Author's Note: This was a request by Alumina, who asked me for a fic of this series with whatever premise I so desired. As it turns out, it took me something like a year and a half to do it. I am so sorry, Alumina.
As it stands, this isn't (meant to be) a ship fic. It's more of a character exploration; I always felt this element of the story was wasted. None of the content you will read is meant to imply romantic relationships; it's supposed to be friendship.
But take it as you will.
Perhaps it was appropriate that his weapon was fire.
He could feel the power in his veins, feel the flames lick at his fingertips and sear the flesh of his palms. It screamed to get out, to burn down everything in his path. It yearned for the flesh of the man who had lit this pyre.
Rai stared out into the dark of night. The wind brushed through his hair, and he held up a hand to keep it out of his face. Aboard that airship the air should have chilled his bare skin, yet the boy was unaware, feeling a heat seep through his body at the thought of his face. Of her voice. Of the still-burning ruins of his former home.
Her footsteps echoed as she walked up to him, and he turned his gaze to her.
"Sena," he said.
She smiled at him. Her hair was in a loose side braid, wet, and her cheeks were blushed a faint pink from the cold. Her lips part: "What're you doing out here alone?"
Rai turned back to the stars, and Sena joined him, crossing her arms and leaning onto the railing. The moon was but a waning crescent, but the stars were plentiful, splayed like spilled glitter on a child's drawing. He answered after a bit, "Just thinking."
"About?"
She smelled like lavender. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on the railing, letting his arms hang in the open air. "What's it to ya?"
Sena straightened up with a Hmph! and turned away. "Oh, come off your high horse." She turned back to him, and her gaze softened. "We're just concerned. We've...we've all been through tough times, so we get how you're feeling—"
"Oh, save it!" Rai slammed his two palms onto the railing, getting up and walking away.
Sena was quick to follow. "I'm serious, Rai! I'm not trying to say I can make things better, but I just want to help — at least listen to me! Agh!"
She threw her hands up into the air in frustration as the boy slammed the door shut behind him. She stood alone on the deck for a couple seconds, biting her lip. A shiver ran through her body, and she chafed her arms with her hands. She knew following him wouldn't be the smartest decision, but she wasn't sure what else she could do.
Rai thundered his way down the hall, clenching his hands into fists by his sides. He was not going to accept the pity of these people. He was going to use them for his revenge, and that was all. As soon as he found out where Luka was, he was going to—
He slammed his fist into the wall. The entire hall seemed to echo with a metallic ring. He heard a door open around the corner, and a round face peeked past it to look at him. Donha's grinned at him.
"Oh, Rai! We were looking for you!" He stepped into full view, and Rai saw that his arms were, as usual, filled with various snacks and goodies. Donha looked down to them, then up at Rai, propping them up a bit. "Wanna have some snacks with me? They're really good you know! Especially these cookies; you'll just love th—h-hey, Rai?"
Rai made to storm past him, but Donha grabbed him by the shoulder. "Hey," he said gently, "what's wrong? You can talk to us, you kn—"
"Why won't you people..." Rai turned to face him fully, his teeth grinding against each other. "Why won't you people just leave me alone!?"
The snacks all fell to the floor as Rai slapped Donha's hand away. The boy let out a frustrated growl, then spun around and sprinted.
While Donha was picking up the fallen packages, Sena came running by, only to skid to a stop. "What happened here?" she asked, coming over to help gather them.
"A-ah, thanks, Sena." They straightened up and returned to the kitchen, where they laid the snacks on the counter. "I ran into Rai and offered him some food, but I guess he wasn't in the mood to eat."
Donha scratched the back of his head, and Sena pursed her lips, staring down at the ground. With a soft voice, she said, "Sorry about that. It might have been my fault..."
A warm, big hand patted her on the head. "It's nobody's fault except Luka's," he assured her. "We'll get him good for this. For now, I think we might want to leave Rai alone. He probably just needs some time to let it sink in."
"R-right..."
Donha smiled at her before sitting himself down. "Well, while you're here, do you want to help me eat these? A little bit of sugar might do you some good; you've been working yourself too hard lately! Ah," he said, opening a package of cookies, "here, just have one of these."
"No, I'm okay, really..." she tried to say, but she stopped. His expression was oddly serious. She took the small, rectangular cookie and took a bite. Bittersweet, yet strangely soothing. She looked up at him and smiled.
"It's good."
Donha grinned. "Of course!"
A loud blare tore them out of the moment, and flashes of red and blue filled the room as the warning light went off. There was a high-pitched peal before the speakers went off: "Big trouble, big big trouble! Rai's gone missing, Rai's gone missing! He took one of the hoverboards!"
"H-Hak?" The two turned to each other, then looked back up at the speakers, then back to each other with open mouths. "R-RAI!?"
"We've got to follow him, we've got to follow him!" Hak declared, and there were a number of low thuds that sounded through the speakers – Hak must have been jumping up and down.
Sena turned to Donha. "You wait here," she said, "and I'll go after Rai. Keep Tori in the ship; if you see Finn, tell him where I am, okay?"
She didn't wait for an answer before she ran towards the door. The idiot was not getting away.
She arrived in the hangar, then nearly fell over; the exit was wide open, and the room was a freezing mess. She clung to the wall as the wind tried to throw her to the ground, reaching for the hoverboards. Against the cold steel walls, her fingers soon lost their warmth and stung from the frozen teeth. Her steps, though light and deliberate, echoed like an army's, breaking her focus. She nearly lost her grip, caught herself, and then did lose her grip, smashing to the ground face-first.
Groaning as she pushed herself up, she held a hand gingerly to her face to check the damage. She flinched as her fingers touched her cheek. She didn't seem to be bleeding, at least... She grabbed one of the hoverboards and jumped onto it, feeling it hum beneath her. She dashed out, hitting the switch to close the doors behind her.
The night air was a cold slap to the face and every other inch of exposed skin. Her cheek burned where she had hit it, but she gritted her teeth and dealt with it, soaring through the midnight ocean. Below her was the wide expanse of the earth, dark save for the flickering bright lights of a single settlement. She raced towards it.
Careful to avoid the public eye, she landed just a bit away from the town, leaving the board in the shade of a tree. She quickly memorized the spot and sprinted towards the gates, only hoping she could find the boy.
Her heart fell when she entered. Everything before her was crowded streets, everything aglow in the dim light of food stands and lanterns. She looked helplessly at the passersby, to the festivities, to all of the hustle and bustle the world could provide.
Where the heck was she going to find that idiot in this?
"Are you lost, young lady?" a man asked her, making her start. She turned to him; he was a kindly man, with a scraggly beard and a t-shirt that declared in a great bold font: "Lee's Bean Paste! The Best in Town!" "Can I help you with anything?"
"Uh, I uh...er..."
"Oh, you must be cold in those clothes. Here, let me give you one of these..."
"Ah, no, I'm totally – egah!" she yelped, realizing she was dressed in her pajamas. The loose blouse and pink sweatpants were cold, sure, but the heat of embarrassment made her forget about the chill. She hugged her arms to her chest, looking around sheepishly and flushing a beet red as the people passing by glanced at her and snickered.
A sudden warmth flooded her as the man threw a jacket around her shoulders. She looked up at the man, who grinned.
"So, who're we looking for? A beautiful lady and her dazzling husband? Or maybe—" he leaned in closer, and whispered to her, "—your boyfriend?"
She straightened up indignantly. "N-no! I don't have a boyfriend! I don't even have anybody I like!"
The man guffawed with his hands at his hips. "All right, all right, young lady!" He smiled at her kindly, and she couldn't help but smile back. "So, friends? Family?"
"A friend," she answered. She glanced around, looking for him. "Umm...he has red hair, kind of short...he couldn't be dressed at all warm, really..."
"Hrmm...red hair, huh." The man scratched his chin in thought. "Y'know, I think I might've seen that kid. Kinda hard to miss, really; was it long and filled with half the forest?"
"Y-yes, that's the one! Do you know which way he went?"
The man peered down at her. "I could tell you...but you'd have to do me a favor first."
Sena gulped, but nodded for him to continue. He brought her over to his stand, then turned his back to her.
"You'd have to...sample my newest red bean fish bread!"
He proudly held out a warm bag filled to the brim with the fish-shaped breads. She looked up to him in confusion, then said, "B-but I don't have any money on me!"
"No worries! Just walk around with that jacket on; it's got my logo all over it! You'll be my advertisement girl!"
Sena blushed. With a quick bow, she thanked the man fervently, promising to make it up to him. He just patted her on the shoulder.
"Based on which direction he went, I'm pretty sure he would've gone to the bonfire. It's huge; you can't miss it. Do me another favor and give that friend of yours some of those too, okay?"
She raised her head and grinned. "Right!"
Bag in hand, she ran off, waving goodbye to the old man before turning forward. The bonfire really was impossible to miss; it seemed to fill the entire plaza, and there was a huge crowd around the entire perimeter. She swam through the ocean of people, trying to find his distinct red hair.
And then there he was.
He sat alone, cross-legged, staring at the fire from his position in the grass. He was staring at the fire, whose glow turned his eyes a burning color. He was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice as Sena sat beside him.
A couple minutes later and he was still oblivious. Sena cleared her throat, and the boy jumped half a foot.
"S-Sena!" he exclaimed, his voice higher than hers. She giggled a bit at that, and the boy flushed a furious red. "What – how did you find me?"
"Easy. You've got a mane of red hair." She patted him on the head, feeling the fluff practically bounce her off. "Haha, look at all this! It's ridiculous! How does it even grow this much?"
"Erggh, gerroffme!" He batted her hand away, and she just smirked. "Whaddya think you're doing, anyway? Chasing me all over the place – don't you people ever give up?"
She thought about that for a second before saying, "Nope, not really."
He stood there, dumbfounded. She smiled and gently pulled him back down to his seated position, then held out the open bag of pastries to him. He glanced up at her with a raised eyebrow, but she merely prodded it in his direction until he reluctantly took one.
One bite in and his eyes were aglow. "Woooah! These are really good!"
"A-are they?" She took one for herself and felt the sweetness practically lift her off her feet. "Oh my goodness, they really are!"
They turned to each other, both with wide smiles, before they realized what they were doing and turned away. Eventually, Sena bit into her bread and mumbled, "W-well...I'm glad I found you."
He didn't answer. She turned to him, somewhat miffed, only to find his mouth stuffed with bread and his lips stained red-brown from the bean paste. She held a hand to her mouth as she held back a laugh, but when she saw another pastry in his hand, she couldn't help but let it out.
"B-bwut!?" he demanded, but with his cheeks filled like a chipmunk's, he was barely intelligible and only served to make her laugh harder. He crossed his arms and turned away, swallowing down the mouthful with a scowl.
She wiped the tears from her eyes and apologized, but he wouldn't have any of it. She giggled a bit, but eventually she calmed down enough to remember why she was here.
"Hey, Rai?"
Apparently still upset by her laughing at him, he didn't turn to her. "What."
"You know that we're all going to help you, right? No matter how tough it gets. You...you're one of us now. And that means we're family."
The boy turned to face the fire, and the shadows danced across his face, darkening his eyes. "I lost my real family."
Sena lowered her gaze. "I know."
"He killed my mother."
"...I know."
There was silence. Sena looked up; tears were trailing down the boy's cheeks.
"I...I don't understand..." He hugged his knees to his chest, stifling a sob. "I don't understand w-why it was her and not...not me. It was all my f-fault, all my fault..."
Pain shot through her chest. She felt hollow inside as she watched him cry. Not sure what to do, she put a hand on his shoulder, feeling his entire body shake underneath her hand.
She pulled him into a hug and patted his head. She rested her cheek against his hair and whispered softly, "I know, Rai... I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." over and over again.
Time stood still in those moments. Eventually, the boy raised his head, his eyes tinged pink and swollen. He wiped the tears from his face, sniffled, and then closed his eyes and lowered his head.
Sena gave him a tiny, shaky smile when he opened his eyes again. His eyes widened, and in a trembling voice, he asked, "W-why are you crying?"
She blinked, then held a finger to her eyes. "H-huh? I...I don't know," she admitted, feeling herself shake a bit. But the more she thought about it, the harder the tears fell. The world before her blurred, and she wiped the tears away with the sleeve of her jacket stubbornly.
His fingers gently touched her chin, slowly lowering her chin. "What happened to your cheek?" he asked in a whisper.
"I...I fell."
"It wasn't there before."
Sena glanced away. The people were dancing around the bonfire, flutes and drums filling the air with music.
Rai stood up and cleared his throat. He looked away, his face a bit red. "T-thanks."
Sena smiled up at him. "Sure." She stood up as well, then took him by the hand. "Hey, Rai?"
"W-what do you want?"
"Do you wanna dance with me?"
The boy did a backstep, but their hands remained touching. Sheepishly, he came back to her, and lowered his head. In a voice barely louder than a whisper, he answered, "F...fine..."
She grinned, and pulled him into the crowd. He glanced at the bonfire and smiled a bit to himself. The warmth that this fire filled him with right now... He was glad to have this as his weapon.