stilldontgotit | 48 - voice/action;

Heh. The end of the year. Time sure flies, huh? This marks the third winter I've spent holed up in this place. Now, I could get all nostalgic about how things changed, but frankly? I'm sure you guys are tired of that by now.

There's... something else on my mind, though. Something I've thought about for a while, about the way this place works.

[He pauses for a few seconds, mulling over how to properly phrase this...]

Anyway, I'm sure most of you guys are familiar with the way people vanish out of the blue just like I'm sure you're used to people showing up without a single memory of their time before. Assuming they'd been here, anyway. But sometimes people come back with memories fully intact or those memories return after a quick reminder. I've even seen a few cases of somebody coming back as a blank slate and showing up again later with memories from a visit before the last.

Maybe I'm over thinking it, but have you guys ever thought that maybe the people who show up without memories might be different versions of someone rather than the same person with those memories wiped out? Now, I'm not saying people actually remember this place back home; I've gone back twice and I sure didn't. And, sure, timelines probably factor into it, but who's to say there can't be, say... twin versions of the same world?

Just some food for thought, I guess.

[Okay, and with that silliness out of the way, Riku can be seen in a few different places. First, there's the Community Housing 1 building, where he can be found feeding a big ol' chocolate cake and some colorful ice cream to his Dream Eater. Upon eating the goods, his bat sparkles and glows. Feel free to boggle at this.

Outside, he can be found strolling along in the snow for a bit. Aftr a while, however, he gives into some silly urges. What kind of silly urges, you ask? Snowballs, of course. He won't be outright malicious, but if he sees any familiar faces he miiight just toss a little snow their way. After all, it's been far too long since he's done something silly like that.

Otherwise, he can be seen practicing some magic out by the forest. And by magic I of course mean summoning gigantic, colorful balloons that explode. What's all that about?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If it's alright to ask, what sort of differences did it create? And what started it?

[Mostly an academic interest. It intrigues her to push the boundaries of what might be possible.]

The changes started with me getting the Keyblade instead of my friend. And, well, the differences were pretty huge. Sora's fate completely changed because of it, and not necessarily for the best.

[Because he got split into a Heartless and Nobody, the latter of which had phony memories. Complex AU shenanigans, in short.]

[Actually, she understands it - theoretically. It would be like a world where she or one of the other senshi was born with the ginzuishou, instead of Usagi.

And while it may have averted some of their difficulties, in the end... everything probably wouldn't have been saved and restored. She knows, certainly, her own heart is not as pure and loving as her friend's.]

I think I understand. So you can't help thinking: what if it was really like that?

Pretty much. Granted, I wouldn't change anything at this point, but it's still something I can't help thinking about sometimes.

[That other Riku's life... How would it have turned out? He had Kairi, he got to save the worlds... But he also had a whole lot of responsibility on his shoulders.

Not that he doesn't now, being a Keyblade Master and all.]

I wouldn't change what happened back in my world, either. There were difficult times, even frightening ones. But in the end, we all overcame it together, and everyone was fine. I'm happy with that.

I feel like you can't live life without problems. Sure, it's rough sometimes, but you won't grow if you don't face at least some challenges.

And the end result's usually worth it.

[The end result had been a planet brought back from its destruction, Sailor Venus - Minako - revived, Usagi alive again, and all of them moving forward without the past life's fate hanging over them.

Definitely worth it.]

I think so, too. And I think, whatever we decide about what happens to us here, it's important to remember that.

Personally, I think that if you get too caught up on what could happen, you'll never get to move forward. So it's better to just take things one day at a time. Enjoy this place while you can. Cherish the memories you have with your friends because you never know when they'll disappear.

Mm. A lot of my friends have already left. So I feel like I understand that.

[And with that understanding, comes another:] Is it the same for you? [He must have lost people, too.]

Hey, when you're here almost four years, it's kind of impossible not to lose people. Heck, my friend Sora's come and gone three times since I came here. This'd be his fourth time in this world since.

It was like that with Usagi-chan. She's been here three times now. Once, she was only here for a few days.

[More specifically, they'd still been planning her welcome-back party with some of her friends, when she'd vanished again.]

Yeah. Sometimes people disappear in the blink of an eye. Wonder if there's ever been anyone who showed up and left so fast they didn't even get to use the journals.

[The thought of it's kinda strange, if not a bit distressing.]

It might be possible. I don't think we'd ever know, unless someone saw them at least.

[Ami's finding she doesn't quite like the idea herself.]

True. It's kind of one of those 'tree falls in the forest' situations. If somebody shows up and leaves before anyone else notices, were they even here in the first place?

[It's definitely an unpleasant thought. Especially if someone important arrived and vanished in the blink of an eye.]

They were here. We might not notice it, or know the truth, but it still happened.

True. It's just that to everyone else, it'd seem like they never were because they didn't know about it in the first place.

Just a matter of perceptions.

Perception can be wrong. We know that each time the Malnosso do something to change ours.

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