2023-01-20: Connection Re-established
- Log: 2023-01-20: Connection Re-established
- Cast: Leina Ashta, Sayla Mass
- Where: Orbital Ring
- OOC - IC Date: 22 January 0097
- Summary: Leina and Sayla see each other again after six weeks of supernatural separation. They talk about happy memories, and plans for the future.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
She could feel her.
For the first time in a month and a half that connection could be felt - for her it was like a jolt of electricity, a circuit pathway reconnecting.
It felt like a part of her that was missing just turned back on. It was hard. It was hard not to fly away then and there.
It was so hard... but she forced herself to focus on what she was doing, on getting herself and Banagher out alive.
She couldn't turn on the general comms during that time, the Minovsky interference was simply too strong...
... now though, afterwards...
Arrangements were made to get Banagher and the Unicorn to Sweetwater, and then she headed to the Orbital Ring. There was a private hangar for entry, set up by Shuffle backers.
And the beaten up, MP Double Zeta lands there. Leina felt, dazed, in a state of elation, and simply threw off the helmet of her suit, but otherwise.
Did not change, did not delay, did not even look yet, just, dismounted the ZZ in that sweaty pink and white pilot suit. The only thing that felt real right now is that thread of connection, certainly not the world around her.
Certainly that thread was there in her life before, but right now she had such a monofocus upon it. She looks a touch spaced out- like she's not all there, until the moment her eyes fall upon her.
Then she just stops, freezes.
It's really you. You're really here.
There's no movement at first, not even the rise and fall of her chest, however then eyes blink as droplets of water well up, and...
... it's like one can see her letting go in slow motion, as she rushes up to her, throws her arms around her, her head against her, and just... let's herself fall apart.
There's no restraint, it's just her sobbing, loudly. No words spoken.
It's been a month and a half, but some part of her thought she'd lost her. Thought if she saw her again it'd be years - maybe even decades from now, as they appeared out of some time portal with GGG.
A month and a half felt like an eternity, it felt like she'd been trying to be strong for too long, taking it all upon herself, and right now...
... she lets herself be weak, as she collapses against her Guardian, Sayla Mass in just loud, hitching sobs.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
She could feel her.
Just a moment, from so far away, she could feel her, as Tsutsujidai reopened to the world.
In the moments that followed, Sayla tried to use the briefly overstressed comms, and when Leina didn't respond, Sayla was using every resource she had to find what happened. The answer was not one she wanted to hear.
As soon as she'd landed on the Orbital Ring, ahead of her Dijeh, she'd run to the hangar, not waiting for the transport handles or shuttles. She knew how to move in Low G. And when she got there, she couldn't sit still. She couldn't work. She couldn't do anything but wait nervously.
She felt Leina coming from further away then usual. She looked up at the beaten up MP ZZ, terror rising in her throat. "Leina... Please be okay..."
And then Sayla saw Leina, and she's there. She's alive. She's still here. Sayla finds herself releasing a breath and pushing off the floor to meet her rush- to catch Leina as she collapses, as they spin in the low gravity.
Sayla wraps one arm around Leina's back, and one hand settling on the back of Leina's head, guiding it into her shoulder. Her own tears cling to her face, before leaving in the wake of their spin through gravity- but some still land on Leina's hair. "I've got you. I'm here." The relief is clear in her voice, tired and worn down, those tears spawned by the reunion drifting around them. "I missed you so much, pollito. So, so much."
She's not going to let go until long after Leina's finished crying.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Sayla meets her half way, and for a time, all the weight is gone. It's like her soul is truly unbound by gravity.
In revolution the two spin, holding each other.
And for a while it's just that continued loud sobbing. There's just a faint tilt of her head into a nod, as if to say 'I know', even as saline stains Sayla Mass' shoulder.
Pollito, her pet name, something she wondered if she was going to ever hear again.
"I muh-missed you too...suh-so-"
And then it's like she's overwhelmed again, and can't even manage to choke out the words.
It takes her a while to reassert dignity.
It's gradual, first her sobs growing quieter, then she's silent, other than the occasional sniffle.
And then she eventually loosens one arm enough to blow her nose on her pilot suit's bicep, then to dash away the remaining tears on the gloved hand.
She'll be embarrassed later maybe, much later - but much less than usual.
Her head eventually comes to a rest on her shoulder.
"I..." She tries to start, stops, then starts to gain "... I don't... don't even know where to begin..."
On what to tell her, on what to ask. It's all so much, too much, an overwhelming amount of questions and things to say.
"... I just know I don't want to let go of you."
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Sayla closes her eyes, and just lets the reduced gravity take them where they will. Nothing is more important than Leina right now. "It's okay. I understand." Even if she weren't a newtype, she could understand. It's plain on Leina's face. It's obvious in her voice. And while she won't say she feels the same, she feels very close.
She's finally reunited with her family. She can finally breathe again, think again. "I don't want to let go of you either." She smiles, holding Leina tighter. "And I'm not going to yet, either."
She speaks softly. "But... whatever you want to start with... no business. I think we should take some time for just you and me." When she finally makes eye contact again, her eyes are already red with the tears she's been quietly crying. "I'd... really, really like that. What do you think?"
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
For a time she closes her eyes, defines her conception of Sayla Mass simply by what she feels - not just psychically, but against her, the tangible evidence of those senses alone.
When Sayla's grip tightens, she manages a ghost of a smile for the first time, burying her face into her.
An offer is made. No business. Just time for the two of them.
She doesn't have to consider the offer long. "... I think there's nothing I want more right now."
Arms still surrounding Sayla, she opens her eyes, and looks up at her, and her smile is just - just for her right now. In that sunniness that just shines through.
All the sadness, the grief, the heaven burdens she carried - just transformed to happiness at her presence after that moment of catharsis.
They may not be gone, certainly not - but for the moment, they feel so light as to be weightless by the sheer overwhelming positivity.
Then in just a moment later, she grips her more tightly, as she says quietly, "... I love you." She tells her, voice pregnant with emotion, "... While you were gone... it... bothered me, like I hadn't said it enough... and I worried maybe I'd never get to say it to you again."
A pause, as she lays her head against her again.
"... I love you." She says it again, so very quietly.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"I'm so glad..." That's about all Sayla can manage at Leina's agreement.
There's no need to rush themselves at this point. The way Leina's heart lightens moves to lighten Sayla's heart in turn. Six weeks of separation at an end. And while it was ultimately worth it...
Sayla is so, so desperately happy that it's over, if just for now. That she can come back. The tears start to flow more as Leina speaks again. The spectre of one of them not surviving their ordeals. That white and pink Gundam in the hangar shows the dangers taken on today.
Today, Sayla refuses to give those fears purchase. Whatever could happen, Leina's right here, right now. "I love you too, Leina. I love you so very, very much." Sayla's own sobs finally come through, having held it together for long enough. "I'm so happy you're here. I'm so, so happy..."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Six weeks of separation, it felt like much longer to her. Every moment not feeling connections so precious to her was like part of her was missing...
... she tends to define herself so much by the people she cares for. To have it back is... healing.
There's no rush.
Her head against Sayla, she senses it the moment she starts to cry, and her head lifts off her. Just to look at her face.
Her arms shift position behind her, just subtly so, as if she were moving to position to comfort her. She understands that it's not one sided.
That it's not just comfort, it's happiness.
Both of them need this. Her hands rub gently in this moment when she starts sobbing. The spectre of their trials hangs over both of them.
She can only imagine what Sayla faced in Tsutsujidai.
There's no anger in Leina at her choosing what she did, none whatsoever. There's just acceptance, and love in this moment when she starts sobbing herself, after confirming how much she loves her.
"I'm here. ... I'm here."
Leina tells her over, and over, and despite her promise to Sayla that she'd always keep her walls up a little, she lowers them to only the most paperthin defenses at the moment.
So she can feel her more clearly. So that she can feel her own happiness, her acceptance.
Her love.
"I'm here."
'I'm here' at this point, might as well be telling her that she's happy. Happy to be here with her, happy to be here for her.
"I'm here and...I love you."
She says it again, because clearly she hasn't said it enough in her eyes. Just as Sayla was willing to hold her as long as she's crying. Leina in turn holds her while she's sobbing, and will hold her as long as it takes.
"Estoy aqui y te amo." She reiterates.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
The verbal reminder is so much. After so long not even being able to hear Leina's voice, see her smile. Have a joking, snarky argument with her about something minor and then admit defeat.
Most of all, it's so much more painful to worry about someone from afar than up close.
She notices it. That lowering of the walls. Normally she'd object... but right now, ever so carefully and ever so gently, so too does Sayla lower hers. Not so much that to invite a mental clash... but enough so that Leina doesn't have to strain to feel.
"Estoy muy agradecida." Sayla replies.
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
That mutual expression of trust.
There's just this, elated upswing of her mood, just feeling her so acutely. She knows how guarded she is, and as grateful as Sayla is...
"...Yo tambien."
So is she.
-=-=-
Leina emerges from the bathroom of the hotel room, the second hand steam still wisping out of the turned off shower. She's still toweling off her hair, wearing not much more than the Natural Lychee T-Shirt and a pair of shorts.
The pilot - normal suit has been shed and is just hanging on a hook in the bathroom.
On the table are several now empty bags of Wonderland Co. Burgers that they had delivered straight off.
She ate three.
And Wonder Fries.
And a Wonder Shake.
Apparently she'd been running on the adrenaline for so long that she didn't realize how hungry she was until after they got back to the hotel room. It's yet more evidence that she is Judau's little sister though.
The towel is discarded for now into a closet hamper, before she walks back over to the bed beside Sayla, climbing up to settle beside her, and then...
... just laying her head against her shoulder, hair only faintly damp, and smelling much fresher. Eyes half-lid as the warmth of the shower and the food imbues this faint drowsiness as she murmurs...
"Remember the first Christmas we spent in Paris? It was just the two of us and - my first time really seeing snow. And I was... entranced but..."
Leina doesn't finish the statement, she didn't really consider it permission to mess around with it. While there was childlike wonder she wasn't really... playing in it.
She was a child who had forgotten how.
"... and you told me I could go ahead but... I didn't really know what you meant. And even when you clarified, I just- didn't."
There were kids all over, playing, and yet she could not even fathom the idea of following their example, much less joining them.
"And eventually you just... showed me. I bet most people would never believe Sayla Mass would just kneel down and start - building a snowman, or packing a snowball, or making a snow angel."
That smile just grows, her eyes fully closing, as her head nestles in, "But... they'd be wrong."
It's her own way of saying how much she missed her for Christmas, but doesn't blame her for it.
"...They'd be so wrong."
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Sayla has been comfortably lounging on the bed since 'rudely' taking the first shower. She had bought new pyjamas and had them delivered to the hotel- six weeks having to ration clothes had that effect. She'd also gone harder than usual on the delights of Wonderland Co, having gone for a burger, fries, nuggets(!) and a Wonder fudge sundae. Sometimes you just get a jonesing.
When Leina settles in next to her, Sayla puts down the magazine she was reading and puts an arm around Leina almost reflexively. "Mmhmm. I remember."
The arm moves up to gently stroke Leina's hair. "I think I made more snow angels that day than I had in my life. It was worth it to see you get down in the snow with me and try it." She stays quiet on that front. "It was always worth it to see you smiling back then. It is now, too."
She continues to muse. What to say? "...It'll be winter still for a while. Maybe we could make time for everyone and take a day trip, or rent a cottage. It doesn't have to be for Christmas. It can just be for everyone being together again."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Leina finds herself smiling, just feeling... warm, as Sayla confirms she remembers.
"... What can I say? Seeing you do it was the best sales pitch..."
Leina murmurs, her cheek subtly shifting against Sayla's new pyjamas.
"Got me out of my own head."
Indeed, she had been the child who had probably seen dozens of kids her own age playing in the snow she had found so wonderful and thought it just... wasn't for her.
No matter how much she was enchanted by the wonder of it all.
"Soon enough I was down in the snow laughing about it with you."
Worth it to see her smiling?
Her lips tug at the thought, "I made you work too hard for them at first." She says, apologetic for those earliest days where she was still recovering, where it was hard for her to smile.
An offer... there's time enough for it yet, it is still winter, and Leina tells her, "I'd like that. I bet Renais would too, now that she wouldn't be melting it all."
There's a snerk, at her next thought, "Judau will probably think it's weird though. Think it's some Earthnoid conspiracy to freeze him to death with all this 'white stuff'."
A pause...
"If we can get Anti to come along he'll probably get brain freeze ten seconds in tasting it."
It's all affectionate, fond in how she presents these outcomes. "This time it'll be me showing them... though if you wanted to start the first snowball fight, I wouldn't mind ceding that honor to you."
There's that smile again.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
"I think it did the same for me? I wanted you to have fun so badly that I was... trying to make it perfect. Getting down in the snow was a reminder it was about spending time with you. Can you imagine? Me, getting caught up on getting it 'right'?"
Sayla squeezes Leina around the shoulders. "You weren't the one making me fight for them. Not once." She leans her head forward, giving Leina a motherly kiss on the forehead, before leaning back again.
"I think she would. She certainly deserves it." That little Christmas in Tsutsujidai was a small thing, but probably the first Renais had had in years. "I don't know about Judau, but Anti's getting better. He waited for Renais to cook the crab this time." She pauses. "...hopefully they don't both decide the snow's edible."
Sayla smiles back. "What, and deprive you of the chance to bean your big brother with a snowball by surprise? I'd have to give up my membership in the Secret Society of Little Sisters."
She tightens her hug on Leina again. "Gods... I'm looking forward to it. I loved those nights, curled up in front of the fireplace. Hot cocoa and marshmallows, listening to old music while you drifted off to sleep..."
<Pose Tracker> Leina Ashta has posed.
Her smile actually turns a little lopsided in a goofy way, as her eyes remain closed, "God, you worrying about something like that... it didn't need to be perfect..."
Her curly soft hair nuzzles a touch into that shoulder, "... but you did get it right. Just, wanting to spend time with me, wanting me to have fun. It got through to me."
Sayla may be closed off so much of the time, but her intentions still shone through so clearly there.
"It's hard to remember a time before we met where... anyone other than Judau cared about me and my feelings so much..."
It sounds sad on the surface, but she sounds happy. So happy about it.
"She does." Leina says, sounding all warm and fuzzy about it, "And really? ... Gosh it sounds like I missed so much. Can't wait to see where Renais' cooking is at-" She titters lightly, "And wouldn't surprise me if he did. He'd gulp it down. My brother doesn't know the meaning of the word brain freeze."
There's laughter then at the Secret Society of Little Sisters, "You're right. I'll have to train up, put my walls up so high that he doesn't get ANY warning."
Which is tough, when one is a Newtype as strong as Judau Ashta - and she's so strongly connected to him, but it feels worth the challenge.
The hug tightens around her, and Leina puts her fingers loosely on Sayla's arm, as if to show affection without shifting position.
"Me too... it'll be nice to have other people there with us this time... so they can see what all the fuss is about..."
She's quiet for a long time after that, too quiet. One might wonder if she's fallen asleep, but then...
"Hey Sayla?" Leina tells her in a hushed whisper, "Love you."
She'd been running on adrenaline so long, in all the emotional highs and lows of the warzone, of the logistics of getting everything in order just so she could focus so much on Sayla that she was just... worn out.
A short while after her fingers fall slack in a gradual movement back down, and she's fully drifted off while laying against her shoulder.
Right now despite the passage of years she looks just as peaceful as when she was barely twelve, asleep while they were wintering in Paris.
<Pose Tracker> Sayla Mass has posed.
Sayla's quiet for a moment, as Leina says her piece, just being there. It's been so long since they've had time to just. Be together. It's a sad thought said out loud. But... "I know my life brightened up a lot since you came into it. Even the mistakes I made along the way were better in the long run."
Leina's fingers on her arms reminder her of days past. Her ward hasn't grown much, but she has grown. How much had she missed out on, how much more could she miss? "Yeah. We can take Roux outfit shopping, too. She doesn't need the surprise you had."
The quiet is companionable, but when that whisper comes out, Sayla smiles. "Love you too, pollito." Her voice is quiet and soft, not wanting to disturb her. With her free hand she turns off the room light, and turns her bedside lamp on dim. She shuffles down, so Leina can be comfortable. When she feels her drift off, Sayla whispers again. "Sweet dreams, Leina."
Sayla reads, for another twenty minutes or so before she stifles a yawn. She turns off the light, and pulls the sheets up over them.
Not long after, Sayla Mass drifts off to an easy sleep herself, her daughter in her arms for the first time in far, far too long.
For the first time in ages, they both sleep well.