entrancelogs | INCOMPLETE | it's all right 'cause I'm

Entry tags:

INCOMPLETE | it's all right 'cause I'm

Who: Sora, Jay & Sheena
Where: Outside Sheena's room.
When: Before the Valentine's Day event.
Rating: G
Summary: Sheena wants to see Jay's bell. Sora's using the bell as a keychain. Family meeting is go!
the Story:

The bell he held in his hand was more important than any other item he carried with him. It belonged to Jay; contained his hopes and dreams and everything that he was. Sora held it close to his heart because of that. He didn't want to give it up because it made an excellent weapon, but it was Jay who wanted to do something with it. And Sora would drop everything to do anything for Jay.

"Do you want it back?" the Keybearer asked, looking as comfortable as ever with Jay's actions. He trusted his boyfriend so much. "You were really attached to this. I understand if you want it back. I think I would miss it too, if I were you."

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Jay offered a half-smile. There was a hint of anxiety in his eyes, but not about Sora.

"No, I simply need you to show it to her. I'm not taking it back. It was my gift to you," he answered simply, in a tone that left no room for argument. Even though his voice remained steady, he felt fidgety. Toying with his sleeves a bit, tapping his foot... before the meeting he must have brushed his hair for a straight hour. There would be answers soon. Perhaps this was all a wild goose chase. Perhaps it would end up as nothing.

The idea frightened him as much as it being something.

"Knock on the door, Sora," Jay ordered quietly, still trying to hide his anxiety.

"I know what to do," Sora wanted to say, but seeing Jay in the state he was in made him think twice. His hand rose, fist closing in to rap on the door, when he decided to try and comfort Jay a tiny bit. He faced Jay entirely, put on a smile and said, "Take a deep breath before she answers the door. It'll chill you out a little."

Secretly he hoped their meeting would lead Jay to his family. Sora didn't know Sheena but he hoped she knew something about Jay's relative, or was a relative herself. Full of hope, he knocked on the door.

Sheena had been sitting at her floor table when the knock on the door had interuppted the silence. She had been half laying on the table top, head resting on her upper right arm as her left ungloved hand rolled Corrine's bell with a small metallic clank as the small ball inside hit the metal covering.

"....?" She straightened herself and straightened out the front part of her purple robe. As a ninja of her stature, she should have been ready for anything; for everything.

But the image of the bell had been weighing heavily on her mind. So, she was not at 100% awareness. She expected that the mansion could've done something like this; but.. to her? To Jay? To Zelos?

The mizuho ninja glanced back to the bell and sighed gently. Granted, the idea of having children, even in the future was exciting... the fact of the matter was assuming that two different ends met at a very similar point... things would need to be answered. Answers would have to be found for the barrage of questions that threatened to come out if she really was...

'Enough of that.' Sheena thought as she stood up from her spot on the tatami mats. With the bell left on the table for the moment, Sheena padded her way to the door and stood there for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to reach forward, and slide the (from her side) rice paper door open.

With a small and weak little smile that she gave to her two guests, Sheena bowed down politely while her now loose hair fell past her shoulders, "Hello."

(ooc: .. wtf guys. I'm so sorry. I opened note pad and this kinda... floated out. Don't be skurd. srsly. D8)

Sheena came from a place like Mulan, Sora suspected. By using his memories of that world he figured out what to do next: reciprocate! Just as Sheena had, he bowed to her and said hello.

"My name is Sora," he told her the moment he stood straight, introduction joined by a friendly smile. "It's nice to meet you." He hoped his first impression was a good impression; he wanted to prove himself to a possible family member of Jay's.

A bow himself, to be polite.

"Hello, Sheena." Jay wasn't even able to muster a weak smile now, even though his expression wasn't sad or angry. Business-like was the least scared expression he could pull off right now.

"I hope you've been well," he commented softly, after Sora had introduced himself. Niceties, formalities, so many -ties to avoid the subject matter. Dancing around the subject wasn't like him. Yet here he was.

There was a momentary blink as she glanced over at Sora. So THIS was the guy that Jay had mentioned back when they were high~. Sheena couldn't help but smile a little more at actually meeting him face to face. So he's Jay's... heh.. he kind of reminds me of...

Sheena shook her head very subtly, whether it was because she wanted to end her train of thought or as a small modest gesture, "It's nice to meet you, Sora. I'm Sheena Fujibayashi."

She turned her gaze over to look at Jay and stared at him for a beat or two; her small smile growing a little bit, "I'm .. doing fine." Consdering the circumstances, was what she wanted to say, but didn't.

"Hello, Jay." It was a very awkward feeling, what Sheena had, but she needed to be strong, "It's good to see you..." She paused probably longer than she needed to and cleared her throat, "So." She started, "Did you guys want to come in? .. get something to drink? I have some tea if you'd like..." Avoiding the topic seemed to run in the could-be-family..

"Tea would be nice," Jay answered quietly. Anxious, anxious... His hand wormed out of his pocket, gently reaching over to take Sora's. The action was very small, very subtle, but it managed to calm Jay's nerves. Focus on the warmth of Sora's hand.

He even managed to offer a small smile.

Sora's immediate reaction was to accept Jay's hand and give it a comforting squeeze. He understood his boyfriend's trepidation but encouraged him to be brave. "I could use some tea. But uh," came a short pause, "Do you have sugar to put in it? I don't drink tea a lot."

Like a gentleman, Sora offered Jay entrance into Sheena's room first. First or second, he wouldn't take his hand away until Jay felt confident enough to let go.

Sugar with green tea wasn't really standard. But, hearing the request made Sheena think of all her other friends that weren't used to the taste of green tea. "I don't think I have any sugar... but will honey be alright?"

Sheena's eyes glanced down briefly at the hand holding and felt a little more relieved. Even if there was an unlikely chance the bells weren't the same (but her money was on that they were), Jay had someone to fall back on.. and some of the pressure she felt once they had appeared had dissapeared.

"Come on in. You guys can sit down when I clear off my table." The summoner turned around and motioned for them to enter as she made a beeline to her table. The bell was the first thing she gathered, and she placed it inside of her obi while putting a few pieces of paper she had been writing into a neat pile and sat it down next to her floor pillow. "I'll go get the tea."

And off she went... nervous butterflies in her stomach.

Edited 2008-02-17 20:05 (UTC)

Jay entered after her, glancing around and making note of everything he could. The focus helped distract him, although his grip on Sora's hand stayed tight. He could be embarrassed of his emotional reliance on Sora later. Focus on everything else: the tatami mats, papers, the metal of the 'lucky ring' Sora had given him.

Sora was all smiles while Sheena went about her business. She was a nice woman, cleaning up just for them. He liked her a lot already. When she left all of his attention returned to supporting Jay.

"Hey," he tried to soothe, speaking in a hushed voice, "Don't be so nervous. There's nothing to be afraid of." The table was clear so he took that as an invitation to lead Jay over to sit down. "Sheena looks kind of scared too, so you're not alone there. I'm with you too, Jay!"

Sheena was glad that there was a rice paper divider shielding her from their vision. Even if it was a momentary reprieve, the summoner gathered three ceramic cups, some honey for Sora, a few pieces of rice pastries (Mochi) and the green tea she was letting stay warm on a small heater she had brought into her room for times like this. (After all, Wonderland was just full of mysteries and secrets!) Pausing in her actions, she patted down the spot on her Obi where she had placed Corrine's bell and squeezed down on it. You've never let me down before, Corrine. Let's hope you can help me here.

Mental prayer over, Sheena came back from around the divider and then passed out the cups while setting out the honey and snacks. "I brought some Mochi too. I'm not sure if you guys have ever had any, but it's a snack we make in my village all the time."

The soon-to-be-chief then began filling up the cups of her guests with green tea and then started on her own cup before sitting down on her floor pillow. "There we go. Dig in!"

“Thank you,” Jay murmured, partially for the food and partially to Sora. He was able to offer a smile with a bit more confidence.

He took the offered mochi, glancing over it quickly before taking a bite. It was a different texture than he was used to, but still good. He ate without a word, expecting Sora to fill in the blank silences. The brunette was far better with sincere small talk than Jay was.

“It’s very good,” was the only conversation he offered in-between bits of mochi and green tea. He wasn’t particularly unfriendly, just… quiet. Jayish, as Sora might say.

"Mochi?" Sora inspected one particular pastry closely. It didn't sound quite like the food names of Mulan's world, but he supposed Sheena and Mulan had similar backgrounds. He took a bite and marveled at the taste. "Wow, this is good. Thanks!"

Finished with the mochi for the moment, he moved to the tea next. Sheena was so nice to offer him honey. Sora expected the tea to be sweet enough to stand with the honey he used, but the bitter taste remained. He fought against making a face and swallowed.

As eager as he was to eat mochi to block out the taste of tea, he had to ask the hostess about her background. "So Sheena, where are you from?" he wondered before more mochi disappeared.

"Where am I from?" Sheena asked. She hadn't really expected that question, but, an icebreaker was just the thing she needed to easy into the topic that was obviously going to happen. The summoner took a sip of her own tea and contemplated something for a moment before letting the warm team soothe her. Delicious.

"I'm actually from a small village on the world of Tethe'alla. It's called Mizuho." There was another pause before she went on, "You can't get to the village by normal means. There's a haunted forest that acts has a blockade so that outsiders can't find the village."

The distaste she had for the forest reflected in her chestnut colored eyes, "That forest always had the dangerous of monsters and if you didn't know your way you'd get lost!"

"Like the Forest of No Return," Jay commented quietly. A vague connection, but he made it nonetheless. As he thought a small frown came to his face. 'Tethe'alla' was an unfamiliar phrase to him. If they came from the same world, he should...

No, he was just pointlessly worrying.
Then again, there had been no serious political upheavals in his lifetime, there was no time for 'Tethe'alla' to exist and fall so suddenly-

His grip on his cup tightened slightly as the anxiety returned.

Sora liked the idea of an inescapable forest. When one goes on a long-term adventure, they find themselves pining for challenges after a certain time. He wished he could visit Sheena's world for the forest.

"... So." Sora broke the silence yet again, a habit he couldn't seem to break. He hesitated as well, danced around the topic a little, until he couldn't take it anymore. "You want to see the bell, right?"

Sheena froze in mid-sip as Sora broke the question that had been hanging above the three of them since the beginning. Inhaling softly, the Summoner lowered her cup onto the table and held onto the warm porcelain tea cup nervously.

It was inevitable -- she knew that it was. "Right down to the point." She spoke with a small hint of anxious amusement. With her right hand releasing the tea cup, Sheena reached into her pink obi and dug around for a moment before pulling out a long red chord before finally, there was a small jingle and Corrine's bell popped out from its safe haven.

The small golden bell was placed onto the table counter and then gently pushed over to Jay's direction. When it was close enough, Sheena released her hold on it and retracted her hand so he could properly inspect the precious momento from her best friend.

The smaller boy reluctantly reached his hand out, fingers slowly curling over the metal. He handled it gently, as if it could shatter at any moment in the palm of his hand. He said nothing while examining it, although desperately hating the silence.

It was very familiar.
But perhaps his memory was playing tricks on him, perhaps he was simply wishing.

"Sora, please take out... my bell," there was a pause while he made sure his voice was steady. This was the easiest way to find out, without a doubt.

As told, Sora brought out the bell from where he had tucked it for easy access. He extended his arm to slip Jay's bell into Sheena's hand so she could look at it. While making his half of the exchange he offered Sheena an apologetic smile, thinking he was rude for cutting to the point of the meeting so suddenly.

When Sheena felt the cold metal drop in her hand, she couldn't help but wonder if she had even handed over Corrine's bell at all! The weight was same and it felt so familiar.

Pulling the bell closer, Sheena glanced downward, inspecting it with a mix of confusion and yet relief as she turned the bell slowly in her hand. ... there's the dent where Corrine's bell hit the floor of the Temple of Lightning... and there's the scratch where Corrine got her bell stuck in the doorway. Idly, her thumb rubbed up against a small scratch that was visible to her from all the rest of the scratches, a smile spreading on her lips as the memory became rather vivid in her mind.

There was no doubt; despite that the golden bell wasn't as vivid in color, it was still Corrine's bell. Something that Sheena would know from anywhere. "... Heh."

Edited 2008-03-12 23:55 (UTC)

At the sound, Jay's eyes shot up to look at her face. What was the reaction? Was it the same bell, or not? There was a smile on her face, but what did it mean...?

His grip on the bell suddenly tightened, as if he was holding his own. The grip was still gentle, but...

"... well?" When he finally spoke, he didn't recognize his own voice. It sounded far too much like a lost child's.

"It's nice to know that it's going to be taken care of in the future." Sheena answered as soon as Jay had asked. Lifting it up, she shook the bell, letting the familiar ring resound in her ear before reaching over to hand it to Jay.

"But, if you'd like to compare Corrine's Bell for yourself, then you're welcome to." It was her subtle but not so subtle way of saying that the two were one in the same.

He took the offered bell, using all his willpower to make sure his hand didn't shake. The two bells rested in the palm of his hand... twins. They were almost identical, with only a hint of age between them.

"... ah..." he had intended to say something more, but that was all that came out. His fingers closed around the bells, and he held them to his chest.

There was a tiny smile on his face, mixed with disbelief, but undeniably a smile.

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INCOMPLETE | it's all right 'cause I'm

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