Mission 6

[skysmirror]

Characters: Xion and Hughes
Content: Xion takes Hughes up on his offer to have a chat about issues her shadow brought up.
Time: Late morning, the day after she fought her shadow.
Warnings: None.
Notes:...Possibly spoiler for 358/2?

Xion raised her hand to knock on Hughes’s door, then lowered it.

He’d said he was there if she wanted to talk, and she’d said she’d come by, but now that it came time to do so, she was a little nervous. She didn’t want to bother him with her problem after all...

You’re supposed to talk about your problems with your friends.

Hughes was a friend, and he had offered.

She raised her hand and knocked on the door.

Comments

[dadandgone]

He couldn't say whether friends needed to have hearts. He didn't have the experience to say and while he liked to believe it was possible, Xion probably wouldn't "buy it" coming from someone with a heart.

His face darkened slightly, thinking back to that thing. "Yeah. It told me I had let my friends down. That I deserved to die because I was stupid enough to fall for that things' tricks back home. That sort of thing."

[skysmirror]

She probably would have taken any assurances as optimism meant to keep her from giving up. Which was nice in it's own way, but not solid fact.

"Deserved to die?" Xion's eyes widened in surprise. She knew Hughes could fight, which meant he might find himself in danger but..how did someone deserve to die?

[dadandgone]

Well, it had already come up in a number of conversations. Still, it was difficult to say it, admit to the fact that he wasn't supposed to be alive any more. Especially to a young girl.

"Before I got here...things weren't exactly the best for me."

[skysmirror]

Xion nodded, waiting for him to continue at his own pace. Or not continue, if that was the case--she was curious, but could contain that if he didn't want to say anymore for now.

[dadandgone]

Maes sighed. How to explain this?

"Remember when I said I ran into something like this before? Well, that thing was part of a group of other monsters that decided I had learned too much about their group's plans. They got rid of me before I could tell anyone else, which is how I found myself here. And that's what my shade focused on talking about while it was around."

[skysmirror]

"Got rid of you? You mean..." Her voice trailed off as she considered what he was implying. If her thoughts were right, then he'd been brought to the satellite the moment he died, and under those circumstances...No wonder he'd been furious with the shadow.

[dadandgone]

It seemed she did understand. Maes wondered if looked pale, even after all this time of being alive on the SoL, it made him uncomfortable. He may not have been a doctor, but as a soldier he knew a fatal shot when he felt one. The nightmares weren't helping much either but, so far, he had mostly kept those to himself.

"Yeah...that's what I mean."

[skysmirror]

If Xion were a more normal girl, she would have given him a hug, or done something more to react to this. She wasn't though, so after a brief moment of surprise at having her thoughts concerned (and realizing that maybe that was why he'd been a bit sad around Christmas), all she managed was a soft. "Oh, no..."

He would have seen her expression go from surprised to sad/sympathetic.

[dadandgone]

Hughes let out a sigh. Seeing her face become so sad was not what he had wanted. He had expected it to happen, but at the same time he didn't want to make others sad or worry about him. It was honestly his own burden to deal with and, well, he just didn't like thinking about it.

He forced a smile, he was good at doing that as he did it all the time, and ruffled Xion's hair, "But hey, I'm alive here and now and that's what's important. It means maybe I have a second chance if I can ever figure out how to get off this ship."

He wasn't that optimistic, of course, but he figured it's what Xion needed to hear.

[skysmirror]

Xion was surprised by the hair ruffle, but took the moment to get a good look at Hughes. She was getting the same vibe she'd gotten from Axel when he wasn't telling the whole truth. Which got a little annoying, because it wasn't like she needed to be protected, but if he didn't want to talk about it, she'd accept that. She understood not wanting to burden a friend.

"Maybe we both will. Sora mentioned using the time here to see if there was a way to keep me from fading."

[dadandgone]

"I hope he can. It doesn't seem fair that you've been dealt a fate like that." He replied. He knew very well that life wasn't fair, he knew two boys back home that could attest to that. Still, it was one thing when something happened to him because of his meddling, it was another entirely for a girl who had no say over her creation or existence to be treated and then forced to face into nothing.

"It's funny though...Riku said something similar to me in regards to my fate." He paused. "I can't say what will happen to either of us when we return, but we should both enjoy the time we have here."

[skysmirror]

"I guess we should." Xion gave a small, thoughtful smile.

It was interesting that he and Sora had both mentioned her situation not being "fair" to her. To her, it hadn't been about "fair" at all; it was about doing what was best for everyone. Not that she wanted to fade, but if her existence was causing trouble for others, it seemed pretty obvious who had to go.

Still, she'd been given more time than she'd thought she'd have. There was no sense in wasting it.