[In fact, it takes a great deal of willpower to resist arriving early, never mind on time. Something plagues Arden, and he's determined that they will get to the bottom of it together.]
[ It's been long enough that Arden can't recall if Zenyatta can sense his powers - at least the same way that Arden could, how much Light and Darkness might mix in a person, how vaguely powerful someone is... And if he can, he'll notice a significant drop in raw magic coming from Arden.
For his part, as soon as Arden sees Zenyatta approaching from outside of the shop, his actions start to paint the picture. He can't tell when his sensei gets close except by visual confirmation and he leaves his place behind the counter, taking his apron off as he walks. He doesn't just appear via Dark Corridor, even from that short distance, like he used to travel. When he opens the front door, he's smiling nonetheless. ]
It's so good to see you.
[ His body language is fairly calm, but that's the thing - he's gained muscle from all of the walking and physical training, but the loss of his magic means that he's not constantly on edge smelling the air either. He's learned to live with it... for the most part. ]
I never did find a better teacher the whole time you've been gone. I could only practice on my own. It was a good thing too... [ He holds up his new amulet - new as of a couple months ago. ] My amulet shattered in a fight recently. I managed to not blow up my house, at least.
[ His tone is bittersweet; it was a really rough time for him, back then, but he's also proud that he got through it. He can acknowledge that much. ]
But that was the last day... that I was able to use my powers. I've been cut off ever since.
[From the moment they come face to face Zenyatta knows something has changed in his young student: a strangeness caused by the lack of his being strange. His aura is- not empty, as such, but there is something subtly lacking. Is this what Arden might have been like as a human, he wonders, or is it something more fundamentally wrong?
Regardless, it is a relief to see his face, even moreso that warm, open smile. Zenyatta's hands reach out of their own accord and clap onto his shoulders, a temporary concession to the urge he has to throw his arms around Arden instead.
Soon.]
Your self-control is impressive.
[His tone is droll, yes, but sincere. Arden's heart had been raw and ruined by conflict and resentment when they first met; Zenyatta had been there for his first real setback, that day by the Tree of Memories, but this time...]
There is nothing more rewarding than the knowledge that one of my students has been able to use what they have learned to save themselves, or others. The loss of your powers is troubling, yes- but, if I am allowed to be selfish for a moment, it is good to simply see you here at all, Arden.
[The dam breaks. With that, Zenyatta pulls the young man forward into a heartfelt embrace. Arden might well notice that his frame- indeed, the very air around them- is several degrees warmer than it should be.]
[ At first he's simply appreciative of the praise. A part of him already acknowledged that, yes, things could have gone significantly worse that day. So very many things, mostly related to his powers and how he can use them and what he used to do when he failed at something. Hearing 'selfish' is what gets him to turn and face his mentor more head-on to hear his words along with that touch to his shoulder.
Good to see him?
He can only barely begin to process that before Zenyatta truly stuns him with the hug that's so clearly full of affection, even before the warmth comes over him. His teacher... saying and doing all of this... ]
[ He doesn't pull away. He clings tight, desperate to understand- ]
That makes you... selfish? How? I... you must have better students. Ones who didn't fail their friends when they needed them most! And lost so much because of it! Or figured out how to fix this...
[ That's the part that has his skin starting to spark against Zenyatta's warm air. Enough people have suggested to him that his continued power suppression is an entirely mental problem that he's feeling like if he failed anyone as much as he failed Sora... it was Zenyatta. Otherwise he'd have his powers back by now - right? ]
[Arden clings to him like a frightened child woken from a nightmare and Zenyatta's heart aches with it- with his fear, with the thought of how long he might have been dreaming. Listening, silent, he draws one hand slowly over the boy's hair, careful to avoid snagging it in one of dozens of delicate joints and hinges as he goes.
He lets the silence sit for a moment before he speaks; his voice is scarcely more than a murmur, meant for Arden's ears only.]
You may fail one hundred times, and you will still be my student, and my friend. Now- [and he steps back by a forearm's length, one hand on his shoulder, the other still on the side of Arden's head] - tell me what happened.
[ He feels like he needs to sit, but instead stays standing so that maybe he'll be able to keep his story shorter. And so he begins. ]
This has happened to Sora two other times. His darkness became too much for him to control and someone had to be there to pull him back from the brink. There was one time where I was able to help calm him just by staying near him and using my own control of darkness on his heart. The second time, I had to fight him - we call it Anti-Form. After wearing him down, I was able to talk to him in a way that... woke him up basically.
So this time, I thought I could do the same thing. It didn't work. I became desperate. The same powers of illusion you saw me trapped in before... I used those again. I made myself look like one of his dearest, oldest friends named Kairi. She was here briefly, but she's gone now. Even while stuck in Anti-Form, consumed by his darkness, Sora reacted...
[ Here he lists a little, starting to tear up again. ]
With longing. It hurt. It hurt because it worked to bring Anti-Form to a halt, when nothing else I'd done had. [ He pulls a hand to his chest on that word. ] And it reminded me...
[ He doesn't think he'd told his sensei this part. ]
Of the times when I had wanted him to look at me like that. Not as Kairi, but as myself. But he told me we couldn't be together. This was after you were gone, sensei, and I spent so many days seeking peace after that. It brought all of those memories back, of how I'd hurt a friend who wanted something different than I did. He was as kind as he could be in telling me we couldn't be together, but I threw it back in his face. And as I was thinking about all of those memories...
[ He balls a fist. ]
I couldn't focus enough to keep the illusion going. As far as Anti-Form could see, Kairi disappeared before its eyes, replaced with me. Anti-Form flew into a rage... and ruined my keyblade as well as destroying my amulet. Without my amulet, my feelings consumed me...
[ He gestures to his sword hand's wrist with his left hand, then to his left shoulder with the opposite hand. ]
Spears of ice went through me. It was my own dunamis, not Anti-Form's doing. He fled after that. The person I look like - Riku - he found me after that... he's the only reason I survived.
[ And there, he exhales, considering the bulk of the important moments told. ]
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Today after my shift at the bakery? We can leave from there and walk somewhere else.
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[In fact, it takes a great deal of willpower to resist arriving early, never mind on time. Something plagues Arden, and he's determined that they will get to the bottom of it together.]
no subject
For his part, as soon as Arden sees Zenyatta approaching from outside of the shop, his actions start to paint the picture. He can't tell when his sensei gets close except by visual confirmation and he leaves his place behind the counter, taking his apron off as he walks. He doesn't just appear via Dark Corridor, even from that short distance, like he used to travel. When he opens the front door, he's smiling nonetheless. ]
It's so good to see you.
[ His body language is fairly calm, but that's the thing - he's gained muscle from all of the walking and physical training, but the loss of his magic means that he's not constantly on edge smelling the air either. He's learned to live with it... for the most part. ]
I never did find a better teacher the whole time you've been gone. I could only practice on my own. It was a good thing too... [ He holds up his new amulet - new as of a couple months ago. ] My amulet shattered in a fight recently. I managed to not blow up my house, at least.
[ His tone is bittersweet; it was a really rough time for him, back then, but he's also proud that he got through it. He can acknowledge that much. ]
But that was the last day... that I was able to use my powers. I've been cut off ever since.
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Regardless, it is a relief to see his face, even moreso that warm, open smile. Zenyatta's hands reach out of their own accord and clap onto his shoulders, a temporary concession to the urge he has to throw his arms around Arden instead.
Soon.]
Your self-control is impressive.
[His tone is droll, yes, but sincere. Arden's heart had been raw and ruined by conflict and resentment when they first met; Zenyatta had been there for his first real setback, that day by the Tree of Memories, but this time...]
There is nothing more rewarding than the knowledge that one of my students has been able to use what they have learned to save themselves, or others. The loss of your powers is troubling, yes- but, if I am allowed to be selfish for a moment, it is good to simply see you here at all, Arden.
[The dam breaks. With that, Zenyatta pulls the young man forward into a heartfelt embrace. Arden might well notice that his frame- indeed, the very air around them- is several degrees warmer than it should be.]
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Good to see him?
He can only barely begin to process that before Zenyatta truly stuns him with the hug that's so clearly full of affection, even before the warmth comes over him. His teacher... saying and doing all of this... ]
2/2
That makes you... selfish? How? I... you must have better students. Ones who didn't fail their friends when they needed them most! And lost so much because of it! Or figured out how to fix this...
[ That's the part that has his skin starting to spark against Zenyatta's warm air. Enough people have suggested to him that his continued power suppression is an entirely mental problem that he's feeling like if he failed anyone as much as he failed Sora... it was Zenyatta. Otherwise he'd have his powers back by now - right? ]
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He lets the silence sit for a moment before he speaks; his voice is scarcely more than a murmur, meant for Arden's ears only.]
You may fail one hundred times, and you will still be my student, and my friend. Now- [and he steps back by a forearm's length, one hand on his shoulder, the other still on the side of Arden's head] - tell me what happened.
no subject
This has happened to Sora two other times. His darkness became too much for him to control and someone had to be there to pull him back from the brink. There was one time where I was able to help calm him just by staying near him and using my own control of darkness on his heart. The second time, I had to fight him - we call it Anti-Form. After wearing him down, I was able to talk to him in a way that... woke him up basically.
So this time, I thought I could do the same thing. It didn't work. I became desperate. The same powers of illusion you saw me trapped in before... I used those again. I made myself look like one of his dearest, oldest friends named Kairi. She was here briefly, but she's gone now. Even while stuck in Anti-Form, consumed by his darkness, Sora reacted...
[ Here he lists a little, starting to tear up again. ]
With longing. It hurt. It hurt because it worked to bring Anti-Form to a halt, when nothing else I'd done had. [ He pulls a hand to his chest on that word. ] And it reminded me...
[ He doesn't think he'd told his sensei this part. ]
Of the times when I had wanted him to look at me like that. Not as Kairi, but as myself. But he told me we couldn't be together. This was after you were gone, sensei, and I spent so many days seeking peace after that. It brought all of those memories back, of how I'd hurt a friend who wanted something different than I did. He was as kind as he could be in telling me we couldn't be together, but I threw it back in his face. And as I was thinking about all of those memories...
[ He balls a fist. ]
I couldn't focus enough to keep the illusion going. As far as Anti-Form could see, Kairi disappeared before its eyes, replaced with me. Anti-Form flew into a rage... and ruined my keyblade as well as destroying my amulet. Without my amulet, my feelings consumed me...
[ He gestures to his sword hand's wrist with his left hand, then to his left shoulder with the opposite hand. ]
Spears of ice went through me. It was my own dunamis, not Anti-Form's doing. He fled after that. The person I look like - Riku - he found me after that... he's the only reason I survived.
[ And there, he exhales, considering the bulk of the important moments told. ]