gardeningaia | on Thursday afternoon

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on Thursday afternoon

[Filtered from Hope, written]

I heard it takes a week for people to be revived. Is that just "about"? Sometimes it can be longer? [The top quickly scribbled out to leave only a period.] Li ~~She's la~~

[There's a sudden break into voice when Aerith mutters:] I feel sick. [She still has to check on Hope... she doesn't know what to say with Lightning not returning--yet. Because she is returning. ]

If anyone sees Lightning, tell her she's in trouble... [Not like it'll make her come faster.] ... for worrying people.

[Action (if people want?) open to Zack, Hope, people passing through the first two floors of C4, as she'll be passing through them herself later. Allie, if you want to do a backdated thread instead to play out her breaking the news, that's cool too? Up for anything, even if Aerith isn't quite. She's looking drawn and paler, despite the sun being out more.]

[ooc: Lightning will be back soon! Part of why this is dated to Thursday. I have to work, so responses will come in about six hours.]

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[She has been dreading telling Hope since even before Lightning's death--but then there was the faint hope that she wouldn't have to tell him anything, because Lightning wouldn't die, Lightning would tell Hope herself that she'd made it.

Lightning's dead, and now there is nothing to buffer that anxiety about how Hope will take things.]

I'll come and tell you.

Where are you now?

[His hands are shaking and clammy now, feeling as if he'd gone cold. "I'll?" He definitely caught that Aerith had only referred to herself, alone, and only intended to speak to him alone.

What could have happened?

Hope sets the journal aside for a moment, attempting to find his bearings. Several thoughts swirl through his head, some of them denial. Lightning wouldn't let anything happen to herself. She's too tough to go down so easily, especially when she didn't want to fight in the first place. Right?

But her brand—

Is this what she meant by Hope needing to stay here?

He exhales slowly, wrapping his arms around himself as he waits for Aerith to either respond or simply go ahead with coming by.]

Close. Don't worry. Be there soon! [After all... shaky hands make for shaky handwriting. It's not hard to catch onto the distress.

If her own writing has a more jagged edge than usual... it's rather understandable, considering what's happened.

There's a knock on the door, and Aerith's voice:]

Hope?

[That was awfully fast. Aerith would hear a couple of thumps and a shuffle, a faintly scolding voice and the opening and closing of a door; a pattering of feet and the front door's abruptly yanked open.

Sans excited puppy, and Hope's expression is very serious, eyebrows knit.]

Where's Lightning.

[Her eyes press shut, a long wince, and she tries to smile calmly as she begins, but it trembles and then cracks, her expression pained.]

Sh-she.. She'll be back next week.

[ooc: btw, are you fine with others getting involved with trying to fix Hope's brand? I meant to check over AIM but my connection is being really... really... stupid.]

[He stares at her, long and hard, watching the shift in expressions. This isn't anything good.]

What does that mean...?! Where is she?

[His voice is terse, though it's quiet.]

[ooc: Sure! Though he might put up a fuss about the whole thing at first. :|a]

... She died yesterday, during the battle. [Her voice is kept low, trying to control it.]

[Hope's expression doesn't change, but he reaches to grasp at the doorjamb until his knuckles go white. His face seems to drain of its colour.]

Where... where is she...? [Quieter now, as if he hadn't heard the news he'd been given at all - though it's obvious he did.]

[She winces at that response at first, her hand drawing to her chest, and then she reaches out to put both hands on his shoulders reassuringly.]

She'll be back, Hope. You'll see her again. [She takes a breath, looking at his face.] People come back here.

I need to... um... [His voice is shaky, and it cracks a little. From the look on his face, he may not have heard those reassuring words at all.]

I... I need to sit down... [One slow step is taken toward the direction of the couch, and then his legs buckle beneath him. First he collapses onto his knees, and then he presses his hands to either side of his face, slumping in a strange sort of crouch onto the floor.

An insistent scratching and a couple of whines, followed by Baldr's voice calling his name floats down the corridor that would lead to his room, but Hope doesn't move or give it any kind of acknowledgment. All that he can hear, and see, is that horrific scene on the bridge—the explosions, the screams of terror, and watching the most important person in his life fall to her death.

Except now it's Lightning he sees in her place.]

[Even Aerith has her limits. The knowledge of that against the urge to encourage Hope more, the fear that her reassurances might turn out false in a week, and the thought--that sometimes a smile and humor can't fix things, or even help one tiny bit--those all combine, and tears spring up.

She raises her hands as her breath turns shaky, covering her eyes. She swipes the tears with the heels of her palm, her fists clenching in the palm of her hand.]

Hope... try to be strong. You can't give up.

What do you know!? [Hope shouts in reply, a sudden, impulsive reaction that tears its way out of him before he can even quell it.] Lightning was all I had in this stupid place... and you're telling me to be strong?!

[One fist meets the floor with a loud thud, and fragile knuckles throb in protest, but it's barely felt. Like a curtain slowly being drawn back to allow the sunlight to filter in, so do the words Aerith had uttered moments before — but it's not enough. It's not enough.]

"People come back here"?! Are you insane or something? Just... get out of here! Leave me alone!

[He bows his head, choked sounds twisting from his throat, hands pressed against his eyes.] Just... leave me alone...

I'm not insane, I'm here! [She came back, so Lightning would... she was alive, so Lightning would be...

But she never told Hope she died and he's not in a good state. She's not in a good state, and that urge to leave has now been enabled. She backs up.] I'm sorry, Hope. I'll come back to check on you later.

[Her hand is reaching for the doorknob. There really is only so much she can take between this and going through the draft itself. She's found a limit.]

[He can see her shadow across the floor, and as it retreats, a small hand shoots out as if to grab Aerith's wrist in childlike earnest - but the distance between them is far too great. Hope struggles to lift his head.]

... wait, I'm s—

[The boy grimaces a little, reaching to hold onto his wrist instead as it throbs painfully, fingers tinged with a strange, translucent bluish hue from the light obscured beneath them.]

--Hope? [She's already looking to him when he says "wait", and then he stops; he's holding his--oh, god.] Hope-- [She darts back to him, kneeling, reaching her arms around him.] Try to calm down. Breathe. [Breathe, she tells herself, because it won't help Hope if she gets upset. If he hadn't said anything...] I'll stay or go, whatever you want.

Nnh— [He winces, fingers tightening their hold on himself, gritting his teeth. The light burns out again and there's a numbness that spreads up over his forearm, followed by an odd tingling sensation—as if he'd just regained circulation. It's all over in a few long seconds, but when his hand falls away...

His l'Cie brand is different: another black arrow, another waking moment for the eye in the center.

Hope's gaze lingers on the marking for a moment, expression blank, unreadable. Then he closes his eyes.]

I'm sorry.

[She looks at the brand as he does, her throat growing tight. She just hugs Hope at first so that nothing will need to be said. Then:]

You don't need to apologize. Just worry about yourself.

[He's quiet for a moment, attempting to gather his thoughts. Pain and anger have now given way to a resigned sort of sorrow, settling in him like a great heavy stone. The brand's advancement is a painful but necessary reminder: do not succumb to despair.

It would be too easy to paint Aerith as a scapegoat, just because she was there alongside Lightning, but it wouldn't be right. If Lightning herself was powerless to what had claimed her, there was no way Aerith could have stopped it either - and she would have done everything in her power to do so. Hope already knows that much about her, at the very least.]

...is she really going to come back? [He shifts as if he were to look up at her, but stops partway, leveling a gaze on his own hands instead. His voice is barely audible, reflecting the numbness inside, but it's still earnest.]

Other people have. [Her own voice softens quite a bit when she quietly confesses:] I have. I died once, but I'm here now... that's why I believe Lightning will come back too.

[He's the first person she's actually told, and she's aware of the significance, her hand resting on her stomach... but it's not a sad thing, like this. It's a reason to hope.]

[Hope does look up at her this time, surprised, before lowering his eyes again.]

I... I'm sorry. I didn't know.

[There's a little surge in his heart—if what she's saying is true, then there's a chance he'll see Lightning again. Yet there's still that bit of skepticism, not necessarily directed at the validity of Aerith's own recollection but more about this place in general. He hasn't personally seen anyone return, so he has doubts about the consistency of such a concept.

But he tries to hold onto whatever optimism he can muster anyway. He needs something to fight for, after all, even if merely existing is that fight.]

Hm. It's not something I really go around announcing. [She tries to go for a lighter tone, raising a hand to lightly pat his hair, but the somberness is hard to keep out when she goes on:] I'm sorry, having to tell you all this... is there anything I can do? Anything you want?

[Small fingers reach for her wrist, curling around it.] Thanks. I'm... I don't need anything right now. Maybe I should sleep.

[And never wake up until this is all over, he silently adds to himself. He hadn't really slept at all during the battle, and he probably wouldn't be able to hold anything down if the churning in his gut is any indication.]

I'm glad you're okay... for what it's worth. I'm really glad.

[Her hand stills once his fingers make contact, Aerith taking the hint and quietly taking her hand back.

It's... really good to hear though, that he's not angry with her.]

Thanks. ... I'll let you rest up, then. If you do need anything, Zack and I are just downstairs. [And they will be checking on him, of course.]

[It's actually meant as a reciprocal (if not slightly clinging) sort of gesture rather than a cease-and-desist, but regardless, when Hope feels her withdraw he gives that wrist a light squeeze before letting his grip fall away again.]

All right. Um... I guess I'll see you later, then.

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on Thursday afternoon

[Action] okay

[Action] sorry about the lateness, was out of town for the weekend /)(\

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