YAMATO SECTOR

[meat_mooks]

In an island area of the park is the sometimes staid, sometimes festive Yamato Sector (which seemed strangely familiar to some of the crew, no doubt). Souvenir swords? Okonomiyaki? Sunset beaches filled with the SPRINGTIME OF OUR YOUTH? Medieval warlords drinking wine from human (shaped) skulls? They're all here!
[Set up your own locations as you

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FESTIVAL

[meat_mooks]

[makoed]

"You’re right." It wasn’t as if he could disagree with her. In a small way, she had a valid point. While this wasn’t his idea of a vacation, this did feel like a scenario that was a once in a lifetime experience. When you couple that with Aerith, it was definitely worth it in the long run. Still, that didn’t remove the fact that he still held some concerns not only with this place but in general with the idea of being on board that living and motherly ship.

As they slowly strolled through the line of booths, Cloud kept his attention focused on anything else to refrain from staring. "I never thought..." And that bit of honesty was choked back when he paused to rethink his words. Was it even appropriate? No, still too soon. "I never pegged you to be the type to enjoy masks."

Now it was his turn to stop and take interest to a booth that suddenly caught his eye. Turning away, he casually made his way over to the collection of pottery. It wasn’t so much the fact that it was ceramic but the designs that held his attention.

[greenmateria]

She watched him quietly for a moment - it was obvious he held a lot back, and a part of her wanted to push at him until he laid it out in the open, so they could deal with it. However, she held back from doing so. Cloud would say what he wanted or needed to when he was ready. Really, she couldn't demand that he spill everything he was holding back when she held back herself.

The mask comment does make her pause as he studied the pottery in front of him. It was the first brightly colored object she'd seen, picking it up to draw him into a conversation, but the question hit something deep inside her. Shaking the thought away, she stepped forward to the booth he was in front of, looking down at the items.

"And what type would someone have to be to enjoy masks?" She asks as she looks at a particularly well made bowl. "I thought the cat one was pretty cute."

[makoed]

“Cute. Right.” And really, what else could he say to that? It wasn’t that he found the mask to be particularly weird; he was just trying to find an excuse to make small talk. It was his own poor attempt at at filling in the gaps for the awkward pauses or drawn out silences between him and the cetra. But around Aerith, that was all too transparent.

He kept his eyes focused on the pottery as he spoke, finding it easier to say what he wanted to without being sidetracked by her presence. “Is it strange for you? You haven’t really ... spoken about it.”

[greenmateria]

She looked over at Cloud, watching him study the display in front of them. She knew that she hadn't really said anything about how she was feeling - besides happiness at finding him and Nanaki. It was only natural that he'd be curious. Aerith had made it a point to focus on the positive side, rather than the negative. It was a scary thing, being in this unnatural environment with hundreds of strangers

[makoed]

To that, Cloud wasn’t quite sure how to answer. He had a lot of mixed opinions about all of this-the Ohm, the war, and the fact that his home was apparently destroyed without his knowledge. Knowing that his friends were still encased on the ship asleep and unaware of what was taking place and that the only way to return home was to fight this war … he didn’t really have a real answer. At least not the answer Aerith needed to hear. Yet his silence probably said enough for her

[greenmateria]

Even if he didn't want to voice all of his thoughts out loud, she got the general idea of what he was probably thinking. His silence did speak volumes, and that was fine with her. Aerith didn't expect him to spill everything going on inside his head and lay it out for her to see.

Returning home was a thought that had occured to her, and she felt a dull ache in her abdomen. Would she be able to return? She'd known going off by herself wasn't without it's risks, but she'd made it to the City of Ancients safely enough. After that...her thoughts trailed off. Absently, she rubbed the ache with her hand, her gaze wandering over the unfamiliar faces.

"Stand and fight. Seems like fighting is all we do anymore," she said thoughtfully, then turned to Cloud. "What happened after I left? Is everyone okay?" She knew they were probably in the pods on ship, and she wanted to hear they were okay. At least from him.

[makoed]

It was true. Just when he figured the war was over, a new one was brought to his very doorstep. A never-ending battle with new challenges and new worries. Cloud had nothing to add other than a simple nod. Even if this was a war he was not prepared for, that didn't mean he wouldn't go into it blindly.

"We ... pulled through," he answered quietly. It was an uneasy question simply because in his mind she had never left. Even if her presence was never there physically, Aerith remained a constant figure of support to the very end. The reason he was able to cure his own geostigma. But to hear her question it so curiously...

"When you say leave, do you mean...?"

[greenmateria]

It was hard to say 'after I died'. Right at the moment it happened she appeared here - it had been a surreal feeling. Saying 'left' made it a little less dire, as if she'd just gone out for a walk and was coming back shortly.

Which was what she had intended to do, actually. To return. The way his question was phrased, though, made her think there was a little more to what he asked. Aerith peered at him, remembering that she'd noticed he looked different. A little bit older, and something had changed behind his eyes.

She almost collided with a child, and she skirted around them, smiling apologetically. Turning back to Cloud, she gave him a considering look.

"When I went to the City of Ancients on my own," she said. "To try to stop Meteor. When I..." Her voice trailed off a bit and she focused back in front of them, making sure she wouldn't almost hit anyone else. "How long has it been since that happened?"

[makoed]

He kept his gaze focused ahead both to watch where he was going and to avoid that awkward eye contact. It made it easier to answer her when the question was turned around back to him, forcing him to think back and recall the event that changed his life and his outlook of it from then on out.

"Around two years..." He murmured. This discussion was turning out to be rather depressing, wasn't it? Aerith brought ( or dragged ) him here to get him out of that. There was no reason to pull them back down again and dwell on thoughts that simply didn't need to be spoken on. At least not yet. What mattered was that she was here. He had to do this .. at least for her.

"Is there anywhere in particular you want to go or want to see?"

[greenmateria]

Aerith's a little taken aback - two years? She blinked at him for a moment as she absorbed that piece of information, then focused back on not walking into the many people they were passing.

Biting her lip, she decided to go along with the change of subject. She did really want them both to take a breather from the ship, and they were toeing the line of some serious topics.

So without further ado, she grabbed his arm, pulling him with her as she spied some of the game booths. "We should watch what they're doing! I've never seen games like these. Not like the Golden Saucer. Too bad there isn't a chocobo race, huh Cloud?" She winked at him, smiling brightly.

[makoed]

And just like that a solution was found. Leave it to Aerith to find something to within seconds of asking and left him with little room to decide now that he was dragged off. Against his will, he smiled for just a second. A distraction was needed, anything to take their minds of the thoughts of death and memories of a world no longer in existence.

Out of all the gaming booths, the one that held his attention the most was the one centered around goldfish catching. He couldn't figure out why everyone had such a great deal of difficulty trying to put the fish into the bowl. It was hard to believe that this was even a game, but the look on everyone's faces said otherwise. They were enjoying it even if more than just a few of them came out empty-handed.

“We’ll need a souvenir.”

[greenmateria]

Goldfish catching was absolutely engrossing. Aerith couldn't help but smile while she watched, the enjoyment of those playing clear to everyone. It didn't look too complicated, but there had to be something more to it, if they were having such difficulty.

Aerith nodded at his suggestion. "You're right, we definitely need a souvenir. We should play a game and win something." She looked over at him slyly, pointing to the goldfish game. "I'm sure you would have no trouble with this one, would you?" Aerith said this with a smile. She was pretty sure the prize for this one was an actual goldfish, but she wanted to see how he would do.

[makoed]

The egging on from Aerith erased whatever confidence was there with the game just by watching it. A highly-trained mercenary enhanced with mako ... but unable to catch a simple goldfish. Far too embarrassing to even think about. Yet saying no didn't look like an option here. Well then...

"What about you? Are you going to join me?" He asked, unwilling to throw himself into the game if he had to do it alone. "It's a game, right? We should compete."

[greenmateria]

At the challenge, Aerith gave a narrow eyed study of the game. It really didn't look too hard, and even if there was a trick to it she was sure she could at least get one fish. And if Cloud was willing to play it, all the more reason to jump in.

"Of course I'll join!" She beamed at him, nudging his arm with her elbow. "As long as you don't get upset if I end up winning." Before he could respond, she took a few steps toward the man running the game, asking for two bowls and two poi.

HFNJDFNF TRAINING KEPT ME AWAY. But i return. \o/ Still training but will be done in December.

[makoed]

"It's a fish, Aerith. Not a race." He chimed back, yet part of him wondered if there was a chance he very well could lose this simple game.

Once they received both bowl and poi, Cloud set to work immediately at fulfilling the objective behind the rather simple game. Sadly, he was quick to learn just how 'simple' this game really was when the net from the poi split upon impact of swiping too fast in the water.

ooc: also made a new post!