Hi, guys.

Long time, no see. ~

In order to send out this note, I re-uploaded the second chapter.

For anyone who hasn't gone to my profile, please do so now for an update on Burattino's current status, kay?


Burattino: Chapter: 2

I'll take your for who you are, if you take me for everything.

"Happy Birthday Demyx!" shouted a short boy, half of his faced hidden by his hair. The boy internally twitched, thoroughly annoyed. He wasn't supposed to be this…peppy…but he felt that he needed to be so right now. His blonde friend was the one who usually brought the energy into their friendship. Because of recent events however, he was far from the carefree person he was just a few days ago. Said friend, was currently staring at his birthday present warily.

"Um, Ze…I don't play with dolls," Demyx finally said.

"It's not a doll, it's a marionette," Zexion replied, quickly reverting back to his normal temperament. He could only take so much of being 'happy.'

Demyx quirked an eyebrow at the marionette, studying it. It was made of wood (like most marionettes) and had green satin ribbons instead of strings holding it to the wooden cross that controlled its movements. Its shirt was made of white silk, paired with black pants of the same material. Green suspenders where clipped on to the pants and stretched over the toy's shoulders. On its little wooden feet, it wore shiny black shoes with gold buckles. It had pretty, long, silver hair, made out of a material that Demyx didn't know of. Its painted eyes were a bluish-green color. A small, green, teardrop was painted onto the doll's left cheek, though its expression wasn't sad.

"Cool but, it looks kind of old," Demyx decided.

Zexion put a hand on his chin in a thoughtful gesture. "Well, I got it at that old antique store Axel just got a job at. Old Man Cid, the owner, said it was made in the early 19th century. It's supposed to be really valuable, but sitting on the shelves for ages and Cid just wanted to get rid of it."

"Hmm," the blonde said, not offering any further conversation. He held it up, looking at it again, before setting it down on the floor carefully. He let it hover above the ground as he attempted to control the individual limbs. Definitely harder than it looked on the movies. He laughed, something he hadn't done in a very long while, and looked at Zexion, smirking. "I can't believe you got me a puppet."

"It's a 19th century work of art," Zexion huffed, "and you seem to like it well enough."

"Heh, yeah. What's its name?"

"Cid said that his name was Rinaldo."

"Rinaldo huh? Let's change it."

"What? Why?"

"Rinaldo sounds too old-fashioned. I like it well enough but…"

"Yeah I know what you mean. How about Andrew?"

"No."

"Laurent?"

"No."

"Johnny?"

"No."

Zexion let out a frustrated sigh. "Well, do you have a-"

"Riku."

"Huh? What?"

"Riku. I'll name him Riku. What do you think?"

"Oh…I like it. It's cute."

Demyx smiled. He looked down, playing with Riku and starting to get the hang of moving the puppet around. He made it wave at Zexion. "And I guess he is kind of cute."

Zexion smiled softly, "I'm glad you think so. I'm leaving later today, and I figured that you'd want a friend while I was gone."

Demyx looked up at Zexion, smiling at his friend's thoughtfulness. Zexion was a year older than Demyx, and while Demyx stayed here in Twilight Town, Zexion would leave today for Europe to get settled in before his college classes started. Demyx had other friends, but it wouldn't be the same without Zexion around to comfort him when he got "emo" about his recent brake-up. Really, it was a mutual brake-up so it shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. Right?

"Well," started the slate-haired boy, "I'm going to head out now. Leon and I are carpooling to the airport." He closed the distance between them, and reached up to wind his arms around Demyx's neck.

Demyx picked his friend up and swung him around in a circle, giving Zexion the type of hug he absolutely hated. "I'll miss you Ze!"

"Wah-?! Demy'x, put me down!" Zexion shouted.

Demyx obeyed his friend, and set him back down on his feet. The two friends said their good-byes to each other and hugged once more. Demyx walked Zexion to his front door, and stood in the doorway waving as the slate-haired male drove away.

And that was that. Zexion was gone.


Demyx sat on the swinging bench in his backyard. It was a pretty night tonight. A bit cloudy, but just beyond the giant grey cotton balls the sky was clear. There seem to be so many stars tonight. Maybe more than normal. Demyx smiled as he watched two shooting stars fly across the sky, side by side.

He didn't make a wish.

What was the use? Wishes never came true. Even when he was little Demyx had never been a fan of Fairy Tales. Anything that ended in happily ever after was not appealing at all. He much preferred the blood and gore of monster movies. Demons, Vampires, Werewolves; those were his favorites.

He looked down on the bench beside him where Riku was sitting, leaning against his side.

Why did Ze give him this? Demyx couldn't remember ever saying that he liked puppets. If Ze wanted to leave him with a 'friend,' then why not just buy him a stuffed werewolf?

Why did he have to leave anyway?

Demyx sighed. That was a stupid question. Zexion was on his way to college with Cloud, Leon, and Roxas. Sora was moving away to California, and Kairi and Selphie were on vacation all summer. He felt so alone.

As he contemplated a small tear left, unchecked, down his face. It dripped down onto Riku's cheek.

Demyx saw it and quickly wiped off both of their cheeks. He smiled sadly, "Heh, sorry about that Riku."

Looking up at the sky again, Demyx sighed. It was no use feeling sorry for himself. He'd just end up crying for real. I should just go to bed, Demyx thought, I've got to start work in the morning.

The blonde stood up and walked into the house, Riku in tow. Quickly, he went through the motions of getting ready for bed; taking a shower, brushing his teeth, and slipping into some loose sweat pants. He climbed into bed and flicked off the light.

He lay there, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes. Then, as an afterthought, he reached over the side of the bed and pulled Riku into the bed with him.

For the first time in a while, Demyx slept through the night, cuddled close to Riku.