Disclaimer- I do not own kingdom hearts.
A Different Point of View
It was dark. The soft light of the moon and the dull glow of streetlamps did what they could to illuminate the market area of Radiant Garden. It was a strange place at night, almost like a different world. The area usually held a cheery glow of liveliness and merriment but at night, it was stern.
A young girl sat atop the roof of one of the closed shops and stared down at the empty marketplace. The short length of her black hair blew in the night breeze and her soft features were set into a deep scowl. Her slender arms were crossed stiffly across her chest with barely contained irritation.
She sat on the shingled rooftop with her legs hanging over one of the shop's windows, her feet swinging unconsciously. Her deep gray eyes held an uncontained frustration that contrasted her otherwise innocent appearance. She looked up as a flock of birds flew overhead and watched as they soared across the night sky. A small smile graced her face as she watched the small flock follow their leader blindly to the unknown. She wondered then, if she was like those birds, following the leader with complete confidence.
She let out a deep sigh as she let her body fall back to lie against the rough shingles of the roof. Her eyes closed as the cool night air swept across her heated skin causing Goosebumps to appear over her skin. She smiled then as her thoughts went back to the birds. Yuffie was not one to follow blindly, no matter how much trust she had in her leader.
She tilted her head to look back to the market and the young couple that sat in one of the park benches. The brown-haired man had his strong arm around the woman who was resting her head on his shoulder, her ribbon-clad hair spilled over both of their backs. The woman's pink lips moved in a silent whisper and a small smile appeared on the man's usually stoic face. Yuffie felt tears well up in her eyes at the small exchange between them. She had never made him smile like that. He was lost to her and she knew it.
She closed her eyes again and brought her hands to rest behind her head. She was tired after all. Being a ninja was not easy work, even in times of peace. The coolness of the night caused her to shiver unconsciously but she did not open her eyes. She preferred the back of her eyelids to watching Leon and Aerith flirt with each other any day.
Yuffie took a deep breath basking in the sudden warmth in the atmosphere. Wait a second…warmth? Yes, she was warm. The cold wind had stopped and was replaced with a sudden warmness that seemed to radiate into her body. It was strange. She felt hot air spread across her face too. Where did it come from? She was so cold a moment ago and then… Her train of thought stopped when she heard a low sigh and felt a sudden rush of warmth spread across her face. Her eyes shot open and she came face to face with the deepest set of turquoise eyes she had ever seen. The ocean-like eyes widened in surprise as the boy realized he was caught and before he could catch his bearings, he was thrust as far from the girl as possible.
Yuffie's face still held surprise as she stared at the boy who was now lying in a rather odd position on his back. Her hand clutched at her pounding her as her mind tried to process what had happened. No one snuck up on her, she was the Great Ninja Yuffie, and she was the one who did the sneaking around here.
A loud groan came from the boy as he slowly sat up. His silvery hair was slightly disheveled and his face held a look of annoyance. After brushing a small amount of dirt off his arm, he turned his eyes toward Yuffie.
"What the hell was that for?" He asked her with irritation in his voice. Yuffie's eyes narrowed as her previous surprise faded. Was he serious? This boy, who she hadn't seen in weeks, suddenly appears, scarring the living crap out of her in the process, and he had the audacity to ask her a question like that, as if she was at fault. She could feel her temper rising and it was not good to be alone with Yuffie when she was mad, especially in a dangerous place like the top of a building.
"What are you talking about you idiot! What the hell did you think I would do! Is that a normal thing to do to someone?" she practically yelled at him. "I was almost asleep and I open my eyes for a second and all I see is your big fat head in my face!" she took a deep breath to calm her frustration and contented herself with glaring at him menacingly.
"I was trying to see if you were alright. I thought something might have happened to you with the way you were passed out on top of this roof." He argued back.
"Why didn't you try saying my name?" she shot back, one of her eyebrows rising in question. He looked at her for a moment before shrugging lazily and falling back into his normal arrogant persona.
She felt slightly irritated as he became his normal cocky self again. It was quite amusing when he was caught off guard and she enjoyed those moments extensively. It was too bad that Riku was not one to leave himself open to such incidents more often. Oh well, she had enjoyed it while it had lasted.
"What are you doing here anyway?" She asked him seriously, crossing her arms over her chest as she felt the cold wind return.
"I dunno, felt like coming," He said while mimicking her motion and crossing his arms as well. They were both quiet for a while. Neither had anything to say and instead they stared at each other in the awkward silence. It was almost like a battle, both staring at each other with crossed arms, daring the other to say something.
Yuffie was the first to look away, her eyes falling to look down at the marketplace. Her eyes immediately fell onto the couple below. They had not moved from the park bench and looked even more comfortable than before. She wondered if they had heard any of her scuffle with Riku. By the looks of it they hadn't, or they didn't care. It was probably the latter, she figured. Considering how loud they had been and Squall's superior sense of hearing it was almost impossible that he ad not heard. It made her feel sad that he cared so little about her that he would not even turn to see what was wrong. It was heartbreaking. Even if he didn't love her he still consider her a friend right? Wasn't she a friend worth caring about? She felt her head droop in sadness.
"Are you sad?" she heard Riku say quietly. She turned to look at him slightly to see if he was joking but he was completely serious, concerned even. The last thing she wanted was his sympathy.
"What are you talking about?" she said, acting ignorant. She felt him pause for a moment as if he was trying to find the best was to approach the subject.
"Doesn't it bother you that he's with her?" he watched her for a moment and when she didn't speak he continued, "Aren't you upset that the person you love is in love with someone else?" Her eyebrows furrowed as she processed his words and she could feel her anger return in defense.
"What would you know about it?" she challenged him. Why was he bothering her about this? Couldn't he see she just wanted to be alone?
She watched him as he stood up, his face contorting slightly in anger. He stared at her for a moment before turning his back on her. He stayed like that for a long while, not saying anything and not moving from his spot. What had made him so mad? Yuffie had wanted to rile him a little not full out piss him off. It was common knowledge that Riku was not one that you wanted to piss off and as he stood there, with his shoulders shaking in suppressed fury, she felt a tremble of fear surge through her body.
"I know plenty about it," he said, turning his face slightly to glance at her before he took off. She watched as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop and then finally to the ground.
She sat there for a moment as she let the words sink in. He knew plenty about it? What? Who did he… and then it came to her. KAIRI!!
She stood up and took off in the direction Riku had gone.
She searched for nearly an hour before she finally found him by the gates of the old castle. He looked almost sad. The fire of his rage had died out and was replaced with a melancholy sort of resentment. She approached him slowly and he turned his oceanic eyes toward her. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves before she spoke. It was intimidating to have such ethereal eyes fixed solely on you. The only other person who could immobilize someone with their eyes alone was Cloud, but she saw even less of him than she did of Riku.
"Riku," she said softly, almost timidly, "I'm really sorry. I didn't even think when I said that." His eyes continued to bore into her.
"I know that Kairi and Sora are…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence while he was staring at her with such intensity. She waited for him to reply but he stayed silent and just continued to watch her. She brought her hands together and tangled her fingers nervously. Wasn't he going to say something? She felt embarrassed just standing there in front of him after coming all this way to apologize. Asking for forgiveness was not something that came easy to her and he was not helping one bit.
"Um… well… bye," she said turning on her heel to walk back to the town. If the stupid jerk wasn't going to say anything then she wasn't going to stay there and grovel until her did.
"You're an idiot," he said before she could take a step. Yuffie thought she had heard wrong. Did he just call her an idiot when she came all this way just to apologize to his ungrateful ass? She turned back to face him, the rage clear on her face.
He had that cocky grin on his face again. Was this his way of accepting her apology? Well she would just have to make it clear to him how one treated a great ninja like herself when said ninja goes out of their way to be nice. She opened her mouth to retaliate when he spoke again.
"I do not love Kairi," he said simply. Her mouth closed immediately as he continued, "That was just a stupid crush from years ago."
What? Yuffie thought about what he said but something didn't make sense to her. Why did he get so mad about what she said if he didn't even love Kairi?
"I'm confused," Yuffie stated aloud. Riku sighed and brought his hand up to scratch behind his head. She watched him closely. He seemed to be debating with himself over something.
"Riku…" she didn't get to finish because Riku had placed his lips firmly over hers. Her eyes widened in surprise. It was a short kiss, lasting barely a second, but it was far from meaningless. There was something hidden in his kiss, as if strong emotions lay beneath the surface and he dared not to reveal them to her. It was almost as if he was holding back, not kissing her the way he really wanted to for fear he might scare her away. Her mind had ceased to function and as he pulled back, all she could do was stare at him in surprise. He looked surprised as well, as if he himself had not realized what he had just done. His mouth opened as if to speak but he closed it immediately and took several steps back away from her.
"I…uh…" he began but could not find the words to explain what had just happened.
She did not try to stop him as he continued to step away; she was far too deep in her own thoughts to notice he was moving. She was still trying to figure out what had just happened between them and what it meant. When Riku was almost twenty feet away, she finally came to her senses.
"Wait," she said to him causing him to stop in his tracks, "What does this mean?" she asked. He smiled at that, not the usual cocky grin that was his trademark, but a real smile.
"I've been hanging around Traverse Town a lot lately," he said unexpectedly. Yuffie looked at him strangely, where did that come from?
"Why don't you come give me a visit when you get over Leon?" he said as he turned on his heal. He gave her one last smile over his shoulder before he disappeared.
A/N- this is going to be a series of one-shorts, not a continuation of this particular story. Review and tell me what you think or give me ideas for more oneshots to add. I have a livejournal account as well, it is the homepage on my profile. Feel free to add me or leave me comments.