Reunion (locked to Peola, Backdated before her dad comes)

[whats_a_good_end]

[A day like any other in Sakihama.  People going about their lives, trying to get to work on time.  Some even running late and visibly trying not to be.

[Wait a minute-]

PLEASE OUT OF THE WAY!  PERFORMER RUNNING LATE SO PLEASE OUT OF THE WAY!

[An old but familiar face is running down the street, guitar case held aloft as she works her way through the crowded sidewalk.  By the time she reaches the entrance of a particular cafe she's nearly out of breath, where the owner's been waiting for her with a smirk on his face.]

Please... tell me I'm not-

Nah, don't worry about it.  Not one to watch a clock religiously anyways!  Got your guitar?

Of course!

Awesome.  Looking forward to the show.

Comments

[not_a_prize]

[Peola was in one of those moods she genuinely needed some away from the Unity Group... at least for the day. The cafe brought back a few pleasant memories and she was in the need for a nice warm drink anyway... aaand then-]

Wait.. that voice-

[She was carefully going to put her drink down and look to the door.]

Ana?

[whats_a_good_end]

[Wait. At the bar, was that-]

Peola?

[not_a_prize]

[Peola was quickly leaving her seat to go over to her friend. To be honest as far as the princess knew her friend disappeared without a trace.]

You're alright! Nobody knew where you went... what happened?

[whats_a_good_end]

You didn't? But the letter I wrote-

[And then something clicks.]

...



Which I'm guessing Captain Linjun probably never sent even when he said he'd see to it. Worst part of...



Well okay then, I owe you and I guess the Unity Group a lot of catching up-ing. But I also owe this place some songs. Can you stay until I'm done? I'll tell you everything after that; promise.

[not_a_prize]

[Linjun? Isn't that...]

We really do have a lot to talk about...

[Peola sighs heavily but nods, giving Ana a small smile that said at the very least there wasn't any trouble from it.]

But I can wait. Don't worry.

[whats_a_good_end]

Great! Just sit back and enjoy.

[The cozy little care doesn't have much room for a performer to work with, but all Ana really needed was a stool, her guitar, and its humble little stage. A smile plays on her lips as she gets settled in and leans back, strumming the guitar a few times to set the mood before beginning to play.

[Soft, light, and happy. It's a song for letting people forget their troubles and enjoy their stay. The whole performance, in fact. A far cry from Ana's more melancholy music from the last time she performed for Peola.]

[not_a_prize]

[It really was a great change and Peola could feel it, and what with some of the happenings lately it really did help get her mind off some things. Maybe things got better for Ana or maybe she was just having a good day lateness aside... it was still nice to see her smile and put some good feeling into her music.]

[It wasn't hard to find herself thinking of all the good times. On Earth, back home. Unmarred by any troubled thoughts or memories as she kicked back and lounged at her seat by the bar.]

[whats_a_good_end]

[An hour later and it's break time. One hot chocolate order later and Ana's sitting right back next to Peola.]

Right then... answers.

Anywhere you want me to start?

[not_a_prize]

You mentioned that Linjun person. The person in charge of the SSR. Could you tell me why you joined them?

[That was probably the best place to start really.]

[whats_a_good_end]

... Right. That.

It came about after... having to deal with the crap with my grandmother. If you didn't play by her rules she wasn't going to let you play, period. And she had a hand in trying to figure out that crystal monster crap too, so... yeah.

I wanted to know what was going on. Wanted to actually be able to do something about that so... I jumped ship. The SSR's not perfect but they're not terrible. I... wanted a place where my grandmother's bitchiness wouldn't matter and it delivered on that. Helped handle the problem with Kisaryth too.

That's... a bit of a really long story though.

[not_a_prize]

That's...

[Well... Peola really can't fault Ana that. In a way it was... kind of like what she did. Leaving because one didn't want to deal with shit from family and people tied to them.]

Well... I can understand that at least. I'm glad you managed to get things sorted out on that end.

And I don't really mind if its a long story. I mean if you don't mind telling it. Do you have any plans later?

[No Peola doesn't understand how this even sounds.]

[whats_a_good_end]

Nothing today, no. The Breaker AN's got another round of tests tomorrow in the evening but until then I'm free.

And yeah, nothing about it's really classified so sure. I'll lay it all out for you.

[not_a_prize]

Great! So you said that the crazy singer was a problem right? Those guys with the crystals in them... the ones that were...

[Peola really isn't sure how to word this politely. So she doesn't.]

Completely out of their minds... did she really have something to do with that?

[whats_a_good_end]

Yeah... those. The crystals messed with the peoples' brains, screwed up their concept of cause and effect. Really messed up way of brainwashing someone when you only go half-way...

And Kisaryth was the source of it. She was like, part of this weird system of reproduction for those crystal monsters; manipulate the native populace of a planet to assist even against their own will. Took a lot to finally put her and the rest of the monsters under... but at least the SSR were able to keep it under control.

[not_a_prize]

That's pretty terrifying if you ask me... glad to see those things gone.

[Not to mention the fact that if Kisaryth some sort of part in the Life Cycle of these things... ugh.]

Things have been going back and forth on our end. Its been crazy to be honest...

Has your family been giving you any trouble since you joined the SSR?

[whats_a_good_end]

Not at all. I'm out of their hands now, so the best they can do is send strongly worded letters to me or whoever they think I answer to who'd give a damn.

It's... a really good feeling.

How's your family stuff been going?

[not_a_prize]

Complicated... turns out my sister had some manipulative jackass stringing her along to try get to me for his collection of women. Beat the crap out of him but he's still alive so she's stuck with us for now, along with her... friends.

She killed Xun on the guy's orders because he was planning to use the bonehead's death to try start a war and conquer Earth once he got the throne.

[Peola let out a snort, knowing exactly how that would have went if it actually happened.]

Cennetig's backed out of the whole trying to marry me thing and is wandering Earth to learn more about it.

[Kliiment was left unmentioned as Ana neither knew him nor was he really important in the whole scheme of things aside from being a thug for Phannuhel that one time as far as Peola was concerned.]

But... its quiet for now. So... yeah

[whats_a_good_end]

All of that... Sheesh.

You shouldn't have had to deal with that. Any of that! Arranged marriages and stuff they're... well they're crap and anyone with two brain cells ought've noticed that most of those guys were bad news for you. Heck, your kingdom or... whatever it's technically supposed to be called.

[not_a_prize]

[The princess lets out a frustrated sigh before palming the side of her head in exhaustion.]

I know! Marriage is supposed to be special... I don't want to spend the rest of my life with someone who saw me as some sort of claim to fame or thought they deserved me because of some trumped up sense of importance!

I... I want to find someone to fall in love with... someone I can trust and talk to without worrying too much. If I'm going to marry someone I want them to be someone like that...

[whats_a_good_end]

That's entirely what marriage is supposed to be like! You're not supposed to be a trophy or a pawn for relatives or... or whatever!

Life's about doing what you want with the people you want to do it with!

[not_a_prize]

Exactly! And being with the Unity Group... I got to do that for better or for worse without someone trying to press down on me with some big plan for my future.

More than that... it feels like I've forged more bonds and grown closer to more people here on Earth than back home...

[whats_a_good_end]

I know what you mean. If not for my own family crap I would've been happy to stay with the ESUN and the Unity Group. Everyone there was great... people that were able to help fill a hole in my life when I lost all my friends in the Breaker program.

Everyone did a lot for me. You did a lot for me.

[not_a_prize]

Its alright we-

[And then the rest comes and Peola turns away with a radiant blush on her face.]

Well... Um... I...

[Why did this suddenly feel so awkward now? Ana's making a friendly comment and saying everyone really helped her- okay the smile while looking right at Peola when she said that last bit probably played a part in it. The Princess' hair was flickering a little now.]

Just wanted to do good by you as well...

[whats_a_good_end]

[Wait. Why was Peola getting all... why was her hair-

[OH GOD WHAT HAD SHE BEEN SAYING?!]

H-hey, I'm nobody special. If I'd had my way I would've been free from my last name from the start and just quietly test-piloting. You're the amazing one.

Princess at Maximum Fluster.

[not_a_prize]

But I think you're special-!

[And then Peola's brain caught up with her mouth.]

I mean that you're a better person than a lot of people that you did what you did! I made a lot of mistakes even before I ran away! Really dumb ones! I still am but you? You're the amazing one doing everything you did and got over anything thrown at you!

B... besides you could already do the other thing afterwards and the last name part's really easy to solve! You could just get mar-

[Aaand once more Peola realizes what she's saying.]

Aaaah!

[She covers her face out of sheer embarassment.]