23rd roar [ text ]; backdated to the morning of the 24th

[adamant]

[ Guess who saw the feed first thing upon waking and nearly flipped his shit? Yep. He flips it open to make some calls. ]

The empty base, and now this. Whatever it is they've got planned, it'll be best to stay on our guard.


[Private voicemail to: Cooper, Cooper, Sora, Ventus, Xion, Rise, Kisa, Nanako, Cecil, Yuffie:]
You're not hurt, are you? [ It's probably a good thing they can't see how worried he is. Suddenly--ping! ]

Error: user ID 'Yuffie Kisaragi' not found_

[ That's an unpleasant surprise. He checks his pokemon box--and finds Zuzu, looking forlorn. ]

[ Public text message sent out about an hour later: ]
If you knew Yuffie Kisaragi, she's been sent home.

[ He's just going to spend the rest of the day being grumpy and frustrated and torn between flying out to Goldenrod and staying on course to Blackthorn. ]

Comments

[Text]

[adamant]

Out.

[ Translation: let me be emotionally closed-off in peace, I don't want your comfort, waaah. ]

[Text]

[soggypastry]

I said where, Leon.

[Translation: out with it or I will flip this town to find you, and be very mad about it later.]

[Text]

[adamant]

[ HUFF HUFF OKAY FINE so whipped ]

Route 43, heading up to the lake. Want me to wait for you?

[Text]

[soggypastry]

[Good man, Leon. Good man.]

Yeah. I'll be there in ten minutes.

[action]

[adamant]

[ She'll find him with his back against a tree, his winter coat on against the chill, body turned north towards the lake. Lucky sits beside him, providing warmth. ]

[action]

[soggypastry]

[Lucky is liable to hear or smell Lightning's approach long before Leon does, but sure enough, it only takes Lightning ten minutes to get to where he's standing, scarf wrapped around her neck as her own coat keeps out the chill. She doesn't say a word when she reaches his side, and instead simply reaches out to give his shoulder a squeeze. Comfort, not pity. That's what she's offering right now; she knows how this feels and knows words won't ease it. He'll talk if and when he wants to, and she'll listen when that happens.]

[action]

[adamant]

[ She does, leaving Leon's side to go greet Light with a wagging tail and bright eyes. She obediently escorts Lightning right up to Leon, who only turns his face up to meet hers after she lays her hand on him. He covers her fingers with his and squeezes. ]

[action]

[soggypastry]

[Lucky's greeting earns her a pat on the head, even as Lightning holds her tongue for a moment longer. Leon will have to make the next step, but she can still do something, if he'll let her.]

You know I'm here if you need anything.

[action]

[adamant]

I know.

[ He does. She knows how he gets when he's like this, especially when he loses someone. ]

It's just...

[ He hates feeling powerless. He lets that unfinished sentence hang for a moment, then shakes his head, taking a step forward in the snow. ]

Let's walk.

[action]

[soggypastry]

[She knows, and she also knows that she doesn't like seeing him like this. Anything she can do to help, she will, but for now, she simply nods.]

Okay.

[She removes her hand from his shoulder, falling into step beside him and within reach if he wants to take her hand. Otherwise, she'll just be here. It's the least she can do.]

[action]

[adamant]

[ Normally he would take her hand, if this were just a simple pleasure walk. But his feelings of helplessness and guilt weigh on him. ]

I talked to Sora. Looks like your training did some good.

[action]

[soggypastry]

[If this was a pleasure walk, she'd have already reached out and clasped his hand with hers, but as it is, her thoughts are also elsewhere.

Her training did some good--Etro take it all, the timing can't be a coincidence.]

He was on the train, wasn't he?

[action]

[adamant]

[ He nods, grimly. ]

Sora, Nanako, Cecil, Ven and Xion...Yuffie told me she was going, but...

[ He trails off. She's gone now. He doesn't even know if she made it on the train at all. ]

[action]

[soggypastry]

But then she dropped off the map. [Just like Snow and Fang and Vanille. Signal still strong but not answering...seems to be a pattern. Could the Rockets have something to do with it? Hard to say for sure.]

It does explain why Ven and Xion didn't pick up their gears when I called this morning. They would have still be in the Center or asleep after that mess.

[action]

[adamant]

[ His boots crunch in the snow. ] I can't say for Ven, but I know Xion probably wasn't. [ He huffs frustratedly, creating a puff of white air. ] She was outside just this morning, looking like she broke half the bones in her body.

[ Make no mistake, it's not that he isn't proud of Xion for taking on the Rocket threat--it's doing it in a dumb way that allowed her to get violently hurt, when she was already weak. ]

[action]

[soggypastry]

[Leon's boots may crunch in the snow, but Lightning's have stopped for a moment. Xion...looking like she broke half the bones in her body...Etro dammit all. What are they going to do with that girl?]

We're going to have to have a long talk with her. Face to face so she can't hide by turning off the gear.

[action]

[adamant]

[ He turns to look at her, nose wrinkling. ]

We won't. She's not a small child. She's making conscious decisions. I don't think there's much we can do to change her mind, if she knows what she's doing is wrong, but she's doing it anyway. That, and she's not... [ Our responsibility. ] We're not... [ Her parents.

But he can't bring himself to say it. ]

[action]

[soggypastry]

[She meets his wrinkled nose with a stern look, arms crossing over her chest.]

You're right. We're not her parents, and she's not a toddler or our responsibility. But we're probably the only responsible ones she's got right now, and she's still a kid. Kids need help, Leon. You can't say that you'd leave Sora or Yuffie on their own if it was them like this, can you?

[She has a feeling she already knows his answer.]

[action]

[adamant]

[ He ducks his head a bit, ashamed that she so easily read him. ]

But this is different. Lightning...if I didn't know any better--[he isn't sure he 'knows better', in fact]--I'd say she wants to get hurt.

[action]

[soggypastry]

[Her stern look fades at that; she can guess what's going through his head because it's almost the same as what's going through hers.]

That's probably because she does. [She sighs, hands falling to her sides.] Leon, when someone thinks that little of themselves, they think they're worth less than people around them. They think they have nothing to lose and that others won't miss them. The only thing any of us can do to help is prove her wrong.

[action]

[adamant]

You think she's--?

[ He shakes his head in denial. He has doubts, sure, but it's not exactly something he wants to believe. ] No, no. That's impossible. Her self-confidence isn't that bad, just look at the way she was acting during training.

[action]

[soggypastry]

Because she had a purpose then. She had something to work towards, something that she thought made her life worth something. [She shakes her head; she has her own doubts as well, but that's just all they are. Doubts.]

But I don't think she'll go that far. Not yet. She cares about her team and her friends, and I doubt she'd leave them behind. But that doesn't mean she puts the same value on her life that the rest of us do. Not when she thinks she's worth less than us.

[action]

[adamant]

No, it's not something that would change so soon. [ She had to have been like this before training, and it breaks his heart to consider that it's probably true. He sighs, crossing his arms. ]

...I'm sorry.

[action]

[soggypastry]

That depends on the person, Leon. What's too soon for someone can be too late for another person. It's different for everyone. [She sighs now; this topic is a little to close for comfort, but---sorry? What's he sorry for?]

What are you apologizing for?

[action]

[adamant]

For... [ Being difficult about things. Being glum. Bringing up private griefs. Being a big baby. A whole variety of things. ] ...being a nuisance.