Operation Afloria: The Broken Crystal

Chapter 05 :: Reuniting Old Friends, Making New Ones

HIS VOICE... IT sounded awfully familiar. At least, it did for Lindsay. Now that she's heard of it, she couldn't help but feel curious about this man. She nervously smiled a "Thanks" to him, feeling completely awkward about their 20-centimeter height difference. Rather than a training uniform, he was suited in a basketball jacket, a wife-beater, brown pants and boots. In addition, he wore a pair of lens-less glasses.

"Boy, Sir Whitworth must've talked a lot," the man stuffed his hands into his pockets, chuckling at her face expression. "You look... fed up with him."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Well, I was starting to imagine how you guys would have survived staying in that room for 10 minutes..." she shrugged nonchalantly when they arrived at the elevator. The man grinned at this. "I guess we're just...used to it. Master's an eloquent speaker: he might have been a motivator if he's resigned from the U.F.A."

Lindsay shared a grin of amusement. "Totally possible."

They stayed silent inside the elevator for a few seconds, before the man snapped his fingers in sudden realization. "Oh, where are my manners? Uh... what's your name?" he asked her, extending his hand out for a handshake. Lindsay eyed the hand, then up to his face - which, again, looked surprisingly and oddly very familiar - and then back to his hand before taking it. "Lindsay. Lindsay McNova."

They shook hands with a smile. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Lin--" he stopped mid-sentence. He froze in his spot, and his eyes blinked in thought. Lindsay, too, froze in confusion. After a length, the man widened his eyes and his face had a hint of 'I-think-I-know-you' expression. "You couldn't possibly be... Lindsay Elizabeth Fiamatta McNova, born in New York City... right?"

That was a bonus. He had known about her birthplace. "Y-Yes... What about it?" Lindsay slowly uttered. The man gasped and literally jumped on his spot in recognition. He grinned like an idiot while exclaiming, "Oh my God! Lindsay, I finally found you right here in front of me! I mean, I haven't seen you for years!"

Lindsay stood there, still frozen. The man then stopped hopping around and faced her. "Wait... Can't you recognize me?" the man asked with that oh-so-familiar treble voice. Lindsay shook her head, still in confusion when the man took off his glasses and crossed his arms like a badass-wannabe. "Hey, Lin-Z, wanna go play Naruto with me today? I bet I'll beat you with my Gaara this time!" he spoke with a slightly higher pitch to imitate a young boy's voice, smirking as he said so.

The dancer took a while to think. That quote sounded very familiar as well. Then it clicked her. It all came back to her like a wrecking ball. The Naruto video-games, them reading books together, and him teaching her basketball... There was only one childhood friend in the orphanage who loved Naruto as much as he loved basketball.

Widening her eyes in realization, she gasped. "D-David?"

His grin reappeared. "Go on..."

"David... Kaspar... Clockworker!"

He nodded. "You're getting it, Lin-Z!"

They both broke into a huge ear-to-ear grin. "OH MY GOD! DAVID, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Lindsay jumped together with Kaspar - the elevator almost shook from their impact. "You have no idea how much I missed you! Look at you! You've changed... a lot, really! You've grown so tall! But what are you doing here... in London?"

"I'm a Level 4 firebender! My friends dragged me into this place 5 years ago then BAM! They trained me into this kind of guy," he pointed to himself in a point. He sure did change a lot: from the fat, chubby little boy to this muscular, tall, slender adolescent. "And plus, I'm always taller than you, Lin-Z."