Islands Like Glass Towers

By Lynx (of Organization VI)

Rating: K

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters; they belong to Disney and Squeenix, respectively. Please don't sue. While there are original characters in this story, I don't make any large claims to them. If you'd like to use them, just ask.

Summary: On a world made for children, sometimes the hardest thing to do is be a parent. A story about Sora and Riku's parents on Destiny Islands.

Notes: Man, it has been awhile since I've posted anything here, hasn't it? I must be a real sucker for prequel fics, because here's another one! This one just sort of popped up and wouldn't leave me alone. I'm sort of playing this fic by ear, so we'll see how it goes. I'll also admit, I've always been interested as to what Destiny Islands culture would be like.

Beware of some BBS spoilers! That in mind, also be aware that I'm trying to AVOID any more spoilers. Please DO NOT POST SPOILERS in comments!

Taro had been afraid many times in his life...even on a place like Destiny Islands, everyone had their fair share of fears and doubts. But Taro could not recall ever feeling as afraid as he was now, following Rosa down the road to the doctor's office, and eventually overtaking her and breaking into a run. The fear drove him forward, pressing all thoughts from his mind except to find Emi, to save Emi, to make sure that whatever happened wasn't the worst that could happen. The worst couldn't happen. It just couldn't.

The homes and palm trees passed by in a blur. It seemed to take forever, but he found himself in front of the doctor's office, only to be intercepted by Doctor Cecil himself. Cecil was a thin man with long white hair...soft-spoken, but with the ability to be very firm when needed.

"Cecil...what happened to—"

"Taro, slow down. Emi is okay. Some of the kids she was supervising were roughhousing and one of them knocked her down. She's just a bit bruised."

Taro swallowed hard. The fear still wasn't going away. "W...what about..."

Cecil had that calming tone of voice he usually used with his patients, both for good and bad news. In this case, he knew just what Taro was asking about. "As far as I can tell, the baby is okay. There's a small chance of her having issues in the next few days, but I wouldn't worry."

"I need to see her," Taro blurted, trying to get past Cecil and run into the building.

"She doesn't need to stay here, Taro, it's fine." Cecil stepped aside so that he could go in, just as Rosa, Kenta and Hoku caught up. The black-haired fisherman bolted in.

He didn't have to go far...Emi was sitting in the waiting room, looking a little tired, but otherwise okay. There was, however, a large bruise forming on her right leg. She turned to him with a smile, although it seemed more relieved than anything. "Taro—"

"Emi! Are you...are you okay?" Taro stopped in front of her, but didn't touch her, as if afraid she could break.

She had the same distant, thoughtful look as the time he'd found her on the beach at night. "Oh, Taro...I'm so sorry I worried you. Yasu and Faris were playing, and Faris was just running too fast and bumped into me. You know how the kids are..."

How come every time this happened, Emi didn't seem to react as badly as he did? Why did it always seem like she was keeping something from him? He knelt down and embraced her, but gently, still afraid she could break. He felt a lump forming in his throat. "I-I was so scared..."

"Honey, it's okay," she said, hugging him back. "It was just an accident."

Despite the fact that the doctor's office wasn't a cold, sterile-feeling place, he still felt uncomfortable being here, and wanted to bring Emi home. He felt like she would be safer there, whether or not that was actually true. "We should go...unless you need help getting home, I can ask—"

"Taro, I can walk, I'm just a bit bruised," Emi replied, her tone quickly moving from apologetic to annoyed. As if to prove her point, she slowly got to her feet, wincing a little under the weight on her body and the pressure on her leg. Taro, not sure of what else to do, put his arm around her shoulder. She still looked annoyed, but didn't try to remove it.

Cecil, Rosa and Hoku entered just as Emi stood up. All three of them looked a lot more relieved than Taro felt. "Oh Emi, I'm glad it was just some bruising! I was worried," Rosa exclaimed.

"I'm fine, Rosa...just a little harder to get out of the way of those kids!" Emi said, then turned to Cecil. "Is it okay if I take this ice pack with me? I promise I'll bring it back."

"Of course." Cecil stepped out of the doorway so that the two of them could get by. "Now remember...please contact me right away if you experience anything at all out of order. We want to make sure everything goes smoothly these last few weeks."

"I will," she replied, smiling at him.

Taro gave Hoku a look that said 'we want to be alone,' and Hoku picked up on it. "I'll uh...come get that stuff I left at your place later."

"Thanks, Hoku."

They stepped outside into the afternoon sun, where Kenta was also waiting for news. Taro gave him the same look. "Thanks for coming over, Kenta. We'll head home from here."

"Anytime. Emi, glad to see you're okay."

Taro heard him go into the office and begin questioning Doctor Cecil, but he didn't really care about what they were discussing now. He walked with Emi all the way back to their home in silence. Taro no longer felt that sense of panic and dread, but its effects still lingered. Emi focused solely on the distant sea and sky, as if she wasn't really paying attention to what she was doing now.

As soon as they reached the house, Taro led her to the nearest seat in the living room and ran to the kitchen to get her a drink. Emi said nothing until he returned. "Taro...I am sorry I frightened you."

"It's...it's okay," Taro replied, letting out a small sigh. He handed her the drink. "I'm just glad you're okay...that's the baby's okay." He hoped.

"Me too." Emi sipped sipped at the cup in her hands, and smiled. "Just a good night's sleep and I should be right as rain for the school tomorrow."

Taro stopped. Did Emi say she intended to go back to volunteer at the school? After she just got injured by the kids being reckless? No, this didn't make sense. "Emi...what do you mean? You shouldn't go back there."

Emi frowned. "I need to. I'm still volunteering."

Why was she so worried about that? What about their baby? What about herself? "Emi, come on! You're not a teacher, you don't have to be there. Someone else can volunteer."

"No, I said I'd be there, so it'd be rude if I didn't show up."

"That's not the point! Emi...you got lucky today. What if next time one of the kids gets out of control and really hurts you?" he exclaimed.

"Taro, it's just a bruise! I need to be there to help!" Her face was growing darker by the moment.

"Then wait until after the baby is born!" Taro threw his hands into the air, pacing about the living room. "Honestly, Emi! If you're not going to worry about yourself, as least think about our child!"

"I am thinking about our child, Taro! Why wouldn't I be?"

Taro couldn't stop himself from raising his voice...and he never raised his voice, especially to Emi. "The way you're always out, working too hard, disappearing in the middle of the night, brushing off getting hurt...it's not safe!"

"I'm perfectly capable of knowing what my limits are, Taro," she shot back, her voice also becoming uncharacteristically loud.

"But this is different! You're not thinking straight..."

"I need to be out!"

"No you don't!"

"Yes I do!-"

Emi bolted up out of her chair as she yelled back at him...but she stood up too fast and lost her balance. Taro watched in horror as she collapsed onto her hurt leg. He didn't hesitate for an instant this time...he rushed down to her and threw his arms around her, hugging her so hard he wasn't sure he could ever let go. He felt her shudder in his arms, and choke back a sob.

"Emi..."

She hiccupped back more sobs, and Taro felt tears start to stain his shirt. "I have to...the glass tower..."

He hadn't heard about this at all. Taro slowly unwrapped his arms from her, and helped smooth out her hurt leg so that she didn't put any weight on it. "Emi...what are you talking about? What tower?"

She didn't reply for a moment, but just snuffled and pushed her hair out of her face. She kept pointedly looking away from him.

"Emi...what do you mean?"

"I..." She now turned to face him. "I keep having this dream, about a glass tower, being built in the darkness." He said nothing, but didn't need to as the rest of it suddenly came spilling out in a torrent of emotion. "And it's getting larger, and I just know that I have to finish it, but I don't know how, and I'm scared of what will happen when I do. But then I tell myself that it's just dreams, I'm crazy for listening to them. But I feel it, in my heart. That I have to finish it, somehow. And I just...I don't know, I need to be around people! Around the kids, around my friends, close to you...I feel like, when I'm near others, everything is okay. Everything is going right. But..."

Emi burst into tears again, not even bothering to wipe them from her face. "...It just feels like there's something big building up, something bigger than me or you or all the islands, and I'm trying to catch up with it but I can't, it's spiraling out of my control, I'm just on the edge of it and I can't see all of it! And...and I'm scared, Taro! I'm so scared..." She broke down into sobs, burying her face in her hands.

Taro didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay, that it was all just her imagination, but he couldn't. He felt it, too...that same feeling as when he'd sat with Emi on the beach at four in the morning, of trying to find something, to understand something intangible and just out of reach. And it scared him, too.

He reached up and cupped his hands around her face, drawing her gaze up to his. "Emi...why didn't you tell me any of this sooner?"

She didn't answer for a moment, as if she'd been expecting him to say something different. "I didn't want to worry you. I already frightened you enough that one night, I just didn't want..." She snuffled, and wiped her face. "I thought maybe it was just nerves, that you'd think I was going crazy, and I didn't want you to think that..."

Well, if she was going crazy, then he'd probably be going with her. He wrapped his arms around her again, wishing more than anything that she'd stop crying. "I'd never think that, Emi," he said quietly.

She managed a small smile, leaning into his embrace as best she could. "Taro, why is this happening..."

His hand strayed down to her very pregnant stomach. Of course, both of them suspected why this was happening now...somehow, it was connected to their baby. Emi had never had strange reoccurring dreams before she'd gotten pregnant. But what this could mean, Taro didn't know.

Emi's hand moved down to cover his. "I don't know what to do, Taro. I'm afraid..."

He swallowed. "Me too."

She gave a small laugh. "At least we're on the same page now..."

"Yeah..." Taro considered this for a long moment. They were both afraid...afraid of what this could mean for them, for their baby, for whatever future they had been envisioning. But still...he knew why Emi had been behaving this way now. It was no longer a feeling of her growing more distant from him, disappearing into the black ocean at four in the morning. No matter what was going to happen to them, at least they understood each other. At least they were together. They were both afraid, but...being afraid together seemed to make it easier.

"Here..." Taro slowly got to his feet, then helped up Emi. She could stand fine, but he still kept an arm around her shoulder. She sniffed, trying to get the tears off her cheeks. "See? We're...we're both okay. And so's the baby...that's what matters, right?"

Emi nodded. She looked towards the wide living room window, where the dark clouds formed a ring around the setting sun. "So...what do we do now?"

Of course, Taro didn't know exactly what they should do. But...it seemed like the one thing he could do was to trust Emi. "Well...you said things seem okay when you talk to others, right?"

"I think so. I don't know why, I just...feel better around people."

He managed something like a nervous smile. "Then I guess the school would be the best place to be for you."

Emi was quiet for a second, then turned to look at him. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but he didn't need to. Her nervous smile matched his own. "You really think so?"

"Just promise me that you'll be careful and won't go getting yourself hurt again. I don't know if my heart could take it." And this much was very true for him.

"I will," she answered, and reached down to squeeze his hand. "If you promise me that you'll...be here, with me. Until this is done."

He squeezed her hand back. "Always."

Outside, the sun touched down on the horizon, shrouded by a curtain of darkening clouds.