A/N: Quick note before the chapter. I've been posting lemons and stuff on AFF right? Well I've gotten upset and very angry at that website so I'm going to stop doing that. I've gone back and added all lemons and stuff into chapters five and three. Just to let everyone know. When there's a lemon in the story again, I'll be sure to put up many warnings, so that those who wish to skip it may.
Chapter Eleven: Good Afternoon
"It's been five days already," Yuffie sighed, swinging her legs back and forth as she sat on the ship railing. "I wonder how they're doing."
"Toruko's woken up, but he won't move or talk or anything," Aerith sighed. "He just sits with that Sora kid and holds him. It's like he's lost the will to live."
"Probably almost has," Cid agreed, looking over the railing and out to sea. "We saw all the shit he went through to find that other kid. It must be hard finding your love only to have them ripped away the minute you do."
"How sad," Yuffie frowned. "I hope he wakes up; I don't like Toruko like this. Isn't there anything you can do, Aerith?"
The brunette shook her head. "I've done everything I could and the wounds too dangerous to just sew up. I have to be sure everything on the inside is fine before trying to close it."
"So then it's all in that little kid's hands, then? His and Toruko's lives," Cid grunted. "Maybe it would be kinder to let him die."
"Cid!" The girls exclaimed. "How can you say that?"
"You two know what happened to him, what Sephiroth does with his slaves," Cid snapped. "Remember what Cloud was like when we first met him? Even if that kid does live, he's going to be messed up in the head."
The two girls fell quiet and turned sad eyes out over the water. After a minute, Aerith spoke.
"Cloud made it," she whispered. "And he's better for it now. And this kid will make it to."
"He better," Yuffie muttered. "I rather like Toruko."
"…" Cloud moved away from the top deck railing and walked over to where Leon was standing at the bow of the ship. Both stared out at sea for awhile before Cloud spoke.
"I'm sorry," he muttered quietly. Leon didn't even glance at him.
"I knew we would have to deal with Sephiroth sooner or later if I took you in," he stated simply. "I simply did not expect for there to be two more people involved."
"Sephiroth sure knows how to pick'em too," Cloud sighed, running a hand through his blonde hair. "Thos two are D.I.'s, I'm certain of it."
"Even that other kid…Sora?" Leon frowned.
"Yes," Cloud nodded. "I think one of is specialties might be healing. It would be explain why he hasn't woken up yet and why he's still alive at all, with a wound like that."
"Sephiroth has to know," Leon nodded. "Vincent would have told him the minute he sensed the kid."
"Maybe not," he glanced at Leon. "Break a D.I.'s spirit and you break their power as well."
"Wonderful."
Five agonizing days. That's how long Riku had waited for his Sora to wake up. He absolutely refused to leave the boy's side. He'd stopped eating and wouldn't speak to anyone, not even Cloud. Riku knew he wasn't being very fair, but he just couldn't bring himself to do anything while he knew that Sora was lying and waiting to die. So Riku just curled around him and held his friend close, wishing for a miracle.
It was a few hours later that one of the sleeping boys stirred and shifted around on the bed. Arms tightened around his waist and the teen stilled. A few minutes later, he had managed to wake himself up fully, blinking his eyes as he stared at the brown ceiling above him. The arms around his waist tightened again.
Sora ignored them and continued to stare into space, trying to get his muddled mind working again. The last thing he remembered was…Riku and…a sword? Sephiroth had been there too, along with Vincent. But what had they all been doing? He grasped fervently at his memories before it all came back to him.
"…It's flying a pirate's flag."
"We'll take him."
"Riku!"
"You're his now."
"I'm not property."
"I will call you puppy from now on."
"The Captain can't very well continue taking care of himself when we're out to sea."
"Stop calling me that, my name's Sora."
"You will want for nothing from now on."
"Take these off right now; I'm not your slave!"
"Except freedom."
"Go tonight and kill him."
"We are pirates."
"Lead the way, Riku. I'll follow, promise."
"I want no help from some dirty pirate."
"Don't worry. I promise I won't loose you."
"RIKU!"
"I'll never loose you again."
"I'm going to take you back now, Sora."
"You're not his."
"I'll kill him."
"RIKU!"
"SORA!"
"Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!"
Sora moaned and grabbed his head, trying to stop the thoughts pounding around in his mind. He curled around himself, holding his head and biting his lip. It took awhile, but eventually Sora's thoughts slowed and his mind calmed down. Sora let his body relax and finally noticed pain in his back. It was sharp and constant; he moaned again.
"So…ra?" A groggy voice whispered near his ear. Sora froze and noticed for the first time that someone was holding him. He looked up and saw silver, instantly pushing himself away, then hissing as the movement hurt his back.
The person moved and turned onto his back and the brunette let out a visible sigh of relief. It was Riku. Wait, Riku? When did Riku get here? And how did they end up on the same bed? And where was here?
What is going on?
Sora could hear shouts and footsteps from above his head and the fact that the ship tilted slightly led him to the conclusion they were on ship and out to sea. Sora decided he wanted some answers and reached over to Riku, shaking him until the older teen woke up.
When Riku blinked his eyes open, for a moment all he did was stare at Sora, as though he thought he was dreaming. Then, without warning, he sat up and crushed the brunette in a hug. Sora cried out from the pain in his back and Riku instantly changed his grip, but didn't let go. Sora sighed and hugged Riku back.
"You're all right," Riku whispered. "I was so scared you would die."
"Die?" Sora repeated.
"The wound on your back…you lost a lot of blood. Too much blood," Riku explained quietly.
"Well don't worry," Sora assured his friend. "I'm fine now. And so are you."
"Yeah…" Riku held him tighter for another minute before letting go and sitting back. "How do you feel?"
"My back's sore," Sora shrugged, sitting crossed legged on the bed. "And I'm tired, but otherwise I feel fine."
"That's good," Riku nodded. "Do you remember anything?"
"The fight," Sora mused. "I remember jumping in front of that sword."
"Yeah, don't ever do that again," Riku ordered. "I don't want you dying because of me."
"And I don't want you to die on my behalf," Sora countered, looking serious. "Next time, we fight together."
Riku looked surprised before giving a half smile. "All right, next time we fight together." They pinkied-promised, smiling at the childish gesture.
"So where are we?" Sora asked.
Riku spent about a half hour explaining where they were and who they were with. Sora fell asleep as soon as he finished and Riku decided to get some food. And maybe a bath. He hadn't bathed in awhile. The teen carefully untangled himself from Sora, making sure not to disturb him, before slipping out of the room. He made his way above deck and stretched as the noon sun shone down on his face. It felt nice to get out and stretch.
"Toruko!" A voice shouted and he turned to answer it. Yuffie was jumping down from the look out post as another crew member took her place. Riku smiled and waited for the hyper girl to land in front of him before speaking.
"Hey Yuffie," he smiled. He felt like he hadn't smiled in years.
"You're up!" She exclaimed happily. "And not acting like the world is evil and needs to be blown up!"
He laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, I suppose I haven't been very good company lately. I'm sorry."
"No problem," the girl answered. "How's Sora?"
"He woke up a little while ago," Riku answered, his smile widening. "We talked for awhile but he got tired and went back to sleep."
"That's great," Yuffie laughed. "Now the lovers can be reunited."
"Ok, stop with the lover shit," Riku snapped. "I told you before, we're friends; brothers."
She just laughed and patted his head. As soon as she touched his hair though, she withdrew her hand and made a grossed-out face.
"Uh…maybe you should go take a bath," she stuck her tongue out in disgust as she wiped her hand on her clothes. "You're pretty dirty."
Riku flushed with embarrassment. "Yeah, I was planning on it, actually. I was just going to ask if anyone minded."
"Why would we?"
"Well I was under the impression that once we hit Traverse Town, I was on my own," Riku pointed out. "And yet Cloud and Aerith show up out of nowhere and save mine and Sora's butts."
"Oh," Yuffie shrugged. "Well you'll have to ask Cloud about that, because I have no idea either. As for taking a bath," she patted his shoulder, being careful not to touch his greasy hair. "Trust me, no one will complain."
"Oh come on! I'm not that dirty!" He exclaimed in defense.
Yuffie laughed at him. "I could smell you from all the way up on the look out post and, hun, you don't smell nice."
"Well just for that…" He jumped forward and grabbed the dark haired girl in a bear hug before she could get away. Yuffie screamed and kicked at him, yelling to get his "filthiness" away from her. Riku let her go with a laugh and waved goodbye, heading to the lower decks to bathe.
Once he was gone, Yuffie headed up the stairs and to the captain's office. She knocked once on the door before letting herself in, grinning happily. Cloud, Leon and Aerith were all sitting in there and talking. They looked up when Yuffie entered.
"What is it?" Leon asked.
"Thought you might want to know that Toruko's up and back to his normal self again," Yuffie reported. "If not a little happier then usual. He said that Sora had woken up too, but he's resting again. Toruko went to take a much needed bath."
Leon nodded and Aerith stood up. "If that's it then, then I'm going to go check on Sora once more. To make sure that everything's going to be all right."
"Very well, keep me informed," Leon ordered and Aerith nodded before leaving the room with a hyper Yuffie in tow.
"Well now we find out for sure," Cloud commented idly. Leon simply grunted in response.
After scrubbing himself clean, Riku headed back to his and Sora's room, feeling much better. He wasn't surprised to see Aerith there and checking over Sora. He smiled at the brunette happily.
"Hello Aerith," he greeted. The girl turned to him with a smile of her own.
"Good afternoon, Toruko," she nodded. "You're sure happy."
He shrugged. "It's a nice day."
"I'll bet."
It occurred to Riku just then that everyone was still calling him "Toruko." They had no idea his real name was Riku and that the name "Toruko" was the one he used when he was little. It was what he always called himself if police ever caught him for stealing. He and Sora had come to call it his "street name." Sora's was Aoiro. Though they hadn't used them since they settled down with the others back home.
Home. Now there was a place Riku was dying to get back to. He missed Kairi's motherly behavior, Selphie's endless cheerfulness, Wakka's silly fairy tales and even Tidus' stupid habits. It would be great to get back home to see his family again. And he would have Sora with him, just as he promised.
"What are you smiling at?" Aerith asked, now finished with her work.
"Nothing," Riku answered. "I'm just happy. Now that I have Sora back and he's going to be all right, we can finally go home. I really miss the others."
Aerith's face fell for a second before she forced a smile back on. Riku didn't notice.
"When he wakes up again, he's going to be hungry," Aerith told him. "Take him to the mess hall to get something to eat, but don't go wandering around. His body is still weak and he still needs his rest."
"Right," Riku nodded in understanding.
"And also, Leon wants to speak to you both later." She gathered up her skirts and left.
Riku climbed back into bed next to Sora and frowned. He owed Leon and Cloud a lot. They had given him passage to Traverse Town and saved his and Sora's lives from Sephiroth. He would do his best to answer all of Leon's questions as truthfully as possible, but Riku got the feeling that Sora was the one who would be lying. And not just to them.
Police- I'm not sure, but I think police were called "police" in the 1800's. For the sake of simplicity, they will be in this story.
Aoiro- It's a color. It means "blue." I figured since Toruko mean turquoise, I'd name Sora blue, for his eyes.
A/N: Well this was pretty much a filler chapter, I suppose. Sora woke up and Riku's not acting like the living dead anymore. Next chapter for sure will reveal the beginning of the "second" plot. First plot was Sora getting kidnapped and Riku saving him, and now the second plot will be what D.I.'s are and who is/isn't one.
Next chapter is important, so please don't skip it.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS! (Did you know answering reviews isn't allowed anymore? So instead of answering reviews, I shall be answering questions only. Sorry.)
Question: Why didn't Cloud attempt to heal Sora in the last chapter?
Answer: It's explained next chapter, but basically it's because the wound was too big. Cloud has a minor healing ability. Only enough to fix scratches and bruises. A wound as large as Sora's wouldn't have even been phased if Cloud had tired to heal it.
Question: Was the "slow-motion" thing Riku does from the game?
Answer: No, I made that up as one of his abilities. That's all me, that has nothing to do with the game.
Question: Which side is Vincent on in the fic? Sora's or Sephiroth's?
Answer: At the moment, Sephiroth's. As of now, I don't foresee him switching loyalties either.
Question: Do Sora and Riku know about who/what they "really" are?
Answer: No. Next chapter.
A QUESTION FOR READERS!
I've been toying with the idea of bringing back Kairi, Selphie, Wakka and Tidus. I would like to know people's opinions. Do you think I should bring them back into the story, or leave them as minor characters, as they are now?
I guess that's all. Thanks for the reviews people, I love ya all!
MUCH LOVE TO RANDOMNESS!