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Home (Persona 3/Tales of Legendia)
Title: Home
Author: Amm
Fandom: Persona 3, Tales of Legendia
Characters: Yukari Takeba, Walter Delques
Word Count: 1,433
Summary: Yukari finds herself back in Vatheon. Not this shit again.
She sat on a small, unoccupied bench amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. It felt like it had been years; it probably had, but she still knew the drill. She sighed, mechanically drying herself off with a towel, as if she'd just gotten out of the shower. In this case, of course, it was a shower in sea water. She could taste it in her mouth, and her expression distorted from the salt.
Yukari liked the beach, but not like this.
"Ugh . . ." she mumbled to herself, something reminiscent of 'Not again.'
The familiarity didn't hit her all at once. The notion that she once lived another life here in some bubble under the sea was a stupid one, and yet the more time she spent wandering its dilapidated streets, the more she knew it to be true. Distantly she remembered her friends: some of them from Iwatodai, others from places she'd never heard of. Places she probably couldn't dream of visiting.
But mostly she remembered him.
Her leader . . . The one she would have sacrificed everything just to see again.
It was some cruel joke, seeing Minato then as if nothing had happened. She was angry, and then there was Ryoji, who certainly didn't improve her mood at the time. How long had it been now? What happened to the city . . . to Vatheon?
She felt some sort of duty, some obligation to find out. It's what he would have done, though with everyone already busy with repairs and no familiar faces she could see (yet), her motivation was lacking. She was tired and admittedly disoriented from her sudden change in surroundings and influx of memories. Her sense of time thrown out the window, she felt like she might topple over from dizziness if she stood up, but she did anyway. She couldn't stay still anymore.
What the hell is happening to me?
Her towel fell from her shoulders. She looked down at her own hands, wondering if she was maybe dreaming—the only possible explanation she could think of that would make sense. At some point her white shrug that was tied snugly at her waist came loose, and she finally noticed it. Underneath, she was still wearing her favorite pink sleeveless shirt, laced white across its top. Everything clung to her skin uncomfortably, of course, and she shook her head.
This wouldn't do.
As she retied the knot, she wondered how hard it would be to get a change of clothes—if the shopping district were still open. It was around then, when she looked up again that she noticed the pair of icy blue eyes staring at her, albeit without any real interest.
She blinked. His mess of blonde hair fell gently over his face, covering one side as he turned away upon being noticed.
She knew this guy.
"What?" Yukari asked, with her usual demanding flair. What are you looking at?
'Not much,' her waterlogged brain answered for her as an obvious response; but something like that was far too childish. It didn't fit Walter's serious and frankly hateful demeanor. Yukari stood when he didn't respond.
"Hey—" She tried to mask her offense as she started after him. Her footsteps trailed for just a few seconds before he stopped.
"What is it?" he asked curtly. He didn't so much as turn around; his voice dripped with impatience and annoyance that startled even her. His rudeness was familiar though, and she narrowed her eyes. That was her line.
"You were the one staring at me," she said.
She wasn't shy about accusing him, and he wasn't shy about denying it. "Don't flatter yourself. You're mistaken."
Like hell.
His footsteps started again. He should have known better than to yield those precious seconds of his time—people like her never had anything important to say. They were also too persistent for their own good: he had no idea why she was following him now. He never once made himself approachable nor amicable in anyway. He would never understand the Orerines.
"You're Walter, aren't you?" She raised her voice just a bit as she closed the distance between them. Even if this guy never did give her any reason to be nice to him, maybe she was just clinging to a familiar face. "I remember you."
More importantly, she was pretty sure he recognized her, too. He didn't respond, but didn't pick up his pace to get away from her either. Rather he continued as if he didn't hear her, and she finally noticed where he was going. They stopped at a large mechanical elevator near the heart of the city. She remembered that it led to the surface—a beach. That is, if it still worked; but she didn't think Walter would be there now, waiting for it if it didn't.
"What do you want from me?" His voice cut like a knife through the air. His scowl was unmistakable when he turned to face her.
Yukari would never admit it, but she was actually stunned for a moment. She didn't know what she wanted. Information, maybe, but obviously he wasn't going to be the one to give it to her.
"Nothing," she responded simply with an air of ignorance. "Why, did you think I was following you or something? Don't flatter yourself."
At hearing his own words thrown back at him, Walter couldn't maintain his stoic, standoffish demeanor. A sound escaped his mouth in disbelief, and briefly he wondered if she actually expected him to be impressed with such a crass retort. He had no desire to dignify it with a response, but before he could stop himself, the words escaped his lips in a low growl. "You Orerines are all the same."
The elevator arrived. Walter eagerly stepped in ahead, unable to escape Yukari behind him.
"I still don't know what that means," she reminded him with annoyance. But it was as she thought. He was never going to be the one to explain.
For now, she supposed, she was okay with that. The silence hardened between them like a wall as the elevator doors closed. It remained steadfast until they reached the top, and both stepped out to the sound of waves flooding into the shore. Both pairs of feet swished across the sand with each step, as if traversing a route they memorized.
The two exchanged glances, but no words. Every fiber of Walter's being objected to this girl's presence, but since she remained quiet, he knew it would be easy to drown her out entirely—so maybe there really wasn't anything to object to. Yukari herself, while eager for information, was not eager to provoke him, so she allowed herself to take in the tranquility that the sea offered. She remembered this place. She knew this was where she came, when Minato disappeared—when he left her again.
Walter sat first. A short distance away, Yukari followed suit, and both watched the water rush into the shore until it reached their feet.
They wanted nothing to do with each other. They wanted nothing to do with this foreign place that interrupted their lives—for Yukari, a second time.
Both wanted to move on, yet it was undeniable. This beach, the warm sand . . . Here, it was hard to hate: a respite no other spot in the city seemed to offer. Here somehow brought together two people who never got along, and still didn't today, despite all the time and space in the world. Here offered a sense of home to two people who thought they'd never have that again—and for a moment, they were actually at peace.
Everything else could come later.
They sat quietly. Yukari fidgeted as the sand clung to her legs and wet shorts, and Walter continued to ignore her in favor of the setting sun.
. . . She was back. Prior experience would lead her to believe that there was a reason for it; likely the same reason Walter was still here after all this time. The realization finally settled in, and she breathed in the salty air as she tried to accept it.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
Author: Amm
Fandom: Persona 3, Tales of Legendia
Characters: Yukari Takeba, Walter Delques
Word Count: 1,433
Summary: Yukari finds herself back in Vatheon. Not this shit again.
She sat on a small, unoccupied bench amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. It felt like it had been years; it probably had, but she still knew the drill. She sighed, mechanically drying herself off with a towel, as if she'd just gotten out of the shower. In this case, of course, it was a shower in sea water. She could taste it in her mouth, and her expression distorted from the salt.
Yukari liked the beach, but not like this.
"Ugh . . ." she mumbled to herself, something reminiscent of 'Not again.'
The familiarity didn't hit her all at once. The notion that she once lived another life here in some bubble under the sea was a stupid one, and yet the more time she spent wandering its dilapidated streets, the more she knew it to be true. Distantly she remembered her friends: some of them from Iwatodai, others from places she'd never heard of. Places she probably couldn't dream of visiting.
But mostly she remembered him.
Her leader . . . The one she would have sacrificed everything just to see again.
It was some cruel joke, seeing Minato then as if nothing had happened. She was angry, and then there was Ryoji, who certainly didn't improve her mood at the time. How long had it been now? What happened to the city . . . to Vatheon?
She felt some sort of duty, some obligation to find out. It's what he would have done, though with everyone already busy with repairs and no familiar faces she could see (yet), her motivation was lacking. She was tired and admittedly disoriented from her sudden change in surroundings and influx of memories. Her sense of time thrown out the window, she felt like she might topple over from dizziness if she stood up, but she did anyway. She couldn't stay still anymore.
What the hell is happening to me?
Her towel fell from her shoulders. She looked down at her own hands, wondering if she was maybe dreaming—the only possible explanation she could think of that would make sense. At some point her white shrug that was tied snugly at her waist came loose, and she finally noticed it. Underneath, she was still wearing her favorite pink sleeveless shirt, laced white across its top. Everything clung to her skin uncomfortably, of course, and she shook her head.
This wouldn't do.
As she retied the knot, she wondered how hard it would be to get a change of clothes—if the shopping district were still open. It was around then, when she looked up again that she noticed the pair of icy blue eyes staring at her, albeit without any real interest.
She blinked. His mess of blonde hair fell gently over his face, covering one side as he turned away upon being noticed.
She knew this guy.
"What?" Yukari asked, with her usual demanding flair. What are you looking at?
'Not much,' her waterlogged brain answered for her as an obvious response; but something like that was far too childish. It didn't fit Walter's serious and frankly hateful demeanor. Yukari stood when he didn't respond.
"Hey—" She tried to mask her offense as she started after him. Her footsteps trailed for just a few seconds before he stopped.
"What is it?" he asked curtly. He didn't so much as turn around; his voice dripped with impatience and annoyance that startled even her. His rudeness was familiar though, and she narrowed her eyes. That was her line.
"You were the one staring at me," she said.
She wasn't shy about accusing him, and he wasn't shy about denying it. "Don't flatter yourself. You're mistaken."
Like hell.
His footsteps started again. He should have known better than to yield those precious seconds of his time—people like her never had anything important to say. They were also too persistent for their own good: he had no idea why she was following him now. He never once made himself approachable nor amicable in anyway. He would never understand the Orerines.
"You're Walter, aren't you?" She raised her voice just a bit as she closed the distance between them. Even if this guy never did give her any reason to be nice to him, maybe she was just clinging to a familiar face. "I remember you."
More importantly, she was pretty sure he recognized her, too. He didn't respond, but didn't pick up his pace to get away from her either. Rather he continued as if he didn't hear her, and she finally noticed where he was going. They stopped at a large mechanical elevator near the heart of the city. She remembered that it led to the surface—a beach. That is, if it still worked; but she didn't think Walter would be there now, waiting for it if it didn't.
"What do you want from me?" His voice cut like a knife through the air. His scowl was unmistakable when he turned to face her.
Yukari would never admit it, but she was actually stunned for a moment. She didn't know what she wanted. Information, maybe, but obviously he wasn't going to be the one to give it to her.
"Nothing," she responded simply with an air of ignorance. "Why, did you think I was following you or something? Don't flatter yourself."
At hearing his own words thrown back at him, Walter couldn't maintain his stoic, standoffish demeanor. A sound escaped his mouth in disbelief, and briefly he wondered if she actually expected him to be impressed with such a crass retort. He had no desire to dignify it with a response, but before he could stop himself, the words escaped his lips in a low growl. "You Orerines are all the same."
The elevator arrived. Walter eagerly stepped in ahead, unable to escape Yukari behind him.
"I still don't know what that means," she reminded him with annoyance. But it was as she thought. He was never going to be the one to explain.
For now, she supposed, she was okay with that. The silence hardened between them like a wall as the elevator doors closed. It remained steadfast until they reached the top, and both stepped out to the sound of waves flooding into the shore. Both pairs of feet swished across the sand with each step, as if traversing a route they memorized.
The two exchanged glances, but no words. Every fiber of Walter's being objected to this girl's presence, but since she remained quiet, he knew it would be easy to drown her out entirely—so maybe there really wasn't anything to object to. Yukari herself, while eager for information, was not eager to provoke him, so she allowed herself to take in the tranquility that the sea offered. She remembered this place. She knew this was where she came, when Minato disappeared—when he left her again.
Walter sat first. A short distance away, Yukari followed suit, and both watched the water rush into the shore until it reached their feet.
They wanted nothing to do with each other. They wanted nothing to do with this foreign place that interrupted their lives—for Yukari, a second time.
Both wanted to move on, yet it was undeniable. This beach, the warm sand . . . Here, it was hard to hate: a respite no other spot in the city seemed to offer. Here somehow brought together two people who never got along, and still didn't today, despite all the time and space in the world. Here offered a sense of home to two people who thought they'd never have that again—and for a moment, they were actually at peace.
Everything else could come later.
They sat quietly. Yukari fidgeted as the sand clung to her legs and wet shorts, and Walter continued to ignore her in favor of the setting sun.
. . . She was back. Prior experience would lead her to believe that there was a reason for it; likely the same reason Walter was still here after all this time. The realization finally settled in, and she breathed in the salty air as she tried to accept it.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.