damned_institute | Day 35: Bus 3 (Return Trip)

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Day 35: Bus 3 (Return Trip)

Armand wearily climbed the steps of the bus. He was less tired than cold, but it made his limbs ache. He hoped they'd actually make it back to the Institute before dark this time. He hadn't seen either Citan or Morrison in town, so he kept an eye out for either one climbing back into the bus. He still wondered if Morrison had been able to rest today instead of coming to town. Other than a lunch that he hadn't liked and meeting a new face or two, he wasn't sure at all what he'd gained by the day. Oh well, he was more than used to disappointment and failure.

[waiting for Citan if Fey is backish]

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Fortunately for Naminé, once again the seat next to her was occupied by someone from her home world. And how strange it was that she would come to this place with Kairi and end up leaving with Sora? Even if he did not fully remember her, Naminé smiled warmly back up at him as she scooted over to make room.

"It has been quite awhile, hasn't it Sora?" She nodded. It felt... well, forever, to be honest, since she had a chance to speak to Sora. But it made sense, since he was always so busy. From what Naminé could tell, he and Kairi often spent time together.

That was good. It was supposed to be that way. It was strange how after a year, just the smallest twinge of what Naminé supposed was sadness lingered.

"Did you have fun today?"

Glad to see that Naminé was in good spirits, Sora got settled in the seat, shooting a quick glance out the window at the other patients who were entering the bus before looking back when the girl asked a question.

"Oh, well... I kind of slept through the beginning of the trip, and all I did after that was talk to Kairi, but... it was okay!" It could have been worse, anyway. At least nothing had gone wrong. It just hadn't been particularly interesting or fun. Still, he had managed to make plans with his friend, and that was better than nothing.

"How about you? What did you do?" He had a more serious request for Kairi's Other, but he figured that they could catch up a little before he got down to that. He didn't want the girl to think that he only came and spoke to her when he needed something, after all.

Sora's day sounded much more interesting than hers, and Naminé blushed slightly when she admitted it to her friend.

"My day was fine, I just walked around a little bit. I didn't do much, there was... too much to do?" Indeed, it was sort of the same thing that happened to her when she was finally freed from Castle Oblivion; granted, even if the whole universe was finally in her grasp, she had far more important work to do. But even then, Naminé wouldn't have known where to start.

"But I'm glad that you and Kairi got to spend some time together. I don't think there's much that can be accomplished here, with all the nurses standing guard." Naminé had noticed the security was tighter than usual. For a good reason, but she had the feeling that there were more than just nurses to discourage patients from trying to exist.

So neither of them had gotten much done, though Naminé had a point about there probably not being a good chance of doing anything in this town. "Well, I was supposed to play tag with some other patients, but it didn't end up happening." Or maybe it had happened, but he hadn't been there for it. Hopefully no one had been expecting him or waiting for him.

"Anyway," Sora said, adjusting in his seat as the buses started to move, "I had something I needed to ask you about, if that was okay." He hoped that he wasn't jumping to this subject too quickly, but he wasn't sure what else they should be talking about. Maybe the Organization? But Sora really didn't want to get into that if he didn't have to.

Tag? That sounded fun... and far more productive than anything else. After all, if you couldn't escape, why not take advantage of the fresh air? Perhaps Naminé had been looking at this trip the wrong way.

Her attention shifted when Sora told her that he had something to ask of her, nodding to show that it was fine. It could have been anything, really, but Naminé was wondering if this was... something good, or something bad? Did it have to do with Kairi? She was reminded, somewhat unpleasantly, of Luxord's opinion on the girl and how Naminé should treat her.

"You can ask me anything. I'll do my best to help."

Sora hadn't expected an answer any different from Naminé, but he still smiled at her response. It was obvious that she was Kairi's Other, even if she was a bit more soft-spoken than his friend. That was sort of the same as him and Roxas, wasn't it?

"Well, I was talking to someone yesterday, and he was telling me how a patient here got taken to be experimented on, and they took his memory. I thought that was kind of weird, since usually someone just disappears and then comes back and doesn't remember anything, but this time they did it differently." He wondered if the process Homura had been through was the same as whatever was done when someone disappeared, but he didn't think there was any way to know for sure.

"Anyway, this guy is kind of important, and the people who know him are kind of struggling without him, so... do you think there's any way you could help him remember?" Sora wasn't sure how much of her power Naminé had retained here, if any, but he had figured it was worth asking her about it.

Listening to Sora's request, Naminé already could tell where this request was going. But it was... something she wasn't sure she could do. Everyone's powers were weakened here, so hers were no exception. Would she even be able to access this person's memory? From what Naminé knew, though, memories couldn't be destroyed. Only rearranged, disconnected from the rest so they could sink into a person's heart and remained more or less forgotten.

Just like Sora's memories of her, now that she thought about it. Naminé remained silent for a moment, as if she were contemplating this, but to tell the truth, she already had decided.

"I don't know what they did to his memory, but if they didn't destroy it, I can try to find it and reconnect it." Naminé hoped that the memory was not destroyed. If the people here were capable of doing such a thing... well.

"... If I cannot do that... I can use the memories of others to remake those which he lost, if he does not mind having fake memories." It was something she would rather not do, but if Naminé could not find this person's lost memories, it was the only thing she could do.

While Naminé didn't sound entirely sure of herself, she was still willing to try, and that was enough to get Sora smiling. He figured that everyone would understand if it ended up not working, seeing how unreliable powers were here, but it was still worth a shot!

"I'm not sure what he wants. I don't really know him, since I just talked to one of his friends, but I bet he'd be really thankful if you gave it a try. Thanks a lot, Naminé!" He placed a hand on her shoulder in thanks without really thinking, and when he realized that they might not know each other well enough for him to be doing that, he pulled away.

"You're sure you don't mind, right? I mean, I'd need to check and see what they think of the idea, but you aren't too busy, are you?" Sora knew that everyone had plans brewing here at Landel's, and he didn't want to pull Naminé away from any of that by accident.

Indeed, she was willing to try. Naminé knew that her powers could be used for good, but she was still admittedly unsure about all of this. What if it didn't work? What if she made an error? Her powers hadn't been used in about a year, and she had enough trouble putting Sora's memories back together at her full strength.

It was a lot to worry about, but she supposed it was no good worrying about it for now. So when Sora put his hand on her shoulder, she looked up with a smile on her face, not minding. Sora was her friend, after all. Even if he didn't remember.

"No, I don't mind! I mean, my plans sort of change every night anyway," Naminé smiled. It was true, she had found herself spending the nights with Alita, but the princess hadn't contacted her for awhile. It was fine - Naminé knew she was more or less dead weight for the most part. "Just let me know if they need me, and I'll do what I can."

It seemed that Naminé really had no problem with helping someone neither of them even knew, though perhaps Sora shouldn't have been so surprised by that. He didn't have any more of a stake in this than she did, after all, so both of them were going the extra mile to help others. That was just sort of how it went for Sora, though. It would feel strange not to.

"Okay! Well, I guess that I'll keep in touch with you over the bulletin or something. Or I'll just find you," he decided. He wasn't sure how often Naminé checked the board, but he was sure he would be able to get in contact with her in one way or another.

It was around that time that the buses started to pull up the driveway and halt in front of the institute. Sora sent one last smile at the girl before standing from his seat. "Well, it was nice talking to you! And thanks again."

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Day 35: Bus 3 (Return Trip)

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