Room 308, Monday, All Day

[the_merriest]

She was mostly packed. Okay, she was totally packed, except for Petey, lying on the middle of her floor and burbling happily with one of his toys. But she liked calling it mostly packed, anyway. It sounded less final.

She had to ... take everything out to the Causeway, and meet up with Yunie and Lulu, and ... go home. Even though Fandom was what felt like home, to her.

She had told people to write, since e-mail was going to be a no-go. She'd bought extra batteries for her cell phone, and could beg people to send more. Now she just had to ....

Well. Leave.

Not just yet. First, she was going to sit on the floor and play with Petey and pretend she didn't have to, just yet.

(Rikku's goodbye post. Any and all are welcome.)

Comments

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

Jamie approached the room with a wistful look on his face.

"Hello Rikku," Jamie said. Wistfully. "It's time for me to go soon."

[the_merriest]

"Hey, that's my line," Rikku said. Also wistfully. She hopped up and over to the door, holding her arms out for a hug. "This sucks."

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

For once! Jamie didn't have to ask.

He glomped onto Rikku. One. Last. Time.

"I'll miss you. You crazy girl you."

[the_merriest]

"I'll miss you, too," she sighed. Some of that was muffled by the glomping. That was okay. Glomping did that sort of thing. "You're the one who streaked at graduation, and you call me crazy?"

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Jamie confirmed. "Crazy knows crazy."

[the_merriest]

"Crazy is as crazy does?" she asked. "Like that one movie with the guy who's kinda slow but really sweet, and he meets all those famous people?"

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

"You mean the one about George Bush?"

[the_merriest]

"You're awful," she laughed, giving him another squeeze. "You're gonna write me, right? And not just the, oh, sure I will, whatever, but I'm gonna insist on actual letters written by you, or else I'm gonna pummel you at Homecoming, and that's final."

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

"Okay," Jamie grinned, "Then it's settled. You'll pummel me at homecoming."

[the_merriest]

"A wise guy, eh?" she grinned. "Up for a little taste of pain? Should've just asked, I've got plenty to go around."

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

"Hey. What happens between you and Reno stays between you and Reno," Jamie teased.

[the_merriest]

Rikku elbowed him lightly. "Look, if you want to watch, you'll have to pay the fee like everybody else."

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

"See, now you're prostituting yourself," Jamie said shaking his head. "I approve."

[the_merriest]

"Technically, I'm not," she countered. "I'm still just having sex with Reno. If I make people pay to watch, then I'm either a porn star or an exhibitionist. You know, I used to be sweet and innocent. Look what Fandom's done to me."

[multi-madrox.livejournal.com]

"Blame it all on the gremlins," Jamie suggested. "That's what everyone else does."

[heromaniac]

Momoko did not like goodbyes. And Rikku was her favourite person on the island; her first friend in Fandom!

But she was going to try to not make it a sad goodbye - those were the worst! Which was why Momoko was smiling as she stood in the doorway, her eyes looking over the packed up room.

"So, rumour has it that you're not going to be just across the hall from me anymore?"

[the_merriest]

"Funny thing about that," Rikku said sadly. "Seems once you graduate, they want you to leave."

[heromaniac]

"That totally wasn't in the brochure!" Momoko rolled her eyes and grinned. "Seems like they'd want to keep people who can survive this place to graduate and be valedictorian and be the best big sis ever!"

[the_merriest]

"Co-valedictorian," Rikku said, posing, "and I got lucky on the sibling fronts, because I've had two amazing little sibs. But I have to go, anyway. Yunie is burning herself out trying to save the world. Again. The girl forgets things like 'sleeping.' I have to go thump some heads."

[heromaniac]

"The 'co' part just means you were nice enough to share!" Momoko informed her, proud as could be. "So you're going back to your own world, too, huh? At least you'll be with family, so that's good! But it's not a big huge 'have to die to save the world' thing, is it? Your world sounds dangerous enough without that! Do I have to worry about you and save up money for a portal so I can come find you if I don't hear from you for a long time?"

[the_merriest]

"It's okay," Rikku said calmly. "We already did the huge, save-the-world thing. It's not like that, this time. It's lots of people being stupid and trying their darnedest not to get along, and my cousin Yuna -- everyone wants her to fix it, and she wants to make everyone happy, and wow, she needs a vacation."

[heromaniac]

"Sounds like she should come here and visit! Then you wouldn't be able to leave and I won't be sad and we can all have ice cream! A perfect master plan!" Momoko nodded a moment, then dropped her shoulders and pouted. "This is so not fair! Everyone I know is leaving. You do have email and phones, right? You won't forget to let me know how you're doing? And I can write or call you when I've done something stupid because the island is crazy again, right? Right?"

[the_merriest]

"I can't get her to stop," Rikku sighed. "I've tried. It's better when I'm there. I think that was my real role, as Guardian. Making sure Yuna didn't implode from all the pressure."

She sank down onto her bed. "Phones, yes, but it's gonna be messy. We're just getting cell towers, so the signal drops like crazy. So if you can't get through, just know that I'm thinking about all of you anyway, okay? No e-mail, which is going to suck. But letters go through just fine. And I'm probably going to be writing a lot, on nights when I don't have any signal."

She'd be staring at her phone and wishing she could talk to people, and probably writing really mopey letters. Especially to Reno.

[heromaniac]

"Letters." Momoko repeated with a pout. "I know you're going home to your family and your old friends and all, so I am happy for you? But this sucks. Next year I'm not going to make any friends with any seniors." Or cute boys who can set themselves on fire, either.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

There was a knock knock knocking at Rikku's door.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiku!" Dōjima whined, sticking her head in. "I can't find my purple sweater. Have you seen it? I didn't loan it to you, did I?"

Her eyes fell on the packing and her nose wrinkled up. "Oh, hell no. You don't get to leave yet."

[the_merriest]

"No purple sweater," she said with a sigh. "And lo, the road is something-or-other poetic, and I have to get out of here. Romeo said you're taking off for a few days, too. We have crappy timing."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"I leave tomorrow night to spend a week sitting through HR lectures on good employee behaviour and sexual harassment and insurance crap," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "Fun times for all."

"I still vote we take your Yunie and run off to Mexico for margaritas and beaches."

[the_merriest]

"Can you just tell them you'll behave and not sleep with anybody while on the clock, and see if they'll let you come back early?" Rikku asked. "I mean, all of that sounds pretty self-explanatory."

The rest required giving Dojima a long look. "I wish," she said finally. "It would do her a world of good, but she'd never go. She kept asking if it was okay for her to be here for a whole weekend when things are so bad back home. You know, she saved the world once. Isn't it someone else's job this time?"

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"That would be a lie," Dōjima said slowly. "I don't behave, I am going to sleep with people on the clock, and they'll be lucky if I'm in before noon on Mondays."

Yes, she was a spy, and was going to lie to all her coworkers the entire time. Details.

"And yeah, it is someone else's job, but you aren't going to convince her of that if you let her keep solving everyone's problems. She'll just keep thinking it's all her responsibility."

"Weekends. Long weekends. Repeatedly."

[the_merriest]

"Well, it would, but if you're going to do all of that, the least you can do is lie about it," Rikku said. "Especially if it means coming back sooner."

There was a strange logic in there, if you looked for it.

"I'm starting small. With things like, 'no, your wedding does not have to be a major, political event just because everyone thinks you're important.' I mean, it'd be one thing if she wanted one, but she doesn't, she just thinks she's not allowed to have what she wants."

Rikku hesitated before adding, "Her dad ... he killed himself, to save the rest of the world. And it only stayed saved for a few years, and so she decided it was her turn, to go kill herself to save the world. She saved the world, but she survived. So everyone in the whole of Spira thinks she's some kind of living goddess, practically, and she has no idea what to do with her life now that she has one. So it's ... messy."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"Elope, do a world-tour for the honeymoon, and everyone's happy?" Dōjima suggested. "Or start putting happy things in her food until she mellows?"


[Dying, SP?]

[the_merriest]

"I think I have her talked into a wedding on the beach, with a big huge celebration in Luca afterwards," Rikku said. "Like a reception or something, just a little delayed. And I'm gonna have some serious words with Tidus when I get back, about how she's obviously not sleeping, and he'd better bang her silly so she passes out and gets a good night's sleep, or else I will find someone who will."

Rikku was prepared to go to great lengths on that point.