Winter Tsukuyomi ❄ Rikka Hishikawa (AU) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
peacefulwinter) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
savetheearth2015-04-06 11:30 pm
peacefulwinter) wrote in savetheearth2015-04-06 11:30 pm
035 ♦ closed
[A | closed: Summer, D!Lily | 4/3, evening | Neuschwanstein Castle]
It'd been a week since the battle at the Heart Tree. Summer and her Lily had gotten out unharmed, as had largely everyone except both of Raye. And, well... Jasmine. Their Jasmine had gone out in a blaze of glory and silver light. And there hadn't been a damned thing they could do about it. Both of them had been busy, occupied by other things, and Jasmine had paid the price. There hadn't even been anything left to bring back, aside from a few of the feathers. One was sitting in front of her now, on a nearby table, where she sat next to Lily.
The other girl was, understandably, depressed. Her sister is dead, by the hand of a young woman wearing the same face that looked back at her in the mirror every day. Neither Winter had raised a hand to stop it. The real thing had been trying to stop her Lily from going to assist, and Summer herself... had found ways to half-heartedly take potshots and generally stand away from the action. Saretha had made some convincing arguments, and fighting didn't seem like a good idea at the time. It still doesn't now, considering that things are coming to a head quickly. She's got a feeling that a big mess is coming, and the All Stars fighting amongst themselves is a very good way to get caught up in that mess without a chance to prepare. All that's going to do is get them killed.
The problem, ostensibly, is that Summer just doesn't have the same ability to lift problems off others' shoulders that her other does. She loves Lily, but her love is more forceful, rather than the gentle, supportive love that seems to radiate off Winter every time they meet. It makes her want to gag, but she regrets that she doesn't have that capacity. Still... she's trying. She's learning. And that's what's most important... probably. As she puts a slightly awkward arm around Lily, Summer sighs. "Dammit... it's killing me to see you like this, Lily. Especially when I can't do anything to help."
[B | closed: Winter, Summer, Lily, D!Lily | 4/6, afternoon | Locke City, Winter and Lily's house]
Summer had sent an e-mail to herself two days ago, which in turn meant she'd sent an e-mail to Winter. She'd proposed that they meet, herself and her other, and Lily and her other. That they needed to talk, that they needed to come to an understanding. She'd sworn, upon her powers and what passed for her honor, that she wouldn't hurt any of them unless Winter or Lily made an honest effort to hurt her first. She'd made specific mention that there'd been enough death to last her a while in the last two weeks. And, in a roundabout way, she'd apologized for what happened, and offered her condolences.
Winter had, at first, had a hard time believing that her other was going to come and not start something, but at the same time... the doubles had lost someone. Someone important to Lily and to her other self- Summer, the girl had used in the e-mail. And while the real Lily had been having some trouble after all was said and done, considering she'd delivered the last hit, things weren't as bad as anticipated. Even beyond that, Winter had told the other Lily that she wanted to meet Summer and Lily both, that she wanted to make friends and figure out how to stop all this. She supposed that started with being open and having a little faith.
And so it was that Winter Adamas sat on her couch on a brisk April afternoon, waiting for a knock at the door from herself, to talk about her fiancee murdering her fiancee's sister's doppelganger. Her head already hurts just considering that sentence, but she'd meant it when she said she wanted to make peace. Now, she's just counting on the girls coming here to make that promise.
It'd been a week since the battle at the Heart Tree. Summer and her Lily had gotten out unharmed, as had largely everyone except both of Raye. And, well... Jasmine. Their Jasmine had gone out in a blaze of glory and silver light. And there hadn't been a damned thing they could do about it. Both of them had been busy, occupied by other things, and Jasmine had paid the price. There hadn't even been anything left to bring back, aside from a few of the feathers. One was sitting in front of her now, on a nearby table, where she sat next to Lily.
The other girl was, understandably, depressed. Her sister is dead, by the hand of a young woman wearing the same face that looked back at her in the mirror every day. Neither Winter had raised a hand to stop it. The real thing had been trying to stop her Lily from going to assist, and Summer herself... had found ways to half-heartedly take potshots and generally stand away from the action. Saretha had made some convincing arguments, and fighting didn't seem like a good idea at the time. It still doesn't now, considering that things are coming to a head quickly. She's got a feeling that a big mess is coming, and the All Stars fighting amongst themselves is a very good way to get caught up in that mess without a chance to prepare. All that's going to do is get them killed.
The problem, ostensibly, is that Summer just doesn't have the same ability to lift problems off others' shoulders that her other does. She loves Lily, but her love is more forceful, rather than the gentle, supportive love that seems to radiate off Winter every time they meet. It makes her want to gag, but she regrets that she doesn't have that capacity. Still... she's trying. She's learning. And that's what's most important... probably. As she puts a slightly awkward arm around Lily, Summer sighs. "Dammit... it's killing me to see you like this, Lily. Especially when I can't do anything to help."
[B | closed: Winter, Summer, Lily, D!Lily | 4/6, afternoon | Locke City, Winter and Lily's house]
Summer had sent an e-mail to herself two days ago, which in turn meant she'd sent an e-mail to Winter. She'd proposed that they meet, herself and her other, and Lily and her other. That they needed to talk, that they needed to come to an understanding. She'd sworn, upon her powers and what passed for her honor, that she wouldn't hurt any of them unless Winter or Lily made an honest effort to hurt her first. She'd made specific mention that there'd been enough death to last her a while in the last two weeks. And, in a roundabout way, she'd apologized for what happened, and offered her condolences.
Winter had, at first, had a hard time believing that her other was going to come and not start something, but at the same time... the doubles had lost someone. Someone important to Lily and to her other self- Summer, the girl had used in the e-mail. And while the real Lily had been having some trouble after all was said and done, considering she'd delivered the last hit, things weren't as bad as anticipated. Even beyond that, Winter had told the other Lily that she wanted to meet Summer and Lily both, that she wanted to make friends and figure out how to stop all this. She supposed that started with being open and having a little faith.
And so it was that Winter Adamas sat on her couch on a brisk April afternoon, waiting for a knock at the door from herself, to talk about her fiancee murdering her fiancee's sister's doppelganger. Her head already hurts just considering that sentence, but she'd meant it when she said she wanted to make peace. Now, she's just counting on the girls coming here to make that promise.
A
How she feels. The distance she feels from everything around her right here and now, it's brought on less by the sorrow of her passing.
Rather, for the words she said leading up to it. For what this confirmed them to be...
Feeling Summer's awkward hug, she shifts a little bit. She is trying. A part of her... appreciates that? She doesn't just love this person - she practically worships her. Getting this attention should make her ecstatic, and yet... She doesn't know what to do with any of it.
"You could help," she says, softer perhaps than one is ever used to coming out of this Lily. "By helping me figure out what the hell I am." She lets out a long, aggravated sigh, leaning against her. "What we are."
no subject
But at the same time, she has a feeling she knows one of the things Lily's worried about. Summer's worried about it, too. What are they? Could all of them find the same end Jasmine did? The whole purification thing is a problem, but what about more normal things? Will someone decide that, if the leader of the duplicate magical girls was an evil bitch, the rest might try to fill the power void and need to be snuffed out?
As Lily shifts, Summer realizes that they're both worrying about exactly the same thing. And she smiles slightly as she wraps an arm around Lily, holding her close. "That's an answer I don't know, either. But we can certainly take guesses." Thinking logically, even if it hurts, she can figure out exactly what happened. "We saw, a week ago, what a good and nice Jasmine is like. And you know what Dark Precure was like. If you reverse Jasmine's personality... you get our Jasmine. I don't think it's a stretch to say she bore more than a passing resemblance to the kinds of things Yuri fought." Matching Lily's sigh, she thinks back on what she knows. "She was the next best thing to evil we ever get around here. She hated everything, she was convinced she was better than everyone... all of us were her tools. Even you and Marina. When you strip away the hate, and the ill will, and the desire to conquer... there wasn't anything left."
Absently running her hand through Lily's hair, she leans in to meet her eyes. "We're... more than that. I won't pretend we're like our others that seem like model superheroes, but we're capable of doing good things. We see people as people. We have friends, family, acquaintances. We can love, and we can draw the line between minor annoyances and outright hate. Even the people we hate, we can hate without taking it out physically on them." It's a weird laundry list; it sounds like she's defining the concept of a well-adjusted person. And in a way, she is.
"At the end of the day, we're human. Same as they are. Same as all the rest of us. Jasmine had it right, in the end - she was a monster. Precure are made to hunt monsters. It's just part of the job. She pushed her luck, and... well." In a corked jar, tall and thin, rests one of the feathers Summer had brought back. It sits on a windowsill where the moonlight hits it at night; it's a sappy gesture, but she doesn't know any better way to honor Jasmine. She was a bitch, but... she was family. And whatever their problems, she wasn't going to dishonor Jasmine's memory like that.
"We have the capacity for good, just as we have the capacity for evil. We like breaking things and causing havoc, and occasionally giving people a show. But we aren't defined by those things. We can step back and be reasonable people. Sometimes we even like it. We're not perfect. But I don't think anyone can ask for perfection and actually expect to get it. I don't. I happen to love you just the way you are, with all your faults. That's all I need to know. We're ourselves. And we have a right to live."
no subject
That created a certain little fear in her. If her own sister would use her like that, would in the end think that little of her... What of anyone else? Were any of them what they seemed?
She found herself selfishly more concerned with her own plight in this whole mess than Jasmine's fate. She's certain, deep down, that the real Lily Tsukuyomi would be in a much different state in the same situation.
So she stares, and she listens. She does so intently, hardly budging, just... taking it in. As she does she, she sort of wonders. If they're opposites, how is it that both Lily Tsukuyomis love their versions of Cure Diamond? She tries to pick at her memory to find a solution there, realizing they both see different things in the different Winters. Lily had told Winter, on the day she confessed her feelings, "I want to make you happy." While this is not untrue for the doppelganger that rests here now, she can feel in her gut her reasons differ. She wants to stand by the side of a great woman, to do all she can to support her. All so that affection, that love will be hers and hers alone. Not to be loved in general, but to know that one, specific person can look at her that way... She's certain that Lily might even appreciate that perspective, selfish though it might be in some ways. Yet she'll give anything to Summer for that.
Something which she's finding is rewarded here.
Her voice still soft, she finally speaks, murmuring a little. "Human..."
She closes her eyes, giving a soft breath at the feeling of that hand through her hair. She's not even sure if that's the case, but she's not sure she cares that far. The most important part, though...
"We're alive. And we have the right to live how we see fit."
Even if that isn't entirely the case, and she knows it. They're still pulled by the creature in this area, and perhaps dependent on it too.
"Or as far as we can... But I want that. I want to be able to live and do as we decide, whether that leads us to do good or bad, so long as it's with you... I want to live as we want, dammit..."
She bites her lip a bit, and opens her eyes, frowning. "But I can't do that... thinking I'm Lily Tsukuyomi... can I, Summer...?"
no subject
Summer is, admittedly, not as pure about her reasons as Winter, or indeed as either Lily. Summer wants someone to love her, adore her, cherish her, and generally make her feel wanted and/or like a goddess. Lily hits all those notes quite handily, and so her attraction burns brightly. She loves Lily for who she is, but her emotional needs are very much satisfied with her.
As Lily gives her that awkward look, though, she's not sure what to think. "Not as Lily... mm. You're not the same woman she is. You're someone unique, different- ah." She's not sure whether it's her mind suddenly making the connection, or her noticing that she's being called by her new name. But she realizes the difference eventually. "Maybe we should call you something else, huh? Not that purity isn't still something you've got, but... it's not really the same. There's more to you than just that, and than just her, right?"
no subject
At some point, she's probably realized those wants of Summers. Another type of person might find that distasteful, or as if they're being used, but... This Lily doesn't really care. Summer rewards her handily for it, and so long as she can stake claim to her... She's more than satisfied, herself.
She has to almost snort at the application of the word 'purity' towards her, to some degree. Maybe pure in her lack of care for how she's perceived, or that she has no fear in stating her mind...
"If I'm not more than just her yet... I will be," she says, almost a little roughly, though it's obviously a feeling directed inward rather than out to Summer. "I'll be as strong, or stronger. If a Precure's really stronger for what they feel..." She reaches up, fingers pressing against Summer's cheek as she stares intently. "I'll just have to magnify everything I feel, hm? But... for what I am, for who I need to be, I... hm..."
The intensity in her expression remains, but it shifts a little bit. For however much Summer might want to be seen as some sort of goddess, the look she's being given right now would likely feed that to some degree. "Is there... anything you might want to call me...?"
no subject
An arm wrapping around Lily tightly, holding her that close, Summer grins. "You've got all the guts in the world, that's for sure. But... maybe we don't have to be more than them. They've got a lot going for them, but at the same time, it's a little too much. I don't want to have my name in the paper when I show up in public. I like having a little privacy, you know?" She runs a finger up Lily's spine briefly, in the interest of not spelling things out quite so much. "So we'll make our feelings known, until we shine just as brightly, in our own ways. They might be known by a lot of people, but when someone meets us, they're never going to forget us."
Her smile turns a little more tender as she starts to realize Lily's actually waiting for Summer to make a suggestion. Either there isn't enough of an idea in her mind to make a decision, or she is completely willing to defer even something this important to Summer. And it gives her a thrill, even as she feels the pressure that she has to pay this trust back. Searching her mind, and the things her other has learned in two decades of life, she frets for a few seconds.
But she hits on something, and there's a big grin on her face as she makes her decision, pulling back so Lily can see her. "You're right - you're more than Lily is. A lily stands for purity, and that's about it. But you... there are a lot of sides I like to you. You're the love of my life, you're my best friend, you're... a lot of things I can't really put words to. You're my beautiful rose, as corny as it sounds, and I wouldn't have it any other way."
A pause, stretching into an awkward silence for a couple seconds; just this once, she'll thank Winter for reading a lot of books and articles about things she shouldn't really care about. "So... Rose. How does that sound?"
no subject
And she stops again, and she just gazes at her. Adoringly. Having at some point shifted from a growling attack dog to a loyal puppy in her arms. That reason is indeed the willingness to defer to her, in this and anything else.
She hears what Summer says and an uncharacteristic blush creeps across her face, before she nods, leaning in and nuzzling herself against Summer's shoulder. "Mmm... I think I like that..."
Of course, she would. Summer came up with it, after all.
B
Though looking more or less none the worse for wear now, there is a distinct difference - her hair. It had been frayed badly caught in Jasmine's maelstrom of self loathing, and it had resulted in a distinct change. Namely, the fact that her formerly lengthy, purple hair now only comes bobbing right around her shoulders. She's seemed... far less upset about that than she may have before. In fact, she'd been wearing it a little bit looser in terms of style than anyone who may have known her would be used to. Lily looked tired, and a little bit different, and yet... sort of refreshed, all at the same time.
This was hardly an average social call. And she wasn't sure how she'd face her other, knowing what she'd done. She regretted it deeply - she'd spent her own time mourning that loss, even if... Even if she understood. She understood she couldn't have prevented it. She couldn't have known, and...
That Jasmine?
That Jasmine couldn't have been saved.
Still.
She'd taken a life. A thinking, feeling, intelligent life.
Somewhere, she's still processing that. Knowing it's something she doesn't really want to ever repeat, but...
She'd make amends for that somehow, in her own time. Perhaps today could be a step towards that.
no subject
Summer, meanwhile, is touching down on the sidewalk half a block away, heart-shaped portal shimmering in the air as she holds out a hand to catch Rose on her way out. Her low heels clack as she lands; she's dressed a little more subtly today, in a deep blue, somewhat casual dress that reaches to her knees. No need to turn heads today; that's not what she's here for. Honestly, she's still a little less than totally comfortable with all this, but if there's one thing Winter Adamas can be trusted on, it's that she means what she says. Summer would have to be an idiot not to take the invitation to negotiate peace, or whatever her opposite is planning. So while she's a little uneasy about all this - let alone about how she's going to deal with the young woman that took Rose's sister from them - she's going to try very, very hard not to think about it too much until she actually has to.
no subject
She breathes, though. She gives Summer a nod, and walks up... before promptly banging on the door.
Inside, Lily practically leaps out of her skin. She gives Winter a briefly frantic look before composing herself, taking a deep breath, and moving to answer the door.
Upon seeing the twisted mirror reflection of herself on the other side, it's all she can do to not flinch away. Because yes, she remembers that whole... "I'll kill you" thing too. It's not that her double hadn't had a good reason for it, either. Lily is not wholly convinced she would have reacted differently.
Maybe that's what scares her.
"Hn."
Lily blinks at her opposite, and just... nods quietly, stepping back from the door way. "Ah.. hi there..."