[Friday, March 1st. Time: Nighttime! Before midnight. So it's still Friday.] (*thumbs up*) [The scene, at least for Keiko, is a dark room with no lights on. How boring! Luana's probably in a slightly brighter and more interesting place. Why would she go to the boring place? Let's find out!] * Luana knocks on Keiko's door quietly. "Keiko? Are you in there?" * Luana knocks again. "Keiko, I apologize for misrepresenting myself. I know you're in there. Can I come in?" * Keiko is silent for a very long moment, requiring Luana to even knock twice, before she manages a quiet, "Y... yes." * Luana opens the door and blinks at the darkness, then turns the light on. * Keiko is sitting on the floor, wearing an overlarge shirt, and half a dozen of Zarina's things floating slowly around her head. Plushes, video games, clothing. She's staring a bit into space, which is to say, at a wall. * Keiko 's black dress has been discarded near the entrance to the room. * Luana picks up the dress quietly and folds it, then puts it on her lap as she sits next to Keiko. "The shirt you're wearing... was it hers?" * Keiko shudders a moment, then the light clicks off as she says quietly, "Don't want to see it. I can already feel it. She'll never be back." A moment, then she manages to answer, "She... gave it to me... when I had nothing but my dresses.." * Luana smiles, although Keiko probably can't see it, what with it being dark and all. "I never talked to her much, but she always seemed so... bright. She seemed really nice." (She could probably feel it!) (Emotion check on Luana?) (Somehwta sad, but not nearly as upset as Keiko probably is. Concerned, lonely, admiring.) * Keiko replies softly, "She was... she... understood nightmares. We could share comfort... she understood what it meant to be something on the inside..." (Way to spell 'somewhat'! Go me!) (Damn, that is impressive!) 'Something on the inside'? * Keiko is silent a moment, then murmurs, "We were both... more than we used to be... but lonely. You're lonely." She turns her head to look at Luana in the dark and murmur, "Why lonely?" My best friend is upset. Of course that makes me lonely. (brb) * Keiko is silent a moment, then says quietly, "You... don't have to be lonely. I... left behind my mother so you wouldn't--wouldn't be--" and then she shudders and lets out a soft sob. * Luana hugs Keiko suddenly, tightly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't cry." She seems more upset by Keiko's crying than she is over Zarina's death. Zarina was so... she was so -admirable-. I just want you to feel better. * Keiko sucks in a shuddering breath and shakes again with a sob, whispering, "I can't. I was... I was trying to stay away, trying to keep from... having emotions... but then you walked in and..." she trails off into crying, one of her hands comes up to hold Luana's that's hugging her as she thinks at her, ~Oh, Luana, what do I do now...~ ~We keep going. We make sure her death meant something. We use it as an example. If Gabriel takes another ward, we make sure that they know how wonderful Zarina was. We always keep going.~ ~That's all there is. What else can we do?~ * Keiko thinks back, gripping that hand tighter, ~Life goes. But nobody says it goes where you need it to... mother is gone. Zarina is gone. Suki...~ she lets out a little noise and continues crying. ~Why do all the fires die...~ * Luana rubs Keiko's back soothingly. ~Who is Suki?~ * Keiko stills for a moment, then thinks back, ~Nobody. She is...nobody. Luana, I... I can't... I told you I was weak before, I... I can't do this. I can't be ice, and I can't be fire.~ * Luana sits silently for a moment, just rubbing Keiko's back, then thinks, ~Water. You could be water.~ * Keiko is silent a moment after that, then thinks, ~Zarina died so happily, for such a stupid reason... I could feel her happiness even when she was gone... for the hope that someone would think she was beautiful... I thought she was beautiful, but I didn't feel it.~ * Keiko grabs Luana's hand tightly again and thinks, ~She didn't need to die to be happy. Why? Why didn't I...~ ~How could her death have possibly been for a stupid reason? Getting... getting hit by an anvil is a stupid death. Dying for Bagriel... I mean, she loved him, didn't she?~ (BAGRIEL) (Oh my god. Gabriel.) (The Bag Man!) (I like Bagriel better.) * Keiko thinks at Luana quickly, almost in anger, ~He didn't love her. He wouldn't touch her. She got every part of her body remade... just in the hopes of catching his eyes. Proving she was beautiful.~ * Keiko then thinks more weakly, a moment later, ~Proving it to everyone. She was... a lot like you.~ ~I don't need to be beautiful. I could be beautiful if I wanted to.~ * Keiko thinks at her, still quietly, ~It isn't a body that makes someone beautiful.~ Her body shifts, to be looking at Luana in the darkness. ~Do... do you understand how beautiful that makes you to me? What it means to feel that core when I... I can feel nothing else but sadness, or death, or pain?~ ~Don't you feel it when I'm happy? When we're hanging out together, or you watch my sparring practice, or I watch you move things? Being with you, here, with Jamie and Togo... I'm almost always happy. Don't you feel that?~ * Keiko thinks back quietly, ~Yes. Gods, yes, I do.~ Her other hand comes up to shakily touch at Luana's face. ~But it doesn't... I can't hold your fire inside me. But sometimes... sometimes I want to. But I don't...~ * Luana puts her hand to Keiko's and smiles. ~I'll do anything to make you happy. Just tell me what I can do.~ * Keiko shudders and thinks quietly, ~Gods, Luana, I... there's things that I want to ask you, but I don't know how.~ Her fingers move very lightly on Luana's face. ~I... am still afraid. Afraid that I'll be left with nothing...~ * Keiko continues, ~How can I be afraid if you're not? I don't... I can't...~ ~You've already proven that you'll never leave me. What's left for me to be afraid of? And I promise, if you'll stay here with me, I will always be with you. If you're taken, I'll find you, no matter what. Always, I -swear-.~ * Keiko is silent a moment, and then thinks at her, ~Always.~ A long moment, then, slowly, ~Luana, I... I want to be with you. I want to feel your fire forever. I... how do I find the words...~ she trails off, and moves her fingers over Luana's lips. ~Will you... be the fire that wards away my darkness? The flower that... opens my mind to dreams that... aren't of terror?~ (And then Luana finds the harlequin novels under Keiko's bed.) (Ha ha ha ha ha.) (Blame Rose! She's the one that gave Keiko 4 books of poetry!) (Two of which were german!) (Seriously, though! Flower lesbian imagery!?) (Actually, it's the Blue Flower.) (It's the gateway to dreams in surrealist literature.) (She was using it literally.) (I mean, that says something about surrealist imagery and its link to femininity, but that's neither here nor there!) * Luana tugs the hand on her mouth aside and kisses Keiko gently, albeit very quickly. She's starting to blush very badly. "Always," Luana says out loud. "Forever. I'll take care of you, Keiko." (Okay, emotion check on that one.) (Love, although it's definitely the friendly kind of love. Embarassment. Still some concern.) * Keiko lets herself be kissed, with an immediate soft, shocked thought back of, ~Luana...~ and then she trails off as she process the emotions and thinks back, softly, as her hand returns to Luana's cheek, before she leans her forehead against Luana. ~Thank you for being here. Taking care of me.~ * Luana murmurs, "Always," and shifts to hugging her again. ~So... I know you need time to grieve, but I'll be here with you. And if you want to talk about her, or what happened, or even the weather, I'm here.~ * Keiko thinks back as she moves her hand to Luana's shoulder, ~I... I want to sleep. But I know what'll be waiting.~ A moment, then she adds, ~I just... don't know anymore. This week has... has torn me apart. Like Kioshi.~ ~I'll sleep too, and you can stay in my dreams. And, um, we stitched Kiyoshi back up. Remember?~ * Keiko thinks back, ~The scars don't heal.~ ~If you take care of them, they'll stretch well enough.~ * Keiko is silent a moment, then thinks back, ~Me being in your dreams... was just a trick. I can't do it all night. It would only make me more tired.~ ~Well, I'll be here in the real world too.~ * Keiko thinks softly, ~Here here?~ ~Here here. Bed's big enough for two if we try.~ * Keiko shakes in her arms again and thinks back, ~That... is exactly what I need. Just like Zarina used to.~ A moment, then a weakly joking, ~Are you sure you're not psychic?~ * Luana giggles. ~Silly.~ * Keiko manages a faint smile before thinking back at her, ~Okay... we'll do that, then.~ (End?) (Yeah, that sounds appropriate.) [Mini end!]