… Shikako’s biggest secret isn’t.
Her first thoughts in this new world are–where am I? What’s happening? Who are these people?–and so Shikamaru’s first thoughts, infantile but still keen, are full of curiosity and confusion.
—
It changes, when they grow. Both of them learning enough of the language to organize their thoughts. Streamlined into sentences and ideas instead of the burbles of emotions from before.
Shikako has come to accept her new place in life. Shikamaru has always known his.
Until she recognizes the faces carved into the mountain.
—
There is no hiding from your own thoughts.
You can deny things. You can compartmentalize. You can even forget, for a time, what it is you were thinking.
But there is no hiding from your own thoughts.
And so there is no hiding from your twin’s thoughts.
—
Shikako sees it as a story she can change. Edit particular sections and completely rewrite certain chapters. Characters and themes and plot points that can be adjusted, improved.
Shikamaru sees it as a game, of course. Pieces and set moves, rules and strategies. An ultimate goal, with acceptable losses in exchange for necessary gain.
Sacrifices must be made, but they have different definitions for it.
—
There is a delineation made, subconsciously or not, of what is most important at any given time.
A fork in the road. The known–with the costs and benefits tallied, just enough to be deemed acceptable–or the unknown, with all the risks and rewards that entails.
How do you decide which path to go down?
—
Shikamaru wants to play it safe. He is only a child, with childish strategies–one day he will beat his father at shogi, but that is many years from now–and he thinks that they have been handed the key to success.
Why diverge at all?
Shikako knows they must. Her existence, her knowledge, means they already have.
If they play it safe, they would need to remove her from the equation.
—
There is more than one way to take a character out of a story.
The problem with games is that there’s always someone playing against you.
~
A/N: … to be continued?
No but seriously, where should I go with this? Because I have some ideas, but I realize that they’d mostly just end up pale imitations of @donapoetrypassion‘s In Which Someone Attempts to Kidnap Shikamaru, Instead
Maybe this could be like a choose your own adventure type fic, where I try to incorporate reader suggestions?
JackSGreyson Says 