So, we've arrived at the last part of the story. It makes me a little sad, but this one was a doozy to write sometimes. I think I'll stick to humor, which is easier for me to write than drama. This was a challenge, but it was awesome all the same. Wanna know what else is awesome? All you AWESOME reviewers! You guys are amazing, along with you story alert-ers! Now, enjoy Part 4, Mend.
Disclaimer: Meow, Rrrroooow, hisss, glare. (In Autumn's language that means I don't own anything!)
Part 4 of 4:
Mend
Riku stood in the double doors of the foyer, watching intently on the activity in the driveway. He watched the chauffer take Sora's and Tidus's luggage and put it in the trunk, and he watched Sora get into the limo, Tidus behind him.
He watched the limo drive away.
He didn't know how long he stood there, but a hand placed on his shoulder snapped him out of his trance. He glanced to the side to see Kadaj.
"What now, Riku?"
Riku shrugged. He didn't know what was next, and he felt strangely detached. He closed the front doors, cutting off his view of the moon and the stars.
&!&!
Sora and Tidus sat in the limo quietly, not bouncing around like they did barely a week before. The air was grave, and Tidus bit his lip anxiously, wanting to say something. But there wasn't anything to say in this situation. Even he couldn't believe Riku's actions. Even though his knuckles were slightly bruised, that punch on Riku's eye had felt so good. He ran his fingers over his knuckles gently. He half smirked, knowing that Riku'd have that bruise for awhile. He needed something to mar his pretty face, anyway.
After the silent ride, preparing to board the Gummi Ship and waiting in line for tickets was just as quiet. When Sora purchased his, his voice was a whisper and he had to repeat things a couple times over before the receptionist could figure out what he was trying to say. Tidus quickly purchased his tickets, and they walked briskly toward their gate and boarded the Gummi Ship. They sat next to each other toward the back of the plane. The plane was nearly empty, with exceptions of a few other families. Most people were heading toward the warmth of Destiny Islands, rather than from it.
Tidus opened his mouth to say something comforting to Sora, but he couldn't think of anything. Comfort wasn't really ever his specialty. After a little while of trying to work out things in his brain, he settled for silence. He thought that Sora would prefer it that way, anyway.
The trip home was a long one.
&!&!
Roxas and Axel held hands in the Gummi port, supporting each other. Axel was mad as hell at Riku, but pushed it to the back of his mind right now because Sora was more important. Roxas was just worried beyond belief, and couldn't stop fidgeting.
Over the intercom Sora's ship was announced to have arrived, and they dropped hands. There was no point in upsetting Sora over the little things.
A few minutes later they met Sora at baggage claim, and he was looking terrible. His eyes were dull and he dragged his feet, a complete 180 from how he usually was. Tidus hovered around Sora protectively, and even lifted Sora's bag off the conveyor when it came by as well as his own.
Axel and Roxas approached, and immediately Roxas gathered his brother into a hug. Axel took both of Sora's bags and slung the carry-on over his shoulder. He glanced at Tidus and gave him a nod of thanks. Tidus returned it.
Axel looked at Sora. "Let's go, kiddo."
&!&!
On the way back to Roxas and Axel's apartment they stopped at Sora's favorite fast food restaurant and they were overjoyed to see that it made Sora happier, even if the difference was miniscule. Roxas always knew that the right food could cheer Sora up. It never failed.
Axel babbled on the way back to the apartment, trying to make conversation to distract Sora. His attempts worked a little better than Tidus's, and Axel never gave up on him. Roxas was even in on it, asking Sora questions, like "Don't you think it would be cool if Axel and I got a puppy, Sora?" "What do you want for dinner later tonight, Sora?" "You can sleep on the bed with me tonight, Sora. We'll make Axel and his lanky ass sleep on the lumpy couch. Sound good?"
The last question earned a giggle from Sora, which Axel and Roxas saw as a triumphant victory. They arrived at the apartment, and Axel toted all the bags in, while Roxas babbled to Sora about their new video game. Axel smirked. He knew what they'd be doing for the rest of the night.
&!&!
Sora
&!&!
For the next week, Sora and Roxas made regular trips between Riku's apartment and Roxas's. Sora owned the majority of the stuff there, and Roxas's car was tiny so they could only take a small amount of possessions with them. Roxas was mostly astonished by the amount of cat toys Sora had, and Sora insisted on taking them because he was positive that Autumn would show up eventually, and he wanted to be ready for her when she did. On the last day that Sora would need to take a trip to the apartment, Sora wanted to go alone so he was dropped off by Axel and Roxas, with a promise for them to return to him in an hour. Sora numbly fingered the keys in his hand that he'd used so long, coming and going through the doors of the apartment that he'd lived in so long.
It sure was going to be different staying somewhere else. He'd already gotten a job and started a savings account so he didn't have to mooch off Axel and Roxas for the rest of his life. He planned on saving all the money he got (he got a job at the place where he bought all of Autumn's food) and putting it toward a one bedroom apartment of his own.
He glanced at the couple of boxes that wouldn't fit in the car the day before. He set the keys on the counter, and for a minute the thought of writing a note crossed his mind. But he pushed it aside- Riku didn't deserve a note.
He gave the keys one last glace, and made sure to grab a package of Pop-tarts for the road. He stacked the light boxes on top of one another in his arms, then he shut the apartment door behind him. He was about to walk down the stairs, but stopped, and looked at the door across the hall. He hadn't talked to the neighbor in forever… and the little old lady was so sweet. He sighed, and knocked on the door.
The old lady grasped her hands together and smiled at the sight of him. "Sora! Come in son, come in!"
Sora went it and set his boxes down, ready to spend a few minutes with the woman. The thought of leaving without saying bye to her hurt more than the thought of leaving without saying bye to Riku.
How sad.
&!&!
Riku
&!&!
When Sora left, at first Riku didn't know what to think. His initial reaction was, 'Oh, he'll come back. He always does.' He waited an hour.
No Sora.
A day.
Still no Sora.
Over the week he slowly realized that Sora wasn't coming back. And that thought made him numb. The numbness got worse and worse as the days went on, but no one would understand. He could try talking to Wakka about it, but all Wakka wanted to talk about was beaches, so that conversation would get off track quickly. He couldn't talk to his dad, of course. His dad was only available for business advice (as if he ever cared enough about the business to want that). There was always Kadaj…
No. That would probably work about as well as talking to his dad about relationship advice.
So that left no one. And he couldn't show his feelings, because then he would have to explain. And he didn't want to.
The black eye Tidus gave him slowly faded, and a week later it was just a shadow under his eye, but a constant reminder of what a dickbag he felt like. Sometimes he'd poke at it, knowing that it would throb. He deserved much worse than a throbbing eye.
For the first time the whole week that Sora was missing, Riku went into Sora's room. Riku looked at the neatness of Sora's old room, not surprised. Sora was always neat.
Riku snorted. Except when it came to the coffee table. Sora threw everything onto the coffee table, especially Pop-tart wrappers.
Sora, however, had left a cat carrier on the bed, along with Autumn's suitcase of food. Riku felt a pang in his heart, and felt even more like a dickbag. He hadn't even thought about Autumn in the past week. However, if he found her, he knew that the first thing he would do would be to take her back to Sora. There was no way he was keeping her, when she didn't even like him. She was going straight back to her rightful owner.
And maybe- just maybe- he'd say sorry. He felt completely sorry, but putting it into words would be the hard part. He tossed himself onto the comfortable bed, and closed his eyes. He thought back to the events of when Sora was staying here. The same events that led up to Sora leaving.
Neither of them heard the stomps down the hallway, and neither of them heard Sora's door creak open.
"Riku."
Riku's eyes jerked awake, knowing who the voice belonged to. He sat up, and saw his dad standing in the doorway, looking at Sora and Riku with disapproval and disgust.
"Breakfast's ready." He spat. Sephiroth walked away, not bothering to shut the door.
Riku looked down at Sora, who was sleeping peacefully. Riku was glad that Sora didn't witness his father coming in.
Riku sighed, and lay back down on the bed. His father wasn't going to look at him the same now.
His dad hadn't looked happy until Sora was gone. Unwillingly, the night that Sora left crept to the front of his mind.
"What the fuck?! Riku, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Riku pulled away from the kiss, and looked at them with half-lidded eyes. When he realized Sora was there, he snapped out of it and shoved Kadaj off him violently. "Sora! Tidus!" He ran his fingers through his hair and fought for something to say. "I… didn't know you were there…" He commented lamely.
Tidus pushed past Sora and got up in Riku's face. Tidus wasn't a big guy, but he knew how to use his fists when he was pissed. He threw a punch and Riku right on the eye; Riku stumbled backward, holding his face. "You bastard." He spat on Riku.
He whipped around for Kadaj. "That goes for you, too. Who the fuck do you think you are?" He made his way toward Kadaj, who changed to a defensive stance.
"What, you're going to pick a fight with me? I was only kissing him because his boyfriend," He jabbed a thumb in Sora's direction, "doesn't know how to keep him happy." He sneered at Sora, his attention altered from Tidus. "I was merely making him happy again, you whiny little prick." All of his attention was on Sora now, and he didn't see Tidus coming. Tidus swung his foot around and kicked Kadaj in the gut, causing him to double over.
Tidus spat on Kadaj too. "Don't get back up, bitch."
Riku rested his hands on his face in shame. He couldn't believe that he'd done that; he didn't have the excuse of being drunk- he was almost completely sober by then. Sober enough to think straight.
And if that wasn't enough, he let himself fall again to Kadaj's seductions again just the day before.
Riku idly tossed darts at the board, not really aiming, but not doing too terribly. He threw his last dart at the board, and walked toward it emotionlessly. He pulled them out of the cork, and then walked back to his spot to start throwing them again.
He didn't even notice Kadaj standing in the throwing spot.
"You're looking pretty down, Riku."
Riku shrugged, and set the darts back onto the dartboard. He already knew that with Kadaj here, there was no way he was getting anything done. "Distracted, I guess."
Kadaj walked around Riku and wrapped his arms around Riku's waist. His head went to rest on his shoulder. "How bout we work on that then?" Kadaj's lips met Riku's neck and Kadaj began to gently suck and nip at the sensitive skin. Kadaj slowly led Riku to the couch, and laid him down there. Kadaj straddled Riku, and kissed him fiercely. Riku's mind clouded over with lust. Not long after that, clothes flew off, and Riku couldn't even think anymore. He was distracted- way too distracted.
Riku shuddered thinking about what he did. Kadaj had a way of bringing things like that out of people.
"MRRRROOOOOWWWWWWW!"
Riku jumped off the bed in fright, and whipped his body so it was facing the slider door.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw a very pissed, very dirty Autumn. She was batting at the door, and glaring at him. He hurdled over the bed and threw open the slider, and began hyperventilating as she sauntered into the room and onto the bed. She plopped her butt down by the suitcase and gave him a glare.
His fingers fumbled while trying to open the suitcase and then a can of food.
"Baby girl, where have you been this whole time?! I've got no doubt that Sora's been so worried about you!" Riku stroked her while she wolfed down her food.
"Baby, you're skinny…" Riku could feel her ribs, then a thought crossed his mind. "Damn it Autumn, you were never fixed, you better not be pregnant…" he shook his head at the thought. Autumn's not sociable, so it wasn't likely that she'd let a cat hump her.
So, no evil baby kittens.
She was soon done with her food, and Riku cuddled her. "First things first, you need a bath…"
He washed her up, avoiding her claws when she decided she didn't like the water on her fur. Other than a few lash outs, she did pretty well with the bath. He dried her off, and couldn't resist the urge to laugh out loud because she looked like a wet, unhappy rat. He fluffed out her fur, then fashioned a mohawk on her head.
Riku stopped giving her random hairstyles when there was a knock on the door.
"Riku?"
It was Kadaj.
"Yeah?"
"Are you taking a shower?"
Riku got up, Autumn in arm, and opened the door. "No."
Kadaj pouted. "Aww, I wanted to join. I-" He noticed the wet cat in Riku's arms. "Who's that?"
"Autumn… Sora's cat."
Kadaj remembered after a moment. "Oh, I remember. That's the cat I let out at the company party last week." He reached forward to pet her but she hissed at him. "Well, aren't you the bitch?"
Riku took a step back so he wouldn't reach out at her again. "What do you mean, you let her out at the party last week?"
Kadaj folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe. "I let her out because I wanted to be alone with you, and I knew that he would go right after her if she was gone." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Can you blame me?" He reached forward to grab Riku's hip, but Riku took a step back.
"That was you?" He subconsciously cuddled Autumn closer. "You're the one who did that?"
Kadaj nodded. "Does that surprise you?" He took a step closer, cornering Riku in the bathroom. "I told you, when I want something, I go after it. I make battle plans. And this little beauty was- so to speak- the atomic bomb."
Riku stroked her behind the ears and she purred. He felt like punching Kadaj, but held himself back because he didn't want to drop Autumn. He was afraid of her taking off again now that she was safe in his arms. "She's been an inside cat all her life, and you let her out? Let alone in a place that she doesn't even know?" He face was getting a reddish tinge from anger.
Kadaj tipped his head slightly to the side. "Why are you angry? I succeeded in getting rid of Sora."
"And you also broke his heart twice. Get the fuck out of my way." Riku walked toward the door, but Kadaj blocked it.
"Don't tell me you're running back to him. You've been complained about fighting with him, and now you're going back? I had no idea you were such a pussy, Riku. That kid's got you by the balls, apparently." Kadaj's stance was firm in front of the door.
Riku pushed past him violently, causing Kadaj to lose his footing and stumble. "I'm not a pussy, I just… love him. And I can't believe it's taken me this long to realize that." Riku walked to the bed, and shoved Autumn in her carrier. He ignored Kadaj, who was complaining in his ear.
He picked up the suitcase, and with one last glare Kadaj's way, he left. All there was left to do was grab his luggage and go to the airport.
And then, home.
&!&!
The whole ride back, Riku was fidgety. He read through the crappy magazines provided for the flight to try and distract himself, but that barely succeeded.
When he got to the gummiport, he was quick to get his luggage and to get Autumn. He hailed a taxi, then took off for home.
He just hoped that Sora would be there.
&!&!
He dropped his suitcases at the door, and fumbled to unlock the door. It flew open…
and the apartment was practically empty. He stepped in, and hung his keys on the key rack. He gently set Autumn onto the floor, and walked through the apartment, looking at all the missing things.
Sora's things. The dresser was empty, and the medicine cabinet looked sparse with only Riku's things in it. The decorations around the apartment were gone, and Riku noticed that some of the pictures were too. Sora's favorite ones. He walked back out into the kitchen, where Autumn was meowing furiously in her cage, wanting to be let out. He ignored her when he spotted a sliver glint from the counter.
Keys. Not just keys, Sora's keys. He lifted them up and stuffed them into his pocket, fighting back tears. It was too late, he'd missed Sora. He'd already packed up everything… that meant that he'd already taken Riku out of his life.
There was one other place that Sora could be, but Riku wasn't sure if he was welcome there. Actually, he knew that he most definitely was NOT welcome there. He walked, downcast, over to the door, and was about to shut it, but saw his neighbor's door creak open. He paused for a moment, but he knew it was just the little old lady that lived there. Sora really liked her. He shook his head and started pushing the door shut again.
"Riku?"
He paused. That wasn't the little old lady. He threw the door open, and was shocked, but overwhelmingly happy.
"Sora?"
Sora nodded. "What are you doing back already?" Sora was holding a couple of boxes. Riku rushed over to take them from him.
Riku brought the light boxes back into the apartment and put them next to Autumn's cage. "Why don't you come in and see?"
Sora stood still by the old lady's door. "I don't know if I should…"
A meow pierced the air, and all of a sudden Sora couldn't get in the apartment quick enough. He knelt down by the cage and opened the latch with expert hands. He scooped up Autumn and began to cuddle her, silently crying with happiness. "Ohh, Autumn baby, you're back!" He kissed her head a few times. "Oh, and you've had a bath! But you're so skinny…"
Riku stood there in silence, smiling slightly at the scene. "She came running back to your slider door earlier today, and I got here as soon as possible. I knew you'd want her back…"
"Well, thanks then. Roxas is going to be here soon, so…" Sora tried to pick up everything while still juggling Autumn, but the boxes balanced on one arm began to wobble. Riku rushed forward to help him again.
"I got it." Axel rushed forward from the door and snatched the boxes from Riku. "You can go now."
"This is my apartment," Riku retorted.
Roxas set himself by Sora, and glared at Riku. "Then go somewhere else, we got this covered."
Sora looked down at his feet, not knowing what to say at the awkward silence.
"Sora,"
"Just go," Sora whispered.
Riku nodded curtly, and walked into the bedroom.
Roxas looked at the bundle in Sora's arms. "I see you got Autumn back." He smiled at her, and scratched under her chin. She purred. "You don't look as fat, hun. You gunna stay skinny from now on?" He clapped his hands together. "Okay, Ax, you take those boxes you're holding out to the car-"
"I figured as much, since I'm holding them and all."
"Don't sass me," Roxas retorted. "Sora, all you have to do is carry Autumn, and what's in this suitcase?" He pointed toward black on the on the floor.
"That's Riku's," Sora explained, then motioned toward a dark green one by Autumn's carrier. "The green one is full of her food, so we need that one."
Roxas nodded, and pulled out the handle of the suitcase. "Alright, I'll take her food and carrier, you take the cat. Since we've got all that settled… good riddance, apartment. Let's skedaddle." He ushered Axel out the door. "Come on love, walk a little faster," he prodded Axel and hit him in the butt with the cat cage.
Axel looked over his shoulder and playfully glared at him. He noticed that Sora still hadn't moved. "Sor, are you coming?"
Sora snapped out of his trance. "Yeah, yeah, I am. Let's go."
Axel walked out the door, and Roxas followed closely. When Sora was almost through the doorframe, he heard a door squeak open behind him.
"Sora." It wasn't a question.
Sora looked over his shoulder at Riku, who was now out of the bedroom. "Bye."
"Sora wait here for one second, please. I can't let you walk out that door without at least saying something to you."
Sora adjusted Autumn in his arms. "I don't think you really have to say anything, your actions spoke pretty clearly on Destiny Islands."
"Sora, please, just listen to me for a second." Riku took a few steps closer to him, then glanced at Roxas and Axel. "Can I please just talk to him for a second? Alone?"
Axel shook his head. "If you want to say something, then say it in front of us, too. And don't you dare take one more step closer to him."
"Fine." Riku rooted himself to the spot. "Alright, Sora, I'm sorry. I'm very, very, undeniably sorry. I can't even make the excuse that I was drunk when we kissed because you and I both know that I wasn't." Roxas snorted, but Riku ignored him.
Riku took a step forward, and Axel glared at him. "I told you not to move, now if you wanna continue talking to him, stay put!"
Riku nodded at him. "As I was saying. He kissed me, not the other way around."
"Yet you didn't do anything to stop him, knowing full well that you had a boyfriend." Sora cut in.
Riku sighed dramatically. "I know, I know. And I'm sorry."
"You said that already."
Riku bit his lip to keep from snapping back at Sora. Sora deserved to be mean to him for once. "Sora I don't want you to leave me."
"It doesn't really matter what you want, Riku. I'm leaving because I actually deserve a boyfriend who's going to care about me 24/7. Not just when he's upset and drunk." Sora's voice remained level, but anyone could tell that he was mad. "Now, I'm leaving. Goodbye."
"Wait!" Riku ran forward a few steps, and Axel dropped the boxes and appeared in front of Sora before Riku could get too close.
"Now, I told you to stay in the same spot! If you take one more step toward him, Kingdom Hearts help you, I will kick your ass in your own home. Now back up."
Riku took a few steps backwards.
"That's better." Axel narrowed his eyes. "Now stay there until we're out of sight of this damned building." He grabbed the boxes, and ushered Sora out the door, staying behind him.
The door shut with of a sense of finality.
Riku stood there for a moment, arguing with himself. Was he supposed to just stand there and let him walk away, or was he supposed to go after him?
He knew what he wanted to do, but he was damn sure that Axel and Roxas would rip him apart before he even got close.
But he also knew that he couldn't just stand there. He had to give it one last try.
&!&!
Axel stayed protectively behind Sora the whole walk to the car. Roxas kept shooting looks brimming with hatred at the building door, as if daring Riku to do something as stupid as to come back out. They were quick to load up the car because rain was starting to come down quickly.
They heard the building door slam open, and Axel began to grumble. "If that son of a bitch hasn't learned yet…" All three of them twirled around and guarded their faces from the pelting rain as Riku sprinted toward them.
Axel stomped forward, but Sora put his hand out and stopped him. "Ax, thanks for everything, but I can take care of this one."
Axel's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you sure, Sora?"
He nodded, then started walking toward Riku, whose sprint had slowed down to a walk. "Riku, I told you, I'm-"
Riku shut Sora up with a kiss, and Roxas and Axel protested loudly.
At first, Sora melted into it, but his senses returned a moment later. He pushed Riku off with all his might. "Riku! A kiss isn't going to fix everything, and it's not going to make me come back!" Sora took a step back from him. "I can't believe you'd even think I'd come running right back after just a kiss."
Riku breathed deeply, and gathered himself for a moment. "I know, I know. I just felt like I owed you that, whether or not you decided you wanted to come back or not. I've barely kissed you in the past few months, so I hope that made up for it." He crossed his arms pitifully. "Now, you can go ahead and leave." He turned to walk away, and stopped. "But, I do want you back, just know that." He started walking.
Sora watched him go for a moment. "Promise me."
His back was facing Sora, so Sora didn't see his grin. He turned around. "Promise you what, babe?"
Sora sighed at face-palmed himself. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered to himself. He lifted his head up and looked at Riku. "Promise me that you're going to be faithful to me. Promise that you're actually going to love me, and spend time with me." He paused and added another thought, "And dammit promise me that when I want to have sex, we'll have sex!"
Riku rushed forward and pulled him into a suffocating hug, and began kissing his face. "I promise baby, I promise. We can go right now if you want to, that sound okay?"
Sora laughed. "Nice try, but not now. But can we at least get inside? It's wet out here, and I don't think Autumn appreciates being stuck in the car."
Riku nodded vigorously, sending water droplets flying everywhere. "Let's go."
Axel and Roxas stood together, dumbfounded.
Roxas crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Damn it Sora, I trust your judgment, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to trust him."
Axel put his arm around Roxas. "I'm with blondie here. And what about your stuff? It's all at our place."
Riku was quick to think of a solution. "Leave it there. We're moving out of here, and getting a bigger apartment."
Sora looked up at him with surprise. "What?"
Riku smiled. "You heard me. I don't want to stay here in an apartment with barely any room to move and bad memories. So we're gunna move. We'll start looking tomorrow, since our lease is almost up anyway."
Roxas couldn't help but smile at Riku. "Well, nice recovery there. We'll take these few boxes, but you take your cat, deal? See if you can get an apartment as soon as possible because Sora's got a lot of shit and it's taking up our whole spare bedroom."
Sora stuck his tongue out. "It's not like you need that room anyway, not unless Axel's pregnant."
Axel shot Sora a mocking glare, then pulled Roxas tighter into him. "Alright, well let's all get going because it's freakin' pouring buckets out here. Now take your fat, evil cat."
Sora walked over to the car and pulled her out. "She's not evil…" he cooed at the cat. "And for the record, she's not fat either."
She was, however, pissed off about the rain.
Riku grabbed her carrier and the suitcase of food out from the car. Everyone said their goodbyes, and Axel and Roxas made sure to deliver Riku a threat if he was ever to hurt Sora again.
He laughed at that. There was no way he was going to hurt Sora again, not after all the promises he made,
and meant.
&!&!
Thanks again to everyone that has or is about to review!
