[IC - update post]

[actualizedname]

 [Earlier this morning a tiny teenaged boy went out to explore ruins in camp.

Some time later, said tiny teenager reappears at the outskirts of camp, eleven inches taller, thirteen years older and very confused.]

Somehow, I think I'm lost.

Comments

[allmiracles]

[sighs]

You really want to save us, don't you? You haven't forgotten, even after all this time—mm, instead you dedicated your life to it...

[actualizedname]

You're worth it.

[allmiracles]

[it's very strange. she's blinking back tears again, but suddenly her cheeks are burning. it's awkward, she finds, but not unpleasant.

for a moment she opens her mouth to say something, but closes it in hesitation. there's no words to choke out.

instead she covers her face in her hands and finds herself crying again.]

[actualizedname]

[he looks anxious, even a little rattled, before taking a breath and then hugging her]

You are that important to us. I know it's a burden to bear, but you're important and it's something we all chose to do, because we value you that much.

[allmiracles]

It's ... not just that ...

[rubbing at her eyes, but the tears don't stop]

But right now, I'm right here.

[actualizedname]

You are.

[allmiracles]

Can that be enough?

[actualizedname]

For now. But this isn't the future we're trying to save.

[allmiracles]

[laughing through the tears - oh hope]

I meant to keep you company.

[actualizedname]

[LOOK I'M A SOCIALLY AWKWARD SCIENTIST.]

Of course it is. I missed you.

[allmiracles]

[brightens and takes his hands. look, some things never change, and that is hope's awkwardness.]

I have a long time to make up for!

[actualizedname]

In retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have told you how long it's been.

[allmiracles]

[makes a motion with her hand, holding it up to where his head is now, and then where it used to be]

This long!

[actualizedname]

So about eleven months.

[allmiracles]

So that's how long it took for you to grow so tall?

I used to be able to pat the top of your head...

[actualizedname]

I remember. It used to annoy me too, but it wasn't bad.

[allmiracles]

... [pffft]

You haven't changed that much at all.

[actualizedname]

I don't think I have either.

[allmiracles]

But ... things are different...

[she has to pace her breath to keep from crying again]

For you, they're different. It's not fair.

[actualizedname]

They are different, but it's not all bad. There's been a lot of good things too.

[allmiracles]

For you?

[actualizedname]

Yes. I've seen amazing things. I've been able to find out our history, understand where we came from and why we're where we are. I saw a city in the future, built with our own hands, without the fal'Cie, that relies on science. We did that.

[allmiracles]

...

Is it the life that you wanted? That you strove for? Do you have regrets? I want to know.

[actualizedname]

I don't think that I could have imagined this life when I last saw you. I wish things had been better, but I don't regret the choices that I made, or the person they made me into.

[allmiracles]

I always thought that you would find someone, and by this time have a family of your own ... I didn't imagine this, either.