myjunes | 1;; ☁ [ AUDIO ]

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[ There's silence for quite a bit with just some quiet natural background noise, but then a gasp can clearly be heard. ] T-this place, where--? ... ... Heaven..?

[ The sound of someone standing up and then footsteps resounding against the stones. ]

But if it's heaven, then I.. ... Hmm.. [ The voice sounds a bit more doutful as the footsteps halt for a moment before continuing on. ]

Mom? [ The voice definitely sounds more excited. ] Mom! Mom, I'm here! It's me!

[ The excitement echoes away as she starts to sound a bit more insecure. The footsteps stop too, leaving a painful silence behind. ] Mom..? You're here, right? You're not hiding, are you..? You don't want to see me?

[ After a moment of silence she speaks up again. ] Dad? [ The voice gets softer and a tad more desperate too. ] Big bro?

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That's what I need to explain. It can be difficult to understand, though.

[He pauses to gather his thoughts. It's difficult to explain, too, especially to a child.]

We're far away from Inaba right now, in a place called Demeleier. Right now, we're stuck here - but that's okay, because we're together. I'm going to look after you, and Yosuke-kun and Chie-chan are here too.

[And Adachi, but he won't mention that, not yet.]

Really? They are here too? That's great! [ It does seem a bit odd to her that they would be here but none of his other friends, but she'll just go along with it for now. There's probably a good reason for it.

But if he especially mentions them but not her father.. Then he's not here, right? ] Won't dad get worried that I'm gone? I didn't tell him I would leave. [ She frowns a little, even she knows how crazy worried her dad can get.

She has so many questions and doesn't really want to dump them all on him at once, but the childlike curiosity prevents her from holding them back. ] How did we get here then? And why are we stuck? Can't you call dad and ask him to pick us up?

[Obviously she's going to be confused, going to have a lot of questions - his calm doesn't slip, even as she gives in to curiosity.]

What you have to understand is that there are -

[Hngh.]

- things with magical powers here. Faeries.

[He pauses a moment to let that sink in, eyebrows furrowing.]

But not all of them are nice. In fact, most of them are dangerous. They wanted to take us away from Inaba - but someone else stopped them. He's called the Guardian, and he's been helping us - he brought us here instead of letting them take us away completely.

[He hesitates again. It's all a lot to take in, after all.]

We're stuck here until he can find out how to let us go home. But while we're here... time isn't passing at home. What I mean is, when we go home, no time at all will have passed. Everything will be fine.

Edited 2010-07-14 13:33 (UTC)

[ Is it a lot of information to suddenly take in and kind of complicated too - especially the time about time not passing back home - but she can take the small things one by one and try to understand those first. Magic, after all, is not too unthinkable a thing for little children.

She's quiet for a moment, processing all of it before she frowns slightly and speaks up. ]

So.. They're not nice like the Tooth Fairy? [ Dangerous and scary faeries really don't add up to Nanako's own view of how they should be. ]

And the Guardian protects everyone here from getting taken too far away by the bad faeries.. So he's kind of like dad, right? Dad protects all the people in Inaba from getting taken away by bad people. [ There, that makes things much easier to understand. ]

[In some ways, it's easier to explain this to Nanako than it would be to, say, his uncle. She's more willing to believe, more willing to accept - but that's why he has to be careful.]

Like that, yes. And you have to be very careful here - the faeries are still around, and some of them aren't nice at all.

[He straightens, and reaches out for her hand. Nanako might notice that there's a sword hanging at his hip. Er. And the rowan crown.]

There are other people here too like us, but most of them aren't from Inaba. All of us are staying in the village down the path.

[ She does notice the sword quickly and wonders if the bad faeries are so bad that her brother would need a sword to fight them - or would need to fight them in general. She quickly grabs his hand out of fear and squeezes it, making sure to stay close to him. Her look turns a bit nervous and she glances around to see if there are any around. Quickly she tries to focus her mind on something else. ]

Are those other people nice..? [ She's a bit nervous at the idea of many other people she doesn't know, but.. ] I can stay there too, right? I want to stay with you.

[He keeps hold of her hand, gives her a small, calm smile that he hopes will be soothing as he begins leading her down the path.]

Of course you can. It'll be a bit crowded, but it'll be fun that way, right? Yosuke-kun stays with me, and so does someone else I think you'll like.

[His smile turns a tad conspiratorial.]

I'm sure everyone else is going to love meeting you though, Nanako-chan.

[ Along the road she gradually feels more comfortable. After all, she was with her big brother, nothing bad could happen to her. She starts to study their surroundings intensely, everything's so different from Inaba. ]

Of course! It's always lots of fun when everyone is together. So it'll be great! [ The times when she had gone out with him and all of his friends or when they had come to their home and the times when dad (sometimes along with Adachi) came home for dinner.. Those were always the best times.

She looks a bit surprised at his statement, but then a big smile appears on her face. ] R-really? Do you think so, big bro? I'd like to make lots and lots of friends!

There are all kinds of people here - getting to know them all is pretty interesting. [Elves, Tauren, unicorns - they're a pretty mixed bunch here. He chuckles, but is frequently glancing about, just in case.]

It can be a lot of fun, even if we miss Inaba.

[He pauses, tilting his head.]

Nanako-chan, what was the date before you got here?

Huh? [ At first she looks a bit confused because it's such a weird question to ask the date, but then she remembers that he told her that time stands still back home while they're in this place. So maybe it pulls more strange tricks with time? It's really confusing either way, so she just stops thinking about it. ]

It was.. um.. October 30th. Everyone went to the Inn together for a sleepover. [ She giggles. ] I really had a lot of fun!

[October 30th.

Before she - before the hospital, before Heaven.

But the rush of surprise and - what, relief? Not quite. Because that's still going to happen, she just - hasn't experienced it yet. Doesn't know.

Maybe that's for the best.]

The Amagi Inn is really nice, isn't it? There's an inn here too, but - everything's really basic. There are a lot of things we don't have, like electricity.

[Don't worry though, we can sing the Junes song together and stuff.

Or make Yosuke do it.]

It is! But.. they probably don't have hot springs here, huh. [ Even though that wasn't what made it fun, the fun part was everyone being together, laughing, having fun. ]

But it's okay! I'm with big bro and everyone else, so it'll be fun! [ She looks at the ground for a moment before looking back up at him. ] Um, just say so if I have to help out. I can do chores.

I think you can get settled first, Nanako-chan. [He laughs fondly as he says it - the willingness to help is endearing.] We'll help out however we can. [Which is partially why he's carrying a sword around, but he'd rather not get into where he learned that.]

The most important thing is that you don't go out of the village alone, and that you always keep this - [Quick gesture to the rowan crown!] and this - [Quick gesture to the communicator!] with you all the time, okay?

Uh-huh! I'll make sure to watch out, so let's do our best!

[ She still thinks it's rather odd to see him walking around with a sword like that, but if things are really as dangerous here as he says they are it's for a good reason. But it still seems weird and she can't help but ask. ]

Big bro, do you have to fight sometimes..? [ She looks rather pouty at the idea of that; she doesn't want him to have to fight. It's dangerous. ]

[Damn.

He looks down at her for a moment, wondering how best to answer that. Because in all honesty, he's been fighting for a long time. But she can't know that. Not yet, at least. But the idea of lying to her so plainly is beyond what he's willing to do.]

There are people here that need protecting, [He squeezes her hand lightly as he says it.] and I want to protect them however I can. We look out for each other.

[ She stares into the distance for a moment, thinking about it. Then she finally nods to herself and then to him as she understands. ]

That's just like you, big bro! [ She proclaims it with a large smile. ]

But.. you'll be careful, right?

[He returns her smile, his voice solid and confident - reassuring.]

I promise.

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[ Action ] Or the King's game. With Yosuke. On your back. :|

[ Action ] Racing through the streets.

[ Action ] "Big bro, what does 'bromance' mean?"

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