Last time…
"Do your best."
The dulled orange had blossomed into an amazing setting sun before it was wiped away into black.
Continuing on…
At first, I thought I was back in that lightless sphere again, but then I noticed it was too cubish once again for that.
I get that most rooms are square or rectangular, but did that really excuse the complete lack of circles or strange shapes that rooms could be? I was calling the Flames' lack of imagination out here.
Still, Cloud always had a certain flair despite that intimidating silence.
But even though I knew Cloud was somewhere there, I actually couldn't find him. I looked to my right, left, up ahead, even below and above. Just before I got the idea to finally turn back (it was such a cliche move, I didn't count on it), I heard a well-meaning cough.
"You know, it's so much easier to talk to silence. Thank you for that."
Nothing but the contempt of silence.
"But then I kinda worry that you aren't really listening."
Nothing but a ponderous silence.
"Seriously though."
Silence.
I turned around and peered into the darkness, trying to find Cloud. I squinted my eyes hard and could just barely spot him. He was off quite a ways, a lonely figure in black. And actually… no…. was he….
"Are you a fricken bear. "
The silence of approval.
"Are you kidding me."
The silence of denial.
"All of you. Oh my gosh. ALL of you."*
I take back what I said about their lack of imagination. It's too unique for me to comprehend.
A silence of admiration sounded from the bear. It looked like Cloud really agreed with his friends' choice of decor and form.
How nice.
"I don't think I've ever told you this, but I really appreciate your lack of commentary sometimes. In a world of Mys, it's nice not to have biting wit and sarcasm thrown back at you."
A happy silence.
"But at the same time, all that quietness really makes it hard to be comfortable around you. Sometimes I'm glad I learned how to respond."
A despairing silence.
"Well. Still, I guess it's one of your better traits. When I really get to know you, you're not such a bad guy."
A hesitant silence of delight.
"Well, I guess that's it then."
Before the scenery changed, Cloud gave a low growl. A little, heartwarming goodbye.
Yeah. He wasn't such a bad guy at all.
But now the background was…. well, I couldn't quite tell if it was out of laziness or lack of care, but it was nothing but white walls in a small, bare square room. And there Sun was, sitting with his arms crossed against his chest. He had on a big satisfied smirk as he gazed at me with eyes full of challenge. They seemed to say, "Well! Come at me with all you got!"
When faced with that, I immediately wanted to quit.
"Hi, Sun."
"Jenna! It's been a long time!"
"Yeah, it has. Uh, how's life been going?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's been great! But c'mon! Lay it on me! What do ya got?!"
Sun was a real go-getter. He constantly worked to improve himself, whether it was smarts, attitude, or general knowledge. He was open-minded, ready to learn, and gratefully accepted criticism no matter what. In a way, he was kind of a masochist.
"Uh…"
"Yeah?!"
"Uhhh…."
"YEAH?!"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh…."
"C'mon, I can't take the suspense!"
"You're way too energetic for me."
"…"
Sun was actually taking my comment seriously. He closed his eyes, rubbed his chin, and nodded even.
"There's no way I could ever think about keeping up with you. And when I think about how hard you work, it kinda makes me feel sad about my own uselessness."
Sun winced at that, but nodded weakly.
"But in the end, that wasn't really true. I didn't get mad at you, I got mad at myself. If I'm going to get better, then I have to do it myself. I mean, it's still true that even now you're an impossible goal. But I learned to see what I want for myself and to strive for it." I rubbed my chin with embarrassment as I realized what this was becoming. "I, uh, guess in the end I should thank you. Despite being such a loud pain in my head, you're one of the reasons why I am who I am. So, thank you. From the bottom of my heart."
"…"
Sun looked at me with tears of joy in his eyes. He shook from the happiness and possibly fought hard against the urge to burst out crying and hug me. A good part of Sun is that he listens and retains.
"That's… That's so nice! Everyone usually calls me a loud jackass, or a pain!" Sun rubbed his eyes on his sleeve. "Thank you, Jenna! Now I feel like I can do so much more!"
"…Right…"
I wasn't sure if stoking the flames was such a good idea, but nonetheless, there they went.
"Ah, but Jenna, don't you think-?"
Before Sun could begin listing off things that I could stand to improve on, the scenery changed from blank white to… designer green?
It was an oval room with lime walls and a vibrantly green carpeting. A cushy pale yellow couch that followed the shape of the room was at the center, facing a rather large fish tank. The fish that swam within were every shimmering color imaginable, the colors shifting and moving like a portrait on the fish themselves.
It was a cool room. I found myself seated on one end of the couch, Thunder far on the other.
Turning her head to look over at me, light green eyes regarded me serenely. Her expression neutral, she maintained a graceful air as she comfortably sat back on the cushion. Long dark brown hair, tied up into a ponytail, seemed to emphasize the look of long-legged beauty.
"Good afternoon, Jenna."
"Good afternoon."
Thunder smiled, and I had a feeling this would probably be a peacefully short talk.
"I… really don't have a bone to pick with you." I said, repeating the same phrase. "If anything, I suppose I'm envious really."
"Oh?" Thunder seemed amused at that.
"Yeah. You're incredibly caring, and you even help me out when I'm down. I want to be able to treat others like you do, and to help them out when they're sad." I sighed regretfully. "Guess that'll be hard later."
Thunder flashed a brilliant smile.
"I daresay you'll do fine, Jenna." Thunder tilted her head in thought. "Or at least treat others with respect."
"…" I couldn't giving a smile at that. It would be uncharacteristic of me to be genuinely nice with every person I met.
"But still, even if there are no troubles between us, it's still nice to have a chat, no?" Thunder turned her gaze towards the fish, a troubled look in her eyes. "Though we'll part soon, it was nice having this final chat."
The scenery became a blur, even as the meaning of the words finally ran through my head. I was unable to even question it before a room of complete aquamarine blue appeared before me. I felt a small weight on my shoulder. A blue bird was currently resting on it.
"Ahhhh, we finally meet again!" Rain, with her delighted voice, chirped out a happy greeting. Through the heavy fog of confusion and sadness, I could only feign a small smile and say the same back.
"Ah, I think I know what you're going to say! I'm way too forgiving, huh?"
Rain's personality was a bit like Mys, but more subdued. If Mys ever matured, I'd imagine her being much like Rain.
Well… If…..
"I guess… Not really when it comes to Storm." I laughed a little when I remembered Rain scolding Storm for saying inane comments.
"Well, I can't help it! Storm's such an idiot." Rain laughed too, hiding her face behind a wing.
"…" I stopped laughing. I started to wonder if I could get some real answers from Rain, seeing as this could possibly be the last time we meet. Maybe this was all just a fever dream, and maybe I really was dying, but if this was some weird…. I don't know. "What's really going on? What is all this?"
"…" Rain became quiet. She was contemplating, but it didn't take long for her to jump back. "Storm should have told you that this is an emergency, right? Normally, we wouldn't be able to talk like this."
"Yes, he did. But he didn't say anything further."
"Well… I can't say much either, Jenna. Just keep moving forward and, from time to time, look back, please?"
"Rai-"
Blue melted away into black. I found myself sitting alone in that dark sphere, tears leaking from my eyes. I almost felt silly for being so emotional, but the parting was still heart-wrenching. For me, this would be like parting with friends that I had grown up with, had shared happy memories with. If I didn't mourn that, then I'd just be empty.
Taking a deep breath and wiping away the tears, I looked down at my hands. I couldn't see a thing, but the act grounded me.
I was stuck in this sphere. A sphere that I made. That meant that somehow, I could break out. And I think I knew how.
—-
Mys: *eating popcorn*
Me: Is this fun.
Mys: *chews noisily*
Me: It is. Huh.
*This line is similar to one in Hustle Cat, a visual novel that stars cats. It's very nice and, yes, I do indeed want you to know about this thing. (It does cost money, but you can look up on it.)
Disclaimer: You've read some variation of this over hundreds of times, no doubt. I don't own KHR.