the main area where the dome was starting to form]

you are like, the Usagi she never had. I love you. <333

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[It's not Vanille's fault; Ami's never been very comfortable with touch, even at her best.

Somehow, as if she could turn back time and do it all over again, Ami finds herself following behind Vanille. She isn't sure how to feel about it, but something compels her forward, perhaps as simple as the desire to see where it ends.]

Is that the dome up ahead? It should be impressive at that rate.

Awwww~ ♥ Pigtails and all!

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

Mm-hmm!

[She leads her over, the sun almost completely gone now. She picks a spot close to the dome, but far enough away so that they weren't in any danger]

It's almost time.

[Her eyes were wide and sparkling]

/sob Ami needs you in her life, Vanille. <3 Forever.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

You really like this.

[As she gets used to Vanille, it's easier to separate her from the certain other cheerful pigtailed girl, and Ami relaxes some. Enough to smile at the moment, a slight smile that comes with a long, deep breath; the first deep breath it feels like she's taken in quite some time.

Maybe ending up here wasn't so bad.]

Could it be it has a special meaning to you?

/hugs. You can become a part of her family, too.

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

[She looks over at Mercury]

This is where it all started. Everyone I ended up caring most about wished on these fireworks once upon a time before we all knew each other and shared the same fate.

And maybe, they're watching them again, wishing about happy things with the people they care most about.

[She smiles wistfully and looks back up at the dome]

I hope they are.

/clings to. You may never get rid of her, Vanille. XD

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[She doesn't mean it cruelly, but it hits so close that the words come from her mouth almost before she even thinks about it.]

Doesn't that just mean you split up and went separate ways now?

[So much for togetherness. So much for that hope of coming back together that a foolish girl named Mizuno Ami once tried to hold even when she already knew it was hopeless.]

Oh dear~

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

[she looks at her]

Maybe. We didn't all live in the same place at first.

But I'm sure everyone still keeps in contact with each other. We all were really close.

[she looks down for a moment]

This is my world now. This is where I have to be.

[She smiles again]

But I think I know what I really want to wish for now.

/cackles evilly

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

We weren't. The people I thought were like that, just left each other.

[She doesn't even only mean herself, and she's not saying it for sympathy or pity. It's her triumph: breaking apart the senshi as proof of her claims their friendship had meant nothing.]

In a world where that's what happens, what wish are you making?

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

[Even though she's not saying it for sympathy, she can't help but give her a sympathetic look.]

I'm going to--

[BANG! The fireworks began]

Aaaah! Hahahaha! They're so pretty!

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[They are, and even Ami's face lightens, the tensions and disappoints forgotten for the moment. How long has it been since she's seen a fireworks display? There must have been once or twice over the past few years, but it's still such a rarity.

A beautiful rarity.]

How often do they have fireworks?

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

[She looks over]

Every year.

[She then bends her head, puts her hands together, and bends her middle and ring fingers on both hands]

I wish...everyone will be able to see each other again at Bodhum and that their wishes will also come true.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[She feels the vague pressure to make a wish. So without even thinking about it, flippantly, just as a faintly mocking echo of Vanille's own wish, she says it. She even mimics the gesture.]

I wish to meet again.

[She must mean meet Vanille again; no one else is here and even as a joke she wouldn't wish for the senshi.]

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

[She opens an eye and looks over at Ami. She can't help but smile to herself that she actually made a wish. That made her happy. Everyone should be able to make a wish and have a bit of hope that something miraculous will happen for them.

She opens her eyes again and drops her hands, looking up at the fireworks that burst in the dome]

I hope your wish comes true.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

I don't have any expectations of it.

[Though perhaps a tiny, tiny part of her made the wish because it would be nice to see Vanille again. She wants more of that light grace, that airy joy.]

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

I believe it will.

[She smiled genuinely towards Ami]

These fireworks are known to grant wishes, after all. If it didn't work, then the legend would have died by now, right?

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Legends aren't always true. They're the stories humans tell when they don't know the reality. They don't always get it right.

[She pauses, and adds.]

Not even often.

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

I still believe it.

[She looks back up at the fireworks]

The wish I made that day already came true. So yours will, too.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Do you believe that for someone like me?

[It comes with that skeptical smile, but she wants to know. Is there really someone-

Of course. Vanille can say these things because she doesn't know. The thought, the excuse, the rationalization comes to save Mercury from having to consider the other alternative: that Vanille has hope for her.]

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

Mm-hmm!

You bet!

[If a Pulse l'Cie, someone considered a monster in the eyes of Cocoon could get their wish fulfilled, then anyone could, no matter what.]

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

There's something you should learn quickly: There are people with nothing in them to make their wishes come true.

[pulsingrainbow.livejournal.com]

[She tilts her head]

What do you mean? If you made the wish, that's already the first step in making it come true.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

I'm not someone whose wishes just come true.

[And she can't help a pang of envy toward those who have lives and worlds that easy.]

I fight for anything I want.