markofthebrave | [ Action ] .061

[Days 1-2]
[The experiment catches up with Katara slowly - first through teleportation, then through the advent of (thought bubbles)]

[Day 3]
Meet the bitty:

[She's been in Luceti for two years now, along with her much older brother Sokka. She's totally adapted and probably playing hide-and-seek. Warning: She's also still teleporting.]

[Days 4-6]
[More thought bubbles. More transportation. Katara is starting to get very tired and frustrated at this point due to lack of sleep and various emotional issues. She keeps popping up in the most inconvenient places! Sorry about that...]

[Days 7-8]
[Today, Katara woke up a bit different: she has been AU'd to another world, that of the Konoha ninja (complete with forehead protector!). She chalks waking up in a strange bedroom to the experiment that's been going on the past couple of days and ninja!vanishes into the dawn - she'll apologize later. She'll do her best to move back in to her regular apartment and keep to her regular schedule - a few classes at school (despite having told Raine she would not be in attendance that week - and depending on if school is in session) - practice in the forest, climbing on some trees; and making dinner on Floor 8 of Community Building 1, where she has claimed the sole empty apartment.

The next day, she decides to take a break from her regular training to practice an art more specific to kunoichi: Ikebana. At around six in the evening, Katara heads down to the flower shop. After gathering her materials, and dressing for the occasion, Katara heads out behind her apartment complex to make the best use of the natural light to form her arrangements.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Tension barely visible left her shoulders.]

Aa.

[Like it or not, she starts walking again, Shikamaru. 8|]

[He can read a lot through that. So, were they an item, maybe? He doesn't want to ask, but if that's the case, he feels a little happy about it.

Sorry Masaomi.

He trails along.]

I heard it was a good date, despite it all. I wasn't actually around.

[There's a pause there, just a couple of heartbeats, but enough to indicate - what, exactly?

He may or may not know what she's doing right now is shuffling around precious memories, locking down dear emotions.

But it leaves her slightly disconnected from what he's saying.]

Oh?

Kidnapped.

[He didn't ask much else about it, he just remembers how happy Chouji seemed.

Which is besides the point, to how she's responding to things now.]

Always fun.

No, but I haven't been nabbed since, not that it's important right now.

[A small smile, and she stops her mental compartmentalization to share it with him.]

Glad to hear it.

So fair's fair.

Hmmm?

[What's he implying - now he wants to know something? - he should ask the question first.]

How you remember stuff here, with Chouji.

[Oh, and him he guesses.]

[Heh.]

You sure that's what you want to know?

[You're sure that's what you want her to remember?]

I didn't say I wanted all the messy details.

[Ew. He won't even ask if they really made it past friends.]

Mostly, I want to know if things between you guys ended on a good note, when he left.

[That nothing was left unresolved. So that the other Katara can know what to strive for without dwelling on.]

...we didn't exactly expect him to leave.

[She takes a breath and looks up, and then at him.]

But we were - [pause. rephrase.] - I remember us being together when he did.

[And she continues to chose her words with care.]

I remember hoping that when we all got home, I'd be assigned to more missions around him. I couldn't believe that we'd be around each other long enough and not fall in love again.

[But that's not going to happen now.

A helpful anime-like wind blows, just then, pushing her hair forward.]

[Naturally it stirs up a few leaves.]

...so much for not being mushy. [But he's not really teasing, the look on his face is more accepting. He gets it.]

I'm glad you were happy.

Maaa.

[She sighed and lightly punched his shoulder without glancing at him.]

Now who's getting mushy.

Edited 2012-06-15 03:20 (UTC)

[...even AU!Katara is stronger than him, sob. He smirks, but he's rubbing that shoulder because he's a wuss.]

Boys don't get mushy, they just temporarily have feelings. Besides, he's my best friend so I have excuse.

[She tilts her head up to the sky.]

Aa, that's so.

[I was happy.]

[Silence doesn't drag more out of her as well it did the other Katara, huh.]

[Sorry, Shikamaru. Katara's lost in the moment. The sunlight on the leaves, the blue sky, the grass on the ground...]

I'd give you a message for him, but it doesn't work like that.

[He could always come back. But he wouldn't wish that on him.]

Not quite, I'm afraid. Though if you really want to leave a message - for anyone - I'm sure you'll find a way.

I cherish your show of confidence.

[Light. Humored. Disguising the dark thought of: Why would anyone want to hear from someone they don't rightly know?]