Reunion and Time Traveling Finale

[lucetimods]

Who: Everyone!
What: The time-traveling group returns to find an invasion of newcomers.
When: November 20th and Onward
Where: Luceti enclosure
Summary: Who let all these New Feathers in here!? ...Wait, that guy's familiar...
Rating: May vary, as usual high ratings should be taken elsewhere

The adventure to the past is over; the villagers have all been sent home to their own time. But things are different. The changes of the past have echoed into the future. And the world has responded in the strangest way. Why are so many people here all of a sudden? And why are their memories such a mess?

Who really knows?

Comments

[deathsdoctor]

[This...

Should this feel right? It's a brand new world, and every little change is jarring as he walks. Every time he turns a page in his journal... he sees a life that's not his. Of course... of course... they changed time. Of course it should be different.

It's a better world.

But in a world that doesn't remember what it took to get it there... no, this is wrong that memory has been erased so thoroughly. It makes lie to their true lives. To the strife and the sacrifice of it. To all the pain. All wiped away.

He supposes that's their final sacrifice in this to make a better world. To be the ones to bear the scars of the old one and to do so silently. With no one on the outside realizing what it took.

As he walks the village and goes to Celcius Tear to have tea, Law smiles. It's bittersweet and sad.

It's a better world.

Will he find his peace with this? Who knows. The pirate has to live with it all the same.

It's a better world.]

[corrinesbell]

[Sheena anticipates more customers than usual; this specific one surprises her. Shouldn't he have friends or something to spend his newly-won time with?

Oh well. He's here for tea; she brings him a cup and a pot full of what he usually orders.]

Unless you want something different this time. [In this (false?) future, there were a few different teas - notably, she's missing her pain-relief stockpile and wondering if she can remember how to make it.]

[deathsdoctor]

No. The usual's good.

[He offers Sheena that same smile. Tries to make it seem a little less melancholy. It comes across a little tight, something almost broken in it.

It's the face of a man who is only smiling because he doesn't want to be told to be happy about something he isn't sure he can be happy about.]

... the town hasn't been so full in years. [So many familiar faces...] It's something else...

[... and that's another thing he can't be sure to be happy about. It's awfully convenient that all these people showed up right after they got back from their field trip from the past. Perhaps more than one price has been paid.]

[corrinesbell]

[She knows that type of smile, but isn't in the mood to try to knock down someone else's painful doors. Pouring his tea for him, she does not offer a similar smile in return. It isn't in her to fake it today; it takes all she has not to grit her teeth at everybody who comes in wanting tea.]

It's been full off and on. What it's never full of is so many people who've...spent time here before.

[deathsdoctor]

Yeah... that too.

[That comes after an uncomfortable small pause. All the people who've gone home for better or worse.

... no, it's not something to be happy about, is it? They're back and the rest are still here.]

[corrinesbell]

You come up here to escape all that? Some of them won't know this place exists.

[She could kick herself for asking, for opening the door, but he's the first equally-dissatisfied person she's run across.]

[If you don't mind captcha, neither do I; if you do, bring it here!]

[yourhatred]

[At some point Law will find a familiar hand on his arm, a familiar soft smile turned his way.

He knows a little of what you're thinking, partner. This is just a reminder that he's still here for you, unchanged despite what a new pair of clear, dark eyes might say.

Stick close to him for a while as you walk.]

[deathsdoctor]

[Better yet, he'll hook an arm loosely around you. Kiss your cheek as he walks.

Today has brought a lot and even though at least one very heavy burden has been lifted, there's still much weighing on him.

Still moody... just... less sad.

It's complicated.]

The girls are pissed, aren't they? We've never gotten such a frosty reception... and the house...

[Had they gotten bored? The greenhouse was still there, but the walls were different colours (it had needed paint before they left), and there were things around that they never had, like a small wedding album, and a few missing like the flack jacket from that one Halloween that Law had stuffed in the back of the closet and never wore because it didn't feel right, but never threw away either.

The grounds of House 22 are even more landscaped. Law wouldn't have been needed at the clinic so much. They had spent more time together.]

... it looks like the us of this timeline did work on it...

[Us and them. Their choices... not our choices. It's like stepping into strangers' lives.

He's seen the journals. There are differences between this Law and him. Peace and war can shape a man very differently.]

[yourhatred]

[The them of this timeline... it's a bit strange, yes. That they had clearly been here and yet have no memory of it. And yet if they hadn't changed events of the past, these alternate versions of themselves wouldn't have existed in the first place.

It doesn't help to think that they've replaced anyone. For all intents and purposes, they are those people, just saddled with memories of another time.]

Mm. There's a birdbath.

[It's a small thing to point out, but most people's birdbaths don't have crows as the majority of its users.]

[deathsdoctor]

I saw. There was an entire murder in there last I looked.

[... such a mundane thing, but it reminds him of the disconnect of this world and the old one. How disconnected he feels.]

... so many people are happy about this. I know it's a good thing, that it should feel like a good thing... but... the way it came about...

[He touches the scars on his neck.

It's now more difficult to find closure when the ones that hurt you are now oblivious and innocent of their actions, but yet you continue to suffer the repercussions of a past that no longer exists. It makes it worse in a way. Justice and revenge are no longer options.

Blind forgiveness isn't one either.]

[yourhatred]

I know... I understand.

[Even if he doesn't feel quite the same.

He leans closer placing a kiss against those same scars.]

Those that did this are gone. [These people - they're not the same.] You helped make it that way. Undid everything they'd done, save for what you remember.

[It's the sort of vengeance Itachi would prefer, but it means the other party doesn't suffer.]

[hollower]

[It's chance alone that Perona finds Law herself, before her ghosts do. At first, she's stunned enough to just stare him down, like she's not really sure what to do, or if she even really should be so darn happy to see him again. It hasn't even been that long, has it? Maybe a few months...a year? Perona still doesn't know, but considering the last time they spent together--

She swallows the lump in her throat and tosses her inhibitions to the wind. Fuck it, that's her friend, her nakama, her captain standing there and she's missed him so, so much. Missed him too much to describe in words.

So she says nothing. She rushes towards him and collides with the doctor in a tight hug, her arms coiled around his waist and her face buried into his chest. Perona doesn't know if he even knows who she is, but she could care less right now. Law, she missed you, and just needs a minute or two to just...just enjoy seeing you once again.]

THESE ARE HAPPY TEARS OKAY

[deathsdoctor]

[He barely has a second to register pink hair before he's nearly bowled over by the force of her embrace - but's that's okay. He already knows as he drops Kikoku, and wraps his arms around her tightly like she'll disappear on him again like the spirit she can become.

He gasps, though it sounds more like a sob. He has her back, he has her back... he has a nakama back and he's not alone, and his heart is breaking because today is the day he finds out he gets to be free and he has her back.

Breaking with joy.]

... Perona...

RAI, YOU BROKE MY HEART

[hollower]

[A returned hug, and the desperate uttering of her name is all Perona needs to affirm that this is her Law, her nakama, her captain. Tightening her grip on him, and snuggling into his shirt, her face breaks into a joyous smile and her laugh mingles together with a broken sob of her own. He's still here, and he remembers her, and--]

M-My...Law. Captain. [She pulls him closer and begins to laugh quietly, though again it breaks into hushed little sobs as the tears well up in her eyes.] I'm so happy to see you again...I missed you so much!

HEARTS BREAKING EVERYWHERE

[deathsdoctor]

So have I, Perona. [He's going to keep hugging you for a while, okay? Okay. The hugging is a totally necessary thing for him here.] So have I.

[hollower]

[Continued here!]

[daisy023]

[SPARTAN-023 had found many old friends in this world again, and for the first time in a long time, there was a world at peace. No Covenant, no drafts, only the barest of missions, no Malnosso, barely even cultists. This should have been the world she would have wanted after so long.

And she didn't know what to do with it.

There were parts of this that she knew were real, such as her friendships, bonds, but... deep in her, she knew that many of these changes had appeared through pain and evolution, caused by the dangers and cruelty of this world she had already become used to through her own. Much like Law, she didn't know how to go through with it... but she had to know.]

Mind if I sit here, sir?

[As Law remains in Celsius Tear, Daisy looks at him through full winter clothes, scarf over her face and long hair set loose.]

[deathsdoctor]

[He smiles up at her quietly. Aaa... another familiar face.]

Not at all.

[He wonders if she has all her memories intact. They changed time... so the timestream that she should be remembering no longer exists. He wonders if that makes her different now. The man Law is on the journals seems different than he himself.

And he's now in his life, replacing him. It's not fair to either.]

Would you like something to drink?

[He'll just flag down a waiter if so. She looks rather cold. The Spartan could do with something hot.]

[daisy023]

[The permission given rings to old attachments to order, either remnants of her old life or unchanged nature from the people she met in this new world. She didn't know. Friends, and orders, were what she had right now.

Slowly, she bends her knees to the sides to sit, make herself as comfortable s possible with how small everything was in Luceti.]

Yes, sir... I'd like some chocolate.

[Well, this was another thing, she realized, was another solid memory: Her attachment to sweets.

As they waited, even as she sat like a soldier during R&R, something that Spartans never had until Luceti, she decided to ask with the things she heard had happened in the mission the residents partook in. Reports she would have to analyze for the smallest details for something to do.]

What happens now, sir?

[deathsdoctor]

We go on.

[That's the only answer that's right to say. He flags down that waiter for the hot chocolate as he thinks how to expand on that.

Both of them are children of war. Both of them are alien to peace. Both of them... do they even have a place in that peace?]

... I think it's alright not to know what to do next, [It's a reassurance for both of them.] because there isn't a clear answer for anyone yet. It's a new world - before we pick a direction in which to go in, we have to figure out what we've been dropped in. And that'll take a little time.

[daisy023]

[Upon receiving the chocolate, Daisy takes the moment to process the words... and smile to herself.] You sound like a friend of mine.

[She realizes, it is something John, of her universe, would say.]

... Even the notes I looked for don't give as much light. I know things changed, but... I couldn't have been this quiet, sir. I know I did a lot more.

((OOC: Can continue here or in appointments/extended log!))

[markofthebrave]

[Katara hasn't been around much at all; she's been sick, shift-struck and bedridden, though she's made the journey to the past and future and has all the strange memories to go with it. Now that she's finally up and about, however, Law is one of the first people she goes seeking. She is thinner and paler, and so curious - and deeply, heart-achingly glad about the changes. She has a feeling he would have been involved and wants to hear from him what happened as much as she wants to check on him.]

[deathsdoctor]

Katara... you're up!

[Law isn't sure if he's glad about it all - at least the way it's come to pass. He's feeling conflicted over a number of things, really. One thing he is, though, is that he's happy to see she's up at last, even if she looks worse for wear.]

How are you feeling? Better?

[And thus he may want to fuss a tiny bit. He's missed her.]

[markofthebrave]

Much better. [She smiles, a little wryly.] It feels really good to be out of bed, finally. How are you? How have you been?

[deathsdoctor]

[Oh.

Oh.

She's happy. That makes his heart ache. Both in joy that she's finally, finally happy. She deserves every bit. And frustration at his own emotions.

Why can't he feel happy too? It's a better world - he should be.

But at least he can smile for her, because he's happy she's happy. He'll try to focus on that.]

It feels good to see you out of bed.

Me? I've been okay. I kept busy in the past with this and that. Helped set up a clinic. A little exploring. Which, is what I'm doing now... there's a lot of new things to get used to.