2023-01-05: Wait For My Song

• Log: Wait For My Song
• Cast: Lacus Clyne, Eight York
• Where: THe Ra Mari
• OOC - IC Date: Jan 05, 0097
• Summary: On the way to a neutral location to let Lacus Clyne off the ship, she and Eight York have a conversation. They find some important common ground.

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<Pose Tracker> Lacus Clyne has posed.

Lacus Clyne can't stay on the Ra Mari forever. Though her contacts and father know where she is and that she's safe, the fact of the matter is the public will expect her to make appearances now and then. And there are concerts to schedule, and...more pressing plans, in her mind.

Concerts to schedule that may never happen.

"Thank you again for your hospitality, Captain York." She has what few belongings she brought with her packed, as the Ra Mari is on its way to drop her off on a shuttle to a neutral location, and she'll go to the Clyne Estate from there.

"I certainly hope I have not been too much trouble for you. It was pure accident that led me to your ship, but everyone has been kind and thoughtful when they could have regarded me as an enemy. So for that, I must commend them."

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

For her part, Captain York hasn't had much opportunity to talk to Lacus Clyne, despite her being here. She's had a lot to do over the time since the Denver Colony, between duty, personal business like finding her family, then the matter with Fari...

It's a little surprising she hadn't made noises about leaving sooner, really. But here and now, Eight York is actually speaking to her! Nobody else is too close.

"You're very welcome," Eight says. "The people of the PLANTs aren't my enemy, and that applies for most of the crew, too." Most. Rezza kept any about whom they had doubts far away from her on duty. "Besides, you were good to Rena--Miss Lancaster--and that counts a lot for me."

"I appreciate your willingness to stay and see how things are here, too. So what do you think?"

<Pose Tracker> Lacus Clyne has posed.

Lacus smiles, tilting her head at Eight. "You refer to Rena with her first name. She must be important to you." Haro wiggles in her hand, but says nothing.

She turns to look out the window at the expanse of space.

"There are good, kind people who are forced into a war they did not want, drawing them away from lives they could have lived peacefully. The same is the case in the PLANTs. For every warmonger in ZAFT, there are others who simply want the bloodshed to end. This probably does not surprise you though, does it? As you were sheltering Miss Sheder, and presumably know her story."

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"She is," Eight agrees, not worried about sharing this with Lacus. She smiles back. "Very important. I've known her most of my life. We came to Londo Bell together." A pause. "...Hoping to make a difference."

Well, that wasn't Eight's reason, originally...

"It doesn't," Eight agrees once Lacus finishes. "I'm sure it's true, in fact. ...Miss Sheder's story... Well, it's very concerning. It reminds me that there's shady people in the background on both sides. I don't want to think the war's being manipulated, but..." She shakes her head.

"Well, I'd stop the war tomorrow, if I could. But I don't know what I can do yet, with one ship. ...Meeting people like you, though--I think that's a start. Keeping the lines of communication open, even if the Federation officials aren't willing to do it themselves."

<Pose Tracker> Lacus Clyne has posed.

Lacus turns to look at Eight and study her. Something changes in her expression, as it turns more serious, more focused.

"Do you mean that? That if you had the chance to stop the war, you would? Even if it alienated you from others, even knowing that finding peace will always be more difficult than escalating a war?"

She places her hand on the glass of the window. "Meeting you all has been a start for me, too. I have known for some time there are actions I will have to take soon. You may only have one ship, but you have a loyal crew who care about you and respect you. Tell me, Captain. What difference do you think one ship can make? Or a few...?"

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

Eight notices the change. She turns more fully to face Lacus. It's quite a question.

"I'm no stranger to alienation," Eight admits. "I'm sure you've heard some of the rumors among the crew about me--they're loyal, but they've had questions. And I think that's fair." She pauses. "But I do mean it. It's harder, but it's important. Maybe we can't stop all the awful things out there. ...But I think it's better to do something than to do nothing."

"Some people benefit from the status quo. But I'm not interested in bending peoples' lives for that."

The 'start' of something? Actions...?

"One ship, I can do what I'm doing," Eight says. "I can take in a few people, can investigate for myself the truth. More...? More, we might be able to do more than that. I'm not sure exactly what... but more than Londo Bell is doing, for sure. We can do more than chase ghosts."

She pauses. "...That... makes me want to tell you a secret though, Miss Clyne. It's a dangerous one, though. But you've already got dangerous secrets on me, so what's one more?"

"..."

Eight considers, and then, "...Soon, it'll be two ships."

<Pose Tracker> Lacus Clyne has posed.

Lacus keeps that focus, nodding quietly.

"Chase ghosts...that is all it is, is it not? Revenge for the dead, and then revenge for those who died in that revenge. A wheel that will never stop turning. New faces of Zeon and the Federation invoking the dead and sacrificing the living in their names. What would they think, those we lost, if they knew? Could they have wanted this, any of this?"

Her voice seems to crack oh so briefly, and then her composure returns.

"You have heard me speak in a way Chairman Zala would consider treasonous, and soon I may do far worse. I promise my silence. What is this about two ships?"

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"It's almost literal, for us. Zeon's remnants... It's just like you said. It never stops. My history starts there, too. I could live my life focused on revenge. ...I think there are people who would even find it justified. But I don't want to live that way."

Those they've lost...

"I don't know what the other seven," she references her name, "Would think. But I don't think they'd want to give their lives in eternal war, either."

Lacus has a point. Far worse, is it? Eight definitely thinks it's fair to bring her into confidence.

"Bright Noa can't protect us forever," Eight says. "Sooner or later, G-Hound will get what they want. I'm hearing they're making noise about the Denver Colony reactor. And they want to investigate me, too. ..So my engineers are working on another ship. So we can still try to do something, if the Federation decides they don't want help from the likes of us."
SCENESYS: Alto Saotome has posted scene #257, 'LoZ: Island Memorial', at 19:00 ET on 01/28.

<Pose Tracker> Lacus Clyne has posed.

The other seven. Lacus had her suspicions, and lets it be.

"I truthfully wanted to find out more about the reactor in case ZAFT got ahold of it, and used it to do something none of us could ever take back. I think having a backup ship is a good plan. Something they cannot take from you because it is yours."

She pauses for a moment, sorting out exactly what she wants to say.

"There may be a third. I have mentioned that there are those who want peace, those who are loyal to the Clyne Faction. They would need a leader. Of course, in doing so, I suspect I will become highly unpopular among ZAFT as a whole. I intend to help Miss Sheder as well, which will not win me friends among the Zala Faction."

It sounds almost playful, but her voice is tinged with regret. Not everyone will try for peace. Some never will.

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

Eight is freer with that, now that it's known. And her name isn't exactly subtle. Though it's not her only name, anymore...

"Well, I can forward you what we've learned looking at it, if you think you can help. ...But between Junius Seven and Heliopolis... I think both sides have already done a lot that can't be undone."

A backup ship... Yes.

But Lacus says something else, and Eight listens very carefully. She notices that regret, all right. And those who want peace...

"I see," Eight says. "No, I don't think that would win you a lot of friends." She pauses, thoughtfully...

"...But it would win you my attention. Until I feel out which way the wind's blowing with the Federation, I can't be sure what's the best move, or what happens next. But..."

It's a weighty statement. Eight has to decide whether she's willing to commit to it, and she, too, looks out the viewport, to the stars. The stars... The colonies.

She looks back to Lacus. "If there were a third," she says, "I'd be willing to work with them. ...If it came to it. If that's the only way. I'm not... completely out of hope that I can make the Federation better, but..."

But it's getting there.

<Pose Tracker> Lacus Clyne has posed.

"...It's true. But we can stop. Some of us can stop, at least."

Lacus smiles now, though it is more subtle than her usual glowing, beaming celebrity smile.

"A ship is just a machine like any other, same as a mech. It can be used as a weapon of war, or an instrument of peace. But even so, we would be wielding weapons. Perhaps that makes us hypocrites, and those who thirst for blood more honest and sincere. But I still think it is worthwhile."

She gives Eight a nod. "When the time comes, I will be in contact with you. In the meantime, listen for my song."

Did she mean to invoke legendary pacifist Nekki Basara? Maaaybe.

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

"Some of us. We," Eight means at least herself in this, "Can stop." And more and more she wonders whether that might be the answer. But she notices that subtle smile, and she returns one. Eight's are simpler, more direct; she's a friendly woman, not very subtle if you were to ask her. ...But she has the capacity.

She's learned it.

"People can call it what they want. But if I fight, I'd rather be fighting for something I can believe in. ...When I joined Londo Bell, I thought stopping Zeon from making further atrocities happen was it." But she's seen more. "So maybe 'sincerity' isn't the only good in the world."

She considers. Listen for her song...

"I will," Eight answers. She recognizes that invocation--she knows what she means. What she seems to reference, too.

"I'll listen. ...I like music, you know. Yours, too. I do think maybe it can do something."

"...When the time comes. I'll... try to make sure we're ready."
You are now gagging Big-Scene.

<Pose Tracker> Lacus Clyne has posed.

"There are those who see Coordinators and Naturals, Oldtypes and Newtypes as different species. It is nonsense, but alluring for some. I wanted to sing for everyone, not just Coordinators. For a time, I thought my music would be enough. I still think it matters. Everyone's voice matters. But there are different ways to sing, I suppose." Still, Lacus's tone is tinged with sadness. She would have liked to stay a songstress forever, but...

"You do like my music? Thank you." That brings her smile back, warm as ever. "I draw inspiration from many sources, but one in particular is Lyn Minmei. They say her songs of love and longing brought two sides of an interstellar war together, and now the Zentraedi are our friends, our kin and our lovers. I would be arrogant to aspire to the same, but that has to mean something, does it not?"

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

Eight is sympathetic to that idea. "...I was going to be a hockey player," she offers. It's not the same. Lacus had achieved her dream. But it's a different dream she didn't pursue, all the same. "I agree, though. I didn't ask to become a Newtype... but I've been coexisting just fine with people who aren't. It's definitely possible. People just have to want to."

She smiles, though. "I do!" Then, "Lyn Minmei... A good source." She opens her mouth and closes it a little, when Lacus mentions the Zentraedi. "Ah... Mine too," she says. "My boyfriend, he's... Well. He's not a pilot," she jokes about old music, "But he is Zentraedi."

"It definitely means something. If we can reach out, if we can make friends of a whole other species... Then we definitely can make friends of our own."

"It means something. And I'd love to hear a song like that."

<Pose Tracker> Lacus Clyne has posed.

"War steals so many lives," Lacus says, taking Eight's confession dead seriously. She should have been able to be a hockey player.

"A PROBLEM!" squeaks Mr. Pink, flapping his wings.

As Eight mentions Lahvi, Lacus just beams. "So Minmei brought you together, indirectly, and she will never know! It is nice to think about such echoes, generations later."

"You are right, it does mean something. Thank you. I may not seem like it, but I have doubts, all the time. It would be nice to be friends with another in a similar position. May I call you a friend, Captain? Eight? No matter where our paths take us."

<Pose Tracker> Eight York has posed.

It's... nice, to have it taken so seriously. Even if Eight gave up on it a long time ago, even if she doesn't mind that, it was a dream once.

"Big problem," Eight agrees with Mr. Pink. ...She thinks. She's pretty sure.

But Eight loves to see people happy about Lavhi, and it shows! "That's a great way to think about it," Eight says. "Echoes... Yes."

Eight nods back, quite serious herself, after a smile of her own. "And yet you're acting anyway. I think if we didn't have doubts... Well, I don't think I'd trust us."

"But I'd like that," she says. "Call me Eight. And call me a friend."