Night 1 | ~ Remember ~

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

[There is a sleepy town cast in the soft orange light of the setting sun. It is built on hills, so the brick streets of the town rise and fall in great slopes in some areas and gently rolls in others. At the very top of the highest hill, there is a clock tower perched atop a train station. When a world is trapped within perpetual sunset like this one, keeping track of the time is difficult, and so that tower is of the utmost importance, the ticking of its clock the heartbeat of the town.

Wherever you are in the town, there's a young teenager dressed in a black coat. The hood is drawn up to where his or her face is mostly obscured. On top of the clock tower, he or she -- it's surprisingly difficult to tell -- the teenager is sitting on the ledge, holding a light blue ice cream bar in one hand, staring out at the town below. Elsewhere, s/he can be found wandering around, as if exploring the streets, or standing awkwardly along the building walls.]



[ooc: A list of canonical locations in town is here, if you want it! All of Twilight Town is there to visit (except for Yen Sid's tower, since Xion doesn't exactly know that place exists).]

Comments

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

Yes. [It can. Her crime is existing. If she never existed, Roxas would still be alive, and Sora would have a better hope of waking up. Her crime is her fear. Sora could be woken, right now, if only she...]

Because... Because I need to give it back, and I... [The voice falters, then continues, weakly.] I can't.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

You're wrong.

If there's something you regret, you can't truly say you're sorry unless you try to make it right. Unless you do something. So if you have regrets, don't say words like 'I can't'.

Look for the way to do what you need to do.

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

[Both hands clasp on the ice cream stick.]

Even if it means the end of me.

[It isn't a question, not quite. This girl is right. Xion knows what has to be done.]

I made my decision... but then... [That voice breaks now, that breath hitches.] But then...

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[Not even a week ago, Ami stood at the grave of a man who held fast to his beliefs and his path, even when it took him to his death by his own hand three years past. She understands the difficulty, and the choice - enough to pretend to herself that she's accepted his.

But somewhere in her, she doesn't like it.]

Then? [She prompts for the rest of the story, for the tragedy of this world.]

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

Now he's gone --

[Speech is hurried, now, trying to rush past that part, that part, that part that words won't stick to, not even in thought]

-- and I... I... All that's left of him, it's with me, and I can't -- but it's the only way...

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[She understands so much more than she could ever say. She is all that's left of the man she mourned: his pupil, his protegee. And once, in a dream, she was able to accept her own death because she would live on in someone else.

Ami faces the cloaked figure directly now.]

If he exists inside you, then whatever came to you from him is already returned.

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

[The figure opens his or her mouth, but then closes it again.]

I... [blink. blink] I guess so...

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

You can choose to believe that, and live that way. [It's not entirely unfounded.]

So, what is it that makes you think something else is necessary?

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

Sora won't wake up if I don't go back to him.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Is his life worth someone else's? Isn't yours as valuable as his?

[Aren't those people killed indiscriminately worth more than the single life of Sailor Moon who killed them?]

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

His life is worth mine. [Her grip is so tight on the ice cream stick.] I never should've existed in the first place.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

You can say "should've" all you want, but you exist.

[It's more than what she was allowed, in the distant past of tens of thousands of years ago.]

Instead of 'should', make that existence what you want.

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

[quietly] I can't. [Because it needs to end.]

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

And if you decide to have regard for yourself instead, what will happen?

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

[in a small voice:] He won't wake up. His friends will stay sad. All the people counting on him... all the worlds...

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

All those people are wrong. Relying on just one person will only weaken a world. It doesn't matter who that person is.

[The one who was supposed to be their light, ideal, and salvation, is the one who destroyed them all instead. Light is, and always has been, a sham.]

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

[She shakes her head.] He's the only one who can stop Xemnas now. I'm not strong enough... [quiet:] I'm only half of him.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

That's also a lie. [It had been. The only power to stand up to Metalia had not been the destructive force of the princess. The only power to stand up to the princess had not been Metalia.]

When you're ready to understand that, you'll see other paths.

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

[Xion shakes her head.] It's the truth.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

If you believed that, would you still be here thinking about it uselessly?

Still, if you plan to just accept it, go ahead. If you want to disappear.

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

[Xion is quiet for a long moment.]

You're right... I should.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[That.. is unexpected, and for the moment the surprise shows plain on her face.]

You're saying that's acceptable to you?

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

Yeah. This life... It's never really been mine to begin with. I'm just... [Xion takes a deep breath and lets it out.] ... scared.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[She thinks of a man who had the determination to end his own life when he decided it was necessary and appropriate.]

If you're scared, will you find the purpose to follow your thoughts to action?

[irreversibly.livejournal.com]

[She's ashamed to admit this, and it's audible in her voice:] I don't know.