[-- is that? he wants to believe, Sora wants to believe so badly, because despite the abrupt change in hair color, he's seeing Kairi, he's seeing the strongest memories he has manifested on his pokégear screen. so it's not surprising, when he finally finds his voice somewhere in his throat, that the first thing he blurts out is:]
[Xion's going to have to do better than that, although she is successful at getting him to quirk an eyebrow. maybe Kairi has amnesia? and black hair for some reason? never mind that, more important things to worry about!]
You need to get out of the rain, okay? Me and Riku will come get you!
[all right, this is gonna be just like they'd always talked about, going out and exploring... just minus the raft and the fish, mushrooms and coconuts.]
[she says it so forcefully she almost sounds angry, although she isn't -- she's terrified, actually. she stood up very abruptly at the refusal, too, sending togepi and her bag flying.]
[Sora flinches visibly, both at the outburst and the flying egg-- with a shoot-down like that, Xion may as well have reached through the pokégear and slapped him across the face. he still sees and hears Kairi when he looks at the camera again, but Sora's certainly aware now that something's not right.]
[that's such a complicated question, Sora. allow Xion to ignore it for a moment as she stuffs the pokégear in her pocket. he can probably hear her apologizing to her little, deeply upset pokemon -- the poor thing landed on its head. a few moments later she pulls the pokégear back out, and togepi is sitting on her shoulder now.
she's not sure what to tell him. the truth is too much. she can't lie -- her resemblance to Kairi is too strong to just be handwaved away.]
[silence. if Sora's face weren't still on the screen, it'd be easy to think that he had hung up. he looks... well, confused is an obvious expression. at the same time, he has a thoughtful twinge in his eyes-- is Xion like Roxas and Ven? they look exactly the same, after all, even though neither know why. if that's the case, Sora wouldn't be able to explain Xion's black hair.]
[or maybe Xion is like Donald, or even Jack Skellington to an extent-- from a different world than the one Sora knows, even though they're familiar faces. suffice to say, if he had not met Ven, Roxas, Donald and Jack beforehand, Sora would be taking this a lot harder than he is. he tries to meet Xion's eyes, his smile a little wobby.]
Xion... I'm sorry. You really just look like my best friend, so I was a little confused.
[no hard feelings, right? he's still definitely confused, but he'll still try to be Xion's friend anyway.]
... I know I do. There's ... there's a reason, but you ... you might not want to hear it. It's a really bad reason. It's ... it's probably best if you never know.
[truth be told, Xion just wants to escape from this situation. she's scared and deeply unhappy and already hates it here, in this place where everything is going to be complicated and painful again. what's a puppet to do when her strings have been cut?]
[Sora tries to ignore the painful squeezing in his chest when he looks at her and how distressed she looks, and straightens his smile into something much warmer and reassuring.]
You don't have to tell me.
[she must have a good reason for it, as much as he's dying to know. just like with Roxas and Nobodies.]
Just... find some shelter, okay? The egg is your Pokémon; it'll protect you while you're here.
-- And I know you said you don't want me to come get you, but... If you change your mind, let me know.
[oh, that's awful. Xion is torn between two warring impulses: to avoid Sora completely and forever, and to let him come find her. She hates being alone, but she can't decide if seeing Sora would make all of this better or worse.
what she says next is not what she originally intended to say]
Why? Why would you do that? I look and sound just like Kairi and I won't even tell you why, and you still want to help me. Why?
[if Xion hadn't asked, Sora wouldn't have even thought twice about it. yeah, there probably is a part of him that wants to help because she looks like Kairi, but at the same time...]
[the statement seems to rock her. she's stunned into silence for a moment, before her expression starts to shift: from shock, to sadness, to something finally approaching how she's been feeling all along. she looks like she's about to cry. her voice shakes a little when she finally speaks again]
Would you really not mind ... coming to get me...? Because I'd ... I'd like that.
[no, please don't cry; Sora's half-wondering if Xion's the type of person who responds positively to silly faces-- if the situation didn't feel so serious to him, he would definitely try. Sora smiles again, his voice as reassuring as he's capable.]
Of course I don't mind, Xion. Go dry off real quick, okay? You're going to want to start walking down the only path out of that town. If we both start walking, we'll meet up in a day or so.
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Sora.
The boy in red...
Xion meets his eyes for only a moment before looking away.]
I'm not Kairi. [which is a tough sell, considering she even sounds exactly the same.]
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[Xion's going to have to do better than that, although she is successful at getting him to quirk an eyebrow. maybe Kairi has amnesia? and black hair for some reason? never mind that, more important things to worry about!]
You need to get out of the rain, okay? Me and Riku will come get you!
[all right, this is gonna be just like they'd always talked about, going out and exploring... just minus the raft and the fish, mushrooms and coconuts.]
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[she says it so forcefully she almost sounds angry, although she isn't -- she's terrified, actually. she stood up very abruptly at the refusal, too, sending togepi and her bag flying.]
No. Don't. Just... Sora, do you even believe me?
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I don't understand. Who else could you be?
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she's not sure what to tell him. the truth is too much. she can't lie -- her resemblance to Kairi is too strong to just be handwaved away.]
My name is Xion.
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[or maybe Xion is like Donald, or even Jack Skellington to an extent-- from a different world than the one Sora knows, even though they're familiar faces. suffice to say, if he had not met Ven, Roxas, Donald and Jack beforehand, Sora would be taking this a lot harder than he is. he tries to meet Xion's eyes, his smile a little wobby.]
Xion... I'm sorry. You really just look like my best friend, so I was a little confused.
[no hard feelings, right? he's still definitely confused, but he'll still try to be Xion's friend anyway.]
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[truth be told, Xion just wants to escape from this situation. she's scared and deeply unhappy and already hates it here, in this place where everything is going to be complicated and painful again. what's a puppet to do when her strings have been cut?]
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You don't have to tell me.
[she must have a good reason for it, as much as he's dying to know. just like with Roxas and Nobodies.]
Just... find some shelter, okay? The egg is your Pokémon; it'll protect you while you're here.
-- And I know you said you don't want me to come get you, but... If you change your mind, let me know.
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what she says next is not what she originally intended to say]
Why? Why would you do that? I look and sound just like Kairi and I won't even tell you why, and you still want to help me. Why?
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I dunno. You seem like someone I can trust.
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Would you really not mind ... coming to get me...? Because I'd ... I'd like that.
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Of course I don't mind, Xion. Go dry off real quick, okay? You're going to want to start walking down the only path out of that town. If we both start walking, we'll meet up in a day or so.
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Okay. And-- ... thank you, Sora.
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You're welcome! I guess we'll see each other in a day then, right?
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