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ritsuka fujimaru

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WHO: Ritsuka, family, the network
WHERE: Fate/ ~~idiot~~ family home; Gemini
WHEN: bright and early 11/18
WHAT: oh look another of them had one of those falling asleep and waking up with new memories things
WARNINGS: just the usual Fate/ bs unless marked otherwise!

[Action - closed to Waver and Diarmuid]

Her first thought, as Ritsuka drifted towards wakefulness, was to wonder if she'd slept through her alarm. While not necessarily unheard-of, it was still rather unlike her. The second, as her eyes blinked open was a dull Oh, I got pulled somewhere through a dream again upon seeing the unfamiliar room.

Then it hit her that she did, indeed, recognize this room after all, and she abruptly bolted upright, looking around with an urgency she couldn't explain. A deep-seated fear brought to the surface by the jumbled mess of two sets of memories colliding with each other.

[Gemini text - a little later in the day]

So uh if anyone was worried about me I'm fine. Just kinda tired, you know?

Oh and apparently I have a car now??

[Bonus action - Around town]

If that last part of that network text didn't worry you by itself, well. Catching sight of the redhead zooming around town in said car just might. For one thing, there's the fact that she frankly drove like she'd been taught by some kind of race car driver or something.

For another, there's no question that's Ritsuka because the car in question was apparently a convertible. Was it probably getting more than a little too cold to have the top down? Yes. Did Ritsuka seem to care? Not one bit.

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[It's been a stressful month.

Between the Heartless invasion, the Castle Oblivion, a very emotionally charged conversation with Rose and Ritsuka falling into the same sleep Diarmuid and Waver once did ~~also whatever the hell is happening with Researcher Lotus, god help him~~, Diarmuid has been on edge this entire time.

What a familiar sensation, being unable to truly relax or let his guard down. After a year, though, one realizes how exhausting that is.

He was watching over Ritsuka when she suddenly bolted upright with a start, he called into the next room.]

Waver! [And then he was right by Ritsuka's side, taking her hand.]

You're finally awake...

[What followed was a fluttering of paperwork, a dull thud, and a string of muttered curses at a much higher pitch than usual--Waver having immediately dropped copious amounts of work to stand up in a rush and knock his (thankfully unbroken) shin against the table as he did.]

[All that to say he was flustered enough to be trailing the slightest hint of embers as he all but rushed in, quickly collecting himself.]

Ritsuka? Are you alright?

This was not, as it happened, the first time Ritsuka had dealt with trying to integrate two different sets of memories. This time, however, featured considerably more disparate memories, not to mention a whole lot more time.

So rather than trying the impossible task of sorting it all out at once, she latched on to those most immediately relevant for now. Which was why after just a split second of confusion at seeing Diarmuid, Ritsuka's expression quickly changed to one of relief, and when he grasped her hand she instead reached to pull the Saber into a tight hug, looking up only at Waver's entrance.

"Yeah, I'm okay..."

A bit more emotionally worn than before, perhaps, and feeling more than a little clingy towards her family in particular, but otherwise largely no worse for the wear.

[She didn't need to sort it out all at once, as much as the urge took her. They could go through things one at a time. And when Diarmuid was hugged he naturally held her tightly right back and running a comforting hand through her hair.

He didn't know what she'd seen or been through this time, but her being awake at all was a relief he didn't know he needed.]

Welcome back to the waking world.

[He let out a quiet sigh of relief, collecting himself and sitting on the edge of the bed. One step at a time; she was in one piece, at least physically. The rest, whatever it was, could be approached gradually.]

It's good to have you back.

"I'm glad to be back."

Which, strange as it felt if she thought about it, was true. Much as Chaldea had served as the closest thing to 'home' for her for years now, it just wasn't the same. Something to ponder later, perhaps, when she'd had time to adjust and sort through her memories a bit.

"Was I asleep for long?"

And no, she hadn't let go of Diarmuid yet. Though Waver needn't worry, he'd get his turn sooner or later.

[Far be it for Diarmuid to let go if Ritsuka didn't want to. She was the one just waking up from the long sleep.]

A few days. Nothing major has happened on this side in that time.

[But he knew a lot probably has for Ritsuka.]

For once. You didn't miss anything.

[fortunately, she'd fallen asleep after the cataclysm and not before it]

There was something incredibly reassuring about being able to touch and be held in turn by her family. Especially given some of the memories that were now coming to mind at the thought of 'family'.

"That's good."

If nothing had happened during that time, then that meant she didn't have to worry about anything having happened to anyone else she knew here. Probably. Hopefully.

"It was..." How long had she been back? Time was hard to track with no external seasons or... anything, really. "Half a year, I think? Or maybe more?" All the rayshifting really didn't help her sense of time, either. "Even though we'd taken care of all the lostbelts, it turned out that Chaldeas wasn't actually destroyed. But to get there, there's more singularities we have to take care of first..."

In other words, surprising no one, simply eliminating the lostbelts had not been enough to bring back humanity.

[It also mean she would get a much needed rest apparently. Half a year. And given what he's been told and what she said now.]

Then humanity has yet to be restored. [Just a statement, the gravity of it clear in his tone. But also the concern for what in the heavens' name Ritsuka has seen to get to this point. Admittedly it made him hold her just a little tighter.]

Sure as hell wish that shocked me.

[Nothing was ever as easy as it sounded, especially when it was never easy to begin with.]

Are you sure you're okay, Ritsuka?

"Not yet," Ritsuka affirmed. Perhaps needlessly, clearly both Diarmuid and Waver understood the situation well enough, but sometimes saying things helped.

That, and talking through it did seem to make it a little bit easier to sift through the months(?) worth of memories.

"Yeah," she replied to Waver's question, then after a brief pause added: "I mean, a lot's happened, but... Most the singularities weren't that bad, I think. Not like the lostbelts, at least."

Read: merely a few life or death scrapes, but not seemingly hopeless battles against gods or worse.

["Most of the singularities weren't that bad, I think."

There's that feeling in the back of Diarmuid's mind. That nails against a chalkboard making marks of massive peaks against it sensation. The one he felt when someone was lying.

He knew Ritsuka had just woken up and hasn't sorted through everything yet. But still. He pulled away just a little. Just to look her right in the eyes, concerned. And repeating Waver's question.]

... Are you sure you're okay, Ritsuka? [Please, child, let your guard down. You're safe.]

[Well, if he hadn't called attention to it, Waver would have. Maybe it was a little soon with her only just having woken up, but...then again, fate forbid Ritsuka actually realize when something that happened to her was fucked up. Better to get out ahead of it now, before she had the chance to brush it all aside.]

...What happened?

"I--"

Ritsuka really had meant what she said. Technically, at least. Most of what had happened had, well, been almost run of the mill for her at this point. Sometimes intense, other times frightening, but still not that bad compared to facing off against an ancient cursed god or unkillable interstellar being.

But that was most of them, and as she thought (and talked) about it, there was certainly at least one outlier. Not because of fighting against impossible odds, or having to make a difficult call, or anything like that. But because it had been incredibly personal... And touched upon one of her worst fears.

"... There was one singularity, that was made from my memories, somehow. Of home. Before I came to Chaldea, that is."

Somehow, it sounded even stranger trying to explain it than it had in her head, and yet, that was exactly what happened. Or at least, where things had started.

Oh thank god. I was hoping you'd wake soon.

Everything's fine and everyone's all right. There's a mountain that just suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

sorry if I worried you

a mountain?

...

[Waver cast a fleeting but uneasy look to Diarmuid; knowing damn well they were about to hear something well beyond the realm of comprehension that was likely to make them both immeasurably upset on Ritsuka's behalf. No turning back now.]

We're listening. Go on.

They did ask. Insist even. In any case Ritsuka took a brief moment to collect her thoughts. Partly because there was still a lot to sift through, partly because, well, some of this was going to be tricky to explain.

"It... wasn't exactly the same as what I remember. Like, it was really close, but some things were different? Like instead of my friends at school, there were Servants, like Mandricardo or Osakabehime. And instead of my family at home, it was Mash and Da Vinci. I mean, it wasn't really them, either, of course, just... Somehow, that's how the singularity was made, I guess?"

She didn't fully understand the hows and whys of it herself, though it was clearly close enough to make her a little homesick just thinking about it.

"Most of the time everything there was pretty normal, too, just... Things like an attack happening in the evening, sort of thing. So until we could figure out what was going on, it was easiest to just act like everything was normal. Going to school during the day, going home for dinner..." If it wasn't before, it was probably almost painfully obvious now there was something almost nostalgic about it. Briefly getting to return to the mundane, familiar life she'd had before ever hearing of Chaldea, even if it was really just an imitation. Though of course, that couldn't last forever, or even very long, because after pausing for a moment, Ritsuka continued, a bit quieter and more subdued. "... But then, one night, when I got home... Everyone had been killed."

Very big mountain. Showed up out of nowhere after the Heartless tried to invade. Apparently it's called Dragonspine? Not sure why. Anyway, I plan to make a go at climbing it.

wait so it's like in the city and not another spirit realm gate?

Aye, it's in Kami State Park. It was very strange coming into the park to walk the animals and seeing an entire mountain where there wasn't one before.

okay I can see why you'd wanna check that out, yeah...

Right? Want to come take a look? I'll see if there's anyone offering a job we can use as an excuse to explore.

Sure, why not? If it's right here at the city it'd probably be a good idea to get to know the area anyway, right?

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