A salty ocean breeze brushed against Vanna's face and ruffled her dark hair, turning her into quite the disheveled mess. It took a lot of reasoning, but she had managed to convince Quynh to take her all the way down onto the shore.
She stood at the water's edge, her shoes discarded several meters back. Vanna let the sand squeeze in between her toes and felt the seawater lapping at her feet. Unfortunately for her, her companion had no interest in walking down the beach with her – instead, he sat beneath an umbrella, watching her with great disinterest.
It was difficult, but she did her best to ignore his sour attitude – and to forget her strange dream and foreign feelings about the man. Vanna took in a deep breath and looked out at the reflective mass of water before her. The sun had started to set, and the sky was turning various shades of orange as it approached the horizon. Albeit a bit hard to stare at, due to the brightness of the sun's reflection on the surface, Vanna relished in the view.
Who knew if, or when, she would ever get to see such a wonderful sight again?
The young woman's entire life had both fallen apart, flipped upside down, and rebuilt itself over the course of two short days. Experiencing the rapid change had elicited such shock that she hadn't been able to digest the information properly… but here, at the edge of what felt like the world, while she stared out into the vast blue expanse – Vanna finally started to mull over the events and new information.
A CEO with a grand reputation, who had funded her sponsorship to the university, had picked her up after a tragic train accident – which she had apparently caused, in some capacity – and was informed of a mysterious identity that dwelled dormant within her.
To put it simply, she had been effectively tossed into a world full of supernatural and religious entities she had never even believed in previously. Not only that, she was supposedly one of these beings, herself.
Vanna looked down at her hand, opening and closing her fingers a few times.
"Magic, huh?" she muttered to herself with a self-deprecating smile. "I hope it's true."
Although she had incredible performance in academics and a reputation for that intelligence, she had never been particularly… special. She had grown up in her simple little family, in their smaller city, with nothing but her wit and a strong determination to take care of her mother.
Vanna, while reminiscing about the past, suddenly recalled that she had a best friend.
Recalled?!
'Who the hell forgets about having a best friend?! They've been with me since we were in grade school…' Vanna thought to herself, utterly disturbed by the realization. 'I… I can't remember their gender, their name… nothing. How could I forget something like that?'
She then continued down the dark train of thought and discovered she had very random holes in her memories. Certain special events that she knew she had cherished, that she had absolutely no recollection of. Teachers names, even some random things like her favorite color and animal.
…Yet somehow, most of her memories remained intact. The ones that were missing and shared no similarities with one another, which left Vanna feeling completely puzzled.
Vanna, discouraged by her new knowledge, turned her back to the sunset. Quynh, who had been watching her stand and stare into the distance for almost fifteen minutes, cocked a questioning brow. He clearly hadn't expected her to return so soon, but he didn't appear to be displeased.
The dragon didn't say anything, likely due to his pride, but moved over slightly to make more room on the beach blanket. Vanna quietly approached and took the space beside him, ensuring that she left a reasonable distance between them.
"You look depressed. Did you find that you don't like the ocean?" Quynh asked with a bored expression. "I personally hate the beach."
"It's nothing like that, Quynh," Vanna replied. "The ocean is beautiful, I just have a lot on my mind."
Quynh hummed in understanding. "I would agree that you have a lot to think about. I am surprised that you're able to think very hard though, considering how spaced out you look half the time."
Vanna glared at him wordlessly, and didn't bother to respond. She felt that talking to him was a waste of breath. Instead, the two fell into a rather uncomfortable silence, that dragged on for several agonizing minutes.
"I figured you would just start talking without my prodding, since that's what you always di-" he bit his tongue, as if realizing what he was saying was baseless. There was no saving that, though.
"I'm not your friend," Vanna's chest churned with frustration. "Stop projecting her onto me. I have never once been one to talk about my problems to others, so that's definitely wrong."
Quynh didn't have a witty comeback. It had really been his mistake… a pretty cruel mistake, for both himself and for Vanna. Unable to apologize, though, he just continued with what he had been about to say, as if nothing happened..
The dragon cleared his throat, "Well, I'm glad you don't feel like telling me your troubles – it would just be annoying to hear you complain… but, well…"
"But what?" Vanna scowled.
"It would be a shame for you not to enjoy this sunset," Quynh said awkwardly. "Don't let your fogged mind distract you from it. Rest your brain for a few more minutes, and once the sun is asleep, we can go and get the food we promised Shizuka and head back."
Vanna felt as though she were experiencing whiplash by the complete change of tone and sincerity, but didn't have the mental fortitude to try and deal with it. Instead, she just nodded in agreement.
So, together, they enjoyed the remainder of the sunset.