Raindrops, Teardrops

Let It Rain a Little...

In the distance, the night sky became even darker as clouds passed through, obscuring the light of the stars and moon. With the large, dark clouds came rain, a thunderstorm. The first rumble that rolled across the horizon was barely audible, like the distant growl of a slumbering beast. It wasn't until midway through the night that the slumbering beast awoke. Lightning flickered in the sky, illuminating and heralding the beast's arrival.

BANG!

"Woah!" Saori's scream was drowned out by the deafening thunder directly over her head. She jerked away, blankets flying from her body as she shot upright. She rested a hand over her thundering heart, feeling foolish. Then a second later, she remembered—"Wait... Sophia!"

For a second time, without thinking, Saori let her body take control. She catapulted from bed and raced down the little hall that connected to the living room of her little apartment. She skidded to a halt a second later. Huh...?!

The sofa was empty. "Sophia? Sophia?!" Saori was quiet at first, growing louder and more frantic. As if to taunt her, thunder rolled overhead again. She jumped, then cursed at the ceiling. It was then that she felt her phone finally vibrate in her hand.

Sorry. On roof.

"WHAT?!" For a third time, Saori went flying. The entire trip up the apartment stairwell was a blur, and the next thing she knew, she'd thrown up to heavy, metal door to the roof, wide-eyed and breathless. Sophia sat on the ledge, staring up at the rain. What...?!

Saori had just enough self-awareness to force herself to take a deep breath and try to calm down before she spoke. "Sophia. What are you doing?"

"O-oh... S-sorry... Saori..." Sophia drew in on herself, making herself smaller. She could sense the emotions of others like dogs sensing storms in the air. It was what years of neglect and emotional abuse did to someone. I can tell... I made her worried... I'm sorry, Saori... I'm bad...

She had not yet realized that her vaguely-worded text frightened Saori, but she could feel the tension radiating off Saori even through the downpour.

"I was just... listening to music... and admiring the rain..." Sophia continued softly, still too afraid to turn around. She raised a hand slowly to the rain, and even though it was night, Saori could see the outline of Sophia's arm rise. Saori could still only blink and shake her head.

Is she crazy? It's a very Sophia answer, but... Then again, maybe Saori was the crazy one. After all, after failing to convince Sophia to come with her back inside, she instead retreated inside alone. She came back a minute later with two raincoats and umbrellas.

Sophia's eyes went wide with awe, then she smiled. She was tearing up, but she knew Saori would never be able to tell. She was already soaked, and felt comfortable rather than cold, but the gesture meant more to Sophia than Saori would ever truly realize. It was also then that Saori realized why she was lucky enough that Sophia happened to have her phone on hand when Saori panic-texted her moments ago. As Sophia said, she was listening to music and watching the rain. Shielding her phone under her coat, she showed it to Saori.

"It's pouring, pouring, pouring, ahh!" The strains of soft, sweet, high-pitched vocalization cut through the storm and Saori's eyes lit up, both in recognition, and because of another flash of lightning above. Ah yes, the song that brought them together. The haphazardly-recorded, impromptu-cover of "Rainy AMEZA" that Saori's friend uploaded to her YouTube channel was what led Sophia to discover Saori, but it was Sophia/Abyssmare's "Raindrops" that allowed Saori to complete the connection and discover Sophia in return.

"I- I- I- I know w-w-we give Elsie a- a- a- a lot of... c-crap... s-sometimes..." Ok, a lot of the times. "But..." As a VJ and artist, she was undeniably talented. "The natural rain is beautiful, yes, but she has a way with it, a certain kind of magic... She can bring out the charm and beauty of every silver and crystal or diamond raindrop... shining..."