Story-Time

Rating: PG/K+

Genre: General

Summary: Crack in its purest form. Sora remembers his father read a lot of books to him. No, wait, one book. The same book. Over and over again.

Author's Note: … I dunno. Just hit me, sort of.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. They both belong to Tetsuya Nomura.

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Sora remembers that his father read a lot of books to him.

No, wait, one book.

The same book.

Over and over and over again.

Sitting on the couch, lying in bed, at the kitchen table when his mother wasn't looking…

"When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end,

The goddess descends from the sky,

Wings of light and dark spread afar,

She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting."

He was three, for pity's sake, he couldn't understand a quarter of what was being read or said to him. From what he can remember, his father was a pretty odd person anyway, so it's not like it's unusual that he didn't get it.

Still, Sora loved his daddy, and any opportunity to spend time with him when he was home was welcome. Even if it meant learning to nod in the right places and doze with his eyes open.

"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess,

We seek it thus, and take it to the sky,

Ripples form on the water's surface,

The wandering soul knows no rest."

To this day, he still remembers the lines. When his father started that strange, hard-covered little book, there was no stopping him. Well, actually, Sora's mother usually managed to bring the reading to a halt with a sound slap on the back of his head, but never for long.

Even now, looking back, Sora wonders exactly how his down-to-earth mother and his father (A real fruit-loop if there ever was one) ever managed to get together. It was something like a penguin falling in love with an orangutan.

"There is no hate, only joy,

For you are beloved by the goddess,

Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds,

Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul,

Pride is lost,

Wings stripped away, the end is nigh."

Again, looking back, Sora analyzes the passages he remembers (His teachers would be driven insane if they knew he could remember six passages of a book he'd heard when he was a toddler but not the math problems they'd learned the day before), and realizes that the book might've had some sort of religious elements to it.

Still, at fifteen, he barely understands anything the book was talking about, and knows that it would probably give his father a heart-attack. Maybe he'd tried to explain the book's message once before, but again- to stress this point- Sora was three. He makes a note to ask him more about the strange little book when he sees him next (Whenever that is).

"My friend, do you fly away now?

To a world that abhors you and I?

All that awaits you is a somber morrow,

No matter where the winds may blow,

My friend, your desire,

Is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess,

Even if the morrow is barren of promises,

Nothing shall forestall my return."

As eerie as it sounds, what few things Sora does understand about the book is that it talks of promises to return, heroes and healers of worlds, revenge, friends and journeys coming to an end, mainly in the last few passages, and Sora's mind, against his will, makes the connection between the convoluted writings and his own recent issues involving keyblades, lost friends and monsters without hearts.

Damn it. His father was good, but he was creepy as hell too.

"My friend, the fates are cruel

There are no dreams, no honor remains

The arrow has left the bow of the goddess

My soul, corrupted by vengeance

Hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey

In my own salvation

And your eternal slumber

Legend shall speak

Of sacrifice at world's end

The wind sails over the water's surface

Quietly, but surely."

And then there was that last passage, the one his father had penned in on his own. It speaks volumes that Sora could barely discern the difference in style between the other passages and his father's, but then, he hardly understood the book at all, so maybe he couldn't judge. Maybe someone who was equally as obsessed with Loveless (Hard to find) would be able to tell the difference as easily as one might separate ice and fire, but maybe not.

Genesis had always been a good writer.

"Even if the morrow is barren of promises

Nothing shall forestall my return

To become the dew that quenches the land

To spare the sands, the seas, the skies

I offer thee this silent sacrifice."

--

Yup. I made Genesis Sora's daddy. Kinda going hand-in-hand with the 'Sephiroth is Riku's dad' thing.

So… Like? Dislike? Creeped out?