video || second chances

[fervidity]

[The recent post made by WTF (or WoTF) has finally prompted Kushina to make an entry again, addressing this world at large and the people in it. Or at least those that can see this.

First, a deep breath.]

I don't know if anybody has been thanked for all the effort, for putting their lives on the line to save this world by those of us who don't remember how bad it was. There were people who made this place better for everyone and went back in time. It still sounds ridiculous to me and kind of impossible but this world is good at making impossible things possible, isn't it? [Like bringing people back to life.

Minato was good at it too. Space-time and doing impossible things.]

So... thank you. [At the end, her voice nearly cracks and she bows her head before lifting it again.

Now. Her smile is sad.]

It seems like we can go home soon, huh? That's good. We should go home because that's where we belong. Even if we have a choice to stay, we should go home in the end. So many people have fought for us to do just that. They're still fighting. If we don't go home, isn't it just like scorning those people and all their efforts? Isn't it forgetting who we are?

Don't be so selfish about wanting to stay here. There's a million other people in different timelines and worlds that don't. You should all work hard too to overcome your weaknesses so you're not stuck here anyway. There's people who do want to go home but they're going back to a place worse than this. Because it's home! Even if it's going back to their own death or being alone!

Even if it means losing everything here that is precious...

[A long, pregnant pause and Kushina finishes with a question after shaking her head a little.]

How many of you were given a second chance by being here?

[She closes the journal immediately after.]

Comments

voice

[biophilia]

I'd be careful with a word like "selfish".

voice

[fervidity]

What other word is there? All I've seen is people wanting to stay here for selfish reasons.

[biophilia]

[Ginko is rarely angry, and he isn’t angry now. Her certainty just — rankles a little.]

It’s not as if their feelings are going to impact the fates of people who do want to go home. No one person is trying to argue what outcome is best for everyone. They’re just… human feelings.

[Voice]

[distressedude]

...even those of us who want to stay can still fight for those who want to return home. I don't think there's anything selfish about wanting to live.

[There's a subtle answer to her final question in there.]

[Voice]

[fervidity]

[Usually subtlety was hard to catch but for a topic like this-]

What do you want to live for?

Video, Locked

[misterbrief]

Why can't you learn to keep your big mouth shut for a change?

Spouting all that nonsense, who do you think you are, huh?

video locked

[fervidity]

[As soon as she sees him she wants to close her journal immediately.

She's a storm of emotions with nobody reigning it in. Nobody to balance it. Vegeta can't, especially.]

I don't want to hear it from you.

Video/Locked

[windandrain]

Kushina.

[Saori's voice is almost hard, a quiet sort of steel in her words. She's had this discussion with her friend before. But this? This is very different.]

Why in the name of all the stars would you say something like that?

Video/Locked

[fervidity]

[Silence from Kushina, especially since they did talk about it before. She doesn't even remember all of it, her memories tampered with or something else she's not catching onto.

She's a little closed off -- angry, herself. At so much. She's never been particularly angry at this place. Not in this timeline.

Angry and lost.]

What was I supposed to do?

[generalflirt]

[ ... Wow. He can't help but wonder if he caused that. Probably not, that would be arrogant to think. Kushina-san had her own thoughts and feelings, and her own standpoint that she was coming from. For his part though, he considers responding, realizes that he has nothing to say, and then puts his hands in his pockets. He heads on out of his apartment and heads for House 20.

He wonders if she was broadcasting from there. If she was still there.

After all, she probably would want to be comforted by someone closer to her. Oh well. Even if he's not the right man for the job, he'll go and knock on her door. ]

[fervidity]

[After talking on the journal a lot and having her emotions turn into a hurricane after already being a storm, Kushina really isn't in the mood to answer the door. Or talk to anyone. She probably slams the journal shut and marches over to see who it is, opening it and glaring until she sees the face there.]

Masaomi?

voice.

[notabluesbro]

That's a load of crap.

[WOLFWOOD IS A HORRIBLE PRIEST. But he's calm about it, at least, even if he'd flip most people into the sun for that kind of logic. He isn't sure what to record, but he's got his finger at the ready, and finally he manages to gather his thoughts (and temper) enough to speak up:]

I'm not leaving my kid alone, and even if I was alone here, the meaning of home to you isn't the same to the rest of this place. Hell, did you ever think maybe homes change? This is my home. Every other attempt in my world for a home didn't end with anything good. I never belonged in my world - doubt anyone has, where I'm from.

[He huffs a puff of cigarette smoke.]

Why're you so certain sacrifice and loss has to be the first go-to option instead of fighting to get a better outcome? Hell, the people who don't want to leave? They've fought for people to go home, too, same as anyone else.

... I'm not giving up my second chance just because you're willing to. Call me selfish all you want.

voice

[fervidity]

[His kid? His kid. Why wouldn't his kid go with--

Sophie. Noah. She's not sure but her throat closes up a little and she has to gather herself too, for different reasons.

Homes change. Yeah, she knows. Being one that was taken from what she had called home and suddenly put in an unfamiliar place to be a host to a monster. To be a weapon. Home to her isn't anywhere anymore, it's a person. It's people. Even so, those people didn't belong here either.

Nothing good.

Didn't belong. That's--]

I thought the better outcome was going back where we came from. [That's not said softly, but the next is.]

Wouldn't you take your child with you?

[deathsdoctor]

Selfishness, huh?

[There's an slight edge to Law's voice. He had the journal muted before.

Possibly because he was having A Reaction wherever he is. And picking splinters from the tree he knocked over out of his hand does wonderful reminders about why one should control their temper.]

[fervidity]

[Law lives next door so..... she probably heard That Reaction if he did it nearby. It's not like she hasn't gotten splinters herself with all this. Her table has suffered the wrath of Kusina's fist and just as badly controlled temper.

But she doesn't sound particularly soothing either since she's on edge. She just answers with:]

Yes.

[goldenfirefly]

[Selfishness. Stella has had such problems with that in her life. But this?]

Call it selfish, but I am not abandoning my daughter again.

[fervidity]

[Inhales. Sharply.]

Later, what if you don't have a choice? This world isn't exactly known for keeping people around forever, is it? Being in this world, you have to live with that fact no matter where you go.

[...]

I can't blame you for wanting to spend all the time in the world with her that you can, for not wanting to abandon her or let go. For wanting to teach her things and stay with her, watch her grow up. [A shaky breath] But given the choice of leaving when you can say goodbye and do everything you can right now to make sure she's taken care of or disappearing without a warning, without a choice...

As a mother, I want to be able to protect my child for the future instead of depend on something else to keep me around.

[Voice]

[selphie_t]

[Selphie's thought about what to say for quite some time. Luceti may have put them all through more than their fair shares of hell, but there were still a lot of good times too. For her, staying or leaving is a hard choice to make because she's changed so much since she first arrived almost five years ago.

Much of her life has been spent fighting in or preparing for wars, so a bit of normalcy helped her to grow up. She's made a family thanks to Luceti and thinking about that aspect alone makes this even tougher. She keeps her tone even with the hope of not sparking an argument.]

I really feel that in times like this, it's really up to the individual if they want to leave or stay. There's also people who aren't sure which path to take so everyone needs a bit more time to find their own path.

Not everybody is going home...

[Voice]

[fervidity]

[No, not everyone. She knows about Noah and Sophie and that decision is ultimately up to the parents since Kushina isn't theirs.]

Yeah, it's up to them. I can't make anybody decide anything. I don't want anybody to decide it for me, either. That's why I want to go home.

[Especially since she would have to be inhuman (or just a shounen protag) to not want to stay here and live. To stay with the friends she's made and thrive in a peaceful world for however long.

At least Selphie is calm about it and although Kushina is weary, she speaks pretty evenly too.]

Someone asked me once what I would do if I had a choice to stay or go home and I said I would go home. I don't want this world to do it for me and I end up abandoning everyone without a word. We're not supposed to be here anyway.

[Video]

[lostinmyway]

[Grune is quiet for a while after the entry finishes. It seems this person has very strong feelings. But...Grune can't agree with them, even if they come from this person's heart.]

Everyone has a different way of living. It's important for each person to look at their heart and decide that they want to do.

[Video]

[fervidity]

You can disagree. Everyone else has. I'm not going to say you're wrong for disagreeing, either. [Especially because she understands where everyone is coming from.]

I just don't agree with it. Nobody can make me think it's a good idea, either or that staying means they're going to stay forever. It's never been like that.

voice

[explaining]

[Look like a lot of other people have that "selfish" thing covered, so...]

I like to think all of us got second chances coming here. Don't you think? It's so removed from the responsibilities and blessings and whatever else of our homes. I mean, we're literally existing outside of time.

voice

[fervidity]

[Merciful Guy.

Still, she's gotten a bit cagey since she's gotten into some heated discussions (read: fights) so whereas she might have been more friendly, cheerful even, she's muted.]

If you're going to talk about space-time, I've heard it all. I don't get that stuff. It's way too smart for me.

[feistytrader]

You made it sound really heroic, but it didn't really feel that way.

[He can't comment on the rights and wrongs of things. He's not sure how he feels himself. So he'll focus on the old Luceti and what happened in the past. Sure, there were a few people you could really call heroes- especially those who went on the mission- but... It's not right. Nothing about the fighting and constant death everywhere felt heroic.]

...I think, more than anything, everyone just wanted to survive. [...] Or almost everyone. Luceti has a lot of strange people.

[That's one thing that definitely hasn't changed.]

[fervidity]

[Kushina would absolutely feel the same. She did feel the same.

But she doesn't remember that Luceti. All she knows is people went on a mission, risked their lives to give Luceti the peace it has now. She's seen one person, a friend, suffer because of it.]

There's nothing wrong with wanting to survive. [Which certainly seems like a direct contradiction to her post since she's dead in her world but she never said it was wrong to want to live. There's nothing wrong with that.]

Or not wanting to. Everyone made this world a better place though, didn't they? That seems heroic to me.