tampered | ongoing; closed

ongoing; closed

When; 17 May, afternoon
Rating; G
Characters;

soulofocean
Summary; A princess shouldn't be sleeping on the couch, honestly.
Log; The sprawling apartment in which most of Presea's friends lived was always a little short of space, as people came and went and they opened the rooms to them. Presea was no stranger to close quarters, given the way she'd spent most of her time in the Castle during Cephiro's last crisis, but here, at least, there was a better solution than the one they were using.

The apartment was emptier nowadays, with the sudden departure of Mokona, Shin, and Hikaru. In order to do something useful and not worry so much while Umi was in the hospital, Presea had walked around the apartment and taken stock. They had several bedrooms they weren't using, preserved as if their owners had left this very morning. She shut the doors again quietly, contemplating. Clef had came to her last week, saying something about quartering the princess, who was still tittering cheerfully about the adventure of sleeping on the living room couch. She'd thought, then, that they were pressed for space, but with the subsequent departures and the distraction of the sheep plants, the matter hadn't been resolved.

Umi was coming home today. Presea fully intended to persuade her to take at least a day off of work for the rest of her recovery. And while she was here, perhaps they could have a talk.

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She knew it'd taken far less of a wait than she thought it would. But, as far as Umi's restlessness was concerned, she'd spent one day too many at the hospital. Her dislike of white rooms and doctors and being told to stay put hadn't decreased one bit -- it felt as if she'd disliked them since forever, even if her memories from the past were still blurry. But she did feel a great deal of gratefulness for the amazing job the hospital staff had done during the... sheep crisis. Or whatever The City's last weirdness was about to be called.

All of this made her feel like she was returning home. Or to her home away from home, as their large apartment in that place had become. The rooms seemed awfully quiet as she entered, just as she remembered from the last time before the sheep tried to break in.

With a deep breath Umi tested the readiness of the arm she was still meant to keep bandaged -- and winced. The damn thing would take its own sweet time to be alright, no kidding. Great timing, as she felt in a hurry to test her fencing skills again as soon as possible, figure out what was up if they were still gone. But waiting was all she'd been doing these days. Hate it as she did, she could keep waiting for a couple of days longer.

Closing the door behind her, the Water Knight took a glance around the familiar living room. Peaceful, yeah. At least until the next crazy curse came over.

"...Anybody home?"

Presea had been in the kitchen doing some general tidying (she hated unclean rooms), but when she heard Umi's voice she put down the cleaning cloth and went to greet the Knight. She smiled brightly to see Umi again, despite the girl's injury. Arms would heal. The important thing was that she'd came back.

"I am!" she answered cheerfully. "Welcome back, Umi."

"Presea." There was a guilty feeling in Umi's voice, no lie. The Mistress Artisan must have been worried sick when she learned about her disastrous sheep episode, and the Water Knight hadn't even owned the chance to tell anyone she'd been hospitalized save for that horrible accidental video post...

Her smile was sheepish as she went to meet her friend, obviously grateful to find her around. Coming back to an empty apartment would have been too dreary for her liking.

"Thank you. Jeez, I don't..." Umi hovered in place, hands clasped behind her back in a very uncharacteristic gesture. She noticed that, frowned, and let her arms rest at her sides. Definitely something off still. "I'm sorry all of this had to happen. I worried you guys so much..."

Presea leaned forward and fondly brushed the hair off Umi's shoulder. "You're always running off into danger," she said, and her voice was almost accusatory, but she really couldn't begrudge Umi's actions. She hadn't know, obviously, that her swordsmanship had been compromised (and how, Presea still wondered), and she'd only been trying to defend herself and others.

"Don't be afraid to ask for help when something like that happens, all right?" she said, stepping back. She lifted her index finger and winked. "I'm a deft hand with a sword too, you know. I might not have any combat magic, but I can back you up when you need it."

Umi's smile faded at the mention of sword skills, a frown on her brow. That wouldn't stop bothering her anytime soon, would it. She hadn't noticed before, probably because of the sheep distractions. But now she feared she was still lacking her fencing talents Umi paid attention to the tiniest details: like how her balance felt different, or how even the way in which she stood seemed more awkward than before. Yeah, whatever it'd been it hadn't stopped after the sheep attacked her. It was still going on and she couldn't explain herself why.

...But leave that one alone for now: she had Presea's words to consider. The Water Knight smiled again -- still with obvious embarrassment -- as she toyed with the lock of hair the Pharle had just brushed back in place.

"I keep doing that, huh? Or this place keeps making me. Maybe it's a bit of BOTH." She gazed up at Presea with honesty. "I'd have asked for help if the stupid sheep had given me the chance. But... it almost seemed they were hellbent on getting ME."

Of course they were. Because of the lamb-slaughter everyone kept quoting. But that wasn't anything Umi felt like bringing up now. It wasn't just her decision after all, whether to tell the others or not. It was also Fuu's to make.

Presea crossed her arms and shook her head. "I wouldn't be surprised." Her voice showed her annoyance-- not at Umi, but at the City itself. "I wouldn't put anything past this City."

"Actually," she said, after a pause, "there was something I wanted to talk to you about concerning the City. There's a project I think we need to do." She smiled and then laughed. "Well, I've gotten started already, but I think your input is necessary."

She stepped into the next room and came back with an empty cardboard box, presenting it for Umi's approval without any further explanation.

...Alright. So at least she hadn't been asked to explain that weirdo theory about the sheep. But now this? Momentarily distracted from all her concerns, Umi took the box from Presea, face an open window to her cluelessness. "Sure, but..."

STILL. The Knight of Water refrained from asking for details yet. If this was some kind of Pharle-project their friend was readying it had to be deadly serious! Umi frowned with focused determination as she examined the cardboard box from all angles. She just hoped whatever Presea wanted her opinion for didn't require any sword knowledge, unlikely as that seemed.

Once done, Umi turned her eyes to the Artisan with a puzzled look. "Er. It looks... fine! It's a very sturdy box!"

Presea grinned. "Wonderful! Do you think your good arm would be up to a little work, then?" Without waiting for an answer, she turned down the hallway, pausing and resting her hand on the door to a now-empty room. Her gaze became a little more serious. "I know you've been putting this off, so I thought it might be easier with help."

"Been putting what off? Presea, what's this all about?" It came the point when she just had to ask. She'd been through enough surprises these days. Even if something inside her -- call it a gut feeling -- warned Umi she wasn't being as aware as she should be.

She trotted after Presea, box in hand. Only when they arrived to the vacant room's door did it hit her. Umi's eyes went slightly wider, her tone not quite as surprised as it was reluctant. "You mean... we're going to..?"

Presea nodded. She took the box from Umi's hands, gently, but didn't open the door yet. Instead she shut her eyes for a second, trying to figure out how to say this. The idea had been nipping at her for some time, but she hadn't planned much besides getting a few boxes to start.

"Umi," she said, her voice warm. "As much as I miss them too, or would have missed them if I'd known them, keeping their rooms like this is unhealthy for everyone involved. It puts others out, when they might benefit from the space. And these people... they've moved on to what comes next for them. Shouldn't we move on as well?"

It was the same thing Clef had told her. Even the words were similar. Umi lowered her glance, sadness coming over her face in a way that couldn't be helped. She hadn't given much thought to it after that one conversation.

In heart heart she knew Presea was right. The Water Knight had believed their rooming problem had more or less been settled: now that so many people had left there should be enough space, and it'd be unfair to deny it to people like Chizeta's Princess who needed it. Yet that didn't mean the feeling of melancholy would go away easily.

"...But what if they come back." It was what she always kept asking herself when she actually stopped to consider whether their friends would be returning to The City or not. "It's easier when it comes to Hikaru: I know we'll see each other again no matter what. But-! People like Kobato or Shin or Louise..." She let go of a sigh. "I remember how happy Hikaru was when we told her her room was just as she left it..."

"I'm not saying we should get rid of this stuff!" the Pharle answered. She knew this wasn't easy for Umi. It wasn't particularly easy for her, either, even if she didn't know everyone who had lived here. "Let's box it up and keep it in case they come back. We won't forget them, Umi. I don't even think that's possible." She smiled reassuringly. "As long as someone who remembers them is in the City, they won't be forgotten."

"Getting rid? Boy, is that how I made it---? Presea." She shook her head, feeling like she was giving this a maudlin twist she'd HATE when she thought back on it sometime later. But it couldn't be helped.

Shin she knew would be cheerful and okay with this much practicality. But Louise... Louise had been special for her from the start.

Maybe because of what she learned about the girl's future, but also because Umi felt Louise could have been a friend the Water Knight would have met elsewhere -- maybe Tokyo, maybe a study trip abroad -- and STILL they would have clicked just as wonderfully. It was probably because of what Umi knew awaited Louise back home that she'd felt the other girl's departure more than anyone else's.

"...Do we have to do this with all the rooms?" She asked, in the end, shrugging. Her tone made it clear she was relenting at last. "We can go one by one, right? It's not like we need them ALL right now or anything."

Presea smiled gently. She was glad that Umi seemed to be understanding. Even if it wasn't going to be easy for her to do, she was willing.

"It might be better to have a couple ready, just in case," she said in a practical manner. But that can wait a little while until you're all better. We can all do it together. I'm sure Fuu and Clef wouldn't mind helping."

She shifted the empty box on her hip and continued, "We don't even have to do it right now, if you're still tired."

"Thank you. I know: this is WAY too silly of me." She felt like smiling back, even if it still grated a bit. Umi just needed to look it on the best side: these friends of hers were finally free of The City's weirdness and perils. Missing them was inevitable, but there was little good in not using what rooms they had. That wouldn't help her miss them less.

She shook her head and looked back at the door.

"No, it's fine. You said it yourself: this is something we've been putting off for far too long now." Her smile grew steadier, more genuine, though still tired. "I don't think Clef or Fuu would mind if we give it a head start!"

Presea shook her head. "It's not silly to be sad they're gone. But it is a little silly not to do anything after that." She opened the door. It had been a random choice, simply the nearest to the living room, but judging by the nautical theme, probably had been Shin's.

"I'll go get some more boxes," she said, hanging Umi the one she had, "and a marker so we can label them."

She went back to the kitchen then, giving Umi just a little more time to adjust to what they were going to do.

The Water Knight watched Presea go, wondering how did the Pharle always know exactly how to go about these things. She could bet that brief trip to get more boxes had been an intended move. It wasn't as if this was going to be easy for Umi, even if she'd finally agreed to it. Presea probably guessed she needed a moment to come to terms with that.

Sighing, she took the time she'd been given to look around the place. It was beautiful. In the way only someone who dearly loved the sea could make a room beautiful. Maybe she could keep some of these in her own room! Umi didn't think it cheeky to assume Shin would have liked that.

"Then there's the fish." She murmured, all to herself. Her smile gained in determination. She'd take care of those. Some of Shin's things would be boxed and preserved in the event her friend came back. But keeping others around would help her remember him without nostalgia. He was home now, with his companions, right where he wanted to be.

With a little nod, she set the box down and started sorting through the belongings as she waited for Presea to return.

Well, this was a reassuring sign, Presea thought, when she returned to see Umi already at work. She smiled, setting the other boxes down and joining the girl. She looked around the room herself. She'd never had the occasion to be in here before, and it really was a lovely place.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"...Good. I think. Though I'm not really the best at organizing anything." There was this sheepish tone in Umi's voice, though the Magic Knight didn't exactly know where the words were coming from. Something told her she'd never been the best at keeping her room in order, even if the reason why was as vague as the memories that went with it.

She smiled and showed Presea the object she'd just been examining. It was a small figurine that depicted a group of leaping doplhins.

"Have a look at this. Shin really knows how to make a room feel more like home or what."

Presea smiled. "That's lovely!" she said. She paused, and then, "You know, I doubt he'd mind if you kept a few things to remember him by."

She turned in a slow circle, surveying, and then clapped her hands. "Luckily, I am very good at organizing things!" she said cheerfully.

Well, this is the Pharle whose favorite thing is "a clean room." She got to work with what Umi already had, sorting it into piles to go into the same boxes.

"I was thinking just that while you went to get the boxes..." Umi confessed, making a point to not let the maudlin feeling get the better of her. "Glad you agree!"

Still, she found herself holding the figurine a bit closer. It reminded her of the little hollow she felt inside as of late, in a way. The one she couldn't still explain to herself.

But leave that be. The Water Knight went to fetch more things for packing up and labeling. "I think finding a place to store all these boxes will be the trickiest part."

"Well, we could use one of these empty rooms," Presea suggested as they began to fill boxes at her direction. She hummed a bit (yay for cleaning!) but then asked, "So, this memory loss problem of yours... have you found out anything else?"

She fisted her hand in an innocent sheet, betraying some concern, but then shook her head and refolded it to place in the box.

Umi giggled a bit, despite herself, at Presea's enthusiasm. It somehow made her feel Mokona's absence all the more: she could almost imagine the bouncing ball of fluff coming in and scattering the objects they were packing, just like he used to do at Presea's study back in the day.

At the mention of the memory issues, she shrugged. It bothered her a lot, but Umi knew she'd be able to get to the bottom of it somehow. "Not much. But it looks like only parts of my memories are fuzzy. At least nothing else has come up yet..."

And she made a face, hoping she hadn't just jinxed it. "Not having my fencing skills there when I needed them the most was enough of A PAIN." Quite literally.

Funnily enough, Presea's thoughts were along the same direction. Mokona would have done it to make Umi feel better, she thought, so maybe she wouldn't have tied him up and suspended him above a boiling pot ~~for too long~~. She shut a box and put Shin's name on it, along with a general idea of its contents, and then looked up at Umi.

"Your fencing skills, and parts of your memories..." she repeated contemplatively. Maybe if she'd been around to see a lot of deity deals before she would have had a guess. As it was, she was clueless. She shook her head and mulled over it.

"Both seem like such strange things to disappear. I know you've been here for quite a while, but even so! It isn't as if you let your fencing get rusty."

Umi shook her head as she took a seat on Shin's bed, fiddling with another box, her gaze lowered. "It's not that. This feels too weird... You don't just lose that kinda skills from one day to the next, you know?"

Truth be told, after what Shalimar had told her, she had a very good theory. Umi just refused to dwell on it yet. There was a place she could check about it to see if it held any clues, but not even that was a certainty. The Water Knight was having the most trouble explaining herself why, if it was a deal's consequence as she was starting to believe, she wasn't able to recall anything about it.

She placed a couple of books about ocean life inside the box, retrieved one to leaf through it, and breathed deeply. "No, it's obviously this place's weirdness at work. At least I still got my magic..."

Presea nodded, handing another couple of books to Umi. "It's odd to me that you'd keep that and not the rest."

Her tone was not accusatory, but somewhat curious. Umi wasn't meeting her eyes and she was beginning to wonder if the girl had some sort of unpleasant theory.

Well, she did. And even if it was far from a given Umi was already having trouble concealing the facts. Truth be told she didn't expect to manage for long. But the Knight of Water needed to be sure before she reached any conclusions. Or sought advise. Maybe that would be a good idea too.

"...Not that the stuff this place pulls ever makes sense." She murmured, frustrated at The City at large, and kept browsing the book's pages. "If it did it'd become more predictable, right? And we could predict what's coming next."

"I've long given up on that," Presea said dryly. "None of the magicians here can see the future." She continued sorting efficiently. She paused, smiled. "Is the book any good?"

It was an honest question; she liked reading too.

"There's no point in doing that. The future's always changing." She said that with such surety... True, it had to be partly as Yuuko said: some things were fated. But what decisions people made on the go also dictated their future and others'. If she was right on her suspicion... Umi might have changed someone else's future too.

The book question was like waking up from a trance. She blinked, blue eyes huge with surprise, as if the last she'd have expected was for Presea to ask something like that.

"Aw, it's... mostly underwater photography!" Umi raised the book to display the large full-page photo of a bank of hammerhead sharks against a shot of bright sunlight coming from above water. "Look. Isn't it gorgeous? That's what the sea on Earth looks like. I think I'll be calling dibs on this one too."

Presea looked at the page, her eyes bright with interest. "That's really beautiful!" she declared. She'd never seen sharks before (the fauna on Cephiro were pretty different, after all), so she cocked her head to one side and gazed for a moment.

"You have a lovely world, Umi," she said to the Knight.

"It's really very pretty. Especially the ocean." Umi said that with a silly hint of pride. It felt like part of herself, after all. As Shin obviously felt it too.

She stared down at the book and turned the page, moving on to a shot of sea gulls diving for fish about breaking waves. "I wish we could show you all someday. Just like we're able to visit Cephiro..."

Presea shook her head, still smiling. "I don't need anywhere else but Cephiro," she said. "Not that the City isn't very... interesting. But it provides us interesting problems too. I'd almost rather be sitting through another conference at home, no rather how boring they can be sometimes."

She picked up another book and thumped Umi in the head with it, but in a gentle, teasing way. "There's a lot of work to do here, as well," she continued, and then placed the book in a box with some others.

Umi faked a little Ouch, wincing playfully and rubbing the spot where the book had gently bounced off her head. The Pharle sure had a way to put an end to a melancholy mood! And boy, wasn't that handy in moments like these...

"...I still want you all to visit." She insisted, stubbornly, as she put other books away. "And, one good thing about this place? It serves as a long break from school."

"It might be fun someday, if we find a way," Presea agreed. Especially if she remembered the City, she thought, because then at least she wouldn't be so much of a fish out of water.

She shook her head at Umi's next words. "You're not interested in resuming your apprenticeship?"

Presea had been taught to read and write at home, as was custom. She'd already been preparing to become Pharle at Umi's age, in fact. Things couldn't be that much different on Earth, she assumed.

"...Apprent--- aw, you mean school?" That should be the way Cephireans thought about it, huh? For all Umi knew they were mostly home-schooled.

"Not at all! I always hated studying! I mean, I know it's necessary, but..." She shrugged. It was actually imperative. All the more if she wanted to manage her father's business in the future. But just the thought of homework and assignments and -- there she had to smile -- dumb filed trips made her skin itch.

"It's a break, so I'll take it." She concluded, hoping Presea wouldn't lecture her about it. As she believed she might.

"I've always loved what I do," Presea said with a smile. "But I was lucky like that, to be chosen."

She stood and stretched and then picked up another box. "If it's not your thing, I'm not surprised you like the break." As Umi had suspected, she wasn't going to lecture. She really was happy about her job, personally, but not everyone was, and that was understandable.

"I think I was chosen too. Sort of..." Umi tapped her fingers on the surface of the book she'd just closed, then hugged it close to her chest, frowning. It wasn't doing any good: it was still just half of it she could remember. But she reached for the part that did stand clear in her memories and held onto it.

"I know I'm supposed to make my parents proud. My father specially." If she could have heard herself... without being under the trade's influence... well. The Water Knight could have figured out there was something seriously wrong. 'Father' instead of 'dad'... "Because I'm supposed to be a businesswoman one day or something."

She shrugged and set the book aside with a slightly puzzled expression on her face that didn't look half as troubled as Umi somehow sensed it should. "But I don't really see it as that pressing anymore."

Presea was silent for a moment, studying the Knight. "It's probably not pressing because you don't remember why it should be," she said finally. It wasn't meant to upset her, but at the same time, Presea was concerned. This memory thing... It niggled at her. She couldn't even imagine how it worried Umi.

"I guess so." It indeed bothered her. But in a way that was more discomfort than loss. She couldn't pine for things she couldn't remember. Not for something she couldn't miss. Though a gut feeling told her it was something precious that she'd lost here. Something she might value a lot.

"But I'll look into that. Somehow. For now, it's better than if I'd lost any other memories." Or so Umi believed. "Like the ones about Cephiro. Or Hikaru and Fuu."

For the time being those were the most important ones. Like what her life was all about.

"I'm glad you remember us too," Presea answered fondly. She was heartened by the fact that not all of Umi's memories had disappeared. She hadn't even considered that Umi might have lost Cephiro. That would have made all of them sadder.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," she said, trying to be confident for Umi's sake.

"I'll make sure of that." There were moments when Umi felt empty, as if hollow, and it upset her to imagine parts of her personality might be tweaked by this lack of memories. But her determination was all the same. Presea's support only strengthened it. The Water Knight had dealt with the strangeness of The City before. This would be tricky, but not a first.

"It might not bother me too much. But I'm getting back what's mine, one way or the other."

"You have a very strong will," Presea answered, half-smiling. "I'm sure you will."

Then she pointed to Umi's arm. "After this, you should rest for a while. No more heavy lifting. Or sword practice." She lifted an eyebrow. She knew how Umi liked to push herself.

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