[center][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/494317685505523714/974120501523931166/SFDuelSummerArt.jpg[/img] [color=f49ac2]Sakura Level 7: 70/70[/color] [color=fff200]Karin Level 2: 4/20[/color] Location: Kanzuki Beach Word Count: 1500~ Points Gained: 3 New EXP Balance--- [color=f49ac2]Sakura Level 8: 3/80[/color] Level up pending [indent][color=fff200]Karin Level 2: 7/20[/color][/indent] Level pending[/center] Sakura had hidden the Arashio spirit in the lock box. She saw no reason to make Bella or Arashio’s friends feel worse by confronting them with each other. At least not when the war was undoubtedly still fresh on everyone’s minds. Right? Maybe. No reason to push it so fast, anyway. But if Sakura was going to get her mind and heart sorted out, she’d need to say everything she’d have to say to the people who needed to hear it. To that end, she tracked down her friend Bella. She found the Water Princess back at Alcamoth, sitting at a bench in the park not far at all from Juniors warp graffiti and surrounded by her seaplanes like pigeons. Bella wore a fresh set of clothes she gleaned from the city, a [url=https://i.imgur.com/pVZIMYz.png]sporty sort[/url] found commonly in the armory for the Mii Fighters who made up a portion of the city’s fighters. While her fusion with Chicago and a splash of color in her wardrobe did a lot to make the Seaplane Tender look less like an Abyssal, there was no disguising the massive leviathan tail that trailed behind her, currently curled up like a snoozing serpent next to her bench. With that part of her an insurmountable telltale sign of her origin, she could not allow herself to go to Limsa, in broad daylight or otherwise, where the scars of the long struggle against her warmongering kind still hurt so keenly. It was a bit of a walk, but Sakura once again concluded that teleporting was awesome. Alcamoth was just as impressive as ever. Sakura took a moment to hop through the warp portal a couple times before wondering if there were any negative consequences for doing so and stopping. Then with a bit of a skip in her step, Sakura approached Bella from behind. This would also be the first Bella would see the original Sakura and not her Ship girl self. School uniform and everything. [color=f49ac2]”Bella-san!”[/color] She called out, raising a hand in greeting and jogging over. [color=f49ac2]”Bella-san, it’s me, Sakura! Do you recognize me?”[/color] She put her hands against her head and flapped her fingers like they were cat ears. The Abyssal brightened up visibly at her arrival after turning toward the familiar voice. “Of course! Cat or no cat, it is still you, mon cherie.” Sakura laughed and rotated around the front to sit down on the bench. [color=f49ac2]”Well, that’s good. This is what I looked like back on my homeworld. This whole fusion thing sure is weird, huh? You look great by the way, I love all the glowey parts!”[/color] She said poking at one of Bella’s orangey-yellowey bracelets. “You like it?” The knowledge seemed to set Bella’s heart at ease. “It is a little stifling. I am more used to loose and flowy. But if I look great, then I’m happy.” Picking up on Sakura’s implication, she crossed her legs and continued. “So, this is ze true you. Not very different, alzough, you do seem more formidable. All zose punches and kicks make a lot more sense!” she laughed lightly. Sakura nodded. It really was a cool outfit. That sci-fi stuff was a look she was considering herself, just because she liked outfits that had glowey parts. [color=f49ac2]”Yup, this is me, all right.”[/color] She flexes her arm, proud to have her muscles back. [color=f49ac2]”I’m a street fighter. The only guns I like to use are the ones my mama gave me.”[/color] Sakura jabbed the air a few times, though they were not very scary punches considering she was sitting down on a bench. [color=f49ac2]”Shotokan karate!”[/color] Sakura exclaimed. She was lively before but she was even more so now. [color=f49ac2]”It’s basically the coolest thing ever. I should show you some of my moves some time! Though I don’t know how to fight with a giant tail.”[/color] She leaned back and looked the thing over. [color=f49ac2]”Hey. It has teeth, right? Is it rude to ask if you can eat with it?”[/color] Looking mildly amused, Bella shook her head. “Oh, not at all. But yes, it can, zough it is not my first choice. While it may look like a machine, it is a part of me under zat armor, just as much as my arm, or my leg.” She sighed as her gaze rested on the leviathan. “Considering all the others, I am quite lucky to be able to function as a person. Most Abyssals are mindless, violent things, for whom merely living is tantamount to torture. And yet even us Princesses could not think for ourselves. A sad state of affairs, no wonder New Southern took it so hard.” She realized that she was rambling a bit and scratched at her neck nervously. Small talk wasn’t the Seaplane Tender’s forte. “Oh, excuse me, what a morbid subject. The group, and you in particular have showed me such kindness. I’m sure I must sound like a broken record by now, but I truly am grateful.” [color=f49ac2]”Mm. Mhm.”[/color] Sakura said, grimacing good-naturedly. [color=f49ac2]”I guess the lesson here is you need more life experiences to talk about.”[/color] Chuckling, she swung her legs up and down off the ground. [color=f49ac2]”Speaking of New Southern. I guess I- I guess I just wanted to say that- I’m proud of you. And when we first met, I was a little naive. I thought that the Friend Heart was some kind of magic power that could make anyone my friend. And with you I thought I was proven right. But I just got lucky. Because um, well, my other Friend Heart attempts on enemies didn’t go so well. So I gave you the Friend Heart but you and Rika both…you both chose how to [i]be[/i]. Y’know? I really didn’t have anything to do with it. It’s all you.”[/color] She hooks her arm under Bella’s in a side hug and smiles up at her. [color=f49ac2]”If that makes any sense.”[/color] As much as Bella might try to keep her composure, it was hard to disguise the unadulterated joy that suffused her. “If you say so,” she conceded, returning the street fighter’s hug. While she had yet to understand a great deal about interpersonal relationships, especially in the World of Light, she couldn’t help but feel as if Sakura was downplaying her part in all this. The bottom line was that Bella owed her new lease on life to this girl, but if Sakura wanted the Seaplane Tender to feel as if she should be proud of herself, the last thing she wanted to do was disappoint her savior. “I haven’t seen much of ze ozers,” she told Sakura. “But ze people here are nice. Zey see my tail, of course, but nobody seems to think twice about it. If I ask for directions, or food, or something to wear, zey generally lend a hand.” Bella looked around the indoor park of Alcamoth’s grand atrium, taking in all the green grass, vibrant flowers, and trim hedges as if for the first time all over again. “Is zis how it is everywhere?” Sakura grinned, glancing around. She had a reminiscent look about her. [color=f49ac2]”It could be, if we all work hard enough. It sure is nice, huh?”[/color] She took a moment to appreciate how nice a community was. Hard to feel homesick when you’re made to feel at home, right? [color=f49ac2]”Thanks for sticking by us that whole time. It was…really rough. But we looked out for each other, right? What will you do, now that the war is over?”[/color] “You are welcome.” Bella pursed her lips and looked at the ground, as if she’d been thinking about that very same question but had yet to come up with an answer. “I am not sure. Well, that is, I know what I would like to do. I would like to learn how to live like a normal person, and zen to do zat. Fighting is all I ever knew, and I want to do anything else. But I do not know how, or where. Not in Limsa, certainly.” She sighed through her nose, her expression solemn. “My crimes are too great, and zough facing ze consequences would be ze right thing to do…I do not want to face execution, or to rot in prison until I die. Nor do I want to get off on some…technicality or anozer, and live with all zeir justified hate, pretending nothing is wrong.” With her hands clasped in her lap Bella turned to look back at Sakura. “So I want to go elsewhere, far away from zose wartorn shores. But I don’t know where to go, and I do not think I can do it alone.” She said it not as request, but as a resolution, and hoped that sentiment got across. Even so, however, a part of her gazed at Sakura imploringly, hoping that it would be [i]her[/i] that she went away with, to start a life anew. Sakura listened, found herself nodding along. Whatever the law said, Sakura felt that Bella deserved a second chance. But at the end, she found herself unable to meet Bella’s gaze, feeling like she got what Bella intended. Rubbing the back of her head, Sakura looked at the ground. [color=f49ac2]”Well… I… personally- I-”[/color] Her shoulders sank. [color=f49ac2]”I can’t leave this fight unfinished. There’s still so much I have to do. I have people to find.”[/color] She said. [color=f49ac2]”After everything I’ve been through, I can’t just walk away.”[/color] Sakura didn’t want to hurt her friend's feelings but she also couldn’t be untrue to herself. Galeem needed to be stopped. If she felt disappointed at all, Bella hid it well. “Of course, of course. I wish you ze very best as you persevere onward. You have many more people to save, and I will do what I can with ze life you have given me.” She bowed her head in respect. [color=f49ac2]”Geez, okay, honorable samurai! It doesn’t have to be goodbye forever or anything!”[/color] Sakura protested. [color=f49ac2]”I’ll come visit you! I’m sure we could figure something out. I’ll be coming back to Alcamoth every couple of days, at least!”[/color] [color=f49ac2]”Like right now I gotta go back to Limsa and kick the crap outta one of my best friends, Karin. Remember that stupidly elegant lady that made me eat dirt a couple days ago? Well it’s payback time. I wish you could be there to see it, but maybe Karin and I can come here and tell you how it went ourselves, huh?”[/color] Sakura concluded earnestly. “Good luck!” Bella said, remembering the stupidly elegant lady well. “Zis time, she won’t know what hit her.” Sakura wrapped her arms around Bella in a goodbye hug. [color=f49ac2]”See you later, Miss Bella!”[/color] And then she turned and ran back to Limsa. [hr] It wasn’t long after that that she retrieved the Spirit that had protected her along the way. Without it, things would have been much harder for Sakura on her journey. To be honest, she couldn’t imagine herself keeping up with the others without it. Once she reached the naval headquarters, she left it with the guards at the front entrance. [color=f49ac2]”This is Arashio's spirit. Please tell the other members of her squad that she saved lives even after she was lost. Um. Thank you.”[/color] She bowed and made her way off to face Karin. That was all she could do. Ultimately it was a borrowed power, and she had no business interfering any more than that. That felt like the most respectful call. [hr] And face Karin she did. Sakura felt like this rematch had been a long time coming, even though it had only been two days. Finally she felt like she understood what it took to be a hero. And now that she understood that, she could [i]stop[/i] being a hero, and just be Karin’s friend. And being Karin’s friend meant wiping that smug look right off her face. And also, blocking this Ressen Ha. Oops. Karin sailed right over Sakura’s fireball and drove her palms into her face and chest. Slicing through the air Karin formed into a ball and hovered at Sakura’s head height for a moment, before Karin grabbed her head and slammed her knees into it, driving Sakura into the ground. Growling with appreciation, Sakura rolled to the side to avoid a crushing stomp attack, and before Karin could push her assault she warded her off by firing a fireball into the ground, causing Karin to almost lose her footing. [color=f49ac2]”Here we go!”[/color] She glanced over at the others, some of them watching her fight on the beach. Sakura winced apologetically, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face.[color=f49ac2]”Sorry for all the fighting! I promise I'm almost done!”[/color] [color=fff200]"You are no such thing!"[/color] Karin shouted, rejecting that idea out right and charging in only to get fireballed in the face.