Day 54: Lunch

[full_score]

All things considered, last shift had been pretty low key. After this morning's disaster, though, that was perfectly fine by Claude. Some fresh air and a chance to make sure Guy and Okita were all right weren't things to take for granted. It was also good to have a fairly normal, conversation with Guy that didn't slip off into awkward territory

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[hairraising]

Don't worry? Don't worry?! How could she not worry? By now Eugene could be...

No, no no no no no, he couldn't be. If she was here, that had to mean the deal had gone through, right? M- Gothel had never been one to put more effort into things than necessary. If she could take Rapunzel along somewhere without a chance Rapunzel would ever fight back again, she would take that option. She wouldn't risk upsetting a deal like that just to make sure Eugene died. The woman was cruel and selfish, but she wasn't bloodthirsty. At least, that's what Rapunzel believed, anyway. Though, even as she thought that, a little niggling part of her pointed out what a fat load of good most of her beliefs had done for her in her life up until now.

Eventually, she took the advice to breathe slower and steadier, and she listened to the rest of the other girl's explanation even as her hands still trembled on top of the table. She wasn't quite sure what was meant by "mental asylum." Wasn't "asylum" just another word for sanctuary? Gothel had used that word on occasion to describe her tower, so it made sense that this new place would be something like that as well. She still didn't see where the "mental" part of things came in, though.

She didn't have much time to be confused by that, however, before she was confused - and immediately frightened - by something else.

"Wait, wha- monsters? Creatures?! Here?!"

But don't worry!

"Don't worry?!" she repeated, this time out loud. Rapunzel was gripping the edges of the table tight beneath her fingertips as the girl went on to assure her that there were ways to defend against the monsters. Come on, breathe, breathe, she told herself, making a note in her head about the shed and the kitchen (especially the kitchen). Also, she had a point about being all in one piece. Kairi was a little younger than her, and if she was all right, then that said good things for Rapunzel's chances, right?

A few more breaths before she spoke again. "I'm Rapunzel. And I still don't get why I'm here. Just before this, I was supposed to be going somewhere that..." She bit her lip, unsure of how to explain this without having to go into painful details. "Well, somewhere that's not here, anyway. How did you get here? Do you remember? Who brought you here? And why?" She hoped she wasn't overloading Kairi (had the nurse gotten her name wrong too?) with questions, but she just had to know more about what was going on.

[kingdomless]

Whoops. Too fast? Kairi thought to herself as she watched the girl become visibly shaken, and she gave her a sad smile. "Yes, creatures. All kinds of things. But, like I said, there are ways to defend ourselves from them. Not to mention there is also a flashlight under your pillow, so you'll be able to see in the darkness." She always made sure to mention the flashlight; her first night in the institute, she had run out without the thing, and if she hadn't run into Roxas, who knew what would have happened? The light helped.

Rapunzel. A strange name, but then again, according to some of the other patients, her name was strange as well. "It's nice to meet you, Rapunzel," she gave the girl a bright smile, hoping to at least calm her down a little bit. "Oh! And the nurses are calling you a different name because according to the leader here, our real lives are make believe. But you mustn't believe them, because ... well, what we have really lived is real, right? You just have to focus on that."

Questions, questions, questions. "None of us really know why we're here," Kairi explained, brushing her fingers through her hair as she tried to think. "One minute we're somewhere else, and the next ... well, we wake up in strange white beds wearing strange clothes. It's the same for all of us. I don't actually remember how I got here; no one does. It's the same for everyone. The last thing I remember was a sudden flash of light from a machine exploding, and then all of a sudden I woke up and everything was dark, and I was ... here."

She had woken up at night. Now it felt like the patients awoke during the day; she wished she had been that lucky.

"So we're all the same," she said with a small, sad laugh. "We were all taken from where we belong, and thrown into this mess. Everything is different here, too. Things we used to be able to do, we are ... unable to, now."

Kairi looked down at her hands then, a solemn look crossing her face. Or you can do things you were unable to do before, she thought. She couldn't tell the girl that. Everything was too new, too fresh. She didn't want to cause any more damage than she needed to. Rapunzel already looked rather upset, and she didn't want to push her any more than necessary.

"But!" she quickly continued, shoving her hands in her lap. "There are people here who can help. At night, I help out in a club. It's really just a code name for a group of us trying to figure out things, and working together to complete tasks, but still. It gives you a little more security, because you're around others instead of being alone. You should look into one, if you're unsure of what to do!"

[hairraising]

Rapunzel nodded slowly, swallowing a lump and chewing on the inside of her bottom lip. Kairi's calm, though it threw her at first, was helping some now. She took in the rest of the explanation as well as she could, all things considered. She didn't remember a flash of light at all, but the transition from one place to another with only a period of darkness in between was fresh in her mind. It was good to know that her experience was shared by everyone around her, if only because it gave them all some common ground to work from.

Rapunzel's hands slipped down from the table when Kairi mentioned losing abilities. Without thinking, her fingers closed around a thin section of hair hanging in her lap, the strands quickly becoming warm in her grasp. Was that why so much of her hair was missing now? Was it simply in the power of the people who ran this place to take magic away from those who possessed it? Did they store it somewhere for safekeeping? That would explain why Gothel wasn't here with her. But if that was the case, then how come she hadn't just gone to these people years ago and just not bothered to raise Rapunzel at all? Her eyes closed for a moment as the beginnings of a headache surfaced in her temples.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't catch Kairi's look toward her hands, and was slightly startled when the girl's pitch picked up again. "A club..." The word wasn't familiar to Rapunzel in any sense other than as a bludgeon, but the explanation for what one was came quickly enough. For the first time since waking up, a little hopeful feeling sprouted inside her. Getting help from other people, making friends, forming plans together - that sounded like the best idea she had heard so far.

At last, a partially relieved smile crossed Rapunzel's face. "Oh thank you! I will definitely do that sometime soon, because I really don't want to have to be alone here." Her hand moved up from her lap, brushing hair behind her ear. "I've had enough of that in my life up to now."

[kingdomless]

Rapunzel looked to be calming down, and in turn, that made Kairi's tenseness fade away. When she even smiled, the princess couldn't help but smile back, glad to see she was doing a lot better now that things had been explained. "You're welcome," she told her happily, her smile softening when she said she didn't want to be alone anymore. "And you and me both."

That was one reason she couldn't help but feel ... at least slightly happy to be stuck in the institute. She had Sora and Riku by her side after what felt like ages upon ages of never seeing them. She had been alone on the island for far too long for her tastes, and she had wanted to be with them more than anything ...

It wasn't time to think of that now, though! "I'm in a club - called the Arts and Crafts club," she told Rapunzel warmly. "Who knows, if you sign up for it, I may be able to help you! I'd be able to at least help you get a weapon or two," especially considering she had a sword she could use. She would protect someone, she swore to herself.

"And ... I know this is completely off topic," Kairi suddenly began again before she could stop herself, "But ... your hair is beautiful," she gave the girl a small smile, a small blush forming on her cheeks. "I've never seen hair that long. How long have you been growing it for?"

[hairraising]

A weapon sounded good. If there were creatures roaming around at night, a weapon sounded very, very, very good. A frying pan, a kitchen knife, a baseball bat (whatever that was) - anything would do so long as it held together and packed a good solid blow to the head.

...If monsters even had anything resembling a head. And weren't so much bigger than her. And were less monster and more, say, fluffy bunny.

Oh my gosh can daytime just last forever starting now? Please?

Then Kairi brought something else up, taking Rapunzel slightly off-guard again. "What? Oh, thanks. I, uh, just got it trimmed, actually," she answered with a wince, though still trying to sound genuinely thankful for the kind words. In truth, even if her hair were its proper length, she still wouldn't have been totally sure how to respond to a compliment about it. Up until two days ago, only one person had ever made any kinds of comments about her hair (in non-animal-speak, anyway). Hearing these kinds of unabashed compliments, no strings attached, was still new to her. "It's been growing all my life, pretty much?" she went on, hoping that by focusing on the question, she would lose a bit more of that awkwardness. "You could say it's practically a friend at this point. It's just always been there..."

She let herself smile a little bit again following a short pause. "Your hair looks really beautiful too, by the way. I love the colour," she told Kairi. She might have been more enthusiastic under different circumstances, but she was glad to return the compliment, all the same.

[kingdomless]

Kairi still smiled, despite Rapunzel seeming to be taken aback by her compliment. "Well, it's very pretty, either way." She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have that long of hair on the beach, though. Would sand get stuck in it? And how long would it take to dry? Crazy.

Why am I thinking about this.

Kairi's smile turned warm and understanding at the comment about her hair becoming her friend, and she nodded her head. "Reliable, right? I understand. When I was separated from my best friends for a while, I used to write notes in bottles and send them into the ocean. It was my way of talking to them, I suppose, though I don't think they ever got any of them," a small laugh, and she sighed. It was true; they never mentioned any of her notes, so she supposed she never got any of them. Which was okay, she decided, since most of them were written when she was feeling lonely and sad, and she didn't want to explain to either of them what they really meant. "So I guess I could say that my notes were my friends, too."

However, at the returned compliment, Kairi couldn't help but blush. "Thank you," she replied happily, brushing her hair behind her ears. "I'm letting it grow out; I used to keep it short, but now I want it long. It's so hard; I'm so impatient!"

And now her curiosity was getting the best of her. "Where are you from? If you don't mind my asking. I always like to ask, because there are so many people from all of the different worlds, and it's all so fascinating! I'm from Destiny Islands, by the way. Are you from Earth, too?"

[hairraising]

Rapunzel tried to imagine Kairi sending out the bottles, wondering how closely her vision of the ocean matched the real one. Oceans, farmers' fields, deserts, mountains - they were all places Rapunzel had only read about or heard mentioned in passing. The ocean was blue, right? And big. Really, really, really big. The water was supposed to move and crash a lot, too, unlike the water in the lake she had sailed on with Eugene. Was that how Kairi's bottles got carried out to her friends? It sounded like that was the idea. Though, she was disappointed for the other girl if none of the messages had ever reached their destination.

"That's a really sweet idea, actually. Maybe I should try writing messages like that sometime," she remarked after Kairi finished. "I've never really had anyone to write to before, but now... I think I do." If Eugene was all right and he was out there somewhere, then maybe she could contact him that way. If she could hail down a passing bird or chameleon (was it too much to hope that Pascal might find her here?), she was sure she could get some assistance sending a note out there. That would at least be more reliable than ocean waves, she was sure. A slightly more hopeful smile touched Rapunzel's lips at that. It might not have been much of an idea, but it was better than just panicking. She was sure she would think of other things to try as she got a better sense of what was going on, too.

It was odd listening to Kairi go on about hair like this, considering what Rapunzel had just woken up from, but it felt okay somehow. How skilled was this girl in the art of friendship that she could make a person feel so much better in this kind of situation? Respect for the other girl was fast bubbling up inside her. "Hey, you know, hair grows faster than you think. At least mine does, anyway," she assured Kairi with a puff of air through her nose - almost a laugh. "I'm sure you'll be able to get it out as long as you want someday. And it won't take a million years, either, trust me."

Her head raised and tilted when the words "different worlds" came up. What did Kairi mean by that? Did she mean kingdoms, countries, continents...? "Uh, I'm pretty sure the kingdom I'm from is called Corona. I only learned that just the other day, though. My..." She paused, correcting herself. "Someone I was close to never mentioned the name before. I had to find out by going to the capital city myself. We were both always pretty far on the outskirts of that world before that."

No thanks to her, thought Rapunzel, a flash of bitterness crossing her expression then. Her fingers clutched tighter around her hair, memories of the immediate past frothing back to the surface.