etraya | un: localflorist

( ooc ; likely spoilers for rebirth endgame chapters within )

[ One moment she's there, in her apartment, and the next...back on Gaia. With no memories of the city, the other world, where she'd been for months, fighting to save the planet she'd been unceremoniously returned to. And then...after so much on the home front, she'd found herself right back in Etraya: her memories of the time before in tact, as well as the memories of the things she'd been through in the interim. The things Cloud had already known about, but kept from her.

After she reappears and processes all the memories, she has to recuperate a bit. Without anyone around, the usually-cheery Aerith doesn't have to mask her expression, and sits in her apartment, letting it all break over her like unceasing waves onto someone whose feet are thoroughly stuck in the sand. (It's not unlike when her plushie was destroyed, honestly, which feels like ages ago.) When that's...more or less done, she reaches for her phone.

She doesn't leave the unit, doesn't go down the hall. Yet.

In crafting a message to the network, she opts for text because, this time, she doesn't trust herself to keep a straight enough face. To keep all of what's happened - disappearing from this world, returning to her own with no memories of Etraya, and...the weight of their journey at home - from her voice. So, she takes a deep breath and begins typing, eventually sending out: ]

long time no see, etraya! or, maybe it hasn't been that long, considering all of the plant life at my place is still in good shape.

so...has anybody been back home? that is: was brought here, then went back somehow with no memories of ever having been here, then got pulled back again? consider me curious about the details.

i know i can't be the only one. right?

also...if there're any kind souls out there who don't mind giving me a little refresher on our current mission, it'd be much appreciated. thanks!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No need to thank me. I mean, you were there too-- [ A slight pause, and then just: ] Last time.

[ Like he's having a hard time admitting to the full extent of what had been going on with him back there, even now.. But it's still not like he wants to straight up deny what Aerith had done for him. It had been so kind on her part, so this feels like the least he can do in return for her. Especially when her trouble feels so much bigger than his own stupid problems.

Fabian closes the door behind him, making his way over to the couch. He makes the kind of hand gesture that indicates it's okay, that she can just continue to sit down, before joining her on said couch. ]

And.. Yes, I can only imagine. Having to adjust to being back home, and then having to adjust to being here again-- It ought to have been a lot, especially if there might have been a lot going on back there.

[ A slight pause, and then, emphatically but subtly, like he doesn't want to be too pushy about this: ] Was there?

[ It's happening again. She's standing on a precipice of the truth, and his question could finally have her take the plunge and tell someone about-...everything.

She hovers there, looking over the cliff's edge. It's a long way down.

Slowly, she steps back. ]

Yeah. [ Aerith finally answers, adopting the ghost of a smile. ] One minute I was here, then I was back, and I'd forgotten everything about Etraya. And then...so much happened. [ She shakes her head with a bit of an air of hopelessness, though that's not her usual M.O. ] Back home, we're facing...a huge threat. Someone who's incredibly powerful. I-... [ Almost died. Died. Have died before. ] ...Sometimes, I'm not sure we'll be able to stop him. Even though I tell myself we can, if we just...stick together, and put everything we have into this mission.

[ There's a little sigh before she meets his gaze again. ]

So - yeah. That was a lot, and then I was here again, and no time had passed at all. And I remembered everything.

[ All the good. All the bad. ]

The weirdest thing is, I talked to Aurora, and she can't explain it. And according to the others, nobody's been through this before. Until now, that is. [ There's a mirthless chuckle, a half-hearted shrug. ] Lucky me, right?

[ Fabian seems to need a second to take all of that in, but then the young man just huffs. ]

All I am hearing is that this is adding to my list of reasons to kick Aurora's ass.

[ Seriously. They send someone back home, then drag them back here in a way that's clearly overwhelming, and then they just say they can't explain? The things that keep them here are such jerks, especially in the way they never seem to care. Especially when Aerith seems so obviously upset to him.

He sucks in a breath, not wanting to get too caught up in his annoyance about those beings while he has a friend to take care of. ]

It sounds like everything back home is paused though while we are here, right? [ Since she said that it was like she had forgotten about this place as soon as she returned there.. ] So even though it was a lot.. At least you have time to think about it all while you are here.

[ His look turns a little bit more serious. ]

Even if you did not remember this place when you went back, maybe we can still find ways to prepare you for when it happens again. If there's anything at all I can do to help you with that, I promise I will.

[ His response is a surprise, and it draws out a little huff-like laugh, in spite of the situation. ]

Well, if that's how it's gotta be... [ How could she have forgotten about him? About everyone in Etraya that she's met across these months? It clutches at her heart, painful and tragic, and she feels now, more than ever before, the conviction to prevent that in the future. To be able to remember. Somehow. ]

Yeah. It was like I'd never been gone. Just like coming back here. [ Except, on Gaia, her memories of Etraya are gone. ...As compared with being back here, where all her memories from home - including the new ones - are in tact. ] But, I guess you're right: at least I have some time to think.

[ Assumedly. Because now that she's gone back once, there's a little fear in the corner of her mind that she could return at any moment, never to see Etraya and its people again... ]

Thanks, Fabian. I know you mean that, and it-...it helps a lot. [ Aerith shifts where she sits, looking down at her hands in her lap for a moment before lifting her head to look at him, smiling faintly. ] ...I've been lucky, huh? To make so many great friends during my time here.

[ He lets out a sound that's a little like another huff, but this time it's more obviously meant in a joking sort of way - more of a 'pfft.' The joking side of it easily comes through in the way he moves to gently jab her in the side with his elbow while they're sitting here. ]

Come on, you can't act like that is nothing but pure luck.

[ If she looks over to him at all, she can see that Fabian is fully grinning at her. Happy. Playful. ]

I am fairly sure that you making so many great friends has everything to do with your own charming personality, you know.

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