Lacrima was sitting on a bench on the area just above the ocean... not quite a pier- the water was shallow where she was. It was cold and the winter so not many people were here. It wasn't a windy day however- so the threat of being spritzed with cold ocean water was minimal, if existant at all.
She was dressed in a shirt that EIlam-kun had bought her. She found it amusing- poking fun at her own deadpan existence. She draws her phone up. She sent a text to Ariel not that long ago.
TXT: 'Can We Talk?... I'll be by the Harbor Today. Near the Tako Stand Somewhere.'
She kind of squeezed her hands into her lap a bit, biting her lip. Her phone beeped again. Maybe it was Ariel saying 'Heck no'. She looked.
No, it was Naru. Slight relief with that at least. She begins typing back.
It's not exactly as though Ariel has been too busy as of late. ... Though something has been keeping her a little. But that's niether here nor there when she gets the text. For a moment, topaz eyes stare blearily at her phone screen, pale lips pursing.
She's been meaning to catch Lacrima, anyway.
Now is as good a time as any.
TXT: I'll be right over.
This is why it's not long after, that the familiar sight of a certain massive hound comes padding his way down to the harbor, bearing his ward on his back, like the near-pony-sized beast he is. Lucky stops a few paces short of the bench and lowers to his haunches so Ariel can dismount.
"I am here, now."
Lacrima does not expect Ariel to show. She doesn't expect much of anyone when she asks for help or time because she often thinks she isn't worth that time. Sometimes things suck when you're sense of self worth is practically non-existant.
She does look up from her texting with a start and a blink. She doesn't say 'oh, you've showed' but her expression might aswell say it. She gently lowers the phone for a moment. Naru can go without a reply for a bit.
"Hi Ariel-chan." she says.
She motions beside her on the bench. "Sit down." she offers silently. "I mean. Unless. You'd rather not....." she trails off.
"At.. the party. When I walked in. You... seemed perturbed when you saw me. And Mamoru-san seemed to notice." she says quietly.
"D.. did I do something wrong?... I've been working hard. To behave. Not that. It's helped any. Recently." she says quietly. Yeah she'll get to THAT in a moment.
And that is... Precisely the exact reason why Ariel had been wanting to get ahold of Lacrima, as well. A fortunate thing, then, to get that whole issue from the party out in the air and sorted. For a beat, she hesitates, lips pursed. But not for the reason Lacrima may think.
When she does dismount from her massive canid guardian, she settles onto the benchm hands folding on her lap. Lucky immediater curls up around both Ariel and Lacrima's feet, being big enough to do so, and promptly enters lazy mode, as he so often does when there's no need for him to ferry his ward to and fro, nor any perceived danger.
"Hi." Well she starts there, a little fidgety and awkward. But then she shakes her head, silver hair spilling off a slender shoulder and letting a few glimmering flecks of glitter fall free. "No, it wasn't- well I mean." She starts trying to explain. "I remembered what you told me before. That he was angry with you, and I hadn't had a chance to speak with him, like I said I would. I did now but." But she offers a thin smile. "Before I came here, my only friends were fish and butterflies. It's a lot different, and I think I just don't really like it when my friends don't get along."
Lacrima blinks and seems to sort of curl up at that as she bites her lip. "He spoke to me. About that. I guess maybe after he spoke to you about it." she says quietly. "We're okay now... I mean. For definitions. Of okay." she says. "Mamoru and Kunzite recently helped me with another situation with one of my other friends." she says. "We know what's affecting him now- we just need to find a way to fix it. Something about a card..." she says quietly.
She shakes her head. "That's unimportant. Just. I worry. A lot, Ariel-chan." she says. "It's easy for me to worry. Because someone doesn't say 'hello' to me immediatly I worry. If someone takes too long to reply to me in a text. I worry." she says.
She shifts a bit. "Did.. Kunzite. Or anyone. Tell you about."
"A thing recently...?" she asks.
"I don't know what you know right now." she says quietly.
"..and I don't want to scare you."
"Um."
This seems to be a little bit of a harder moment. Though Ariel's chin tucks down to her chest slightly, her gaze remains squarely on Lacrima. ... She looks about ready to say something before she notices... The shirt. It throws her off for a beat, nose scrunching with a flutter of bewilderment forming on her face, before she gets herself, mentally, back on track.
Whatever it is with the card, she is clueless, but Ariel settles into an almost statue-like stillness.
"You don't have to worry about me." She says, at first. "--Actually... I was worried about you." But there is another matter. "Mm. I uh... I know about what happened to Alexis." She decides to be out with it, pausing there for a breath. "Kunzite said he thought whatever happened might have been because you were attacked maybe, but didn't know all the details himself."
Of course this is kind of... A big deal. Ariel was there for Lacrima's dream. Ariel witnessed Poderoso, and the night Lacrima learned what she could do.
"You don't have to tell me about it, if you don't want." She then says, shaking her head before responding. "You don't scare me. You're my friend."
Lacrima softly sits there. She shakes her head. "So Kunzite did tell you. About that." she says. She gently sighs and keeps quiet for a few long moments. Ariel isn't seeming to hold it against her so that's good. She sighs a bit and fidgets.
"I felt ashamed because. I'd promised Jiaying-chan I'd never do that. And you said you'd know I'd never do it." she says quietly. "But I did do it, regardless of that." she says quietly.
"I remember the events of that night thou now." she says quietly. "Kunzite was right. We were 'attacked'- and I was caught blindsided and Alexis..." she says quietly.
"The thing almost killed him- and I couldn't text for help because I was shaking and I did the only thing I /could/ to save him because he was going to /die/..." she says quietly.
"I'd never. Felt that before. Someone's energy level just. Going away. Into nothing." she says quietly.
"I'm still a mess over it. Because I still did it. Regardless of the reasons. I..."
"It felt horrible. Having to teach someone how to be this... /thing/." she says with a certain disgust.
Ariel finally moves. Her response is a slow nod, confirming that yes, Kunzite had told her. And then Ariel is still again, silent and waiting- waiting to listen, to hear what Lacrima will tell her of it, without pushing for an answer.
She gets the side of the story she had not previously heard. They were attacked, so that is truth then- it has to be, Ariel accepts it as such, anyway. She listens still, in silence, returning to that statue-like stillness. It must not be easy; for Lacrima to pull those tense and harrowing moments back to mind.
It may be hard to tell what Ariel is thinking, sitting there in perfect stillness, silent and placid, endlessly deep topaz eyes staring right at the other girl. It is a look no eleven year old could give. A look no human could give, as she absorbs it all.
And then, when she pulls herself back from whatever internal world she had so briefly visited, her hand slowly reaches to gently take Lacrima's.
"My mom... Before she disappeared always used to ask me something, whenever I did something I felt bad about. I don't think I really ever understood her. I'm not sure I will right now but..." She says, slow and thoughtful. Ariel closes her eyes and takes a slow breath. "Um..."
"Do you regret that he's still alive? Or would you regret if he wasn't and you could have done something?"
Lacrima frowns. "Did you know that even after knowing the story of how it happened, that people still hate me for it?" she asks softly. "Amu Hinamori is forming some kind of group to deal with me. I don't know if I'm fighting back if they come for me." she says quietly.
"I haven't told anyone because I don't want to cause more problems. I don't think anyone will care if I dissapear that way. I know it would be a great relief to many people if that happened." she says.
"I also know if. I'd let him die. People would be upset at me. And I would be upset. Because Alexis-kun is one of two people that I tenativly think of as family in my head." she says quietly.
"I feel like I would had regreted either choice. I chose the one where he lived. Even if it's... wrong." she says.
Now. Now that deep, inhuman look is gone. Now, on hearing that, Ariel's expression changes. Sharp, fast, drastic, and dramatic. It is a much more recognizable look. It is a stare of pure, unabashed, childish, horror.
"... But why?" In her eyes, Lacrima had done something to save someone she clearly cared about. To Ariel, in spite of the circumstances, Lacrima's choice was to save. Even in performing the terrible act of turning someone into something else like her, it was not out of malice, and therefore so easily forgivable. "Why would Amu do that?" Apparently she is acquainted with Amu- albeit flimsily. It does not stop Ariel from wilting.
Lacrima gives her answer, though. And Ariel squeezes that hand. "... For what it's worth. I'm not upset at you."
Lacrima wraps her arms around herself. "Because she says I still ruined a life." she says softly. "Alexis-kun is wrong. He can't feel things he used to. Like me." she says. "For all I know he's just one of the countless boys she has a crush on and I ruined that." she says softly.
"I haven't spoken to her since. I just know what she's intending." she says quietly. "For all I know someone spoke sense into her." she says. "But for all I know I could go back to my manor and find her and her friends standing outside waiting to finish me." she says quietly.
"I think it might be because I also made a promise. To not do that to her too. And she might feel like I broke it. And it's true. I did." she says quietly.
"I did what I did on my own volition. Regardless of the reasons, I still broke that promise." she says quietly.
A slow breath and Ariel releases Lacrima's hand. She lets the other girl sink into hugging herself, and returns to that solemn placid stare for another long moment as she listens, eyes half-lidded.
Ariel shakes her head. "I don't know Amu all that well." She admits, lips pursing. "But I'll try and talk with her too." She decides. "I don't blame you for the decision you made. ... It sounds like it wasn't an easy one, if you think you would be wrong, both ways but..."
But she squeezes her eyes shut. "If it comes to that. I won't let them hurt you." She decides without hesitation.