It was in many way appropriate to call Primp a town of sunshine, not just literally in regards to the weather, but also it's population. With Akuma watching over the town, to keep hostile demons out and a tight, if not too large community, including a one-skeleton fashion police, a pair of ghost twins or the eager students of Primp's resident Magic School, you always had to look, in order to spot any frowning faces. One such frowning face was currently entering the Primp Town Park.
Not really knowing where to go Rafisol dragged herself into the town's park, this was her first time visiting Primp and Ally thought it would be a good idea to split up, so that Raf could acquaint herself with some of the resident townsfolk, but of course, things wouldn't be as simple as the optimistic and cheerful lovaholic imagined.
Hours had gone by since the two split up and yet Rafisol still had to even talk to anyone, it wasn't like the people didn't seem nice, quite the opposite in fact, everyone she could spot left a rather pleasant or at very least amiable enough impression to her. Despite this though, she could never bring herself to approach anyone and whenever she would catch sight of someone who she knew from their brief stay in her and Ally's world, she would sneak away, trying to remain unnoticed.
It wasn't as if she didn't want to socialize or anything, if anything being with the group for the time when they returned to her homeworld really made her realize how much she enjoyed the feeling of companionship, but even back then, she rarely exchanged much of a word with anyone, because there was always one thing that lingered in her mind, one thing that caused her to distance herself from everyone as much as she could...
She was a being of darkness...
No matter how much Ally tried to assure her that it wasn't a big deal, the fact remained that Rafisol was created from dark magic, being born into a confused and loveless existence, that would have had serious consequences if the heroes hadn't intervened. Sure, things where resolved without any damage done and Satan even gave her the gift of life,instead of letting her soul waste away and disappear into nothingness, but despite everything Rafisol still struggled to open herself up to anyone besides Ally.
After all, as far as Raf herself was concerned, she was an evil existence...and why would anyone want to love something so vile...
At this point she really just wanted for the day to end, but Ally probably had a lot to catch up on, with Arle, Amitie and Ringo, so the odds of running into her and being able to finally bit goodbye to a town she felt to not have a place in, seemed very low. All she could do was kill the time by wandering around and watching as everyone around her seemed to be having a wonderful time with their loved ones.
With her hands wrapped around herself and her feelings of selth-loathing and inner desire for someone to call a friend being stuck in perpetual conflict, Rafisol had stopped paying attention to where she was even walking quite a while ago. Needless to say, this wouldn't last long, as she would soon find herself accidentally running into someone.
''Uff...my Apologies-..!'' Of course, it couldn't have just been a stranger, who she could just walk away from, without further question, it had to be someone she knew, if only slightly, it was the strange boy with the red arm and the odd hair antenna. ''Huh?'' Unsurprisingly for him, Sig was very unfazed by someone colliding into his back, almost as if he barely noticed it, as such he very casually turned around to see who it could have been.
As both of their half-closed pairs of eyes made contact at last Rafisol could feel herself tense up greatly, now it was too late to run away. ''Oh...hey Rafisol, didn't know you were here in Primp...'' he very nonchalantly stated, no signs of treat or disgust in sight. It was just like back when she first saw him and all the others again, for the first time after the initial adventure, that brought her into existence.
''Uhm...yeah...I am'' Was all she could meekly get out, she hadn't had much to do with Sig before, they were part of the same group, but since Rafisol never talked much to anyone she never had the opportunity to really learn much about him. The one thing she did know was that there was a curious power flowing within him. As a being of darkness herself, she could sense that he felt different from others, not malicious, but certainly strange and it was no doubt related to his red arm.
''Uhm...Raf...you Alright?'' Finding herself snapped out of her thoughts, by the sound of his voice, the girl attempted to initiate some sort of conversation, after all, she might as well, at this point. ''S-Sure...Say, what are you doing here?...'' ''Me?'' Sig flatly asked, before pointing up to an above branch of the tree they were standing under. Upon closer inspection Rafisol could spot something small and brown, a type of insect it seemed. ''That beetle there is really cool, I wanna try and get it...''
That's right, Sig was the one in the group who was so enamored with bugs of all types, exactly why was something that Rafisol wasn't sure of, however, this may have been an opportunity to use her powers for something good. Her last idea of conquering a world with curry, so Carbuncle could have some was one that Arle and Amitie didn't seem to be too happy with, but something smaller scale like this...yeah that should be alright.
''Maybe if I destroyed that branch with my magic...you could get it easily that way...'' ''Huh, w-what! No!'' The surprising volume and shocked reaction of the boy rather caught her off guard, that was certainly not the reaction she had hoped for. ''W-Why not?'' ''If you do that you will hurt the little bug... we gotta lure it down or climb up and get it...'' ''Oh...'' Once again, her suggestion was met with disapproval, however the desire to try and prove herself helpful still lingered within her. She still remembered that Puyo match she had with Carbuncle that one time and how nice it felt to think think that she could make someone feel good, it was something she wanted to experience again.
Determined to make that wish come true Rafisol approached the tree, wrapping her limps around it and slowly making her way up, always making sure to keep a safe grip, while eying the insect that she was hoping to catch and sure enough, she eventually reached the right branch. Carefully planting herself on the branch she reached out for the beetle, making sure to be gentle with it, as she finally got a hold of it. Eying the little gnat for a little bit a small bit of pride made itself known inside of her, it was surprising that something so miniscule could make her feel so warm and fuzzy, just because of the desire to help someone, but it felt every bit as pleasant as she had hoped.
Quite happy with herself Rafisol jumped off the branch, using her powers to safely levitate to the ground, wordlessly presenting a very awestruck Sig with what he was desiring. ''W-Wow, thanks Raf...you're the best...'' Rafisol watched as Sig placed the insect into his own hands, forming a gentle and endearingly dorky smile as he eyed the little insect with the happiness of a child on Christmas morning.
She had done it, she got to make someone happy, it still surprised her that this of all things would make Sig so ecstatic, but there was something very nice about knowing that she was responsible for it. '' You really care about these little insects...don't you?'' ''I do.'' He said, as he reached for a little cage he had put next to the tree, throwing some leafs into it, before carefully planting the beetle inside and closing the cage. ''They are friends too...and I like having my friends close to me...''
''That must be nice...yes...'' She said, a little melancholically, not really sure how to follow up from there on. ''I mean you are a friend too right?...Ami said that you are.'' ''It would be nice if I could say that...but would you even consider me such?'' A little surprised at that statement, but calm as usual Sig sat down on the grass, keeping his gaze fixated on her. ''Don't see why not, you're nice...I mean you were with us back then and you helped me now.''
Seeing his hand move in an inviting motion, to sit down next to him, Rafisol slowly decided to go along with it. There were a lot of things she would have expected to be called, nice wasn't one of them, it would have been great if this were enough to convince her...but alas, several doubts remained. ''Are you not even the least bit wary?...I am a being of dark power after all...''
''Nah, not at all...'' The boy said while raising his red arm, staring at it and letting certain memories pass by. ''I have some weird powers myself and I was afraid of those...'' ''But why?'' Rafisol inquired, her curiosity piqued. ''There was this potion that did weird things to me and made these powers come out, but Ami safed me.''
''I see...'' These powers must have been the ones that Rafisol had sensed in him all this time, there was more to it all along, but that just raised some other questions. ''Aren't you worried that this could happen again?'' ''I was at first.'' The boy admitted, now lowering his arm. ''But I recently learned that as long as I keep being myself I'll always have my friends with me, no matter what...that did safe me back then...''
''...Do you think I have a me beyond the nature of my existence...?'' ''Sure I do.'' Sig stated matter of factly, catching Rafisol by surprise as she felt his hand softly on her arm, the warmth of the touch making her feel a little fuzzy in a way completely unknown to her. ''How about the Raf that just helped me getting the little bug? That counts right?'' '
''I suppose so...'' The girl admitted, for someone so spacey he did make a good argument, in fact this entire meeting with him turned out to be very uplifting. If this was what friendship felt like then she could stand to experience on a more regular basis. Trying to think of some friendly gesture herself she did one thing she had picked up from Ally, reaching out for Sig's hand and placing it into her own. Now it was Sig's turn to be surprised, but he didn't mind, merely smiling at her, as he invited Rafisol to lie down on the grass with him, to watch the clouds. She complied watching the masses of white cotton ball-like things pass by them, occasionally noting some formations that reminded them of people they knew. A very basic activity, but also soothing and nice to share with someone else...
Sometime later afternoon had finally arrived, as a familiar figure entered the Primp Town Park. It was none other then Ally, who was practically prancing through town. Why wouldn't she be jolly? After all being able to see her friends again was a blast, but she had to return home eventually, but not before picking up her ''sister'' Rafisol. Thankfully wearing the pendant that spawned her into existence allowed Ally to sense where Rafisol was, which was made even easier by the fact the she was seemingly not on the move at the moment.
Soon enough Ally thought to have spotted her lying down and had to contain a very delighted squee, when she saw that she was holding hands with Sig, while peacefully napping in the grass. What really sold it though was the gentle smile on her face, the kind that she usually tried to repress.
Surely Ally was in for quite a story, once the two woke up, but for now, she just wanted to let them be, because it had finally happened, the thing she had wished for finally came to be...
Rafisol finally found love...
END
This actually came from me brainstorming ideas for another Rafisol centered fic and I figured it would make for good practice on writing her.
Would I say that this is a ship fic? Maybe? I'm intentionally walking the fine line of romantic or platonic love with this story. To make it a bit more different from ''In the grasp of the Doppelganger'', not to mention it really doesn't matter in the context of this story. I admit this didn't need to be Sig again, but he is someone that I would have liked to see Rafisol interact with, so I am being admitingly self-indulgent here.
