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intraspectiveReally, it had been a month and a half now and Ino had to admit that she was—feeling better. Between her father teaching Zack (and water walking had proved to be quite a hilarious thing to watch) and her father teaching her, she was feeling useful and busy without it being anything too taxing.
She hadn’t seen either of her previous teammates, which stung, but Ino stomped down firmly on that as she disentangled her mind from her father’s and ignored his look. It wasn’t the first time she’d avoided… whatever it was he’d wanted to talk about.
And she doubted it would be the last.
“That’s enough for now,” he said, after a moment. “How about you go and get some air?”
It was phrased as a suggestion, but Ino was well used to her father’s orders. With a quick kiss to his cheek, she left the room, went down the long, dark hall and out into the sunshine. It was a lovely day—February, already, which made her head hurt if she thought too hard about the days and how they related to Fandom—but, Ino thought, as she leaned against the balcony and pulled out her phone, hitting speed dial, maybe all that time had been what she’d needed.
And, across universes, her phone call reached…
[For ze raspberried one. Mwahaha. NFB.]
She hadn’t seen either of her previous teammates, which stung, but Ino stomped down firmly on that as she disentangled her mind from her father’s and ignored his look. It wasn’t the first time she’d avoided… whatever it was he’d wanted to talk about.
And she doubted it would be the last.
“That’s enough for now,” he said, after a moment. “How about you go and get some air?”
It was phrased as a suggestion, but Ino was well used to her father’s orders. With a quick kiss to his cheek, she left the room, went down the long, dark hall and out into the sunshine. It was a lovely day—February, already, which made her head hurt if she thought too hard about the days and how they related to Fandom—but, Ino thought, as she leaned against the balcony and pulled out her phone, hitting speed dial, maybe all that time had been what she’d needed.
And, across universes, her phone call reached…
[For ze raspberried one. Mwahaha. NFB.]
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Date: 2010-12-27 11:18 pm (UTC)"I can't complain," she said, reaching for him. Did he want to sit with her? "But I'm pretty--empty."
In all senses of the word, truly.
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Date: 2010-12-27 11:26 pm (UTC)They didn't take care of the worst of the emptiness, but at least they helped with that hollow 'out of magic' feeling that always kind of left him feeling nauseous.
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Date: 2010-12-27 11:29 pm (UTC)"No," Ino said slowly. "I don't think that's going to help, those. Not with... everything."
Everything was a good word for it.
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Date: 2010-12-27 11:35 pm (UTC)At least the people that he'd gotten to the underground were still alive. That was... something, in the face of all of the other ways he'd been utterly useless, these past few days.
"It's kind of getting hard to breathe."
Figuratively, mostly. Though he had some broken ribs and a lot of bruising to contend with, which wasn't helping.
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Date: 2010-12-27 11:38 pm (UTC)Because this wasn't her home.
But it was supposed to be.
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Date: 2010-12-27 11:45 pm (UTC)"There's been a lot going on," he murmured, relishing that short reprieve from the pain. He had Elixirs to his name, but those were back on the island, in his room. The one time he figured he wouldn't have any need for them, that was when he'd spent the most amount of time in desperate need of them. "I'm about ready to go back to the island, too."
People were less... dead, there, generally.
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Date: 2010-12-27 11:52 pm (UTC)Did it make her an awful person for not wanting to be here?
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Date: 2010-12-27 11:57 pm (UTC)He looked up for a moment, at what was left around them.
"I think we've done everything that we can do," he offered, gently. He hated admitting it as much as he imagined she wouldn't like hearing it. But the longer he spent here, the more he just felt as though he was in the way. And this whole place... it was just hollowing Ino out. They couldn't stay.
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Date: 2010-12-28 12:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 12:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 12:08 am (UTC)"No," Ino's response was muffled but comprehensible. "Because this is their home."
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Date: 2010-12-28 12:20 am (UTC)"It isn't ours," he said softly. "I'll leave them my last four Ethers and one of my un-mastered Curaga. That's all we can really do for them, anymore."
If he gave them one that wasn't mastered, in the hands of somebody who wasn't SOLDIER, it would eventually spawn a Cure. And then someday that one would level and master and do the same.
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Date: 2010-12-28 12:25 am (UTC)There was nothing for them to do.
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Date: 2010-12-28 12:30 am (UTC)"We're leaving, then," he replied, softly. "I'll book the next portal out of here that I can manage. How much time will you need?"
He kind of suspected that she didn't want to do like he did, and just take off on her parents without saying goodbye.
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Date: 2010-12-28 12:32 am (UTC)"A few hours?" she said, not sure at all. "I don't know where my dad is right now."
Busy, always busy, though, while he helped coordinate the relief efforts.
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Date: 2010-12-28 12:39 am (UTC)"It'll probably take me about that long to get a portal out of here anyhow," he admitted.
Somebody hadn't forgotten the terminals last year in their attempt to get to Midgar for the tree lighting.
None of that, this year...
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Date: 2010-12-28 12:40 am (UTC)"Your arm--"
He shouldn't have been using it to hold her so tightly.
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Date: 2010-12-28 12:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 12:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 01:09 am (UTC)"Don't worry about it, okay? I'll be fine."
Anyhow, his legs were way more injured than his arm was.
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Date: 2010-12-28 01:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 01:31 am (UTC)Way, way more than that.
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Date: 2010-12-28 01:38 am (UTC)