spring will come once more

[expiatrice]

Who: Ciel and headedforhope
When: Backdated to Sunday the 14th, before noon
Where: 1127 Taylor Road
What: Sakura has been permanently droned and Zelos has already been replaced. Now that Mami's snapped out of it, Ciel has something to give her before she loses the chance again.
Warnings: N/A, just famiry fluff

Comments

[expiatrice]

Aha, that's okay. It's been a while, so I don't remember who was there that day very well. She got from the mail... a really questionable piece of clothing that she never remembered having back home.

[a beat.] Saying it like this sounds a bit silly, doesn't it? [She sheepishly chuckles a bit.] But the shock was enough to have made me believe it was something terrible. It was a relief though, to know that no harm came to her when I got there. But after having seen that garment myself... It's true that she would never have any use for it, even if it supposedly came from her home world. Throwing it away would be a waste however, so Matou-san had the idea to trade it in for something else at the Post Office. I told her that another set of clothing would be fine, it doesn't have to be something useful to benefit everyone, just getting something for herself is okay too. And that's how in the end, she decided to trade that piece in, for the key to the house of the boy that she visited often and [...present tense shift.] loves.

[She'll finally detach her gaze from the pink flower in her hands to look back at Mami. Her voice remains soft and quiet.] You could imagine the rest, right? I told her that I'd be happy to make her a keychain to go along with it. She may not have any use for a key that can't open anything in Mayfield, but it's the emotional value that matters. I'd let her know once I was done, but in the end, Matou-san was permanently droned before I could give this to her. ...Mm, I think I have some regrets. This wouldn't have taken long, but I ended up putting it off when I could have gotten it done much sooner. So...

It's selfish, like I said, but I don't want something like that to repeat. People come and leave all the time here and we don't have any power on when such things happen. I just don't want to miss the chance again while I still have it. [That said, she falls silent, as if waiting to be told how ridiculous the whole motive is. Which she doesn't deny, although...] It's sort of pitiful, isn't it? But it's also why I'd like it, if we could have something to hang on to no matter what happens to us here in the future. ...Does that make sense?

[headedforhope]

[Something tightens in her face, briefly, a twitch of muscle that is here and then gone. So, Sakura had a boy she liked.....there's the faint burn of jealousy at the thought, old and bitter and not a little guilty. Boyfriends, or even the hope of one, belonged to a world of normalcy that existed just beyond Mami's straining fingertips.]

It makes plenty of sense, I think.

[Her idealism is bruised. It's a smothered, weakened, tired thing. But it's not broken - it's not gone. She can understand and appreciate gestures like these....the problem is that Mami's cynical mind can rarely stop there. It whirls along on a train of less pleasant thoughts, concerning itself with the disappointment and hurt that will come of it.]

You're right, there's nothing we can do in regards to people arriving and vanishing; we're given no control, not even a warning. But if we take our chances when we can.....perhaps we can minimize our regrets.

[Madoka might be gone tomorrow. Or she might be killed in some unique and awful way. Or perhaps both, one following the other. These things are not something Mami can promise or hope to prevent - she can only try to take her happiness with the other girl where she can. Isn't that right?

Quietly:]

Selfish, pitiful.....I think you're judging this a little too harshly, Ciel-san. I don't think it's either of those things.

[Admitting that is to invite a hard look at herself, her attitude concerning Mayfield up to this point. Mami does; what she sees doesn't surprise her, but perhaps even a person like her can find the resolve to slowly change.]