The Wee Hours, Monday Morning, Room 429

[the_merriest]

It wasn't even dawn yet but Rikku couldn't get back to sleep. Lying here wasn't helping anything, either. So -- as quietly as she could -- she got up and tiptoed to the door of 429, stepping carefully past the cots and sleeping bags and hoping not to wake anyone.

The hallway was bright and strange-looking but she didn't want to be far from her little ones. So she sank down against one of the walls and tried to sort out her mind. It wasn't working, so far.

(just for one, and possibly big for the SP)

Comments

[raspberryturk]

Reno took a good, long, deep breath, shut his eyes, and grit his teeth before he answered.

"We tell him to be real careful. And we give him a gun and show him how the hell to use it, just in case."

He was a Turk. He wasn't taking any chances.

[the_merriest]

"I know that's a lot, for a kid," she said quickly. "But if that's the only way to make sure that ... Hojo doesn't ... it's better than the alternative."

She stared at the floor for a long time. "It's better than not knowing. Never knowing. And wondering if ... you could have done more."

[raspberryturk]

"Been chewin' on it since I realized where he's from," Reno agreed, nodding slowly. "He's a good kid. Don't wanna give him a good time and ... somethin' like a family here, and then... You know. Just send him back to that, with nothin'."

He looked at her, tilting his head faintly.

"But that wasn't just about him, was it?"

She'd done this last year.

She hadn't known any of them, last year.

[the_merriest]

"We have to," she said. "Give him a family, I mean. If this is the only family he ever gets, then at least he had us. At least he had that, before he goes back to ... we can't stop what he's going back to. We can just try to fix it and give him what we can, while he's here, right?"

She didn't look up from the floor.

"I thought Payido was someone else, at first," she admitted. "Blonde hair calling me Mommy. I keep waiting for her to show up. She's ... not going to."

[raspberryturk]

"We'll fix it," Reno agreed, nodding. Because... Because they would. Kid deserved the attempt, at least. And Turks- well. Turks didn't accept failure.

"You.. worried about her?" That much was obvious, really. But the talking about it might help, he hoped.

[the_merriest]

"We will," she said. "Whatever world he's in, you know, there's a Reno out there who's not gonna sleep until that kid's okay again."

She unbent her legs, one at a time, and stretched them out in front of her, curling her toes out and back again.

"I don't know," Rikku said softly. "I can't tell if I should be. I'm never gonna see her again. I cried when she left and I'm never gonna see her again. She called me Mommy and I'm never gonna see her again. And maybe she's out there somewhere with a version of me, and she's happy, and maybe she just ... stopped existing. The timeline collapsed, and she's never gonna be real anywhere ever again. Maybe that's why she's not here."

[raspberryturk]

He was looking straight at her, now, his lips pulled into a thoughtful sort of frown.

"I think she's still happy with her family," he decided. "And maybe whatever they all came here through just didn't pick her up again. Because... I dunno, Rikku. If this is all just about timelines, then I can name a bunch of kids who shouldn't be here right now, but they are anyhow."

[the_merriest]

Rikku leaned over, pressing her fingers against her eyes, and hoping it passed for 'tired.'

"Y-yeah," she said, nodding. "I'm sure you're right. She's ... gotta be happy somewhere. Just would've been ... nice to see her again. Th-that's all."

Not for Jude, not for what could've been. But for a crazed little blonde girl who called her Susso and stole traffic cones and who she'd never see again, in this world or any other.

[raspberryturk]

Reno was quiet again, but this time, he wasn't just looking and thinking.

He reached around, draping his arm over her shoulders, and leaned toward her, pulling her close.

"Somewhere, there's another Rikku who's takin' real good care of her little girl. Just the way it's supposed to be, for them. She came here for a while, and she said 'Rammu' to you, because... I dunno. Maybe Fandom thought you needed to see how kickass you really are. It doesn't matter what universe you're in, you keep endin' up with some beautiful daughters, zoto."

[the_merriest]

"Just ones I don't get to keep," Rikku said, frowning at her toes. She opened her mouth to say more but shook her head instead. "C'mon, we should get back inside before we wake up anyone else."

She was already standing up and brushing nonexistent dust from her pajama bottoms.

[raspberryturk]

Reno continued to sit, raising an eyebrow at her as she stood.

"Thought we came out here so that we wouldn't wake anyone up," he replied.

There was more, then. There was always more, when she was anxious to walk away like that.

"C'mon, sit down a little longer. Or we can go for a walk. Can't wake anyone up if we're outside, zoto."

[the_merriest]

"I ... don't wanna be that far from them," she admitted with a shrug. "And I think if you tried, you'd end up pacing and checking your watch."

She considered that. "Do you even own a watch?"

[raspberryturk]

"I usually just check the time on my phone," Reno shrugged. "Look, Rikku, if you really gotta go back into the room, I ain't gonna stop you. But if there's somethin' else eatin' at you? I'm here now, too."

[the_merriest]

Rikku hesitated, hand on the door, mulling it over.

"I just ...." She shook her head again. "Not now. When they leave."

And with that she cracked the door open, slowly, and stepped inside.

[raspberryturk]

Reno sat there for a moment, watching her head back into the room.

Well, he'd made the offer, at least.

With a sigh, he stood up and followed her back in. There were a few more hours of sleeping to get in before morning.