[BBS/Action]

[crablette]

[By this point, Sophie has realised that going home isn't gonna be something that'll happen any time soon, and frankly it makes her really rather uncomfortable. She doesn't dislike this world or anything, and she likes being able to learn stuff like this - it's her second week of classes, and she loves them! - but...]

Hi.

I overheard somewhere that sometimes people disappear, and I was wondering where they went. Do they go home? I don't hate it here, but I don't know how long it'll be, and I don't want to go home after everyone grows old and dies. I want to be with them.

Sophie

[A little later, as though to take her mind off Asbel dying without her - it was painful enough to think of outliving him - Sophie can be found by a flowerbed in the Quad, kneeling on the ground and... planting something?

Yes. Planting something.

Specifically, her favourite flower - sopherias. She still had a few seeds on her from home - she could share that little part of her world with everyone here, couldn't she? Maybe she could even show them all a blossomgale!]

Comments

[BBS]

[corruptedsouls]

I don't remember it much, but when I disappeared I went home. And when I came back, I was younger than when I left, so I guess I went back before I left.

[Or something. It still confuses him.]

[crablette]

[Sophie tilts her head at the screen, trying to figure out what in the world Tobias just said. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE okay.]

If you went back to before you left, wouldn't you be there at the same time as yourself?

[That would be weird.]

[corruptedsouls]

No. I don't really know what happened with it, but... I think I went back to the same time I first got here. So it was like nothing had happened there.

[Except... it had, but that part's confusing to him too so.]

[crablette]

[Yeah, um, no, Sophie's not entirely sure what that means. She tries to figure it out. She catches "same time" and "it was like nothing had happened" though, and latches onto that hopefully.]

I wouldn't mind going back to the same time I left at. It would mean I could be here as long as I wanted to learn everything, and still be able to live with Asbel.

[corruptedsouls]

I think that's how it works, yeah.

[He can't really offer more than that, Soph, sorry!]

[crablette]

Do you know if there's anyone else who went home and came back?

[corruptedsouls]

I've heard of a lot of people leaving, but not coming back.

[crablette]

Oh. I just wanted to know if anyone else was the same.

I know I'll outlive everyone anyway, but it hurts to think I might lose the chance to be with them. It was painful enough to think I'd have to watch everyone get older, but at least I would have still been there.

And now, I don't know.

[corruptedsouls]

I'm sure you'll go back to the same time you left from, so you don't have to worry about that.

[He doesn't... really know what to say to the "outlive" thing...]

[crablette]

[She doesn't really feel any better, or more confident, but Tobias can't really help that it's a mystery.]

That would be good. I can learn how to protect everyone better in the meantime.

[corruptedsouls]

Yup! I'm learning how to do a bunch of new things here, and it's great.

[crablette]

It's a bit lonely, though.

[corruptedsouls]

It is?

[crablette]

I miss everyone. All my friends I travelled with. They mean a lot to me, and it feels so lonely not having them around, even with all the people here.

[corruptedsouls]

Oh. I guess that would be really lonely.

[crablette]

Don't you miss anyone from home?

[corruptedsouls]

No. I didn't have anyone from home except Pikachu, and she's here.

[crablette]

Oh. Nobody at all?

[That sounds awful. Especially to Sophie, who knows very well that she wouldn't be who she is now if it weren't for the people around her.]

I think I would be a very different person if it weren't for my friends. I might not even have been able to be here. My friends... they became my family. Asbel even adopted me.

I hope you find a family.

[corruptedsouls]

Nope.

I have a family here! That's why I don't mind being here and I don't want to go home.

[crablette]

Oh! I see. That's good to hear!

[She... won't ask about what happens if he goes "home" again.]

[hispeedchase]

Yeah, it's Time Compression fixing itself or something... they went home.

--High-Speed-Chase--

[crablette]

Are you sure? I wonder if maybe they went to a different world by accident.

[hispeedchase]

I mean we can never say for sure, but the people that leave and come back always say they went home.

--High-Speed-Chase--

[action]

[earthlychild]

[It's been a good start to the semester. Aerith walks with a renewed sense of purpose, watching and waiting for the first signs of spring that might appear. It would be a few weeks yet, but she couldn't wait.

She paused at the familiar sight of seeds and smiled.]

So the ground's not too frozen to plant?

[crablette]

[Sophie shakes her head]

It's better here in Balamb... when we were near that island, in Esthar, it was really cold.

[But still...]

I don't really know very much about plants yet. I've been learning, but there's so much to learn... I had some sopheria seeds from home, so I thought I'd try to grow them here.

[earthlychild]

[Aerith's happy to hear that! She grins and gently touches the ground.]

We'll see how much sun and water it needs when it blooms, won't we? I'm sure it will. I've never failed a flower yet!

[bunnypassingby]

[Mikuru's also gardening in the quad, tending her Tanabata tree with some fertilizer. The colder climate of northern Esthar hit it harder than she'd had time to look after until they'd gotten back.]

Oh, what are you planting?

[crablette]

Sopherias!

[bunnypassingby]

[Pause.]

What are those? [She has never heard of them.]