[FIN] Don't Say Goodbye

[Suudonym]

In the time since they had returned to Kodo, Luke had finalized his decision and completed his preparations to carry it out. Leaving the island wasn't something he wanted to do - by no means was it anything he wanted to do - and so he spoke nothing of his intent to his friends lest he too easily be persuaded to abandon it. He wouldn't be accused of disappearing, however; an unsealed envelope had been placed in Rosie's mailbox clearly explaining his rationale. Now all that was left was to await the call to board the ship. The young noble sat near those docks with only little luggage (he would have the rest of his belongings collected later after making arrangements for it), waiting in cold, anxious impatience. He didn't want to go. He really didn't want to go. But what else could he do?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

While plenty of rest at home was what the hospital had recommended, Seraphine had no intentions of remaining in her family's dingy little apartment any more than was absolutely necessary. The past several weeks of her training with Ray had at least had a little effect on her and her decisions; she had debated taking Isabella or Jacques along with her, but the Absol needed to recover (while the brunette could walk just fine with an injured shoulder, a four-legged creature could not) and the Zoroark had seemed much more inclined to stay inside than to join her outdoors. Instead of the pair she usually had with her, Luna walked alongside her instead.

Seemingly on a whim, Seraphine had headed towards the seaside area, possibly because maybe that would alleviate some of her boredom or maybe at the very least take her attention away from the dull ache and pain of her wound. Pain killers were wonderful things, but the ones given to her to take home didn't rid her of all the pain like the intravenous medications administered in the hospital. Oh well.

Sera had been set to just walk past the docks, but a soft noise behind her gave her pause as Luna halted, focused on a specific person not too far away. The brunette followed the Rapidash's gaze to see someone who was incredibly familiar to her - Luke, one of her best friends. And he had... bags? Where was he going? The only times she'd known him to leave (apart from Hoenn and Kanto, but that was with them so it didn't count) to Grande Ile had been due to unfortunate incidents or circumstances, so seeing her friend on the dock awaiting a boat off the island immediately filled her with misgivings. Rather than approach him right off, she instead pulled her phone out and sent a text to her other best friend, Rosie.

Luke's sitting at the dock with a bunch of s**t. I'm gonna ask what's up, but you should come down anyway. I'll let you know what he says

With her text sent, she replaced her phone and made her way over to Luke, Luna following along behind her. "Hey Luke," the girl said, her left hand raised slightly in greeting. Typically her right was used for all waves, but since that shoulder had been injured, she found it much more comfortable to use her left hand instead. A soft frown formed on her face as her gaze unabashedly roved over his assorted belongings before returning to his face, "What's up? Where're you going? We just got back from Kanto."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Frowning as she read over the message from Seraphine, Rosie furrowed her brow before writing back.
"He's with what? Is he okay?"  

[Suudonym]

He tensed at the sound of his name, his expression harshening briefly. When he turned to regard Seraphine, it was a smile that was weak and forced. "Hey. Heading to Grande Ile. I'm not being kidnapped or anything this time, so you don't have to worry about me or anything."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Oh, okay," the brunette replied, relaxing slightly - but only slightly. At least he wasn't being kidnapped this time, but still... why was he leaving? "So what's wrong?" Clearly if he was going to Grande Ile, the only possible reason was because something was wrong. His mother was dead, as was Asch, so that only left his father... Something hadn't happened to him, right? No, he'd look much worse than he did -- though that wasn't to say he looked good right now, either.

While she felt her cell buzz with a new text, she didn't bother to look at it just yet.  

[Suudonym]

He shook his head. "Nothing."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"...oh." Huh. A mild surprise manifested itself in her features as she stood there a little uncertainly, seeing as he had taken all of her expectations of the circumstances and negated them. He was going back, but he wasn't being kidnapped and nothing was wrong.

So...

...what was going on?

"Why are you going back to Grande Ile then?" She asked, her brows furrowing as her frown deepened a bit. This... wasn't making much sense. Where was he going? They had only just got back from something that was supposed to be (she assumed) fun (she did not think training or battling was fun), and it turned into some violent near-death experience for all of them. Why was he suddenly going back to Grande Ile? It must've been really important, given the timing, but still...  

[Suudonym]

Plain discomfort replaced the false smile he had tried and failed to maintain. "I feel like it, I guess," he replied at length, his gaze wandering. He could only hope they would make the call for boarding to begin early.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"You... just feel like it?" That... that didn't sound important at all. They all went and got injured and could've died and he suddenly wanted to up and leave the island because he felt like it. That was unacceptable. "No, seriously," she started in more displeased, vaguely accusatory tones with an expression to match, "why are you going back? This is piss poor timing, too, since we only just got back from something super shitty."  

[Suudonym]

His brow furrowed in response to her tone, his own words picking up traces of bitter indignation, "I don't have to explain myself. It's not up for discussion."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Well fine then," she replied, matching his indignant tones with her own. She moved to unhappily cross her arms over her chest, but the sudden pain in her shoulder made her flinch slightly and pause, so both arms dropped again and she seemed even more displeased for the sole reason she couldn't do something to visually display her displeasure. "How long are you going to be gone?"  

[Suudonym]

His frown remained as he continued to deny any degree of eye contact. A period of silence followed her question before he offered a vague response, "Long enough."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"'Long enough'?" She repeated, really, really wishing she could cross her arms properly to show her immense displeasure, "that doesn't tell me s**t. How long is 'long enough'? A few days? A week? A month? Forever?" She threw her arms up - or attempted to, but the left went considerably higher and was more animated in general for obvious reasons. "What's going on?"  

[Suudonym]

"Yes, forever!" he snapped, a reluctant pain underlying his evident anger. "I'm going back; I'm done with Kodo!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

While his outburst and his answer surprised her, she didn't shrink back or retreat, but it did delay what would have been an immediate response. Her eyebrows raised as she regarded him in her surprise and lack of understanding. All she knew was that he was apparently leaving Kodo forever and, presumably, not coming back. Him abandoning Kodo was, by extension, him abandoning them. Luke was just up and leaving them forever right after such a shitty thing that was probably scary when it happened (she didn't really know, she'd been a little busy being freaking paralyzed and then in pain and shock), and he was just leaving.

Her hands balled into fists as she fought with herself how best to respond, because she wasn't quite sure. This was not at all what she expected to deal with when she walked past the docks today. Thus, it was in quiet, vaguely hurt tones that she posed her single question, "Why?"