Beach

Yes guys, there are sharks in the ocean. And with Darren's head wound, you might wanna hurry up. Just saying. In any case, when Rosalia's stomach growled, Seifer chuckled a bit before slowly back stroking toward the shore with the pinkette in tow thanks to the cord of the boogie board. "Sandwiches, ice cream, things like that. Regular snacks honestly." it was a simple list, but yeah, you'd pretty much snack on anything you'd do normally while on the beach. So it's really no different from regular life. With his back hitting the sandy shore, he stopped, undoing the strap on his wrist and standing up, stretching. It was time to eat. "It's up to you guys what we eat I guess."

Darren finally touched onto shore. It must have been a good thing there was nothing nearby. Dunking his head in the water meant that his wounds would have attracted them. Then again his head in the sand helped with that as well. It probably also helped that his wound seemed to all but close by the time they reached the beach. No one really paid attention to these things.

Darren stepped off the boogie board and grabbed onto the cord so he could drag it back with him. No point in leaving it out there. He heard them talking about food. Yeah, he could use some food. "I guess a burger would be pretty good right about now." Well, he was more than three months without food. A sandwich or two wouldn't cut it. Besides, he'd had enough sand. He's rather have a full burger. Bigger and more options. Bacon would be nice as well.

Rosalia tapped her chin as she thought about what to eat. It looked like Darren was hungry, and by all means, burgers sounded pretty good. And ice cream sandwiches. That was always a favorite of her's at the beach. Reaching the shoreline brought her out of her food-based daydream. The female was at least close enough to shore that she could see the bottom below, and thus had no issue with accidentally stepping on a crab again as she got out of the water.

"Well, if you guys want to make a run to the shop area, burgers and ice cream sandwiches sound good~ Not sure how well ice cream will stay cold though while eating burgers unless you get an insulated bag or something... I can stay here if you want so Noely isn't left by herself. I did enough running so far with the boards~" Rosalia stepped up to Seifer's side and kissed his cheek lightly. "Cheeseburger with just a bit of mayo? No other toppings, pleaseeee~" Afterwards, she trotted over to where the sleeping blackette laid under the umbrellas (smart move so she didn't get sunburnt, even with the sunscreen). She decided to set the board down first on the sand, then sit on top of that.

Seifer quickly returned the kiss to the cheek before nodding and taking her order, handing Darren some money to pay for his own order as well. What? He wasn't going to order for Darren. He was a big boy. Anyway, the brunette took the pinkette's order up to the shacks nearby, getting himself a regular hamburger, and one for Noel as well when she woke up. Paying and taking the bag of burgers, he stopped in at another shack nearby, grabbing an insulated bag and... Several bars of ice cream, before walking back to where the group's umbrellas.

Darren saw that everyone liked the idea of getting burgers. He was given money of his own and he would use this combined amount to get what he wanted. After all the other orders were done he made sure to get a Bacon Double Cheeseburger with an order of fries. Can't forget the Chocolate Shake. You just can't... It's a bit more than most would get at the beach but again, Darren hasn't eaten in a while.

He started to walk back with his meal, happy at what he had as he saw the umbrella. He hoped that Noel would wake soon so she could join in the meal as well.

Rosalia hummed while she waited, half debating on poking Noel to wake her for food. She decided to let her sleep though. If Noel fell asleep so quickly at the beach, she may have really needed the sleep. After what the group has been through with the Reaper Invasion, they could definitely use it...

Speaking of which, the pinkette still had to figure out how she could help the others... She wanted to do more for the Resistance, and considered being a medic of sorts, but with all the doctors at the base already, where would she be useful? On the battle field? She could try... somehow... Looking at her hands, which were folding in her lap, she remembered having a bangle the first time she saw the Reapers, but ever since returning from Deletion, she forgot to ask about them. Maybe she would when they returned to Umano after their beach break. And then, there was this light from her dream... It felt important, but other than being a light in the dark, nothing seemed to clue in as to what exactly she was supposed to do...

Then food arrived, the smell of burgers dragging Rosalia out of her thoughts. Hopefully she didn't space out for too long, and smiled up at the males when they returned. "Maybe the smell of food will wake Noely~ Let's eat!"

Noel woke up from her nap. Well, she was actually awake for a good while but her exhaustion just didn't want her to get up. Lazy. Anyway, she was happy to be able to just relax or even take an entire day off and just sleep. Even though this was time to spend with friends and family, it was just a good day to sleep and have some personal time on catching up on some real sleep. The smell of food was waking her appetite. I haven't eaten all day...

The hungry girl got up and started walking around like a zombie looking for food. "What's there to eat? I'm so hungry!" Where did this side of her came from? Noel was acting like a spoiled little kid, is she maybe too relaxed and in peace?

"Burgers and ice cream." Seifer replied, smiling and setting down both bags, reaching his hand into the burger bag... pulling out Rosalia's order and handing it to her. Then, pulling out his and Noel's... handing his little sister her's. "Main meal first, then we can have as much ice cream as we want. ...The bag's full of ice cream bars and such." he smiled, sitting down cross legged on his towel... which was between Rosalia's and Noel's.

Darren sat with everyone as he began to eat his burger. It was different than the others, but he did use his own money combined with what was given so it made sense that it wasn't the same. He hadn't eaten in a long time so of course he was going to fill himself. On the positive side, he wasn't eating like a pig.

He saw Noel awaken, smiling as she seemed to be more relaxed now. He was glad for that. He was also glad she didn't see him wipe out before in the water. She would have probably been laughing the hardest. He swallowed the amount he had at the moment as he said, "Welcome to the waking world, Noel. Its a good day to relax, huh? We need more days like this."

Well, Noely was awake~ Yay the whole party is up and together again! The pinkette giggled at the other female's reaction to the food, taking her own burger from her fiancé and unwrapping it. "Thankies, hun~" Then she proceeded to take a huge bite out of the burger. Yummy~ Thinking, when was the last time she had just a simple burger? Then again, she did have some fish and chips previously with Seifer. Mmm, food... Another bite, and Rosalia was as happy as a clam.

Then there was the mention of ice cream bars... My god, the insulated bag was like full of ice cream. Oh dear. No ice cream would be safe from the pinkette when she finished her burger, but she wasn't about to just shovel it down. That would make her stomach hurt. No point in ruining their beach day with a bellyache. "Relaxing days.. Sounds like something everyone could get used to," Rosalia mused quietly, thinking about everyone at Umano. I'll figure out what I'm supposed to do... but how? And if I don't do it quick enough, will everyone get hurt?... NO! Bad self! Stop. Thinking. About. Depressing. Things... She took another bite of her burger, trying to push all troubling thoughts away for now.

A burger... it's been so long since Noel had a burger. She couldn't contain her hunger anymore. Eyes sparkling at the sight of it and a bit of drool accidentally coming down as she start munching down on the delectable fast food. Noel tried speaking her gratitude for the food but it was all mumbled out while she was devouring it. And then there was ice cream after?! This really must be heaven.

She heard Rosalia mention that these kinds of days is something everyone could get used to. Sadly, these kinds of days are a luxury to be taken when the moment arrives. The world is in danger of being deleted by the Reapers. A sad fact that can't leave no one's minds even as they relax. Noel didn't want to say anything otherwise the positive mood everyone has would drop and might get depressed knowing about the hard battles that await after today. These days will come back... where we can just have fun. Everyone can have fun. Our units will all be back from their unwanted deletion. We can relax and have cardfights for fun or trivial things like tournaments.... yeah... live just a normal life..

Catching onto the vibe, the male quickly devoured the burger he had, brandishing the ice cream. And holy hell there were a lot. Different kinds of ice cream sandwiches, cream bars... Even a few yogurt bars but eh, probably only Seifer would eat them. Maybe. "Let's enjoy what we can, while we can alright?" he spoke to everyone, opening one of the bars for himself, an orange sherbert bar with vanilla cream. "We have each other, each of us... And we should just be grateful to be alive. So cheer up, no negative thoughts. That's my job dammit." he joked, taking a bite out of the orange cream bar. Really, he was trying desperately to make everyone stop thinking about the bad things... He wanted everyone to relax, and enjoy their time together.

Darren continued his meal. He heard what Seifer said. The looks on Noel and Rosalia's faces said to him that they were in a similar mindset. They wanted days like this to last forever. All of them, including Darren, truly wanted that. In order to do that, the Reapers would have to be stopped. They were the last enemy that was a true concern to peace like this. With that said, Darren was never one to be overly negative.

"No one's gonna have to worry about a thing," he said a he looked down and saw only his shake was left. Everything else had been devoured. "We're coming back here as soon as everything's back the way its suppose to me."

Rosalia glanced up when Seifer spoke about enjoying what they could, feeling a bit embarrassed that she was caught in her thoughts. Glancing over at Noel though, it looked like both females were thinking about the same thing. When Darren spoke though, the pinkette lowered her gaze to her own burger. "That's right.. Everything is going to be fixed. Nothing will stop us from achieving victory." She took a deep breath as if preparing herself for battle right then and there, and quickly devoured the rest of her burger. Not that there was much left of it at this point...

But she did reach into the ice cream bag and found a regular ice cream sandwich, and took a quick bite of that too. "We're going to pull through this mess, and next time, we'll have the rest of our friends at the beach too!" That was a nice future to look forward to, one where everyone could be happy again. "Now let's eat to our hearts' content!"

The brunette continued to slowly devour, and even suck on the orange bar, savoring the frozen treat. He was glad at least, that they seemed to be getting the idea of it. Good, very good. A smile came across his face, even as he was eating the ice cream, and his gaze went out toward the ocean... staring at the rolling waves.

This day honestly felt like that final calm before a terrible storm. After going through a lot to suddenly have this brief day of total and absolute peace, that just means that after this day, things will be extremely stuff. So it was best to just try and ignore everything about it and absorb as much peace from this day as possible. This peace can quite possibly be their last until everything is over with. This also mean that any cardfighting done today would be the last "fun and simple" fights until the Reapers are dealt with.

We can't let this day go to waste. We must use every second possible to have fun, relax, and be ourselves. There won't be any turning back once we return to the base... Noel thought to herself and had made up her mind. She wants to cardfight. A cardfight that has absolutely nothing at stake. Just a cardfight which original purpose is regained: to have fun and create exciting memories. Noel got up and went to her things and looked through the little purse she carries around and pulls out her deck box. Huh..? I guess I don't need that power right now... Something in her deck was changed, but it was good. "Guys, let's have some cardfights! This is our chance to actually have fun fights without worrying about the fate of the world or anything! Let's fight like we all used to back at Cardfight Club!" To her, this was probably the only thing she can think of to lift up the mood. She knew everyone was thinking the same as her and having a fun fight would be the best thing to remove those thoughts for now.

Darren finished his shake, turning to Noel as she offered the chance to Cardfight. It really was a good idea. All their fights before now had been a matter of saving something or people getting hurt. Cardfighting was suppose to be fun, he still believed in that. Having a fun fight would be a good reminder.

Darren nodded and took out his deck. He didn't even think about the chance of his power activating. He still wasn't under his control but he figured if he didn't have any intense emotions it wouldn't happen. Cardfighting sounds great! Should be fun since I bet a lot's changed since back then." The only deck he had was not Dimensional Robo at the moment. It was the Metalborgs. He also understood that Noel had chanced somewhat. That was all he knew. Seifer and Rosalia had gone through major changed since his time as Malice so he had no clue what they were like now.

"Great! Now then... hmmm... we obviously don't have a fight table or anything around here... Oh! There!" Noel pointed to a picnic table just above from where they were. It was a good place as there was a palm tree giving the table some shade. "Everyone, let's go over there!"

Noel walked towards the picnic table first and waited for everyone else to get over there. She sat on the table and began shuffling her changed deck. There was no point looking at it, she knew what changed and it was probably for the better right now. There is no point in using that power here, nothing was at stake, it was just for fun. Once she was done shuffling, Noel grabbed one of the dry towels and placed it over the table so it can be used as their "fighting mat." "I guess this will do!" Noel said auto-compromising with what was available and placed her deck and starting vanguard on the table. Now all there was is to wait for Darren and the others to come up to the table with her.

Cardfights?! Who in their right mind would do that? Kidding~ Everyone would! Cardfight-Beach-Palooza! "O-oi! You're not the only one who has changed, Darren! But I call fighting Noely first!" Unfortunately, Rosalia had to finish her ice cream though, not wanting to run the risk of it getting sandy. By the time she was done and grabbed her deck box, Noel was already at a picnic table, having placed towels over it already to act as play-mats. The pinkette wasted no time in running over and taking a seat across from the other female. Now if anyone remembered, Rosalia's original Pale Moon deck had a purple deckbox, while her Magus had pink, but now the box was white. Obviously Seifer would know what the deck was, having fought her twice already, but she wanted to surprise Noel and Darren, hoping she actually did improve with the few fights she had so far. "Ready Noely? It's been a while since we last fought~" she mused happily, placing her starting vanguard face-down on the table.

Noel and Rosalia finally fought after so long. This was the first time too for Noel to see Rosalia's new Celestial deck. So it was a very interesting fight, unsure if that interesting was good or bad. They were both evenly matched, they gave everything they had. Jewel Knights vs Celestials. Noel was impressed by Rosalia's control over the damage zone, it meant the longer the fight dragged out the better access to extra resources Rosalia had to use for offense or defense. After Rosalia showed off her Celestial legion, Noel also managed to show off her own legion. Prevail Jewel Knight, Yvain. A powerful knight that gained power and an extra critical if there was a near complete field of Jewel Knights. However, Rosalia luckily had a perfect guard since the very beginning of the fight and stopped the game ending attack from Yvain. Stopping that attack decided the fight on top of other factors that weren't so pleasant. Noel didn't check any triggers in her attacks all fight nor gathered any in hand for defense. She only saw three the entire fight and was defenseless after her offense suffered the slow and painful blow of no triggers to power them up. On the other side, Rosalia was getting triggers that allowed more attacks or healing damage that the ending drive check gave her a critical and heal combo that ended the fight.

It was a fun fight. Yes. Fun. No matter how unfair the fight was. Fun. Fuuuuuun. Even Rosalia felt the fun. Noel just stayed quiet and picked up her cards and tried to ignore and forget what just happened. If this was a fight that the fate of the world was at stake, then the world would of ended over an overdose of bad luck. So yeah, fuuuuuuuun.

Rosalia enjoyed most of the fight for what it was. It was the first time she fought Noel in ages (actually, wasn't the last time they fought when Rosalia was Reversed?...) and it was the first time she was fighting someone other than Seifer with her new Celestials. The match was even throughout most of it; Jewel Knights held up their promise of filling the field with ridiculously large numbers, though the turn Rosalia rode to Grade Three and Legioned, she managed to catch up for the most part as she displayed the healing/damage switching potential of Angel Feather. However, it was her smart decision for saving a Perfect Guard until the very end that really saved the pinkette from losing to Yvain's crit-empowered Legion attack. Triggers... also kind of helped out on Rosalia's side.

By the end, she actually felt really bad in dealing the final damage. The pinkette gathered up her cards and looked over to her opponent. Her sister-in-law didn't enjoy the fight; it was clear on her face. Rosalia lowered her gaze. She really did enjoy the fight, but now that happiness faded, looking down at her avatar, Overdose Celestial Asmodel. "G-good game, Noely..." she said quietly, keeping her gaze on her deck in hand. "D-did.. I do okay?..." Adding "I haven't had much practice with it" probably would have made the situation that much worse.

Seifer watched the game quietly, not mentioning much of anything for either side, though... After the fight, ending in Rosalia's victory.. he glanced first at his sister, then at his fiance. A soft sigh escaped his lips as the pinkette reverted to being timid... almost sorry. Placing his hand on top of her head, he smiled, shutting his eyes halfway. "You did good. Both of you did just fine. It was a pretty even match, I'd say." he continued to smile softly before stretching a bit.

Darren watched the battle with surprise. Rosalia was using Angel Feather. That was different from what he remembered seeing her use. They fit her well though. She always liked to help and heal more than she enjoyed hurting people in a fight. She mentioned that when she reappeared this deck came with her. Maybe that meant something. It was another mystery to how Rosalia kept coming back after something was trying so hard to keep her away.

The battle itself was evenly matched. Darren even noticed the Pure Heart Ashlei as opposed to the Reverse she had been using before. Was her heart healed? Perhaps she was trying to get it there. Either way, he was glad to see she was doing better. When it finally ended and Noel seemed to be disappointed in the outcome, Darren placed his hand onto her shoulder and said, "You've powered up. Even without trigger checks, you can fight evenly with a powerhouse like that." The battle fired him up to have a fight of his own.

"Hmph!" Noel moved which removed Darren's hand off her shoulder. Yeah, she wasn't happy of the result. Being able to get angry over things like this actually felt good for a change since nothing was on the line. Bad luck always angers people and Noel being that of a extremely competitive nature, it angered her a little. She got up and laid against the tree that was next to the table. Acting almost like a spoiled rich girl, upset for losing due to one-sided luck.

With one eye opened, she looked at Rosalia, "You aren't bad for coming back after so long. I won't lose next time, I can promise you that." A challenge to a future fight. Maybe after the Reapers are dealt with. After everything, she still wants power to take down anything. That is the nature of a competitive spirit. A proud Kusanagi. Noel hates watching her Jewel Knights lose or struggle which has been going on for quite some time. People's words of saying she is strong, she doesn't believe it. Something is still missing, until then, she won't accept that she is strong. Her deck resonated with that resolved and changed back to how it was.

Rosalia shut her eyes at first when Seifer set his hand on top of her head. He said that they were evenly matched, but it didn't make her feel much better. She lost twice against her fiancé, then won against Noel. How would her sister-in-law feel if the pinkette admitted those failures? She looked up when Noel spoke though, and happiness bloomed once again. Noel wasn't going to be mad at her! And they could fight again in the future! A challenge, a rival! Rosalia was simply happy that she wasn't going to be hated by the Kusanagi. "O-okay! I'll get stronger too, so be ready then!"

Yes, that's what she needed. Rosalia needed a reason to get better, other than just to be strong for the Reaper Invasion. She could help out, and then.. and then... She saw that light again. Moving over on the picnic table so the guys had room to fight, she looked at her deck again. The light from her dream was there, but in reality, nothing seemed to shine. What was this light, this warmth that felt so close, yet so far away?... Maybe she was just supposed to use Angel Feather from the very start. Without any other explanation, she settled for that as her best explanation for now. Besides, the guys were about to fight now~ "Go Seifer, go!" she grinned brightly, acting as her fiancé's cheerleader.