NO RUNNING, NO DIVING
Disclaimer: Yes…I know I don't own…
I know it's been a very long time since I've updated this… I hope you like it. I do… Please review and tell me what you think. Thanks to Blaze Firebrand for hounding my ass about this… I kinda stole your idea too… \(^.^)/!
Chapter 10
Sephiroth let the ball bounce and roll away.
He turned to us. "Let's talk then." He said.
Riku's POV
I held Sora's hand and pulled him forward. "Dad, look at Sora's face. It's swollen! It's not okay to just hit someone! Especially after they save your daughter's life! You owe Sora an apology and I want to be there to hear it! What you did was uncalled for." I said and my dad gave me a very stern look.
Sora suddenly started to fluster.
"Ah! I-it's okay! H-he doesn't have to a-apologize! What Xion and I were doing was dangerous. It was my fault she fell in and I got scolded for it!" Sora stuttered.
"Sora seems to understand… and I was pretty certain that I taught you never to speak to me in such a tone… I guess I was wrong. I don't want to deal with this right now." Dad said and twisted the racket in his hands.
I growled and marched over to the other side of the court and grabbed a racket and a ball. "I'm only speaking to you like this because…" I threw the ball up. "You deserve it!" I wacked the ball in a powerful serve.
The ball flew over the net at breakneck speed. My dad growled and ran to the ball. "You have no right to speak to me that way. I've apologized for jumping to conclusions but I will not apologize for punishing someone who put my daughter in…" He whacked the ball in return. "danger!"
"Sora's face is lopsided his face is so swollen, dad!" I ran to the ball. "You can't hit someone else's child regardless of the situation!" I swung my racket and was surprised by the large amount of resistance I felt in my swing. I gritted my teeth and swung harder. I would not lose this argument or this game!
The ball whizzed by Sephiroth before he could think to return it.
15- Love. I was in the lead, I fished for another ball and served.
"Riku! You don't seem to understand the magnitude of that situation. You're sister…" He sung swiftly. "ALMOST DIED!" Dad yelled.
"I'M NOT SAYING THAT'S OKAY, DAD! BUT IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! IT'S NOT…" I hit the ball. "SORA'S FAULT!"
The ball flew up into the air. A lob!
I watched as my dad ran to the ball and jumped only to slam the ball down in a heavy smash.
I growled as the ball made a thwacking sound as it hit the court. The ball soon bounced up at incredible speed past me.
15- All. Damn!
"Son, I won't allow a problem child into my home to harm my family. I do the things I do to protect you!" Dad said as he served.
I was in such shock at what he said that I didn't even try to return the ball.
15-30.
Dad took another ball and served again. I could feel my blood boiling at his comment.
"SORA IS NOT A PROBLEM CHILD! DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT!" I used all of my strength to return the ball. "EVER!" I screamed.
30- All.
I served.
"YOU ARE IN NO POSITION…" another return. "TO COMMAND ME! I AM YOUR FATHER AND I WILL NOT TOLERATE YOUR BEHAVIOR!"
"TAKE WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT SORA BACK NOW!" I yelled.
"NO!" Dad yelled.
Sora voice piped in "I-It's okay-"
"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Dad and I yelled together.
Sora backed off meekly.
I slammed my racket down on a chance ball. It was too fast for my dad to return.
40-30.
I served and Dad landed an ace return.
Deuce.
"TAKE IT BACK! SORA IS A GREAT PERSON AND THE ONLY REASON YOU DON'T THINK THAT IS BECAUSE YOU ARE TRYING TO FIND FAULT IN HIM! YOU'RE LOOKING FOR FLAWS AND THAT'S UNFAIR!" I returned my dad's serve.
He hit the ball back. "THAT CHILD NEEDS TO BE THOROGHLY EXAMINED! IT'S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!" Dad yelled.
I landed a drop shot.
Advantage.
"I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU CAN'T SEEM TO ACCEPT HIM FULLY. SORA'S ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME!" I served.
"YOU DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND MY REASONING FOR WHAT I DO!" Dad returned.
I whacked the ball. "THEN EXPLAIN IT TO ME BETTER!"
"I DON'T WANT YOU HEART BROKEN AND I DON'T WANT YOU TRICKED. I DON'T ACCEPT HIM…" A return. "BECAUSE I DON'T TRUST HIM!"
"I UNDERSTAND THAT DAD!" Return. "BUT WHY WOULD YOU HIT HIM! I FELT LIKE YOU WERE…" Return. "UNJUSTIFIABLY TRYING TO PIN THE BLAME ON HIM JUST SO YOU COULD HAVE A REASON TO HIT HIM AND…" return. "KICK HIM OUT! IT'S NOT SORA'S FAULT AND IT'S NOT XION'S FAULT!" A return. "THAT'S WHAT ACCIDENTS ARE! RANDOM UNFORTUNATE EVENTS!" return. "AND BECAUSE I THINK HIGHLY OF YOU, I FELT SO DISAPPOINTED THAT YOU WOULD DO SOMETHING SO MALICIOUS! I WAS LET DOWN DAD! MOM WOULD UNDERSTAND EVEN THOUGH YOU CAN'T!" I screamed in anger and returned the ball.
Game.
Dad dropped his racket and gave me a pained look. "Son, I…" he trailed off before picking up again. "You have no idea… how terrifying it was to see Xion on the ground, soaking wet and unmoving. I-I… it was like seeing your mother all over again. I was panicked and upset. I didn't want to have to see my daughter drown too! And when I saw Sora… I just got so angry at him for letting it happen. I-I snapped. I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry to both you and Sora. I know it's unacceptable to hit a child. But I… I was so, so afraid for Xion. Please forgive me." Dad said.
Sora walked over to Dad and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry for making you feel that way. Xion and I were being reckless and I am so, so sorry that I almost…" Sora trailed off. "Please… I'll be more careful. I'm sorry. I accept your apology…"
"Thank you." Dad said and put a hand on Sora's shoulder. "You don't have to leave." Dad said and smiled.
"Thank you, dad. I forgive you. Thank you for the game as well. I won fair and square." I held out my hand.
My dad smiled and shook my hand. "Yes you did, but if this were a set match… I would have beaten you."
I smiled and gave Dad a small hug. "Mom's death was an accident too, you know. It's not your fault…"
My dad gripped me tighter for a second before letting me go. "Go. I have to practice." He said.
I smiled and took Sora's hand. "Let's hang in my room!" I said and pulled him along.
After we cleaned up the fallen watermelon I walked him upstairs to my bedroom. I opened the door, pulled him in, and we both flopped onto my bed.
"Watching you two play tennis was really awesome. The ball was going so fast back and forth I could barely keep up with it!" Sora said excitedly.
"I was tempted to tell my dad to go pro. But I know he's really contented with his life. I don't think he wants that kind of environment. But I believe that he really could make it to the top of the tennis world if he tried." I said.
"Well, you can keep up with him! You should go pro!" Sora said with a goofy smile.
"If I beat my dad in a full set match, I'll think about going pro." I said.
"So you've never beaten him?" Sora asked.
"Nope." I said.
"Well, it's okay. You should go pro with swimming though! I can tell you like swimming better anyway. And plus you're like… a frikkin' fish!" Sora giggled.
"Well, you're dating this fish thank you very much!" I said with a laugh and gave Sora a hug.
"Would you?" he asked.
"Would I what?" I asked in reply.
"Go professional for swimming?"
"Um, maybe when I'm a little older. I should probably graduate from high school and at least get a G.E.D. before doing anything drastic." I said.
"I think you would be fabulous! You always look so happy when you swim and you make it look so easy. Were you ever on a swim team?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, I'm on my high school team. In fact, we stopped summer practice a week before I met you. But that doesn't mean that I don't practice anymore. The reason I don't take you out on weekdays is because I practice privately till nine after work." I explained.
"So you're pretty serious about swimming. I always thought you were some swimming prodigy… or a merman… but I guess you're good because you practice all the time." Sora rambled.
"Yep! You could probably get as good as me Sora if you practiced like I do." I said.
Sora smiled. "What do you do when you practice?" Sora asked.
" I begin with warm ups and stretching. Then, I practice endurance by doing thirty laps of every different stroke. After that, I time my sprints and record them. My slowest stroke right now is breaststroke. That's the froggie one, by the way. Freestyle is really fast… but my butterfly is by far the fastest." I explained.
"Cool! There's one called butterfly!" Sora asked with a beam.
"Yeah. It's cool. But it's all about timing, if you don't use your arms at the right moment, not only will you lose your momentum, it could just backfire completely. It's the hardest one for me. I think that's why I'm so good at it. Because I practice that stroke the most, knowing that I could have trouble with it." I explained.
"Sounds like a major challenge! You should teach me!" Sora said happily.
"I should. Why would I pass up the chance to see you in a speedo?" I asked with a smirk.
"WHAT?" Sora exclaimed.
"Well, it's a really hard stroke and wearing regular swim trunks would hinder your speed and timing. So you have to wear a nice, tight speedo for me." I smirked even more at hjs red face.
"Are you gonna wear a speedo?" Sora asked.
"Nah… I'd rather it just be you in a speedo." I said with a laugh.
"I wa-" Sora paushed.
"What?" I asked.
Sora blushed brightly. "I wanna see you in a speedo…" he mumbled.
I laughed. "Maybe someday."
"Soon?" Sora asked eagerly.
I laughed harder at his enthusiasm. "Yeah, soon."
"Yay!" Sora piped.
"You know… I should wax you too." I said an evil smile on my face.
"What's that?" Sora asked.
"You know, wax, to remove hair. In order to be a really swimmer you have to be virtually hairless. It's all about aerodynamics, the smoother you are, the easier you glide in the water." I explained.
"You don't wax!" Sora yelled.
I rubbed my leg against his. "Yes I do." I said.
Sora blushed at the movement but also looked down to examine my legs.
"Whoa! The hair's really gone! Y-your arms too!" He said in awe.
"Yep. It's all gone." I said with a smile. "It's a bitch to do but I do it so that I can succeed." I said.
"Well, I sure hope you succeed. It's a good thing we're in Florida where the winters aren't cold, otherwise you would freeze with your hairless self!" Sora giggled.
I laughed before giving Sora a kiss. I felt him relax next to me and I smiled into the kiss.
When we pulled away I smiled. "You'd warm me up if I really needed it right?" I asked.
"Yeah, I got you covered." Sora laughed at his own pun.
I kissed his cheek. "You goof!"
A/N: Well, there you have it. Go review now!