Kingdom Hearts and all its characters are copyright their respective creators.

Patience

She shifted slightly, petite frame adjusting to a more comfortable position. Tired lines etched faintly under bright emerald eyes, burning with a fire that never faded even in the face of nerve-wrecking anticipation.

He wasn't here yet. It had been days.

"He'll show up soon. Don't give up!"

"Give up and get some sleep."

She opened the dusty book that had been keeping her company and claiming her attention, flipping through yellowed pages to where she last left off, indicated by a simple bookmark. An old forget-me-not, dried and pressed and preserved in thin plastic, with a pink ribbon tied around it. The first flower she had sold that night, in the midst of explosions and chaos and fire.

"Don't push yourself so hard..."

"We'll wake you up if he comes."

Three days. Three nights. No news. No matter.

She turned the page, continuing to follow the birth of the planets through the pure and bright spirits of children. A lamp flickered weakly, casting shivering shadows across the length of the library, but she did not move. One finger absently caressed the outline of her bookmark, the first flower she'd sold to him on the empty, graffiti-laden streets of Midgar.