asobouyo | 43rd Teddy Bear [Video/Action]

43rd Teddy Bear [Video/Action]

[Nami went home. It's another tally on her list of people she dearly misses now—she marks them down and can count them off on her fingers. Mom... dad... Mr. Luffy... Nami left... Archie... J-Jilly.... Pao-Lin and Miss Lightning... Noel and Mr. Ling... Ace.... Lots of people are gone. She's been so afraid of being left alone, but she never considered maybe it wouldn't just stop at her mama and papa. She never considered that she herself were capable of leaving, either.

Maybe—someday... she'll be all alone.

And every time it hurts. It hurts! She counts off the names and it still makes her want to hide in her covers and cry. She's too young to appreciate that they're in their own worlds, where they belong. Lucky for her, not to know some were going to their deaths. Did she even have any pictures of some of them? She's got a few, but—they're not enough. Some people don't have any at all to hang up. It's awful, to sit there and see blank places on your wall where you could have so easily had more images... of loved ones you might not see again.

She spends the next few days collecting up as much as she can from the item shop, whenever Winry or Ed is willing to take her (well, one more willing than the other, all things considered). She has her pink camera, and if she can just get even more film for photos, she can get lots and lots of pictures. This is what her father did, right? He's the reason she has a picture of her and Nami together.

Thank you, papa. Thank you for giving her pictures to remember.

While she's at school, she'll call out to familiar faces, surprisingly eager.]

Let's take a picture together!!

[Out in her front yard, she excuses herself from her play time with her action figures and dolls to usher her friends over, if they visit, if they happen by. There are some she knows who take the trail often; she may or may not be betting on that.]

Can you take a picture with me??

[She's out of breath, just having caught someone she knows in the corner of her eye; what if they vanish in the next few moments, and she never catches them, and she grows up and forgets their faces? She calls out down the road, close to the smithy where Winry works (she likes to visit, sometimes; it's nice to stay there):]

Wait! Can we have a picture? Just one!

[Sometimes she just calls out to two people out on a stroll, friends, clearly friends or relatives or lovers, people who probably love each other like she loved her friends. She smiles and looks hopeful, and holds up her camera that hangs off her neck.]

Do you want a picture of you two??

[Eventually, a click. No flash. No film. She's all out.]

[Video]

[The feed is just of her laying on her bed sideways, holding her camera close to her. With all her thoughts circling her head, she's been trading out the camera for her stuffed plushies when bed time comes around. She turns on video, because it's also a good way to see people sometimes. Even if it gets harder and harder to find their... pages... She can't find some of her papa's old pages. She was sure she could remember where they were.

Her lips are pursed, and her camera is held against her heart.]

People go away... How do you make it stop hurting? ... I wish my memories were so good, I could remember like a movie. I wanna remember every little thing, but it's hard to remember so many little things... [Her eyes well up with tears. They drip into the small crease between her eye and nose, pools there as her voice goes low.] I don't wanna grow up and forget.

I don't wanna forget. What should I do?

[.....]

.... I need more film... for pictures.

Threaded | Flat

[It never stops hurting. Sometimes forgetting is best.

But that's not something to say to a kid. So, Clove opts for practical.]

You could write down what you remember. That way, you can read it later and remember it.

[Aang is kicking around a soccer ball outside of the school when ~~when a couple of guys who were up to no good starting making trouble in my neighborhood! Got in one little fight and my mom got mad - said you're moving with your aunt and uncle in Bel Air!~~ he hears Elicia calling out to him. He looks to her with a bright smile as he holds up the ball.]

A picture? I'd love to, Elicia!

[Cameras are something that are still somewhat new to Aang, but in a good and fun way. The journals' functions have at least gotten him used to it to an extent, but he loves the little flash cameras make.]

[ Madoka's had the same problem plenty of times, honestly. Tons of friends have left over time, most noticably the ones from her own world, but.. she's always trying to get over it. It's difficult though, so she can only imagine just how much more difficult it must be for someone younger. ]

.. Hey, Elicia-chan.. sometimes we don't just remember things with our head, you know? Sometimes we remember them with our heart, so we remember them even if it might not seem like it. At least, that's what I think. Hehe.

[When he hears Elicia outside the smithy calling out names, Sokka decides to intervene.]

You're going to scare away all my customers if you keep yelling at them.

[If only. If only it stopped hurting. If only she could forget all those she lost, both here and at home. Make the pain go away. Somehow focus on the here and now, what she has instead of what she lost.

But since she lost her father - her father whose voice she can no longer remember - she clung to the memories. Clung and mourned and wished over a million times that she had been the one to die. To die in the bombings instead of her sister. In the tunnels instead of Finnick. So many good people lost their lives.

So many people have left her that she'll never see again.

This little girl's plea breaks her heart. The little girl, Elicia, that she planted strawberries with last year. She's too young to have to know this kind of pain.

It takes her a moment or two to organize her thoughts. To blink away her own tears and push aside her own sadness to focus on the girl instead. And she thinks of the painting upstairs in the studio that once was Peeta's. The painting she's ignored since he left.]

Have you tried drawing? In addition to the photographs?

[At school, Elicia might see Vanellope at the playground, peering out to the plaza intently. It's recesstime, so classes aren't over yet. But if she timed it just right, she could probably glitch her way out and to freedom if no one was looking...!]

[But when Elicia calls out to her, she jumps! Startled, and in a flash of blue code and pixels, Vanellope actually vanishes for a heartbeat or two before she reverts to her tangible form.]

Woah! Wear a bell next time, huh, Elicia?

I would be amenable to getting you more film for your camera.

[Spock regards the small girl with a concerned, but kind expression... This is quite the burden for one so young.]

[Someone is strolling along through the village -- someone who LOVES photo ops!]

Oi! HOla, Elicia! And how might you be doing, eh? Up to mischief one hopes?

[This was why Souji sometimes hated this place. Children learned too quickly what it meant to grow up, how much it could hurt to be parted from the ones they loved, and it wasn't fair. He wanted children to remain as children as long as possible. But then, he wanted a lot of things that couldn't be granted.

He turns on his video and smiles for the little girl on the other side.]

The hurt is the memory that you loved them. It will fade and the love will remain eventually. If it hurts now, I don't think you will forget.

[It seems poor Elicia has bad news dropped into her lap each time he hears from her. Her poignant questions and the glimpse of her tears catch him at a less than opportune moment, but he doesn’t have it in him to ignore the entry despite the raw ache in his chest the recent shift has left him with, threatening his composure.

You and me both, kiddo. You and me both.]

Unfortunately, the pain of missing someone isn’t like a scraped knee you can just put a bandaid over and forget about. It never really goes away… but it fades. It gets easier. All you can do is take each day as it comes. If you really want to remember, you can write about the things that mean something to you and keep that notebook close so you can always look back at it whenever you need to and remember the good times.

[Vash will be walking by at some point, but will Elicia recognize him? It's been while since they last talked and his hair has gotten so long now that he just pulls it back in a small pony tail now. It's easier that way.

He's also wearing blue jeans and a black winter's coat instead of his usual red. He's just on a walk today, his mind wandering, so he doesn't notice Elicia just yet.]

[She smiles faintly]

A picture would be wonderful, Elicia-chan.

[As for forgetting...]

It's all in what you remember. Smiles and voices can fade over time no matter what you do...so you should try hard to keep in your heart how the good times felt. How wonderful they were. How much you love those who've gone. Those kinds of memories will keep you happy, if only a little, when the hard times come.

You can write and draw everything you see and learn, or collect keepsakes from everyone you know. And if that does not suffice, you can ask them to write and draw for you, too. It's easier to remember if others also do.

[Stopping the pain, however, is something he cannot help with.]

[There's a kid in here.

A kid.

And from the sound of it, she had family here with her, until recently.

Goddamn this place...]

You'll remember them. Maybe not as clear as you do now, but you will remember. Just do what you can to help it along. Pictures where you can, other things where you can't. Throw a little party for them each year if you want, to remind yourself they're still with you in you heart. But I promise you won't forget. Some things just stay with you over the years. Loved ones are one of those things.

[This girl. Itachi has spoken with her before, hasn't he?

Law knows her better, but then that's normally the case.]

How good are you at copying words when you see them?

Edited 2013-02-26 09:16 (UTC)

You want some film, Elicia?

[He understands her sentiment about holding onto memories. Maiza is good at remembering, but he doesn't know if anything will begin to fade, one day.]

I can help you look for some, if you want.

[Belle is smiling thoughtfully, disguising the twist in her stomach Elicia's post has given her. It's upsetting to see her so sad. Just another reminder that this place takes a big toll on those left behind. Not that she, herself, has lost anyone yet.]

Taking pictures is a wonderful idea Elicia. Do you have an album to keep them in?

[Post-lunch date, Tony and Pepper are heading back home when they come across Elicia in her picture-taking frenzy. Tony is hardly camera-shy, but upon seeing his favorite pint-sized human he remembers VERY DISTINCTLY that he still hadn't followed through on his dare.

Maybe she'll have forgotten by now............but no, he won't cross his fingers on that one.]

Picked up a new hobby, Short Stack?

[Well the 24th is a Sunday. ...But no really she's making her way over to Winry and therefore Elicia's place with a basket under her arms and done up a little. It's going to be a sitting in thing today, probably, but she had this neat idea involving modeling clay. But yeah, she's actually making her way to the house]

I've got an idea. You wanna hear it?

[She was nabbed for a picture earlier and didn't quite get it, but would never refuse that kind of request from Elicia.]

It probably won't make it stop hurting when people leave but it might make them seem less far away.

[He passes her by the school, stopping to greet her with a smile. The colorful bat by his side chirps and flutters over to her, circling around her head.]

Pictures, huh? So, what's the occasion?

[Sometime after meeting with Haruhi Winry (before Elicia's bedtime) gets the little girl alone. She has the bowl of old popcorn and string to do what they had talked about before. However... however Winry has something important to ask Elicia. She'll be saving it for when they've been crafting for a bit, though.]

Hey, Elicia. You wanted to string up the popcorn, right?

[Today is one of those days when Tear has taken Colonel Arthur further from the house and to explore the village further – it's easy to tell the puppy was occupying a lot of attention, determined as he was to run away – so she doesn't notice Elicia in the area at first.]

[The days pass. Life goes on. Sanji goes to work and cooks, like he's done for nearly every day of his life. Dishes to wash, plates to serve, customers to wait upon. Existing in this world of food means it's almost possible to forget what's waiting for him back home: emptied rooms and a sullen lack of cheer. His crew thinning out. Loneliness.

But that's another shade to Luceti, isn't it. One that's unavoidable. So Sanji accepts it and keeps moving through his work, expression tired and scarred, but unflinching in its own right.

Not exactly the type of face you'd want to see in a picture, though.]

Threaded | Flat

video:

Action

video;

no subject

[video]

no subject

[Video] - have a Vulcan~