Chapter 12: Cygnet

"Wha— what are you doing here!"

Cloud moved slowly towards Rikku, his hands up in the air, slightly quivering. Rikku inched backwards, feeling behind her with her naked fingers. She felt something hard— something cold— and realized she had edged up to the wall of the room. She was cornered now, and her eyes darted from each end of the room, looking for some way to escape. Cloud kept coming closer, slowly but surely, and was whispering something. Why is he whispering, she asked herself.

She began to calm down, concentrating on only what he was saying, "It's alright. I'm here to help, Rikku. I don't hate you. I'm here to help."

She opened her eyes, wincing, bracing for pain. But it never came. To her complete surprise, he knelt down and hugged her. She didn't struggle; she didn't return the embrace. She just stood there, limp like a doll. Cloud kept on hugging her, and he kept on saying sweet things.

"I love you. Everything'll be okay. Everything's fine now."

She relaxed into his arms and, by nature, began to hug him in return. Cloud smiled, immensely happy that he had found her. Rikku began to smile too, and tears followed. They began slowly trickling down her cheek, and dropping onto the lifeless metal floor. Cloud turned his head and looked straight at Rikku. His sappy sapphire blue eyes looked into the wet, swirling emeralds that were Rikku's. In that one moment, Rikku leaped for joy inside— she finally knew the truth: Cloud loved her, truly loved her. She had acted so childish, had even run away, but Cloud had chased right after her. He cared so much for her. And now, she finally knew it.

Rikku sniffled to stop the tears and let out a soft laugh. She couldn't bottle up her bliss any longer and smiled. She flung herself into the unsuspecting Cloud and wrapped her arms around his neck. She looked up at his messy blonde hair, his beautiful eyes, and his heavenly smile. She brought their faces closer, and closer, until they were but an inch apart. She closed her eyes, wanting the darkness to beautify the act. She felt his breath, the warm air rushing into her own mouth, growing wider by the second. Rikku could almost taste his lips, almost feel his damp mouth.

"Whatcha doing?" a little, soft voice inquired. Both Rikku and Cloud opened their eyes and looked to the side. They saw the little girl who met Rikku in the store, and who was Cloud's guide. He forgot that she was aboard the craft with them.

"Rikku, this is… um…" he tried explaining. "She helped me find you. We should thank her, right?" Cloud was sitting upright, with Rikku in his lap snuggled up against his body. Cloud had his arms draped over her shoulders and was rubbing her shoulders softly with his fingers.

"Yep, we definitely should," she answered back, nodding her head a little too much for emphasis. The little girl giggled, and then stifled it trying not to be rude. "That's okay. Laughing a good thing. It brings the best out of people."

"And since when did you become so insightful?" Cloud gave Rikku a short peck on the forehead. Rikku looked up at her golden angel and smiled. She felt so much better now; all of her fears, all of her doubts, had vanished. She was in perfect contentment— no more than that— she was in paradise.

The couple looked back to their little companion. "Um, I'm Cloud, Rikku's friend. OW!" Cloud rubbed his chest and he winced in pain. Rikku had punched him squarein the chestwhen he finished his word 'friend'. "Ow… Sorry, she's my girlfriend, so I'm her boyfriend," he finished. "And you are?"

She looked at the two, and then gazed past them at something overhead. They both turned their necks to se what was so fascinating. Cloud squinted to get a better view and Rikku gasped as her jaw dropped. "Wow…" Cloud lightly shook his head, and looked back at the ceiling. Where the wall met the ceiling, there was an ornate pillar, a support column most likely. Its vines and leaves stretched from off it to throughout the whole ceiling, with leaves and stone flowers budding off. In the corner, lit perfectly by one of the few working lights (for some more had turned on by now), lay a console and monitor. Rikku got up slowly, her machina instinct kicking in. She craved to figure out what this was; she needed to make it work. She approached the console apprehensively, and looked back. The little girl was wide-eyed, Cloud the same. She put her finger lightly on her lips and cocked her head slightly. She wondered how to fix this, and moved her head side to side during her inspection. She knelt down, he scarf trailing on the floor. She pushed a small, almost hidden button. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands and waited. Nothing. She opened one eye, and moved her fingers slightly. With her partial vision, she saw that they had not blown up. "Phew."

Not looking back, she motioned with a wave of her right hand for Cloud to come over there. He obeyed. She turned and whispered into his ear for a little, waited, and then heard his whispered response. She nodded and walked back towards the little girl. She knelt again, her butt resting on the back of her legs. "I'm a machina specialist. I should be able to fix this… whatever it is, in no time at all. But, I dunno how safe it is. So…"

"You want me to go?" the little girl asked. She had big puppy-dog eyes now, and stuck out her lower lip to complete the look.

Rikku looked back over at Cloud, mimicking the younger girl. "Pwease Cwoud, can she stay? Pwease?" Cloud shook his head and rolled his eyes, but gave in. Rikku smiled and clapped her hands, and the little girl ran over and hugged Cloud. He wasn't expecting it, so he almost fell over. He caught himself and awkwardly hugged her back.

"Well, first things first: what's your name?"

"My name is..." the little girl looked down at her feet which shifted nervously. "The thing is," she said, looking up again, "I don't know. I don't know my name."

An awkward silence set in. Rikku and Cloud didn't know what to say. This had never happened to them before and they were a little scared. The little girl was the one to break the silence.

"I don't know much about my family or anything, but, you guys feel like one to me. Somehow, I was supposed to be here, with you two." Rikku and Cloud looked at each other wide eyed. This seemed very odd at first, but then they realized they had felt the same way before. When they had met, they hadn't known anything about the other, but there was an affinity there, a bond that was controlled by destiny.

And similarly to destiny, the three felt an urge to see the box that Rikku had opened before. Rikku got down slowly and carefully picked up the wooden box. She placed in her lap as she sat down. She slid her fingers over the wood surface, feeling the tiny bumps and grooves that made the creatures. She breathed out and opened the lid.

In the box lay one single object. The pure silver necklace faintly glittered because it was coated in dust. Rikku wiped the dust off and sneezed. It cleared and revealed the necklace's true glory. It reflected the overhead lights with its pristine silver; it bore colored jewels: rubies, emeralds, sapphires, amethysts, topazes, and diamonds on its band; and in the center hung a crystal relief of a swan.

"It's beautiful," was all Rikku could manage to say. Cloud and the girl walked over to see the necklace. Rikku held it up, and the jewels bounced their colors over the ships' walls.

The little girl asked quietly, "May I try it on, please?" Rikku nodded and slipped it on over her head. As soon as Rikku had swung the swan pendent to the front of the necklace, it emitted a soft rose glow. The girl's hair rippled softly as if there was a slight breeze.

Starting out softly, a delicate melody sang forth from the swan. As it grew louder, tiny wisps of red drifted out of the necklace and towards its wearer. In its final note of beauty, the music sprang into the girl. And everything was back to it was before.

Cloud looked at the girl, unsure if what he had seen was real. "Are— are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered in a more confident tone than she had used before. "My name is Kait."

Cloud and Rikku looked at her, not sure if they heard right.

"My name is Kait, I remember that now," she replied. "This place, it feels so familiar. Like you two."

The necklace was obviously magical, but why something with this power be lying in a box in an abandoned ship? And why did the necklace allow Kait to recall her past?

"Let's go," Kait said. She walked down the hallway into the darkness. Rikku ran a little bit, turned back to Cloud, and then chased after her shouting, "Go where? Hey, wait up!"

Cloud was alone now. He looked at the empty box. Somehow, he too felt that innate connection. He felt it when he first met Rikku. But how are we all connected? He picked up the box and examined it with his fingers. On its varnished surface lay three prominent animals. Smaller and lesser creatures snaked throughout the chest, but they didn't draw much attention. There was a lion, crouched and ready to pounce. His golden mane flowed into the tail of the next creature, the phoenix. The fiery bird looked as if it was just rising out of the flames of rebirth, and its crimson-gold feathers reminded Cloud of flames. The third creature was set apart, and it was a fairy. Her wings fawned out like an insect, and her clothing were earthly. She was very beautiful, and Cloud felt, faintly, that he had met this fairy before. But Cloud quickly shook the idea since he could never recall meeting any fairy.

After looking inside, and seeing nothing else, he put the box down and walked after Kait and Rikku, wondering where they were headed.

When he met up with them, both were talking excitedly over some sort of machine. They turned around and tried to look serious. Cloud stared at Rikku until she could hold it in no longer. She began giggling uncontrollably and then fell over.

She got up and began explaining. "This here is an ancient ship, supposedly owned by the great ancient heroes. Kait thinks she'll be able to operate it."

Cloud looked over at Kait, and the once little girl seemed older. She just looked at him, and now Cloud was certain she had drastically aged. He was about to question when she interrupted.

"I know I can pilot this ship. Who knows what secrets lie hidden in its databank? Well, yes or no?" She extended her hand slightly forward.

Cloud gave her a questioning stare. "Yes or no what?"

"Do you want her to try to pilot this thing silly," Rikku answered for Kait. Kait nodded and Cloud agreed. "Well then, let's get started!" Rikku skipped over to Kait and rocked back and forth as she waited for orders.

Cloud scratched the back of his head. "So, where are we headed?" He wanted to go somewhere, anywhere. He was ready to fly.

Kait shook her head sullenly. "We can't fly anywhere, not yet. First I'm going to have to access the databank. Then we can see what this girl can do." She continued walking down the hallway and then went through the sliding door at the end. Rikku started to follow, but Cloud grabbed her arm. When she looked back, she saw Cloud motioning for her to go the other way, with him. She smiled coyly and scampered off with him to explore the other ends of the airship.

"We'd only bother her anyways," Cloud whispered as the couple walked back into the darkness of the halls.

……………………………………………...

Kait was lost in the darkness. She tried retracing her steps, but it only made her more lost. She was terrified, afraid she was going to die. But she wasn't about to give up that easily. She was smart; she'd figure this through. Her hands, groping for any switch or wall, finally hit something. It was cold, and Kait flinched back. Slowly, she touched it again, tracing around it trying to figure out what it was. She felt a bump, and flicked it. Immediately the machines started to hum to life and the overhead lights began to flicker on. Kait sighed and peered into the fading darkness.

She was in something that looked like a control room. Not knowing where to start, she walked up to a large keypad and extended her finger slowly. The button made a quiet beep and then the silence continued. She stuck out her lip and pushed a different button. All she got was a beep still, though this one was slightly lower pitch. She turned her head around, looking for something that might give her a clue to what would operate this ship. Seeing nothing else, she continued toiling away at the keypad, trying random sequences. Frustrated, she began making short melodies, since each button gave off different sound.

So Ti La Do' ... ... Do' Ti Do'Re' So ... ...Re' Mi' Do' Re' ... ... Do' Ti Do'Re' So ... ...So So La La Ti ... ...Ti La Fa Fa So So

Kait played this melody a few times more. She liked it very much; it gave her a sense of inner peace. The song wasn't really her creation either. She more of felt it, like she had already known it but had just forgotten.

Now relaxed by her song, Kait began aimlessly wandering in the rather large room. Starting from the keypad, there lay the doors which she came from to the far left. To her right were another set of doors, but she really wasn't in the exploring-new-passages mood right now. A large monitor screen was on the wall opposite her, and a few seats and a couch faced it. They all seemed in perfect condition, as if this ship had docked earlier today. She made her away over to the monitor and saw yet another touch screen. Figuring it operated the same way as the mounted one, she pushed the button that would probably make the 'Do'sound. It didn't. The monitor turned on, and all of the lights around it began glowing. A bit startled, but pleased she had found the power switch, she smiled. Kait played happily with her new discovery for a long time while Rikku and Cloud were exploring.

……………………………………………...

As Cloud and Rikku had begun walking down the hallway, the lights were still mainly out, but the the few that were lit were glowing brighter than before. The couple walked in almost utter silence in the semi-darkness. Rikku had wrapped her arms around Cloud's right arm and was resting her head on his shoulder. She was smiling, though Cloud couldn't tell because of the lack of light. They reached the spot were they had first bumped into each other and stopped for a bit. Rikku broke away from Cloud, stooped down, and picked up the wooden box. She brushed it of with her scarf and pushed some loose hair out of her eyes. She walked into the musty room and set the box down in the same place she had found it.

As she turned to leave, Cloud was standing in the doorway, one arm on the door post, the other loosely hanging. He gave a smirk and walked forward, towards her, slowly. Rikku backed up, slightly scared and slightly excited. Cloud walked faster and caught her arm and twirled her into his embrace. Rikku looked up at him with her innocent eyes. She let a tiny giggle pass through her lips before she was seized by a kiss. Reluctant for only a second, Rikku began to kiss him back, feeling his passion diffuse into her. She felt his hands slide up her delicate arms and onto her shoulders and begin down her sides. She tried to pull away though she knew she's loved it. Cloud wouldn't let Rikku go, and her struggling caught Cloud off balance and flung the two onto the bed.

Cloud let go of the kiss to say, "You want me that bad?" He rose his eyebrow to suggest even more. Rikku brushed his hands off and in her best angry imitation: "No! It was just an accident."

Cloud scooted over towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She shivered from his cold hands, but didn't recoil this time. Cloud wrapped his arms around her front till his hands met by her stomach. The two lay there for awhile, just listening to each other breathe. Rikku turned over, tufts of her hair falling onto her and Clouds face. She gently kissed him for a second and then started to get up. Now it was Cloud's turn to look sad; he made pouting face and puppydog eyes. Rikku smiled but shook her head 'No'. "Not now," she whispered, "Later. After we've..."

"Do what later?" Both Rikku and Cloud shot their heads over to the entrance. There stood Kait, looking slightly giddy but at the same time serious. Rikku was beginning to blush heavily and so turned away from Kait.

"We were just going to tidy up the rooms after we finished exploring this place," Cloud responded hastily.

"Oh," Kait seemed to realize that there was something else, but she decided not to press it. "Well, in that case, I think you'll be happy to know that I found the databank."

Rikku turned around, her face slightly tinted red. "So? What did ya find?" Rikku was becoming more and more excited as Kait retold her story of wandering into the room and the musical pad.

"So, this ship is named Cygnet?" Cloud asked. Kait nodded. "So can you fly it?" She nodded again.

Cloud got up now and stood next to Rikku. He growing excited as well.

"Well, what are waiting for?" Rikku ran right up to Kait and grabbed her hands. "Let's go!"

Kait smiled, but obviously was not liking this attention. She nodded and then walked towards the control room. As the three were walking, music began playing over the speakers. Rikku stopped and the two turned around, waiting.

So Ti La Do' ... ... Do' Ti Do'Re' So ... ...Re' Mi' Do' Re' ... ... Do' Ti Do'Re' So ... ...So So La La Ti ... ...Ti La Fa Fa So So

Ieyui ... ... Nobomenu ... ...Renmiri ... ...Yojuyogo ... ... Hasatekanae ... ... Kutamae

"It's the Hymn of the Fayth,"

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Hey! Sorry It's taken me FOREVER to update (I really got to get better about that) Well, I've got a plan formulating, so I should be able to sooner than later... Thanks for all the support, comments, and suggestions!
AntiMusicMan