[ She can never tell when and where she is needed next, only that from one moment to another, barely even the blink of an eye or the beginning of a breath, Setsuna finds herself at whichever ( wherever, whenever ) destination Fate decrees she must be.
She is staring at what she recognizes immediately is a door -- open, welcoming -- and the sounds of the world fill her ears. There is laughter and chatter and when her bearings finally catch up, the slightest twinge in her heart as her vision focuses on the sight of Aidan Clayce and Riley Falner, both men seated at a familiar long and otherwise vacated table, engaged in casual conversation.
It hurts. It always does. To stand apart, held back by the ban that keeps her from her loved ones. It is a thing that she has been learning ( has learned, she is as quick a study as she has ever been, and in the long-run, it is all the better ) to accept, to watch in silence; ever separate.
She isn't sure how long she stands there, watching, a small smile finally coming to her lips as she takes in the sight of two of her comrades; but then there is a tug on the not-wholly-just metaphorical strings and she turns around to acknowledge the presence of the one who can see her--
--only to be surprised that it is not just the American boy, the Sin-Eater, Joshua LaRue who is gaping at her in stunned surprise ( first at the sight of a woman dressed in the kimono that she is; but shortly after, because of her eyes, that unmistakable shade of violet that proclaims her a Shinta.
The rest of the people milling about have gone silent as well, and it is only then that it finally dawns on her that it is not just the boy who sees her -- because they all do. ]
[Riley is the one who notices it first, of course: he's the sharper one between them now, especially when it comes to something like this. So Aidan's left to watch his friend as the vampire's words stop short, as he frowns, turns, and looks.
He follows that gaze, and it holds. It holds for dear life.
He's only aware of the fact that he's on his feet and moving towards her a millisecond after the fact. What he notices more is how his mouth has gone dry, how he's only too aware of how fast his heart is beating now, how a part of him is going all the way back to the past.
2012 at the Falner Estate, a little after Operation Nyx. Standing with her, talking to her, breaking away to let her say her goodbyes, walking with her to bring her one step closer to leaving everything - everything they have built, everything they have come to love together - behind.]
Setsuna.
[It is her name and it is also, in that moment, so much more than that. Rare could anyone see such open shock on the Voidseeker's face, along with only too many other emotions.]
You're... you're here.
[And he can see her, and he is really standing in front of her now, just a few steps away from being very close. When Hikaru had come back with news from Mexico, he had almost not wanted to believe that it had happened. And now...]
[ It doesn't matter that his eyes have not left hers from that very moment when Riley had turned. It does not matter that it is only now that she is turning, the bewilderment still in her eyes that she is, for the first time in fifty long years, here again.
In Falner. In the one place she had come to come to think of as her true home.
When Aidan speaks her name, she feels it again, the twist in her heart, and a trembling hand reaches out to lay itself over the Voidseeker's heart, prompting an exhaled sound of surprise because not just seen, not just visible and looked upon truly after so long -- but tangible and solid.
She pulls back after what seems like a long, stretched out minute, the palm of her hand coming up to cover her mouth in a moment of sudden vulnerability before she breathes and recomposes herself.
It is on the very tip of her tongue to say, and yet, after all the broken off encounters ( ten minutes, only ten minutes at each time ) it is so hard to speak out loud: Tadaima.
[It's a touch that nearly undoes him. She's there, solid and present and there, within an arm's reach. After fifty fucking years.
Still, he knows what she is thinking, realizes how overwhelming all of this must be. Her next words, together with the expression on her face, provide him with an opportunity to make all of it a little better.]
Yes. Yes, it is. [Steady, steady now.] I've come to enjoy unusual, though.
[ Trust Aidan to know what to say and how to say it. Breaking away from his gaze now, if only for the moment, to scan the hall, the unfamiliar ( and familiar faces. )
This is so very, very strange. And for a moment her smile nearly slips. She knows how long she's had in the past; even in Mexico. Even with her own brother. ]
[He's placing both of his hands on her shoulders now, and resists the very real urge to grip tight, as if doing that might make sure that she doesn't float away from him again.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Unexpected Arrivals.
She is staring at what she recognizes immediately is a door -- open, welcoming -- and the sounds of the world fill her ears. There is laughter and chatter and when her bearings finally catch up, the slightest twinge in her heart as her vision focuses on the sight of Aidan Clayce and Riley Falner, both men seated at a familiar long and otherwise vacated table, engaged in casual conversation.
It hurts. It always does. To stand apart, held back by the ban that keeps her from her loved ones. It is a thing that she has been learning ( has learned, she is as quick a study as she has ever been, and in the long-run, it is all the better ) to accept, to watch in silence; ever separate.
She isn't sure how long she stands there, watching, a small smile finally coming to her lips as she takes in the sight of two of her comrades; but then there is a tug on the not-wholly-just metaphorical strings and she turns around to acknowledge the presence of the one who can see her--
--only to be surprised that it is not just the American boy, the Sin-Eater, Joshua LaRue who is gaping at her in stunned surprise ( first at the sight of a woman dressed in the kimono that she is; but shortly after, because of her eyes, that unmistakable shade of violet that proclaims her a Shinta.
The rest of the people milling about have gone silent as well, and it is only then that it finally dawns on her that it is not just the boy who sees her -- because they all do. ]
O-oh, [ the sound of surprise seems oddly apt.
This has... never happened before. ]
Left you love notes on plurk. owo
He follows that gaze, and it holds. It holds for dear life.
He's only aware of the fact that he's on his feet and moving towards her a millisecond after the fact. What he notices more is how his mouth has gone dry, how he's only too aware of how fast his heart is beating now, how a part of him is going all the way back to the past.
2012 at the Falner Estate, a little after Operation Nyx. Standing with her, talking to her, breaking away to let her say her goodbyes, walking with her to bring her one step closer to leaving everything - everything they have built, everything they have come to love together - behind.]
Setsuna.
[It is her name and it is also, in that moment, so much more than that. Rare could anyone see such open shock on the Voidseeker's face, along with only too many other emotions.]
You're... you're here.
[And he can see her, and he is really standing in front of her now, just a few steps away from being very close. When Hikaru had come back with news from Mexico, he had almost not wanted to believe that it had happened. And now...]
That, I saw =w=
In Falner. In the one place she had come to come to think of as her true home.
When Aidan speaks her name, she feels it again, the twist in her heart, and a trembling hand reaches out to lay itself over the Voidseeker's heart, prompting an exhaled sound of surprise because not just seen, not just visible and looked upon truly after so long -- but tangible and solid.
She pulls back after what seems like a long, stretched out minute, the palm of her hand coming up to cover her mouth in a moment of sudden vulnerability before she breathes and recomposes herself.
It is on the very tip of her tongue to say, and yet, after all the broken off encounters ( ten minutes, only ten minutes at each time ) it is so hard to speak out loud: Tadaima.
Instead, she smiles: ] Well, this is... unusual.
no subject
Still, he knows what she is thinking, realizes how overwhelming all of this must be. Her next words, together with the expression on her face, provide him with an opportunity to make all of it a little better.]
Yes. Yes, it is. [Steady, steady now.] I've come to enjoy unusual, though.
no subject
This is so very, very strange. And for a moment her smile nearly slips. She knows how long she's had in the past; even in Mexico. Even with her own brother. ]
I guess this means I'm... needed here?
no subject
Yes, I think so.
[You always have been.]