Disclaimer: Me no ownie.
AJ: You're working on a second KH fic?
Tenoko: Yeah.
AJ: What's it called?
Tenoko: At Second Glance.
AJ: When are you going to post it?
Tenoko: Either when I finish this one or when I finish my Gundam Wing fic.
Riku had disappeared from sight again. Simply vanished into thin air. He did every couple of hours or so, and afterwards always said that Sephiroth had wanted to talk to him, but each time he came back, the silver-haired male had only seemed more and more put out. It wasn't so much that Sephiroth wanted to talk with Riku as much as he wanted to annoy Riku. Or at least, that was what Sora speculated.
Sora had only a little over a day left to survive and he was home free. Currently, he was about to stave to death and fall asleep where he stood all at one time. Taking the apple Seifer had given him out of his pocket, he dusted it off before taking a bite out of it, nearly choking when Sephiroth appeared directly in front of him.
"Hello." The walking image of male perfection greeted with a sly grin.
Sora shot him an irritated look.
"Back at you." he commented dryly, taking another bite of his apple. It tasted kinda… different, but he figured it was most likely because apples from Underground were different from those Aboveground. He raised a curious brow in question. "Aren't you supposedly talking with Riku?"
Sephiroth placed his hands on his hips, shaking his head.
"No. I needed to get Riku somewhere so I could talk with you for a moment this time. You must understand, waiting around for this game to end and making sure no rules are being broken can get very boring. Especially when the game last three days." He tilted his head to one side, observing Sora with a frown. "I have to find someway to amuse myself while waiting for you to either lose or for the deadline to be reached." His frown deepened as Sora took another bite of the apple. "Where did you get an apple?"
Sora hesitated, not wanting to get the man responsible in trouble.
"I found it."
Sephiroth snorted.
"I highly doubt that as no one in the castle actually eats food. Who gave it to you?" He demanded again, causing Sora to sigh.
"A man named Seifer offered it to me. He set it down for me to take if I chose to. I picked it up."
Sephiroth's expression instantly darkened and he held out his hand.
"Give it to me."
Frowning in confusion, Sora raised an inquisitive brow,
"Huh?"
Sephiroth huffed in impatience.
"The apple. Now."
Not sure what else to do, Sora placed the half eaten apple in the gloved hand of the older man, watching as Sephiroth inspected in closely, before it burst into flames, and Sephiroth's mouth pinched together in a furious frown.
"Hey!" Cried Sora, watching as his only source of food burnt to a crisp. Sephiroth dusted his hand off on his coat before pointing to Sora.
"Don't move from this spot until you see either me or Riku again, understood?"
Sora's head suddenly throbbed and he nodded, reaching up to grip his head as it pulsed in dull pain. Seeing the boy's actions, Sephiroth cursed under his breath and disappeared from sight as well. Sora hardly noticed the other man's sudden disappearance, too distracted by the searing pain that made him crumble to his knees on the stone floor, griping his head with both hands. What was happening?
A wave of nausea hit him and the world began to sway like a boat on the turbulent sea's waves. A groan escaped him as he screwed his eyes shut, willing for the room to stop moving. It didn't stop. As he opened his eyes again, the room began to spin and he felt even sicker, certain he was about to vomit what little bit of the apple he'd just eaten. His vision blurred around the edges as Riku's words came back to him. It isn't safe to stay in one spot… Struggling to his feet, and repressing the urge to gag, Sora slumped against the stonewall, leaning against it as he tried to focus one putting one foot in front of the other, instead of the castle that was spinning around him.
The marble statues suddenly came to life around him, stepping down from their foundation to purposefully walk towards him with dark smiles and gleaming eyes. A cool hand grabbed his arm from behind, causing him to jerk around in alarm, facing Desdemona's white marble features. Her once sorrowful face was contorted in anger and evil desires, her full lips pulled back in a grin that revealed sharp fangs. He jerked away from her with an alarmed cry, bumping into another statue that had also become animated. Sora lashed out as two stone hands reached out to grab him, his fist smashing through the stone and causing the statue to crumble to a fine powder at his feet. He stared at it in shock; unable to believe he'd just destroyed a marble statue with a single blow. He wasn't so lucky just yet. The dust began to move, coming back together take it's previous form.
Without hesitation, Sora took off down the hall, attempting to run in as much of a straight line as the rocking castle would allow. Suits of armor reached out with metallic hands to grab him, sightless eyes watching him as he ran. Portraits hanging on the wall leered down at him; statues continued to chase him. His head continued to pound. The stone figures called out for him, cold unfeeling lips forming the syllables of his name. Sora attempted to run faster, stumbling and falling to the ground. His vision was blurring more, turning black around the edges as the ground shook violently beneath him.
A hand grabbed him violently, pulling him to his feet and turning him around. Further disoriented by the sudden action, Sora attempted to focus on one of the bobbing, blurred images of Riku that danced in front of his eyes; the background around them fading to darkness. Riku's stone lips parted to reveal dripping marble fangs; Sora weakly attempted to him off as Riku took him in his embrace, lowering his head.
Sora may have been sick out of his mind, but he wasn't so far gone not to realize Riku had every intention of sinking those sharp fangs into Sora's neck. Panicked, Sora attempted to fight him off more frantically, while Riku only cooed in his ear, making soft shushing noises and promising that everything would be all right…
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Riku frowned as a furious Sephiroth suddenly appeared in front of him, arms crossed over his chest.
"The game is forfeit, take you human and leave this place." He ordered tersely, causing Riku's blood to run cold in his veins.
"What do you mean? What happened?"
Sephiroth frowned in impatience.
"You will find out soon enough. Go. I have more pressing business to see to at this time." He told him, turning away as the world around them dissolved into Riku's own bedroom Aboveground. A crash in the hallway sent Riku into action, causing him to run from the room to find Sora in a crumbled heap on the floor.
The brunette was struggling to his feet, lifting his face to reveal milked over eyes that caused Riku to gasp. The young boy appeared to be fighting off invisible hands, swaying on his feet and swinging weakly at empty space. Sora's back was to him as he stumbled backwards and into Riku waiting arms that kept him from falling. Riku turned the boy around, pain griping his heart as the brunette watched him through milky eyes, feebly fighting him off.
Riku could smell the foul odor of poison coursing through the brunette's blood. The poison was strong and without help, Sora would only live a few more hours. It was obvious to Riku what he would have to do should he wish for the innocent human to live, but there was the chance that if he tried, neither one of them would survive. A tremor of pain passed through the brunette in his arms and Riku steeled his resolve, dipping his head to Sora's neck, shushing him in an attempt to calm him.
"Everything will be fine, Sora… I won't let anything happen to you…"
He led Sora into the bedroom, getting him on the bed, and standing between the boy's thighs as he quickly sunk his fangs into the boy's neck, nearly gagging as the contaminated blood began to flow into his system. The blood would have to be drained so Sora's body could replace it with healthy blood. The problem came in with that Riku couldn't drink all the blood at once or else he would kill Sora, but drinking all the blood, even in intervals, without somehow removing it from his own body would end up killing Riku as well. With a groan, Sora fell unconscious, slumping against Riku as the silver-haired male's own vision began to blur, tears stinging his eyes as the poison overwhelmed his senses.
Riku withdrew his fangs, pushing Sora back against the plush pillows before turning quickly and retching all over the rug that lay next to the bed. The rejected substance was nothing like Riku had ever seen, it was black ooze that was sticky and had vapors that burned his eyes. The entire room smelt of bad blood, causing Riku to retch again, the force of the spasm forcing him to his hands and knees. He wasn't even throwing up blood, he wasn't sure what it was, but he knew the poison now coursing through his own veins was the cause of it; he had to find someway to drain himself as well…
He pulled himself to his feet, most of his weight lying on the mattress next to Sora as he took the stake still tightly gripped in the brunette's hand. God, he had to be suicidal to be doing all of this. And the irony of it was that if Riku died, even if it was to save Sora, he would simply be dead without the chance for redemption because Riku hadn't died for 'the one', someone he had marked. Being undead came with too many damn rules. The vampire cried out in pain as he stabbed the stake through his own shoulder, causing the blood to pour freely from the fresh wound, soaking into the sheets and spilling out onto the floor. Riku didn't remove the weapon, lest the wound began to heal and the blood would cease to drain. Riku was so dead. There was no way in hell he could possibly survive this. Rolling his head over to look at the angelic face of the human that now lay in a fitful sleep beside him, Riku smiled. His death would be worth it so long as Sora lived.
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Rikku cried out in alarm as Gippal suddenly appeared in front of her, griping her arms tightly.
"Gippal!"
"Rikku, you have to go over to Riku's apartment now!" He told her sharply, causing her to frown at the fear and desperation she heard in his voice and saw in his eyes.
"What's wrong!"
Gippal shook his head.
"There isn't time to explain. Just go NOW! I'll be there soon." He faded slightly before coming back into focus. "And take all your first aid stuff with you." He added before disappearing all together.
Rikku didn't hesitate in running down the hall, beating on both of the other girls' doors.
"Yunie! Paine! Emergency! Something bad has happened with Riku and Sora!" She yelled, running down the hall and flinging open the closet, grabbing up all the medical supplies they kept there. Yuna and Paine came running out into the hallway, eyes wide with fear.
"What's happened?" Demanded Paine and Rikku shook her head, handing one bag to Yuna as she began throwing more supplies into another.
"I don't know, but Gippal said we had to get over there, and I know it's something bad!" She turned to head to Paine. "Paine, go grab some weapons, we may need them. Gippal just mentioned medical supplies, but you never know when there might be a sprawl."
The dark girl disappeared down the hall and Yuna knelt next to her cousin.
"But, why are they back? The deadline isn't for another few hours, since Sora had a whole day left to remain Underground."
Rikku stood to her feet, grabbing up extra towels and shaking her head.
"I don't know. I don't care. All I know is it's bad!"
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They had to kick the door to Riku's apartment, the smell of blood instantly overwhelming their senses. Yuna places a hand over her mouth as she gagged and Rikku rushed forward, calling out to either boy. Paine took a moment to observe the state of the apartment.
"No sign of forced entry or a struggle." She commented casually, pausing when they heard Rikku release a strangled cry as she entered the bedroom down the hall. Both girls took off after her, stopping in the doorway as the pungent odor nearly knocked the breath out of them. The sight before them was one that explained little. Blood and black ooze covered the floor beside the bed, the sheets around Riku soaked in the rich red liquid, obviously the source of the large puddles of blood staining the sheets and rug. Sora lay beside him on the bed, his face drained of all color, contrasting sharply with the dark hue of the sheets.
The three women cautiously approached the bed, Paine growling as she noted the teeth marks in the side of the young boy's neck.
"He went back on his word!" She snapped, retrieving a stake from her side. Rikku shook her head furiously.
"No! Riku wouldn't do that! Not to Sora! There has to be an explanation we aren't aware of." She pointed to the stake in Riku's shoulder. "Look! That's self-inflicted! If someone wanted him dead, they'd have stabbed him in the heart, with that wound, he may bleed to death, but it's unlikely."
"Sora was poisoned." Gippal stated, suddenly appearing in the room carrying a large box. "It's my guess that Riku attempted to drain the poisoned blood from Sora's body, and then remove the poison from his own body by stabbing himself with a stake." As he talked he was removing bags of blood from the box, hanging them from the headboard. "They'll need a blood drip if we want either of them to survive." He glanced at Yuna and Rikku. "You'll have to do the drips, I don't know anything about it."
Yuna immediately nodded, going over to Sora's side of the bed and beginning to work. Paine reached out to grab Rikku's wrist as she began to do the same for Riku, causing the blonde to look up in confusion.
"I say we let him die or kill him now. It's Riku's fault Sora's even in this shape, with him gone it's one less vampire to worry about."
Angry, Rikku slapped Paine's hand away, removing the stake from the bleeding boy's shoulder.
"I will NOT let him die or let anyone kill him. Dammit Paine! Riku is willing to die to save Sora! If we weren't here to help, he would die!" She nearly yelled in frustration, calming as a pale hand weakly grabbed her own wrist, dull green eyes opening and attempting to focus on her face.
Riku's mouth worked silently for a moment before his voice came out in a raspy whisper.
"Sora… poisoned…blood…" He gasped for air for a moment, as every set of eyes in the room focused intently on him. "Drained… twice…" He gave a feeble shake of his head. "Gone." He coughed violently, for a moment, causing tears to well up in Rikku's eyes to see him in such a pitiful state. "Tell…S-S-sss…"
"Sora." She stated, trying to help him out, and he gave a weak nod, attempting to continue.
"…I'm…so…rry…" Another fit of coughs shook him before his head sunk back into the pillow as he released a deep sigh, his eyes closing.
"Is… is he… dead?" Asked Yuna in a tearful voice.
Paine reached across Rikku to check the vampire's pulse, before shaking her head.
"No. He's just unconscious." She stepped back, looking down as something 'squished' beneath the heel of her boot. She sneered. "This must be what happens when a vampire gets a hold of bad blood."
Gippal was standing outside the room, covering his mouth and appearing very green.
"I can't stay. It's too…" He gagged. "Much." He finished, disappearing from sight. Paine wrinkled her nose at the smells that dominated the room. It was worse then anything she'd ever encountered, and for a vampire's nose, which was particularly sensitive to the scent of blood… well, it was no wonder Gippal had nearly gotten sick just from the smell of it.
"I'll clean up the room while you two work on them. The last thing we need is for them to get some form of infection from a contaminated room." She stated, throwing towels on the disgusting mess underneath her boots. The mess would have to be cleaned and then the towels would have to be burned. It wouldn't be exactly smart to throw away blood soaked towels; other people would get a hold of them and with that much blood, it would be quick to catch on that someone had been murdered, and hard to explain that everything was fine. She shook her head as she soaked the towels in the red and black mess; the life of a slayer was never dull, that was for sure.
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It was three more days before either Riku or Sora stirred fro their sleep; Sora being the first one to open his eyes. He turned his head to one side, noting the sleeping blonde slumped in a chair in a corner and the brunette curled up in the window seat. Paine stepped up beside him as he tried to sit up, a strong up wrapping around his shoulders and aiding him to a sitting position.
Sora tried to speak, opening his mouth, but no words would come out. His throat felt like sand paper, his tongue thick and unmanageable. Paine seemed to understand, and a shadow of a smile graced her features.
"It's okay. You're safe. You're a Riku's apartment and you're sick." Frowning, Sora shook his head to argue with her, making her smile broaden slightly as she nodded her head. "Yes, you are. Riku is sick, too, but we're taking care of both of you." She stated, her eyes drifting to the other male nearly in a coma in the bed beside him. Sora's head rolled around to look at him, eyes widening before he looked back at Paine, shaking his head once more, hand coming up to touch the tender spot on his throat. She raised a surprised brow. "You remember him biting you?" He nodded, and she continued. "Riku bit you, yes. But he had to in order to help you, which is why he's sick now, too. Someone poisoned you, Sora. Do you understand?" Groggily, he shook his head, eyelids suddenly drooping. "Someone poisoned you. Riku bit you so that you wouldn't have the poison anymore, but that he would. We came to make sure neither of you died." She shook him as he eyes drooped closed again, causing him to open his eyes once more, attempting to focus on her words as she spoke. "Sora, pay attention, this is important. Riku saved you."
At that, Sora was finally able to find his voice, croaking out a single word.
"Why?"
Her smile turned more genuine and almost amused.
"Because he loves you."
Sora was swept away back into the word of oblivion, and Paine laid him down against the clean sheets they had put on the bed, brushing his hair out of his face.
"How's our patient?" Yuna asked softly, coming up to stand beside her friend.
Paine dropped her hand to her side.
"He regain consciousness for a minute, but then passed out again."
"How long till they are both well enough to at least get out of bed?"
Paine shrugged.
"Probably a few more days. If they both wake up by then."
Yuna's frown deepened.
"Well, whatever happens, wait until they are both completely well before telling Sora the news."
Paine frowned.
"But, there are people out looking for him now."
Yuna shook her head.
"If they ask, we haven't seen him. He doesn't need anymore stress on him until he at least gets better."
Paine nodded in agreement, turning back to look at the slumbering pair.
"You're right. Neither one of them ever gets a break, do they?"
Yuna shook her head.
"No. That would be too easy."
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Riku slowly opened his eyes, frowning as he stared up at his own ceiling, not sure how he'd gotten there. His brain was fuzzy and he couldn't think. What day was it? Why was he where he was? What had happened? Wasn't he suppose to be dead?
A blonde woman's face appeared, smiling down at him as she whispered,
"Hiya Tiger." He frowned in confusion at the face. He knew her. He knew he knew her. He just couldn't remember how he knew her or even what her name was. "It's Rikku." She told him, and his brain agreed after a moment of contemplation. "You've been asleep for nearly a week." She told him with a soft giggle, seemingly being careful of her volume. Riku frowned at her in confusion. A week? What for?
Things slowly began to fall into place as the fog that had settled over his brain began to lift. Sora had been taken to the Underground to play a game of survival. Sephiroth said the game was forfeit, and they'd been transported back to Riku's apartment. He remembered the image of Sora stumbling over himself and fighting off invisible monsters with eyes milked over and unseeing…
"Sora?" He questioned, forcing the word out through parched lips.
The blonde giggled again, pointing to something beside him.
"He seems content to use you as a pillow."
Frowning Riku turned his head to see a brunette head laying comfortably on his shoulder, the rest of the boy's body curled up against his own, an arm wrapped around Riku's midsection. The sound of the boy's deep breathing and the steady beat of his heart causing relief to flood over Riku, making tears sting his eyes as he closed them. Sora was alive. He'd been able to save him after all.
A hand smoothed his hair away from his face, causing him to open his eyes again. Rikku smiled down at him fondly.
"Get some sleep. We're here if you need us."
Riku merely nodded, closing his eyes as he hugged Sora's warm body closer to his own and drifted back off to sleep.
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Rikku sighed heavily as she plopped down on the couch in Riku's living room. Playing nursemaid could be exhausting. Paine had gone home to at least get out of the apartment for a little while, and Yuna was fast asleep in the recliner. Riku and Sora would mostly likely continue to sleep without waking up, so she could easily catch herself a quick nap… Grabbing the afghan off the back of the couch, Rikku curled up on the sofa, using her arm as a pillow. After being awake looking after the two patients in the next room for the past week, a nap sounded really good…
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Sora sat up in bed, scratching the back of his head as he looked around in confusion. This almost looked like Riku's room in his apartment Aboveground, but the last thing Sora remembered, he'd been in the Underground. He glanced beside him, surprised to see Riku fast asleep next to him, one arm still slung over Sora's waist. Sora frowned in confusion at Riku's half dressed state and the bandages covering his shoulder. Sora, too, only had on a pair of baggy pajama pants. He shook Riku's unbandaged shoulder, trying to get him to wake up.
"Riku. Wake up." Riku frowned in his sleep, his grip on Sora's waist instinctively tightening. Sora laughed and shook him again. "Riku… wake up!"
With a groan, the silver-haired male groggily opened one eye, pushing himself up onto his elbow; he opened both eyes fully, frowning at the boy who'd woken him up.
"Sora?"
Sora nodded.
"Yeah, it's me. I think we're at your house. How'd we get here?" Riku attempted pushing himself up to a sitting position, yelping in pain as he used his bad arm. Sora placed his hands on his shoulders as if to steady him. "Easy. You're hurt, try not to use your right arm." Sora helped Riku into a sitting position, ending up nearly sitting in the other boy's lap as they watched each other with similar looks of confusion.
Riku opened his mouth to speak.
"What-" His voice cracked. "What do you remember?"
Sora shook his head.
"I dunno. It's all kinda fuzzy. You left and Sephiroth showed up, he took away the apple I was eating-"
Riku frowned.
"Where'd you get an apple?"
Sora shrugged.
"Some guy named Seifer offered it to me." He paused when Riku began glaring. "Something wrong?"
The glare disappeared, and Riku waved his good hand.
"Nothing. Go on."
"Well, my head began hurting and Sephiroth told me to stay put until either him or you showed up again. He suddenly seemed really mad all of a sudden." Sora admitted with a frown, before shrugging. "Well, after that, everything got really weird. The castle started like shaking and the marble statues came to life and started chasing me through the castle, even the suits of armor tried to grab me as I passed." He shook his head, a deep frown adorning his usually serene features. "Then you were there, only, you were marble, too…" He stopped talking causing Riku to frown.
"What? What happened then?"
One of Sora's hands came up to touch his own neck.
"You bit me!" Sora exclaimed accusingly.
Riku shook his head furiously.
"It isn't like you think! Someone poisoned you! That's why you thought the castle was shaking and that the statues were alive! You would have died! I had to get the poison out of your system somehow, so I did the only thing I could think of." He averted his gaze, guiltily. "I'm sorry. I promised I wouldn't ever let anything hurt you, not even me."
"You did it… to save me, she said." Sora told him slowly, causing Riku to look up again, frowning.
"Who said?" He demanded. Sora shook his head.
"I don't remember. I just remember a woman's voice. She said you bit me to save me. That we were both sick now because I'd been poisoned, and you were sick because you tried to drain my body of the poison. I asked her why…"
Curious, Riku tilted his head to one side.
"What did she say?"
Sora met his gaze, a blush tainting his cute cheeks; he shook his head, looking away.
"N-nothing… it was probably just another part of the hallucination."
"Well, what'd she say?" Prodded Riku, smirking in amusement at the way even the tips of Sora's ears were turning red.
"She, um, said that um…" He gave a nervous laugh. "You know, it's all so fuzzy, I can't even remember." He told him hurriedly, moving to get off the bed. Riku grabbed his arm, refusing to let him move as he smirked at him in amusement.
"If you didn't remember, you wouldn't be blushing like you are. C'mon. What'd she say?"
Sora kept his eyes focused on the floor, refusing to look at Riku.
"She said… she said you loved me."
Riku grin disappeared as he felt his own cheeks heat up in embarrassment.
"Oh." Was all he could think to say. God, did he feel stupid. Oh? What kind of a response was 'oh'?
Sora forced an embarrassed laugh, scratching the back of his head nervously.
"Yeah, crazy right?"
"You might be surprised." A female laughed, causing them both to jerk the heads towards the doorway, where Rikku and Yuna stood casually leaning against opposite sides of the doorframe. "You boys had a pretty crazy night from what we understand." The blonde laughed. Sora got off of Riku, sliding off the side of the bed.
"Well, then maybe the two of you can fill in some holes for us that we can't seem to remember."
Riku threw the covers off of his legs, holding out his hand to Sora.
"Give me a hand." Sora helped his boyfriend from the bed, allowing the silver-haired male to lean against him as they made they're way into the living room.
"It's good that you're both up and moving around. You've been asleep for well over a week." Yuna told them, causing them to both stop and stare at her.
"A week!" They cried in unison, causing both females to laugh.
"Come sit down and we'll talk." Rikku told them, taking a seat on the rug in the living room. Both boys made their way to the couch, collapsing against it as though the short walk from the bedroom to the living room had simply worn them out. "Okay. Riku, tell us what you remember, since we know what Sora remembers."
Riku frowned.
"Okay. Sephiroth transported me to the main hall, and I couldn't leave, so I sat down waiting until I could. He showed up again shortly afterwards, telling me that the game was forfeit and to take Sora and go back Aboveground. I could tell something was wrong, but he wouldn't tell me what, instead he said he had something more important to deal with." Riku shrugged. "Then I was here. I heard something in the hall, and found Sora fighting off nightmares." His frown deepened, and he rested his chin on his hands. "His eyes… they were all milked over, and I knew he could see me, but it was me he was seeing. I could smell the poison in his blood, and knew he didn't have long before it would kill so I did the only thing I could think of."
"You bit him and tried to drain the blood." Yuna stated softly, and Riku nodded.
"Yeah. I knew I couldn't do it all at once or else Sora would die, and I might die as well. I got him in the bed before suddenly throwing up this… stuff. It was all black and horrible smelling; it was awful. I knew it wasn't the blood, because I could feel the poison inside me, and knew I had to get rid of it if I wanted to be around long enough to drain Sora again. I took the stake I'd given him that I'd taken from Riku and stabbed it through my shoulder. I just needed the blood to drain out of me enough so I could drain him again, at least one more time. I knew his body would replenish any blood he needed, so at that point, I wasn't too worried anymore, I knew he was past the imminent danger. Then I was worried about me. Though the blood had poisoned me, I needed good blood as much as he did, and I couldn't get to any, so I was certain I was going to die." He blushed and scratched the back of his head. "But that was okay, because I knew I would die having kept my promise of protecting Sora, and I was okay with that." He looked up again, shrugging. "And that's the last thing I remember."
Rikku clapped her hands together.
"Well then, we'll tell you what we know. Gippal came and got me, saying you were back and something bad had happened, that I had to head over here right away and bring all my medical supplies." She blushed and scratched the back of her head. "We kinda had to break in your door in order to get in her, but we already replaced it so no worries, right? Anyways. Um, we found you and Sora in your room just as Gippal showed up with bags of blood from the blood bank, so we immediately got you each on a drip and bandaged up Riku's shoulder." She shrugged. "And that's the end of our story. Since then we've been trying to take care of you until you woke up. But now that you are awake, we're going to go home and take baths and catch up on some sleep. Sora, there's soup and easy to fix stuff in the kitchen." She paused as she reached the door, stopping to turn and face him again. "Oh. And Sora? The woman you talked to was Paine." She smiled. "She may act tough, but she's really just a romantic at heart, like any woman."
"Romantic?" Questioned Sora; frowning in confusion as a blush tainted his cheeks. She nodded.
"Yeah. Telling you that Riku risked his life to save your because he loves you." She smiled again. "It's romantic."
TBC
AJ: So, you've got two KH fics out, huh?
Tenoko: Yeah, halfway through writing this chapter I had to post Second Glance, I couldn't help it, I'm impatient.
AJ: What about your Gundam Wing fics?
Tenoko: Ugh. Taking a break! I finished the one I was working on and I am NOT starting another one for a while! I am burnt out on writing GW fics. I'm going to focus on these KH fics for now.
AJ: Well, you're doing a nice job.
Tenoko: Thank you.