Phoenix Down & The Crimson King present:
Lost
Chapter II
--Secrets--
Secrets. So many secrets. The things you don't tell ANYBODY- not even if they offered you the universe in a little ball. The things on the tip of your tongue when you talk to your love. The things that will always be yours.
Till the day you die.
Secrets.
So... many... secrets...
Barret has so many. He tells no one his feelings-because it makes him strong to hold them inside.
Deep inside.
When he looks at her, it is his secret how he feels. He feels his heart soften with wet emotions. He feels a white dove fluttering madly in the pit of his stomach.
And his face contorts, and his back turns. He acts the opposite of what he feels when he is around her.
He doesn't want her to know.
Besides,
What does it matter?
She loves someone else.
...She doesn't even know who he really is....
He isn't the strong man. Or the uneducated man.
He is an intelligent man... (Perhaps not book smart, but street smart, surely)
He is a little colored boy from the small mining town of Corel, who fell in love with a girl who helped him try to save the world.
He watches her, as if outside of his own body. She tells a joke. He smiles lightly. She plays games with his baby girl, he smiles like a proud father.
Tifa.
Why, Tifa? Why Cloud? Why do you love his spikey ass?
Barret has so many secrets.
"What, Barret? What did you say?"
"Nevamind. I didn't say nuthin'."
"Oh," she adds as if she was going to say something else. But she didn't.
Marlene smiled, but then frowned again as Tifa stood up and walked into the kitchen.
The little girl's eyes leapt to her father's, to Tifa's backside, then fell to the unfinished smatterings of a puzzle on the hardwood floor.
From the kitchen, Barret heard Tifa's voice penetrate. Marlene seemed to pay no attention, for her hands were busy trying to push together two puzzle pieces that were obviously not made for each other.
"I haven't heard from her at all today. I hope that she got to Wutai safely." The faucet water in the kitchen drowned her voice out slightly.
Barrent bent down and tried to find Marlene's matching piece.
"I'm sure she did, ya' know, she ain't like she's ain't got no sence of direction." Barret replied with a hue of sadness to his voice. His brown eyes were like two pools of reflecting pink moons.
As he stared at Marlene's tiny hands, the memories of the last weekend dripped through his pool of a mind.
"Yeah, but," Tifa looked up and turned off the water, then picked up a dirty plate.
The white afternoon light leapt through the kitchen window like a springing feline.
"...I don't know. I thought she--... you know. With Vincent. I mean,"
Marlene looked up, and dropped the two puzzle pieces that didn't fit onto the floor. Barret held his breath for no reason.
"I hope Vincent's ok, too." Tifa quickly added. "I didn't think that-THAT would happen between those two. A train wreck. I didn't see it coming." Tifa turned back on the water, as if to cape her words.
Barret hesitated, and then erupted.
"A TRAIN WRECK!!??" Marlene looked up worriedly at the scarlet, contorted snarl on her father's face. "That wuz no %$!% TRAIN WRECK! It was a freak o' nature! That... that wuz, .. "
Barret turned to the light, feathered face of Marlene's. It looked as if it were going to crack into a flood of tears.
Her hands holding the jigsaw puzzle pieces trembled like a leaf caught in a whisper of wind.
Barret suddenly stopped. The water in the kitchen turned off again.
Tifa appeared in the doorway before Barret and Marlene.
"I personally don't think that it was supposed to happen. I can't believe that Vincent actually loves Yuffie. It's... it's just not right."
Marlene picked up the two jigsaw puzzle pieces once more, and again tried to cram them together into a perfect fit.
"And he can be so dramatic about everything. Vincent. Sort of reminds me of somebody." Tifa continued.
Barret wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not.
But his fuse was short.
"Are you sayin' that I'm $#^%@^&% dramatic!!!?" Barret headed into the kitchen with his boots echoing into the hallway. It was as if the house itself had a heart beat.
Tifa didn't feel that she had to dignify anything with a response.
Marlene wordlessly listened as she continued playing with the jigsaw pieces in the hallway.
"The way you're acting TELLS me that you're dramatic, Barret. And that's not a bad thing. You're just passionate. If you weren't a dreamer, you wouldn't have been in AVALANCHE all those years.
I just think that you and Vincent are more alike than you think. You're both die-hard romantics. I even bet that you'd be the first to die for someone you love, and kept secret about."
Tifa smiled innocently while she rubbed a dry cloth over the saucer plate.
Barret stared at her. Did... did she know how he felt? Or was it a joke?
The creases on his face soften.
"I'da die for you, I'da die for ANY of my friends. Even some #$!%!$ spikey-ass punk! And the only secret I got, is how I feel about you!"
"See, my point exactly. What?" As Tifa turned around, her face flushed into a violent red.
Barret's arms were crossed and his expression was closed. No one was quite sure if what he said was done on purpose or not.
A shiny black beetle scuttled across the floor. The sound of Marlene quietly placing pieces of the jigsaw that didn't fit ticked on. Barret dropped his eyes. Tifa nearly dropped the white saucer.
Sun slipped in through the wooden window pane.
Secrets. Secrets spilled out onto the floor in a bloody, wet heap.
Lost
Chapter II
--Secrets--
Secrets. So many secrets. The things you don't tell ANYBODY- not even if they offered you the universe in a little ball. The things on the tip of your tongue when you talk to your love. The things that will always be yours.
Till the day you die.
Secrets.
So... many... secrets...
Barret has so many. He tells no one his feelings-because it makes him strong to hold them inside.
Deep inside.
When he looks at her, it is his secret how he feels. He feels his heart soften with wet emotions. He feels a white dove fluttering madly in the pit of his stomach.
And his face contorts, and his back turns. He acts the opposite of what he feels when he is around her.
He doesn't want her to know.
Besides,
What does it matter?
She loves someone else.
...She doesn't even know who he really is....
He isn't the strong man. Or the uneducated man.
He is an intelligent man... (Perhaps not book smart, but street smart, surely)
He is a little colored boy from the small mining town of Corel, who fell in love with a girl who helped him try to save the world.
He watches her, as if outside of his own body. She tells a joke. He smiles lightly. She plays games with his baby girl, he smiles like a proud father.
Tifa.
Why, Tifa? Why Cloud? Why do you love his spikey ass?
Barret has so many secrets.
"What, Barret? What did you say?"
"Nevamind. I didn't say nuthin'."
"Oh," she adds as if she was going to say something else. But she didn't.
Marlene smiled, but then frowned again as Tifa stood up and walked into the kitchen.
The little girl's eyes leapt to her father's, to Tifa's backside, then fell to the unfinished smatterings of a puzzle on the hardwood floor.
From the kitchen, Barret heard Tifa's voice penetrate. Marlene seemed to pay no attention, for her hands were busy trying to push together two puzzle pieces that were obviously not made for each other.
"I haven't heard from her at all today. I hope that she got to Wutai safely." The faucet water in the kitchen drowned her voice out slightly.
Barrent bent down and tried to find Marlene's matching piece.
"I'm sure she did, ya' know, she ain't like she's ain't got no sence of direction." Barret replied with a hue of sadness to his voice. His brown eyes were like two pools of reflecting pink moons.
As he stared at Marlene's tiny hands, the memories of the last weekend dripped through his pool of a mind.
"Yeah, but," Tifa looked up and turned off the water, then picked up a dirty plate.
The white afternoon light leapt through the kitchen window like a springing feline.
"...I don't know. I thought she--... you know. With Vincent. I mean,"
Marlene looked up, and dropped the two puzzle pieces that didn't fit onto the floor. Barret held his breath for no reason.
"I hope Vincent's ok, too." Tifa quickly added. "I didn't think that-THAT would happen between those two. A train wreck. I didn't see it coming." Tifa turned back on the water, as if to cape her words.
Barret hesitated, and then erupted.
"A TRAIN WRECK!!??" Marlene looked up worriedly at the scarlet, contorted snarl on her father's face. "That wuz no %$!% TRAIN WRECK! It was a freak o' nature! That... that wuz, .. "
Barret turned to the light, feathered face of Marlene's. It looked as if it were going to crack into a flood of tears.
Her hands holding the jigsaw puzzle pieces trembled like a leaf caught in a whisper of wind.
Barret suddenly stopped. The water in the kitchen turned off again.
Tifa appeared in the doorway before Barret and Marlene.
"I personally don't think that it was supposed to happen. I can't believe that Vincent actually loves Yuffie. It's... it's just not right."
Marlene picked up the two jigsaw puzzle pieces once more, and again tried to cram them together into a perfect fit.
"And he can be so dramatic about everything. Vincent. Sort of reminds me of somebody." Tifa continued.
Barret wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not.
But his fuse was short.
"Are you sayin' that I'm $#^%@^&% dramatic!!!?" Barret headed into the kitchen with his boots echoing into the hallway. It was as if the house itself had a heart beat.
Tifa didn't feel that she had to dignify anything with a response.
Marlene wordlessly listened as she continued playing with the jigsaw pieces in the hallway.
"The way you're acting TELLS me that you're dramatic, Barret. And that's not a bad thing. You're just passionate. If you weren't a dreamer, you wouldn't have been in AVALANCHE all those years.
I just think that you and Vincent are more alike than you think. You're both die-hard romantics. I even bet that you'd be the first to die for someone you love, and kept secret about."
Tifa smiled innocently while she rubbed a dry cloth over the saucer plate.
Barret stared at her. Did... did she know how he felt? Or was it a joke?
The creases on his face soften.
"I'da die for you, I'da die for ANY of my friends. Even some #$!%!$ spikey-ass punk! And the only secret I got, is how I feel about you!"
"See, my point exactly. What?" As Tifa turned around, her face flushed into a violent red.
Barret's arms were crossed and his expression was closed. No one was quite sure if what he said was done on purpose or not.
A shiny black beetle scuttled across the floor. The sound of Marlene quietly placing pieces of the jigsaw that didn't fit ticked on. Barret dropped his eyes. Tifa nearly dropped the white saucer.
Sun slipped in through the wooden window pane.
Secrets. Secrets spilled out onto the floor in a bloody, wet heap.