Here's chapter one, our first chapter that takes us to Riku's first life and his experiences with Xion~~ I'm so excited about this fic I had to get this chapter up TODAY! XD Enjoy!
~Chapter One: Seashells and Xion~
~Wednesday, July 13th, 1 year and 3 months before Xion's death, Destiny Islands – Thalassa Beachfront, 6:27 p.m.~
"Heeeeey! Riiikuuuu!"
Riku Kagayami looked up from waggling his bare toes in the cool evening waves. There he saw Ventus Kazekami, one of his best friends, running down the beach with his shorts almost falling off of him and his sandals kicking up sand in his wake. The silver-haired teen smirked. Ventus sure had taken a while to show up. It was nearly dusk, with the sun setting rapidly over the horizon, and Riku could only wonder what he had been doing for the past few hours. He pulled his toes out of the ocean just as Ventus collapsed beside him.
"Sorry… 'bout that," the blond, spiky-haired boy panted, "I was just showing those new girls around the island… man, I'm tired." He took a few deep breaths and gave a smile at Riku.
Riku smiled back, tracing patterns in the sand in front of him. "It's okay, Ven. What're those girls' names again?" There was a big commotion when the new family had moved to the island a few days ago; mostly because the island was small. The population barely capped one-thousand. Since it was summer vacation, however, Riku wouldn't have seen them every day at school since they had came.
Ventus replied, "Xion and Aqua Satsujin. And get this, man—" He poked Riku, drawing his attention back to him again, "— they're really hot twins. Like smokin' hot."
Riku groaned good-naturedly, sighing and shaking his head. "Come on, Ven, can you keep your mind off of a girl's looks for two seconds?"
"I'm not kidding!" Ventus stood up, crossing his arms and grinning at Riku. "I'll go get them, and you'll see!" He took off down the beach, the same way he had come, leaving Riku alone again.
Looking out at the waning sunset, Riku could only shake his head again. He'd been friends with Ventus for years – since elementary school even. Now they were both fifteen and going to start their first year of high school in August. And Ventus never changed a bit from being the flirtatious player than he was – and also very picky. He doesn't just go for any girl, Riku thought with an inward sigh. He wants to have his cake and eat it too. Riku started his drawing in the sand again; he thought it looked pretty nice.
"Riiiiikuuuuu! I'm baaaaack!"
"Well, hurry up then!" Riku shouted back to Ventus, wiping away his drawing messily and standing. Ventus stopped with the twin girls a few feet away from Riku.
"This is Xion," he motioned to a skinny, dark-haired girl with bright blue eyes, about the same age as him, who smiled at Riku, "and Aqua." The other girl had short blue hair and was slightly taller than her twin. Riku could only wonder which of the girls had dyed their hair.
The girl named Aqua pointed back toward the mainland. "We moved here from the Land of Departure, and we live on that mansion by the coast. It'd be nice if you could visit sometime, it's kind of lonely with just the two of us," she finished with a nervous giggle.
"I would like that," Riku replied, his eyes straying to Xion. Her gaze was locked on the sand as she traced a flower in it with her sneaker. "Fascinated by the sand, huh?"
Xion's head snapped up, her face as red as a tomato, as the evening wind played a stand of hair across her face. "Uh, I guess. I mean, it's not like there are beaches where we come from, so, um, I guess, yeah…" She started wringing her hands nervously in her lap and Riku chuckled.
There was a little bit of silence after that. Aqua abruptly grabbed Ventus's hand and started off with him. "C'mon, Ven, you haven't shown me your house yet….! Wanna come, Shi?" The bluenette said to her twin.
Xion shook her head and sat down on the sand. "Nah. I wanna watch the sunset. Meet me back here?"
Aqua only nodded and proceeded to drag Ventus down the shoreline, despite the latter's joking protests. Riku saluted his friend jokingly – Ventus stuck out his tongue at him – and sat down a few feet from Xion. He gazed at her features as she stared at the flower she'd drawn earlier. Bright blue eyes full of happiness, rose-colored cheeks that contrasted with her cropped raven hair…
"So… it's Xion, right?" Riku offered as way of conversation.
She looked up at him, a smile gracing her lips. "Yeah. You're Riku, right?"
"That's my name, don't wear it out," he replied with a smirk.
Xion giggled. "Your friend…. sure is energetic. We haven't even gotten time to settle in and he's ready to drag us everywhere."
"Well, that's Ventus for you." He leaned back on the warm, grainy sand, lifting his head just a bit to gaze at the sunset. So she's from the Land of Departure, huh? Wonder what that's like. "You said you didn't have beaches where you're from?"
"We had beaches on the lakes, but they weren't very big. And…" She sighed. "The sunsets weren't nearly as beautiful. Look out there." Xion poked Riku, and she glanced at him briefly before pointing to the horizon. "See how the red and orange refracts across the water and makes it a little pink to go along with the blue? And they way the waves crash up against the rocks, as if they're doing a dance…"
Riku gazed at each feature of the evening as she pointed them out. How observant Xion was, paying attention to every little detail. Riku could only wonder how she was able to examine every nook and cranny of nature as if she'd been doing it all her life. He never had time for that. He just kind of… lived. Never worrying about the little things… he wondered for a second if Xion had chosen to stay and watch the sunset because she wanted to share it with somebody, somebody who was a good listener.
If nothing else, Riku knew how to listen.
"… and see, even the little crabs. How their footprints make those patterns… it's just amazing. Don't you think, Riku?"
Riku nodded, sitting up and propping himself on his elbows. "Yeah. I've never seen the world this way, Xion. Thank you."
"There's no need to thank me, seriously!" Xion said, giving him a playful push, starting to laugh.
Riku laughed quietly to himself, shrugging off her push. Xion's a cool girl. Friendly, definitely nice, a bit modest… I wouldn't say 'hot' as Ven put it, but anyways… I hope she stays for the next school year.
"Xion?"
"Hm?" She looked at him, a questioning look in her eyes.
"Why'd you move?"
"Oh." Her face fell just a little. "Some stuff happened and… our house kind of burned down a few months ago. It was an accident, and nobody really knows who caused it…"
Riku's brow furrowed; something was a little fishy. "If your house burned down a few months ago then why are you just moving?"
"Our family had to go in for grief counseling," she said quickly. "We'd lost a few family members in the fire, and a whole lot of our stuff." Xion's gaze started to become glassy, and tears formed at the edge of her eyes. "We didn't really want to start a new life until we were sure we were ready."
"That's understandable," Riku said, pulling her into a sideways hug. "I'm sure that incident really brought your family together, huh?"
Xion's eyes brightened as she looked up at Riku. "You know what? It did." She wiped away the tears at the edges of her eyes, and Riku couldn't help but grin.
Xion frowned. "What?"
"I didn't want you crying on my watch. Who knows what your sister would do to me," he joked, letting her go with a soft pat of her back.
Xion laughed nervously, reaching out to the ocean and letting the cool waves brush her fingertips. "Nah, Aqua's a sweetheart. She would never get onto you about anything."
"I'm glad to hear that." Riku started to trace the flower drawing of Xion's before the waves stole it away. Xion looked back at him and down at the drawing, shrugging before getting up and rolling up her shorts.
"Xion…" Riku raised an eyebrow at her before it clicked with him. She wanted to get in the water. Riku clicked his tongue, taking out a hair elastic from his pocket and pulling his long hair back into a messy ponytail. It was a nice evening, so why not have some fun in the water? Before I know it, it'll be school starting again… I might as well enjoy this...
Before Riku could even get up onto his feet and roll up his jeans, Xion had grabbed him and dragged him into the water, his feet turning ice cold as his body got used to the temperature of the ocean. She's dragging me out pretty far, he thought as the water reached his waist; the two stopped when the water was at his chest.
Riku could stand in the water, but Xion had to wade to keep afloat. "I wanna look for seashells!" she said happily, "Are there any around here?"
At that, Riku reached down under the water, his hearing dulled as he submerged under the waves. His hand felt for a Thalassa shell, and when he found one, with its rough edges, he surfaced and shook his hair out, handing the bright pink shell to Xion. "You've come to the right place."
The bright look on her face made Riku's heart soar; no other expression would have made him happier.
~Wednesday, July 13th, 1 year and 3 months before Xion's death, Destiny Islands – Thalassa Beachfront, 7:07 p.m.~
Xion dragged her armfuls of shells up onto the beach, dumping them onto the sand as soon as she reached dry land. Riku followed close behind, glad they had gotten out of the water before the sky had turned dark. He was sopping wet, his hair limp on his back, and he was tired from searching for shells for Xion – it wasn't like he wanted any, he had plenty at home. Nevertheless, Riku had to admit it was fun, especially the excitement they had splashing at each other. School started in a month, and he was going to use this summer break to the fullest. But next time, I'm bringing Vento have him look for shells, he thought with a smirk, And Xion loves to take her time… Ven's gonna be tortured.
"Aaaaah, I'm beat." Xion collapsed on the sand with a smile at Riku. Riku smiled back and looked up when he heard footsteps; there were Ventus and Aqua, running down the beach to meet them.
He gaze traveled back to her blanched face. "You had fun, Xion?" Riku asked, as the darkness settled over the beach.
Xion nodded, too tired to reply, as Aqua appeared, grabbed her twin by her arm, and hauled her up. "Come on, lazybones, we've gotta get home."
"'Kay!" Xion gathered her shells with some effort, and before walking away with Aqua, she smiled at Riku. "See you later, it was nice meeting you!"
"See ya." Riku nodded as she went to join her sister, and he watched them walk away until they were just two little dots on the horizon. Hope to see you tomorrow.
"Sooooo?" Ventus said, clasping a hand around Riku's shoulder. He staggered, glaring at his bubbly friend.
"What, Ven?"
"Is she, like, the most attractive thing alive?" Ventus smiled.
Riku stared at him. Ventus stared back, the smile never leaving his face. With a good-hearted groan and a shaking of his head, Riku turned started off down the beach. Was Ventus serious? After all he had shared with Xion, and what Xion had shared with him, that was all he could ask? "Whatever you want to believe, Ven."
"W-Wait! Is that a yes or a no?" Riku heard Ventus take off after him down the shoreline. "Riku! I want an answer!"
Riku burst into peals of laughter as the wind played across his face. Ven will never learn, will he?
"Riku! Pleeeeease?"
Nope. Never.
Reviews are appreciated! Next chapter it's back to the present!
~Anais
