The Deep Sort Of Lonely [open]

[sahoni]

He smiled.
"It's okay Aiko." he lied down.
"So where are you from?" he asked.
"I'm from a place called America. It has big trees, clean rivers and lots of animal... I miss it." he sighed.

[Aiko]

[pink]“America,”[/pink] Aiko echoed, her voice full of wonder. She had a tendency to repeat everything Sahoni said, a tendency that was growing into habit. She closed her eyes, her face still close to the fire so that light snuck in from under her eyelids, and her vision turned all reddish. With her eyes closed, she imagined those big trees and rivers and animals. [pink]“So you lived in a forest called America.”[/pink] She grinned, her eyes popping open. [pink]“I like forests. I like trees and I like rivers and I love animals!”[/pink]

She turned to look at Sahoni, even though the firelight was branded into her vision and she couldn’t see him properly. [pink]“I come from a village. I don’t know if it had a name. It was… just a regular village, I guess.”[/pink] Then she shook her head, looking back at the fire. She frowned deeply at it, and looked away from the fire and from Sahoni, back out to the hazy gray of the rainstorm. Suddenly, she didn’t want to be so close to the fire, and she scooted back from it, slipping the boy’s vest off her shoulders.

[pink]“I don’t live anywhere now,”[/pink] she said quietly. [pink]“I’m not from anywhere, either. I’m just… here.”[/pink] Aiko forced herself to look back at Sahoni, forced herself to smile, but it was very clearly fake.

[sahoni]

"I'm sorry.. I didn't know." he said silently cursing himself in the back of his mind.
"You could travel with me..." help me find away back to the Fu- I mean America... maybe come with me..." he said. He felt safer in a group. It was smarter to. at least she knew her way around here.
"It would be safer for the two of us to travel together at least..." he continued.

[Aiko]

Sahoni’s proposition was not so different from many others. Aiko looked back out into the misty rain, remembering. It seemed as though she’d been switching between people to travel with ever since she’d left home. A blind kitsune had wanted her to “be his eyes,” but she’d left him because of the danger that followed them. A demon lady had taken her on as a servant, but Aiko couldn’t keep up with her, and so got lost. A magical dog had once followed her faithfully, but the human girl got lost from him, too. So if she traveled with Sahoni now, she was just going to have him leave her, or she’d get lost, or something was bound to happen.

Even so, even with that as the cost, would it be worth it?

Aiko had been staring out into the hazy gray beyond the cave for a long while, frozen into a position with her arms wrapped around her skinny legs and her cheek resting against her knees. Her memories paraded around her mind, persuading her to say no to the boy. It wasn’t worth it, it wasn’t worth it, she’d only end up alone all over again. It was always worse, being alone after you’d had company. Aiko resolved to tell Sahoni no, that she wouldn’t travel with him. Finally, she stirred, lifting her head and turning to look back at the boy.

[pink]“Yes,” [/pink]she whispered. [pink] “I’ll go with you.” [/pink] She couldn’t say no. Greedy, wretched little thing she was, she couldn’t bring herself to say no. She didn’t want to pass another night on her own.

Something warm and wet was clinging to her cheeks again. Frowning, Aiko furiously scrubbed at the messy tears that splotched her cheeks with spots of dampness. She scrubbed until her cheeks, with their newly reclaimed feeling, burned and turned red in the light of the fire. The flow of tears, though, couldn’t be stopped. It was just one of those days, wasn’t it? [pink]“I’m sorry,”[/pink] Aiko moaned, looking away from Sahoni again. [pink] “I promise that I’m not usually like this. Please, don’t mind it.”[/pink]

[sahoni]

He blinked at the tears
"It's okay, everyones gotta cry every now and then." he said trying to comfort her. "The trick is to know when to stop. You can either laugh or cry at life. I'd rather laugh." he said.

[Aiko]

[pink]“No, it’s not okay,”[/pink] Aiko protested, shaking her head adamantly but still refusing to look at Sahoni. Even though the thickness in her voice betrayed her, she didn’t want to let the boy see her crying. The tears wouldn’t stop falling, no matter how pleadingly the girl silently begged them to stop. Her parents, her old village, Kikan, Kardowin-sama, Malko-chan… they all swirled around in her memory, pictures and faces of people and places. And then they were gone! All gone, and leaving poor Aiko all alone in the rain.

No, not alone. She turned around, blinking owlishly at Sahoni, as if seeing him for the first time. [pink]“I’m never as alone as I think,”[/pink] she mumbled to herself. It seemed like every time she was getting to feeling lonesome, some person would come along and keep her company. Aiko was very, very lucky. It was more than she deserved. With a sniff, the girl wiped the dampness away from her eyes, and lifted the discarded vest back around her shoulders. Slowly, she scooted closer to the fire, and closer to the boy, all over again. She shook her head a little. [pink]“I shouldn’t be so selfish. I’ve no reason to be,”[/pink] she muttered, curling up again and looking into the fire.

After a moment, she said, [pink]“I’d rather laugh too, you know. Just sometimes it’s easier than others.”[/pink]

[sahoni]

"yeah..." he said in reflection. He sighed and smiled, Tomorrow's a new day, After all, It can't rain all the time. Get some sleep, I'll keep watch." he sighed in a big brother-like fashion.
"You look like you need it..."

[Aiko]

Huffing out a quiet breath, Aiko fell onto her side, still curled up in a fetal position by the fireside. She huddled inside the clothing that Sahoni had lent to her and her face was aglow in the warm amber light of the boy’s fire. Already, she was feeling much, much drier than she had for the rest of the unhappy time she’d spent in the cave. She rolled over, though, so her back was to the fire and she could watch Sahoni where he sat. Though her eyes were heavy-lidded with sleepiness, she still managed to gaze at him with her open curiosity. He was right, she was tired, because the thundering of the storm had kept her up all night. Sahoni knew so much. Of course Aiko was going to be curious about him. She was wondering, if they ever reached that America place that was the boy’s home, she’d become as smart as him, right as her droopy eyelids shut and she let out another sighing breath. With the fire hot against the clothes on her back, Aiko fell asleep, not feeling quite so lonely anymore.

[sahoni]

Sahoni sighed.
"Aiko has joined the party"" he said to entertain himself.
OOC: end?