There's a voice calling her.

I've been having these weird thoughts lately.

It's loud and… familiar. But not.

"-mi. Naomi?"

She blinks as the wold snaps into focus, suddenly aware of something heavy on her shoulder and a tightness in her chest.

"Naomi, what's the matter?" The voice belongs to a woman, pretty with dark hair and dark blue eyes. The weight on her shoulder is one of the hands attatched to this person. At this realization the constriction in her chest loosens ever so slightly.

But why? She's doesn't know this woman, but her head still tilts upwards and she can feel a smile tugging at her mouth. Why is she smiling? The woman lets out a laugh and pats her head. "I see, you're just being you, aren't you Naomi?"

Naomi? That isn't her name. Her name is… Her name… is…

She can't remember.

Why can't she remember her name? Is it because this is a dream?

Oh. The woman is speaking again. "-this out to your brother, please?"

She feels herself nod and a wicker basket is settled into her arms. She's… small, she realizes, barely coming up to the woman's hip. What the fuck is her subconscious trying to tell her? That she wants to go back to a time when other people took care of everything she needed?

Coming out of her thoughts she finds that she's made her way out into a barren yard, body beelining for a shed that echoes with the sharp screech of metal. At least this dream has preprogramed her body, because she for shit doesn't know where she's supposed to be going.

Kicking the door sharply during a lull in the noise drew heated cursing from within and a crash as something fell. A few moments later the door is wenched open by a boy with dirty blond hair and dark blue eyes, glowering at me. "The fuck do you need, Mi?"

Wow he has a mouth on him; she just lifts the basket up in response. Seems like her dreamself wasn't too keen on speaking.

"See that Ma sent you out with food. Maybe I have been out here too long…" She can't help but giggle, getting a grin in response from the boy— her… brother? —as he reaches out and ruffles her hair. "I'll head back in a bit, so tell her that, yeah?"

She nods and turns on her heel back towards the house she had come from; out of the corner of her eye something catches her attention and she freezes. It's a large shape, and before she even realizes it's basically on top of her.

There's a scream.

Her scream. And the boy's.

Is any of this for real, or not?

Pain blooms bright and clear, clear, clear.

⁂

Melancholy.

And a deep, heady hum

⁂

Everything aches when she finally manages to pry her eyes open, like a weight in her lungs that settles further in place with every breath. It hurts, and that pain digs in as she pieces together that this isn't a dream. Somehow she's again a child, in a place she doesn't know, with people who are at once her family but not.

There's a tightness in her chest unrelated to pain and a whimper slips past her lips as she begins to cry. She doesn't notice when the bed dips, simply rolling into and curling around whatever it is as the sobs continue. The awkward patting of her head feels nice though, and gives her something to focus on.

Finally she quiets, breath ragged and a dull ache taking up the whole of her torso, and begins to take stock of just what the fuck has happened. "Are you hurting, Mi?"

That was… the boy she'd seen earlier. Her… brother. She doesn't even know his name. But he was worrying about her and that was enough. She shook her head at his question.

" 'm not crying cause I hurt," she mumbles. And.. she has a name here. Naomi. Nay-oh-me. She just has to… remember. "I just got really sad."

The boy nods and awkwardly pats her head again. Gingerly rolling onto her back again Naomi takes a good look at him; his eyes are rimmed in red and it looks like he hasn't slept well in a while. He notices her staring and flushes, turning away as he swipes at his eyes.

"I got scared," my brother admits quietly, still looking away. "When that monster went after you… I couldn't move. I just stood there and watched!" He's crying, again going by how his eyes were, and Naomi carefully lifts her arm to pat his head. Hopefully it would help him as much as it had her.

A loud noise filters in from outside and her brother sniffs and rubs at his eyes again. "Ma and Auntie are still going at it…" he says with a frown. "They're so loud."

"What're they fightin' bout?" Naomi asks, unconsiously mimicking her brother's accent; something akin to a Southern twang Before, if Naomi had to make a comparison.

"Auntie wants us to learn to fight. Ma ain't havin' none of it. Not after Da got killed." Naomi files that bit about their father away, wondering how long it had been since he'd passed. "Wan' me to tell them yer awake?"

A gurgling noise from her stomach answers before Naomi can, and she can feel her cheeks heat. "I guess I'm kinda hungry…" she says.

"I'll let Ma know then so you can eat!" Her brother grins and reaches out to ruffle her hair before bounding to the door. "MA! Mi's up and she's hungry!"As he stays in the doorway, talking in a far lower voice, Naomi lets herself drift for a moment, humming softly to keep herself occupied.

A savory smell filling the room brings Naomi out of a doze as the dark haired woman from before— her… mother —gently helps her sit up on the bed. Her brother props pillows behind her back, and behind him another woman stands, holding a tray. This must be her aunt.

She's gorgeous, with bright silver hair pulled into a deceptively simple braied bun and purple eyes. A grin crosses the woman's mouth when she notices Naomi staring at her. "Good to see you're finally a-fucking-wake, brat."

"Kaine!" her mother seethes, glaring at the other woman. That's.. a familiar name. And it fits her apperance too, but not quite right. Too settled maybe?

Naomi gives her head a little shake to clear away thoughts of books and shades, gifting her mother a tiny smile. "It smells good." It tastes even better, though Naomi finds that her arms are too shaky to hold the spoon stead. Her mother feeds her instead, every so often brushing stay hairs from her face.

It's a little… unsettling, if Naomi is honest, being unable to do this for herself. But she had been hurt. The bandages lining the length of her arms and torso attest to that. In the background Kaine rolls her eyes and claps a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Lucy, I'm gonna go ahead and take Cid to get outfited while you finish helping Mi." So that's what their names are. Like Kaine, Cid's is familiar, but again Naomi pushes aside the coincidence. Meanwhile Lucy's lips draw into a pinched line.

"I still don't want either of them to fight."

"Lu, we just got done arguing about this. You fucking agreed."

"Stop. With the swearing." Wow, these two really don't get along very well, do they? Naomi caches Cid's eye and rolls her own, getting a smile from him.

Kaine sees there shared look and reaches over and to ruffle Naomi's hair. "I'll be sure to get you something cute while we're out."

"Kay. Be careful, Ci?" Her brother puffs up, nodding seriously.

"Promise."

She can't help but giggle at that. "Then you gotta promise proper!" Naomi says, lifting her hand and curling the fingers so that only her pinky stuck out. An embarassed flush colors Cid's cheeks but he does hook his own with it, giving it one firm shake before dropping it like it's on fire. Oh boys…

Naomi watches the two as they exit, then turns back towards her mother to finish eating. A yawn splits her face once she's done and as Lucy helps her lie down Naomi can't help asking, "Why can't I fight too, Ma?"

Her mother's hands still on the blanket she had been pulling up. Then start shaking. "I can't loose you, Naomi. Not after loosing Balthier." That had to be her father, and again a familiar name! All the references were starting to drive Naomi a little batty. "It's bad enough that Kaine talked me into letting Cid get a weapon, but I can't risk you. I just can't."

Also, that is such a bullshit way to guilt trip a kid. The problem is Naomi can see where Lucy was coming from. Except that she had been mauled and would very much like to learn to protect herself, thank you very much! She was quite capable of making her own decisions.

But still… she did have to remember that she was a child again. "Okay, Ma."

Lucy gives Naomi a shaky smile and tucks the blankets in around her shoulders, before leaning in to press a kiss to the girl's forhead. "Sleep," she says. "Just sleep and work on getting better."

As if on queue Naomi felt her eyelids grow heavy. Sleeping probably was a good idea. Cid could show her what he got later, and she could watch Kaine teach him.

⁂

A wordless, soundless tune.

Regret.

And hope.