onepassingnight | [008 ☿] Cliff-Diving

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[008 ☿] Cliff-Diving

[There's a gorgeous view from up here: a rocky cliff face overlooking the sea. The breeze plays with her hair as Ami waits at the very highest point, right on the edge. She looks down, an angle likely to give vertigo but she only grins broader.

She's going to jump.

She lets go, and her body suddenly looks so small against the backdrop of open sky as she plummets towards the water and sinks beneath the waves. The movement is a thrilling rush and the moment she's immersed, she smiles. She lets herself stay there, savoring the feeling, and she rises to the surface only reluctantly and belatedly.]

(ooc: not necessarily theme, but I'm open to theme antics as well if anyone wanted to catch her here for them; let me know)

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[He's so wrong. That Usagi has already destroyed her own world's future, too, condemning her entire galaxy to a final death, not caring - again - about the ones who should have been most precious to her. Not even enough to leave them a world. Not even enough to leave them alive.

Or perhaps she'd leave Cloud alive. Ami, she most certainly wouldn't. Ami had never mattered to her at all, any more than Ami had ever mattered to any Usagi anywhere.]

It was worth it. It was necessary. That girl will repeat the same fate again if she's given any chance. It's happened, in one way or another, in too many worlds, again and again in each world.

Her alternates, too.

[that makes him blink and he looks over at Ami, pale brows rising slightly. The world she lives in seems to get more complicated each time she tells him something new. And he'll take the distraction while he lets what she's already said, settle, giving him time to mull it over.]

Alternates?

Edited 2011-07-30 09:27 (UTC)

[She bears the marks, if pride would allow her to show them: the scars from the horrible burns the last time she encountered the princess, surrounded by fire and heading for a nearby residential area.]

The barriers between worlds were already weakening. Different dimensions. Because of that, I've met her again and again; others, too. I've seen what she's done again and again.

She's the same everywhere. Nothing has changed.

[She's still the same girl who'll never look at Ami. She's still the same girl who only cares for the prince. She's still the same girl who could throw away everything for him, not even thinking of the people she claims to love.]

In the end, it remains the same, too. She'll be forgiven, no matter what she's done, without her even giving her crimes a second thought.

I won't.

Edited 2011-07-30 09:37 (UTC)

[perhaps the Usagi he knows is one of those alternates then. Listening to Ami talk though... he thinks he understands. Just - a little. Because he's been the one no one praised, the one that everyone ignored at best and looked down on and blamed at worse. Not that it's the same - but he can understand, a little, the open wound that doesn't go away just because you're an adult. Looking back out at the horizon, he makes a soft noise. To show he's heard, that he's hearing, but other than that he doesn't offer anything else for a long time. AVALANCHE did a lot of things in their time that were crimes and unforgivable - and yet they did them with the best intentions. Better than him. He was just doing it for the money. For the sense of purpose when he was so lost. For Tifa. Sins of the past, even necessary ones, always weigh heavy and his sins are less excusable than trying to save a world.

One of his sins almost destroyed his world.

He comes back to the same thing he comes back to in his own mind when that particular sin crops up in his head.]

But you still saved the world.

[She was the one taken for granted: they just thought she'd always be there. Then one day, she wasn't. One day, there was a man who wanted her to be there with him. And she went to him.

It's not that simple, of course, though she could tell that part of the story as if it is, forgetting that she'd fought him as hard as she could until that very moment his spell made everything dark, forgetting even the struggle he put her through as her mind tried not to give in to the evil energies of Metalia he exposed her to, as her body hurt, as she lay sick and weak before the spell was finally fully set.]

That planet is ours. We won't hand it over or let it be destroyed.

[Possessive and clinging, and yet saving.]

[he makes another soft sound. What more is there to say? Salvation always comes with a price. Forgiveness for paying that price though... he doesn't know. He hasn't found his yet. Isn't sure if there is any for him. There are worse things than dedicating yourself to saving an entire world though. He doesn't for a moment think Ami's choice was an easy one or that it doesn't cost her. It's in her sharp, too brittle way of saying things sometimes. But she made it and did what she had to do.

What more is there?

Abruptly, he sits down on a nearby rock and starts taking off his heavy boots.]

Than I guess I should enjoy it while I'm here, huh?

What?

[Not what she expected. Ami shoots Cloud an almost suspicious look. If he is not exonerating her, at least he is not defending the destroyer - at least to her face.

She hadn't expected acceptance. Simple, pure, readiness to move onward. It's a tantalizing thought, to make ready to heal the scars of the past.]

[his boots hit the rocks with distinctive thumps and his socks come next. Freeing the strap across his chest, he looks up at her, eyes clear and mild. Acceptance is easy for him and he doesn't even really think of it consciously.]

You asked if I'd jump with you. I think I will.

[The shoulder guard falls next and this time when he looks up at her with his blue eyes there's a spark in them as he starts to strip off his gloves.]

Unless you've chickened out on me.

[Oh, Cloud, teach her to do that: To listen, to think, to judge, to decide, to act - and not to become trapped in it, stagnant; to be able to move forward and leave it behind once it's over.

Picking up his mood, she tosses her head and manages that sly, mischievous, sharp smile.]

What you should worry about, Cloud Strife, is keeping up with me!

[With that, she's off and ready to head for the dive.]

[Cloud's great at that... unless you expect him to apply it to himself. That's a different story entirely. But at the moment, he's letting his duster drop next to the boots and pulling his shirt over his head. Despite the obvious scar at almost the center of his chest, wallowing in his own past isn't foremost in his mind. Instead, he's chasing after Ami, headed for the edge of the cliff without hesitation and there's a slightly cocky set to his lips.]

Try me.

[She reaches the edge and, as if she's lost all sense of caution, she simply jumps.

She has no fear, when the water will receive her anyway. But as she falls, she turns the move into a dive.],/i>

[he's not far behind and the muscles on his legs launch him clear of her fall. His body isn't entirely natural anymore and the fall doesn't bother him even from this height. He can clear close to that distance in a jump. There's the thrill of the fall all the same though and the pleasure of knowing he's in full control of himself as he arches down. The dive when he hits the water is smooth and surprisingly graceful and he lets it take him all the way down to the bottom of the lake. It's a moment of rush and a moment of freedom. His fingers brush the rock and weed of the bottom and he pushes back to the surface.]

[When Cloud surfaces, Ami is shaking the water from her hair, cutting out the annoyance of letting it drip down her face and neck.]

You're pretty good after all. Congratulations on being able to stay with me.

[his arms shift through the water slow, keeping him up and he shakes his head, sending water scattering from his spikes. His eyes are smiling though and even floating, he manages to shrug.]

I said I would.

[She doesn't believe much in what people say.

But with Cloud, she's starting to a little. Leisurely strokes keep them close to each other.]

Was it fun? [She wants to hear yes.]

[he knows what she wants to hear. He's not an Ami expert by any means but he's starting to recognize certain things. He means it though when he smirks and shoots her a look from his blue eyes.]

I guess I know the answer to 'if everyone jumped off a cliff, would you?' now. The answer is 'yeah, 'cause it's fun'.

The question has no meaning anyway. [This, from the girl who a few years ago probably would have dressed up in a lemming costume to boot. She'd done anything to finally try to fit in.]

Each situation is different.

Hm.

[he agrees but he seems to remember already having this conversation and he's never been very good at arguing theories or morality or philosophy. Not even for fun or to pass the time. Words have never been his strong suit and he can guess that Ami could debate him around in a circle if she wanted to. And he doesn't doubt she would too, just for fun, if the opportunity presented itself. She'd clever enough.

Today though he's content with the water and the company and that's enough.]

I'll make sure I never use that question on the kids then.

[No, the question is useless; there are other ways to make the people around her accept her. She'd enjoyed being the queen of the class and the school, and watching Tsukino Usagi taste loneliness for once, the girl who always made it so clear how far Ami was from having friends before then.

Justice. Revenge.]

Just tell them not to jump off a cliff. [She grins.] Until they're ready.

Edited 2011-08-04 04:38 (UTC)

[it brings a snorted sound from him that just might be laughter. Solemnly, he nods.]

Not until they're ready.

(ooc. good place to end?)

(ooc: Sure! Was fun as always!)

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[008 ☿] Cliff-Diving

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