Chapter 2: Lousy

Memo: Aw, poor Kaitloops got tackled by hitter. Heh. That was hysterically funny. Good job for being stupid, you two! ...I really want marshmallows now. :D Manders is such a girl after my own heart...^_^ She's awesome! Just like me. Haha, jk. ^_-You're going to think, "wow, and I thought Kira was mean!!" in this chapter...:)

Amanda's pOv

Rei looks completely messed up. Her whole figure is so TINY! Like, she was small before, but now she's skin and bone! It's FREAKY!

You wonder what's going on with her and Riku. Holy butts! Are they going out or something?!? GAH! That's soooo cool! Maybe, maybe, maybe you could go to Advent Children's world and steal Rufus Shinra!!! (*insert fangirl squeal*)

"Soo...what's with you and Riku?" Natasha asks Rei, who is staring at the carpet. A small smile appears on Rei's face as she makes a heart in the brand-new carpet.

"My beau," she replies, looking very happy. You gasp. Her eyes immediately remove themselves from the carpet to you.

"That's sooooo cute!" you squeal. She sighs a little. "But why did you leave, then?"

"I didn't. Sora brought me back," she says angrily.

"So they all really exist?" Natasha asks.

"Uh-huh."

"You live on Destiny Islands?!" you breathe. LUCKY! Mannnn, that must be awesome.

"Aren't you afraid of water?" Natasha reminds her.

"Yes, and no, not anymore," she replies.

You and Natasha are silent for a few moments. You want to ask her sooooo much, but she looks too tired and depressed and ANOREXIC!!

All of a sudden you notice Rei's face. She's crying. What?! Why is she crying?!

"Reina," Natasha says quietly, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"...I...just can't believe all this is happening," she sobs. "I thought I'd never see you again. I...I..."

She just keeps crying. You get up to hug her, but she pushes you and Natasha's hand away and curls up into a ball.

"I have him back..." she whispers over and over. "He's back..."

"Rei, what happened?" you ask, staring at her. She's completely pathetic! You've NEVER seen her act like this!!!

"He died; I watched him die and he's alive," she says through her tears. You and Natasha look at each other in disbelief. But before either of you can say anything, you hear Riku shout from the front room.

"We're in Maine, help me out here," he says. Rei looks up and, trance-like, walks out of the room.

"She's gone insane," Natasha says finally.

"It seems like that, doesn't it?" you say reluctantly.

"She never used to act like this!" Natasha gets to her feet and starts pacing. "Something's happened that she's not telling us. Something important. I want to know. I'm her sister."

"Yeah, and I'm her best friend!" you pipe up, jumping to your feet.

"Right. We need answers, and we won't rest until we get them!"

"And I know where to start!"

Your pOv

You continue to guide Riku in the right direction, staying near him as much as you can. It's still so incredibly surreal. He's alive. But you watched him die! But you brought him back?

How are Kairi and Sora? Sora...you're kicking his rear as soon as you get home. You don't care if you hurt him. If he even could FATHOM the hurt you've been through, he wouldn't care; it wouldn't matter.

Kairi...

Kairi knows about what happened between you and Riku. The only one. Your heart starts pounding at the very memory of that night. And then at what you'll have to tell Riku. What will he think? Will he be mad? Happy? Sad? Disbelieving? That could've been his kid...you can't imagine him being happy about it dying.

He might take it as being your fault for not taking care of yourself. Maybe...maybe not. You know you do.

You don't even wanna THINK about telling Tashie and Manders about it all. But then you remember your parents. Oh yes. That's grand. But they may not say anything. They've pretty much disowned you. Almost.

"Here, is this okay?" Riku asks you as you land in an abandoned field.

"Yeah, should be," you reply. You turn towards the back of the ship to shout at Tashie and Manders when you see them come walking out of the room themselves.

"Told you we were here, I knew I felt it land," Manders says. Tashie rolls her eyes.

"You're a geek," you say cheerfully, hugging Manders. If only she could stay...but you know her parents love her. Their only child back again...they'll be so happy!

"I'll miss you, too," she says, squeezing you tightly.

"Here's lookin' at you, kid," Tashie says, pushing Manders out of the way. You laugh. "Sure you're not coming home? Not even for a wedding?"

"No," you say. That's right...her wedding was coming up when you left. You immediately feel bad, but you know it wouldn't work out. "Do you have a cover-up story?"

"Of course," Tashie says, winking. "Don't I always?"

"Yeah," Manders and yourself say at the same time. You remember when you were kids and got marshmallows stuck to the kitchen ceiling. Heh. *"Mom, it wasn't our fault. The bag was overstuffed and when we ripped it, they flew everywhere. You're lucky we cleaned off the fridge and cabinets...."*

"It was awesome meeting you!" Manders says to Riku.

"Uh, yeah, same," he says quietly, smiling a little.

"Bye," your sister and best friend say, exiting the ship. As soon as the door is closed, you feel your knees give way and collapse onto the floor.

"How are you feeling?" Riku asks you, kneeling beside you.

"Just hurry and get us out of here," you say, closing your eyes. "I want to go home."

You've never known homesickness like this before. True, when you went on vacations and to camps, you got homesick. But this...is even worse. So many memories were created in the shortest time period possible. You want to see the waves...you want to sit by the fire...you miss your room, the balcony, the beautiful house, and your friends, one of which is about to meet his end by fists of fury.

Interrupting your thoughts, Riku picks you up bridal-style and carries you over to the window seat.

"..." You don't know what to say to him. You could say a lot, really.

"I can feel your ribs," he says, putting a hand on your stomach. You feel that slightest tingling. "When we get home, you're eating everything we can shove into you."

You smile sincerely. "I AM kinda hungry," you admit. Laying your head against his chest, you inhale deeply.

"One would hope. You're all bone. What happened?"

"What didn't?" He frowns a little. You press his cheeks upward into a smile.

"Ow," he says, pushing your hands away.

"You know why you should smile?" you ask him, wrapping your arms around his waist.

"Why should I smile?"

"Because Sora is going to get his butt kicked by me," you giggle. He laughs.

"Am I allowed to help?"

"You can have him after I'm through with him."

You both laugh. "But Kairi'll kill you if you kill him."

"No, she won't."

"Why's that?"

You sigh a little. Here's one thing you can tell him.

"I...when we got back to the ship after you died, I was trying to convince Sora to let me stay...and I told Kairi about what had happened. She didn't tell him, I don't think, but..." Now you feel a LITTLE better...

"I know. She told me what happened," Riku says. Psh, so much for that.

"Well, either way, I don't think she'd care if I just torture him some. Feel some pain himself."

"...The pain you felt, you mean?"

Riku's pOv

At your reply, Rei immediately falls silent. She's hiding something...

"Rei, please, tell me what happened," you beg her.

"I...I can't yet. I...can barely come to terms with it myself," she murmurs, squeezing you tightly.

"...You didn't...love anyone..."

"No! No, never!" She looks you straight in the eye. "I could never love someone as much as you. Never. Please believe me. That's not at all what happened."

Judging by the look on her face and the way she's holding you, you know she's telling the truth. But what happened? Maybe she just had some issues with media and her sister and best friend dying.

"You have no idea how much I missed you and needed you," she murmurs. "The only other person who even talked to me moved over three months ago. He-"

"Ohhh, so there WAS a guy?" you tease. She gasps.

"No! No! He was barely my friend!"

"Suuure, he was," you say, getting to your feet.

"NO!"

To your shock, Rei jumps up and grabs onto your legs, keeping you from walking away.

"Rei! I was only kidding!"

You pry her hands off of you and kneel down in front of her.

"Calm down," you say quietly, hugging her. What the heck is wrong? "It's okay, I won't ever leave you."

"You don't KNOW that!" she sniffs. "There's so much out there...that could...go wrong..."

What is she saying? You KNOW she means more to that than it seems. She's hinting at something, but what?

"Rei-"

...

"Holy crap. We're almost there, aren't we?" Rei asks, suddenly perking up. She must really be looking forward to kicking Sora's butt.

"Yeah, you can see the islands," you reply, looking out the front window as you take control of the ship once again.

"They're so beautiful," she sighs happily. "This sounds out of character, but I want to go swimming."

You can't help but grin at her. Now she's starting to act normal again.

"You know what we should do? We should roast marshmallows! And have a cookout! And run around and laugh until it hurts to even breathe!" Rei throws her arms up in a "tadaaa" fashion. "And then we can sleep under the stars and just live! ...Wouldn't that be great?"

"Amazing."

She smiles at you, practically glowing with happiness. Her attitude is contagious; you feel happier already.

Before you know it, the ship is on the ground. You're home. You never thought you and Rei would be back here again. It's obvious that Rei feels that way, too. She's grinning from ear to ear, like a kid at Christmas or something.

Pushing the door open quickly, Rei bolts out onto the sand. She still has her school uniform on...jacket and all. It's so hot out, how can she stand it? Her happiness must be overpowering any feeling of discomfort, though. You watch as she falls to the sandy ground and kisses it, shrieking in joy.

"I WISH I COULD HUG THIS WORLD!" she shouts, still grinning. You walk over to her, feeling the happiest you've felt in a long time.

"Hey! I know that voice!"

You and Rei both whip your heads around to see a boat just off the shore. Sora and Kairi are sitting in it, looking astonished.

"REI!!!!" Kairi shouts, jumping out of the boat and running the rest of the way to shore. You hear the 'thwock' of the collision into each other. "YOU'RE OKAY!!!" You can see she's crying. "I can't believe it!" She turns to you, smiling so brightly it looks painful. "You found her!?"

"Of course. I told you I wasn't giving up," you reply, smirking.

"Rei?!"

Kairi's pOv

You hear Sora's shout of surprise and watch as Rei frees herself from you and marches over to him.

"YOU!" she screams. "YOU!!!" She looks really really mad. Uh-oh. Sora's about to get whomped. She's never gotten over the fact that he left her for worse back in Maine...

"Rei?" Sora says timidly, cringing with every step she takes. Finally she gets right up in his face.

"I!! HATE!! YOU!!!"

Suddenly Rei full-out tackles Sora.

"Ooo," you and Riku say, laughing. Saw this one coming. He deserves it. He left her there...

"You left me-" She ...?! PUNCHES?! Sora in the face?! WTH?! "-to ROT AWAY-" Punch. "-without ANY FRIENDS!!!" Punch. From the looks of it, she's not faking it!! You shot a glance at Riku, who is standing there slack-jawed in disbelief.

"Rei-ow! Wait I'm sorry-ow!"

"SORRY IS NOT ENOUGH!!! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!!!" After almost every other word, she punches him. You move a bit closer and notice she's actually made his nose bleed!

"Rei, calm down!" Riku shouts. She ignores him, tears streaking down her cheeks.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU LEFT ME TO DEAL WITH?!?! DO YOU?!?"

Before Rei can practically knock Sora out, Riku finally intervenes. While you run over to the struggling Sora, Riku grabs Rei around the waist and lifts her up. She screams, obviously frustrated, and kicks the air.

"Let me GO!" she shouts.

"Rei, stop!" Riku shouts back. You kneel next to Sora, who warily sits upright.

"What is wrong with her?" he asks just so you can hear. You watch the struggling Rei as she gets thrown over Riku's shoulder and carried towards their house.

"I have no idea," you murmur, helping Sora up. "Are you okay?"

"I think so...she's gone insane."

You look up to see Rei still screaming and struggling for freedom.

"I'm really beginning to wonder..."

Riku's pOv

You carry Rei all the way up to her room and set her down on the bed, holding her by the wrists.

"Let me GO!" she insists for the millionth time.

"NO," you say, gripping her wrists tighter. She growls as she tries to squirm free, but you still manage to keep a hold of her. "What has gotten into you?!"

"Just let me go," she whimpers. You stare at her. She's got to have become bipolar or something! She almost punched Sora to death back there! They're supposed to be friends, and although he DID deserve some of it, that was out of hand. "Let...go...of...me..."

"Rei, you need to calm down now; you're hyperventilating."

She closes her eyes briefly, her eyelids fluttering. She looks about ready to pass out or something.

"Here's what I want you to do," you say slowly, letting up a bit on her wrists. "You get some sleep, and when you wake up, we'll get you some food. Anything you want. Okay? Just relax, it's gonna be okay."

When she finally nods, you release her wrists. Her head falls forward onto your chest, her neck limp. She's passed out. Good. Now she'll finally settle down.

"What's happened to you, Rei?" you whisper, laying her back on her bed. You notice that her ears are quadruple pierced now. What the heck...?