FA'E: Nozomi's Diary (Youkochylde is Guardian)

[Youkochylde]

Time didn't always heal all wounds. Especially when the wound was to one's pride.

Omi sat on her bed, legs curled as her arms were wrapped around them tightly. She'd come to grips with the fact that she'd done something insanely stupid that she'd likely NEVER have done while sober... and still had no idea how to get around that. Normally, she would talk to Youko, but somehow she didn't feel that the 'you should know better' lecture was really something she wanted. She DID know better.

Still, it didn't keep her from feeling sick every time she thought of it. "What the hell was I thinking?"

"About what?" came the voice from the steps that led up into the attic area. Raven was leaning with her arms folded on the floor, her head poking up from the stairwell as her chin rested on them.

Omi groaned, hiding her face against her knees. "Get up here," she murmured, beckoning her 'sister' over. "And close the door behind you."

This was something major. Raven did as she was bidden and closed the door with her foot before ascending the rest of the stairs. Omi didn't ever just close herself away, nor had she ever been particularly worried if anyone overheard their conversations. That, alone, made the foxcoon concerned. "Hey..." she whispered, moving to sit next to the ball of Fa'e and rest her hand against one winged shoulder. "You okay? You're acting like something's wrong."

Green eyes flicked upward to her, and Omi just looked miserable. Within a minute, however, she began her tale of everything that had happened in the past 24 hours, starting with the theft of the now-empty sake bottle (that she would still have to explain to Youko) and ending with the Walk of Shame that had brought her home.

Raven, for her part, attempted to keep her thoughts out of her expression, but as the story got farther along, her eyes grew wider until she was staring at her sibling in shock. "I... you... wait."

One hand waved and Omi buried her face against her knees again. "I know. It was stupid, it shouldn't have happened and now I feel like hell."

"Dude, I'm just amazed that you got laid before I did." Raven dodged the pillow that swung at her, a faint smirk on her face as she sat up again. "Hey, I'm just trying to lighten the situation a bit."

"Well, don't."

The girl's ears fell back then and she wrapped an arm around Omi's shoulders. "Look. It's not like you're going out and having sex all the time or anything. It was one stupid move. Dad'll understand that." At least, she was pretty sure he would. "At least he got us birth control a while back. Right?" Omi's whine made her ears p***k up then and she narrowed her eyes. "You HAVE been taking them, right?"

"I didn't need them," Omi muffled a reply. "I wasn't having sex and didn't plan on it."

Sighing deeply, Raven brought her forehead against her sister. "Well, there's no point in worrying about it now." She made a mental note to herself to start taking her own. She'd had the same rationale that Omi had... but it was obvious now that sometimes things just happened. She'd start taking them today.

"Come on," Raven murmured, tugging Omi from the bed. "You can't let this be all you think about. What's done is done, and worrying yourself to death won't change that. Let's go get something to eat and we'll figure out how to tell Dad."

[Youkochylde]

((Summary here - I will have a LOT to cover))

[Youkochylde]

The Miracle Of Life

[Youkochylde]

Giving Up the Greatest Treasure

[Youkochylde]

Along the Lakeside (Omi, Sei, Raven)

[Youkochylde]

Dear Diary -

I saw Kia today. I'm not even sure if I want to call her 'mother' anymore. She seemed... just about as flighty as I remember, and took off not long after we ran into each other. I met Tiegan as well, at least briefly. I'm hard pressed to find real similarities between us. Maybe hints here and there that we have the same parents. Maybe I can catch up with her sometime, I think it would be good to really meet each other now that we're old enough to actually talk to each other.

I guess I just expected too much when I saw her. Lesson learned.

-Omi

[Youkochylde]

Summer was drawing to a close. Normally, it would be Omi's favourite time of year, but now she just felt detached. At times, she couldn't quite put a finger on what was bothering her so badly. Other times, she would see a mother wheeling a stroller down the street and have to walk away somewhere to just think to herself and try to keep from either crying or throwing up.

Kiku was a constant reassurance. The little Porcelain girl that had made her home with them seemed to be helping Omi emerge from her shell, but there were also times when no matter how she tried, the little girl couldn't manage to make Omi smile. Those were the hardest ones, because Omi knew full well that Kiku could read her like a book.

That was when she found herself, like now, walking aimlessly through town and just trying to screw her head on straight again. Her previous plans of visiting Japan had fallen through. Maybe that was something to think of? However, what would happen with Kiku? Omi didn't want to take her away from the other Porcelain. Maybe Youko would keep an eye on her?

This was something she had to do, Omi knew that. She just didn't quite know why. Something inside of her kept pulling her in that direction. She'd been told before by Riven and others that there were times when their past lives would exert themselves and need to be addressed. Perhaps this was one of those times. The research she'd done previously had directed her towards Japan... and maybe now was the time to go.

[Youkochylde]

Something was tense in the air that night. It wasn't just because of the approaching holiday and the threat of razor blades in caramels. For entirely other reasons. Peacefully sleeping Fa'e and their gaurdians, getting a good night's rest before the big day. Before they'd go out in their costumes and stuff their faces with candy. They wouldn't even know what hit them. Well. Some of them might. If they remembered what it felt like. Looked like. The taste he left in their mouths.

Tendrils, extensions of Chaos crept along the fibres of the world and lashed out. The jaws of a bear trap closing. A whip cracking. It was the dead of the night and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it or prepare for it. After all, who would expect something like this? Things had been quiet for so long. A year or more. Just peace. People had gotten on with their lives. They'd grown up, had children. Grown out of being afraid of him. Forgotten. And with that, with those walls down, not expecting an attack, it was easy.

After a year and more of resting, gathering up his energy, Chaos thrashed out. It was a great beast smashing its shoulders against the wall of its cage, grabbing the bars between its teeth and shaking its head. Those arms reached out, snaking through cracks and crevices in the air to sneak into the Fa'es' houses. Not everyone's. The black wave rippled out, reached into their rooms and -

It wasn't breaking bones. It wasn't even touching the Fa'e. It was worse. So much worse. It was wrapping its long, dark fingers around Guardian's throats and pulling on the bonds that connected them to their charges. Intangible, invisible, unstoppable. Jerking on a clothesline to snap it, letting everything fall. There was a reason the Fa'e needed their Guardians.

Wouldn't affect everyone. That was the nature of Chaos. Unpredictable. Bond could be severed cleanly, leaving the Fa'e to find a new keeper. Others wouldn't have such luck, because there was a reason they needed each other. And with that violently, forced seperation, it would backlash. The break of the cord would snap back, hit them, steal the breath from their lungs and crush their neck. Better than the alternative. Death. Something as sudden and violent, as fast as those tendrils cut through them, it was inevitable for a few. More than a few.

[Youkochylde]

The Sound of Heaven Falling

[Youkochylde]

Everything had been like a bad dream. Every time Omi closed her eyes, she could feel it happening all over again. She could feel the sickening pull of the bond with Youko... and feel it snap the same way it had. Each time, in her dreams, she could feel the backlash knock her to the ground, driving the breath from her as if she'd been kicked in the stomach. Every time, she would wake up screaming, and could hear Raven come running up the stairs. Within minutes, her sister would be there, wrapping her arms around her and comforting her as she gasped for breath through tears.

This time, however, Raven didn't come. She had gone out to finish some shopping... they were going to redecorate Youko's room. None of them could fathom ever sleeping in there, and it seemed the best thing to do. Gasping softly, Omi moved to bring her hand to her chest, and felt something else there. Reaching with her free hand, she turned on the nightstand lamp, then looked to see what was there.

In the palm of her hand was a crumpled piece of paper... and for the life of her, Omi couldn't figure out where it had come from.

Frowning, she turned the paper over and over in her hand, then set it on the nightstand as she lay down. What did it mean? Maybe one of the others would know... she would have to try and make it to Fa'e HQ soon...

[Youkochylde]

Seeking the Lost

[Youkochylde]

(Taken from Omi's notebook, in which she is keeping track of the notes she and others received.)

To be or not to be is not the question, but what we will call it. - Mine

Some can win through strength, others through a smile; in this, though, you should win with guile. - Riven