A monster wave shot up as Matt and Hugo carved across it, using Hugo's sturdy Lift Option as - above all things - a surfboard.

"COOLEST THING EVER!" they heard Matt shout.

"Oh my God," Helena muttered, putting a hand to her forehead.

"... how did this happen?" R.D. asked, looking bewildered.

"I have no idea," Alasea said, Ileyna shrugging to emphasize it.

"How'd he even talk Hugo into it?" Helena asked. "That's what I want to know."

"Me too," Guido said, causing Helena to jump and yelp since he appeared RIGHT next to her. He just gave her a look and said, "What? I'm a Samurai Pizza Cat, we do this all the time."

R.D. merely sighed at the Pizza Cat's remark. "Well, hopefully those two will be done soon," he said. "Its starting to get dark so we should consider packing up."

Soon Matt and Hugo slid on shore, carried by the waves. "See, I TOLD you it would be fun!" Matt said.

"At least we didn't die. Get off the lift." Matt stepped off onto the wet sand as the Lift Option retracted to compact size. "Good thing this is waterproof."

Helena waved at Matt. "Hey!" she called. "We're packing up! Come on!"

"Coming!" Matt hollered back, and he struggled his way through the sand, heading towards them with Hugo in second.

It didn't take them long to get everything put away in the altered bags Matt and Alasea had created long before the present day. As they were packing up, R.D. was notably silent throughout the whole thing, his demeanor somber once more now that Matt and Hugo's distraction was no longer taking place.

"Hey, R.D.?" Alasea said as he was folding up the towels.

"Hmm?" he looked up, still folding.

"What's the matter?" she asked, placing a hand on her hip. "Something's bugging you. I can tell."

"..."

Dusting off a sandy towel before putting it away, Helena glanced up from her task. She wouldn't look interested in R.D.'s response, but she'd be listening for it.

"Well?" Alasea said, sounding a bit insistent. While she was tapping a sandaled foot on the sand, her face remained patient.

"... I had a memory return to me earlier," he finally said, finishing up folding the towel he held.

"Really?" Alasea said, brightening. "Well, that's good news... right?"

Her voice faltered a bit as she examined him. His face remained neutral as he tossed the towel down onto the pile and began folding another one. He didn't really react to her statement.

"... it was about her, wasn't it?" she finally ventured, her voice a bit softer. That certainly caught everyone's attention, as R.D. nodded once.

"What?" Matt asked. "Who?"

"Who do you think?" R.D. said flatly as he put down the folded towel. "Mesia."

Alasea frowned a little bit, looking at R.D.'s troubled face.

"Oh."

Hugo glanced up at Matt. "You don't remember, do you?"

Matt just pursed his lips, completely caught.

R.D. only shook his head. He half-expected Matt to have forgotten anyway. Never mind his lousy memory--Like I'm one to talk, R.D. thought wryly--it'd been over four months since he had broached the subject of the mysterious redheaded girl with Matt. "Don't worry about it," he told Hugo. "Doesn't surprise me he forgot, really."

Matt clipped one of the bags shut and picked it up. "Well, what happened?"

"Nothing happened," R.D. said shortly, putting a few things back in his bag. "Me and her were at the beach, having some ice cream before she met up with her friends. That's all."

Ileyna frowned a bit. While the others were concerned with R.D., the girl could tell that he was holding something back from them.

Helena let go of one corner of the towel. "Is 'Mesia' someone I should know about?"

R.D. looked off to the side a bit. "Once," he muttered.

"Mesia is... well, we don't know," Alasea explained. "A redheaded girl in R.D.'s memories. He hasn't been able to figure out just who she--"

"She's my sister," R.D. said, interrupting Alasea. They all turned to stare at him.

"That's new," Matt remarked.

"We're not going into a flashback, are we?" Guido said, holding up his hands. "I get sick during those."

Alasea shot her most venomous look at Guido for his insensitivity.

R.D. ignored it. "I was able to remember her looking back at me and saying 'That's what a big brother's for, right?' So that would imply she's my sister."

"So... what are you going to do?" Alasea asked, looking back at him.

"Isn't it obvious?" R.D. replied. "When we go back to our world, I'm going to try and find her. She's the only clue I have to my past... other than Re-Tuul."

He slung his satchel over his shoulder. "Besides, I can't leave her alone in that mess of a world."

Edited by RisingDragon on January 27, 2010 at 20:48:23.

"R.D....do you even know if she's alive?" Helena asked.

"It's worth a shot," Hugo said. "Like he said, it's all he can go on."

Though he didn't say anything, Alasea could tell that R.D. agreed with Hugo's statement. "So you'll go after her, even if we haven't finished gathering the Essence?" she asked.

He nodded. "Knowing our luck, she'll be tied to this mess somehow anyway," he said, he turned to them. "I don't have a choice here. You know what its like there. You've all seen it. That's not something she needs to be facing. No one should have to."

By now Matt had folded his arms, knee-deep into his direct and serious mood. "Well, if we swing by that way again, we'll help you look for her. I don't think the Scale will take us there again by our command, though, so you'll just have to hope for the best."

"Yeah, I know," R.D. said with a nod. "I know I can't control where the thing goes."

Matt glanced over his shoulder, spotting Speedy, Polly, and Lucille approaching them from the distance as a group. "Ah, there they are. I was wondering what was taking them so long." He held up a hand and waved.

Speedy must've seen it, because now he rushed towards them, kicking up a dust cloud of sand behind him. "Hey, hold up!" Matt flung himself to the side in a roll as Speedy zoomed right through where he was standing. The cat screeched to a halt. "Whoops! Guess I should think before I accelerate. Are you okay?"

"Can we go HOME now?" Matt remarked.

The others followed suit with Matt, diving off to the side as Speedy flew in. R.D. threw the Pizza Cat an annoyed glare as he stood up and brushed sand off of his wet clothing. "Let's just get going before more weird crap happens," he muttered.

Soon they had all hitched a ride back into the heart of Little Tokyo. Since the sun had quickly fallen to night, Matt brought up the obvious issue. "So, are there any hotels we can crash at?"

"There's one not too far from the parlor, actually," Polly said. "We'll set you up."

"You're just lucky Polly's being extra nice today," Guido said with a lazy gesture. "Get her too riled up and she probably would've left you on the street." Polly promptly socked him in the arm, causing him to yelp.

"We should leave YOU on the street," Francine said.

"You do realize that one of these days, you're going to regret insulting her, right?" Alasea asked, looking over at Guido after Polly had struck him.

"Guido's just joking around," Speedy said. Always the optimist. "You're just kiddin', aren't ya, Guido?"

"Y-yeah," he said. "That's what I'm doing."

"Well, I had a really good time," Helena said. "What did you think, Ileyna? Was that fun?"

"Mmn!" Ileyna nodded her head enthusiastically, and was forced to snatch at her beret as it went askew.

Helena chuckled. "We should really make a strap for that thing."

"I liked the part where I surfed on a piece of delicate equipment," Matt said. He tilted his head to the opposite side. "What about you, Captain Serious?" he asked R.D.. "Did you have fun for once?"

"Yeah, until that memory gave me a headache," R.D. said noncommittally.