NS: YO! Wazzup! Another Kiss from the Kiba-monster!...uhm, rawr. Anyways! This idea came under an extremely sleepy situation in which I was feeling very up to listening to music. Originally, this was going to be about Sora and Riku being professional dance partners but then I realized I knew NOTHING about that! So instead...they're actors. I LOVE to act almost as much as I love to write, so I know a lot about it.

.:(insert name here):. is POV

Everything in bold with NO NUMBERS are theatre terms, and will be explained at the end of the chapter. Everything in bold WITH NUMBERS are other non-theatre terms I think some people may not understand.

This chapter is dedicated to Kaname Natsumi, who gave me good tips on my writing in my last chapter of FFK!

All the info is below:

Scripted
Series: Kingdom Hearts
Pairings: Sora/Riku
Rating: T for suggestive themes
Summary: Life is good at the Destiny Islands community theatre where Riku and Sora hang out in their freetime. They just got the scripts for their winter show; something called 'Let The Snow Stay Frozen', a romance story about two lovers who have only until the end of the winter to be together. But the more rehersals Sora goes to, the further into the plot he falls. Could the feelings his character has for Riku's be becoming his own?
Start Date: 3/30/07
Finish Date: 4/22/07
Inspiration: My Theartre Arts Class and Teacher, Miss Massengill, and the entire theatre arts from my eighth grade class! (plus my gay theatre friend, Michael Stone! Love you, buddy!)

And thus ends this VERY long author's note. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Getting Into Character

.:Sora:.

I can't say I was suprised about the role I got in the winter production that year. We were doing a play called 'Let The Snow Stay Frozen'. I hadn't read all the way through the script yet, but I knew the storyline enough to know the Destiny Islands Theatre was doing a romantic play this time around. And of course, even though I tried out for the part of Nathan, I got Christine, his lover. A female role. Although, I suppose I should have just been used to it, seeing as I always got feminine parts. But I was more than a little grateful that the one to play Nathan would be my best friend, Riku. I would not have been able to do it if Ansem had cast Axel as my lover. There's nothing wrong with Axel, himself, but in romantic roles he gets a little to...into his character. Ususally, he stalks his counterpart for weeks until the show.

Oh, Ansem? That's the director. I'm not sure if it was him or the stage manager, Cloud, who chose that script, but it didn't really matter. I had the biggest role in the whole play and I had a lot of lines to memorize!

It was Friday, 5 PM, and my fingers wrapped lightly across my newly printed script, mouthing the lines to myself. I had begun to act out the staging with my hands when a voice came from behind me.

"Why, hello, Christine." Riku played, ruffling my hair. I peered up at him through my bangs and stuck out my little pink tongue.

"Good morrow, Nathan." I teased back, reciting one of my lines, and he laughed.

"Gettin into character already, I see." I stood and wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing our foreheads together so that our noses were almost touching.

"Oh, yes. Very into character." I breathed. We stared intently at each other a moment before we broke away, laughing.

"No wonder you always get stuck as a girl. You're such a tease." Riku pouted. I responded with an eyeroll.

"No, you're just horny."

"There's a difference?" he stared at me questionably for a moment and I prepared for a retort when I felt myself being lifted into the air.

"Ack! Axel, put me down right now! This is no way for a priest to act!" I complained, commenting on his role in the play. Instead of listening to me, he slung me over his shoulder and stalked off towards the stage. Behind me, Riku outstretched his hand to me and I copied his movement.

"No! Christine, we will always be together! No matter how far apart!" He recited with a grin.

"Nathaaaaaan!" I dragged out his name, dying down to barely above a whisper and the three of us broke into laughter. After Axel the 'priest' released me, Ansem's voice echoed over the house.

"All actors already present! Attention! Head backstage immeadiately and try to make a little less noise; the fucking Hubble(1) called and asked if we could keep it down!" The director shouted and pointed towards the stage with both hands. "Move it, people!" The stage manager suddenly appeared before him.

"Don't be so harsh, Ansem. Some of these kids are new at acting." I saw said man shoot the other a dangerous look.

"I'll be as fucking harsh as I want. Do you have a problem with me being rough, Cloud?" A grin erupted on the blond's face as he leaned over and pecked a playful kiss on his cheek.

"I never am." Cloud winked and Ansem rolled his eyes in response, scrubbing harshly at his face.

"Oh, go fuck your boyfriend."

Cloud frowned and something that sounded like, "Leon isn't here yet," came from him as he bounded towards the stage apron. "People, people! You haven't all been here before so you might not know, yet, but ask anyone who has performed here before; Ansem has a thorned stick shoved up into the wee crevices of his anus. So don't mind him too much." Chuckles came from a few people heading backstage, Cloud following. About half of the cast had already arrived and when Axel finally set me down backstage, some of our friends spotted us and headed over.

"Sora, you lazy bum. How dare you hitch a ride on the sexiness?" Kairi, the oldest of our friends, questioned, draping herself over Axel. The redheaded pyro pushed her off and instead wrapped his arms around Roxas waist.

"This is more my type," Axel assured us and rested his chin in Roxas' hair. The blond tried struggled to get away from Axel's hug-o-death, but gave up finally and let his boyfriend stay like a bird atop his head.

"Do you always have to perch somewhere on me?"

Axel gave him a dumbfounded look. "Of course."

Silver hair suddenly burst through the velvety blue curtains. "Where the fuck is Sephiroth?!" Ansem's voice bellowed, amber eyes darting around the room. I squeaked and ducked behind Riku's shoulder. In respose, another silver head of hair appeared behind us.

"Yes, father?" He asked in annoyance.

"Round up the fucking actors and anyone who isn't here in 10 minutes has to wait until tomorrow to practice with us!"

Cloud popped up behind him. "Uh, but...Ansem, play practice doesn't actually start for 20 minutes." Ansem spun around and glared at the blond man who stood a good two inches below him.

"Do not question my methods!" He shouted and tossed his cerulean scarf over his shoulder, bursting back through the curtains and shouting at the actors who had just arrived to 'get their asses backstage or they're fired'. Cloud smiled to us in apology and hurried after his caffeine-high director. A few people I wasn't very good friends with stomped up the stairs of the left wing. Strewed among them, I noticed one of our friends, Leon. Riku smiled and waved him over. Leon didn't smile back. I guess that was just who he was. He was in the play, too; playing the role of the suitor trying to break Nathan and Christine (Riku and I) apart so that he could take my hand instead. His character was Alexander, and I'm not sure if he tried out for that role or not, but it's certainly the one that fits him best.

"I'm no Cloud, but welcome back!" Axel grinned, slapping him playfully on the back.

"Yeah, I haven't seen you since the spring show!" I complained, "But I still don't think I've missed anything because Cloud won't SHUT UP about you over at Merlin's." Oh yeah, Merlin's. That's the cafe/restaurant where a bunch of us actors work after practice. DI's doesn't pay nearly enough to live on. There was a bit of useless chatter and catching up passed between us while we waited for word of what to do next and after no more than ten minutes, that word arrived. Ansem, Cloud, and Sephiroth entered together between the curtains and the director instructed Axel to roll them back, as well as adjust the lighting. When that was all done, Ansem seated himself in a fold-up chair in the middle of the stage and we all crowded around him on the floor...except for Sephiroth, who refused to put his bottom on the stage and Roxas, who was pulled kicking and screaming into Axel's lap.

"I am to assume most of you have already started memorizing your lines, have you not?" Ansem barked out and he recieved some various nods from actors. "Good. Let me make it loud and clear that we will NOT be having a repeat of the spring show's performance! I will have you know that DI still has not recovered it's name fully, and we lost a good amount of audience. You have Axel to thank for that little stunt." said redhead pouted and squeezed Roxas around the waist.

"Don't even start complaining, Pyro-freak. You just HAD to play with your little Roxas right next to the flame torches by the wings during the performance." Cloud chimed in, knowing Axel would become a handful if that wasn't cleared up early on. The blond waved for Ansem to continue.

"And so, in conclusion, do a better fucking job or I'll kill everyone in the theatre and put a bullet in my brain."

Riku snickered beside me, "Though I kinda like that last part, I'm not sure the first part is quite so enticing." A glare was shot his way.

"Riku, if you weren't such a good actor I would fuck you up."

"Ah, but I am and you won't." I pinched the bridge of Riku's nose.

"Would you stop arguing with the director already? I'd like to start practicing some time today. We've gotta do the cold reading, still!" It was true. And I knew most of the cast didn't want to do it. Ansem blathered on awhile longer, some of us tuning out, and Axel having the guts to actually fall asleep with his forehead pressed into Roxas' back.

I smiled fondly at the scene before me. Ansem told us straight what was going to happen, and exactly how he wanted it done, using many colorful words, while Cloud, beside him, hurried to correct those words and tell us in a much gentler way how everything worked. Sephiroth stood calm, cool, and collected through the whole speech with his arms crossed, barely batting an eye, but smile ever slightly. I sat on the floor near the front of the small crowd, head leaned on Riku's shoulder, as seeing Axel sleep so peacefully told me it was a good idea. To my left was that very scene, Axel with his arms around Roxas' waist protectively, hugging him even as he slept propped on his back. To my right was a slightly dejected-looking Leon as he propped back on the palms of his hands, making little smiles and gestures up at Cloud, who returned them silently.

Sitting the closest to Ansem and Cloud was our friend for many years staring intently up at them, Kairi, who we were sure had a crush on Ansem, though she would never admit it. Other various friends and fellow actors were placed perfectly around all of this, paying slight attention to the silver-haired man speaking loudly. I smiled contently and rubbed my cheek into my best friend's shoulder.

Although I didn't have someone to sit and hold hands with, or to pull into my lap or make little signs that only we knew the meaning to, I did have Riku. My best friend. My acting partner. My rock. A little piece of my heart belongs with him, whether he knows it or not. And even if that's all we ever are, I'm glad for that much. Yep. Glad for that much. I snuggled just a little closer and let my eyes drift closed. Maybe I'll just rest for...a little while...

"Two loaded burgers and a heap of fries!" I called back through the kitchen, tacking up the yellow order sheet to the wall where Riku and Axel would be able to see it. I received a whistle in return, most likey from Axel, the universal Merlin's sign of recognition. It let us all know he heard me loud and clear without having to strain anyone's vocal cords...except maybe mine. Probably not good to be breathing in smoke and stressing my voice as the lead of the play, but oh well. Ansem would have to get over it if I got a scratchy throat. I escaped the smoky kitchen fumes as quickly as I could and made for the walled area just behind the cash register. Standing there, and clad in nearly the same uniform as mine, was Cloud, Kairi, and Roxas, holding empty trays. I sighed down at the one in my hands and leaned on the wall beside Cloud.

"Full house tonight, huh," was my attempt at a mood-bringer-upper. However, it didn't have quite the affect I'd hoped for. Roxas rolled his eyes and Cloud barely cracked a smile.

"Unfortunately. Yes."

"How are the guys back there?" Roxas asked, trying to sound interested. All I could do was shrug.

"I didn't see them, but neither of them are dead, yet, and as far as I can tell, Axel has yet to blow anything up. Come to think of it...who was the bright person that came up with the idea of letting Axel work with fire...?" The door from the kitchen swung open and Yuffie burst in, clapping her hands loudly.

"Alright, alright! Strict orders from the top: get your lazy asses up and go wait tables! Angry customers are not good!" She smiled brightly as always, though I had the distinct feeling the three of us wanted to strangle her somewhere in the backs of our minds. Cloud pushed off the wall and scratched the back of his head lazily.

"Why'd you have to go and disturb us? We were just gettin into the conversation." he smiled, bemused. Yuffie smacked the back of his head.

"Oh, shut up and go, Chocobo." The insult flew right over my head, as I had no idea what she was talking about. Reguardless, Roxas and I trailed after Cloud. Kairi apparently opted to follow Yuffie back through the kitchen door. After another three hours of waiting tables ranging from snotty, drooly kids, to sweet old ladies who left good tips. it was finally time to quit. I hung the blue Merlin's apron by Cloud's on the wall and waved goodbye to the manager and co-owner, Aerith. She smiled and waved us out.

"You boys work so hard for us. I couldn't ask for anything more. Now go on home before Ansem gets on me for working you all too hard!" She laughed a little and we headed out. Roxas turned left as we exited and Axel followed, even though his house was in completely the other direction. Roxas tried to shake off his stalker but found himself unsuccessful and gave up, listening to the redhead's mindless chatter about...probably fire, but none of us could ever be sure with the sugar-induced happiness Aerith had so kindly fed him.

"Man, work was a killer tonight." Oh, so Riku was going to start the conversation today. Cloud nodded and stretched his arm behind his head, working at the muscles there.

"I think we did too good of a job spreading the word of Merlin's. And with work five nights a week, and play practice six days out of seven...we're going to KILL ourselves."

I giggled a little. "Not to mention scare the hell outta Ansem while we're doing it. You know how he gets--especially around the performence date. I should fake like I'm sick up near the end of January." Riku glanced at me and a slightly creepy grin made its way across his face.

"Actually...that might not be such a bad idea, you know." I saw a similar look in Cloud's eyes.

"We could get Ansem really good, Sora," he chimed in, "and I know you want to." I thought about it for a moment and shrugged. Afterall, it wans't like it would really work anyone. Just scare him a little. So I nodded and Riku did a victory pose.

"Yes! So it's decided! But we can't tell anyone else about this...it'll spread around too fast--like Axel with a lighter." I threw my hands behind my head, laughing gently; something to my right caught my eye. For a moment it looked as if someone had been peering out of their window and closed the curtain as I turned to look. I stared at it for a while, but decided it was nothing and kept on the coversation with Cloud and Riku.

We came upon a large, Victorian-style house painted a light violet that was peeling in a few places. A high window in the top floor was cracked and a wooden, covered porch extended into most of the yard, its original door replaced with a screen one. Cloud walked up to it and as it opened; a creaking was heard.

"Later guys." And he dissapeared into the shadows near the back of the porch. I smiled contently, walking beside Riku. A soft wind blew around us and tickled my cheek with my hair. Something--I never was sure what--filled my thoughts for a few moments. It was confusing and slightly sickening, flashing before my mind. It brought my heartrate up and the smile I held melted into a frown.

"My dear, Christine. Does something trouble you?" Riku asked in a very well-masked sensual tone. It took me no time to know he was talking about the play. I took a deep breath and fell into character, practicing the scene we had both memorized.

"In fact, beloved Nathan, it does," Ohh...my girlie voice was even better than last year's!, "It is something that...concerns my sister."

Riku's hand found mine and he brought it to his face, running the fingers smoothly over his cheek. A slight wave of chills ran over me, but only for an instance as I halted and performed the staging with him as well. My remaining hand found the other side of his face.

"What is it, my lady? Anything you need to say, you know is acceptable. I will always listen."

"Always?"

"Always. And so--what troubles you?" I slowly slid my hands down away from his face.

"Though I now know it was wrong, I read through my sister's journals." He placed his hand on my shoulder and I turned away, shaking him off gently.

"And what did you find within the diaries of Christine?"

"I found that she loves you and wishes to take you away from me!" I crouched down on the ground, covering my face in my hands. I thought I was playing the part rather well and had impressed even myself. I was mentally congratulating myself when I felt Riku's strong arms wrap themselves around me and his soft breath by my ear. Again, the chills returned and I chose to ignore them, noting to figure out what that was about later.

"It matters not. You must know that I would never leave you. Not for your sister, not for anyone." I turned and a sweet smiled snuck across my lips. His fingers wrapped around mine and pulled me to my feet. My mind rattled as the next part of the script was completely forgotten...and then I remembered, ready to burst.

"Uh, this is where we have to...uhm, kiss." I watched him grin almost stupidly and he leaned over, laying the smallest brush of a kiss across my lips. After only a moment of frozen...eh, something like shock, I remembered what to do next and I took two steps ahead to do it--

"OOMPH!" I muttered, feeling my foot catch in a sunken place in the ground and before I had time to recatch my balance, I found myself sprawled on my back across the chalky-colored sidewalk. My hands stung where I had thrown them behind me in a failed attempt to stop the fall. Instead of hearing the laugh I was sure to come my way, Riku had gone after me as soon as he saw I was going to fall. But, too bad for me, he had been a little too late. His arm wrapped around my waist and lifted me to my feet.

"You okay, man?" I looked down and checked my body. Everything appeared to be in working order.

"Yeah, but my hands sting a little..." I turned them over to examine the palms that were burning and hissed. The skin was scraped badly and blood pooled a little in my cupped hand. "Ew." I commented and turned my hand back over to let the red liquid drip onto the cement.

"Sora! I thought you said you were okay!" Riku scolded. I wiped my hands on the sides of my pants--they were red anyways.

"I thought I was! It didn't hurt that bad!"

Riku scowled and wrenched my hands away by the wrists. He brought them up to his face and examined the wounds. "You can't tell me this didn't hurt." he accused.

"Well, actually-" I stopped short. Riku was no longer staring at my hands. His eyes were closed and he had his lips pressed to them, instead. A hot tinge of rouge rushed across the bridge of my nose and I fought the urge to rip my hands away. Thankfully, it was shortly after this that he pulled away, trickles of red strewn across his lips. He smiled a little and licked it away. I stared at him, wide-eyed, mouth agape. And I found that, even stranger than the fact that he had kissed my wound, it no longer ailed me.

"Better?" He asked, releasing me. My arms fell like noodles to my sides. I would never be able to lie to him...curses!

"...maybe. Now why did you do that?!" I demanded, mentally trying to make my hands hurt again so that I could effectively tell him they still hurt. It didn't work. He shrugged and kept walking.

"Because I knew it would help. Minor pains like that are more psychological than actually being physical. I bet you didn't really even start to feel it until you looked down, right? It's the same thing as when a two-year-old falls and scrapes his knee, then looks down to decide how much of a scream it's really worth. Purely psychological." Taking a moment to think about it...I realized that yeah, that's what happened. My bottom lip turned down into a bit of a pout, and I hurried to catch up to Riku.

"You think you know everything, don't you?"

"Nope. I know I do. I just can't remember it all at once time."

I looked up and drew back. "I'm home already? Wow, what happened to the walk?"

"That's what happens when you're having fun, I suppose." I nodded and started to walk up my drive, Riku turning on his heel.

"Hey..." I started, wondering if I should even ask. "you wanna...come inside?" I saw him shake his head and waved as he dissapeared into the shadows of the sidewalk.

"Naw, I gotta get home and feed Tidus. You know how he gets when he doesn't eat."

I nodded and continued up my stairs and into the house. I don't know why I was hesitant to ask; Riku was my best friend, afterall. It was perfectly normal to ask him inside my home...right?

I was hit with a burst of fresh air, stepping into the livingroom of my cozy home. I kicked off my shoes and left my jacket on the blue relaxing chair by the front door. I heard a jingling come from the back room and out trotted my fluffy crimson kitten. I bent down and she rubbed her cheeks and whiskers against my outstretched fingers.

"I missed you, too, Red." Yep. I had named my little kitty Red XIII. Don't ask me why; the name just kind of came to me. "I'll get you fed in just a minute." I headed off towards the kitchen to do just that when I heard the phone ring from it's place on the other side of the living room. Red looked very dissapointed, but gave me a look of approval to go and answer it while she plopped down in the doorway to the kitchen so that I could not forget she was hungry. Propping the phone by my left ear and removing my socks to toss across the room at the same time, I answered it in time.

"Yo?"

"Uh, hi. Sora, it's Cloud. I was just wondering if you might have heard anything from Leon..." I frowned.

"...no, I haven't. Cloud, are you okay? You sound a little shaken up." It was true. His voice was weak and struggling to keep a steady tempo.

"Yeah. It's just...well, Leon was supposed to be over tonight for our...for something special. He's not here and I haven't gotten a call or a note or anything and...he's just not the kind of person to do that." I could mentally see Cloud run his hand up through his hair.

"I'm sorry, Cloud. But I really haven't heard anything. If anything comes up, I'll let you know, though."

"Okay, Sora. Thanks. It means a lot." I smiled, feeling like I was doing a good job as a friend. :)

"No problem. See ya." The line went dead from the other end and I shrugged, putting the phone back on the charger. I headed for my bedroom when a mewl from the other direction caught my attention. Red was staring up at me with the cutest possible expression she could muster up. I laughed and scooped her up into my arms. "And I almost forgot about my little kitty! No worries, I got you covered!"

Red mewed loudly in response.

Theatre Terms:
Director: the person in charge of the production. He controls staging and characterization as well as lighting and music effects.
Stage Manager: Pretty much the same as above, but with far less control over the theatre itself. His job is to monitor actors and make sure they are on task and know what they're doing. In Cloud's case, he also keeps Ansem in check..;;
House: Theatre term for where the audience sits.
Backstage: the area behind the curtains.
Left/Right Wings: The parts of the stage the actor does not act on. The direction is determined by the actor's POV. (ex. left wing is to actor's left)
Cold Reading: The very first group reading of the script. Before anyone knows how to present their lines, the way they perceive them.

(1)Hubble: It's a space station...you know, up in space and all that jazz.

NS: Oh yes! I'm so good! FINISHED! And to add to finishing something...I'm about to finish my KH 2 game! I'm on the fight at the end, against Xemnas in the black and white coat. (God, the dragon battle before that pissed me off) This isn't even the hardest battle in the game (for me anyways). For me it was a tie between Luxord and Xigbar...I spent three hours on each of them. But...if you ask Ten-Second-Tom, her first answer will be Demyx. Personally, I thought he was pretty easy. I only had to fight him three times and both times I lost before that was because I ran out of time in the stupid water clones...7-7

But anyways! How'd you like the fic? This was originally going to be a one-shot, but I realized it would be far too long for such and so added plot twists and stuffs to make it longer! Oh, and 'Let the Snow Stay Frozen' is my own creation; I'm even writing it as a separate book with the characters they will be playing.

Until Next time, Ja!

Edit: Uhm, I edited some typos and corrected a few minor things, but there still may be things I missed...sorry. Typos are the devil's spawn.