lifeaftr | Returns

Entry tags:

Returns

Who: Seto and open | Seto and Ren
What: Seto has returned from his canon update. Time to find everyone again.
When: Backdated to the 9th
Where: Around Camp Base
Warnings: Massive spoilers for Fragile Dreams and the epilogue manga. I'll update as needed!

Camp Base - Let's dance to joy division and celebrate the irony

[It feels like a repeat of events that happen whenever he falls asleep: something happens.

Seto fell asleep and dreamed of a school and a time he did not belong to. He fell asleep and Ren went missing, ran away because of him and his reaction to her eventual death. He fell asleep in a world that was composed of silence and bodies of other children.

He falls asleep and--

And he's...back. Blinking at the bright sun, the sound of waves filling his ears as Seto's memories rush to catch up to him. Shiro, Tokyo Tower, Shin's memories and Ren---

He vanished without a word. He has no idea how long it's been. Ren and Crow. They're...

Seto was at the Storyteller's temple but he doesn't stop running until he reaches Camp Base again. He's out of breath but forces himself to keep running until he finds Ren and Crow, calling their names.

Someone can try to stop him, on his run to Camp Base and through it, but they'll need to keep up with his run. Or just tackle him. Either or.]

Locked to Ren - Everything is going wrong but we're so happy

[Once everything has died down and night has come, Seto hasn't quite gone to bed yet. Things keep happening when he sleeps and he's slightly afraid that he'll disappear again if he does.

It's a silly fear, the same kind of fear he had once he had been pulled out of the Water, but he doesn't want to vanish again. It's not so much that he hated his own world - there were a lot of pretty things there despite it being destroyed and he wouldn't have met anyone if he didn't live there - it's just that Seto doesn't want to leave Ren and Crow alone again.

So he goes for a little walk. Just so he could find a good spot for some star-gazing. Unsurprisingly Ren's tagging along and he does not mind it at all. Any time he can spend with her is even more precious now.

Any and all time...all that she has left.

If Seto's gripping Ren's hand a little too hard, he's sorry.]

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[Seto doesn't plan on staying out for too long. It's not like any of them have a bedtime. Crow probably wouldn't listen to that, Seto was too used to being up late to keep an eye on things and Ren was Ren. Not that...he wants to think about sleeping right now. But he also knows he needed to move past it. Work as hard as he can.

He does have something to ask Ren, a question he's going to ask Crow eventually too, but for now he just nods.]

Yeah, it's perfect.

[A nice, clear space. Seto didn't know the names of the pictures that the stars made on the island but that doesn't mean he can't make stuff up.]

The stars are really pretty here, aren't they?

[That's a statement she can agree with. Picking out various catstellations is a instinct she's trying to ignore, choosing to concentrate on Seto's hand, his face, his smile, but-

Let's be real. It wins out and the hand that isn't crushing his in her grip, points up to the sky.]

That's why Kumo-chan [And she moves her hand slightly] and Hanako-chan are playing up there. They know it's pretty.

[He follows her finger as she points out Kumo-chan and Hanako-chan. Not constellations Seto's Grandpa had shown him before but to heck with it. Making stuff up is much better.]

I wonder what it's like to live up there.

[It's probably a very big place to live in, if going by those complicated books. Endless. They could live there forever.

...yeah, they could. But--]

Who else is up there?

[He's putting the question off, he knows. But that's okay for now.]

There's-

[A soft hum escapes her as she moves her finger across the sky, playing connect the dots with some of the stars and finding each of them lacks a certain part-a tail or ears or whiskers. This is a time consuming process okay??

After a few minutes, she finds an adequate constellation and says-]

Murasaki-chan and I named Kumo-chan and Hanako-chan. So you can name this star cat.

[Complete with a vague gesture at where this star cat resides in the sky.]

[Ren, he wants to say. Ren-chan, even if he's not sure what the '-chan' part is for. A place for her to be once she passes away, a place to play with her cats forever.

....Seto knows he's thinking to hard about this but it's still fresh in his mind. But he also knows what happens if he thinks about it far, far to much and for too long. So he'll give a name.]

How about...Lilly-chan? They're pretty flowers and I think the star cats are pretty too.

[It's a beautiful name and one she would expect to come out of his mouth. Lily-chan belongs up there, with Hanako and Kumo, and she can't wait to tell Murasaki-chan about the new friend playing in the sky. Maybe she can call him later, once Seto's safely tucked in and resting.]

That's a good name and now that Lily-chan's there, it's a big family-they can eat together, play together, and sleep together.

[All three of them!! It's so good.]

Yeah! I'm sure they're happy up there.

[Playing together forever. He's sure they're having fun. But...]

...hey Ren, can I ask you something?

[Something that's important.]

[They are having fun and that's why they should concentrate on the happy cats in the sky for the next x hours. When they get tired, they can walk back home and worry about everything else tomorrow. Or preferably, never.]

What is it?

[He bites his lip in thought before simply speaking. Seto knows if he thinks about this too hard, it'll get jumbled up.]

Are you happy here Ren? Really, really happy?

[Better then home?]

Now that you're back, I'm very happy.

[There's no hesitation in her answer. How could she not look at the picturesque world around them and find endless joy? Adults look at her and smile. She can pretend she isn't worthless in their eyes, gets to enjoy the warmth and comfort that comes from having a family-a treasure she never thought would be hers to own.

She accomplished her goal. Their goal. They found people and Seto won't have to be alone. She gets to play and dig in the sand, look for treasures, take naps under hammocks and pick her own clothes to wear. They don't have to hunt for clean water or dig through moldy food to find something worth eating in their forgotten city.

And for once, her short life is her own. She isn't being used as someone else's means to an end. There's no chance of being shoved into tubes or copied or summoned back to a terrifying room by a phantom she could never find the courage to escape on her own in this place.

No, she's-]

My heart feels happy every day. I can smile all the time here.

[And there's no hesitation. Just a quiet sort of happiness that Seto can feel even without his powers working. There are some things that abilities like his were not needed to feel something.

Ren's happy here. She's safe and has friends. There's a tent somewhere in a camp that has a hammock in it where two and sometimes three children slept. There hasn't been a day where their bellies weren't full or a thought spared to the next time they were going to eat because it would happen. Even Seto himself was slowly starting to forget what flowers and grass tasted like.

She had a birthday and maybe Ren could have another in the future. It's...not a kind of hope, but it's nice to think of.

But the most important thing here was that Ren was happy on the island of Enso. And that was enough for Seto.]

Okay.

[He hasn't forgotten his promise to that girl on the other end of the phone and once they found a way to send back those who wanted to go home, maybe he could ask if she could come too. Ren could have another friend too.

But for now he's content with that. Seto leans against Ren gentely and looks up at the sky.

Everything is okay.]

[Somewhere along the way, there was an unasked question she inadvertently answered. That's what it sounds like and she has to wonder what it could've been.

Not that it matters. Because he takes her words to heart-listens and says okay like it's the only thing he needed to hear.

So she smiles, clutches his hand a bit tighter and points up the sky-

Look at all those pretty stars.]

[Seto knows deep down he should have actually said what he wanted to ask. There were always things that were hard to get across with no words and Seto's powers weren't like Ren's or Shin's. Perhaps if he had asked Ren again to feel each other's feelings together, then maybe it would be easier.

But he doesn't want to upset her either. For however long Ren has left, he's going to help make the rest of her life a happy one.

He looks up at the stars and smiles.]

They're really pretty.

It makes you happy when you look at them, right? It makes you smile?

[The stars in particular, but it's a roundabout way of confirming what she needs to know. Because at the end of the day, this place is for him and she needs to make sure he's happy.]

Yup.

[Because Ren and Crow were here. That's what makes things a bit more shinier and food taste better. Because his best friend and dearest person are alive and well here.]

[It's easy to see with her own two eyes-the way he flits around camp and his conversations with the people who inhabit the island. It would be impossible for a person like him, who spent so much time searching for someone to be with, to not be happy on a sprawling island booming with life.

She has to make sure, somehow, he never gets sent back to the place. That he never disappears because of the island's influence-he has to stay. And if that means holding his hand this tight for the next ten years, then so be it.

And as they quietly watch the stars together, she leans over and rests her head against his shoulder.

He's finally back.]

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Returns

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