I smiled at the photo in my hand, watching the laugher carved into the three friends' faces for the rest of this faded piece of paper's days. There was no frame on the thing- I hadn't looked at it in years. It spoke volumes to me, the paper's crinkled surface giving rise to memories that I had never experienced myself- the rush of the past engulfing me in its shadowy arms.
The three people in the photo were as familiar to me as the back of my hand, faded as they were. On the far left- a girl, about sixteen, hair dyed an unnatural blue and cut into a bob, her eyes closed and a laughing smile playing across her beautiful features. On the far right was a boy of the same age, the small quirking of his lip to indicate a smile looking unnatural on his sharp features. He wore a predominant amount of brown, so much that one might think he wanted to blend in to the woodwork; everything else about him was brown too, even his hair.
In the middle was a blond boy with spiky blond hair, his arms around the other two. He was grinning like mad, his eyes scrunched up and his head tilted back slightly, like he was about to laugh. In his hand he held a wooden sword, only visible slightly from where it hung behind his brunet friend's back. You couldn't see his eyes, but I knew that they were the same blinding blue as my own.
Sighing, I put it on the top of my dining room table, vowing to find it a place to live. It seemed so abandoned there, in the drawer; like a symbol of my former life, the place I left behind. I didn't know why I had the photo, to be honest. I didn't think I'd taken it with me when I left… but I was glad I had. It was like seeing an old friend after a while.
I turned to continue cleaning out the cupboard, but on a whim I reached back and flipped over the photo to see what had been written on the back- and there it was. Aqua, Ven and Terra, 4th May 1996. At the Beach.
Sighing, I turned back to what I had been doing, grabbing a stack of books from the shelf and chucking them beside the photo as I took the cloth and tried to get at the black gunk that had permeated through to wood. Instead of getting it off, as I intended, it seemed to cling onto the surface, slippery though it was. I lay back and ran a hand through my messy brown spikes, grimacing as I felt day-old hair gel crumble in my fingers, making them feel even grosser than before. Gods… when was the last time I had slept?
"Are you alright?" came a concerned voice behind me. I jumped back, not even realizing that the door had opened, and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it was just my silver-haired boyfriend, holding a steaming cup of coffee and a newspaper. "Sora?"
"Yeah," I said, not understanding. "Why, Riku?"
He reached out to touch my face, smiling slightly. "You're crying, Sora."
I laughed slightly, and rubbed my arm onto my face. "I was just, y'know…" I gestured vaguely in the direction of the photo, and he glanced over to it. "Ah."
Smiling softly, he sat down and grabbed me around the waist. Drawing me onto his lap, he wrapped his arms around me; I put my face into his Riku-scented chest and inhaled deeply, trying to keep the dam of tears rapidly filling from spilling over. "I miss him, 'Ku."
"I know," he whispered. "I miss him too." He kissed the top of my head softly, and then leaned back and closed his eyes. "It hurts me too, you know."
I nodded, feeling a drop of warm salt-water drip off my nose and onto him. The cotton felt soft against my face, and I smiled through the tears; the shirt he was wearing was one I had given him years ago, the one with a bleeding heart on it. It was the oldest thing either of us owned, and yet we had both agreed to keep it as a reminder of what we had left behind when we ran, and what we still had in front of us.
"I wish he'd come home," I mumbled quietly, "instead of turning on the others like that. God, what I wouldn't give to have him back-"
"You did have him back, Sor."
"Give over, 'Ku, you know as well as I do that that- that person wasn't Ven in any way, shape, or form. What he did – to everyone- it was unforgivable. Our Ven wouldn't do that."
"Yeah. You're right." His face fell a little, and I knew he was remembering what he'd done, the demons that still haunted him. I reached up to his face and brought it closer to mine, kissing him softly, chastely. "Hey. We've all done bad things."
He smiled against my lips, pushing back, and whispered. "You haven't."
"I left. I was cowardly, I left her alone with him-"
"I left too."
"You followed me- you were my salvation, 'Ku. That's one of the reasons I love you, y'know."
He pressed harder, and I wrapped tendrils of hair around my fingers, tugging on them like I knew he wanted. In return, his fingers pressed harshly against me as he devoured my mouth, tongues coming out as he deepened our kiss. I needed this, on the anniversary of the day my older brother died and a new one took his place, one that I didn't recognize. He needed this, on the anniversary of the day he followed me across country without knowing why, on the anniversary of the day he found me sobbing on the side of the road, and held me in his arms.
"I love you," he gasped into my mouth, our tears mingling. I didn't know why he was crying, I just knew that I didn't want him to; I wiped them away, murmuring, "I love, you too, god, I love you so much…"
With one last look to the photo on the table, I reached over and flipped it facedown, knowing that the past wasn't what was important- it was the present, and the future that lay before us.
A/N: I am so, so sorry for my continued absence from . I have no explanation. I apologise.
On another note... If you are confused about this, so am I. I've got no idea, other than the fact that this is the only thing I've finished for a while. Infer what you like from it (if you'd like, you can tell me what you think happened in the reviews!)because there's like half a backstory in my head and like every other fanfiction on my computer it's not finished.
I do not own, nor have I ever owned, Kingdom Hearts. I own, like, a bed and that's it.
Karma Out!