Chapter 11: Alone with Riku

I couldn't help but marvel as I looked around. I could see everything, and there wasn't a film over everything (I'm not so good about cleaning my glasses) or a glint when I tilted my head. As we entered the front room, Sora, Riku, and Yen Sid all looked up from their discussion and eyed me. I tried not to squirm, feeling embarrassed but keeping from blushing for once. Sora grinned and said, "Looks nice, Elizabeth!"

Riku said lazily, "Better than what you were wearing." I lost the fight not to blush, though I couldn't decide whether it was because I was angry, embarrassed, or humiliated. Yen Sid said nothing, but I hadn't expected him to. He just nodded and redirected the boys' attention to whatever they were talking about, now in lower voices. Kairi eyed me, and I could tell she, too, was having trouble deciding whether to join in or not. We didn't get the chance to barge in, though- less then a minute later, Yen Sid said one last thing and simply vanished. My jaw dropped yet again. Outfit-changing was one thing, but teleporting?! Wow. Magic was real- and it was happening right in front of me! I held back a hyper squeal (I've read fantasy all my life, and I waited for my letter from Hogwarts for two years).

There was a pause as all four of us accepted the fact that he'd disappeared, leaving the room without moving or even saying anything. Then we all moved to the middle of the room and stood there a little awkwardly. I reached up to fiddle with my glasses, only to realize that they were no longer there. I've had glasses since I was six- this was going to take some getting used to. Kairi broke the silence. "Are you guys hungry?"

Sora nodded emphatically and made like he was going to pass out from starvation, and the ice was broken. Riku laughed. "Sora, that doesn't count. You're always hungry!" I bit my lip at the sound of his laugh. It was beautiful… No! Don't think about it! Ignore him, ignore him, ignore him.

Kairi giggled and said with affection, "Quit that, silly. C'mon, let's go get food then." And she waved Sora out the door before her. I could see Riku was thinking about following them, but instead he sat down on a chair and gestured for me to do the same on the chair next to his. I swallowed and did so. What did he want?

He just looked at me for a minute, face blank and eyes inscrutable. I wiggled in my seat a little. Why was he staring? I felt a strand of my hair slip down from where it had been positioned and fall over my eyes. I let it hang there for a minute, contemplating ignoring it, before sighing and brushing it out of my way. At this, Riku's face hardened and he spoke. "So. Now you know." I could tell he was pretty pissed about this, so I replied cautiously.

"Yeah."

When I didn't say anything else, he looked at me and challenged, "What're you going to do about it?"

"Well, I'm not going to tell anybody, if that's what you mean." I was getting defensive- like I would ever be a spy, even if I could! My face is too easy to read, and I don't have the temperament for sneaking around and keeping all the lies straight.

He snorted at this, clearly not believing me. My eyes narrowed and I turned to inspect the fringing on the arms of my fluffy chair. While Yen Sid had taken over most of the tower, it was clear Queen Minnie had done the decorating. Then I heard him ask unwillingly, "What do you think?"

I was startled. Clearly he hated having to ask my opinion. He would never have done it if he wasn't worried. I thought back over what I'd heard, and relayed my first impression. "I think… it sounded like the King isn't planning on coming back."

His fist clenched. "Why would you say that?"

"The PS. It sounded a lot like a goodbye." I looked up, and his face was expressionless, but his eyes were stricken. I hurriedly added, "At least to me. But I've never met him. What did you think?" I asked him daringly.

His hand slowly relaxed and went limp. "I think we're in big trouble." Then he glanced down at me and shut his mouth abruptly, like he hadn't meant to say that much. His eyes were angry- I guessed he regretted giving me, the supposed spy, that much info. Neither of us said anything for several minutes, the silence tense and uncomfortable. I lost myself in memorizing the shade of stormy greenish blue his eyes were at the moment and the way his bangs fell over them, parted here and there, shifting as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Then I caught myself and promptly turned my attention to analyzing the couch's pattern, berating myself silently. It couldn't have been much later when Kairi and Sora returned with two guards in tow that they'd roped into helping carry food, but it felt like forever.

It didn't feel right to eat in Yen Sid's rooms, even if he wasn't there, so we sat on the floor in the hallway and helped ourselves. I struggled a bit with the food- it wasn't quite like anything I'd ever had before, and I don't really know how to describe it. Let's just say it wasn't a cheeseburger folks. As we ate, Sora, Kairi, and Riku swapped stories and told jokes, having a good time. Admittedly, Sora and Kairi did most of the talking, but Riku chipped in a few times and listened attentively. He didn't laugh again, but I saw him smile a few times, and tried to ignore the increased thumping of my heart. Sora and Kairi both tried to include me, but I was having a hard enough time swallowing past the lump in my throat, so I just moved my head in a yes or no in response to my questions. Soon enough they gave up. I listened to them enjoying each other's company and tried not to think about school lunches with my friends or suppertime at home.

Just as we were finishing up, a dignified-looking rooster (wearing a tuxedo jacket, of all things!) turned the corner and crowed in surprise and disapproval, eying the dishes scattered haphazardly on the tile critically. However, he was too polite to mention them, instead bowing and intoning, "Her Majesty requested that I show you to your rooms. Please, follow me." I stifled a giggle- a rooster butler bowing was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen.

Sora looked at the mess on the floor helplessly and started to clean it up, the three of us immediately chipping in, but the rooster butler (the rootler?) cut us off with just a hint of disdain. "Don't concern yourselves with that. Someone will clean it up."

Sora, Kairi, and I all tried to apologize (Riku just shifted his weight and looked bored) but the rootler would have none of it. "This way, sirs and madams." He turned and gestured to the stairs. Obediently, we followed him down a floor and through three hallways before he came to a stop in a corridor lined with endless doors- or so it seemed to me, tired and lost as I was. Fortunately, the four rooms we were given were all next to each other. Riku insisted on putting himself between me and the other two, and I was exhausted enough that I didn't even care. I fumbled the doorknob, finally getting it to turn, and barely took in the room (bed, desk, sitting area, bathroom- really, it was more like a suite) before collapsing on the bed and falling asleep instantaneously.


Hee hee. So, I guess that's probably not what most of you had in mind when you saw the chapter title. Oh well, what can I say? Hope you guys are patient... I finally started edging my way into actual plot, yay! Let me know what you think, please! Your reviews inspire me :D Also, I have one other thing I'm planning on posting soon- a character profile sheet to go with this story. It'll have everyone we've met so far (well, everyone who's important- it does not include Head Guard Dude or the rootler) and some of the characters from worlds we haven't been to yet. I won't give too much away, but if you check it out, you can look and see what worlds I'm planning to visit! Hopefully, it'll also make things easier for people who haven't played the games to understand my little fanfic here. If I do post it, I'll let you guys know! It's going to be posted as a separate story and not a chapter, so keep your eyes peeled!