"What's this?" Kana asked, staring down at the thin object.
"It's a card - come on, take it!" Yuffie insisted, beaming at her.
Kana took the card, looking it over. "What do I do with it?"
"Well, nothing - just keep it. It makes you an honorary member of the RRC! That's the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee!" Yuffie replied enthusiastically.
"Okay...and what's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're here with us, working to bring Radiant Garden back to full glory! Not that I was old enough at the time to really remember, but we totally don't talk about that part..." Yuffie said quickly.
"Whatever." Kana turned away and stalked off across the control room, coming up beside Even. She threw the card at him and leaned against the computer console, arching her back. "Is being a member of this 'Restoration Committee' a not-boring purpose?"
"What?" Even glanced at her in annoyance, startled out of his rapid typing - then he looked down at the card he'd caught on pure reflex. "Oh. Actually...that might be a way to keep you suitably occupied. With all your abilities and power, you could potentially be a...great asset to the restoration efforts. If...properly guided. Kana - come with me, please. I'll give you something interesting to do."
Kana nodded, striding after him as he swept out of the lab.
Leon unfolded his arms and watched them go.
After a long walk through the underground tunnels of the castle, and then moving out around the exterior, they strode up a broken pathway leading to the ruined front entrance of the castle.
A broken pathway blocked off by fallen debris. Large rocks, and broken pillars.
"There - you see?" Even spoke, pointing. "This is the main entrance to the castle - an entrance we currently have no access to due to the destruction wrought upon our world. Thus, we've been forced to take the loooong, long side trip into the castle's lower levels every time - as you just experienced. But, if you wanted to put your talents to use in an appropriate manner, and do something to help this town and the people here: clear out the debris. It would give us a much more direct, less time-consuming way into the castle every day."
Kana looked at him, hesitating. She looked at the blocked pathway. "This isn't some kind of test? You want me to destroy something?"
"In a controlled, deliberate manner that will actually be a great help to us, yes," Even replied. "Hopefully the lesson will stick with you, Kana."
Kana grinned, turning back to eye the debris. Then she raised a hand and conjured a dozen orange circles of magic on the ground. They all zoomed forward, up the rocky pathway, and disappeared beneath the debris.
A moment passed. Then-
BOOM!
They all went off almost simultaneously, rapid fire, the pillars and rock being blown apart and cast up into the air!
Smoking rubble flew out at them; Kana quickly created a domed barrier wall to shield them from it, laughing giddily.
Dust and smoke cleared from the path, and Even stared at a highly reduced mound of debris.
Still...
"As you can see, it's not completely cleared out - you may go again," Even told Kana.
Kana flicked her wrist, sending out those magical...mines of hers to blow up again, finishing off the debris.
"Good," Even said, flashing a small smile. "You see? Doesn't it feel good to use your powers for something productive? Something useful? You wanted purpose - this is purpose, Kana."
"It does feel good," Kana said, her eyes shining. Then she was grabbing him and yanking him in close. "Let's do more! What else do you need me to blow up?"
Even flushed, pushing her back and stepping away, adjusting his coat. "Well, let's go and find out," he said calmly, gesturing up the path. "I'm sure the entrance itself has fared no better over the years. And inside the castle's halls themselves, I can already think of several spots that need...clearing out. Particularly the stairway to the lower levels - I noticed those were blocked off before, already."
"I'll clear out the entire castle!" Kana said firmly. "By myself! I'll be the greatest...Restoration Member this town has ever had!"
Even raised his eyebrows at her, but his smile grew. "Excellent. I'm glad to hear that from you. But, the castle is, as you can see, rather massive. You couldn't hope to clear it out yourself, not in any small amount of time."
Kana grinned, raising her chin at him. "Are you challenging me again?"
"What? No, I wasn't-"
"Watch me!" Kana said, ignoring him and racing on up the path to the castle's front entrance.
Even stared after her, mouth agape. Then he shook his head, chuckling to himself alone, and followed her quickly.
I would love nothing more than to watch you do this, Kana.
She had, in fact, cleared away almost all of the fallen rubble throughout the entire castle over the course of half a day.
She was absolutely focused, relentless, pushing on and on, finding new hallways and collapsed ceilings and blocked off rooms...
Even stayed with her the whole way, guiding her, instructing her on the magnitudes of power application.
And she listened.
As light began to fade through the castle's windows, Even finally spoke up, telling her they'd done more than enough for one day - he was extremely impressed and whatnot, but it was time to rest.
When Kana seemed reluctant to obey, Even quickly came up with a method to...cajole her into it.
By providing her with something else to focus on that was of equal interest to her, he knew.
"Well, I suppose if you want to toil away up here rather than come and find yourself new clothing..." Even said idly, shrugging. "So be it."
"Wait, what?" Kana said, whirling toward him. "What do you mean, new clothes?"
Even suppressed a satisfied smirk. He gestured to her in general - to the black coat she still wore. "With all the fuss you made about it in your early days, I'd have thought you'd be practically dying to get rid of it at long last. We're no longer members of the Organization, you see, and so we're more than free to throw those coats away. In fact, I'd prefer it if you did. You can shred it, burn it, do whatever you like to it. I approve! So you- wait, wait, wait!"
Kana tore her coat off and tossed it aside in a flourish, the material catching fire and burning to ashes on the air.
Even put his hand over his eyes and turned away from her, shaking his head.
Though, being fair, this was more his error than hers...
"I meant - that you need to actually have new clothes ready to be worn to replace the coat before you..." Even sighed heavily. He let his hand fall, then glanced down at himself. "All right...we can still salvage this." He undid the zipper and removed his white lab coat, turning long enough to toss it at Kana. "Put that on - for now."
"I'm sick and tired of coats," Kana refuted. "I'm not trading one for another."
"Just...until we get back into town and get you some new clothes to wear - you can pick anything you like; whatever you'll feel the most 'comfortable' with," Even said, as steadily as he could. "Surely someone as strong and great as you can handle wearing a coat for a few minutes more?"
Kana glowered at him, but she mercifully complied, picking up the white coat and pulling it on. She crossed her arms, shifting her stance. "Okay. Done. Let's go."
Even turned to look at her - then quickly looked away again, sputtering! "YOU DIDN'T EVEN- THE ZIPPER, FOR GOODNESS SAKE, WOMAN!"
Kana growled, viciously doing up the zipper, all the way up to her neck. She stalked forward and spread her arms at him. "Now can we go? I'm done?"
"Yes. Good. That's acceptable," Even said shortly. "Now we can go. Honestly, it's only a coat..."
"And I hate it," Kana said over her shoulder, striding away down the hallway.
Yes, and she always had, Even reflected, as he moved to follow her.
Why was that?
Well, no, those reasons were perhaps obvious now.
The more pressing question was how.
Such an emotional transference, from copied data of memory for skills and powers...should never have been!
Why would Kana have inherited anything like - like feelings from her originator? Even - Vexen, rather - hadn't sought anything like that from Master Aqua's Heart at the time.
Yet it had come along for the ride anyways, it seemed. From this woman's feelings for Xemnas, err, Xehanort, to this utter disgust with the black coat, symbol of the Organization...
All of which suggested...suggested...
Well, it suggested that, despite the utter focus and cold intensity that Master Aqua always held herself to - that energy she exuded - underneath it all...the depths of her feelings must have been infinitely greater than one would ever think.
And far, far more powerful.
Such a person was only that way either because they had learned and decided they didn't want to be slaved to such enormously strong emotions, or...because they had been taught not to feel such things in another manner.
Not unlike the Organization members themselves...
Hmm...
Not that Even would ever be broaching the subject with Master Aqua, herself, of course! Nor would he ever make such an assumption aloud about someone else. Still...
He wondered...
"No! That- choose something else! That garment isn't for daytime activities; it would be shredded the second you tried to do anything exciting."
"Good!" Kana said loudly, turning from the shelves in the damaged clothing shop to look at Even, a sheer, small dress held in her hands.
Even facepalmed. "No, not good! Keep it if you like for night-time affairs, but otherwise, you'll need something else to wear for your daily life. Something sturdier, able to stand up to wear and tear. And explosions..." he added.
Kana glared, then unzipped the lab coat and shrugged it off with a smirk on her lips. She pulled the sheer, small dress down over her head.
"Good - at least you're wearing something," Even told her lightly. "And it is nearly night, anyways. So this is...actually acceptable wear, yes."
"Good," she replied, turning away to start rifling through the clothes again.
Even sighed, looking away and rubbing at his temples.
Why was he responsible for such a person again...?
He stooped to retrieve his lab coat, pulling it on again and smoothing it out with care. How had she treated it so poorly over the course of the past ten minutes alone?
Kana pulled clothing item after clothing item from the shelves, she tore through the hangers, inspecting this and that before dropping it at her feet.
"Could you just try and treat anything you touch with the most minute levels of respect?" Even said, exasperated, starting forward to begin collecting the clothing - folding and replacing them on their shelves. "People are going to be working in here again soon, and they don't need the extra mess, if you please! The Heartless invasion already did these places incredible damage - we don't need you adding to it after we just got our world back again."
"You're putting them all back just fine," Kana said absently, continuing with her desecration of the aisles.
"Yes, but only because you are not!" Even retorted. "But you will, Kana."
She stopped, turning to him with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think so."
"This behavior will earn you no friends. Nor will anyone even want to do business with you once they start working in these shops again," Even spoke, as calmly as he could. Clearly, for her. "You'll be turned away, Kana, every time, if you can't learn to be even a tad bit more thoughtful. No clothes, no weapons...no souvenirs. Nothing. Never again. Everyone will shun you because you ruin everything you come across. That motorbike I promised you - it will need repairs, from time to time. How are you going to get that done if every repair shop in town turns you away for being a terrible customer? That is respect - it's reputation. And it matters very much. Is that really how you want yourself to be seen? Is that what you want for your life? Or can you spare two seconds of your time to simply put things back where they came from and avoid all those issues?"
Kana stopped again, looking at him with uncertainty now. She hesitated, then glanced down at the long shirt in her hands. She turned to the shelf and carefully shoved it back into place.
True, she had shoved it back there - in a balled up mess - but she had done it at all...which was truly surprising and encouraging...
Even gave her a forced smile, striding forward. "Good. You see how little time that took? How effortless it was? Just do that with any item you take. Anything you take, put it back if you're not going to keep it. That's it. Simple, really..."
Kana smiled back, seemingly despite herself, her face flushing with pleasure. She nodded and returned to her clothes scouring.
Perhaps she could learn. Perhaps it was not entirely hopeless, with her.
He just needed to keep using the correct incentives. Needed to...find the right way to frame things, explain things to her, in a way that would actually reach her. Cause her to understand, at minimum, that such things could not be done.
Action and consequence...the most basic of teaching tools in all existence.
Even continued to observe Kana, watching her faithfully replacing every item she took - except for a handful, which she carried in her arms.
She returned to him with said armful of clothes, looking him in the face. Watching him now...? Interesting. "I want these," she stated.
"Well then, try them on," Even encouraged. "By all means. See if you could tolerate wearing them for the rest of your days. As I said: find what is comfortable to you. That is what matters to me."
Kana dropped it all on the floor, then began retrieving individual items. She pulled off her slip dress and set about pulling on her newfound pieces of clothing.
Even tactfully looked away from her, gazing off at a caved in section of the ceiling nearby.
When he realized, from corner of his eye, that she had finished, he finally, really looked at her.
She smiled at him hesitantly, tilting her head and blinking at him rapidly. "This feels comfortable to me. Is that...okay? Is it good?"
Even returned her smile, nodding. "Yes, it's - good. I think it rather suits you."
What Kana had chosen for herself was a purple bandeau of crisscrossing strings that reached around her backside, a pair of simple denim shorts, and a slightly oversized, silver denim jacket to wear over it all. Not that "it all" consisted of much actual "clothing"...but, as Even had told her, he truly cared not for such things.
He only cared that she found something she might actually keep on at all times, of her own free will and wishes.
He hesitated, flushed as he spoke again to her. "Erm - so you have- you did put on- ahem- undergarments, didn't you, as well...?"
Kana looked down at herself, as if she actually needed to think about it. "I picked one out to go under the shorts - yes."
"Excellent work, then. Just one last thing," Even spoke, his gaze traveling downward. "Shoes."
Kana looked down at her feet, confused. "Why would I need to wear anything on my feet?"
"To protect them from injuries. We're in a destroyed city, Kana. There is glass, broken pieces of stone - splinters of wood. You need to be sensible and protect yourself."
"My feet have been fine this entire time," Kana replied, quizzical.
Even gazed at her, considering. "Y-yes, well...that would be because of my superior design schematics for your current, Replica body. But, there will come a time - hopefully soon - where you will be able to...change up for a new one. A much better one. Like your clothes. One that will allow you to experience...the full scope of- human life. And when that happens, believe me, you'll be grateful you had a pair of good shoes."
"How could it be 'better' if it means my feet are going to get hurt just from walking around?" Kana snorted. "Sounds backwards to me."
Even blinked. "Well, yes, it- may seem that way to you, but the...tradeoffs as a whole are...going to be well worth it. In general, it will be an upgrade. And you'll wonder how you ever lived the way you had before. Sights, sounds, smells, your sense of touch...it will all be so much better that you will be- astonished at how dull the world seemed before, in comparison!"
"Sure," Kana said, dismissive. "I'll get some shoes, but I'm not wearing them until you get me this - new human body."
"That's a fair compromise," Even agreed, nodding. "I suppose it can't hurt you to go barefoot for now...but only for now."
Kana smiled again. "Is that it, then? Or do I need anything else?"
"Well...no. I think you should be fine now. You have...all that you need. For now. Let's return to the castle. We should both get some rest for the night. Ah, in fact, I'll be able to show you my personal quarters - assuming they're still intact..."
"Okay. Show me," Kana said, retrieving her night dress and bundling it up in her hands (oh, he was going to have to address actually folding clothes with her soon, to be sure).
But not quite yet; he thought they'd made more than enough progress for one day.
"Come along, then," he told her, starting off for the exit.
She followed him without question.
AN: And now we are done with Radiant Garden setup stuff. xD Like totally lol. Time to hop over to Destiny Islands for a bit. :D Back to the main crew lol! The true trio! Etc. xD And other people... :D All I know about Selphie and shit is from KH lol. Buuut I did do some wiki readings for FF8 and found some stuff I might be able to loosely adapt for her backstory...and future... :) I guess if you know you know? Probably better than me! :D