star_kingdom | 01 ♚ [Private to Ami Mizuno] ♚ Video

[...

Crap. She should have- something. She should have thought of this beforehand and found a way-

But she can still plausibly explain her absence.]

I'm not always comfortable addressing a crowd. [This is true enough, at least.] I had some work to finish that night as well, so...

I've made plans to catch up on some of the information, but if you could help me, I'd appreciate that very much.

[He fully expected her to come up with some excuse. This in itself was it's own little game]

Crowds can be a bit of a challenge. [Then she added another excuse where one would suffice. Ciel could have been reading too much into her responses however.. there was something he distinctly remembered her saying.. that someone else had echoed just recently]

Yes, of course. [He smirked ever-so-slightly as he added the following]

The following quote from the meeting was quite enlightening..

"... the term 'heartless' has certain connotations of negative feelings. Could the same positive patterns that drive the gummi ships help in defeating the heartless? "

.. don't you think?

[She takes his meaning immediately, but she'll go to the grave pretending ignorance. Or at least most of the way there. She has friends to protect by this. She has enemies who could arrive at any time - even enemies already defeated.

She's no fool; she knows it sounds even more suspicious if she pretends to be ignorant.]

I've thought the same. But I haven't found a practical application yet.

[The real question, to her, is why he's prying for more.]

Curious.

[He paused and let her feel the full weight of that one solitary word]

You didn't recognize your own words? [Okay, so he lied. That was not a quote from the meeting but from a much earlier transmission of hers] When it was actually brought up at the meeting.. the person who presented it also didn't seem to know how to harness that energy.

Listen to just how similar the two phrases are..

"The gummi ships, for example, are said to run on 'happy thoughts' or more precisely, positive energy. If this could also be used in some way against the negative energy of the Heartless..."

A bit too close in both the phrasing and the concept...

[Trapped by the similarity. She remembers saying much the same both times, of course; which is why she'd been unable to bluff by feigning complete ignorance.

He has a sharp mind. A detached part of her admires that even in this situation. But the real question now is what he's after - and if she should be transforming or calling for help. Those are idle, purposeless thoughts born of this vague feeling of being threatened, and would be useless really. But they fade to the back of her mind slowly.]

I don't understand... [This, at least, is very true.]

Edited 2012-02-04 06:11 (UTC)

[Therein lies the question, but so far Ciel has made no effort to allay her fears or reveal his true intention]

Only this.. I believe that you were at that meeting and you did unveil your theory on the subject.

The question being.. why have we been unable to see the connections before? [.. And who is the other one?]

[... A tiny part of her is relieved, and she lets it out in a small laugh, comfortable and without showing nerves now that she pretend to laugh it off.]

I'm very flattered if you remember my words, and that someone else has said something similar, but I'm afraid you're mistaken. There aren't any connections to see. I'm not even sure who you mean.

[Since she wasn't at the meeting. And she hates lying like this, which is why the calm laugh still doesn't hide the flush in her cheeks.]

[Ami played her role well enough, it might have been convincing to someone else. The color on her face was the only detractor.]

My mistake..

[There wasn't an ounce of sincerity in that last statement]

I suppose it is amusing when you think about it. The very idea. [He shifted his position and added]

Perhaps I should share my theory with the rest of the network so they can all have a good laugh.

[Her heart stops for a second, she swears it does. She imagines this being said on the network, where denying it or ignoring it would be equally disastrous.

Should she call the likely bluff? But he has so much more less to lose than she does. If she laughs it off, and he follows his words, he only looks like he is making a joke, at worst, and some people will believe him.

So she calls it another way. It's reasonable to be angry at this treatment, and so she's angry - a rare but not unheard of state for Ami.]

Please explain why you seem to be challenging me. Courtesy isn't fitting as a mask for sneering!

[He gives her plenty of time to let the idea sink in. Even still, she refuses to spill it. His features relax and he gives her the same sort of patronizing she'd been giving him moments before.]

Pardon me? I thought this was all some sort of misunderstanding.

[But he isn't as good at maintaining the air of innocence and breaks the act soon after]

I simply do not enjoy being lied to.

[~~Which is precisely why his contract with Sebastian had included a "never lie to me" clause. You really couldn't trust anyone.. could you?~~]

I'm perfectly capable of being discrete and holding my tongue nor do I have anything to gain in this knowledge [~~Currently~~].. but I'm not sure what to make of a person who feels the need to pretend they are something else..

[That takes the defensiveness out of her; those are all reasonable concerns. It is deceptive of her, isn't it?

She doesn't make the mistake of underestimating Ciel, but she doesn't think he necessarily is a threat - and good relations with his fiancee, including saving and protecting her, should be enough to secure at least his willingness to consider cooperating. It hadn't been her motive, but it certainly helps right now.

He could tell his suspicions to the whole world, like he threatened, as easily whether she confesses or no, and if she confesses, she can at least add her own reasons for her secrecy to persuade him to keep it. Besides that, he (by terrible chances of fate) isn't the first to know the girls here.

She hates this place sometimes.]

Secrets aren't always to deceive.

Sometimes they're to protect something important.

[It's one shy toe into the cold water of admission, to test how much she can trust before she says anything more, and half of her wishes Kunzite were here for his advice.]

[He was hoping it might. They certainly weren't going to accomplish anything if things continued as they had been.

As far as he knew, he'd never given Ami a reason to doubt him... until this point. Nor was it lost on him that Mercury had been the one who saved Elizabeth while Chloe, Barnaby, and himself had arrived after the fact.

It was an unusual cirumstance, to say the least.]

Not always.. I suppose. It's when they are exposed by accident or chance that they can become hurtful. Otherwise, they can serve their purpose without anyone being the wiser.

[He kept his voice calm and collected not entirely sure where she was going with this]

[She still feels on edge. Should she say it, or not? Such simple words, but she can't make them leave her lips and she can't hold them back. It's different here, she understands that, but...

She takes a deep breath.]

I'll explain myself in return for your understanding. [She's not happy Ciel is forcing her hand; it makes her wary still. But this is coming to seem like the smoother path.]

[There is a significant amount of tension on both sides. The subject of the conversation certainly warrants it.

At her words he bowed his head briefly in an affirmation of the following...]

That seems fair enough. You have my word.

[He didn't see an alternative. If he waited too long, everyone could start talking about the gummi ship plan, making his initial connection seem more contrived and far easier to dodge.]

It's not a false identity to deceive. It's my form from a past life, and the form I fight in to protect my world, even though it still fell to the Darkness in the end.

It's a protection from my enemies and, I'm used to keeping it a strict secret for that reason.

[Of course, though she's said it now, and though the reasoning is plausible - and true - she hasn't quite explained why no one makes the connection easier.]

[Ciel listened quietly fighting any sort of accepted ideals from his time. It's not as if past lives came up often in his world and when they did it was generally considered balderdash. Demons, Shinigami, and zombies might only be works of fiction in Ami's world.. so one couldn't rule out anything.

That would also explain why she was so adamant to restore the worlds. Not only was it her duty to protect it.. but the sting have essentially failed -for the time being- had to weigh on her mind]

So... that's what it is.

[He looked to his hands for a moment before looking back at the communicator]

I apologize for forcing the issue however if we are to work together on restoring the worlds... I feel there needs to be trust among those involved.

Your secret is safe. [~~For now.. as long as we're never truly at odds. (I doubt they'll ever become complete enemies since Ciel has no orders from the queen here and no one to kill XD.. but you never know XD.)~~]

Plus.. I think I understand your motivations more as a whole. For what it's worth. Thank you for telling me. It might take a considerable amount of time... but your world could always be restored.

[Yeah.. he wanted to end it with a more positive note but.. nothing sounded like enough]

I intend that it will. My world has been saved from the darkness before. It can happen again.

[She's not so certain she believes those words with Usagi disappeared. Usagi is the light that banishes the darkness, even down to being the one she'd had in mind when she said even powers of light hadn't obliterated the heartless.]

[It appears that she doesn't really need the pep talk... but that could just be a front]

Mm, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

[My world on the other hand was always filled with darkness and depravity... I doubt it'll be as easy to wrest away from the heartless ..]

What about yours? Do you worry for your world?

[Sure he could lie to her.. but why over such a trivial thing]

... Not as much as I probably should.

[Elizabeth was here..he'd met his mother here once that would have been impossible back home]

Time.. life and death... seem to have little meaning here. I do wonder..

[... but he trailed off. Thinking about how people from different times could arrive here, he wondered if there was a way to restore the world back to a previous time.. perhaps before his parents death. If he could give them a warning... he would be essentially erasing the person he currently was. Was that even possible...?]

[Not as they've been told: the warning would be forgotten. But it might give him some time with them.

Would he be proud of the person they'd see? Would they? Those are questions to ask himself, just as he sometimes thinks about what her mother would think if she learned about the senshi.]

You wonder? [She prompts him gently.]

[Time isn't what he wants. He really doesn't want his parents to have tosee what he's become...]

When the worlds are restored if all the pieces will fit back together as they were intended.

[Why not, he'll explain a little farther without giving much away]

Many of us are here from different times. We will simply go back to those intended times... or will everything be a jumble? Could the timelines be skewed beyond repair?

[She thinks about both the logical impossibility of somewhere existing in a vacuum, so to speak. Of the displacement of so much from one world to another, of disequilibrium.]

It's hard to believe so. While it isn't impossible that the effects would be minimal, it's very unlikely.

However, until that's a certainty, I want to try to bring about the future I see for my world.

[He listened quietly as she replied but he wasn't at all surprised by her response]

Mm, of course this is all conjecture at this point.

[For all practical purposes, Ciel himself should have died a long time ago. He would make the impossible possible.. write his own rules, rewrite history as he saw fit.. if there was anyway to actually do that]

[She's been to her world's future. She'll fight to protect it and let it come to pass.]

I agree. For the time being, our focus has to be on these worlds. Our worlds will be helped by that.

[Video] I love you for this, sorry for lateness

[Video] <3 I'm glad it was a good surprise :3. Pft. You aren't late XD

[Video] omg Ciel don't logic at her :| XD XD XD i love this never stop

[Video] Logic, gotta love it XD. :3!

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[Video] i am loving every tag here /spams subject lines forever

[Video] I am too XD. Feel free to spam it up. <3 <3 <3

[Video] oh geez, ciel. do you WANT to be considered suspicious? if usa were here, ami would end you.

[Video] Whatever do you mean >3? /Lol sort of wishes Usagi was here XD just out o curiousity.

[Video] If Usagi was here, a threat would not be left here :| /skips along new direction in thread

[Video] Point taken XD

[Video] don't mess with her princess. ever. XD

[Video] Hey, I was nice to Usagi. I gave her a rose at the flower shop XD

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