eighth trick

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

[Ikki carefully walks barefoot along the Astral Beach without the aid of his crutch, his A-Ts dangling from his fingers by the laces. Tucked under his arm is a pretty French tin that he salvaged from some kind of garage sale. He stops a few feet from where there used to be trees and wades into the water up to the thigh. As he does so, a strange breeze picks up and tugs at his crazy hair and the edges of his jacket.]

I knew you wanted to stay here forever.

[He pops the tin open and scatters the red, dusty contents into the wind and over the water.]

... Let's fly another time.

[ooc: Ikki just gave Diva a burial. D: I got mun permission, yeah.]

Comments

[contract_star]

[Watching curiously from a distance until he sees the red dust. He knows what that looks like.]

I'm sure she liked that.

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

[Ikki pauses, the tin still in his hands.]

Oh. Er. ... I'd like to think that, too.

[contract_star]

[Small smile.] She liked romantic gestures.

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

Yeah... she did.

[He turns to the shore, considering burying it.]

You think she'll come back?

[contract_star]

[Watches him a moment in silent.]

Undoubtedly. The Twins don't let anyone stay dead.

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

Yeah? So she'll get a second chance and all, but... [He begins digging a hole in the sand with his better foot.] ... What if that Nathan guy...

I want to look out for her, I guess.

[shinypaws.livejournal.com]

[Watching with a gentle smile.]

A very nice gesture, Ikki Minami.

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

[Ikki makes his way out of the water and sets the tin down.]

I just wanted to do something for her. Since we couldn't... help.

[shinypaws.livejournal.com]

I understand the feeling all too well.

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

Yeah? [He plops down on the sand.]

[shinypaws.livejournal.com]

I have lived a long time. I have seen far too many people lost before their time, when I could do nothing but stand by and hope to comfort them in their last moments. But death is not something that can be negotiated or bargained with or changed. It is as much a part of life as life itself is.

And death is important. It is important because, without an ending, albeit a temporary one, there is little point to the story. All things come to an end--even the immortal life must end eventually. It is a time of rest before one's life can begin again.

[She looks at Ikki.] And it is important to those who are left behind. It puts things into perspective. It allows us to appreciate life, and those things that we have. Love, friends, food, land, a beam of sunlight to sleep in, a good strong wind. Death gives meaning to life and to all of the things that life contains.

[hexhax.livejournal.com]

[Willow doesn't even have to ask.]

Ikki...

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

[Of course she doesn't. He stays there for a bit, just letting the wind pull at him how it wants. Wind follows him around, anyway.]

... Hey.

[hexhax.livejournal.com]

[You may not like it, but you're getting a hug, dammit. She's been there.]

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

[Ikki goes wide-eyed for a moment, then smiles a little sadly and hugs back. Strange. He's never really been to a funeral, and he was too young to remember his parents' if they had one. This must be what goes on...]

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Touches his shoulder gently.] Ikki-kun.

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

Kirihara-san... What drives people to take others' lives for the sake of their own happiness?

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Oh god, way to ask the tough questions. She rests her hand on his shoulder and gives it a little squeeze.]

I'd like to give you a simple answer. To say that it's just selfishness, that the people who kill have no better reason. [Amber, the EPR, the Gate--all of that is weighing pretty heavily on her mind at the moment, for the obvious reason.] But I can't.

Sometimes... the nature of two things is just so opposed that they can't exist in the same place without destroying each other. Sometimes a compromise can be reached. Sometimes... it can't. That doesn't make the killer evil. It just makes it that much harder for everyone who knew and cared about the slain to accept it.

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

[Ikki is full of them. He gazes up at Misaki with big brown eyes. He's pretty young, for all his talk, and it's easy to overlook.]

... I don't know. I don't think that's the case here. I don't think that's the case back home, either. No one has the right to decide something that important for someone else.

Diva-san... She was trying to be a good person. She was. And this Nathan guy thought his opinion was worth killing over.

And... Spitfire... He was trying to protect Kazu. He was standing up for what was right, and Sora-san murdered him, just because he wouldn't give him what wasn't even his in the first place.

[chasingstars201.livejournal.com]

[Drags him into a hug. He reminds her a lot of some of Kanami's siblings, and that makes this even harder.]

I know. But... sometimes, like with Diva, even if they're trying to change, all the people around them can see is the person that they were.

I'm not saying he was right. I'm not saying that this is right, that it makes sense. It's... not fair. When someone you care about dies. It's never fair.

[Her hand on the back of his head, her arm around his shoulders.] You're a good person, Ikki-kun.

[shunofandromeda.livejournal.com]

[Shun was wandering along the beach. He stops to watch, sensing the mood although he's not quiet sure what just happened.]

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

[Ikki ignores the eyes on him until he's done, and then he looks at Shun. That shade of green is kind of familiar. They might've spoken before...]

Eh?

[shunofandromeda.livejournal.com]

[Almost feels like he shouldn't ask...] What where you doing..?

[crowheaded.livejournal.com]

[Ikki isn't chasing him out by any means.] Oh... this? [He smiles weakly.] A friend of mine... I was scattering her ashes here, because she loved this place.

[shunofandromeda.livejournal.com]

[SJNFKSJFSJFS DDDD:] Wh...? [Then he realizes it means it's someone from the Plane.] Who?