An apology long overdue (Vera)

Gabby didn’t come here often. It was quite a ways out from Iwaigodai, which meant hauling the groceries back would be a pain. But, the food here was better tasting than what she usually bought. Of course, she hadn’t cooked much in the past, so she didn’t know if there was a better market than this. Maybe it was because the place was small and run by people who were most likely more concerned with making customers happy than with making a profit. She wouldn’t complain. The food was some of the best she had ever had. Well, after she cooked it anyway. She picked out the produce and the steak she had heard so much about and paid for it all.

As she went back outside, she sat down at the benches they had. She had to double check and make sure she had remembered to get everything. She nodded at the bag, as it seemed she had gotten everything she needed. Or, she thought so, until she noticed she had no celery. Had they even been selling celery? She had just been in there and she couldn’t remember. She wondered if she could make the meal without celery, since it would be strange or her to go back in there right after leaving. She leaned back in the seat and looked up at the sky. This shouldn’t have been as hard a decision as she was making it.

Vera Valentina, who had been misnamed as "Ms. Violet", had more chores she had to do for her family. Getting off the bus infront of the Satoshi Market, Vera would reach into her pocket and look at her grocery list. This was going to be a short trip, so hopefully she could enjoy the warm weather. The girl wore her spring outfit, consisting of her usual violet colored skirt, matching knee high boots, and a simple white short sleeved top. She carefully read the list as she walked to the front door of the Market. During spring time it was rather busy, even after the constant strangeness going on throughout Ueitawa, and their daughter's predicament. Vera's violet eyes looked towards the door before they wandered towards the various tables surrounding the store. Her eyes came upon the young looking boy, who was really a boy, sitting at a bench and looking up towards the sky. Something about this person made her feel nostalgic, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Infact, she couldn't remember... Reaching into her shirt she would remove her small journal and begin to skim through the pages. Maybe there was something that would remind her of this person. As she flipped through, she noticed various pages ripped from her book, and names scratched out. She thought nothing of it, but why did she get such a nostalgic feeling from this person?

Closing her book, Vera would place it back within her shirt as she'd turn towards the door. At this precise moment it would swing open and knock her backwards, causing her to stumble back into the bench where Gabriela currently sat. The violet haired girl placed her hand on the bench's backside to regain her footing before looking towards the blonde and giving a slight bow. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get in your way." Vera spoke in clumsy Japanese as she bowed her head and looked back towards the doorway that sent her stumbling backwards. Moving a strand of hair behind her ear, she made a motion as if she were about to head back towards the doorway.

Weakness:

Gabby would look up at the voice speaking to her in awkward Japanese. It had been a long time since she heard this person speak Japanese, especially since they usually spoke English to each other, but she couldn’t forget that face. She nearly began to cry when she saw her. How long had it been since they first started fighting? She was so happy to finally see her again that she stood up as fast as she could, letting her bag fall to the ground, “Vera!” She blushed upon realizing how loud she had been. A quick glance around proved that no one had thought anything of it though, which made her sigh with relief. She would go up the violet haired girl and, despite if she was now looking Gabby’s way or not, would begin speaking, “Vera, I haven’t seen you in a long time.” The words were coming out in English, since she knew Vera was more comfortable with it, “You haven’t been coming to school and, well, your phone…” She didn’t want to repeat what happened that day, “I’m so sorry. I’ve wanted to apologize for a long time now; I just couldn’t find you because I didn’t know where to look. I’m so sorry for what I said that day. I know I can’t just ask for your forgiveness, but I want to at least stop avoiding each other. Please?” She was trying her hardest to keep her voice from wavering. She really had missed Vera, and had felt guilt over what happened. She just wanted it to end.

Gabby could feel her heart breaking as she heard the first words out of Vera’s mouth. She should have known she would have been forgotten, considering she knew about Vera’s memory. She blinked a few times before looking at the ground. Her face turned red from being called a boy. It didn’t really bother her before, but she knew Vera from before and she had never called Gabby a boy before, “My name is Gabby. I’m a girl from your class at Kizuna Academy. We met on your first day.” She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. She had taken a picture on that day, just like Vera had. She debated showing the violet haired girl the picture, but she didn’t know just how she would feel about it. She wanted her friend back, but it was obvious that she was no longer in her memory, “I suppose you wouldn’t remember after that day. We had a pretty bad fight, after all.”

She flipped through the pictures on her phone and found the one where she had surprised Vera and taken one of them together. She then held it out to her, “You can look at this if you want. I don’t know if you’ll want to though. It’s your choice.” Whether she looked or not, Gabby would go on, “I said something that day, and you got mad at me for it. I’ve been meaning to apologize since then, but, like I said, I couldn’t find you.” She would finally look straight at Vera and smile, “I guess what I said that day was pretty dumb. I just don’t want to be in a fight with my friend anymore. Well, I guess you don’t remember me anyway, so my apology won’t mean much to you now. I’m just happy I finally got to say that I’m sorry.” After that, she would go silent, waiting for the other girl to say anything. The moments of quiet in between would make her uncomfortable, but she could wait.

Gabby looked away nervously when Vera asked what she had said to lead to a fight, “Honestly, you never gave me a straight answer on that. I’m kind of going off an educated guess. You got really quiet at first and then started telling me that I am nothing more than just a student at the academy. The only thing I can think of that I said along those lines was that I was worried because you--” She shut herself up before looking around to make sure no one was listening to her. It seemed that, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, they were just two girls speaking to each other. She would be quiet anyway, “You went into Limbo. I said that you should worry more about protecting yourself than defending me. I mean, I have my own Persona after all.” She would look away at this point. She was trying very hard to relive, or repeat, that day. She needed to remember everything that happened though, “Before that, we were talking about going to the carnival in Yoro, at some point. That, and you invited my to stay with you and your aunt at some point if I need to. Though, I don’t think I could ever do the later…” She truly did not know why Vera was so angry with her. She had always assumed it was about their Personas, since that’s what Vera seemed to react the most to, “That’s about when the fighting started.” She would silence herself right there. She didn’t know what else she could say. No matter how much she had thought about it, she couldn’t come to a different conclusion. She never would have guessed it was something she said half in passing and was the result of her poor word choice.

Gabby could only stare as Vera went to a bench to sit down. She didn’t understand what was going on, but she wasn’t going to question it. Then, Vera said her name. Gabby’s smile grew slowly in joy as her friend remembered her. She could only sigh in relief at the situation and stop herself from crying in happiness, “Thank goodness. I was afraid you’d never remember me and we’d have to meet all over again.” She caught what she said and fixed it quickly, “I mean, I wouldn’t mind, but I don’t know how you’d feel about having another staring contest. Then again, we could meet in a different way.” Her speech was obviously speeding up and she could only blame it on her nerves. She would finally shut herself up when Vera started talking.

As she listened to the purple haired girl’s concern, she could only give a straight face with no emotion attached to it. She didn’t know if she should laugh because of how ridiculous it sounded, or cry because of how sad it seemed. The only thing she could do was speak, “If that’s how you feel, I won’t waste my time.” She flipped through her phone to find the calendar function, “Now, is there a day that you want me to meet your aunt, because I seem to be free almost everyday of the year.” She closed her phone and but it away, “What I mean to say is, being with you isn’t a waste of my time. We’re friends, and I promised to be on your side. I chose to be your friend, and I’m not going to change my mind just because you say it may not be a good idea.” She nodded, “Besides, I wouldn’t take advice from that webshow. It obviously wasn’t you. Even you have to know that.”

“What am I fighting for?” She repeated the question as though she didn’t understand the question. She had never thought about it before. She moved her eyes back and forth trying to find the answer in her head. She knew it was there, but it sounded so plain. She didn’t know if Vera would take her seriously or think she was playing a joke on her, “You promise not to laugh?” Her answer would change based on the girl’s answer. She thought of Vera as her friend, and she wouldn’t lie to her, “I’m just fighting for a place to live.” She didn’t know if that made sense, “I mean, I want to keep our home safe, but that’s all. I feel bad that I can’t say anymore than that.” She wondered if she should tell Vera what had happened. In the end, it would be better, “Something happened recently. The world turned red and Lori, Kogami, and I had to fight some shadows. I didn’t think that could happen, but I’m worried about the future if it keeps happening.”

For some reason, she had expected Vera to have a bigger reaction to the Red Zones than dull surprise. Maybe she just didn’t care, but Gabby wasn’t one to judge. More than anything, all she could do was think. Then Vera asked her if she was still in contact with the others, “I suppose you could say that. After the Red Zone, we went our separate ways and haven’t seen each other since. Really, the only one I have consistency with is Lori.” She smiled at Vera from ear to ear, “She’s the one who helped me figure out how to apologize to you. I mean, I’ve never really had friends before, so I’ve never had an argument with one. I needed to know how to say I was sorry.” She could suddenly feel herself getting uncomfortable, especially with the question inside of her building up, “Um… I can’t spend the night at your house, but if you wan, you could come over to mine sometime.” She looked down at the ground and started twirling her thumbs, “You didn’t come to the part, after all, so you’ve never seen it. I get it if you don’t want to come, since Iwaigodai is covered in so much fog, but I think it would be fun.” She looked up quickly to see what Vera’s reaction to her statement would be.

Gabby was starting to feel really embarrassed as Vera told her she would go to her house, but didn’t necessarily want to. The only thing she could do was turn her face away, “I never meant to hurt you.” She knew it didn’t mean anything for her to say that, but she meant it, “I would never want to hurt someone I care about.” Gabby would take a pen and a piece of paper out of her bag and write down her address and phone number. She then handed in over to Vera, “In case you forgot. You can come over whenever you want. I don’t mind you even just barging in if you want.” She picked up her bags of food and waved, “I hope to see you around school again. You’ll be held back a year at this rate.” She waved to Vera and went off on her own.

{EXIT}