Hey, everyone!
This is the sequel to my Kingdom Hearts fanfic, "Kingdom Valentine Hearts" - if you haven't read it yet, go read it now!
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"Want to play Kingdom Hearts with me?"
Chrissi - as she now called herself - tightened her grip on her Trigun manga when the words left her best friend's mouth. "No, thank you," she said politely.
Crysta's eyebrows furrowed. "What's wrong?" she asked. "You never play it anymore - not for at least two years."
"I'm not interested anymore, that's all."
Crysta pushed her dark brown hair from her eyes, sighing slightly. "Alright, then." With that, she went out to the kitchen. "You want a Coke or something?" she called.
"Yes, please!" Chrissi replied. She listened as the other girl get the pop and ice out, and then touched her necklace. The red paint on the beads were faded, the pearl scratched, and one of the Thalassa shells' tip had chipped off, but the blonde girl still loved the gift.
"Riku," she murmured, no longer feeling the longing need to be by his side, though she still missed him dearly.
Sighing, Chrissi looked back at her manga. Something caught her eye, however, in the background of one of the pictures. An old man, dressed in rags, who seemed oddly out of place. Searching her memory for his name, Chrissi remembered how the old man had helped her return home back when she was 14 - two years ago. Then name came to her suddenly, and she smiled. "Grandfather Roujin," she said.
The girl gasped as light emanated from the comic book. She flung it to the ground with a startled cry. "Not again!" she cried out loudly. She reached to her neck and grabbed the seashell necklace tightly.
"Chrissi!"
Crysta ran to the living room, and Chrissi saw the fear in her eyes. "Don't come any closer!" the blonde warned.
The brunette, however, ignored the warning and stepped into the living room. A beam of light began stretching towards Crysta, and Chrissi let out a terrified scream and lunged herself at her best friend.
She managed to push the other girl away before being sucked into the comic book. All she heard was Crysta cry out "Christie!!" before everything went dark and silent.
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Chrissi yawned and stretched. Her head hurt a little, but that's usually what her bed did to her. She rolled onto her stomach and began coughing. "Ugh," she groaned. "Why is my bed filled with dirt?"
The blonde finally opened her eyes. "Oh my god," was all she could manage to squeak out.
Jumping to her feet and ignoring the throbbing in her head, she ran up the giant sand pile that she had awoken upon. Once she reached the top, she looked around, seeing nothing but a desert. Letting out a frustrated scream, she stomped her foot, and began jumping up and down.
"Will you stop doing that already?!"
Chrissi stopped her stomping and jumping and looked around. She gasped when the sand beneath her feet began shifting and moving. She fell backwards when a man sat up.
"Hey, there - you're not going to run away, are you?" the man asked.
Chrissi stared bug-eyed at the man - taking in his spiky blond hair, red trench coat, sea foam-green eyes, and goofy smile - and very slowly crawled up to his face. Half sitting in his lap, the girl touched his face. "It was easier to comprehend Sora, Riku and them, since the game was in 3D, but this is just weird, since I've only seen him in 2D ..." she muttered to herself.
"Erm ... hi?" the man asked, taking Chrissi's face in his own large hands.
The blonde blushed, realising what she had been doing. "O-oh, I'm sorry - hello."
"Look 'e's up there! Get 'im!"
Both man and girl jumped and looked at the small group forming at the base of the sand pile. "Well," said the man, "it's been nice meeting you, but I have to go now!" With that, he gently pushed Chrissi off of himself and slid down the sand.
"Wait!" Chrissi called, sliding down after him. He didn't stop and kept running. "Vash - wait!"
The man stopped and turned around, his glare cold. He ran up to the girl and, pushing his nose against hers and pushing his finger to her chest, said, "I'm not Vash the Stampede." then took off again.
She sat there until she heard, " 'ey, that girl - she's probably in it wit' 'im, too!"
Chrissi looked around and stared at the mob, figuring the dull-looking man in the front was their leader. She kept watching as another man spoke. "Well, we have no real proof do we, Bernie?"
The first man, who Chrissi assumed was Bernie, stuck his pitchfork in the sand. "Well, she was pretty well sittin' in 'is lap, Ternie - do we need any other proof?"
"C'mon, she's a teenager, and he's a good-looking man," Ternie said, causing Chrissi to blush, "she might have had no clue who he was, but was still attracted to him."
A woman stepped forward. "S'cuse me, but not all teenagers are like that - I know I most certainly wasn't."
As the mob got into a heated argument about the habits of teenagers, Chrissi took this as an opportunity to slip away unseen. She found a large boulder and hid behind it, watching and listening to the mob. Finally, Bernie picked his pitchfork up and said, "Okay - we're getting off topic 'ere. 'ow about we kill the girl, take 'er to the officials, and find out if we can get any money. If not, then it's just another death - nothing new 'ere."
The group nodded and murmurs of agreement were heard. "'ey - where'd the girl go?" Bernie asked.
"Damn ... guess she got away," Ternie said.
The woman sighed. "Ah well - guess we're gonna have to wait until Vash the Stampede rolls around out little village again."
Chrissi sighed when the mob turned away and left. She leaned against the boulder and put her hand to her forehead, blocking out the sun. She jumped as the sand between her outstretched legs shifted, and Vash poked his head out.
"Are they gone?" he asked.
Chrissi stared at the young man. "Yeah," she said. "They just left."
Vash smiled and began wriggling out of the golden sand, saying "Sorry about leaving you back there. See, someone who looks an awful lot like me has a very big bounty on his head. When you called me Vash – which is his name – I was afraid they'd be even more convinced – "
Chrissi cut him off. "Quit playing dumb. I know you're Vash."
Vash looked at her to see the girl staring at him intensely. He sighed and sat, pulling his legs out of the sand. "Okay, you're right – I'm Vash 'the Stampede'. I'm assuming you also know why I have such a bounty on my head?"
Chrissi nodded, remembering both the anime and the manga. "Yes, you're wanted for the destruction of July, and the murder of thousands. I know you've never killed, though."
Vash gently wiped the remaining sand off of his coat. "How do you know that?" he asked.
"You're too nice."
The man seemed surprised with the answer. He stopped wiping the red material and stared at the girl. She smiled softly at him, and confusion cross his face.
Before Vash could say anything, Chrissi said, "Don't ask questions – I just know."
Vash let out a long breath through his nose as he looked at the horizon. "You'll get heat stroke." He said.
Chrissi jumped, finding his statement random. "Pardon?" she questioned.
Vash turned and smiled, his eyes still sad. "If you wear those clothes, you'll get heat stroke – the material isn't right." The man cocked his head the side, looking at Chrissi quizzically. "They look like the stuff they had back on Earth. Did you get them in a museum or something?"
"Uhm, uhh," Chrissi stammered. "Y-yeah, I did."
Vash sighed and stood. "Well, come on – I still have a bit of money left. I can buy you something proper."
"O-oh, - thank you." Chrissi jumped up and over the large hole where Vash had hidden, then rushed to catch up to the man. "By the way, I meant to ask you – how did you hide in the sand so quickly?"
Vash shrugged as he walked. "Practice."
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What do you think so far? It may seem a lot like KVH now, but, I promise, there will be some very interesting plot twists. ;)