kingdoms_of_auradon | Don't Be Afraid To Be Who You Are

Rain

It was nice for it to finally feel like Spring. Sephiroth went outside with the rest and soon sat down under a tree, dozing off to sleep burrowed under all three wings.

He awoke feeling refreshed, sleepily blinking as he uncurled his wings and stretched them. But as he looked around at everyone there, he would probably have more than a few startled reactions to see them.

Gifts

After that bizarre experience, Sephiroth wanted to get away and think and try to make sense of everything. He was stunned to enter his room and see something he hadn't seen in ages. Unable to believe it at first, he advanced quickly into the room and picked it up. Yes ... it wasn't an illusion; it was really there. Reverently he turned the pages, seeing the recipes for his mother's favorite meals, written in her handwriting. How had it gotten there? And why?

The Rain Rain Rain

Eli normally would not have gone to sleep outside now that they were somewhere with actual doors that locked. But it was still daytime so probably safe. Maybe. And actually to be honest, Auradon kind of scared her a little. So far no one went after her and Foulques was winning the stupid bet. But she kept waiting for the other oddly non-patched shoe to drop.

So when she wandered out for her nap she found a place between two trees behind the school in hopes no one would find her. She was about to lay down, then had one more plan. She climbed.

Eli had trained, she was good at climbing.

She settled herself into the tree, in the crossing of some branches by the trunk, and used leaves to hide herself. That done, she gave into the drowsiness and Elianne fell asleep.

.......................

And Kaylin Neya fell awake. Specifically she fell out of the tree. Anyone nearby who missed the sound of her falling probably heard the sound of her game-nerfed swearing. In at least six distinct languages even. It was probably fairly impressive, if someone limited in content.

Finally she got herself untangled and took stock as her memories caught up. Too many to process all at once. She swore again and headed towards the school, looking for something stronger than water to drink.

For those who are used to Elianne, in some ways this young woman still looks just like her. If nothing else the height is practically the same. While Kaylin no longer looks as starved and scrawny as Eli did, she is still on the underweight side. Her hair is still a ragged mess, though now it is at least clean - or had been till she hit the grass - and pulled back into a messy bun that was staked with a gnawed up stick. Like Eli her clothes were wrinkled and looked slept in. But at least they actually fit.

While the black leather pants were as patched as anything Eli wore, the long sleeved shirt with the buttons on the wrists, the tabard, the leather armor between the shirt and the tabard... those were all actually intact. She wore a belt over the tabard. The belt held three daggers in sheaths - two curved and one more futuristic, a gift from adult Leia - a belt pouch, handcuffs, and a beat stick. The tabard itself was grey and blue with a flying hawk stitched on it in gold thread that looked dingy and in need of a wash, and a second gold hawk was beaded on one shoulder.

But clothing was clothing. For the most part, nothing there really made her look too much more or less like Elianne. They had the same fair skin though, and the same brown eyes. Though on Kaylin there were heavy bags under them. But the hard edge in them, that bit that never fully softened... that was still there.

But in some ways she looked nothing like Eli any more. It wasn't just having her hair up, or clear age difference. It wasn't even just that she also wore an antique gold bracer with jewels on it that Eli could have never afforded.

The mot obvious difference was what looked like a tattoo on her face. A thin delicate design of a flower. Deadly Nightshade, specifically. Another big difference though was how she held herself. Her glance was sharp and she seemed observant in some way. But more... she held herself with confidence. It wasn't the swagger Eli put on when she was bluffing. It was the walk of someone who knew she could hold her own in a fight. And who generally knew how to avoid a fight in the first place when she wanted to.

At the moment what she wanted was booze. And food. And a place to sit and think for a bit. So yeah, she was striding purposefully towards the front of the school, watching and listening for anyone who might be approaching.

Gift In Time

Kaylin hadn't even made it all the way back to the room that had been Eli's when something small came hurtling through the air at her. She caught it just before it slammed into her face. It was flailing too much to get a good look at it, save for the impression of something vaguely cat sized with pale wings and maybe a tail?

"Ocean wall it, Hope! Stop it!" she snapped. "I don't feel like having blood running down my ocean walled face. I have enough to deal with right now. Like where the actual happinesses have you been this whole ocean walled time. And what the actual happinesses were they talking about time? And while we're at it, if I am my adult self again then WHY THE ACTUAL OCEAN WALLED DOUBLE TAILED THRICE CURST MISBEGOTTEN CAST OFF CAN'T I ACTUALLY CURSE!?"

The Rain Rain Rain Came Down Down Down Aqua loved the scent in the air that came with each change of the seasons. She headed outside happily to take it all in as she jogged. But eventually she found herself tiring. She stretched so she wouldn't stiffen up, then found a tree to sit against. She closed her eyes to meditate, and then...

She hadn't fallen asleep during meditation in years. And yet she fell asleep. She awoke lightly bedewed some time later, bemused at herself even as she yawned. "I wonder if this is how Snow White felt..."

Gift In Time Gift In Time Nary A Reason Nary A Rhyme Gift In Time!

Aqua came outside again soon after she found her gift. She wanted to see what it would do. So she could be found later that day attaching a new charm to her Keyblade. As soon as she did, however, her outfit changed and she was in a ballgown with a wide skirt - pants under it. She blinked looking down at herself. "I am not sure which I am more curious about," she said out loud, smiling a bit, quite amused, "why my clothing changed... or how I am supposed to fight in this..." She smiled at whoever was nearby. "I suppose I should just be thankful this one doesn't talk." She held out her sparkling blue Keyblade, watching the glitter languidly drift down from it.

Rain Rain Rain Puppy Pile

As much as possible, Xion had stayed close to one or the other of her best friends. Or both. Both was the ideal. Thankfully they were all together when the impulse to go outside hit. She kept a grip on each of their sleeves and tried to hide herself between and behind them, listening to them talk to each other. But then she was sleepy and they seemed sleepy. She had a moment of panic when she and Roxas were both sleepy that she was broken again, and then Axel was sleepy and that was also terrifying, but then...

Then she was waking up with one of her arms under Roxas' head, and her legs under Axel with her other hand in his face and she was just... so confused. And damp. Her face was wet like she had been crying. Or like she'd been standing at the edge of the ocean with her hood down.

Wait, her hood was down! She took her hand off Axel's face to try and fix the hood, but the way she was laying, she couldn't. Her squirming, however, might be what started to wake her friends...

When The Rain Pours
Normally Harry wouldn’t be sleeping outside for short naps under the shade of trees, especially when it begins to rain, and yet he can’t help being drawn to go outside and check out rain. But as he goes out the student square, he begins to feel very drowsy before unknowingly falling asleep on one of the benches.

After what feels like an eternity (it was two hours real time), a raindrop soon lands on his face, causing him to wake up. He still looks like himself but he does wake up to memories of a future that he hasn’t gotten to experience just yet and it really confuses him so much more than the unusually long nap.

Memories of working for the Ministry as a top Auror, being married to Ginny and being a father to 3 children. He is not yet ready to be either so those memories did put him in his very odd situation. He hasn’t figured out on what he wanted to do for his future right now and he had made a promise (albeit a reluctant one) to Kyoko to never to fall in love again and yet he still has some hope that he would try to reconcile with the ginger haired lady someday. What’s a stranded wizard to do?

Gifts in Time
Not long after that very long sleep, Harry does return to his dorm room when a loud series of hoots and squeaks from Hedwig and Rose alert him to a gift box on his bed. He hadn’t been expecting gifts at this time so he was unsure of what to make of it. That is until he begins to open it up to find his old Robin Hood costume from his Avalon adventures. Oh how he hasn’t seen it in such a long time after the Halloween relief concert for Celliwig.

He should be very happy to see it again but now he does want to know how did it managed to get into the room out of New Camelot. The young man also would have no idea that wearing said costume in this world will result in, erm, interesting reactions from the Auradon locals…

Edited 2025-04-27 17:17 (UTC)

Rain

Prompto was sitting on the roof. The sun was quickly disappearing behind some clouds, but that was okay, there was still a breeze. He had opened his wings wide behind him, letting the wind play through his feathers. He wouldn't admit it, but it was nice to not have to worry about hiding his wings. Even if he still wasn't flying, they felt stronger than they had in a long time. Of course, it was still only exclusively when he was alone like this that he was comfortable enough to spread them wide like this. Without the fear of someone sneaking up behind him, hands in his feathers when he wasn't expecting it.

He shuddered. Forced a calming breath. A sprinkle of rain came down around him, and despite himself, he found himself lying back on the roof, wings wide beneath him. He was suddenly exhausted, and the warm spring air was inviting beyond belief. He closed his eyes, and for once, there were no nightmares to plague his dreams.

Gifts

When Prompto woke from his nap, he was a little damper than he'd prefer. Not as soaked as he figured he should be, but the dew coating his wings was enough to risk tangling his feathers if he wasn't careful. He decided it was best to head back inside for now, try and dry off a bit.

When he made it back to his room, he was only intending to head to the bathroom and get a towel, but he stopped short as he noticed something sitting on the foot of his bed. His first worry was that someone had let themselves into his room, even if it was only to leave some kind of gift. That worry quickly faded when he opened the little leather case though.

He ran his fingers along the feathers. Moisture sprung to his eyes. It was easy to recognize his own pure white feather, though he had mixed feelings on it being there at all. The others though... One, long, narrow, sandy brown; Ignis. Another, dark and somewhat square, from Gladio. There was a wide, spotted one, with little tufts near the base that belonged to Cor. And last but not least, a small thing, so dark it could be black, but when the light caught it just right, it shimmered with the faintest flickers of Noct's crystalline magic.

They were woven onto a cord, somehow the exact style worn across Insomnia. No one here could have made it, let alone gotten ahold of the feathers it was made of. His tears spilled over, and he cradled the tassel gently to his chest. Whatever magic had brought him this, he said a silent thank you.

Noct's words rang clearly through his head. 'You do have a flock though. Even when we didn’t know you had wings, you were still a part of my flock. Prompto you’ve always been ours, and we’re yours.' And now he had a way to show that.

He looped the cord around a lock of hair behind his ear. If he added a string of beads he'd be able to hear them click together, a reminder of the feathers he could just barely feel tickling his ear. He wiped the tear tracks from his cheeks. The cafeteria was the best place to find someone who'd be able to help him with the beads, and so that was where he headed.

Once safely away from prying eyes- he didn't want to give any impressionable and much less fireproof people ideas- Lea used a quick bit of fire magic to dry himself off before returning to his room to change into some fresh clothes. Waiting for him on the bed, though, was a surprise. Or rather three surprises.

He could hardly believe it; his old toy throwing discs! And not just replicas of them either, the actual same ones; his name was written in slightly faded marker under the edge of both of them, and one of them had the tip of one 'spike' slightly flattened where he'd thrown it as hard as he could and it ended up hitting a brick wall. Even 'high-impact' plastic was still no match for brick, as it turned out.

The third one however was new, metaphorically and- judging by its pristine condition- literally. Rather than the logo of Cinnabombs candy, it bore the image of four sea salt ice cream bars, each with a bit taken out, and arranged so their sticks were in the center, with each bar pointing to one of the disc's 'spikes'. And the background, rather than simple red, instead seemed to shift colors depending on how he held it, from gold to red then into purples; the colors of a sunset.

He smiled fondly, then put them down to get his clothes changed. He'd stick them in his pocket before going down to breakfast. He wanted to show Xion and Roxas, and see who else- if anyone- had gotten gifts.

Waking Up Is Hard To Do

It took Cassidy and Grey a little longer to wake up than it took most people. Mostly because they were very comfortable where they fell asleep, thank you very much. It helped that Grey had called in a blanket when they started feeling sleepy and put a shield spell and a warming spell on it before they laid down. Cassidy had thought to call in pillows. And they had then snuggled in close to each other, holding hands as they fell asleep staring into each other's eyes.

They are so sickeningly in love it would have been enough to make an onlooker gag.

So when the spell released everyone and let them wake up, the pair were as comfortable as had they spent a night indoors, in their room. Finally Cassidy stretched contentedly and her stirring woke Grey. There was a sharp moment as he assessed the situation for danger, before relaxing. His Queen was safe. That let the Warlord Prince stand down so the husband could sit up. "Morning," he said to her.

She smiled lazily up at him and opened her mouth to return the greeting, but a yawn came out instead. They shared a laugh as he helped her sit up. She touched the pillows, vanishing them and then got up with Grey's assistance. She let him roll up and vanish the blanket. They could wash it later.

"Shall we see what Mallia has cooked up for breakfast?" Cassidy asked.

Grey offered his arm and when she took it, he smiled at her. "And see if anyone else suddenly felt the urge to enjoy a warm spring night outside?"

She nodded and then looked around to see who else was out and about.

Gift in Time

After checking about breakfast, they decided to head back to their room when a sound stopped them both. It was an odd sound to Grey, probably to most people. Like a horse running indoors down hallways not meant for horses. So... that couldn't be it, right?

Cassidy however spun towards the sound, her eyes lighting up as she waited to see who it might be. Her four months in the Dark Court made the sound very familiar. A number of Jaenelle's friends were hoofed after all, and the High Lord would no longer keep a Centaur or a Kindred Horse out than he would a Kindred Wolf or an Arcerian Cat.

When she saw the stallion that rushed towards her, she was both thrilled and a little disappointed. Thrilled because this was her horse from Eyota. The one that Khary had gifted to her and Shira along with a small coach. There was no sign of the coach but that was fine. The horse's presence was gift enough. Especially when she hugged him around the neck and could smell leather and hay as well as the faint scent of the Scelties and... just... Eyota. Her new home.

The only disappointment was that had it been Sceron or Nighthawk or one of the Unicorns there would have been another member of the Blood to talk to. Someone else who understood.

Gift, short for The Queen's Gift - and a reminder never to let Grey name their children should they have any - was a wonderful horse. He was trained by Kharry and Morghann themselves and he was comfortable around the Kindred, which worked out well given Llyod and Kief took charge of the horses. And oh the look on the faces of the people of Eyota to see a small knee high dog with a horse's reins in his mouth happily herding the horse back to the barn for the first time.

Wait... if Gift was here... Then maybe... < Llyod? Kief? > she sent the thought out mentally, distaff to spear but there was no reply. She looked back to Grey and saw the question in his eyes. She shook her head.

"Nothing for it," Grey said. "Besides, I'm not Ranon. Not one to look a Gift horse in the mouth."

Cassidy's lips compressed into a thin line. The joke hadn't been all that funny the first time. "You are never naming anything again," she informed him.

"You going to yell at me?" he asked with fake innocence, his green eyes twinkling with boyish mischief.

"I'm thinking about it," she responded, the mirth she fought to keep out of her tone dancing in her hazel eyes. "Off with you," she said in a fake haughty way.

"You will is my life," he said, and for a moment he wasn't teasing, his words loaded with love and dedication. He gave her a small bow and headed off to their room.

Cassidy led Gift back out of the school before burying her face in his mane to allow the laughter out.

Grey meanwhile had headed to their room, called the blanket in onto the spare bed then stopped dead, door still wide open as he saw the wooden box. His eyes filled with tears as he sank down onto the floor, touching the bulbs delicately.

Edited 2025-05-04 11:45 (UTC)

The twin twin twin woke up up up - OTA

Nagihiko stretched as he woke then stopped suddenly. Where was he? Why was he wet? And perhaps the most cliche question of all, who was he? Panic filled him because he didn't know. He wasn't sure. He shifted his legs slightly and... okay. Shorts not a skirt. Knowing that much he settled at once knowing the proper on of them awoke.

Scariest question answered, he pushed himself up trying to figure out why he had fallen asleep under a tree and why he was wet. After a yawn and a stretch he was still clueless. So he decided to see if anyone else had fallen asleep out here, and if so... maybe they knew why?

My Anxiety - UNLOCK! Locked to Gabriel

Once Nagihiko had gone inside he decided to get changed. In more ways then one. He felt... uncomfortable from more than just the wet. So he pulled out one of the dresses that Gabriel had altered and after making sure the bedroom door was locked, he stepped into the closet to be extra sure no one would see him change.

After a few moments, Nadeshiko came out of the closet to stand by the mirror. Temari helped her put up her hair into her usual ponytail and she smiled, feeling much better. Until she went to her bed, that was and saw that one of her pillows was missing.

Frowning she looked and saw it right on the line between her neat as a pin half of the room and Nagihiko's mess of a half of the room. And laying half on her pillow and half on one of Nagihiko's pillows was a small jewel encrusted lock.

She fell backwards in a rare moment of no grace whatsoever, eyes glued to the lock. That... That was the Humpty Lock... But... was it there for her or for Nagihiko? and if it was here... did that mean Amu-chan was in trouble? But what was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to...

"Temari," she said, snapping back to herself. Nadeshiko was the one who always seemed in control. Calm and collected. She needed that now and drew it over herself like the outer layer of a fine kimono. "Please see if you can find Amu-chan and bring her here. If you cannot find her or her Charas, then please get Gabriel-san and ask him to come here."

The small chara nodded and waited for Nadeshiko to open the door a crack before flying off to do that. Not finding Amu, and just barely avoiding Il and El, Temari found Gabriel and rushed to him. She stopped gracefully before him and curtsied in the air. "Nadeshiko requests to speak with you if you are not too busy, please," Temari said in the sweetest voice the small Chara could manage.

Imposter Syndrome Get - Locked to Mallia

Talking to Gabriel had helped some.

Some.

But the problem was... Gabriel didn't know about magic things. And there were parts of the Humpty Lock being here that Nadeshiko couldn't process on her own that were absolutely magic related. And so once Gabriel was gone and she had composed herself she sent Temari out again. This time to fetch Mallia. Temari hovered out of sight until the Fairy was alone and breakfast was over. Then Temari flew closer to Mallia. "If it would be okay, Nadeshiko invites you to her room, if you would be so kind," Temari said sweetly.

Rain

Spark had been sulking about having been excluded from the fishing trip. At least that would have been what the ride to the Isle and back would have been if he had had any choice. Instead he had been left behind. Which... had woken up the nightmares from the Train again. Which means that he's been sulky and in a bad mood ever since.

When Spark hadn't been around, Gar had been instead. And he was also in a grumpy mood, though he moved to jokes instead of talking about it.

When the sleepinesses washed over him he saw it happening to other people too and had the sense to Bend up a plush of Spark so it looked like he fell asleep snuggling the orange cat.

When he woke up he saw others waking and moved carefully so he could make the plush vanish when no one was watching. He could always tell people Spark went off to hunt for breakfast. He yawned and stretched. He was feeling a little better for a night with no bad dreams. His shirt was orange tabby striped with a pale cream front. In dark orange letters it read "I love cat naps and I'm not kitten!" He also was wearing orange striped ears and an orange striped tail on his belt.

A Very Gifted Gar

After talking to people outside he headed in, then stopped dead when he saw the plushies. He sank onto the mattress, having forgotten to close the door as he gathered a bunch of them into his arms, tears falling down his face.

A few minutes later he got up and created a shelf with his Bending. Then he carefully started arraigning the plushies carefully, trying to remember exactly how the Doctor had them laid out in the Tardis, trying to match his display. Trying, and wishing he had spent more time looking at the displays. He kept readjusting and would until someone came in to him. Shifting them around. And crying.

The Rain'll Be Gone In The Morning

Gabriel's first question when he opened his eyes that morning was why the world looked so strange? The second was, why was he apparently outside on the grass rather than in his bed or even at his desk? The second question helped answer the first; he'd fallen asleep in his glasses and said glasses were now covered with water droplets. Sitting up, he removed them and gently shook much of the water from them before fishing in his pocket for a cleaning cloth, hoping that it, at least, was dry after noticing that his glasses weren't the only part of him that was damp.

Fortunately only the rain hadn't penetrated his clothes in most places, and so the cleaning cloth was able to clear up the lenses quite easily allowing him to look around properly once he put them back on. Tucking the cloth back away, he noticed Nooroo curled up in a little patch of clover next to him, still asleep and looking absolutely adorable. He smiled, taking a moment to appreciate the sight before gently scooping up the little kwami.

Nooroo stirred, yawning and flicking water from his wings with a little flutter. "Gabriel?", he said. "Did we fall asleep outside?"

"Apparently so," Gabriel replied quietly. "Though I couldn't tell you why. Much less how we apparently slept through a rain shower." They were both a bit too damp for dew to account for it, after all.

"I don't know either, but...", he took a deep breath, sniffing the air a bit, "...there's still a bit of magic lingering in the air. Maybe you should have a look around."

"Probably a good idea," Gabriel agreed, getting to his feet and stretching a bit. "I need to stretch my legs a bit after sleeping on the ground all night anyway." It wasn't something he was accustomed to, after all, and a bit less easy to bounce back from than it would have been in his college days. Thus, after Nooroo ducked into his customary hiding place in Gabriel's pocket, he set out to do just that, looking for anyone else who may have fallen asleep on the lawn.

Bittersweet Memories

Gabriel had returned to his room and was most of the way through changing into dry clothes before he noticed something on the nightstand. A DVD case, bearing a familiar title and the image of an even more familiar woman holding an umbrella. The image was in black and white, but his memory easily supplied the colors. The soft gold of her hair. The green of her eyes. Even the shade of coral-pink of the lipstick she always preferred. Emilie. "But how...?", he asked aloud as he picked it up.

He heard something shift faintly inside the case and carefully opened it up, wanting to be sure the disc hadn't come loose from its holder. The disc proved to still be securely in place, however, and instead, several photographs fell out and landed on the bed. The first was of Emilie, seated in an opulent looking chair, wearing a long gown that he recognized as one he himself had designed for her. But not even the floor-length gown could completely disguise the elaborate braces on her legs, nor could her perfectly done makeup hide the weariness in her eyes and her posture. Every bit as beautiful as ever, but a stark reminder of what his hubris and misuse of power had cost. He smiled as he dabbed away the tears that welled up in his eyes before looking at the next one.

Adrien. His Adrien. He recognized the specific photo as one that had been taken as part of a shoot for an ad campaign, and though he'd ultimately chosen a different pose for the posters, he'd kept this one for himself because he'd liked the somewhat cheeky expression Adrien had in it. It reminded hm of simpler times, when there wasn't quite so much distance between them. The smile that accompanied this one was softer, more genuine.

The next was another picture of Adrien, but clearly not his Adrien, and accompanied by Garfield. Both of them grinning cheerfully under an oddly colored sky with- was that a heart-shaped moon?- overhead. This must be the Adrien Gar knew and perhaps that chaos world he'd mentioned. He'd have to show it to him later. In fact he'd probably show him all the photos; he deserved to see them after all.

Next was a photo of Nathalie. Unlike the others so far, this one was clearly a candid photo. Nathalie was sitting in an armchair, sunlight coming in one of the mansion's windows as she examined her tablet thoughtfully, a stylus in her other hand with its tip resting lightly on her chin. A wisp of blue dyed hair had escaped her usually prim style to fall down over her forehead, doubtless to be brush away and tucked back in the moment it was noticed. She wore her usual stylish blue pants suit, but her sitting position, leaning bit to her left with her legs crossed had allowed one shoe to come partway off. Still professional, much more relaxed than she typically allowed herself while working, it captured Nathalie very well, and he wondered, perhaps, if it was one that Emilie had taken. He smiled fondly as he moved on to the last photo.

Compared to the others, however, the last photo was surprising. A young man and woman, she in a red and black leotard and domino mask, and he in a black leather cat suit that under other circumstances would look perhaps ta bit inappropriate for someone of his apparent age to be wearing, standing on top of the Arc De Triumph, of all places. A watermark in the corner identified the image as the property of 'the Ladyblog' whatever that might be.

Unlike the others, this one caught Nooroo's attention as well. "Gabriel, those two are holders of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous!", he said. "I'd know Tikki and Plaag's work anywhere."

"Really?," he said. "Can you tell me anything more about them? Does this image have anything to do with those strange signals we started picking up before we were brought here."

Nooroo shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't know. There's billions of parallel universes out there and there's really no way to tell which one this is from from just a photo. Maybe you could ask Garfield? It's clearly taken in Paris, so he might know something, even if it's not specifically his universe."

Gabriel nodded, gazing thoughtfully at the image, before tucking it and the other photos back into the DVD case. He'd have to find some frames for the other ones later, but this would at least keep them together. "I'll do that, thank you," he said. "For now though, you'd best hide. Once I talk to Ben we can set things in motion but for now, we can't let anyone see you. I'll bring you up something from breakfast a bit later."

Nooroo nodded and flew off to find a comfortable place to settle in as Gabriel finished dressing. Soon enough it would be time for Betterfly to 'arrive', but for now he needed to find out if anyone else had gotten any mysterious gifts. Which he could likely do at breakfast.

Good Morning, Starshine

Being not quite 7 years old, it wasn't unheard of for Leia to fall asleep out doors. What was unusual was waking up there. Usually if she fell asleep in the garden or anywhere else outside he would be carried back inside by one of her parents, or Toovvee, or whichever of her tutors happened to be around, and if she didn't wake up in the middle of being carried, she'd wake up snug in her bed.

Not this time though. This time, she was woken up by a drop of water falling from a leaf of the tree she was sleeping under, and landing with a plop right between her eyes. As she sleepily wiped it away, she realized that her hand was already damp. And opening her eyes revealed not the ceiling of her room, but the early morning sun shining down through the young leaves of a tree. "Why am I outside?", she said. She sort of remembered feeling the urge to come outside the previous evening, but everything after that was a bit fuzzy. As she sat up and looked around, she realized one other important detail. "And how come I'm all wet?"

It was still a little chilly to be sitting around outside while damp this early, so she got to her feet to head inside, unceremoniously dumping a little brown toad that had nestled itself into a fold of her dress back onto the grass. "Oops... Sorry, Mr. Toad. I didn't know you were there." The toad simply looked at her for a moment and puffed its throat briefly before hopping off, apparently unbothered.

Satisfied that the toad was unharmed, she headed back towards the school in search of some dry clothes and hopefully some answers.

Leave Me Some Magic

Leia didn't notice anything unusual until she'd already dried off and changed her clothes. As she sat down on the bed to redo her pigtails, the shift in weight made the small object slide off the pillow and fall to the floor. "Huh?", she said, bending to pick it up. It was a small, white hinged box, of the type usually used to display jewelry. Curious, she opened it, only to gasp in delight.

"My necklace!", she exclaimed, hastily removing it from its box. And it was indeed the moonstone pendant that she'd gotten in the Magic Kingdoms, a fact which was confirmed when she put it on and a familiar feeling of... rightness settled over her, making her let out an oddly relieved sigh.

But the moment of subtle magical reunion didn't last long as her face broke into a grin. "I can't wait to show everybody!", she said She hopped down from the bed and was halfway out the door before she caught sight of herself in the mirror and realized that she'd forgotten what she'd sat down on the bed for. "Oop, gotta fix my hair first," she said, hastily tending to her braids. It wouldn't do to show up to breakfast with one pigtail undone and the other still in need of redoing. But she'd get that done in record time, then scamper eagerly down to brakfast to show everyone willing to indulge her the gift she'd gotten.

Edited 2025-05-06 05:13 (UTC)

Sephiroth | OTA