. polaroid .
Voices in the street,
footsteps on the concrete
Guess I hear just every sound
on the ground
Picture fresh as water clear,
days have passed without you here
Street lights dancing on the dark
across the park
Waiting for a word from you,
waiting for a sign or two
Footsteps on the city ground,
You know the sound
Summary: She holds the balloon in her left; the camera in her right. The sky is bright with fireworks and the twinkling lights of the Ferris wheel. Two years was a long time. /Ferriswheelshipping if you squint really hard\/Touko-centric\
When she arrives in town, it is already dark outside. This isn't surprising really, given the fact that winter was now upon them. December would soon be ending in only a matter of hours. Touko pulls her scarf closer to her face and tucks her jacket in tighter towards her body. Her bag hands off her shoulder, and she shoves her hands into her pockets. A light gust of cold wind slivers past her cheeks, ruffling her hair. She feels the blood rush to her cheeks in an attempt to keep them warm, and she rubs her warm hands against them for a moment before stuffing them back into her pockets. The weather isn't too bad, a little chilly, and there is snow lingering on the ground of the amusement park. The sky is dark, a cloudy gray, and Touko is sure it will snow later on.
Really, she should have checked into the Pokémon Center first. But the moment she saw the festival lights and the bright colored Ferris wheel, she couldn't resist coming to the amusement park, if only for nostalgia's sake. Vendors line the area, children, parents, couples and Pokémon alike wandering about the area. It is crowded, and she struggles to get through without bumping into people with her bag.
Everyone is holding a balloon, all in varying shades of color. Others sit at benches, holding pieces of paper in one hand and a pen in the other, deep in thought. Other people already have their papers tied to the balloon, and are holding it tightly in one hand whilst talking amongst each other, laughing into the cold winter night.
Everything around her is joyous, people are laughing and the atmosphere is happy. Even so, she can't help but feel somber on this night, no matter how hard she tries to cheer herself up. She eventually comes upon the Ferris wheel, standing down near the base of the large ride. It is a light with a million brilliant sparkling lights that flash a wide array of patterns, inwards and outwards like a wave from the center towards the Poke ball style coaches, in zig-zags and in bright alternating flashes.
She fishes the pastel pink Polaroid camera from her bag, wrapping the strap around her wrist before raising the square object towards the Ferris wheel. She angles it, staring through the lens at the scene before her. The lights suddenly freeze, all bright and lit at once, before her finger snaps down and the moment is frozen in time. The Polaroid camera prints the picture slowly, and she pulls it out of the camera when it is finally finished. The film she'd chosen to take all her shots with were plain white film. She had different styled film, but it didn't feel right to use them, at least not yet.
The photo slowly clears, and she smiles at the sight of the large Ferris wheel, the lights nearly obscuring everything else around it. She can make out the outlines of the Poke ball carriages, the edges of large Pokémon shaped mascots at the bottom edge of the photo. She shuffles her bag from the side and pulls out a worn white envelope and a black sharpie from between the pages of a book in her bag. She flips the Polaroid on its back, before quickly writing the date, time and city, the cap of the sharpie trapped between her lips. She pauses to stare at the words, before slowly flipping the Polaroid back over, tilting the sharpie cap up and down in her mouth.
She stares at it, sharpie hovering in mid-air, before finally, slowly, writing down a few words at the bottom.
'Wish you were here.'
She finishes the last swift stroke that creates the 'e' at the end of the sentence, and immediately regrets what she wrote.
'Sappy,' she thinks to herself, amused and somewhat melancholy.
She quickly caps the sharpie and gently places the Polaroid in the back of the envelope before quickly slipping the two items back into her bag. As she is zipping up her bag, she notices a vendor calling out to her and approaching her, dressed in the amusement park's uniform.
Her hands are full of paper and balloons, and she finally approaches Touko, out of breath but with a cheerful smile on her face.
"I see you haven't gotten a balloon or piece of paper yet! Here, you can pick what color you want!" The girl says cheerfully, waving the balloons in her left hand vigorously in front of Touko's face. Touko stares at her, somewhat confused, and luckily for her the girl notices.
"Oh! You're not from around here, are you?" She asks, in her chirpy voice. Touko nods at this, and the girl continues, "Well, every year, obviously, we have this festival to celebrate the New Year!" She laughs, and Touko smiles at this.
"So every year during this festival, everyone who's in the amusement park gets a balloon and a piece of paper. You're supposed to write a wish on the paper and at midnight, we all let the balloons go!" The girl finishes with enthusiasm while jumping up and down, and nearly letting go of the balloons in the process. Touko, oddly enough, feels touched at the festival tradition.
She picks a green-colored balloon, and nearly trades it back the moment she is handed it, but manages to restrain herself. She plucks a fancy piece of paper from the girl, who bounds off immediately after in a flourish of pale blue and white. One side of the paper is decorated with gold and red patterns, while the other is simply plain paper. She glances around and finds a quiet spot in the corner where a bench is located.
She sits down, holding the balloon in one hand and the paper in the other, resting in her lap. She glances up at the sky, which is covered with thick clouds. Despite the late hour, the sky is somewhat lit due to the festival lights and the storm clouds which have settled in. She breathes out, white fog gathering and floating in front of her face, before turning back downwards again.
She pulls a pen from her bag, holding her balloon and paper in her left hand while uncapping the pen with her mouth. She thinks long and hard for a minute, trying to decide what to write. What did she wish for?
She hesitates for a moment, before her pen hits paper and she starts to write. She scribbles the wish in quickly but meaningfully, before dropping the pen in her lap and rolling the paper into a small cylinder. She ties the end of the balloon onto the paper tightly, but not so tight so it doesn't crush the fragile paper. She doubles, triples, quadruple knots it just to be sure and tugs it to make sure it won't slip. When she is finally satisfied, she holds the balloon in one hand while staring up at the crowd that mills all around her. A multitude of colored balloons pass by her, and she can hear the laughter of children as they talk to one another and their parents about their wishes.
"What did you wish for, Mommy?"
Laughter, high and charming like bells, "Honey, you're not supposed to tell anybody your wish, otherwise it won't come true!"
"Eh?"
More laughter, that fades as the two walk away from her. She stares at the paper attached to her own light green balloon, and smiles softly.
'Don't tell anybody, huh?' She thinks to herself, before looking up at the sky.
'…I guess my wish won't come true then.' She thinks ruefully to herself. After all, how many people knew about her journey to find N? It'd been two years after all, and it'd likely spread now to the different regions of the country.
The champion giving up her position to go on a journey to find the former Plasma king N.
Honestly.
It hits her then, just how long she'd been away from home. Two years was a long time, after all. And soon, it would be the start of three years in only a few moments.
"It's almost midnight!"
"The countdown is starting!"
There are cheers around her, as the light on a tall, large building across from her lights up, bright fluorescent lights casting a glow across the amusement park and into the sky.
"10!"
She berates herself mentally for a moment for thinking the way she did. Touko closes her eyes, and the hand holding the balloon tightens its grip. She wills every ounce of willpower and determination into that little paper and that fragile balloon.
"…6!"
She doesn't open her eyes, even as the time counts down. The sound of people laughing and chanting all around her grows louder as the time shortens.
"4!"
She feels a cool breeze pass by her, and she only clutches even tighter onto her balloon, moving it in front of her, both hands clasping desperately to the thin line to the small, green balloon. A line to him.
"3!"
Laughter erupts from the right of her. She tightens her eyes.
"2!"
She takes in a deep breath.
"1!"
Screams of joy and laughter erupt from all around her as she hears the sound of fireworks shoot off from far in the distance. And finally she lets go of the line she so desperately clung onto just moments ago. She opens her eyes and finally releases her breath, and watches as the fragile, light balloon lifts slowly into the air, carrying her wish along with thousands of others above her. She quickly pulls out her camera once more, and tilts it upward to capture the thousands of balloons floating in front of the colorful backdrop of the Ferris wheel and bright Pokémon shaped fireworks. She snaps the picture quickly and hears the Polaroid photo whir out of the machine.
"Happy New Year!" People cheer from all around her. She stares up, entranced at the sight of balloons filling the air. She watches hers – a little green balloon, floating higher and higher, before finally they are only little dots in the sky.
People laugh all about her, continuing on, some of them leaving the amusement park to go to bed, others heading to the other rides. The park would be open for another three hours.
Touko debates leaving the amusement park and heading to the Pokémon Center. Her faux black tattoo high thigh tights were only so warm underneath her shorts, and her legs were starting to feel vaguely numb. She pulls the Polaroid out of the camera, waving it a bit, staring blankly into space when suddenly the same girl from before jumps in front of her, smiling brightly.
"Here!" She hands Touko another balloon, this one a dark sapphire in color.
Touko looks surprised, and the girl smiles at her reaction before explaining, "You looked sad earlier so here's another balloon and piece of paper! We have lots of extras, so why don't you make another wish?"
Touko takes the thin string and colorful paper from her hand, this one a floral gold leaf and red background pattern, little poke balls scattered across it.
"Thank you." Touko responds sincerely, smiling at the gesture.
The girl's mouth twitches upwards and she rushes off, but not first before turning and calling out to Touko, "I hope your wish comes true!" before disappearing into the crowd all around her.
Touko stares after her, before smiling softly, "Me too."
She holds the balloon in her left; the camera in her right. The sky is bright with fireworks and the twinkling lights of the Ferris wheel. Suddenly, she shoves the paper in her pocket and lifts her camera once more. She snaps a photo just as several fireworks light off behind the Ferris wheel in the shape of Tepig, Pikachu and Bulbasaur. She pulls the Polaroid out and quickly whips her sharpie out of her bag.
'Wish you were here.' She writes once more.
She twists it up, and for a moment it refuses to stay in the cylindrical shape, but she manages to tie it tightly into place with the line of her balloon.
She lets go of it immediately, watching the blue balloon rise into the sky in a solitary flight. She smiles, and it feels as if a sudden weight is off her shoulder.
She is about to turn and leave the amusement park when she stops and turns towards the Ferris wheel.
She bites her lip, before finally nodding to herself.
'Just one spin.'
The line is short, mostly filled with love sick couples clinging onto each other, whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears. She arrives at the front of the line quickly and takes her spot inside the swinging poke ball carriage. It shifts back and forth as she ascends into it, before taking her place on the left side. She stares out the clear glass window, lights flashing all below her. She can see the expanse of the city beyond the amusement park, lights bright in the dark of the night.
It begins to snow, just as the Ferris wheel reaches slowly to the top. It stops, the carriage swinging lightly back and forth. The balloons have all disappeared by now, and the fireworks have stopped. The carriage descends slowly once more, and Touko is overtaken by feelings of nostalgia. She smiles despite herself, just as the carriage reaches the bottom once more. The door opens.
"Can I go another round?" She asks, not bothering to look away from the window at the attendant.
There is no response, and she is about to turn when she sees the familiar glint of a gold and black cube hanging from a silver chain in the reflection of the window. She blinks, and turns so fast she's almost dizzy after.
N pauses before taking a seat across from her, the carriage door shutting close. The Ferris wheel starts again once more into a smooth ascent.
N leans back, before smiling.
"So, what did you wish for?"
Touko stares at him blankly, before sighing and shaking her head. It was just like him to show up suddenly like this after she'd searched so long for him. On one hand she is unbelievably pleased, and on the other hand she simply wants to punch him in the face.
Even so, she's smiling when she lifts her head once more.
"You're not supposed to tell." She says finally, laughter in her voice.
Wish you were here.
Fin.