RITA;

[goalsides]

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w7 saturday

[goalsides]

[wow...final night. after the proceedings of the day wind down, it isn't long after that that taichi approaches rita with a brief nod of greeting.]

...not exactly what I expected from today, but I can't say I'm not glad it's all over.

[overlimit]

Yeah... We went through a whole lot of stupid crap to get here, but it looks like we're finally going home.

What are you going to do, when you get back?

[goalsides]

Believe it or not? Yamato and I have to go back to school in a couple of days. [hateful.] But we've got some clean-up to do where we're from, too. I don't know if Yamato ever told you what was happening back home, but...we just finished a battle there, too.

[...]

What about you? What's next?

[overlimit]

A battle, like with that thing we saw on the field trip? [rita doesn't know much of what was going on, but that seemed like a pretty big deal.]

Clean-up is... pretty similar to what I'll be doing, too. My hometown's kind of in ruins, so rebuilding that's gonna be one of my top priorities. Then I can properly get back to doing all the research I want.

[goalsides]

Yeah. Ordinemon. [...] We defeated her, so now it's just getting everything back to normal again for a little while. If we hadn't, multiple worlds would've been in trouble.

[but he tilts his head.] Think it's gonna take a while to rebuild everything?

[overlimit]

We'll have all of the greatest minds in the Empire on the job, so it shouldn't be too bad.

Guess I could speed it up if I decide to use my wish on it, but... I don't know. Feels weird, taking shortcuts like that.

[goalsides]

Yeah...I had thought about it myself, but it's our responsibility so it may as well be our job to take care of the aftermath. Have you thought about what you do want to use your wish on?

[overlimit]

I don't know about responsibility, but I just figured it'd be pointless to put it all back the way it was before. Aspio needs to change, and it should be up to all of us to decide what that change is going to look like. So... it's hard to justify using a wish for that.

Thought about what else I might wish for, but I keep running into the same problem. Everything I want is something I could do for myself... or rather, that I should do for myself.

What about you?

[goalsides]

You could always wish for a way to have access to research materials from other worlds to better your own? [mostly because...rita still reminds him of someone, and that's a wish he thinks koushiro would approve of.

nevertheless...he shrugs.]

I have, but I'm not sure. I thought about it early on, back when we weren't even sure if it was real. But I don't know if I could or would use my wish for those things now. Some things just need to stay the way they are.

[overlimit]

[it's not a bad idea. she considers it...]

Some things, like what?

[goalsides]

[...]

There were some people I wanted to save back home. I couldn't do it. I tried, but...there was nothing I could do to fix it. So I thought maybe a wish could change it. Looking at it now though, I don't know if it's a wise decision to do something like that, or even if it would work the way I would want it to.

[overlimit]

... Oh.

Guess that is the sort of thing that only a wish could change. Kind of a crappy position to be in, though.

[goalsides]

Yeah, well. I'm kind of used to being in pretty crappy positions. It's...[well it's not fine, but.] It'll work itself out. Back home it was only a couple of hours at most after that happened, so it's probably something that'll just take time or whatever.

[overlimit]

Seriously? You went from that, straight to this mess?

[goalsides]

[there's a slight laugh that's a little uneasy and not really amused.]

Yeah. We had just stopped Ordinemon maybe five minutes before we came here, and everything else happened right before that. But at least Yamato and I were from the same point in time. It would've been worse otherwise.

[overlimit]

Guess you really don't get to catch a break.

[goalsides]

It's okay. We'll figure it out when we get back. Sort of sounds like a lot of us were in the middle of some important stuff before we came here anyway.

[overlimit]

True. [she just kinda stares upward...] At least I had a week or so for the dust to settle before getting thrown into all this.

[goalsides]

A week still isn't that much time, Rita. Especially since you've had a pretty rough job since we got here.

[overlimit]

[she manages a smirk.] Please. It's way more than a few hours.

Besides, I'm glad I had that job. [despite all her complaints...] Having more work to do and more information? Kind of a win-win. I can't stand being idle.

[goalsides]

Yeah, yeah. [but there's a slight grin back.]

Even when it wasn't much to go off of, you guys managed to help us out a lot with the information you did find. [a pause.] ...and you were helpful to Yamato, too. Obviously I'm not going to forget that.

[overlimit]

Yeah, I guess he was pretty lucky to have someone like me on his team.

[...]

And... having you guys around wasn't too bad, either.

[goalsides]

[there's a snort because it's not like he disagrees? rita's really smart, probably smarter than both of them combined. but...there's another grin.]

Sort of felt like I never left Spring with how much we worked together. Thanks for everything.

[overlimit]

[... well, just for once, she can just accept the nice friendship vibes without being too tsundere.]

... Likewise.

I kinda got stuck trusting you with a lot while I still barely knew you, but... you never gave me any reason to regret that. So... thanks.

[goalsides]

[he has half a mind to tease her about that being the nicest thing she's said to him, but he wisely keeps his mouth shut instead.]

I try not to give people a reason to regret that. [she gets honesty from him instead, and he shrugs.] But you're welcome. It'll be pretty weird to go back and not see you around. But if we're able to have that universe for ourselves...this probably won't be the last time we see you.