2364/Her final song

Her final song
Date of Scene:	27 February 2025
Location:	Dorms #1
Synopsis:	After Sara's sacrifice, Glimmer heads to the school to meet with Coco and give her a pearl, a gift from Riventon and a gift from herself. Considering what happened, Glimmer does the only thing she can, offers what comfort she can and lets Coco reminisce about an old, dear friend.
Cast of Characters:	Glimmer Brightmoon, Coco Kiumi

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Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon was not in a good mood, because well... She'd been running around. She'd texted Rashmi and Usagi a looooot about... information on who Coco was, where to find her, her room number... if she knew Sara... What her favorite cake was. If they came by, bring something to lift the mood. Apologies...

But she was here now. Not in her dark-sparkle outfit. But in her normal, queen's regalia. With a cake in hand, a vanilla fruit cake judging by the clear covering. She'd picked it up at Nanoha's shop a bit before they'd closed... and now?

Now it was late, and she was standing outside Coco's dorm room. Running over how to do this. And it was never... easy...

But, slowly, she reached out and knocked on the door. One firm knock, three quick ones.

As she recited what she had to say in her head. And when the door opened?

"... Coco? Do... you have a minute? I ummmm... I need to talk with you about something important. Not... Obsidian related. And... and I have some things for you."

A cake... and... a usb drive?

... The pearl would come soon. Once she had a chance to break it to Coco... gently.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
It had been an eventful day, and Coco had mostly been busy doing her homework, and going back and forth between the Pearl Pier to work (which included repelling the occasional new scheme of the Black Beauty Sisters to break into the hotel, a normal occurrence by now, even if their ideas were starting to get dumb by now, with a ventriloquist plumber even.)

She is starting to prepare for the night when Glimmer comes, and has tied her hair up in a low chignon, wearing a short pale yellow dress with orange hems at the neckline and sleeves and fuzzy beige slippers. She is also holding a pillow modeled after her shell locket when she opens the door.

Seeing Glimmer admittedly wasn't on her list of things to consider, and she would have asked what is up first if not for the cake taking all words away from her.

"Sure, come on in", she invites the pinkette once words come back to her. "Bringing a cake with you seems a lot for a casual visit."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon shook her head and then walked inside, placing the cake on the counter before making her way towards the couch and sitting on it. "This... this is not a casual visit," she said. Holding the pin drive in hand. "Ummm... get yourself... a... slice, please, ummmmm... then... come and sit with me, okay? Please... make yourself comfortable..."

Then, well, she'd hold out the pin drive to her. "This is from Riventon. This evening there was an... attack... on an obsidian facility, by these people who call themselves the Black Moon Clan. A civilian facility, not tied into any of the dark energy things that the company does."

"... Riventon and I... responded to the call to protect it, as the people there were... more or less, well, civilians. Non-magic. As did a few others. Including... a friend of yours, by the name of Sara."

"... In the battle... she... fought. Hard. To keep other people safe. And she helped us all stop... them... But... she didn't make it."

"Inside the pin drive is a recording of... of Sara's final song. Her last battle. Captured by Riventon's device. She... she also wanted... us to give you this."

That was when she reached into her bag and pulled out the shell. Slowly opening it to reveal the orange pearl within. "If... you have any questions? I can be here as long as you need me to. If you want to watch the recording and then ask questions? I can wait. If... you want to yell, scream, or even punch me? I understand and go ahead. I definitely understand that."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Of course it wasn't a casual visit. Too much effort for it, and it's not like Glimmer had made an abit of visiting her. Coco closes the door once Glimmer makes her way inside, and watches her guest's movements before placing the pillow aside and taking out two plates, two spoons, and a knife, which she uses to cut and then slide the slices on the two plates.

She remembers that she is the teleporting mahou at Obsidian, but she has a portal herself, so she doesn't think that's going to be a problem. And there is no shifty vibe coming from Glimmer, despite the oddity of the situation, so Coco is relaxed.

"Thanks for the cake", the mermaid tells her after taking her place on the sofa, though she doesn't take a bite yet. The usb drive gets transferred into the palm of her hand instead and her gaze shifts briefly to it while Glimmer gets into her tale.

... Perhaps she should have eaten the cake first.

Coco looks at the pearl, and quietly reaches for it. Sara wanted her to have this. Of course she knows what is going to happen now, every mermaid princess is prepared for this moment. "Sara, why would you give me this? Till the end, I failed you", she speaks to the orange jewel, who remains dormant.

"Would punching you get Sara back? You aren't even why she died", Coco tells Glimmer, shifting her plate to the side. "For all this time, I knew that the person she had been was still there, just I thought that when that happened, I would have had her back", she looks inwardly.

Coco wipes one of her tears from her glistening eyes. "All this time, I have tried everything I knew to reach her, but she died without having a normal life again. I can only keep failing her. This is her heir you know, and she left her to me." She shakes her head.

"Where is she right now? Is she still at Obsidian?" Coco looks at Glimmer. "She deserves to be back home. Even if that is gone, she can stay in the South Pacific."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon shook her head. "I... don't think you failed her," Glimmer said softly. "... You tried. Just because she wasn't able to listen, doesn't mean you failed. You tried and that's more than some people get. And the fact it didn't work doesn't show you, it jsut shows her. The fact... she wanted you to have this? I think shows that."

"... We're not always able to do things, to fix problems we cause, to deal with problems we have. Sometimes... we just need to... hurt. Or be hurt. Or explode. Or punch things. It doesn't always make sense. Sometimes it doesn't make any sense. And we do it anyway. It's... not fair. I know it's not faur, and... and I'm sorry for that."

".... You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved. You can't... force someone to be... better... if they don't want to be. And it's not on you to do it, either. She trusted you to look after her heir... so... she must believe that the person you are, not some ideal who you'll never measure up to, is the right person for it."

"... As for her... body... it's... at Obsidian. Riventon... is taking her to Gaito. To share her... last words. Her last moments, with him as well. She told him she was... sorry..."

"... If... you want to cry.... or need a hug? I'm here for that, too. I... know I'm a part of Obsidian now, but... I have empathy. I know this hurts. I know this has to hurt a lot. I've... seen this... lost people... been through... all of this... more times than I want to say..."

"... So trust me... I get it. I can't make it not hurt. All I can do is... let you know... you don't have to be alone right now. And you don't need to like... pretend to be okay when you're not."

Coco Kiumi has posed:
No matter how many times she loses someone, it never gets less painful. And with Sara... "She was my very first friend, all those years ago, and I was there when she started changing, and when I couldn't stop it." A finger passes over the orange pearl, while tears start drawing wet lines on her face.

"I can't save someone like that, but... my best friend, she was hurting. All she has known for the past years is hurt. Would you be able to ignore that? Wouldn't you want her to smile again? Sara was special to me." And now she is not going to spend time with her, ever again.

She tries imagining herself just transforming, and destroying things somewhere. There is plenty of junk from lost vessels littering the sea floor. She wouldn't have any problems just going there and wrecking stuff if she really wanted.

Would it help? Just letting go of restraints and break some stuff? She just wants her friend back, and if she goes and break some things, she is going to still feel angry at those that took her away.

"Of course some of you guys would have chosen to bring her to Gaito. Fantastic. He spent all these years with her, and now he even gets to see her off? Do you really think that's fair? This is just so... ", she closes her reddened eyes, moving to hug Glimmer.

"I am glad she thought well of me, at least, and that she still had some trust in me", she sobs over Glimmer's shoulder. "Maybe I can help her heir, and she will be happy, like Sara wanted."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon blinked a few times. Imagining... when she thought Bow died... and... oh... that hurt. That hurt a lot. She thought he had. She took a slow, deep breath. It had almost broken her. To protect... to stop... she'd have...

... And yeah... knowing she was with Gaito now... likely... hurt. When Coco hugged her? she hugged her back. Tightly. Gloved hands squeezing her so, so tightly. "I know... it hurts..." she whispered. "None of this is fair. She shouldn't have died there. Those people... attacked. For no reason. It wasn't like.... when the sparkles..." She gripped the girl, tighter. Ever tighter.

"... If you want to see her... if you want to say goodbye... We'll make it happen." She'd fight Gaito herself if need be. But... saying... goodbye... sometimes... you just needed to.

If something had happened to Catra, or Adora... during the war? She wouldn't have been able to get between either of them. If her mother hadn't been sent to another dimension, she'd have fought through a dozen horde battalions just to say goodbye to her.

... There was no way she could deny Coco the same right.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
She still has the recording in her hand. Probably she should put some time aside to... at least see her final moments. Because then, then she will know, what it was like for her. Hopefully, it didn't hurt when... Sara, why couldn't you...

"I never thought she would have gotten killed there. There isn't typically someone who... I will probably look at the recording later, if at least stay on guard against them." Provided she doesn't close her laptop when seeing Sara's death.

"Those people, they are enemies for all of us then", she looks at the usb holding those guys' identities. "I never thought there would have been someone like that for Obsidian. I... This is all their fault, and Sara... She was trying to do her best... I can see how that turned for the worse."

"Maybe I will try your suggestion, or maybe not. I know where to find sunken ships, I can't see how breaking thinks would improve my mood. Still..."

She holds Glimmer tightly, taking comfort in her words and her presence. "I really don't know why you are in Obsidian, you don't even know me, and you still did all this for me. I hope they never take it away from you. Thanks, Glimmer."

Glimmer Brightmoon has posed:
Glimmer Brightmoon blinked a few times before nodding. "I... for... what it's worth? She... didn't die immediately. She had time to tell us what... she wanted. To give the pearl and... everything... she... she was good, in the end," she said, before glancing back to the drive.

"... It's... a recording from Riventon's device. His idea. It... should... have... enough things to make it seem... fake? If that makes sense? So like... the magic... won't... fade on it. so it'll... not... break. So... it should be safe. Just... back it up and what not. And... yeah. I like to box when I get hurt, or mad. Or sometimes like... run around, teleport, shoot blasts. Just... be aggressive. It helps burn off energy and... cope. I think."

"As for why I'm in Obsidian... well... I... have stuff I need to do there. Don't like... hesitate. When we're out there, when I'm fighting for Obsidian? Don't think I'm the 'nice girl' I am right here. And don't hold back. Put me in a crater if you have to. Because... that's a fight. In the end. But this? This is... the last words of our comrade. Her last will. I will *never* toss that aside because it is *not* meaningless. Things like that have... she deserved to know it went to where she needed it."

Giving her another tight squeeze. "For now, though... I'm... here. For you. So... as long as you need me... I'll stick around. You can tell me all about the two of you, how you met, how you became friends. Just... It's... not a good time for you to be alone. Or... I don't know. If you have any other friends. Okay?" she said with a small grin.

Coco Kiumi has posed:
Difficult circumstances. Coco thinks she can understands that. But dark energy can do horrible things to someone, and even if they have to hold nothing back against each other, she hopes there won't be a change for Glimmer out of it.

"I like volleyball for that. Running, jumping and hitting the ball are a great way to ease the tension. Swimming goes the same way, and it is also because the sea is home, I am myself there. But, maybe I could invite you to play volleyball, one on one", Coco undoes the hug to look at Glimmer with a good enough smile. Were she in another mood, she would have called it a challenge. "I will still work hard when we face off magically."

She makes a move for the laptop and puts the usb stick inside. And she tries a bite of the cake. "You picked a good choice, it's delicious. My friends are out right now. Otherwise, my roommate would have been here. I don't think she is going to be out much longer." Probably something to do with Wuwu, if she would guess.

Even if she is angry at Riventon for giving Sara to Gaito, she can appreciate the effort he put into the usb. While the soft hum of her laptop fills the background, she makes a note to thank him for that.

"There were many times when we snuck out together to play away from our attendants. Sara had learned their usual duties by heart, she made it really easy sometimes", she starts reminiscing.