noitatnacni | 003 | Action + Voice

[It's pretty easy to spot the differences. The apartment Zatanna shares with Artemis suddenly goes from full to half-empty overnight. Everything, from clothing to weaponry to the tools she'd left in a pile on the table are just gone.

She's heard about it happening before. But like they say, hearing about it and going through it? Two completely different things.

Zatanna tries to find her: message over the journal, a locator spell she's been working on, just walking around and looking around the village. Things don't get any better, however. It's even worse by mid-day, when Zatanna pulls out her journal again.]

Uh, hey. [Zatanna's trying to smile--or rather, she's trying not to cry. There's a reason she's not using video for this, but all that emotion is still pretty evident in her voice.] I know some of you know Artemis and Static. They went home, but it's a good thing. They've got to help save the world and all. Teenage superheroes. The job's never done, right?

[She hesitates, wondering if she should say anything else. In the end though, there's only more silence before she closes the journal. She's going to answer the people who reply, eventually. For now, with the book set aside, Zatanna draws her knees up to her chest and just hides. She probably won't be that hard to find if people know where to look: the rooftop of Community Housing 5. But since she's alone--really alone--she lets some of those tears fall. She just can't keep it in anymore.]

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Yeah. I remember.

[Of course she does. But like the advice given to her by so many adults, she just—doesn’t take it. It’s something she’s never liked, and probably never will.]

I have been, for a while now. It doesn’t really feel like it’s doing a lot of good.

[It does look like she has, with the way she had been rubbing at her eyes before Kushina sat down.

Her hand hovers at Zatanna's back and then she settles it there gently, a steady warmth.]

Did you want to talk about it?

I don’t know how much there is to say. My best friend is gone. [And for as good of a thing as that’s supposed to be, Zatanna still aches from it. But the issue is a lot more complicated than that, and after a moment, she sighs softly.] Is there anyone here from your world who isn’t really from your world?

[Kushina's expression pinches, trying make sense of the question. She thinks she understands what Zatanna means but-]

If they're from my world then they're from my world. Just because I didn't know them before, doesn't mean they're any less a part of it.

[She shakes her head, knowing she hasn't explained it well.] No, I mean--a different version of your world. Like, there's a me who exists in places other than where I'm from, but apparently she's older. So people who knew "me" thought I was under a spell or something, but I'm not. I'm just not the person they know.

[Which has a flipside, and Zatanna looks down.] And they aren't the people I know.

... In my world, I had only just given birth to my son. And here, he's already a sixteen year old young man from the future.

You or my son might not be the person that we remember, but that doesn't mean we care any less about you. It's a little confusing, but you're still you. Right here.

[And she points at her own heart.]

Was your best friend from this different world?

Yeah, I know. [And she agrees with everything Kushina’s said. But when she asks if that applies to Artemis, Zatanna shakes her head.]

No. She was the only person here from the same exact world I am. We were even brought from almost the same exact time; just a day apart.

[Which means that Artemis could understand everything in a way no one else really could.]

[Then it was the same as her and Minato -- the only person who understood how she felt. He was also her best friend, despite their occasional bickering.

Thinking of losing him makes her sad too, aches, just like Zatanna but]

She's not your only friend, is she? You shouldn't forget your other friends who are here for you, too.

We're all going through the same thing, being in this place, so everyone understands at least a little. You're not alone.

I wouldn't let you be alone.

[Zatanna swallows, closing her eyes tightly as Kushina’s words inspire a new wave of tears. She doesn’t want to start crying again, not because someone’s with her but rather because she doesn’t know if she’d be able to stop. Everyone understands at least a little, and something about that both healed and hurt in deep ways Zatanna couldn’t explain.]

Yeah. [I wouldn’t let you be alone, and god, it sounds so much like something her father would say. Then she really can’t hold it back, her shoulders shaking with the first quiet sob.]

[The smile Kushina has put on for Zatanna's sake drops and her brows pull down at the start of tears. Then her arm settles across her shoulders, one hand petting her black hair soothingly.

She doesn't say anything, just lets Zatanna get it all out like she knows she needs to. Eventually though, when she quiets down into sniffles;]

Come on.

[She shifts to stand up again and urges Zatanna to stand up.]

If you want to sit on a high place, I know a good spot.

[Zatanna has to bite back an urge to apologize when the tears finally subside. She feels better for it though, at least a little. Enough to manage a smile and a joke.] You know, one day we’re going to talk when I don’t get sad.

[She’s a little confused when Kushina starts tugging her up, but Zatanna goes along with it, rising smoothly to her feet.] Uh, sure. [Although she doesn’t know what spot she might be talking about, since the tallest places in the village are the community buildings.]

[It earns a small smile, in any cast. If it bothers her, it shouldn't. Strength came in different forms -- if Zatanna can cry (that's being strong in a way too) and then joke like that not long after, she knows she's a tough girl.

A lionheart.]

You've been through a rough patch, but it always gets better.

[Hopefully really soon. She'll be led to a spot on the outskirts of the village, where they can look at the mountains in the distance past the forests.

And because Zatanna has opened up to her;]

The mountains here remind me of my birth home. They're a bit bigger than the green hills that surrounded my village but the feeling is similar.

Plus when the sun rises just over the top, it's really pretty.

Let’s hope. [But she knows Kushina’s right. There’s been good to go along with the bad—new friends, new kind-of boyfriend. She just really misses the old right now.

There’s a pretty clear distraction in the distance, however. Zatanna glances toward the mountains, then back to the woman who wants to take her there.] Sounds like it—and like we’ll be hiking for a bit, even with the teleporter. [Depending on how far up Kushina wants to go.]

[It's normal to miss the old, when it's precious to you.]

Huh?

To get to the top of the mountains? [Zatanna assumes they’d be walking there.] I can levitate, but that’s not really good for traveling over a long distance or anything like that.

[Oh, levitating.]

It's too bad these wings got small again. We could have flown if they were as big as they were before. They're just there for looks, aren't they?

[She reaches behind her to finger the bright yellow feathers, mouth twisting to the side a bit, uncomfortable.]

I don't know. I think we need them to stay alive, or something. [Otherwise why would they die if the wings were cut off? Zatanna thinks she remembers reading something about it, but it's been awhile.]

It was pretty amazing to be able to fly, though. [She's got some fond memories of it.] Even if things did get really confusing after for awhile.

[Which had more to do with making out with a boy than anything else, but details.]

003 | Action + Voice

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