Shards of a Broken Sun [Deprecated; see link in final post for remake]
- Thread starter Baughn
- Start date
- Crossover Sci-Fi
Recap Phase 3: Fumi
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Phase 3: Regarding the world
Five years prior to the main story
The world is both smaller than you think, and larger. It's both younger, and vastly older.
This isn't an attempt at Zen enlightenment, but rather, a frank statement of fact. Instead of being a contradiction it uses multiple meanings of that word, 'world'.
Scientists believe the Earth is four and a half billion years old, based on practically flawless isotope dating methods. This is false; its age is approximately six thousand. The isotopes were faked.
They believe the universe is thirteen point seven nine nine billion years old, plus or minus twenty-one million. This is based on the cosmic microwave background, the distribution of galaxies, the red-shifting of light from distant stars and the best mathematics the world has to offer. It's called the Lambda-CDM model, and it, too, is practically flawless. The only way it could be wrong is if a demon were deliberately pulling the wool over our eyes.
The model is wrong. The universe is a trillion trillion years old, or merely six hundred, or thirteen billion, eight hundred and five million plus six hundred years old. The demons are literal, though uninterested in such fakery. The gods are real, and uninterested in such fakery. The stars are fake, nothing exists much outside Earth, and the Great Will that created it all set a fragment of itself to forever keep the truth from mankind.
There are four levels to the world. Lowest is Kagutsuchi, that blind idiot god. It created all of physical law, it maintains all of physical law, it is all of physical law, but it can do nothing on its own. Your body is a part of it, as are all the works of Man.
The second is the world of the mind, Magatsuhi, which underpins and permeates reality. It is the true world of Man, for human minds are no mere machines and cannot exist purely in Kagutsuchi's realm. Our souls, our power, are the sole exception it allows.
The third is the world of demons. They fight to enter Kagutsuchi, and will give much for an invitation.
The fourth, the void which stretches endlessly beyond, home of beings which never were.
Humanity would have been helpless, but for their privileged position in Kagutsuchi's world. However, Kagutsuchi is dying.
We have worked for three thousand years to resolve this, without success. If you wish to make your own attempt, we will not stop you. The Book of Night will tell you more.
"And that's it. That, and a map to this cave, is what the Aesir Foundation finally deigned to tell me," Fumi said. "Very poetic, but it nearly got me killed. I wonder how much of it's even true?"
"Credit where credit is due, everything that isn't completely unfounded is at least close. Perhaps they knew something we don't."
"You think so?"
"Sure of it, actually."
Two children lounged on the grass in a clearing, deep inside an overgrown valley in the countryside of Spain. One, almost a woman, an older teenager; the other, a boy not quite in his teens. Having just finished reading the letter out loud, the girl carefully folded it. Putting it back in her backpack took a bit of work, to find a compartment that wasn't torn up and ruined, but she eventually got it.
Fumi gave the boy in front of her a searching look. He met it placidly—for a few seconds, before wincing and going back to picking at his bloody, scraped-up knees. That could use medical attention, she was sure.
She owed him one.
From the Hotsuin family, huh… that wasn't a name she'd expected to hear after leaving Japan.
Barely twelve years old, Yamato Hotsuin exuded a self-assurance and confidence she'd found rare even in adults. Overconfidence might be one thing, but overconfidence wouldn't have gotten him out of that cave on his own, let alone with her in tow. Overconfidence wouldn't have let him warp the world and blast half a dozen demons to smithereens.
She owed him her life, in fact, and more. Hotsuin had done all that with no tools at all, and Fumi knew well enough what that meant in the long run. She'd seen her grandfather waste away, his soul ruined by his own art.
She still wasn't giving him the book.
"You're… not giving that up, are you?" Hotsuin glared sulkily at her, and by extension at the ancient, albeit modern-looking book in her hands. "That's the Codex Primaeval! It's over six thousand years old, it could fall apart at any moment, you… you don't even know what's in it!"
"Neither do you," she noted.
If she'd been a lesser person, she'd already be reading it, but Hotsuin… those knees really didn't look good, actually. He'd smashed them right into the cave floor while they were fleeing. She gave it a moment's thought, then pulled her t-shirt over her head. She'd had a medical kit, but…
Hotsuin didn't protest when she snagged the knife from his belt and started cutting. Her own was stuck in a kobold somewhere.
"It's either from right after the Horizon, or before!"
'Not even a hint of a blush,' she thought with disappointment. Not even when she practically shoved her breasts into his face, sitting down to bandage his knees.
They made quite a pair. Her, the sixteen year old genius of the Red Tower; him, the twelve year old scion of the Hotsuin family, unofficial rulers of (a tiny part of) Japan, and him sooo sure she'd roll over and give him what he asked for just because he'd saved her life. As if he could have gotten it himself! As if he had any idea what to do with it!
"Its proper name is the Book of Night," she said. "It was written right after the horizon, by the few people too mentally powerful or… insane… for Kagutsuchi's light to cleanse them. Parts of it were dictated by gods, providing another avenue to avoid that cleansing."
That look on his face. Should she laugh?
She settled for tying his bandages tight.
"Every six thousand years, the world is reset. Every six thousand years, almost everything we do is destroyed, and everyone is killed. No-one believes that, right? I mean, I guess if you're here, that makes two of us, and I spent the last year chasing the remnants of the Aesir. Dad told me it's a wild goose chase, but…" She shrugged. "He also told me I'd die here. He tried forbidding me from going, can you believe it?"
"You nearly did!"
She smiled, patting Hotsuin's shoulder. That frustrated, teary-eyed face of his was just too cute for words. "I didn't, though. You saved me. ...even if I had no idea you were coming, but so what? We'll both die eventually, so why shouldn't I take the risk?"
"Bu—but—" he sniffled.
'Ah. Did I say too much?'
She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "It'll be okay, you'll see. I'd have been fine— I got magic to work on my cellphone, you know? You saw me banish that pixie. Do you really think someone who can do that would die here? And as for the end of the world, eh, it's probably decades away at least. I'll figure something out. It's not going to happen this Sunday!"
"It's five years away," he muttered.
Fumi blinked.
"I'm sure you have your sources, but are you sure about that?" she asked carefully.
"Five, maybe six," he grumped. "The 'anguished one' told me. He's… I'll tell you about him later, but I trust him. And you're wrong about everyone being killed. It's more complicated than that, it's a test, one we can pass or fail. Humanity just hasn't passed yet. So give me the book before you break it!"
He lunged, aiming for the ancient, anachronistic tome. She simply stretched her arm up and beyond his reach, holding him down with her other. It wasn't going to be damaged, of course. Leaving aside how there could be a six thousand year old book, given people at the time were more into cave drawings, its pristine appearance betrayed some manner of preservative spellcraft.
Which was all very interesting, but she'd really rather interrogate Hotsuin about what he'd just said. Also it occurred to her that he was rich.
"No," she said. "But—"
She let the word hang in the air for a second, then smiled at the kid.
"My father told me that if I insisted on doing this, I might as well not come home. He wants me where he can keep an eye on me, not 'chasing ghosts' or, you know, trying to survive. So what do you think about getting an assistant? You're rich, right?"
She smiled at his poleaxed expression. Oh, she wasn't planning to take advantage of him. The Hotsuins were richer than Crusoe—so everyone said—and she definitely didn't want to make an enemy of them, but she could make a lot of money if she got her spell compiler working. They'd be just the people to help her manage that safely. Even if she had to give them part of the profit, it'd be worth it.
"I don't think you'll find many other people willing to believe that the world is about to end, you know."
The Hotsuins would be good patrons, if nothing happened. If something did, well…
She inwardly shrugged. It'd be a nice place to watch the end, if nothing else.
Five years prior to the main story
The world is both smaller than you think, and larger. It's both younger, and vastly older.
This isn't an attempt at Zen enlightenment, but rather, a frank statement of fact. Instead of being a contradiction it uses multiple meanings of that word, 'world'.
Scientists believe the Earth is four and a half billion years old, based on practically flawless isotope dating methods. This is false; its age is approximately six thousand. The isotopes were faked.
They believe the universe is thirteen point seven nine nine billion years old, plus or minus twenty-one million. This is based on the cosmic microwave background, the distribution of galaxies, the red-shifting of light from distant stars and the best mathematics the world has to offer. It's called the Lambda-CDM model, and it, too, is practically flawless. The only way it could be wrong is if a demon were deliberately pulling the wool over our eyes.
The model is wrong. The universe is a trillion trillion years old, or merely six hundred, or thirteen billion, eight hundred and five million plus six hundred years old. The demons are literal, though uninterested in such fakery. The gods are real, and uninterested in such fakery. The stars are fake, nothing exists much outside Earth, and the Great Will that created it all set a fragment of itself to forever keep the truth from mankind.
There are four levels to the world. Lowest is Kagutsuchi, that blind idiot god. It created all of physical law, it maintains all of physical law, it is all of physical law, but it can do nothing on its own. Your body is a part of it, as are all the works of Man.
The second is the world of the mind, Magatsuhi, which underpins and permeates reality. It is the true world of Man, for human minds are no mere machines and cannot exist purely in Kagutsuchi's realm. Our souls, our power, are the sole exception it allows.
The third is the world of demons. They fight to enter Kagutsuchi, and will give much for an invitation.
The fourth, the void which stretches endlessly beyond, home of beings which never were.
Humanity would have been helpless, but for their privileged position in Kagutsuchi's world. However, Kagutsuchi is dying.
We have worked for three thousand years to resolve this, without success. If you wish to make your own attempt, we will not stop you. The Book of Night will tell you more.
"And that's it. That, and a map to this cave, is what the Aesir Foundation finally deigned to tell me," Fumi said. "Very poetic, but it nearly got me killed. I wonder how much of it's even true?"
"Credit where credit is due, everything that isn't completely unfounded is at least close. Perhaps they knew something we don't."
"You think so?"
"Sure of it, actually."
Two children lounged on the grass in a clearing, deep inside an overgrown valley in the countryside of Spain. One, almost a woman, an older teenager; the other, a boy not quite in his teens. Having just finished reading the letter out loud, the girl carefully folded it. Putting it back in her backpack took a bit of work, to find a compartment that wasn't torn up and ruined, but she eventually got it.
Fumi gave the boy in front of her a searching look. He met it placidly—for a few seconds, before wincing and going back to picking at his bloody, scraped-up knees. That could use medical attention, she was sure.
She owed him one.
From the Hotsuin family, huh… that wasn't a name she'd expected to hear after leaving Japan.
Barely twelve years old, Yamato Hotsuin exuded a self-assurance and confidence she'd found rare even in adults. Overconfidence might be one thing, but overconfidence wouldn't have gotten him out of that cave on his own, let alone with her in tow. Overconfidence wouldn't have let him warp the world and blast half a dozen demons to smithereens.
She owed him her life, in fact, and more. Hotsuin had done all that with no tools at all, and Fumi knew well enough what that meant in the long run. She'd seen her grandfather waste away, his soul ruined by his own art.
She still wasn't giving him the book.
"You're… not giving that up, are you?" Hotsuin glared sulkily at her, and by extension at the ancient, albeit modern-looking book in her hands. "That's the Codex Primaeval! It's over six thousand years old, it could fall apart at any moment, you… you don't even know what's in it!"
"Neither do you," she noted.
If she'd been a lesser person, she'd already be reading it, but Hotsuin… those knees really didn't look good, actually. He'd smashed them right into the cave floor while they were fleeing. She gave it a moment's thought, then pulled her t-shirt over her head. She'd had a medical kit, but…
Hotsuin didn't protest when she snagged the knife from his belt and started cutting. Her own was stuck in a kobold somewhere.
"It's either from right after the Horizon, or before!"
'Not even a hint of a blush,' she thought with disappointment. Not even when she practically shoved her breasts into his face, sitting down to bandage his knees.
They made quite a pair. Her, the sixteen year old genius of the Red Tower; him, the twelve year old scion of the Hotsuin family, unofficial rulers of (a tiny part of) Japan, and him sooo sure she'd roll over and give him what he asked for just because he'd saved her life. As if he could have gotten it himself! As if he had any idea what to do with it!
"Its proper name is the Book of Night," she said. "It was written right after the horizon, by the few people too mentally powerful or… insane… for Kagutsuchi's light to cleanse them. Parts of it were dictated by gods, providing another avenue to avoid that cleansing."
That look on his face. Should she laugh?
She settled for tying his bandages tight.
"Every six thousand years, the world is reset. Every six thousand years, almost everything we do is destroyed, and everyone is killed. No-one believes that, right? I mean, I guess if you're here, that makes two of us, and I spent the last year chasing the remnants of the Aesir. Dad told me it's a wild goose chase, but…" She shrugged. "He also told me I'd die here. He tried forbidding me from going, can you believe it?"
"You nearly did!"
She smiled, patting Hotsuin's shoulder. That frustrated, teary-eyed face of his was just too cute for words. "I didn't, though. You saved me. ...even if I had no idea you were coming, but so what? We'll both die eventually, so why shouldn't I take the risk?"
"Bu—but—" he sniffled.
'Ah. Did I say too much?'
She squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "It'll be okay, you'll see. I'd have been fine— I got magic to work on my cellphone, you know? You saw me banish that pixie. Do you really think someone who can do that would die here? And as for the end of the world, eh, it's probably decades away at least. I'll figure something out. It's not going to happen this Sunday!"
"It's five years away," he muttered.
Fumi blinked.
"I'm sure you have your sources, but are you sure about that?" she asked carefully.
"Five, maybe six," he grumped. "The 'anguished one' told me. He's… I'll tell you about him later, but I trust him. And you're wrong about everyone being killed. It's more complicated than that, it's a test, one we can pass or fail. Humanity just hasn't passed yet. So give me the book before you break it!"
He lunged, aiming for the ancient, anachronistic tome. She simply stretched her arm up and beyond his reach, holding him down with her other. It wasn't going to be damaged, of course. Leaving aside how there could be a six thousand year old book, given people at the time were more into cave drawings, its pristine appearance betrayed some manner of preservative spellcraft.
Which was all very interesting, but she'd really rather interrogate Hotsuin about what he'd just said. Also it occurred to her that he was rich.
"No," she said. "But—"
She let the word hang in the air for a second, then smiled at the kid.
"My father told me that if I insisted on doing this, I might as well not come home. He wants me where he can keep an eye on me, not 'chasing ghosts' or, you know, trying to survive. So what do you think about getting an assistant? You're rich, right?"
She smiled at his poleaxed expression. Oh, she wasn't planning to take advantage of him. The Hotsuins were richer than Crusoe—so everyone said—and she definitely didn't want to make an enemy of them, but she could make a lot of money if she got her spell compiler working. They'd be just the people to help her manage that safely. Even if she had to give them part of the profit, it'd be worth it.
"I don't think you'll find many other people willing to believe that the world is about to end, you know."
The Hotsuins would be good patrons, if nothing happened. If something did, well…
She inwardly shrugged. It'd be a nice place to watch the end, if nothing else.
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[X] Not yet.
al103
Grumpy Russian Bear (SV edition)
- Location
- Russia, Krasnoyarsk
What, you thought all he do is give snide comments and sit in Gendo pose? It's impossible to make majority of your people to be ready to die on your command like that. It just neither in canon, nor here we have chance to see other sides of him. And while this side of him is long repressed, this is the very person who was friend with "Fluffy"* and who attracted him in the first place and we can look at who else got said attraction.
*(C) Lilithium.
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Highwind
To Rise From The Ashes
- Location
- Brazil
I know he can't be just an implacable machine of Order and administration, but its still weird to actually see.
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
HHHHNNNNNNNNGGGGGG !
AAAAAAA? uuuaahgg?!
This light, it burns! It burns with the power of cute!
AAAAAAA? uuuaahgg?!
This light, it burns! It burns with the power of cute!
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Not so repressed that we don't get a chance to see it, occasionally. He even has a sense of humor, and enjoys puns, though I never quite managed to break his composure enough for a laugh. Oh well.
That's at seventeen, after he and Fumi plotted to take over-slash-create JPs. He did a lot of work, without which no-one would have stood a chance. No, not even Amu; I'm not terribly surprised you went with JPs, but if you hadn't, she'd have been hard pressed just to save a few of her friends and family. Well, in theory you could have kept her parents alive...
There are many, excellent, reasons why a solar exalted shouldn't be this young. Anyhow.
In my mind, Hotsuin's base personality is pretty similar to that of Hibiki, the chief difference being that one spent years building JPs and the other... didn't.
Of course, they're both still around. Bunny boy made his way back to his family, who are shaken but largely unhurt thus far. He's been busy, but if you keep sticking around Io you're likely to see him again.
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Highwind
To Rise From The Ashes
- Location
- Brazil
New Secondary Motivation Acquired: Make Hotsuin Laugh In Front Of Everyone.
Amu managed to amuse him lately, so guess it should be possible.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
It's true that she did, but...
That was by way of looking far too much like a magical girl. If you break past his reserve with that tactic, the first thing that will happen is Hotsuin teasing her mercilessly.
I'm not saying that's a bad thing, mind you. I'd honestly pay to see it happen. It's just that I now have an Amu hiding behind a cupboard in the back of my head -- I don't know how it happened, normally she's far more outspoken about my writing.
Highwind
To Rise From The Ashes
- Location
- Brazil
...I am honestly not sure if we should keep with that tactic or not.
For Amu's sake, let's keep that in reserve and try to find another way to make him laugh. Laugh non-maniacally, I mean. I'm sure that is a worthy goal for a Solar Exalted.
Operation Magical girl is a go, then.
[X] Inform him of the deal she struck with Tenmon-Tenjin.
Probably should get it in the open. He'd find out eventually and be more pissed that we didn't say
Urge to do this rising...
Probably should get it in the open. He'd find out eventually and be more pissed that we didn't say
Urge to do this rising...
Invest in performance charms and become a Magical Girl Idol~.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Utau-Amu idol duo is go, not to mention canon~
Oh, right. I don't think those two need any more magic in their singing than they've already got.
Highwind
To Rise From The Ashes
- Location
- Brazil
Nonsense. You can never have enough Magic to throw at people!
Quantumboost
Now with 50% more dots in Dimensional Science
- Location
- Ensemble Space
The only time you can have 'enough' morale bonuses is when you have one to every stat.
And even then, that's just raw numbers.
[X] Inform him of the deal she struck with Tenmon-Tenjin.
Yeah much the same reasoning as above peeps. And Hotsuin knows his shit when it comes to deal-making with spirits, I'm guessing.
And even then, that's just raw numbers.
[X] Inform him of the deal she struck with Tenmon-Tenjin.
Yeah much the same reasoning as above peeps. And Hotsuin knows his shit when it comes to deal-making with spirits, I'm guessing.
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Inform him of the deal she struck with Tenmon-Tenjin.
I see no reason not to at this point.
I see no reason not to at this point.
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
[X] Inform him of the deal she struck with Tenmon-Tenjin.
I could use a recap on this bit anyway.
I could use a recap on this bit anyway.
Interlude: Ran
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Interlude: Ran
'What's a guardian character?' Amu had asked.
'The self you want to be. You wished for it, didn't you? "I want to be a different me." That's how I was born,' Ran had said, lying flat on her back in mid-air and smiling. She was always smiling, nothing really got her down. That hadn't changed. It wasn't faked.
Nothing would ever truly upset her, Ran had thought, and she'd been wrong. She'd found the exception all on her own.
"Ran-chan. Ran!"
That wasn't a worried voice. That was the fond, reassuring voice of her mama, on whose lap she'd fallen asleep. It failed to wake her up, and after that first failure there were no further attempts.
She hadn't woken up, but neither was she still asleep.
Warmth, comfort, love. Darkness. Ran stretched minutely, pushing her head into her mother's hands, scraping against her clothes. A deep sense of lassitude, of safety enveloped her. Last she had felt those hands, they'd been busy braiding her hair…
Not for any reason. Just because. It wasn't braided now.
Soon she'd have to wake up, but for now she treasured this simple existence, this happiness that Amu felt too embarrassed to seek. She felt as comfortable as she'd ever felt in her egg. She'd never go back to that. Not when she could rest like this, smelling that perfume that was uniquely mom.
It was a nice thought. A comforting thought. The best kind of thought for waking up to. She was a real girl now, in Miki's words. The first of her siblings to become one, but hadn't she always been first? Or was that Miki, this time? Her dazed mind couldn't say, and didn't care. She was happy to have caught up with Amu. She would have been equally happy if that had been Miki, or Su.
"Let me try," Miki's mischievous voice came. "Hey, Ran. It's lunchtime!"
She startled awake, staring blearily at Miki's grinning, upside-down face. The bluenette nodded smartly, giving their mom a thumb's up that looked like a thumb's down, and pulled herself back up on top of their bunk bed.
That, of course, meant Miki was still in her full-sized form. Giving her sister an unreserved smile in return, Ran took a moment to sleepily confirm their position.
Still in their 'bedroom' in the JPs barracks, of course. The room had started with eight bunk beds, four on each side of the spartan, rectangular room, but someone had dragged out the two outermost ones and swapped them for a commode, two chairs and a table. That was more luxury than most guests here ever got, even before Miki and Su had cooperated in covering every single bed with embroidery.
One of the pairs belonged to mom and dad. Dad wasn't here, but she wasn't worried; he'd be around. One pair belonged to her and Miki, and wasn't that a change she had trouble wrapping her head around. Miki had taken the upper half. They'd yet to use it for sleeping, but—even the thought of having her lying there, like they were perfectly normal siblings?
She could feel her heart thumping. It made her want to smile, and cry, all at the same time. The end of the world had somehow been very good to her.
The bunk bed past that belonged to Amu and Utau, and Su, who still slept in her egg. The one across from it… she snickered to herself, at the childish demon's head drawings that Eru and Iru had plastered all over it. Those girls were a lot less annoying when they were too excited to taunt her, or bother her, and Miki's tips had made them excited, that was for sure.
"It's not really lunchtime, is it?"
"Not really." Miki 'hmm'-ed at her, glancing between Ran and the sketchbook she was holding. She'd shrunk maybe a little further, but was still taller than Ami at least. Unlike Ran, her 'little sister' didn't have the energy to stay full-sized all day. Not yet.
She'd cheer her on forever, of course.
"What are you drawing?"
"You want to see?" Miki smiled, and that was also new. She'd usually smirk, but the last two days she'd been really happy.
"Yes, please~"
Ran gave mama an excited grin. The three of them crowded around Miki's sketchbook, and—yes, the drawing Miki had made of them was good—but that wasn't why she was nearly crying. The three of them. Mom, and two daughters. A family of seven, nine if you counted Uta and Dia, and a family she was finally, honestly part of.
A family held together, as much as anything, by Amu. Who wasn't here.
Nothing short of a second end of the world could have broken Ran's excitement, and nothing would for days, but standing there like that—the much smaller Miki squeezed in between the two of them—she made a resolution. It was, maybe, the first true decision she'd made all on her own.
She still loved Amu most of all. She was the source of Ran's self, and Ran knew—knew, in a way she hadn't before Exa had shown up—that they were closer than sisters, closer than twins. If it hadn't been for Amu, she would never have existed, but Amu had been lonely, had wanted to change and had wanted friends, and—
Huh. That was probably why the three of them were so strange, by shugo chara standards. She'd never thought of it that way… but Kiseki and the rest were still wrong, she thought petulantly. It wasn't a betrayal of Amu to become exactly what she'd wanted them to be.
She'd help her family, and support them. Not as Amu's little dream self, but as Hinamori Ran, her cheerful, identical twin. They could still transform, but she wouldn't do just that, she'd support her as a sister would. If she had to, she'd become the person Amu no longer had a chance to be.
Amu was gone, but she'd be back. Ran would be her place in the sun.
And, wow, she couldn't wait to pull 'twin' jokes in school. One day.
===
A/N: Because, although this scene was sitting in the 'recap' doc for a little while, I see no reason to sit on it while I finish up the rest of this. Many thanks to @Snowfire, @Nero200, Coda and Shadow for helping me do that.
Oh. Also, Ran gains a motivation. I'm sure that won't matter very much.
'What's a guardian character?' Amu had asked.
'The self you want to be. You wished for it, didn't you? "I want to be a different me." That's how I was born,' Ran had said, lying flat on her back in mid-air and smiling. She was always smiling, nothing really got her down. That hadn't changed. It wasn't faked.
Nothing would ever truly upset her, Ran had thought, and she'd been wrong. She'd found the exception all on her own.
"Ran-chan. Ran!"
That wasn't a worried voice. That was the fond, reassuring voice of her mama, on whose lap she'd fallen asleep. It failed to wake her up, and after that first failure there were no further attempts.
She hadn't woken up, but neither was she still asleep.
Warmth, comfort, love. Darkness. Ran stretched minutely, pushing her head into her mother's hands, scraping against her clothes. A deep sense of lassitude, of safety enveloped her. Last she had felt those hands, they'd been busy braiding her hair…
Not for any reason. Just because. It wasn't braided now.
Soon she'd have to wake up, but for now she treasured this simple existence, this happiness that Amu felt too embarrassed to seek. She felt as comfortable as she'd ever felt in her egg. She'd never go back to that. Not when she could rest like this, smelling that perfume that was uniquely mom.
It was a nice thought. A comforting thought. The best kind of thought for waking up to. She was a real girl now, in Miki's words. The first of her siblings to become one, but hadn't she always been first? Or was that Miki, this time? Her dazed mind couldn't say, and didn't care. She was happy to have caught up with Amu. She would have been equally happy if that had been Miki, or Su.
"Let me try," Miki's mischievous voice came. "Hey, Ran. It's lunchtime!"
She startled awake, staring blearily at Miki's grinning, upside-down face. The bluenette nodded smartly, giving their mom a thumb's up that looked like a thumb's down, and pulled herself back up on top of their bunk bed.
That, of course, meant Miki was still in her full-sized form. Giving her sister an unreserved smile in return, Ran took a moment to sleepily confirm their position.
Still in their 'bedroom' in the JPs barracks, of course. The room had started with eight bunk beds, four on each side of the spartan, rectangular room, but someone had dragged out the two outermost ones and swapped them for a commode, two chairs and a table. That was more luxury than most guests here ever got, even before Miki and Su had cooperated in covering every single bed with embroidery.
One of the pairs belonged to mom and dad. Dad wasn't here, but she wasn't worried; he'd be around. One pair belonged to her and Miki, and wasn't that a change she had trouble wrapping her head around. Miki had taken the upper half. They'd yet to use it for sleeping, but—even the thought of having her lying there, like they were perfectly normal siblings?
She could feel her heart thumping. It made her want to smile, and cry, all at the same time. The end of the world had somehow been very good to her.
The bunk bed past that belonged to Amu and Utau, and Su, who still slept in her egg. The one across from it… she snickered to herself, at the childish demon's head drawings that Eru and Iru had plastered all over it. Those girls were a lot less annoying when they were too excited to taunt her, or bother her, and Miki's tips had made them excited, that was for sure.
"It's not really lunchtime, is it?"
"Not really." Miki 'hmm'-ed at her, glancing between Ran and the sketchbook she was holding. She'd shrunk maybe a little further, but was still taller than Ami at least. Unlike Ran, her 'little sister' didn't have the energy to stay full-sized all day. Not yet.
She'd cheer her on forever, of course.
"What are you drawing?"
"You want to see?" Miki smiled, and that was also new. She'd usually smirk, but the last two days she'd been really happy.
"Yes, please~"
Ran gave mama an excited grin. The three of them crowded around Miki's sketchbook, and—yes, the drawing Miki had made of them was good—but that wasn't why she was nearly crying. The three of them. Mom, and two daughters. A family of seven, nine if you counted Uta and Dia, and a family she was finally, honestly part of.
A family held together, as much as anything, by Amu. Who wasn't here.
Nothing short of a second end of the world could have broken Ran's excitement, and nothing would for days, but standing there like that—the much smaller Miki squeezed in between the two of them—she made a resolution. It was, maybe, the first true decision she'd made all on her own.
She still loved Amu most of all. She was the source of Ran's self, and Ran knew—knew, in a way she hadn't before Exa had shown up—that they were closer than sisters, closer than twins. If it hadn't been for Amu, she would never have existed, but Amu had been lonely, had wanted to change and had wanted friends, and—
Huh. That was probably why the three of them were so strange, by shugo chara standards. She'd never thought of it that way… but Kiseki and the rest were still wrong, she thought petulantly. It wasn't a betrayal of Amu to become exactly what she'd wanted them to be.
She'd help her family, and support them. Not as Amu's little dream self, but as Hinamori Ran, her cheerful, identical twin. They could still transform, but she wouldn't do just that, she'd support her as a sister would. If she had to, she'd become the person Amu no longer had a chance to be.
Amu was gone, but she'd be back. Ran would be her place in the sun.
And, wow, she couldn't wait to pull 'twin' jokes in school. One day.
===
A/N: Because, although this scene was sitting in the 'recap' doc for a little while, I see no reason to sit on it while I finish up the rest of this. Many thanks to @Snowfire, @Nero200, Coda and Shadow for helping me do that.
Oh. Also, Ran gains a motivation. I'm sure that won't matter very much.
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