(Untitled)

[destinyislander]

Who: Kairi and Celes (and open)
What: Finding herself at a bookshop
When: Her first day off from school
Where: Twilight Town
Warnings: None
Status: In Progress

Comments

[generalfloozy]

Celes watched the girl silently, noting the look in her eyes and remembering how she had been sucked dry herself - but not in the way money was concerned. "At least you have school." She didn't mean for that to come out as callous as it did, but she couldn't help it. Sighing a little to herself, she ducked behind the bookshelf and walked to the counter, which was fortunately hidden from the girl's sight. She set the books down on the counter and asked the book keeper to hold them for her as she headed back to where Kairi stood. On her way, she grabbed another book on weapons to make it look like she'd gone to get something else.

"School is a good thing to get through, though it can be hard at times." Celes wasn't looking at Kairi. Instead, her eyes were skimming the books at the top shelf. She knew how she would feel if someone were staring at her, especially a stranger. She wished she could say it was worth it, but she knew the education system here was very different from the one she had grown up in. Going through that one hadn't been worth it at all.

[destinyislander]

Kairi looked into the woman's eyes and found herself unable to say anything on the subject for a few minutes. She was showing kindness, and perhaps even sympathy. The look on her face was enough to tell Kairi that this woman had gone through a jaded past, perhaps.

"Well, I'm taking a break from school, at the moment." The reply wasn't a matter-of-fact sort of thing, but more like a mysterious suggestion. "My spirit is too wild...and it retaliates when it is stuck in the same place for too long."

Kairi chuckled warmly and clutched her vacation book tightly to her chest. She didn't know if the woman could relate, or if she was even interested to know anything else about the young girl standing before her.

[generalfloozy]

Celes listened to the girl, stretching upwards to reach a book that had caught her eye. It wasn't that she was trying to ignore the other girl; quite the opposite, she was trying to give her space, knowing what she, Celes, would think if a stranger she'd just bumped into were taking a special liking to her, especially one who seemed so much older.

She understood about the wild heart. She had a bit of one herself, but she figured hers was a tad bit different from the one Kairi was talking about. She fingered the book for a minute, before offering the girl the slightest hint of a smile. She usually wasn't the friendly type and smiles came hard for her.

"If you know what's best for you, then that's the road you should take and it'll lead you true." There had to be something else she could say to this girl. Words of sympathy or empathy didn't come easily to her, especially to someone as kind as this girl seemed to be. With Toph, it was easier. The two girls shared snarky comments and completely understood each other. This girl in the bookstore was completely foreign to Celes.

"I suppose I can relate to wanting a break from things to go exploring. My companion and I were on our way somewhere and got separated. I think she ended up in Wonderland. But we couldn't sit still either. Of course, neither do we have studies to keep us busy."

She looked back up to the bookshelf and even though her eyes weren't on Kairi anymore, they still said, "I'm sure your studies were much different from mine."

[destinyislander]

Kairi was one of those people who always liked the words of the wise. She always kept a running journal in her head where she could add inspirational quotes and the like. It seemed high time that she actually bought a real journal, however, lest these thoughts and motivations slip her mind completely.

"I think what I need is a nice journal," She told herself out-loud. She wasn't adverse to the older woman hearing this, or else she would have made yet another mental note on top of all the others.

"If I'm going to travel and meet new people, I might as well record some useful things, don't you think?"

She hoped that she wasn't annoying the girl. Kairi was just the kind of person that liked to meet as many new people as possible. The more connections she made in other worlds with good people, the better.

"I'm Kairi, by the way."

[generalfloozy]

Celes' eyes flickered to the girl as she spoke, feeling herself relaxing just slightly. At least she was friendly and didn't give off any bad vibes. Though, honestly, Celes was the last person on earth to talk about bad vibes. The thought made her look away and sigh.

"Keep track of yourself." Celes nodded in understanding. "At least you'll be able to read back on it and see how far you've come... or if you're going down the wrong path." Her breath came out in a small hiss at the memories, but she shook it off as quickly as possible and offered the girl, Kairi, another fleeting smile.

"Celes Chere..." She found herself curious about the other girl, but wasn't entirely sure how to ask things without seeming like some kind of stalker or weirdo. "Is your school... on this world?"

[destinyislander]

"Nice to meet you," Kairi said softly. She swayed on her heels and listened to the rest of what the pretty Celes Chere had to say.

"My school's in Radiant Garden, if you've ever heard of it. It's the world that I was originally from. I was raised on Destiny Islands."

Kairi considered opening the vacation book that she held in her arms in order to show Celes some pictures of her beloved homeland, but she declined as she thought it might be too boring for the stranger. Not everyone was so enthusiastic about small towns. Many of the people Kairi had come across thus far were city-folk who maintained that there was nothing beyond the bright lights of the city.

Thinking of Destiny Islands also made Kairi automatically think of Sora and Riku. She missed their jubilant faces, and if she knew herself well enough, she'd start talking about the boys to Celes and wouldn't be able to stop if the subject of Destiny Islands were to come up.

[generalfloozy]

Celes nodded slightly at the mention of Radiant Garden. "My companion and I seemed to find ourselves returning to Radiant Garden a lot recently, whether we meant to or not." The smallest of smiles flickered across her face, turned into a smirk, and was gone once again. "I can't say I've heard much of Destiny Islands, though." She also knew how being homesick was and she bit the inside of her cheek to stop from thinking of her Grandad, who had died before Kefka had been dethroned. "It's nice, though... to have a home to be able to go back to."

She winced inwardly. She really wasn't meaning to sound so callus, uncaring, and woe is me, but somehow she'd gotten used to saying what was on her mind. That would have to be remedied. The last thing she wanted was to hurt this girl's feelings. It wasn't Kairi's fault Celes' world had, literally, been turned upside down.

[destinyislander]

"Oh..." Kairi sensed a small amount of malice in the woman's voice. "Where is it that you're from?"

Kairi nibbled at the inside of her bottom lip. This was an awkward moment- though at the same time she was trying to be a rather empathic listener. Maybe Celes was taken away from her world like many other strangers that the crimson-haired princess had come across on her travels.

She looked down at the vacation book in her hand and then put it directly on the shelf behind her. She wouldn't be able to afford it if she was to by herself a new journal, and she'd tell Sora and Riku about it anyways. Her memory was quite good now that she finally knew exactly who she was, and where she was from.

[generalfloozy]

"I'm not from anywhere around here, if that's what you mean," was Celes' matter-of-fact answer. She was trying to stay normal, but she'd begun to get used to showing how she felt, especially around Toph. Now she really needed to get back in the habit of boxing things up so she didn't upset anyone. She hadn't meant to make Kairi feel bad. Blame it on Locke for getting her to care about those around her in the first place, though the last thing she would do was complain about that.

She let out a little sigh and shook herself mentally. "I'm sorry. I'm being a little tactless here," she apologized, turning to look back at a few other books she thought might be useful. "It can be a little hard, however, when one knows that she can't return home, nor that there was much of a home to return to in the first place."

[destinyislander]

"Oh, it's all right. So you're one of the many who were displaced from their homes?" Kairi also took a turn to look around at the books nearest to her. There were a few journals on the bottom shelf, and she bent down, pushing a chunk of scarlet hair behind her ear. She browsed through her options with her fingers, choosing to linger on an expensive looking red-suede book. She pulled it out of its place to examine it some more.

[generalfloozy]

Celes nodded, eyes trailing over the books that she found interesting. "I didn't have much of a home to leave in the first place," she admitted. "During the last war, the land was reshaped and everything nearly died. It was just beginning to blossom again when I was uprooted here." She shrugged nonchalantly as she reached up to run a finger down the spine of a book called, "Dual-Wielding: How To Avoid Cutting Your Arm Off."

"It's been so long since I had a second sword," she mused, more to herself than Kairi, though she did glance over at the other girl as she flipped through the pages. "Do you have much combat experience?"