Reflections [Locked to Myself]

[koiwamizuiro]

This is a thread where I'll post IC reflections of Ai Nanasaki. It'll contain thoughts about what's been happening to her in Luceti lately, how she feels after certain events have transpired, what she'll be up to in the future, how she's influenced by her experiences in the village... Things like that.

Comments

[Backdated to the 12th of April]

[koiwamizuiro]

As she walked along the river through the forest, Ai found herself thinking about just how much used to Luceti she already was, and how strange it seemed to her that she was. She had been here for just a little over a month, and yet, the word 'home' had already taken on a new meaning, now referring to her apartment in the second Community Housing Building in the village.

The thought occurred to her during her walk as she wondered whether she would be able to regularly take this trip from 'home' once it was finally summer, or at the very least, when it was warm enough for her to do so. Seeing as she had not been walking for too much and she was already close to the lake, she judged that it wouldn't be any trouble for her to make use of it often if she desired. After all, the girl had gotten used to long walks such as this back home in Kibitou, so this was not a problem for her at all.

But as an emphasis of just how much time had already passed - or rather, how much time it felt like had come and gone, Ai looked and narrowed her eyes towards the depths of the forest she was walking through and immediately recalled her untimely entry into this world. It was a time when she was confused and curious, shivering because of that overly light sundress, having absolutely no idea as to where she had just been taken or what kind of world she was in. Not to mention the journal that she had woken up next to and quickly found after she had regained consciousness - an unearthly and incomprehensible book then, part of her everyday life now. The pair of black wings on her back that she had suddenly sprouted were now just as much a part of her as everything else, and while they still made sleeping a bit more uncomfortable, she had more or less gotten used to them by now too. It was really quite a thing to think about.

And it wasn't solely because there were a lot of actually pleasant things in Luceti that she was now finding it easier to consider it her home. It wasn't just because of the usual quietness in the village that she had taken advantage of, having spent several nights gazing at the stars by the river next to her apartment and the Tsukino Shrine that Rei Hino maintained. Nor was it because she could get herself clothes, food or other items for free, and she had certainly made several trips to the grocery store, the clothing shop and the bakery already. And while her fascination with the many different worlds of the residents of Luceti she had encountered helped - for it was so much that she even wound up buying her first otherworldly book from the library - it was still not the only reason either.

For she had also seen a lot of the dangers and horrors that came with being in Luceti as well. Not long after Ai settled here, she began seeing results of the Malnosso's experiments with her own eyes, and that was different than just reading it on the guide. Belle, for instance, who had seemingly lost her ability to read and was so distraught over it, or Obi-Wan Kenobi, who wasn't even tangible anymore, left to starve and feel endless thirst until his condition wore off. She had seen how it was like for others to either have their friends depart from this world or live with them in it together in the face of Serah and Aang respectively. A part of her was lonely because nobody she knew from home was also here, yes, but she realized that they would be exposed to the same dangers she would, and nobody could tell exactly when they would go back, and whether it would even be at the same time. But most of all, the recent draft had visibly left a lot of people somewhat scarred - she was lucky enough not to be among the ones heading to Terrace, but she knew that her time could someday be up too, and there were places that were far from safe here. And with the Malnosso and the Third Party organization looming over them all as well, there was no telling what could happen in the future.

But still, here she was, trying to better her Luceti life while it lasted anyway, accepting these dangers for what they were and mentally preparing herself to potentially face them. The girl wasn't going to achieve this by simply brooding over them, however, and what she could do was contrast all of this with the good in Luceti that made living here even exciting, in a way. One example of that would be the people she met and already started to get to know even better than before, like Rei Hino, whose shrine she already had the pleasure of visiting, and Diamond, the ever-cheerful Pokémon trainer who told her even more about where he came from. And another way to enjoy herself were all the hobbies she could continue doing here - one of them being swimming, of course, and while it wasn't quite warm enough for her to do it outside yet, she still wanted to finally check out the lakes near the village. She had found herself exploring the village a lot, but she hadn't really made trips out of it before, so this was a good place to start doing so. The temperatures finally warming up a little gave her some motivation for it too, and as a proof of the weather change, she was wearing a lighter open black jacket over the long-sleeved purple shirt she had gotten for herself about five days ago, along with her blue denim jeans. It was a somewhat windy day, but not as cold as it had been at the beginning of the week.

And soon enough, her eyes were met with the view of the western lake of Luceti, the trees around her gradually clearing up, the slowly running river emptying into the massive body of water in front of her. It was even larger than she expected it to be, or it looked that way anyway, and it was about half the size of the entire village, if her map was correct. It was surrounded by the forest on all sides, a pleasantly giving it a sense of seclusion and isolation, and the water was clear as well, giving her an idea of how deep it was as well. The only signs of civilization here were ones that made her furrow her brows curiously as she briefly stared at them; what she was looking at was some kind of ropes course between the northern shore and where the river emptied into the lake, joined by several poorly constructed treehouses which were linked together by rope-and-plank bridges. Going there would probably be a dangerous experience for anyone, so for now she was just going to stick to observing the lake for a while.

That was pretty much what Ai could do for now anyway, even though what she wanted most was to swim, especially after feasting her eyes on the lake itself. Walking up to the water and kneeling down, she felt it with her hand to see how it was, still finding it lamentably colder than her desired temperature. Unfortunately, with Luceti's climate being what it was, it would take a bit more time for the weather to really warm up enough, and while she could continue trying to figure out the programming behind the Battle Dome and continuously create her own scenarios, it was the real thing she sought after most. Not to mention that there wasn't any time limit here that she had to adhere to, nor did she have to give it up like she would have to with the simulator chamber if somebody else wished to use it. With how large this lake was, even if the were more people out swimming, there would surely be a place for her to find just for herself and enjoy it peacefully, all of her worries set aside.

So, after pulling back her hand from the water, Ai looked at the crystal clear water of the western lake, seeing her reflection in it, showing the soft smile she had on her face and the excited look in her sharp purplish eyes. Because of the windy day, her black hair was lightly blowing as well, some of her bangs moving in front of her eyes, shifting to either the left or the right. And with her current, lighter attire, she didn't feel cold at all, which was a definitely a good sign of the upcoming summer. It was spring already, after all, and the last snow that had fallen in Luceti took place only a few days after her arrival here, a heat wave soon following, which was definitely a step in the right direction. With that in mind, she reaffirmed that it wouldn't be too long until she'd get to enjoy this, and that thought made her smile widen even more.

The girl proceeded to lie down on the grass by the lake, propping herself up on her elbows as she did, her eyes taking in the scenery in front of her once again. At the very least, she could relish in the tranquility of the place a bit more before she headed back to the village. Thinking on it, this was actually a good spot for a picnic as well, so perhaps next time she should bring some food with her too, and maybe she should also get herself a new bag from the shops to carry it in. Yes, this was definitely a good idea, and she could do that either here or at the Cherry Blossom Tree Hill that she had yet to visit. She had been here for a decent amount of time already, yes, but she sure wasn't running out of things to do.

It was thoughts like these that helped Ai in the situation she was in, and at that precise moment of her enjoying being in the midst of nature, she was taking another step towards truly seeing Luceti as her home. While thoughts of her family and friends would never cease to enter her mind, times like these when she could focus on the good sides of being here were precious, bringing about a strong, positive feeling in her. This was truly nice, and it made her all the more excited for the upcoming season change. The days spent waiting that didn't involve her spending time like this with herself could certainly be filled by building a life there and being in the presence of the people she had already begun to acquaint herself with.