Outside 503, Wednesday Morning

[withoutverona]

As Romeo saw it, he had two choices: He could study for his ethics final, or he could find someone to bother.

The "finding someone to bother" was winning out as he tapped on Yurika and Jen's closed door.

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[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

There was someone knocking at her door.

They needed to go away.

Which is why Yurika grabbed a book off her nightstand and hurled it at the door before sticking her head back under the pillow. Away would be really good right now.

[withoutverona]

That made twice this week someone had thrown something instead of answering the door when Romeo knocked; if he were a lesser man, he would start taking such things personally.

As it was, he scuffled his feet and hesitated before reaching for the knob. "Yurika?"

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Romeo. Great. "Hottoite!" she yelled from under her blanket, squeezing her eyes shut. Maybe if she yelled enough, he'd go away. "Not interested today."

[withoutverona]

That didn't sound good; Romeo's hand tightened on the knob and he tried to open the door uninvited. "I'm coming in," he warned.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

That just earned another book, this one a little paperback thrown blindly in his direction. Aiming would require looking, and she didn't want to look at him.

If she looked, he'd be able to see her, it would probably be obvious that she'd spent most of the night crying.

[withoutverona]

The book missed him, but seeing her looking like that, looking half broken and red-eyed, hurt him more than it would have anyhow.

He hadn't seen her cry before; it was almost scary.

"I -" he faltered, sitting on the opposite end of her bed. "What happened?"

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"Nan demo nai yo." Yurika buried her face in her pillow. "Are you deaf, now? I don't want to play today."

[withoutverona]

"Not deaf," Romeo answered, with a hard, searching look. "Also not so blind that I can't see you are in pain."

He reached out a hand to touch her arm, fingertips just grazing her. "I would be a poor excuse for a partner if I only wanted to be around when you wanted to play."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

She flinched slightly at the contact, terrified that if he touched her, held her, she'd completely loose that last little bit she was managing to hold together.

"Naminé's dead," she said shortly, curling in on herself. "That stupid Witch took her away, and we couldn't stop it."

[withoutverona]

He froze, leaving his hand where it was as he tried to remember how to breathe, how to talk.

Naminé had been sweet and clever and he had liked her a great deal, and he hated that the world had been robbed of her. But she wasn't there and Yurika was, so he shoved aside his own grief, focused on hers.

"Your sister," he said simply. "And you saw it happen? That's dreadful, and I'm so sorry." He knew it was pointless to say that, but words were never big enough for such a loss anyhow. He repeated himself. "So sorry."

He would ask what witch and where later.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Yurika closed her eyes, fingers clutching her blanket tightly. "It was supposed to be a quick trip, a brave and daring rescue. Some rescue team I make, huh? I..."

I'm a Hunter, I should have stopped it, I might have been able to stop it, I could have Hunted Kairi before it became an issue, reported the problem to SOLOMON. I should have done something.

None of that came out, however.

"I never had a sister before."

[withoutverona]

Slowly, he reached to hold her, moving as if she were a startled animal -- if she ducked his arms, he'd accept it. But he wanted so badly to embrace her and touch her hair and tell her everything would be all right.

Even if it wouldn't be.

"I know you did everything you could," he said. "You would have, even against a witch. You helped rescue me, remember? And I believe Naminé knows that too, wherever she is."

"And I think she'll always be your sister."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Yurika held very very still as Romeo moved closer, conflicted between shoving him away and letting him hold her. She hadn't done everything she could, and that was part of the problem.

Her need for contact won out, and she curled against him as the tears started up again. "She just...vanished. Lit up like a star, and then she was gone, like she'd never been there at all. I don't understand!"

[withoutverona]

He held her, fingers stroking her back in a delicate rhythm as he tried to puzzle it out. "I couldn't understand either. People don't disappear like .... oh."

Naminé hadn't exactly been people, had she?

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"She was flickering. In and out of reality, she couldn't hold herself together and she was crying and apologizing, like it was her fault." Yurika took a deep breath, trying to relax into his touch. "She told me once...I knew she said she wasn't real, but I didn't understand, not really."

[withoutverona]

Stroke, stroke, stroke, and if it wasn't helping to calm Yurika it was at least helping him by keeping his hands busy. "She said the same to me," he said, trying to remember. "That she was only two years old, a bit of another person. And of course I told her she was real. What else does one say?"

"I hate it if she went away thinking it was her fault."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"I wanted to shake that other girl," she said bitterly, shaking her head slightly. "Standing there looking dazed and overwhelmed, and Naminé's the one who insisted we go rescue her right now. It's not fair."

[withoutverona]

"The witch, you mean?" Romeo asked, confused. "Shaking would be the least I would want to do."

"And no. Death is never fair."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"Kairi," she spat, making the name sound almost like a curse word. "I can't do anything else, not if I don't want to hurt Naminé in the process. That witchling is her other-self."

[withoutverona]

"And what's left of her is trapped inside this Kairi?" Romeo said, bile rising in his throat. "Faith, I cannot imagine anything worse. I know it's still a version of her, but even so, how horrid."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"It's creepy," Yurika replied. "Even worse, her poor artist had to watch it happen."

She looked up at him suddenly. "She made me promise to take care of Alea. Last week. She said that there was a ticking in her brain, and she was worried about the cat."

[withoutverona]

"Poor Valentine." Romeo took a moment to think on that, giving Yurika a sudden fierce squeeze as he did. He almost knew how horrible it would be for the artist; at least he'd been spared watching his love die.

Though Juliet, as far as she knew, hadn't.

"A premonition," he said uneasily, meeting her eyes. "She knew, then, somehow. Enough to worry about her cat."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"She said her time was running out, but I didn't think she meant now." The squeeze was appreciated, and Yurika calmed slightly, trailing her fingers along his shoulder. He was real and solid, and that helped. "I would think if they separated once, they could do it again, but I guess not. Naminé would have done it if she could."

[withoutverona]

Romeo shifted slightly, nestling against her more snugly. "It sounds like none of it is her choice. I wonder if it's Kairi's, even."

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

Yurika shook her head. "I doubt it, the witchling seemed even more confused than the rest of us. I don't think she even knew who Naminé was."

[withoutverona]

"You would think she would know a piece of herself," Romeo mused. "Is there anything we could do, to try to get a message to Naminé, or from her or ... anything." He had a pretty good idea what the answer was, but he needed to hear it.

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"You'd have to ask Sokka, or Jamie or Valentine, they were all there, and know more about this than I do." Yurika rubbed at her eyes, trying to wipe away the evidence of her rather sleepless night. "Sokka was even said someone named Dizzy claimed Naminé didn't have a heart. How could anyone even think that? I just don't understand any of it."

[withoutverona]

"Maybe it's just too far from either of our worlds," Romeo said, going a little dizzy himself and dropping the 20 questions. It wasn't like he could fix it, anyhow.

He kissed her forehead. "Is there anything I could do?"

[dojima-hime.livejournal.com]

"Stay until I fall asleep?" she asked quietly. "I have to take my driver's test today, and I haven't slept at all. I need a nap before I can get behind the wheel and not kill anyone."

[withoutverona]

"I'm here as long as you need me," he promised, taking off his shoes to slide beneath the blanket with her.