I haven't got a good title as of yet, I might change it afterwards, any suggestions?
SpecialThanks to AshleyPorter for beta-reading
SpecialThanks toCarefreecat for thoroughly editing (revised on 04/10/08)
Big 'X' marked memories. I don't use italics because I think it's hard to read in a long run. Anyone think so?
Chapter 1 I Remember You
It was a cloudy evening when Sora strolled down the path to his home. Usually he would walk in the company of his twin brother, but that day, his brother had been drawn away for his project. Sora didn't mind though, he never minded much of anything; having always been a good-natured boy with an overly optimistic mind. Some called it a double edged-sword, but most enjoyed his personality.
To him, everything on Destiny Island was perfect. Although small in population, the folks that lived there were nice. The ocean just happened to be an added benefit which he enjoyed it to the immense. Sora never asked for anything more, he had no need to. Everyday was a good day for him.
Unless…there was something he believed was wrong, was happening…Well then that dampened his mood a little.
A muffled whine that didn't sound human caught in his ears, along with several mutterings. It made Sora turn sideways to see what the odd noise was. His blue eyes took in the sight of three small children huddling up in a circle. At first, he thought that it was only the kids playing, but a weird noise that he could make out as some sort of animal rang out from between the three kids again. It sounded in pain. Sora's eyes searched the space on the ground, between the boys. He barely made out a form of a small cat at their feet. A small creature, which was yowling in pain…
So the only thing that could botherhim right then was an act of animal abuse from a group of children who lacked the sympathy and found beating up a small cat amusing.
"Hey!" he yelled in anger and rushed in.
Normally, if they were children younger than him, Sora would rather converse with them. Still, sometimes the act that goes against his self-righteous just couldn't grant him those 'sit-and-talk-and-understand method' all the time. Anyhow, his yell made the kids startled and turned tail before Sora could say anything.
He huffed, so much for his notion of 'nicefolks.' Yet, he understood that they were young; they had no idea. It wasn't like Sora never hurt small animal before.
He knelt down to the puddle on the ground. With a closer inspection, he found the small cat that lay battered was silver in color. Not white, silver. Its eyes were closed and its uncomfortably thin stomach puffed up and down as it struggled to catch its breath. Its wounds could have been bad, but Sora wasn't sure, but by the way those kids had treated the small thing…It was enough to tell him that it didn't seem as fine as it looked on the surface.
"Grr, those kids. I'm gonna whack them good the next time I see them," he muttered. He reached to scoop the poor thing up. But as soon as his fingers made contact, it suddenly sprang to life and clawed him on the back of his hand, drawing a small line of blood. "Gah!" Sora let out a small yelp, yet he didn't let go of it. The cat's green eyes glared heatedly at him and it made a low growl in the back of its throat. Then it started to claw at the hands that trapped it several more times. Yet due to its weak condition, the cat failed to cause any great deal of damage or pain to Sora like it intended to.
Sora knew better than to get mad. The creature was no doubt acting out of fear of being hurt again, so he cooed, "Hey, its okay. I'm not going to hurt you." In all honesty, he didn't really expect it would work, at least not immediately, so he was surprised when the cat did slow and stopped attacking the skin on his hands. That only encouraged him to continue, "Its okay. It's okay."
When the little thing stopped struggling, Sora lifted it up to his chest, trusting that the small fight was over with. He looked down and the cat looked right back up at him. Sora found the cat's green eyes amazingly oceanic, its angry demeanor subsided almost completely and was now replaced with something akin to curiosity, and maybe…just maybe some trust?
"Heh," he trailed off, smiling down at the fuzzy creature, he was glad that the animal seemed to understand him despite how puzzled he was. He started walking as fast as he could towards the only veterinary clinic on Destiny Island, all the while ignoring the slight pain from the scratches across his hands and arms.
One thing he hadn't realized, due to the urgent of situation, was that the small silver chain necklace that had long ago fallen off of the cat's throat while being attacked, was laying abandoned on the ground. Forgotten.
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"Feh…" Sora huffed as he stared at the closedsign on the front door of the veterinary clinic in town. He sighed as his head dropped in frustration. "Of all the day to be closed…"
Several nuzzle against his chest made him glance down at the cat in his arms. It gave a tired purr.
Deciding that he had no choice, he headed home.
Sora placed the cat on top of a bundle of clothes once he reached his room. The cat was asleep, quite peacefully he might add. He stared at it for a while and its green eyes slid open, as if it could sense the compassionate boy watching him. It kept its eyes on Sora for such a long time that Sora had to wonder how the cat managed to maintain such eye contact. Every other cat looked away a certain amount of time. This one was different.
He laughed mentally at such thought and began petting it. "Hang in there, okay? I'll take you to the veterinarian first thing tomorrow morning." Lucky for him that it was Saturday tomorrow (he'd given his brother his word that they would go to Twilight Town together to meet up with some friends, but maybe he could call in sick?).
"Hey," he chuckled lightly when the cat took his contact to its liking. He soon winced when the kitten started running its tongue across his hands. It was only then that Sora realized the small wounds on his hands…and arms were still stinging and bleeding lightly.
Judging from the long line of scratches, but small in size, Sora decided that they could wait to be attended to. So he got up and left the room, only to come back with a small bowl of warm water, medicine, and some food.
Sora did everything he could with the wounds while the kitten lapped up some of the warm water. Oddly enough it never touched the food. All the while, Sora couldn't help the anxiousness that had begun to well up inside him. Sure, the cat looked almost fine but its ragged breathing failed to comfort him. He only kept watch till the cat curled up in itself, and fell asleep again. After a short time followed, sleepiness also took hold of Sora. That was when the scattered dreams of his far off memories took place.
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X
"Wait! You're leaving?" The little boy with brown hair exclaimed, whipping his head to his friend who leaned idly against the bent Paopu Tree beside him.
Another boy, a silver-haired one, nodded. His oceanic green eyes avoided the other. "I told you, we only moved here temporarily. My parents' work here is done, so we have to go."
The silver-haired boy's parents were the researchers, traveling from one place to another for the purpose of gathering information about different worlds. It gave their son a chance to explore the new horizons, and friends.
Sure, both boys knew they wouldn't be together forever. Yet the long number of 4 years that they had spent together glued them together as best friends despite their bipolar personalities. They went to the same school, played on the same remote island, fought over with each other and slept over at each other's places. They were always together. Along the way, both had forgotten that the departure would eventually come.
The silver-haired boy, being one year older than the brunet, had talked of his adventures across the universe. He'd wanted his friend to go with him… Somehow, he knew things just weren't that easy. His friend had a life here on this island, a home…He couldn't ask the brunet to give all that up.
The brunet was fidgeting. The actions made the older of the two to reach out and ruffle the younger's brown hair, making it stick up more than usual. "I'll come back to visit…sometimes."
"When?"
"Don't know. It depends on my parents."
"Feh."
"Look. You'll be fine. You've got Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka…and the others."
"But you're my bestfriend," the brunet said with all the genuineness in his demeanor.
It brought a smile to another boy's face, a real smile, not the usual smirk that he often wore.
"Same here. Still…it can't be helped."
There was a whine of protest emitting from the brunet's throat.
The silver-haired boy sighed and directed a finger to the horizon from the Paopu Tree that they'd been leaning on, in their remote island which was their personal playground.
The brunet followed the direction with a 'huh?'
"Look there, you see the sky?" Upon receiving a confused nod from the brunet, the silver-haired boy continued, "A friend of mine back there told me that there's only one sky. No matter where we are, we're under the same sky-"
"Cheesy," the brunet cut in with a comment.
Rolling his eyes, the silver-haired boy growled. "And that coming from the one that's almost in tears given the news that I have to go?"
"I'm not crying!" The brunet retorted.
"Yeah…yeah. Sure you're not." The older boy sighed again. Being friend with the brunet year after year had taught him something. His friend, he'd learned, was not a whiner. In fact the silver-haired boy could count on his fingers the times his friend had whined. Infrequently as it was when it did come it was difficult to deal with.
"…Even if…we're under the same sky just as you said, we still won't see each other, you'll forget me."
"There, you're sulking instead"
"Am not!"
There was, however, one way that the silver-haired boy discovered it works on the stubborn brunet. With one regarding eyes on his whining friend in denial, the silver-haired boy beckoned another boy with his open arms. "Come here."
The brunet arched his eyebrow but complied. When he was within another's arm reach, he was pulled and encircled in another's hold.
They were both the same size, so the older boy's chin rested on the brunet's shoulder as he whispered. "We've never done this often, right? Figures it should be the time."
Truth be told, they'd never had really hugged, unless they counted a lot of snuggling up against each other during sleepovers as hugs.
The younger one nodded and held the other back.
"No matter where I go, I'll remember you, Sora. Even though I've forgotten about you or you've forgotten about me, you'll still always be in my memory." He cooed into Sora's ears.
"Feh. You're not making any sense." The said Sora's voice dropped.
"Sora?"
Sora didn't say anything because he'd already started crying.
X
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Sora was unaware of the waking world when night rolled around. So the stars that littered the inky sky and the moon that was situated above the horizon that stared right through his window were the only witness to all that would soon happen.
From the heap of clothes that was situated beside the sleeping boy's bed, the small form of a cat slowly rose up. Its green eyes took in the dim surroundings before it jumped up on the bed. The kitten landed right across the boy's face. It nudged Sora gently on the face, eliciting a tired moan from the half-asleep brunet. Shifting around the small area, the cat was tempted to do something.
It wasn't long that its lips touched the slumbering boy's.
Whether it was intentionally or coincidentally, no one could tell.
There was only one articulate sentence in the cat's mind
'I remember you.'
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When the sun began to shine through his window, Sora was still dreaming of a cat, a certain one with silvery fur and oceanic green eyes. So as his eye lids opened half way, he was sure he was still dreaming because he was looking right up into those same green eyes, and that silver…Then his senses kicked in, and everything around him began to sink in Shortly after that he was fully awake, he just realized that the eyes he'd been staring at didn't belong to a cat.
…but of a human.
Sora's blue eyes shot wide opened and finally took in the form of the other boy hovering above him. His bare, pale chest that was revealed to Sora indicated that he didn't have anything on except the blanket that draped dangerously around his waist and shoulders. Sora blinked once and twice while the boy right above him purred a soft meow.
There was a moment of utter silence before the house broke into a dreadfully loud "GAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
The brunet wasn't aware of how he was reacting. For one, he knew his back couldn't go any farther since he was already up against the headboard of his bed. And the other boy that seemed only briefly startled with his yell was now crawling up to him…That sure was not helping.
'Why the heck is there another boy in my room?'
While he was completely caught off guard his brain began to register something comprehensible when the silver-haired boy let out another soft purr. It made Sora blinked once and twice as he gaped at him.
Oceanic green eyes, silver-hair…
Then it was dawned to him, and he questioned with uncertainty, "You…you're that…cat?" With that said, the silver-haired boy smiled…somehow Sora felt like it was more like a smirk. His ears suddenly caught the stomping sound outside his room, which came closer and closer.
That would be his twin brother, his overprotective twin brother who chided him all the time if something he did would go wrong or get out of hands. Having another unknown and partially naked boy in his room was wrong. Sora sure didn't know what to formulate for his explanation. Out of instinct, he jumped off the bed, throwing his blanket over the silver-haired boy. Just to be sure that he could cover it all up, he reached for all the bundle of clothes on the ground and dove them all at the boy. He demanded with an index finger leveling with his lips, and hushed in low voice. "Stay down, stay still, and don't make any sound."
Then Sora made a quick way to the door and slipped out of it just in time to an approaching boy from entering his room. He practically bumped into his brother, and each fell back with matching groans.
Sora, who'd been able to close the door behind him just in time, called out, "Roxas!"
The other boy with swirls of short blond hair, and blue eyes like Sora's own, clutched at his face where it was struck. He looked up questioningly and snapped, "Watch it, Sora! And what was with the yell!"
"Sorry!" The brunet quickly apologized as he pulled himself up; offering his hand to his brother as well while working to devised some excuse, "It was a…mouse! It was right in front of my face when I woke up so I was caught of guard! But I already flailed it off the window."
A smirk pulled at Roxas's lips as he took his brother's hand and leaped up. "Was that it? You were screaming like someone was about to rape you in the room."
Sora deadpanned, his brother wasn't someone who would make that kind of joke, and the awkwardness of it all was to say such things at such moment, in such situation that was luckily known to him alone. He recovered quickly and whined, "Roxas! You spent too much time with that Axel guy, look what's got into you now!"
"Ha ha, it was just a joke." Roxas laughed.
Sora could only guess that his older brother was given that comment, so he took it out on Sora instead. After all, Roxas wasn't a patient person when it came to verbal abuse, especially from his best friend, Axel. Since Roxas barely won a verbal competition with Axel, Sora sometimes ended up the victim of his older twin's retaliation.
Then the blond's expression shifted into a concerned one. "You're going to be okay?"
The brunet head bobbed down. "Sure. It was just a mouse!" Sora lied, knowing all too well that it wasn't just a mouse but a really, really big cat-turned-human thing.
"No, I meant that," the blond said, addressing the words to Sora's hands and arms.
The younger of the two looked down and recognized the poorly wrapped bandages upon his wounds. Then Sora realized that the day before, he'd fell asleep without tending the scratches properly. His elder brother must have nursed the wounds when he'd come back late at night. 'Thatonlymeans…'
"How many times do I have to tell you to be careful when helping stray animals?" Roxas sighed. "If it hurts you or tries to hurt you, you should just leave it alone."
Sora's doubt was answered when his brother brought that up. So his brother was in his room, checking him and saw the cat. The fact that his brother was still cool about the whole situation must have meant that the cat hadn't turned human when Roxas was there. Then thinking fast, Sora came up with the excuse. "He was just scared at first! But he's a good boy! Actually, he was the one flailing that mouse that disturbed me in the morning out of the window."
Quirking an eyebrow, Roxas declared. "Oh? This time you knew about its gender? What a surprise."
Truth be told, Sora never knew how to distinguish the animals in the area of gender. It wasn't the first time that he took in a stray, battered, lost animals under his wings. Given that he wasn't really an animal lover, he didn't keep them for long. He let them go as soon as they recovered. Back to Roxas's issue, Sora had only known that it was male because its human form was obviously male.
"Okay, that's it." Using a finishing tone, Sora reminded as he urged Roxas to turn around to head back to his room. "You gotta go see your friends at Twilight Town today, right? You'll be late if you don't start off. I think the cat is fine now, so you don't have to worry. I'll throw him out before you come back."
Being reminded of his schedule, Roxas complied as his feet had already started to take him to his room with the help of his brother's shoving. He angled his head back slightly. "You do that-wait, aren't you coming too?"
The brunet shook his head. "I'm kinda tired. Sorry, can I call today off?" He saw his brother open his mouth to say something, but he cut in.
"But I'll be fine. You should go, say hi to Hayner and the others for me, okay?"
Roxas reached to feel Sora's forehead with the back of his hand but it was cautiously removed away by Sora.
"I'm not a kid, Rox! It's not a fever and I said I'll be fine." Sora huffed.
"Sure. Remind me of the last time you said that and fell flat right in front of me." Roxas returned with a sneer.
"Gah! That was a long time ago, and I'd had a fever then! Now off you go! Shoo!" The brunet urged once more.
"Okaaay, if you insist. I see that you have no fever anyways." Only half-convinced, Roxas slipped into his own room (which was across Sora's own) and was about to close the door when Sora beamed. "Thanks for this." The brunet said as he raised both of his bandaged arms into his brother's line of vision and added, "Although I myself could do better than this."
"But you didn't do it, so I did it in order to not let you get a frigging infection." The elder one said flatly with a small smirk only to be responded with by another huff from his brother and a door closing, specifying that it was the end of their conversation.
Pouting only to himself, Sora strolled back to his room. His bandages started to loosen. Sora use to often wonder how terrible Roxas was in treating people's sickness and wounds despite how much he'd put his effort into looking after Sora. Being twin brothers with parents who were always at work, made them grow attached to each other. His older twin, being only seconds away when they were born, always took the responsibility for the two of them.
Sometimes Sora found that Roxas was overprotective. When the issue was brought up, Roxas always won, reasoning that Sora was too stupid and needed someone to watch his back. Sora had given up winning the argument over such issue and letting his brother have his way most of the time.
That, he shoved it aside.
It was time to deal with a cat-turned-human.
Swallowing, Sora eyed the doorknob cautiously before swinging it open and slipping in.
All the bundle of clothes failed to do the job in covering the whole body of a human up, so the arms and legs were stuck out from them. Sora stepped closer to take in the sight of the boy that was sprawled on his bed. He wondered what he should do with the situation.
It wasn't long before the face under the blanket dived up and looked at him. The intense oceanic green eyes bored into him and Sora had to take one step back absentmindedly. Then the silver-haired boy pushed up, his demeanor feline-like, Sora noticed. He let his feet fall to the ground.
Sora noted that the boy wanted to get up. As soon as he did, he fell. Sora would have found it funny if the blanket that covered him up didn't slide dangerously away from his slim hips. He ducked his face into his hands and yelled in frantic, "Gah! Don't move! Stay still!"
Sit still, the silver-haired boy did.
After the torture situation of helping the boy put his father's shirt and trouser on, Sora huddled tiredly on the floor while the silver-haired boy sat idly, gazing at Sora with the eyes that he found almost innocuous… if they weren't so intense they might have been.
"What really happened…a cat turned into a human…this is unbelievable. Am I dreaming or what?" Sora pinched his own cheek and 'oww-ed' then he dug his hands into his head. The series of his action drew a chuckle from the other boy. Sora rolled his eyes at him, but the other only kept smiling.
He tried to think of a more logical reason…something like: the cat disappeared, and someone threw this boy into his room at night. However, one glance at the boy, and anyone could tell that the oceanic green eyes and the silver-hair must have unmistakably belonged to the cat he'd taken in the day before. More importantly, he had a feeling deep in his gut that this boy, and that cat were the same being.
Plus, Sora had just spotted the wound that had been on the cat's left, front leg was now situated on the silver-haired boy's left arm.
"Gah! No use wracking my brain out anyway." He held one hand out, palm up. "Let me take a look at your wound." He waited impatiently until the other mirrored his movement and Sora grabbed a wrist, pulling it closer to inspect the wound. "Wow, it's healing fast. You're gonna be fine. Maybe I don't have to take you to a veterinarian. Geh, even if I have to, veterinarian won't do."
At least Sora was thankful that the silver-haired boy appeared meek enough to stay under his command. Maybe things wouldn't be as hard as he'd feared.
Or not?
"Whoa!" Sora was caught off guard when the hand in his, left, and came back to yank at him instead. Forcefully, he fell into the other boy's lap. When he looked up, it was only then that he mustrealized the other boy was by far taller than him, his figure well-built than his much smaller frame. "What the-" Sora demanded, but paused when the silver-haired boy took one of Sora's hands to his eyes level.
It looked like he was examining it then the green eyes turned back to Sora. To Sora's disclosure, the earlier playful eyes took on a restless expression that Sora could make out as….guilt? Sora arched his eyebrows and glanced at his hands and arms where scratches and cuts were still visible through the messy bandages. Only then did he understand another boy's message. "Umm…I'm fine…Don't worry?" It came out half a question since Sora wasn't sure if the other understood at all.
Sora wasn't prepared for the next action of the cat, which was…licking.
A huge neon sigh that spelled NO in front of Sora's mind could have shattered at any minute due to the overheat. His face burned. A cat licking away the wounds on his hand? Sure he could take it with 10 or more cats, but a boy about his age doing the same thing? It was a complete different story.
Kicking himself out of the friggin blue, he vocalized, "No!" He yanked his hand back as well as scrambled himself up and away. Given that, he hadn't kept his room tidy for…like forever…he stumbled back amongst the pile of his stuffs that littered on the floor. Looking about, Sora swore he could see a flash in those oceanic depths before the other boy crawled over to Sora's prone form. To Sora's horror, the silver-haired boy pressed his hands over his shoulders and leaned in. Out of instinct, Sora shut his eyes tight; praying whatever the other was about to do wouldn't hurt him.
Then he peeked one eye open and saw the silver-haired boy smile playfully right at him. With the taller boy on top, Sora took a moment to study those eyes. Somehow, it was dawn to him.
All the kittens that he'd brought to his room mostly fell into their playful manners. Given that his room was littered with stuffs, cats loved the object that moved around. Kittens often jumped on him when he made a sudden movement.
This one in front of him was no different. He only wanted to play.
"Gah!" Sora let out, feeling stupid for his earlier fretful behavior. He let out a sigh while pressing one hand over his head. Still, their position was awkward, so he swiftly pushed the other off. Luckily, the taller one complied.
"Sit!" Sora ordered, pointing a finger to certain spot in front of him. Good enough, the cat-boy did sit. Sora settled himself in front of the taller boy and folded his arms over his chest, acting dominant all of the sudden. When he noticed the other's gaze fell onto his arms, he shoved them behind his back, in apprehension that the other would start doing itagain. When his eyes shifted back to the silver-haired boy, he blinked. 'IsthatasmirkIsee?' He asked himself, but after another good look, the cat-boy only smiled. 'Musthavebeenmyimagination,' Sora concluded as he looked at the other up and down. "So…do you know anything about yourself? Like your name, your owner? Why are you turned into human?"
There was no reply and from the look on the silver-haired boy's face, it seemed like he didn't know either, or wasn't exactly sure.
The brunet's head tilted to the side. Hundred of possibilities ran through his mind.
"If you don't know yourself, then what should I do with you?" Sora questioned more to himself than the other.
"Sora! I'm leaving now!"
There came Roxas's calling outside the door. Sora's head followed the direction and called back, "Okay! See you later!"
"And don't forget to throw the friggin cat out once he'd healed!" The line came in faded, which led Sora to believe Roxas must have already went down the stairs.
"Okay!" Sora followed up, once he'd turned back, he saw no other face than the cat-boy's own. That again, came too close for his own personal space comfort. The pale hand grabbed the hem of Sora's shirt. The expression on his face made Sora's heart do a flip-flop. Sora tried to back away with a sheepish smile. "You…understood what my brother just said?"
There was no answer but Sora needed none. Every line on the silver-haired boy's face was telling him that he was following.
"Umm, look…I'm not gonna kick you out if you're not…ready. So maybe…you can back off now." Sora drawled uneasily.
Back off, the taller boy did.
Sora looked at another boy again and fell into speculation. Maybe this, maybe that. He sighed at the never-ending thought and shook his head to dismiss the thought. Addressing back to the other boy, he idly asked, "You hungry?"
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Sora felt it coming. Since the cat-boy didn't even know what a spoon was and what was it for, let alone how it was used, Sora had ended up feeding him. After the little that the cat-boy ate, he seemed to be more interested in sleeping, which was what exactly he was doing right now. The cat was fast, before Sora could realize, the other boy's head was already on his lap, curling up against Sora. While Sora was uncomfortable with the position and the blood that kept rushing to his head round after round, he couldn't find the heart to break the position. Sora always felt stuck when he was caught with a cat sleeping on his lap.
"Well, better asleep than causing trouble around, I guess." He observed the silver strands that fell onto the boy's face, which seemed to grow ethereally. Reaching to touch it, he found it was softer than he imagined. So Sora started running his hands through those silky locks. The act drew a soft mewl from the boy.
Halting immediately, Sora rolled his eyes, reflecting on what he was doing. Had he been somewhere else, other than the private of his own room, with the two of them alone; he would have found this situation very embarrassing.
"You seem to understand when I talked most of the time. Maybe you were human before that?" Sora said absentmindedly as he became almost hypothesized. "Or is there something that you really need to do so you can turn into a human? Like by wishing upon a star, like in those fairy tales? Geh, maybe that's not the point, how can you do something you must do when all you do is sleep." Sora began to yawn; sleepiness often crawled up on him if he didn't spend his free time outside under the sunny holiday. "Maybe this is all a dream. Maybe when I wake up, you'll be a cat again?"
Sora drifted off to sleep.
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How's it? There's a story behind as to why the cat-boy turned into human, or it could be the other way around. And just to let you know though…Riku isn't a passive. Not sure if I made him that way here, but it's only temporary. You'll see ^W^~
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