tushanshu | 009 ✞ [VIDEO] - Backdated to before the fog rolls in....

Entry tags:

009 ✞ [VIDEO] - Backdated to before the fog rolls in....

[Midii payed close attention to the Network. Often. She saw the conversation passing publicly between individuals. Noticed the patterns occurring. Such as the recent increase in people disappearing. Possibly being sent home. Coincidently, starting from soon after the Emperor had been killed, except Midii didn't think it was a coincidence.]

[But that wasn't why she came to the Network that day.]

[She had a different question in mind. Something she had been wondering about more and more, with every conversation she carried here:]

What if...somebody doesn't want to go home?

Could they make us? Or would they let us stay?

[Hypothetically speaking, of course.]

[Only it wasn't hypothetical at all.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Do you not want to go home, Midii?

[There's no judgement from Rapunzel. Just honest curisoity.]

No. I don't.

Do you?

[Likewise, there was no judgment on Midii's part either. She knew that her opinion fell within the minority. That there would be many people--including people she knew--that would jump at the chance to leave Keelai forever. Even that wasn't enough to sway her feelings on the matter.]

[She hesitates and plays with a strand of her hair.]

Well...that's complicated. There are still things I need to do back home, and there's mother to think about...

[She bites her lip gently.]

But I've met so many friends here and done so many new things - things I never thought I'd do - and it's hard to think of letting all of that go.

[That seemed to be the general consensus among the majority. For all those that wanted nothing more than to go home...even then had some highlights about their stay in Keelai. Friendships formed. Information shared. In some cases, even romances emerging.]

[It was like some kind of inter-dimensional soap opera; Midii had seen one of those programs a few times in the past. Mostly in passing, as her family had no television of their own. They were lucky enough to have a small radio.]

Is your world nice?

Yes! [She pauses, shrinking back somewhat.] I mean, I think so. I didn't get to see very much of it before I came here. But almost everything I saw was really nice.

['Not getting to see very much of it' could easily have meant the girl had never left her hometown or village before. Which...a little strange, especially since Midii had been all over her home continent in traveling alongside the soldiers...but not entirely unheard of, either. Especially if her family had been poor.]

That's a good reason to want to go back home.

Do you think you'd get to see more of it if you did?

I'd like to! But I think there are a few things I'd need to do first.

...like taking care of Riva?

Yes! Absolutely! I know you and Septimus take good care of her too, but I'd feel awful leaving her behind.

She'd miss you very much, too, I'm sure. Or any of the friends she's made since she hatched.

[She nods.]

I think that's why it's so hard to think about. I'd miss everyone here so much if I were to go back home.

But don't you miss the people from your home just as much?

Well, yes. There's Mother, of course. I do miss her but when I left things were, well, complicated.

Everyone else I could miss is here, too.

How complicated?

[For a girl with far too many secrets of her own, it was almost surprising how often MIdii would instinctively ask questions she had no business asking; a moment later, she realized her error, and smiled sheepishly at her fellow Turtle Mother.]

Sorry.

You don't have to answer that if you don't want to.

No. It's alright.

[By now she's gotten used to explaining things like this. She didn't mind quite so much anymore now that she knew people didn't think she was too strange because of her upbringing.]

My mother raised me alone, secluded from other people. She was afraid people would try to hurt me. I had just left my tower for the first time, without her permission, when I was brought her. She wasn't happy with me.

[Midii thought it was strange, but not for the usual reasons. Her brows visibly furrowed, recalling the previous parts of their conversation.]

But...you said your world was nice. [Because that's clearly the only thing amiss in this scenario in which a mother locks up her only daughter.] What was she protecting you from, exactly?

Because someone tried to. Once. When I was a baby.

[Her hand instinctively goes to the back of her neck, but Rapunzel doesn't elaborate. She was still being very selective about who she told her secret to.]

Just the one time?

Are you sure it wasn't just a fluke?

[Rapunzel nodded and avoided looking directly at the console.]

I'm sure. There was a reason for it. I just...I can't really say what it is.

[A secret. It would be a lie to say Midii wasn't curious, but true to her word, she wouldn't pry.]

If you're absolutely certain, then.

That's nice that you have a mother who cares so much about you.

I guess so, yes.

[She twists some of her hair nervously.]

I mean, she was right to worry. I'm sure there really are some terrible people out there that would do bad things...but I can't help but feel like she's forgotten about all the good and wonderful people there are out there. I'd met a few before I came here, and now even more!

I just...I don't know if I'll be able to make her understand that.

[Midii was inclined to agree. Particularly about the really terrible people, but also about the good people as well. Even in her world, war-torn and full of horrors, there were always those who had been kind to her...only to pay the price later on.]

[But maybe Rapunzel's world didn't have to be like that.]

What if you learned how to defend yourself?

You're a grown-up now. That's what grown-ups do.

I have my frying pan...

And my hair.

It's worked for me so far, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to learn something more.

The frying pan sounds like a good start, at least.

[No idea what hair could possibly do...?]

[She laughs lightly.]

It has come in handy a few times.

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;