001. grain of sand

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

[ The first thing you hear is the ocean.  There is a slight fog.  Bobby remembers going outside, but he doesn't remember how long he's been on the beach.  And he begins to realize this might be a dream.  He is laying on the sand and sits up.  He wonders if this is going to turn into a nightmare or not.]

Comments

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

Nice. Can you do this?

[He starts building an elaborate ice sculpture on the sand.]

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[There's suddenly an Ice Ami. She grins. But the point isn't her admitted competitiveness.]

It's rare to find someone else who can do that.

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

[Bobby starts constructing a scene with the ice, a street with other ice people.]

Been like this more than half my life. I've had some time to work on it.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[After awhile spent in silence, while she turns away from Bobby to look over the street scene, Ami speaks again. If they're this similar, perhaps she can say more.]

I had what they call a 'past life'. Back then, I had all these abilities from the start.

This time, I didn't know about them until a few years ago.

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

'Past life'? What's that supposed to mean?

Well, mine's genetic. I guess I've been like this all my life but the X-gene doesn't really start to show until you're a teenager. Is that what happened to you?

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

No. That was just when I learned about the past life and awakened my powers. Reincarnation.

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

Riiiight. I don't really believe in reincarnation.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

I don't need you to, to know it's true.

[She dismisses the objection that easily; whether the assurance is true or not, she plays it well.]

Most people I know would call your powers impossible, too.

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

You're not from my world then. Powers aren't much of a surprise anymore.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

You noticed it pretty quickly. [With that giant clue, granted, but she knows plenty of people who would have overlooked it. She smiles, sly.]

Tell me about the situation in your world, then.

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

[Bobby looks at her skeptically but goes along.]

In my world, we're called mutants. People who have the abilities we do. We've been around for a while.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Mutants? Sounds like an SF movie, if it were in my world. [She says this mildly, though; hadn't she just pointed out magic Bobby doesn't believe in exists in hers?]

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

[shrugs]

I like the latest Star Trek movie as much as next person but we're real. There used to be a lot of us.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Used to be? Why not now? [She's alert suddenly, because many scenarios at once present themselves to her mind, none of them pleasant.]

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

[Bobby pauses as he tries to figure out how to answer that.]

Long answer, lots of stuff happened with reality shifts and whatnot. Short answer, magic. There's about 200 mutants left in my world now.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

In my world, on the whole planet, there are eight people with power.

[Herself, the four shitennou, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. The other senshi are either dead, or their power broken.

She says it matter-of-factly, quoting a number.]

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

Eight? Just eight?

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Just eight. [One from each of the planets they came from, originally; and the shitennou who once defended Earth.]

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

Can't imagine just having eight mutants around. The race would probably just die out then.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Didn't I say it: Even if that happened, without interference, we'd be born again.

[A frustration she won't allow when it comes to the moon princess; she knows how to end even a senshi. But the others- Some day, perhaps, she will face them again.]

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

So you get a do-over every time? You remember everything from your "past life"?

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

It's not like that. [But instead of a rapid, defensive response, she's simply trying to explain it better.]

It's not that clear. Some of us remember more than others. [She pauses before adding what was always important, and what she thinks was true:]

I remember.

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

I don't get these rules very well but that doesn't matter.

Uh, good for you.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[He did ask.]

Did you understand your powers even when you were small?

[no-icy-limits.livejournal.com]

Didn't know I had them when I was small.