Day 39: Sun Room [Fourth Shift]

[winged_moon]

Yue was all too pleased to leave the cafeteria by the time lunch was over, even if he still wasn't satisfied that Fai was properly taking care of himself. It was clear that Touya hadn't accepted the answers he'd been given and intended to find out just what the guardian wasn't telling him, and being watched so closely was beginning to get

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[alwayscomesback]

He really hadn't had the chance to get at the board everyone kept telling him about, and again wasn't able to go for it even though he was again in the same room since, well, something caught his attention. White hair had seemed to be a theme running here, but something about the person with white hair he spotted this time just kept him from ignoring curiosity. And hey, at least this one had hair long enough!

Sokka didn't call out to the person at first, since whoever it was had their back to him, and only got up close enough to peer around and up at the face. No, not who he kept thinking about - as if he really would find Yue here - but man, she was pretty!

"No, bad Sokka!" Sokka whispered to himself, shaking his head. He shouldn't be thinking about things like that! If Suki ever found out... she'd probably do something Ninja-ish to him that even he couldn't imagine right then!

[Dun kill meee]

[winged_moon]

There was someone looking at him.

Yue was generally quite good at outwardly ignoring any and all distractions, but today? Today he was already in a bit of a mood, and after he'd already had to deal with being glared at by Touya of all people, the total stranger peering at him curiously didn't do much to improve it.

"What?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly as he turned to regard the young man. Hopefully this wasn't another silly question about exploding hearts or something like that. He had important things to worry about.

...to brood over, Yukito murmured, with a faint mental sigh.

[alwayscomesback]

Sokka stopped shaking his head and opened one eye to peer up. Uh-oh, he'd been spotted! But that wasn't the first of the problems he found with his position.

"You're a guy?!" his mouth fell as he pointed in disbelief.

[winged_moon]

Surprisingly enough, it was possible for Yue to look even more irritated, and at that question - he did. It didn't help matters that Yukito had immediately burst into silent laughter, which was making it somewhat difficult to think.

The guardian huffed out a faint sigh and closed his eyes, lifting a fingertip to press against the bridge of his nose as though trying to fend off a headache. Or at least stop his other self from giggling quite so much. "Is this somehow a problem?" he inquired, voice flat.

[alwayscomesback]

Had he said that out loud? He had, hadn't he? Great going, Sokka! Offend someone else, why don't you? What was one person a day?

Sokka wanted to hit his head into the wall, but instead he closed his mouth and held up his hands apologetically. "No, that's all right. You can be what you want!" He straightened, waving his hands as though that would make things better. "Um, I mean... sorry, there's just... you like this... and this girl... and the moon... and and...!" Sokka suddenly halted, knowing that he probably sounded even more insane than he had before, and after dropping his hands he bent over into a very rigid bow, "I'm really, really sorry," he apologized properly, but it might've sounded more like "please don't kill me".

[winged_moon]

A girl and the moon? What did this boy know about any of that?

Startled, Yue opened his eyes again and frowned at the bowing figure before him. "Girl? What girl?" he demanded, a hint of some undefinable emotion bleeding over into his voice. He wasn't sure whether to be upset, angry, or hopeful at this point. "Do you know Sakura?"

It didn't seem possible, but still - how else would a total stranger have known anything about him?

[alwayscomesback]

"Huh?" Sokka lifted his head, peering up with one one eye once again, "Um... yeah, a girl. I don't know any Sakura though..." He slowly came back to a straight position, averting his eyes since the look of the man was pretty intimidating. "See, my girlfriend? Well, she kind of... turned into the moon..." He started fidgeting with his fingers.

Yeah, all right, so he did sound like a crazy guy sometimes. Well, lots of times, but it wasn't like he was lying!

[winged_moon]

So...not Sakura, then. Yue supressed a flare of disappointment and started to look away, as though no longer interest. Then the boy continued, though, and his story was just odd enough, just close enough, that the guardian's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"She turned into the moon," he echoed, as though asking for confirmation even though his tone wasn't that of a question. "This girl you're talking about. And somehow...this has to do with me." With him being not a girl?

[alwayscomesback]

"Yeah...." Sokka drawled, though honestly couldn't have sounded more convincing if he'd tried, which was sad as he barely sounded convincing in the first place.

His hands fidgeted more until he had one hand rubbing his neck and the other hidden behind his back. "Well, remember how I, y'know, thought you were a girl? It's kind of silly really since she should be the moon and all, but from the back you really do look like you could be her..." Sokka turned a bit and used his hidden hand to thumb at his back.

[winged_moon]

It was rather difficult for Yue to forget how the boy had thought he was a girl, considering that Yukito was still highly amused by it all. Still, though, the fact that this girlfriend of his who had supposedly turned into the moon somehow looked like him - it was and wasn't surprising.

"I'm not her, though," was his curt reply, as he glanced away to stare off at nothing in particular. After a moment, though, he asked (still not looking back, of course), "How exactly did she "turn into" the moon...?"

Not that he was interested or anything.

[alwayscomesback]

Sokka stopped showing his back and both his hands and face dropped a bit. No, this guy wasn't her, but that didn't mean Sokka had forgotten just what had happened up at the North Pole.

"I found out later, after it happened," he started, eyes now staring at the floor, "When she was little, she almost died, but apparently the moon spirit gave her some of its life. A little after I met her... someone killed the moon spirit, and well... she took its place."

He hadn't wanted her to go, but he knew what would have happened had she not. It was really brave what she did. Everyone knew that. Still...

"Her name was Yue," he said finally, then ran an arm across his face before sniffing a bit. No, he had not been crying! He'd just... gotten something in his eye! "Sorry, I didn't mean to mistake you for her."

[winged_moon]

Yue remained still through the story, reminding himself that the boy was probably from another world. Other worlds would have different rules or laws, different stories. Or legends, as this sounded like, even if he'd supposedly known the girl, this...

At the name the guardian finally moved, turning sharply to regard the boy as his shoulders twitched in an automatic movement that would have spread his wings, if he still had them. "Yue?" he repeated, incredulous.

It probably shouldn't be surprising, considering that he had been named for the moon from which he drew his power and resemblance, and if this girl had also been...still, though, it was more than slightly strange.

[alwayscomesback]

"Yeah..." This time Sokka said the acknowledgment with more of a sigh, not needing to convince anyone of anything. He really, truly missed Yue, even if he'd moved on with Suki. Thankfully she'd understood, but still, it was hard to deal with sometimes.

[winged_moon]

After a moment's pause Yue relaxed again, resuming his previous disinterested pose with arms folded across his chest. He remained silent for a little bit longer, then finally breathed out a faint sigh and observed, "My name is Yue."

Hopefully this wouldn't give the boy any more strange ideas, though. Maybe they looked similar, were associated with the moon, and were named for it - but that didn't mean he was a girl. Or in any way related.

[alwayscomesback]

"Huh?" Sokka looked up then, confused at first, but his face soon turned sour and just a little ticked off. "That's not funny," he scowled. Hey, so maybe his explanations wouldn't make sense to some people, but that didn't mean they had to go making fun of him!

[winged_moon]

"I know it isn't. But it's true." And indeed, Yue didn't look terribly pleased about the whole thing, as he cast a sidelong glance back toward the other. "My name is Yue. It means "moon" in my--in another language, and I was named for it."