itsjustcambot | (no subject)

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[Since her encounter with Discord, Aqua has been keeping largely to herself. It's not for love of solitude, however, like one might easily expect. No, it's simply that she doesn't much care to speak to any else (she has no responsibility for their antics and no real interest to involve herself, either) and has been lucky enough to avoid the roving Cambots.

By the time one catches up with her again, she's leaving the media deck, with a pair of books balanced on her back. It's not the easiest thing to manage, and she knows the books aren't the best. But she expects nothing less than utter perfection from herself and if she can't pull some small fragment of useful information out of even these books then something is dreadfully wrong.

Still, for all she notes the Cambot's presence as it follows her along she makes no indication of it, nor does she shoo it away. She sees no reason to bother, after all.]

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[It's even worse in person. Yes, Aqua was typically very serious but usually she smiled a little. Not to mention all of her blue had turned to grey. He rushes over to Ven, talking around the Wayfinders]

It's worse than I thought. I brought them.

[He looks at Aqua]

Hey, Aqua, slow down okay, we need to talk.

[There's a sigh at that, and for the first time since Ven's searched her out, Aqua stops, before turning to look directly at Terra.]

Then talk.

[And Ven makes sure to plant himself firmly in front of Aqua, blocking her path. You're not getting past him, Sis.]

Aqua, this isn't you. You don't just ignore everything, you're not like that. Come on, come hang out with us, we haven't gotten to do a lot of that since this whole pony thing started.

[Terra moves to stand beside Ven]

Ven's right. Besides, this is our first time dealing with a form change. Ven got a little carried away with the whole wings thing but we should try to have some fun with this since it's never happened before or anything.

You were always curious about this stuff before.

[Aqua just narrows her eyes at the pair of them, debating whether or not it's worth taking the time to find a way around them.]

I don't have time for curiosity.

[...Nnnnnnnnope.]

[It's definitely happened, what other people talked about, what Discord tried on Ven. And now Ven's wondering if going after Aqua is his revenge for Ven not listening to him. Discord is a jerk.]

[But right now they've got other things to worry about. Ven's eyes narrow, watching Aqua - they have to talk her down from this. He maneuvers a hoof to grab his own Wayfinder from Terra, holding it up so they can all see it.]

Yeah you do - you always want to know more, and that's what curiosity's for. Remember these? You made them because you were curious what would happen, and you wanted us all to have something to share.

Edited 2012-02-21 20:49 (UTC)

[Terra doesn't back down, just plants his hooves there. He holds out his wayfinder on his hoof, much like Ven is doing]

The Aqua I know always has time for curiosity. The Aqua I know is a Master because she studied for hours on end at magic and the art of keyblade wielding because she wanted to learn EVERYTHING. But, she also always found time to hang out with me and Ven to make sure we weren't goofing off and sometimes she would even goof off with us.

That's the Aqua that made these Wayfinders.

[There's no disguising the recognition in her eyes at the Wayfinders, as Terra holds his out as well. She knows something she's done when she sees it. But it doesn't really have the desired effect, this time. It just reminds her of all the times she'd had to come to the rescue. All the times she's had to take time out of her time to keep things working on track.]

Maybe I don't want to be that Aqua anymore. Maybe I don't want to have to always be the one picking up the pieces.

Then you won't be, because we'll be doing it with you. We're a team, Aqua - we always will be.

Come on - come with us, we'll go get some ice cream, and just have a good time together. We don't get to have enough of those.

[He's inches away from grabbing onto her and not letting go - if she moves at all, he's going to do it.]

[There wasn't much Terra could add to that. He did look a little perturbed by what Aqua was saying.]

But, we never asked you to do that Aqua. You just weren't the type to leave us hanging when we got into trouble. You cared about us, what happened to that?

[The mention of teamwork gets her to pause for a moment. That was the point of the Wayfinders, wasn't it? A connection. Unfortunately with the idea of that connection comes the same old images of being the one to clean up after the others.]

Does it matter?

[And with that, she does indeed turn to leave, without so much as waiting for an answer.]

[Oh no way. No way in hell are you getting away from them. The moment she moves, Ven scrabbles to overtake her, slipping a bit on the metal but getting his feet back, and literally jumps onto her back to hold on to her neck as best he can. It's incredibly awkward to do this in a pony body and the books are knocked over completely but he doesn't care, this is Aqua and they are going to fix her.]

Yes it matters! This isn't you, Aqua! You don't just leave people behind, you care about them and help them, even when they mess up! Don't let him get into your mind like that, this isn't you!

Aqua!

[He looks distraught as she turns to leave but is even more shocked by Ven's next move]

Ven!

[He then galloped forward and put himself between Aqua and her new exit, though it didn't seem necessary since Ven was on her back and slowing her down pretty significantly.]

Come on Aqua. You aren't even listening to us. You always used to listen to us, no matter what.

[The books are pretty much scattered to the floor by Ven jumping on her back, and Aqua's first reaction is to turn to look at the books as opposed to Terra or Ven. It's only when she realizes that her legs simply are not going to be able to hold up both Ven's weight and hers that she turns her head to look at Terra before suddenly - and almost gracefully - letting her legs fold under her. If she isn't going to be going anywhere, she can at least pretend it's her own idea.]

You aren't exactly giving me a good reason to, right now.

[And that's a bit jolting to Ven, but he isn't giving up at all. Instead, he awkwardly reaches forward with his pony limb to drape the lanyard of his Wayfinder over her horn.]

Because together, we can do anything. We're a team, we always have been. You encouraged me when I didn't think I was ever going to learn anything. You helped me figure out fire magic. You forgave me for giving you that awful book for your birthday! You helped me with math and science and all those other things and we work together and we listen to each other. This isn't you, Aqua - you're our friend. Come back to us.

We didn't used to need a reason.

[Terra carefully sank down to her level, looking her in the eye]

In fact, we used to get in trouble several times with the Master just staying up late listening to each other. Whether it was talking about our fears or troubles or our hopes and dreams. Aqua you were always there for us and we gave you the same consideration. Remember, I even helped you master some of the more advanced practice forms in return for helping me learn ice spells.

You can't tell us that you want to throw all of that away now.

[There's a moment of silence as she listens to what the two have to say. Even if she hadn't wanted to she's very literally a captive audience, thanks to Ven's earlier actions. They are good reasons, and when Terra's finished, she still doesn't speak up, as she might have earlier.

Instead, she turns her head to look at the fallen books... only for the Wayfinder looped around her horn to fall into her line of sight again. A vicious shake of her head manages to get it out of the way again, but in doing so, she can't but turn back to her friends. So she turns away again, only for the same thing to play out yet again.

The second time she turns back to face Terra, she doesn't look away, although she remains silent as she turns both his and Ven's words over in her mind. It's true that she's had to take more responsibility than it seems she should be able to bear of late, but while that is still important, so to are her friends. The friends that she has helped - and been helped by, in turn. So really, when you got right to it, she didn't want to throw everything away. She'd made the wayfinders for a reason and with that realization her proper coloration came flooding back as she threw off the lasts of Discord's magic.]

I don't.

[And Ven lets out a long, shaking sigh when he sees her proper blue come rushing back - thank the Light, they'd done it, they'd brought Aqua back. His eyes squeeze shut in an attempt to stop himself letting out the tears that had been threatening to fall and he lets his head rest on the back of hers, turning his sprawl into an awkward pony-hug by trying to wrap his front limbs around her neck. He was going to be so glad to have his ball-and-socket joints back, but right now he's much more concerned with never letting that or anything like that happen to Aqua ever again.]

Good. [His voice is shaky but he doesn't stop himself from speaking.] I love you, Aqua.

[Ven's never said that to anyone before, not that he can remember. But it's always been true, and in this case, she needs to hear it.]

[Terra looks visibly relieved as Aqua changes back to blue. He's glad she's back and trots forward to nuzzle her and then Ven. It's not a hug or a head rub, but it's the best he can do given the pony form.

He steps back, ready to help Ven up if needed since, well, Ven has trouble enough with walking as it is]

[Even if it's not a hug, it's welcomed as what it is, and Aqua makes no move to kick Ven off her back. She can wait until he's found his own feet to get to her own, and the books can wait that long.]

[Yeah, the pony form is not meant for hugging so well. After a moment though, Ven does get off, flopping ungracefully to the ground next to Aqua. Once she doesn't need to be pinned down to not escape, it's just a bit indecent to lay on her like that. And he'll take that hand - hoof - up, thanks Terra, because he will need it.]

You know we're never letting you get away from us, Aqua.

[Terra chuckled as he helped Ven back onto four hooves]

I think we just demonstrated that, Ven.

[Aqua nods at Terra's words.]

You did.

[And Ven's making sure he has his balance by leaning on Terra for a second before pushing off and going to Aqua's side to help her up as well.]

Come on - let's go look at the stars. We haven't done that in way too long.

[Huh.]

Yeah, I guess it has been awhile.

We're a lot closer to them now, too.