high_seas | (no subject)

Wow, Mana sure was huggy with her other friends. Then again, Regina supposed that was the natural state of Mana anyhow. And unlike Alice and Rikka, she didn't feel any gut-wrenching bouts of jealousy at that much. ~~That would come later.~~

"I am your Regina!" she said in response to Mana's statement. Of course she was Mana's. That was just obvious.

But, putting that aside, she quickly flew forward to join the group of girls, giving Rikka a once-over as she did. "Hi Rikka!" Mana and Alice said that Rikka had been hurt, too, but from here she looked perfectly fine. No slings, anyway. "They said you were hurt, but you look good. I'm glad."

Rikka's daily dose of Mana chases some of her anxiety away. Clearly Regina hadn't broken anything yet, and hopefully it would stay that way. So the big hug, and the linked arm from the other girl that probably shouldn't be engaging in hugs, are enough to get her to smile properly.

"I'm... beginning to see that. I'm kind of excited, honestly." Catching Alice's glance, she tries to remain optimistic, and then there's a Regina right there. The moment to appraise her condition is a surprise, and the apparent honest concern is almost enough to sell her right then and there. "I am still hurt a little, you just can't see the bandages. I-" 'had a sword pushed into my spine', goes through her head, with the moment flashing back; she shivers involuntarily, and her eyes flash with fear for a moment. Both are easy to miss if you aren't looking right at her... or touching her. "I kind of got stabbed. I'm getting better, but it's a slow process." A pause. Then, more quietly: "Thank you for your concern."

"Ha ha! Any Regina is our Regina, as far as I'm concerned!" Mana laughed.

Then she pulled away from Rikka and began heading towards the galley. "I should get started on dinner right away! I'll make you all whatever you want! Just tell me what it is! Anything for the three of you! I'll put extra love into it too!"

Then she stopped and paused. "Do you think I should make something fir Makopi now or wait until she arrives? I don't want her to have to wait, but I don't want her to accidentally make something she doesn't want..."

Alice, both holding onto Rikka and looking at her eyes in that moment, did notice the shiver and look she had, albeit briefly. She frowned a bit, and Rikka's stubbornness be damned, her arm moved and she reached down to take hold of the blue-haired girl's hand gently. She wouldn't speak on it there and then, because Rikka's fears were the last thing she wanted to trot out in front of Regina then, but she wanted to at least show her support there.

Her attention taken up by Rikka for more than a few significant moments, she then looked back to Regina, smiling a bit more genuinely. "And she was concerned for my own injury, too," she said. And Regina had hugged her, too, but she wasn't sure how much Rikka would want to encourage that. "I have little doubt of her legitimacy."

Her eyes followed Mana, and she shook her head. "I suspect Makoto-san would like whatever you would cook for her, though, Mana..."

Regina wore a visible frown when she heard about Rikka's injuries. She was going to say something, but she was distracted by Mana and Alice at that moment. And she latched onto the last thing Mana said as well.

"Makoto's here too?" They almost had the full team! She was visibly excited now. She would be happy with just Mana alone, of course, but the more friends around, the better. And Makoto was a good friend - she worked hard to save her, and even wrote a song for her.

Regina moved closer to Mana again, looking the girl in the eyes. "What about Aguri?" That would be all they were missing, then. And, for obvious reasons, Aguri would be the next most important person to Regina. Not that Mana and the others would know that... yet. Time shenanigans.

"I know I'll eat whatever you make, Mana," Rikka had to agree. She couldn't turn down Mana's cooking. "And I think-" She loses her train of thought as Alice grips her hand; she smiles thinly and continues, "I think Makoto will, too."

Glancing across at Alice, she adds, "I'm starting to gather that. Regina is... different than the one we know. I guess time changes things..."

But for the moment, she's not going to say a whole lot else. There are a lot of other variables that need answering, and they're not going to get answered while she's talking. That, and... Makoto.

"Ah... I'm afraid Aguri-chan isn't here," Mana replied, suddenly wondering why Regina would ask about her. From Mana's perspective, the only encounter the two of them had ever had was when... was when Cure Ace had defeated her.

... there would be enough time for that later. For now, though, she needed to take care of something else.

"Hey Regina, can you wait here for a second? I need to pull Alice and Rikka aside for a minute... it won't be long, I promise!"

Alice squinted a bit at the request for Aguri, herself. That one WAS odd, but if she truly was from their future.. Hrm... She couldn't quite place what that might mean, but it could be set side for later. At Mana's request, she also raises a brow, but tugs lightly on Rikka's hand as she begins to move after Mana.

Hearing that Aguri wasn't there shouldn't be much of a surprise. It was still unfair, though. They were so close to being all together, and that would make being stuck in a weird island world all the better. ~~Hey, she's Regina, she's allowed to be selfish.~~

And... now Mana wanted to go off and talk to the others alone? Regina wasn't suspicious - this was Mana - but she was irate. What was so important that she tag along? She just got back to Mana's side, why'd she have to be separated?

...At least it wouldn't be long. "Okay, but make it quick!"

She'd find something to amuse herself with for a moment. Maybe there was some paint nearby, that flag was kind of bland....

The request makes Rikka look up for a moment in question, but she goes along with it, letting herself be pulled along. That slight anger in Regina's tone is... slightly worrisome.

"Mana? What's... going on?"

Mana took them down into the galley and then to the storeroom, where they were out of earshot. Once she did, she turned to both of them and took hold of Rikka's free hand while putting her other on Alice's shoulder.

"What's going on? You two are walking on eggshells," she said. "I know it's Regina, but... I feel like it's more than just fear she might still be under her father's control..."

She looked down. "Am I assuming too much? If I'm wrong, please tell me... I just want to help you both..."

Edited 2014-02-13 03:56 (UTC)

Alice looked back and forth between Mana and Rikka. She hadn't released Rikka's hand, and didn't really plan to if she could avoid it. Right then and there, she felt as if she needed one of them to hold onto, and with only one hand to do it...

Finally, she cast her eyes down at the floor, a sense of shame welling up in her chest.

Honesty, right?

"Mana, I..." she started, but bit her lip. "I cannot speak for Rikka. And given what you accepted from me, it may seem hypocritical to ask this of you, and I realize this is sudden, but... Given all that happened back home, and what has happened here..."

She looked back up, forcing herself to look Mana in the eye. "Just what do you feel for Regina-san?"

"And aside from that, Mana, I've already come dangerously close to dying in the last three weeks. Regina represents the possibility of very certain death until I am comfortable with her enough to believe otherwise."

She looks over at Alice, then back to Mana. "But I have the same question as Alice, too. After everything... I feel some things I really didn't want to feel again. Some things I haven't felt since Makoto showed up and I thought she was going to take you away from me. Some... very unladylike things."

And she's going to clam up now; even with the fact that she's got her precious people giving her strength, she's still losing a lot of confidence.

Mana's jaw fell open a little, and she stood there, bewildered, for at least ten seconds. A number of thoughts ran through her mind... part of this felt like it had come completely out of the blue, while another felt like she was a fool for never even once considering it.

"... I love Regina as intensely as one can love another person," Mana said. "I would do anything for her. I want to take her away from the horrible things she's seen and done, and show her how wonderful and bright and amazing life can be..."

Her expression grew serious.

"... But that's a certain kind of love. It's not the same as the love I have for both of you. I want to protect Regina, teach her, guide her. But... when I think about my future, I don't see her there the way I see you. I see her as someone like family, someone close to me in a different way...

"Because... you two... you two? Did everything I said and more. I don't know if this makes any sense, but I want to be a strong person for Regina, while you two are the ones who help me realize I could be strong!"

She looked down, hands shaking even as she held the others and had her eyes closed. "I'm always acting confident, I know. I pretty much do everything, and I've been that way since before we met... But it was your friendship and now your love that keeps me going that way! We've always been together, and... and I know if you weren't there, I'd lose all of it...

"I could keep going if Regina didn't want to be my friend, but... when I fell into despair, it was because I thought I'd failed someone who needed me. When I thought I let you both down with the witch, I... I was upset because I know I'm so much less without both of you! You give my love meaning, Alice, Rikka! You... you're the ones who I absolutely can't live without! It's pathetic, but... you're the ones who give it all meaning..."

And with that said, she shrunk back, trying to hold her head up and look them both in the eye.

Alice's eyes shifted away from Mana, not being able to bear meeting her eyes after hearing all of that. Her stomach twisted in yet more knots than they had earlier. She felt very much like a heel all of a sudden. That even an ounce of doubt could have slipped into her heart where that was concerned. It wasn't as if she thought Mana would just up and leave the both of them now that Regina was there, was it?

Yet still, the worry had festered, and so quickly. It was a nasty feeling, and while it was reassuring to some extent she wasn't the only one feeling it - though she did find herself surprised that Rikka just so plainly put out her previous bout with that feeling in the open - it didn't make it much better. That shame she'd been feeling before now showed quite evidently in her eyes, and she knew that, so she closed them.

"I'm sorry, Mana," she murmured. "It was just that... you had clearly felt so strongly before, and she... The way she acts towards you makes it seem so clear how she herself may feel... I do not doubt your feelings in the slightest, and I am so grateful you feel that way. It is not pathetic at all, or at least I could not claim it as such, because I am someone who would be nowhere without the both of you."

She sighed, then sucked in a breath and opened her eyes back. The shameful look hadn't faded, but she still forced herself to look back at the both of them.

"But... because her own thoughts feel so clear, you owe it to all of us to be clear with her," she said, and frowned. "Mana, did you not notice how Regina-san froze up when you made mention of us three being together? I am... not certain she completely understands what is going on here. What has happened."

"That's... almost exactly how I feel. I have nothing left without the two of you. It's not pathetic at all. I just feel... kind of terrible, making assumptions like that without asking you first. I should trust you more than that, after everything. But I can't help how I feel."

She's not even sure what to say. What did you say to that? Oh, sorry, I doubted you really hard for a second there, but it's okay, moment over, let's go back to Regina and let her hang all over you again? The insecurity is gone, but there's a tiny little sliver of doubt she can't really get rid of. But she's trying very, very hard. It's Mana - if there's one thing the last six months have proven, it's that when Mana says something, she'll follow through.

"I'm sorry. I... I owe all of you more than this, Regina included. She hasn't done anything wrong to deserve this, and you don't deserve me dumping this on you all of a sudden. My insecurities are not your responsibility. I think I'll be okay, just... yeah."

And then she pauses, and she fights the urge to swear when Alice mentions that Regina probably doesn't realize it. What would that do? That feeling of insecurity is rapidly being replaced with a looming dread in the pit of her stomach, and her hand grips Mana's harder. Because this is going to be a mess no matter how you slice it. At least, that's all she can see.

Mana's expression became firm, and she pulled them both into another hug.

"You have nothing to apologize for," she said, firmly. "You shouldn't feel bad about feeling jealous, or worried, especially not after what we've all been through! How you act on it, that's what's important, and all you did was ask me a question...!"

She pulled away, smiling as wide as she could. "But you two are the ones I've given my heart to! I may share it with others as far as kindness and friendship and family, but it belongs to the two of you the most! Don't worry... I'll talk to Regina! I'm sure she'll accept all of our feelings...! It may not be easy at first, but... I'm going to take responsibility for ensuring we all have a happy ending!"

Alice gave a relieved sigh as Mana pulled them into a hug. Coming out and saying how she felt on this was... scary, almost as much or more than saying some other things had been in the past few months. It was something that could have ended very poorly, had Mana not been Mana. While that sort of sick feeling remained in the pit of her stomach, realizing she had actually succumbed to that sort of jealousy, her tension eased considerably.

She was worried about what might happen if Regina was just told all of this, but... She was also not wiling to try and cover up how she felt for Mana and Rikka. Better, she figured, for Regina to discover it first hand than on accident. At least... that was what she hoped, and just had to pray she was right.

"Right, of course, Mana..." she murmured. "I truly do want all of us to be happy. That is why, whether it is today or some other time, it feels important for us to speak our true feelings on everything. So... thank you." As she said that, she glanced over at Rikka, still holding onto the blue Cure's other hand. Those last two words went to both Mana and Rikka, as she really was so very grateful that, in spite of Alice feeling so ill towards her own feelings, there was someone else in line with them there.

She would have liked to just stay like that for a little while longer, but she gave a slight, resigned sigh.

"Makoto-san will probably be here soon, as well..."

"I'm going to hold you to that, Mana." It comes out softly, but after a moment, she follows it with something else, a little stronger: "I'm counting on it. If there's anything else I can do to help, let me. But for now... I don't think I'm the right person to convince her. I'm barely the right person to do the dishes." Which was another sore point - literally as well as figuratively - but that wasn't something to worry about now. She didn't say anything else to Alice, but then, she didn't need to. She'd already said volumes by speaking up so the heiress didn't have to, and she didn't need thanks for it. Sure, it was how she felt, but... Alice didn't need to make herself feel even more depressed by having to put words to those feelings. Rikka already had.

But the last comment makes her want to just not let go of Mana and Alice and refuse to move... but that'd be too selfish, in more than a few ways. "She probably will. And Regina is probably wondering what we're getting up to down here. I can already hear her asking really uncomfortable questions... well, she's allowed, I guess."

Mana nodded resolutely. "I know," she said. "Once we get dinner started, I'll ask Regina to help me, and... I can talk to her then."

She led them out onto the deck again, and looked around for where Regina might be.

Unfortunately, Regina's plan to find a bucket of paint and redecorate the flag had been a bust. Turns out they don't keep paint above deck, who knew? Such a shame.

Instead, Regina was floating up by the flag, trying to make heads or tails out of it. What kind of symbol was this thing supposed to be, anyway?

She was still peering at it when Mana and company made their way back up to the deck before noticing them. As soon as she did, she was back down amongst them, all smiles and cheers. ~~To contrast them, of course.~~ "Mana! That took forever!"

Indeed, it was around this point that Makoto finally arrived. It had taken her a bit, as she'd explored some of the town first and afterwards had a little trouble finding the correct ship. She... hated to admit it, even to herself, but they all looked the same to her. However, when she spotted her friends on the deck of this ship, she was positive she finally found the right one.

Smiling, she hurried over onto the ship and called out to them.

"I'm here!" And thank goodness for that. "Sorry for the... wait..."

The reason why she was trailing off? Yeah, uh... guess who's spotted Regina? And guess who stopped checking the journal after she received word from her friends, as she didn't expect to find anything important after that?

...

Yeah. This was more than a little surprising to Makoto. And not a pleasant surprise, at that.

"R-Regina?!" Yeah, uh, she's not very happy to see you, Regina. Sorry about that. "What are you doing here?!"

Ah, from bad to worse.

Alice gave a startled yelp. She'd been so caught up in her own worries she hadn't thought about the clear and obvious fact Makoto might have a less than pleasant reaction towards seeing Regina there in the flesh. She felt quite foolish for that for just a moment, but also saw this needed to be diffused and fast.

She held out her uninjured arm and took a few steps forward.

"M- Makoto-san, hold on!" she sputtered, and then composed herself. "This Regina-san... She is not from the same time as us! She comes from sometime well after us, and... She appears to have changed."

She lowers her arm and sighs. From being defensive over Regina, to defending her. Just what in the world were you doing, Alice?

"I know it may sound hard to believe, but... she appears to be quite genuine..."

Oh dear.

Mana surged forward, putting herself in between Makoto and Regina.

"She's right!" Mana declared. "Regina has changed! She's not affected by whatever her father did to her...! I swear, Makopi! She... she did and said things that Regina would never do!"

Then, she stepped forward and tried to take hold of both Makoto's hands. "Please... this is a happy occasion! Even if you have doubts... you can trust something I say, right...?"

What else could she say? Rikka and Regina had barely talked in the first place, either here or at home. And Mana and Alice had kind of covered all the bases just now...

"Um... hi, Makoto... I'm sorry this is the first thing you're coming in to..."