Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.

[not_heavens_adam]

Some theoretical five years into the future, the Great Powers That Be have granted characters one (completely optional) chance
to go home. Everyone has a difficult decision to make, perhaps
one of their most trying: will they make the trip back home, now that
the path is open? Or will they remain in Vatheon, to continue
their lives without ever seeing their homes again?





R U L E S
~ Post with your character(s)!
~ In the subject line write either LEAVING or STAYING.
~ Optional: write a little blurb about who your character has become, or their feelings on the situation.
~ Everyone tag each other!
~ ???
~ FUN OR TEARS???

Comments

STAYING

[bufudine]

[Two choices. Both of them are less than ideal. But when one choice is to go back to a 'home' that doesn't exist any more, and the other is to stay in a home they could live in relative peace? The choice is easy. They can still search for a way to Nirvana from here.

... It'll be sad to see many of his new friends go, though.]

[halfhearted]

[Not the only one sticking around in the bubble. Sure he can't get his way here, but he definitely couldn't get his way back home where both him and Ventus is pretty much destroyed.

He was there see who was leaving. If asked he would say to mock them, but his true reasons weren't going to be shared.

Five years was a long time of seeing the same faces all the time.]

[bufudine]

[Heh. Five years... Funny how he's spent more time in Vatheon than he has in the Junkyard.

Serph moves to stand beside Vanitas. Vanitas had been a little troublesome to talk to, initially -- Or rather, there had been an avoidance of talk -- but... well, it's still a bit hard to read him, sometimes.]

Do you miss them?

[demonicbookworm]

_{[Ruca approaches Serph. He lets a sigh before speaking.]}

I guess this is goodbye...

[bufudine]

[Serph isn't bitter that some of his friends will be leaving, and certainly isn't bitter Ruca is one of them. He understands many have unfinished business to attend to back in their world. It wouldn't be fair for him to keep them.

Serph nods. He isn't about to put on sad face when he's saying goodbye, though. He reaches out to put a hand on Ruca's shoulder.]

Thank you for the company over the years.

Staying

[not_heavens_adam]

[So...this was it? The choice he'd always entertained in his head but had never actually considered. Johnny stood off to the side of the plaza, watching the coral, watching for who might be deciding to go.

Should he go? Back to Earth? To L.A.? To Cherry?

Maybe. Maybe he should. But that didn't mean he would. He was going to stay in this turbulent bubble that had become home.

It was about time his 'son' left the nest anyway....]

[replicatedcourage]

[A small hand slips its way into Johnny's as the tall man continues his musings. Sola, too, had decided to stay but that was no surprise. There was no home to return to, not for him. He'd died there, laid slain floating just over the wet floor of his temple. Vatheon had given him a second chance.

No, that's not quite right. The bubble represented a first chance. A chance to be Sola instead of Dark Link, to be a person instead of a shadow or replacement. To be cared for. To be loved. To give love.

Of course he would stay, and he can't help but be glad that one of the people who had shown him it was possible to live for himself is staying too.

Sola gives Johnny's hand a small, quiet squeeze as they stand and watch the other foreigners mill around the coral.]

[not_heavens_adam]

[Johnny gives Sola's hand a squeeze in return as his eyes pass over people nearby.]

Is it bad that I'm happy you don't have a home to go back to?

[It might have been a bit harsh sounding...but it was the truth. As sad as the thought was, Johnny was glad this was one good-bye he wouldn't have to make.

[closedcircuit]

[Ky lifted a hand to Johnny, as he headed toward the coral. He let his feet bring him towards Johnny, although not so much to encroach. His face was carefully neutral, but there wasn't that much for him to feel. It was clear what he had to do.]

I suppose this is goodbye.

[demonicbookworm]

Johnny...

_{[he hesitates.]}

I... I wanted to say goodbye...

_{[ah, why is this so hard. He really doesn't want to go... he has to, though. There are people waiting for him back home.]}

Leaving

[sorcery_fledgling]

[Rinoa's got to go back. Even though she's given a choice, there really isn't one. As terrified as she is of returning home, to what awaited her as a sorceress, she had to return and see this conflict through. She had to return so she could liberate Timber. To support her friends and SeeD through whatever was about to come their way.

And something had to be done about the sorceress that had possessed Edea and herself. Rinoa isn't sure what her role is going to be, but she knows she has one.

Still, the decision doesn't come easily. She's made friends here, she was adopted into a family. And she feels terrible for having to turn her back on them. This was inevitable, but it doesn't make it hurt less, or stop the tears.]

[bufudine]

[Hey, hey, no tears, okay? Serph's sad to see her go, but he understands. He understands wanting to go back and see things through; Rinoa has unfinished business back in her world, after all. He doesn't.

Serph steps forward and gives her a tight hug. He'll miss her, even if it doesn't show much on his face.]

[sorcery_fledgling]

[There's no holding them back. She sniffles as she hugs him back, just as tightly. There aren't enough words to describe what she's feeling right now.]

I'm gonna miss you so much. I wish I could stay, or that you and the others could come...

Leaving

[angelphones]

[He knows he could be happy here. He knows that he won't remember people from here if he goes. He knows he wants to stay.]

[But he also knows that he can't. He has a duty, and he's going to make things right for everyone. He'll find a way to break his brother's curse, and to get both the angels and the demons to back off.]

[That doesn't make the desire to stay here any less strong, though.]

[not_heavens_adam]

[Johnny spotted the boy he'd come to see and treat as a son in the plaza and waited a moment, maybe he was only here to watch and see who would leave like he was....but that didn't seem to be the case.

He wasn't...

The vampire approached, a bit of uncertainty and caution in his voice.]

Katsu....?

[angelphones]

[He turns to look at Johnny, tears in his eyes.]

... Hey.

[He walks towards him, and pulls him into a tight hug.]

Sorry...

Staying

[blitz_acing]

[Did he have much of a choice? He didn't have a place in Spira anymore, but he had managed to make one here. He wasn't about to walk away from that.

Still, he stands there, looking around for anyone he might know who is leaving (or staying).]

Leaving

[behind_my_smile]

[It was a hard decision..to stay and have a place he could call home..or return to the others that needed him. He no longer has a home of his own after all. All he can do from this point on is travel. It would be nice to be able to settle somewhere and not have to worry about anything anymore. But his life is dependent on that of another..and that person isn't even here.

Perhaps the decision isn't as hard as Fai thought it would be at first..he needed to return to their side. He had to finish the journey and save the princess. He had to find a way to live as he has promised to do.

He must find his most important people..]

[destroytheworld]

Finally! We can all leave this place!

<sub>[looks like somebody's really happy about that.

But is she really?]</sub>

Leaving

[closedcircuit]

[His duty on his world has always been more important than the ways he's found to fill his time on Vatheon, and he owes it to the people he could be helping to return there.]

[bufudine]

[Serph knows Vatheon is not the place for everyone, as nice as it would be. There are many with unfinished business back in their home world, so it doesn't surprise him when he sees that Ky will be leaving. It's his decision. Serph accepts it.

But he makes it a point to see Ky off. He nods.]

Thank you for the help in your time here. You'll be missed.

[His voice is as calm and neutral as ever, but he's sincere. No emotional displays here, though.]

STAYING

[relinquishing]

[To say goodbyes to those having to separate from him was hard... but Guy found himself detaching appropriately, one by one. They made their decisions for a reason. He'd offer a firm shake of the hand - a hug, if he could manage it - try for a few parting words before seeing them turn away.

He was particularly calm about his decision, though.

He knew Luke would survive after Akzeriuth. That had been his main concern from the beginning. The one thing that drove Guy to look for a way home - just to see that his best friend would come out alright in the end. He was fully aware of that now. He knew Luke would find support when he went back to Auldrant. Not if. When. Even in five years... it seemed that decision was always rather obvious for the redhead.

Even when Guy found out that Luke was, in fact, destined to die.

To die, and promise to return... and then...?

He didn't know.

He didn't know, and he didn't WANT to know.

That's why Guy hadn't mentioned that he was staying in Vatheon.

Sure, it was selfish. Horribly so.

But the future that had been revealed to him on Auldrant... was not a future he wanted to live in. This existence, this time... this is what he wanted to remember. Not to look back at the politics and travels and trinkets, failed plans and forced childhoods... and have to remember that he was dead.

Here, Luke would just be gone. Gone - somewhere else. Not dead. Never dead.

Call it selfish, but... he preferred that.]

[fabrecation]

[Luke had come to love it here.

There were people here who accepted him for who he was; not just as a replica, not just as Luke fon Fabre, but as someone who'd committed a horrible mistake and was trying his best to change that. He'd made acquaintances, close friends, fellow replicas, and still kept close ties with his friends from Auldrant, especially Guy. They'd been living together all this time, after all.

He found out more about this world than he ever did on Auldrant. And regarding Auldrant, he learned of a future that horrified him... that he'd die at a young age, trying to save his world. And maybe he'd come back. He promised. But... It wasn't a sure thing. He... died, after all.

Here, his problems were met with patience and concern, not impatient snaps to keep going and stop being an idiot. He'd felt... like he actually belonged somewhere. And to someone who technically didn't have a home, that meant so much to him.

And Luke decided to leave it all.

Some might have thought he was crazy. Why leave if he came to love it and its people so much? Some, however, would understand.

When Luke destroyed Akzeriuth, when he cut his hair and promised to change, he tied himself completely to his world. No matter how much he could love another world, he had a duty to Auldrant that he couldn't run away from. The world was still in danger, and it was still his fault. He knew that replicas weren't treated well there... it wouldn't be like Vatheon at all. But despite all of that, his duty to his world meant more to him than anything.

He expected his friends to stand beside him and walk with him to change their world.

So when he turns and sees Guy hanging back and away from the plaza, Luke freezes to a halt as he slowly feels his world tilting to the side.]

... Guy?

Staying

[blessedbyfarore]

[It's not even a choice.]

[Link can't go back, not unless he wants to return to a painful death. There's nothing there for him, and so the choice on whether to stay or go was an easy one.]

[Perhaps if things had turned out the way Zelda remembered them, where he did not fail, his decision would be otherwise. As it stands, however, all that remains is to find those he'll be saying goodbye to, and those he'll be staying with, and continue to live in Vatheon.]

Leaving

[demonicbookworm]

<sub>[He couldn't stay here no matter how much he would want to. He had to go back home to finish what he had started. He had to defeated Mathias and return the world to what it once had been. He had to return to his friends. He had to go back home to his parents, who were definitely worried about him.

But he didn't want to say goodbye to people he met here. He wished there would be something - anything that would make him believe he might one day see them again.

Of course, that was impossible. He probably wouldn't even remember this place.

These thoughts made saying 'goodbye' and leaving even more difficult. He really liked this place and people he met here.]</sub>