caughtinanetwork | [DREAM/Video]

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[DREAM/Video]

[Maka can't be seen in this dream, which is a bit unusual as any quick check of the user ID would show that it's her SFC-turned-Dreamberry that's making this broadcast. No, all anyone would be able to see is this strange creature wandering around what's presumably Maka's dreamscape. Even for Maka's lack of imagination, this creature seems decidedly...lame, it can't be a construct of hers. What is it? What's the point of it?

Then it starts talking.

And talking.

And talking.

And talking.]

[There's a clatter and the dream abruptly ends, soon Maka appears on the screen having apparently just woken up from sleeping at her desk. She finally notices the Dreamberry and scowls at it, muttering to herself "how lame" before reaching over and turning off the feed.]

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I'll tell you what he's not: here. So there's some good news at least.

Otherwise...his name is Excalibur, he's a really old Weapon--so maybe why he's so annoying is because he's senile, who knows--and absolutely nobody can tolerate him.

A Weapon? You didn't tell me about this before.

Too bad you finally got away from him and now you're having dreams. I hardly ever remember mine.

The Demon Weapon thing is always a little hard to explain, so I don't tend to introduce it right off the bat. But--yeah--in my world there are people that can turn into weapons, my partner can turn into a scythe, Excalibur turns into a sword. Not that he gets to show off his weapon form often since, again, nobody can tolerate him long enough to wield him.

[It's just...so mundane to her.]

...Uh-huh. You know, when I heard that other worlds were crazy and nothing like mine, I didn't think it meant that crazy.

Your weapon is a person?

Hey--I agree that it's weird for someone to hear about if they haven't grown up with it like I have, but I have to draw the line at "crazy." Crazy is a whole other thing in my world.

[To the shock of no one.]

Yes, he's a person, he's my best friend.

I know what crazy really means, it's just hard to get used to! I'm not trying to insult your friend.

You'd have to be pretty close if you fight together like that. [Honestly it's straining his brain a bit to imagine, but Zuko's trying. Look at him and all this cultural sensitivity.]

...Oh, did I explain that already? [..........She's had a lot on her mind, okay.]

Meisters and their Weapons have a very unique partnership, yeah. The bond exists directly in their souls, they live together, heck--sometimes Meister and Weapon partners get married, like my parents did. [Although that did not work out at all.]

[She didn't, actually.] Huh? I meant the normal kind of crazy! There's another kind?

[But his voice quiets right after that, because something about the way she speaks of it makes him think...] Yours isn't here?

...Oh...hmm...I'll explain insanity later. It's more complicated than the Demon Weapons.

[...Moving right away from that. Zuko's hit the nail right on the head (for once)!] No, he's not, he was here when I first arrived but then he left.

[She'll just kindly not mention that she's the only one from her world in Vatheon while she's at it.] That doesn't mean I can't use other weapons, he's just the one I'm strongest with.

Yeah, okay, it's not like it's need to know information anyway. [Carelessly dismissing that, because Zuko is just such a polite boy.

But this other thing is something he's more than familiar with. It can't help but remind him of his search for his mother a little.] I'm sorry. From what you've said, it must be hard to be without him. All you can do is hold onto the idea that you'll see him again some day.

[She laughs, but it's short, almost angry even.]

Tch. Not here if I'm lucky. This place ruins friendships, I can't imagine how it'd mess things up with Soul. I think...I think I'd rather die permanently than have anybody from my world here again.

What-- why? You're serious about that? [He can understand bitterness, definitely. But he can't understand something that sounds like giving up on someone.]

But you have to have more faith in him than that if he's important to you! You can't just give up, Maka.

I'm a Meister, we usually die in battle. Yes, taking an oath of death is completely serious on my part.

[A short intake of breath, her expression is as grim as ever.]

You remember when I said one of my friends accidentally killed me during a curse? It's...that insanity thing I mentioned, going insane and killing one of your comrades is a very severe crime in our world. Punishable by death. But the friend that did it is the son of our leader, so he's especially duty-bound to keeping everyone in Death City safe.

[This is hard to explain, and probably the first time Maka's ever spoken about it at great length with someone not involved. But...]

I tried to tell him so, so many times that it wasn't his fault and he couldn't control himself. But he was afraid and ashamed of himself. I was trying to keep things together, but two Meisters can't just hold things together themselves. We needed our partners...him and me, they're the anchors in our souls, our sanity. There was a rift between us from then on and it would only get bigger the more our frustration grew. He disappeared from Vatheon before I could fix things.

And Soul...he's pledged many times before that he'd do anything for me, even die for me. How do you think he'd feel if he ended up killing his Meister during some bout of insanity? Even if death ultimately means nothing here, since we need to be alive to carry on whatever this place wants with us, it would break his spirit. Just like it broke Kid.

[A flat stare, though pinpricks of tears gather at the corners of her eyes before she brushes them away.]

Whether it's being alone until I pass in a natural sense or somehow permanently dying here, I would rather that happen than watch Vatheon break my friends' souls one by one. This is not a good place at all.

Maka...

[Everyone else had seemed relatively at peace about being here, if not pleased with their circumstances then at least not displeased. Maybe they'd wanted to go home, sure, but the general consensus had seemed to be, it's not so bad here. So Zuko is astonished to see how negatively Maka thinks of it, to see the real depth of her unexpressed anger. And how to take out anger on a place, especially a place you're stuck at? He can almost feel her frustration at the helplessness of her situation, and he knows from personal experience how much he hates that feeling. Loathes it.

His eyes were wide as he took this all in, but now he shudders out a breath and closes them for a moment, and when they open again he is earnest with sympathy.]

I don't know what to say. I'm-- I'm sorry. The world is... is more cruel than we deserve. I know what it's like to feel like nothing you do will fix anything, and you're right to be angry about it!

But if he does show up... god, this is so hypocritical of me-- [He winces, touching a hand to a temple as if getting a headache, before looking up again.] If he shows up, try to give it a chance, okay? It seems impossible, but sometimes it does work out. Don't ruin your own chances.

[Giving pep talks is not a skill Zuko usually has, but he's trying hard right now. His normal blunt, accusatory needling-into-action won't work here, or maybe it would but he doesn't want it to. He hasn't known her long, but Maka's struggling with herself on something right now, and it's enough like himself that he wants to help.]

...[But she's...

Scared?

She's scared. She's afraid for Soul's well being, just as she was afraid for Kid's.

But this isn't how Maka operates with fear, she turns it into courage and fights on. Has being in Vatheon for the past year really worn her down so much that someone else has to remind her of what it means to have faith and take chances? Having time to think or to worry...was it really worth it?

Of course not, it's just made her into a miserable, bitter wreck.]

Zuko...I...[She stops, drawing into herself as she tries to force the words out. Finally she answers, though in a tone more strained and quiet than she intended:] I'll try. I'll try my hardest.

Sometimes the only thing you need to do is keep trying.

Anyway... you don't have to deal with it right now, so don't go borrowing trouble, alright? It's my fault it got brought up.

...Borrowing trouble? What does that even mean?

You haven't heard that before? [Hey, that's a legitimate adage, people use it all the time. He's not being a dork for once.]

It means don't add more problems to the ones you already have.

...We have "don't go looking for trouble" where I'm from.

[She is mystified and has never heard it before.]

Um. Thanks anyway, though.

Uh... you're welcome. Did I do okay? I don't give a lot of pep talks that don't include kicking someone through a wall.

[At this Maka actually cracks a smile, laughing a little.]

You did great. It's the best advice I've gotten since...Soul was here, actually. I've never spoken to anybody about what happened before now, so...I was kind of stuck.

[A pause before adding:] You're free to kick me through a wall in a different situation, though.

[Well. At least she's laughing, even if it's at him. He slumps in place a little, unable to be irritated in the face of her actually cheering up.]

It wasn't even that much advice. I just told you not to give up! I guess... I kind of know how you feel. It's easy to be fatalistic, but it's harder to change the world into what you want it to be.

--You want to train or something? [He blinks for a second, but then says with more confidence,] We could do that.

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