[Day: April 15th. Time: Nighttimeish. It's a word, I swear.] (No argument from this side of the field!) [Luana is humming and watering flowers in her room, which is much less firey than last time, although you still wouldn't want to touch the edges. The flower are growing up from the carpet, which doesn't seem to be bothering her at all. On the wall are portraits of her family and team in Keiko's painting style.] [Mini Start!] * Keiko appears from the ground, almost like a ghostly flower, wearing her long blue dress, two silver bracelets, and a silver necklace. Her hair has Luana's ribbons in it in a complex braid that would take forever in the real world. She looks at the room and smiles. Hey, you can't be blind if they're not real eyes! She says, quietly, "Nice garden, Luana. Mind if I come in?" * Luana smiles at her peacefully. "Sure. Want to help me water them?" She pulls out another watering can from nowhere and holds it out. * Keiko solidifies as she drifts over, takes the can, and smiles a little. "Glad to." She looks over at the wall a moment, mms, then picks a flower and waters it. "Nice portraits." Thank you. I really like them. You did a good job. * Keiko smiles a bit to herself, drifting over to look at the family one. Her parents are in this one? [Her parents are up there, but they're blurry and smiling faintly at each other.] (But the others are clear?) [Dr. Kerner is a little fuzzy. Everything else is perfect. Keiko's looks slightly more beautiful than she actually is, and her colors are more vibrant.] * Keiko looks at the art critically for a moment, then smiles a bit and says to Luana, as she turns to water another flower, "I'm sorry I couldn't get your parents better. I'm sure it's been a while." Oh, that's alright. They look much nicer than they were painted in real life, anyway. What brings you here? * Keiko floats over to another flower. "I wanted to see how your garden was doing." A small smile. "I'm glad to see it's growing." Beat. "I'm glad to see I'm in it." Of course you are, silly. Why wouldn't you be? * Keiko looks over at her and smiles more wanly. "I'm... I don't know." She looks down at a flower. "I'm not always a good person. I don't always deserve to matter to the people who matter to me." Isn't that the sort of thing that other people get to decide? * Keiko is silent a moment, then nods slightly and drifts to another flower. "It is." She smiles a bit. "If I had a garden, you'd be in it too." * Luana beams happily at her, and it looks like the sun is shining on her garden for a moment. "Thank you!" I miss you. You should visit my room more often. * Keiko smiles a little as she turns over towards her, drifting over to hug her from behind, around her stomach. She says softly, "I miss you too. I... seeing your mind is not enough." * Luana puts her arms over Keiko's. "Hey, Keiko? It's kind of personal, but... what does Jamie's mind look like?" I don't get her, and I really wish I did. * Keiko holds onto Luana a moment, then says quietly, leaning against Luana's back, "It's... uncertain, mainly. Scared of things. She's had pieces of herself torn from her... and things happen in darkness that should never have been." She's family, but more like... the cousin you see a few times a year, you know? * Keiko is silent a moment, then says quietly, "Kinda. I understand how she is distant." A moment, then, "She's growing. She's becoming. But it's slow." * Luana points down at a flower that wasn't there before. It's small and weak, with an overlarge bud that is trying to bloom. "Like that?" * Keiko smiles slightly from behind her. "A little." She rubs Luana's stomach. "She needs to see more. Ask more. Find light to fill in the darkness." * Luana gets a stubborn look on her face and waters the tiny flower. I miss Ten. Is that a bad thing? I liked her. * Keiko frowns to herself, but then wipes it from her face and replies, "Well, when Jamie grows up... she might be like Ten, a little." The flower pops open, into a little Ten with Jamie's face. "Together, not seperate." She could make decisions. And she talked back to people. * Keiko nods slightly, and says quietly, into Luana's ear, "She did it because it was the only way to... to be free to be a slave." She closes her eyes and lets go of Luana. * Luana vanishes her watering can and turns around. "What do you want to do?" * Keiko looks back to her and smiles a little, before taking Luana's hands. She looks down to them and murmurs, "I want to know..." and then trails off before looking to her face. "I want to know what you think of me. Why do I bring sun to your garden?" You're my best friend. You're there for me. You stayed for me. What else is there? * Keiko is silent a momen, then nods slightly and looks down. "You... remember what I said about Zarina? That... there were things I should have said to her?" Yeah. * Keiko is silent a moment, then she says, still looking down, "Sometimes, I wonder if there's things I should say to you too. But I'm not sure how. I didn't even think I could... it is like I do have a garden after all." Well, feel free to go either way about it. And of course you have a garden, I gave you flowers. Remember? * Keiko blinks, looking to her face, then laughs and says, "And I gave you flowers too." * Keiko twirls a hand and makes one of those blue floewrs, before putting it into Luana's hair. * Luana grins and spins around once. "Feel free to tell me or not tell me whatever you want. Or plant things in the carpet, if you like. " * Keiko watches her spin, then shakes her head and says, "It's fine. I'll find the right words one day." A moment, then she adds, quietly, "I'm glad the darts weren't filled with poison. I'd hate myself if I'd left you behind." Ah, I'd probably hate you too! Being blind is so much better. Because we can probably fix it. I'd hate to hate you. I'd end up hating myself, I think. * Keiko smiles weakly, then gestures down at the carpet, sixteen of those white crysanthumums growing around her in a circle. "You shouldn't. I'd deserve it for breaking my promise." Well, it'll be fine. And we'll fix your eyes. We have some really good doctors here. * Luana goes back to watering the flowers. * Keiko mms, then says, "I'd love to go to a festival with you. Cherry blossoms in the spring. Right around this time of year." * Luana shakes her head. "Oh, I don't like leaving my room." She frowns for a moment. "The compound, I mean. Not unless there's a mission. Are there cherry blossoms in the compound?" * Keiko shakes her head. "I don't think so... but I can't see to be sure." * Keiko floats into the air, crossing her legs. "It's not common outside of Japan." Really? Well, I can grow a tree in here, or I can find a garden on the ground. I bet Karin knows if there's a garden or cherry blossoms. * Keiko nods and says, "You should ask if there's one around... maybe after I get out." How much longer? * Keiko floats over in front of Luana. "3 more days." That's stupid. Well, not too much longer. * Keiko nods and agrees, "It is stupid. Odval needed to be rescued." Blitzkreig and their rules. The rules are there for a reason, even if they're used in stupid ways sometimes. (You have much more to do?) (Nah.) * Keiko frowns. "There's good rules... I guess they just didn't care enough." She pulls a peony out of thin air a moment, then plants it in the floor. "I have an idea for Jamie. You should take her outside and talk about computer stuff some time." That'd be nice! She can help me with my firewalls. I could never build anything well enough to keep Ten out of my computer. I bet she'd know how to do that. I wanted to do them myself, but this is more important. * Keiko unfolds her legs and sets down on the ground. "I hope it works." A moment, then, "I... think I have to go, Luana." She floats over and extends her arms in a hug. "Sleep well." * Luana hugs her warmly. "You too. I'll visit in the morning, okay? And we'll get you your vision back." * Keiko hugs her back and says into her ear, "I hope so. I want to see you again for real." And then she, after a moment, kisses her cheek very lightly and dissapates into a bunch of blue and black butterflies, leaving Luana to her dream. [Mini end!]