Chapter 4: Different But Connected
The sky was pale violet shade, a result of the sun's last reflections on the clouds that had rolled in during the early afternoon. Three days had passed since Skye's first full day on the Islands. The four teens were sitting in a circle on the beach, talking.
"Are you okay Kairi?" Skye asked, hiding a smile at the strange look on the other girl's face.
"It's cold." Kairi answered, pouting. Skye rolled her eyes.
"It's not that bad." She argued. Riku shrugged.
"It is cold for the season, but it's kind of nice. The summers are always so hot here." Meanwhile, Sora had wrapped his arms around Kairi, who leaned gratefully into the warmth.
"Thanks Sora." She murmured, smiling. He smiled back at her.
"Anything for you." He answered. Riku made a gagging noise.
"I don't mind sweet," he stated, "but this is sickening." Skye nudged him.
"Oh come on, it's cute!" She said, going starry eyed over how adorable Kairi and Sora were. He let out an exaggerated sigh.
"Oh no, they've brainwashed you too!" He said, feigning horror. There was a pause, and Sora raised an eyebrow, smirking.
"Oh, I get it. Riku's jealous!" He said, almost accusing. Skye and Kairi started laughing.
"No way." Riku answered, though the blush creeping onto his cheeks said otherwise. There was a long pause as they all watched him, each grinning. He decided to change the subject. "Hey, why don't we start a bonfire? It'll warm us up." He suggested. Kairi nodded vigorously.
"Good idea! Very good idea!" She agreed. Skye stood up.
"Why don't me and Riku go get the wood, so you two can be alone for a while." She teased. Kairi grinned and stuck her tongue out at Skye's and Riku's retreating backs. Snuggling closer to Sora, she giggled.
"I think you hit the nail on the head." She whispered. He blinked at her.
"Huh? Oh, you mean Riku being jealous? I was just kidding." He answered. She nodded.
"I know, but did you see his face? I think it's true."
………………………………………………………………….
Both Skye and Riku were standing underneath the palm trees, staring up at the leaves above them.
"Where do we get wood to build a fire?" Skye asked after a long pause.
"I dunno." Riku answered, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Well you're a great help." She told him, shaking her head and smirking. He shrugged.
"You're no better."
"Right, but I don't live here. How should I know where to get wood?" She asked, her smirk widening into a grin. He sighed, blowing strands of his silver hair, which were hanging in his eyes, out of the way. It wasn't working very well. Skye watched, looking amused as he leaned against a tree trunk, eyes crossed, blowing strands of hair out of his face only to have them fall right back where they were. He shook his head, gave up, and ran his fingers through his hair.
"There might be some drift wood around, underneath the bridge." He suggested suddenly, motioning for her to follow. The two climbed halfway across the dilapidated bridge. Riku grabbed onto the edge, swung down, and landed smoothly on a rock below. Skye was going to take a few steps further across and then swing down herself, but on her first step, the board collapsed and she let out a yelp, tumbling not-so-gracefully towards the water below. Riku cringed, waiting for the splash, but it never came. Skye had grabbed nimbly onto one of the supports and was standing on one of the cross beams, grinning triumphantly.
"Tada!" She shouted, hopping down onto the flat rock he was standing on. He nodded.
"Very impressive. I'm surprised you were able to catch yourself like that. A move like that does take skill, after all." He said. She laughed.
"Be glad it wasn't you." She retorted. He raised an eyebrow.
"And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" He asked.
"It means that you'd never be able to do that in a million years." She answered, smirking.
"You'd never be able to do it again in a billion." He replied, grinning back at her.
"I have ten times the grace that you do." She told him matter-of-factly.
"But what's grace when you have no balance?" He asked. She just grinned in reply and pushed him. He hadn't been expecting it, and after a moment of swinging his arms to try and keep upright, he fell forward, barely catching himself on one of the beams.
"Who's got no balance?" She asked smugly. His arms tensed; she noticed it.
"Not you." He answered, pushing hard on the beam as he spoke. He threw his weight backwards, and would have collided with Skye had she not been prepared and stepped nimbly out of the way, swinging herself up into the crossbeam that she had caught herself on before. She grinned smugly down at Riku's figure sprawled across the rock below her.
"I'm sorry? Who was it you said had no balance?" She asked, barely holding back laughter. He just rolled his eyes, grinning, and got up. She looked over her shoulder, noticing a pair of good sized logs pushed up against the rocky wall by the tide. "Aren't we supposed to be looking for wood?" She asked, suppressing a grin. He shrugged and nodded, picking up the big piece of driftwood wedged between the rock he was standing on and one of the bridge's supports. Meanwhile, Skye swung herself through and across the underside of the bridge and then, hooking her knees around a crossbeam, swung down, upside down, and collected the two logs she'd noticed earlier. Her hair was long enough that the ends of her black curls brushed the surface of the water. Riku looked up at her and grinned.
"What are you, half monkey?" He asked, semi-surprised. She looked up at him, throwing her hair back out of her face and spraying water droplets everywhere, and grinned back.
"What, you mean you can't do this?" She asked, swinging herself back upright and crossing the underside of the bridge again, though this time more carefully. She did, after all, only have one hand to use since the other arm was full carrying the logs. She pulled herself up onto the topside of the bridge, taking Riku's driftwood, and then offered him a hand up. Once they were both back on top of the bridge, he grinned.
"Careful. The boards are loose." He said. She nodded.
"Thanks for the warning." She answered sarcastically, shaking her head with a slight smile. They headed back to the palm trees where Riku said they'd find kindling. Skye, who was also carrying the logs, had her arms full of wood a good while before Riku. She was standing against one of the trees, looking out at the sky as one by one, the stars began to appear. The light breeze danced around her, playing with strands of her hair. Every once in a while the light would fall just so, and the stars reflected in her emerald eyes. A small smile graced her features for just a moment, and, not looking away from the horizon, she spoke.
"Are you waiting for me to leave or are you just staring because you feel like it?" She asked, clearly amused. Riku mentally slapped himself and grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry. I've got about all the kindling I can carry though, so should we go?" He asked, wanting to change the subject. That's twice, he noted to himself. She walked toward him, nodding.
"I think we've left Sora and Kairi alone for much too long." She replied, her mischievous grin returning. The two started walking away from the cove and back towards the beach house. Riku laughed.
"That's true. I can't be held responsible for what you might see them doing when we get back though." He told her. She blinked at him.
"Why would I blame you?" She asked, totally confused. He shrugged.
"I don't know. Just in case." He answered. She shook her head, sighing.
"You're weird."
"And you're not?"
"I never said that."
"You implied it."
"I did no such thing!" She told him, pretending to be offended. She took a step towards him to push him, but instead, caught her foot on his and sidestepped to catch her balance, only to find that there was no ground on the other side of her: only a short drop and then water. She yelped. With his free arm, Riku reached out and caught her, hauling her back upright again and pulling her against him until she regained her balance. She grinned sheepishly. He smirked.
"I thought you said you had balance." He said nonchalantly. She shook her head.
"Nope. I said you didn't have balance either." She answered in a very matter-of-fact manner. Another smile played across her lips. "You were the one that said I had no balance. You have a bad memory." She told him.
"You can't remember what you did yesterday." He answered.
"Can so." She told him, nose in the air. He smirked.
"Fine. What did you do yesterdaa--!" As he was talking, he stepped on a rotting board and, with a loud crack, dropped unceremoniously into the water below, scattering kindling everywhere. She stumbled and barely kept herself upright; neither of them had realized it until then, but they'd been walking arm in arm since Skye had nearly fallen into the water. She carefully picked up the kindling spilled on the bridge while Riku did the same with the wood in the water. Then, she leaned down, grinning, and offered him a hand up.
"Careful. Some of the boards are loose." She echoed his earlier warning that had come too late. He grinned back at her and, taking her hand, climbed back up to the upper side of the bridge. Their fingers stayed laced together, and the memory of what had almost happened on the air mattress in the water flooded her mind so forcefully that she almost lost her balance. It wasn't just that though. Another memory was running through her head behind it, just beyond her reach, allowing her only glimpses of the parallels between the two memories. Someone close to her. Someone with blue eyes. Water and Laughter. Sunlight and the creaking sound of waterlogged wood. Riku was giving her a weird look.
"You alright?" He asked, sounding uncertainly worried. She ran her fingers through her hair, thinking carefully.
"That creaking…a dock? I used to live near a dock?" She asked herself, squeezing her eyes shut and trying to draw the memory back. She could recall the sound with perfect clarity, but she was only able to picture the docks on the Islands. "It's gone." She decided, looking up at Riku. He was watching her with real worry now.
"What's gone?" He asked. When she didn't answer, he reached carefully towards her and tilted her face up to his. "Skye?" He spoke louder, as if it was simply a matter of her not having heard him before. She blinked a few times and seemed to return to herself. She gave her had a rapid shake and smiled at him.
"Sorry. Spaced out there for a minute." She explained, looking earnest. He gave her a look that told her plainly he didn't believe her for a minute. She sighed. "What else sounds like a dock?" She asked. He looked surprised.
"What?"
"The sound that a dock makes. The creaking." She urged. "What else sounds like it? Something about it jogged my memory of home, but I couldn't quite remember all of it. Only the sounds and someone with blue eyes." She explained. Riku crossed his arms.
"Are you sure it wasn't actually a dock that was in your memory?" He asked. She nodded with a surprising certainty. There was a long pause. "I can't think of anything. Maybe we can ask Kairi and Sora." He offered. She shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. It'll come back sooner or later. No use fretting about it now." She said. He snickered.
"Fretting? Makes you sound like Grandma." He told her. She stuck her tongue out at him.
"I happen to think Grandma Rose is a very nice lady."
"So do I, but that doesn't make her any less old and kinda frumpy." He answered. She blinked at him.
"Frumpy? What's a frumpy?" She asked, confused. He shrugged, laughing more at himself than anything.
"I don't even know. Selphie was ranting about something and she said it. I thought it was funny, so now I use it." He admitted.
"And you don't know what it means?"
"Nope."
"And you use it because you heard Selphie said it?"
"Yep."
"Brilliant." She said sarcastically, grinning. She'd met Selphie on her second day, along with Lulu and Irvine and a more formal introduction to Wakka. The pair was finally approaching Sora and Kairi. The couple had dug a small round hole in the sand and encircled it with stones.
"Took you long enough." Sora greeted them with a grin as they dumped their piles of wood next to the fire pit. Skye grinned at him.
"I'm sure you two appreciated the alone time." She answered. Neither Sora nor Kairi said anything, but both blushed slightly. Meanwhile, Riku built a cone of fire logs and stuffed some kindling into the center, and was currently sitting in the sand, staring at it.
"The wood's wet. This might take a little while to get burning." He noted. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. Sora shook his head and got his Keyblade. Standing back a few feet from the wood, he cast a fire spell. The wood burst into momentary flame before fizzling out and leaving a pile of wood no different from the way it had began, except for that it was now steaming. Sora pouted.
"That didn't work out too well." He said, sitting down again. Riku made a couple of attempts to get the fire started, and though his lasted longer than Sora's, none were very successful or very large. The four of them sat around an unlit fire pit for a long while before Skye picked up the lighter.
"I'll try." She offered. No one objected, but no one believed it was going to work any better this time around than it had before. She crawled forward and sat down next to the fire pit, observing it with care. Then, sticking out her tongue in concentration, she lit the lighter and held the flame against the kindling. It caught for a moment, hissing. The other three watched her, mildly interested in what she was planning to do. Absently, she handed the lighter back to Riku and cupped her hands around the now wavering flame. It looked like it was about to go out. She leaned forward and blew. By all logic, it should have gone out. While it's true that blowing on a fire helps it grow, this was no bigger than a candle flame. Still, flames burst forward, eating through all of the dampness in moments. A minute or so later, after a little bit more urging from Skye, they had a crackling bonfire. Riku, Sora and Kairi were staring at her while she grinned back at them, clearly pleased with herself.
"That was impressive." Kairi said, giggling as she moved closer to the fire. Riku shrugged.
"I could've done that if I'd really tried." He said. They all stared at him. Sora suddenly burst out laughing. A moment later the two girls were laughing at him too. Riku grinned sheepishly, shrugged again, and lay down on the sand. Skye flopped down on her back next to him. His grin turned mischievous. "Like I said. Beginner's luck." He insisted. She rolled onto her side to look at him.
"You're jealous." She told him. He shook his head.
"Try again."
"Then you're just saying this to bother me."
"Right."
"You're terrible."
"Okay, but at least I'm not the one who asked what a frumpy was."
"But you don't know either."
"That doesn't mean I had to ask."
"You're terrible and full of yourself." Skye said, rolling back over onto her back.
"How does that make me full of myself?" Riku asked, semi-surprised and slightly amused.
"And do you really think it wise to ask me how my mind works?" She asked in return. There was a long pause before he conceded.
"No, not really." He admitted. She sighed, holding in a laugh.
"You know, I've only been here for four days, but already I feel like I've known you all my life." Skye said quietly, staring up at the sky. Riku looked over at her.
"Now that you mention it, me too." He answered, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "The past four days have felt like life's gone back to normal." He admitted quietly. Skye sat up and cocked her head to one side, looking confused.
"Normal? What's that mean?" She asked, sounding concerned. A loud yawn from Kairi drew their attention.
"I'm tired." She announced. Skye smiled.
"No kidding." Sora stood up, helping Kairi up with him.
"We're heading home then. Coming?" He asked, looking at the other two. Riku shook his head.
"I'm going to stick around," he paused and looked at Skye. "If you do." He added after a moment. She nodded.
"Sure, I'll stick around for a while." She answered, motioning for Sora and Kairi to go ahead.
"See you in the morning!"
"Good night!"
………………………………………
There was a long silence as Riku and Skye lay on the sand next to each other, watching the stars pass slowly overhead. Skye's eyes fell on Riku.
"What was it you were saying before?" She asked. He blinked.
"Huh?" He sounded disoriented.
"Before, about life going back to normal. What did you mean?"
"Oh." He sighed and another long silence stretched. She was beginning to think that he wasn't going to answer when he finally spoke up. "If you've lived in a place for all your life, things are simple. It may not seem it to you at the time, but it's true."
"That's why you wanted to explore other worlds. Things were boring." Skye said, nodding. She knew about what happened before the Heartless attacked, she also knew about what had happened to Sora and Kairi. Riku was not so keen on revealing as much. He seemed almost ashamed of it. He sat up and crossed his legs, speaking again.
"Things weren't really boring. I just thought that other worlds would be something to see. I'd always thought that one day I'd go explore another world, Kairi's home world, and then come back again and continue with my life. It'd be like a vacation." He paused. They both knew it wasn't. He looked suddenly down at her, with an expression near confusion. Whatever it was, it was really bothering him. "I can't just come back here and pick up where I left off. This isn't my life anymore. It belongs to a 15 year old kid with a good heart. Not me." As he spoke, he got a look on his face like he was admitting guilt. She sat up next to him.
"What do you mean, not you? You have a good heart." She told him confidently. He shook his head.
"I was possessed by Ansem." His voice had finality to it that she couldn't understand.
"So…?" Her tone came as a surprise to Riku. He'd been expecting her to at least react to it. To at least change her opinion of him because of it. Instead, she didn't seem to care.
"So I was possessed by the Master of Darkness." He said, his surprise conveyed in his voice. She shrugged.
"But you're not anymore, and that's what counts. Besides, if you didn't have a good heart, he probably wouldn't have let go of you."
"He didn't exactly 'let go'. Sora and I kind of forced him out. Mostly Sora though." He admitted. She crossed her arms triumphantly.
"Exactly. You fought it and so that means you have a good heart." She decided. "And anyways, if you're not happy with the life you're leading, change it." She added, bringing them back to the original conversation. He stared at her.
"I can't just change it."
"Why not?"
"Because! There's nothing to change it to. Everything on the Islands is simple. Except me."
"Then leave. If you want to lead your life somewhere more…complex, then go there."
"I can't just leave."
"Why not?" She asked again. Again Riku stared at her like she was crazy.
"Because I can't just up and leave. People would worry, especially Grandma. And I can't just leave my friends behind."
"Then you're choosing to stay." She maintained. He was getting a little frustrated.
"I can't leave." He repeated.
"There' nothing stopping you. But, you don't want Grandma to worry and you don't want to leave your friends, so you make the choice to stay." She insisted. There was a long pause, and then she spoke again. "If you want to go, do it. Just like there's nothing stopping you from leaving, there's nothing stopping you from coming back again."
"They'd never forgive me if I just left with no explanation."
"You did last time and they certainly weren't mad. Kairi said her dad was even planning on throwing a party for the second year anniversary of yours and Sora's return. And Tidus. You said he left with very little explanation, but no one's disowned him. They'll all just be happy to see him whenever he comes back to visit. Besides, if you gave them an explanation, then it's not even an issue."
"Still, they'd worry."
"I don't think they'd worry too much about you. They know you can take care of yourself, considering everything that you've been through. If you survived then, you'll be okay now too." Riku smiled slightly at her.
"Sounds like you want me to leave." He said in a fake accusatory voice. Skye shrugged.
"You told me you wanted to leave." She answered. He sighed. She knew what he was thinking. Sora had traveled with two others, Donald and Goofy. Riku traveled the worlds alone. It was obvious, to her anyways, that he'd been jealous, even if no one ever actually said so. She sat up and smiled at him. "I'd go with you, you know. There's nothing tying me here but you, Sora and Kairi. And I think they'd come too, if you asked them."
Riku nodded. "Maybe I will then." He paused, grinning. "After the party. Kairi's planning it. She'd be very upset if none of us showed up." They stood up, a silent agreement that it was time to follow Sora and Kairi.
"Sleep is good." Skye commented, standing on Grandma Rose's front porch with Riku, who made a face at her.
"I guess. See you tomorrow." He stepped down onto the first step and then stopped. "Selphie said she wanted you and Kairi to meet her at the Square tomorrow at lunch. She says she has a surprise for you." He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I forgot until now. Tell Kairi tomorrow morning, because I'll forget again."
"No problem." She answered with a nod and opened the door. He took another step down and stopped again.
"Skye?" His voice gave away a hint of apprehension. She stopped and looked at him curiously. "Thanks."