PREVIOUSLY, Riku had taken a serious beating from Ame's psycho guardian, Master Hana, and been rescued later by Sora and the others while Ame was dragged off home. What will happen now? Well, read it already!
"There's no such thing as a memory that's okay to forget."—Momiji Sohma, Fruits Basket
Chapter 7: Sora Steps Up
"Here, Riku," said Naminé in her gentle angel's voice, "Keep these on your wrists until they get cold." She carefully wrapped two wet, hot washcloths around his weak, limp wrists; he was wearing a white baggy T-shirt and was covered with a thick quilt. He was propped up slightly by a soft pile of pillows and his chest hurt with the cold. Every breath was painful and all he could think of was Ame.
"Ame…" he mumbled feverishly, "Ame…"
"What's wrong with him?" asked Roxas, standing opposite Naminé by the bed. Naminé felt Riku's forehead.
"He's a bit delirious," she reported, "and I'm definitely feeling a fever. That won't do." She moved both hands to the sides of his head and closed her eyes with a gentle expression.
"Ame," said Riku, "My Ame…"
"Sshhh…" Naminé cooed soothingly, "It's all right, Riku. Ame needs you to be strong now. Rest, brother. Sleep in peaceful skies. Dream of warm sunshine and calming waters. Rest."
He calmed down and slept deeply, his fever banished. He looked so peaceful, it made Roxas sleepy!
A tear landed on the quilt and Roxas looked up to see Naminé rubbing one of her eyes with her head bowed.
"Naminé!" he said quietly and went to hold her, "What's wrong?"
"I…" she said, "I lived with Riku…for a whole year. He really is like my brother. I…"
"Hey, it's okay," Roxas smiled and leaned her head to him, "You're doing great, really. His fever's all gone, so that's one less thing to worry about, and we're getting a fire going in the den so we'll have him up and running in no time. You're a great healer, Naminé." He kissed her on her head.
"Now come on," he said, "Let's let Riku rest a bit. I want to see how Susie handles the sensei!" (SusieRiku's Mom)
She had failed.
Ame lay crying in her bed, those accursed manacles forbidding any attempt at rebellion. Her phone was confiscated, her computer taken up, her windows and skylight locked from outside, her silver coffee thermos full of water hanging pointlessly on a coat hook on the wall that made the foot of her window sill-bed.
She was a prisoner in her own home and it was her own fault. She had utterly, miserably failed.
'You weakling!' she shouted in her head, 'You promised you'd protect him and now look! He could be frozen by now if the others haven't found him yet! Who knows what's happening now?'
She looked out her window toward the ocean under the turquoise/indigo/purple sky of twilight and laid her hand against it; it was getting colder outside. If she didn't talk to someone or do something to find out about Riku, she was sure she'd go nuts.
"Sensei!" she shouted as she pounded on her locked door for the eighth time in a row, "Let me out of here! If Riku dies, I'll hate you for the rest of my life!"
Of course, she knew nothing was going to happen to him; she knew he'd have to be found by now. But the pain of not knowing was driving her crazy and made her say those foolish things, succumbing to her teenage mentality.
"I'm warning you, sensei!" she continued, "As mistress of this household, I order you to release me at once!"
Click! She jumped back in surprise as the door unlocked (Did it work?). It was Ichi-san with a house phone.
"Ame-sama," he said, "Mrs. Hakari is on the phone. She wants to speak to you."
'Riku!' she thought with a flare of red on her face.
"Arigato," she said hastily as she took it, "He-hello? Mrs. H? Is it about Riku? Is he okay?"
She could just imagine all the horrible things Riku's mother was going to say to her: "What is the meaning of this?" "You left my son to freeze to death when it's this cold?" "What kind of a girlfriend are you?" "You call yourself a waterbender?" "You told Harpo to beat me!"
'Wait,' she thought, 'That's a movie line.' Now, Ame really knew that Riku's mother would never say such things, especially to a teenage girl, but again her teenage mentality had surfaced (it's like she has a panic button that triggers foolish thoughts).
"Ame, are you all right?" said Mrs. H's lovely voice, "Don't worry about Riku; he's fine. We found him and he's home now, asleep. I'm asking about you; is everything okay?"
Ame almost couldn't believe how kind and considerate this woman was.
"I'm okay, Mrs. H," she said with a slight blush, "but…I'm so sorry about what happened."
"Don't be," said the mother, "None of this was your fault. You did everything you could to avoid it. I want to know if you're hurt as well."
"No, ma'am," she said, "Master Hana could never hurt me before, but she did clamp these bracelets on me; they block my chi so I can't waterbend. She snuck them on me during the fight. I forgot how sneaky she can be, the old devil."
"Hm," said Mom doubtfully, "Well, I'm just glad you're not hurt. If it's all right, I'd like to talk to Master Hana now."
Ame's whole face flared up; it was now Guardian vs. Mother! (Ding-ding!) Master Hana was standing in the doorway, too.
(At Riku's house…)
Susan Rioka Hakari was a natural at keeping her tone of voice objective and neutral while still getting the full effect of the message across. Hers was the voice of a true parent, respectfully addressing superiors and elders in a friendly way. In essence, she was nearly as much a lady as Granda.
While Kip and the kids were in the den building up a fire, Susie was speaking to Master Hana on the phone. She went for a formal approach.
"Master Hana?" she said, "Hello! I'm Susan Hakari; it's a pleasure."
"You're Riku's mother?" she asked, skipping formality and getting to the meat of the matter.
"Yes, I am," Susie replied, "I just called to let you know that Riku's doing just fine now. He's a strong boy, so he'll recover quickly." That sentence had a two-pronged effect: She was granting her son's attacker the courtesy of letting her know that she hadn't hurt him too badly while giving her a subtle "take that," saying that whatever she had intended, she had failed. Riku was strong enough to overcome any pain she could inflict on him.
"I hope you don't mind my calling Ame as well," she continued, "I wanted to make sure she was all right." (Like she cares if she minded or not, anyway; she's just being nice.)
"She's quite all right with me, Mrs. Hakari," she answered, "I would worry more about what your son does with her. I simply did my part as her teacher and former surrogate mother. Do you realize, Mrs. Hakari, that your son had a big hand in the Heartless outbreak last year?"
Susie's eyes sparked with slight indignity; she decided to negate the attack (she was perfectly aware of that, thank you very much).
"Do you realize, Master, Hana, that I could have you arrested for assaulting a minor child?" she asked calmly, with flawless objectivity.
"Ha! That'd be a sight," said Hana, "Cops swarming the Megami Estate? I'd love to see it tried; Granda's house is all but impregnable." (I'm not sure I used that in the right context, but you get what I'm saying, right?)
"So you're keeping Ame prisoner, is that it?" she asked with the same neutral tone. She heard Master Hana softly chuckle.
"You put words in my mouth, Mrs. Hakari," she said, "I see no point in furthering this fruitless conversation. Thank you for your concern, but I have a child to tend to and so do you. If that's all?"
Mom sighed inwardly; it was clear that this call was going nowhere.
"Yes, Miss Hana," she said, "That's all. Thank you for talking to me." She hung up the phone on the dining room table with a cloud of sadness around her. Kip came over and touched her shoulders gently.
"Not work out so well?" he asked. She shook her head.
"Hmph," he said, "You try and help somebody. Poor Riku; I know you're only trying to do what's best for him."
"It's not just Riku I'm worried about, Kip," said Susie, "It's Ame." She turned to look at her husband from the chair she was sitting in. "That poor child is shut up in that big mansion all alone with that dangerous woman? I don't like it." They started to walk down the short flight of stairs to the den.
"Neither do I," said Kip, "but what can we do? You've tried the parent route already."
"There has to be something, Kip," she said, "I can't bear to think of her in there, vulnerable to attack in her own home!" She held her arms and Kip held her, trying to think of something to say.
"You're right," he finally said, "Granda's not here to look out for her, so we've got to look out for her." Kairi nodded with a smile and looked over at Sora, who was leaning sideways on the sliding glass door to the backyard with his arms crossed and his face serious. Usually, that was Riku's thing.
"Sora?" she said, knowing Sora never looked like that unless something was really bothering him. Sora closed his eyes for a second.
"Couldn't have said it better myself, Dad," he said steadily (They're best friends. They all call each other's parents Mom and Dad). He stood straight, unfolded his arms, and faced them.
"Since Granda's not here to protect her," he said, "it's up to us." He strode past them; Kairi got a shocked, "wait—what's he gonna do?" look and trotted after him.
"Sora," she asked from behind him, "what are you gonna do?"
"What's it look like?" he said as they ascended the stairs to the first floor, "I'm going to get Ame."
Kairi stopped for a minute, then caught up with him.
"Wait," she asked, "You mean you're going to her house?"
"That's where she is, isn't it?"
"But," she said, "Sora, hold on! What are you planning to do, storm the mansion and bust her out?"
"If that's what it takes to keep my sister safe, then so be it," he replied grimly, "She needs us and I'm gonna do what's best—for her and for Riku."
"I know, but," Kairi protested, "What about Master Hana? She's not going to just let you take Ame. She'll fight you for sure!"
"Good!" he said, "Then I can give her a piece of my mind without having to be polite about it!"
They had gotten to the garage; in a corner by the open doorway stood a motorcycle under a tarp. With one swift motion, Sora swept it away to reveal an exact replica of Tron's Light Cycle—a project Sora and Riku had been working on for months. It was done but untested; now Sora was going to test it.
"Sora, stop!" Kairi threw her arms around his torso from behind. He stopped, a bit surprised at the emotion in her voice.
"Please, Sora," she said, her voice muffled into his shirt, then more clearly as her face turned, "I love you. I don't want you to get hurt!"
Sora looked sad for a minute, then breathed.
"I love you too, Kairi," he said softly, "but my heart is telling me to do this." He turned his head and smiled at her.
"And you know I always have to follow my heart!" he winked. Before she could blink, her boyfriend had the matching helmet on his head and was revving up the cycle.
"Don't worry, Kairi!" he shouted above the engine, "I'll be back in a jiffy—with Ame!" And he sped off—out of the garage, down the driveway, and up the street with Kairi's voice following him at the edge of the drive.
"Sora, no!" she cried out with the whoosh of the cycle blowing on her skirt and hair. She fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands. Roxas and Naminé appeared on the front porch.
"Kairi?" called Naminé, "What's wrong?" The blond ran to her twin.
"It's Sora!" said Kairi, "He's gone after Ame!"
"What?" popped Naminé, "Is he insane?"
"No," said Roxas calmly, "He's doing what's best for his friends…" They looked up the road, where Sora was now a retreating headlight.
"He's bringing them together."
Author's Review:
I was originally going to have Naminé do that cool line, but I figured since Sora and Roxas were twins and so close, it just worked well!
Anyway, Sora storming off to the garage with Kairi trotting behind him was from an episode of "Malcolm in the Middle." And Kairi freaking out while Sora goes off is from "Howl's Moving Castle," just like I said! Fun, wasn't it?
Please review and tell me your favorite part! I gots ta go! Later!
