Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Lively chatter filled the Inn as Sarah bustled through the busy dining room, delivering food to different tables. Hinata sat beside Riku in a booth, leaning into him as his arm was over her shoulder.
"Man, I'm starving!" Sam complained across from them while placing the menu on the table top. "I could have eaten by now if we just stayed at the shop."
Hinata chuckled, "I know, but since I'm leaving tomorrow, I wanted to eat here at least one last time. Plus, I should probably tell Sarah that I'm not going to work here anymore."
"Yeah, I think that was pretty obvious the moment those Organization guys showed up." Sam sighed. "Hopefully the food gets here soon though; I need to get working on that FTL Drive thing that DiZ guy sent me. I was able to scan the schematics off Ben's mind pretty easy, but it's going to take me a few hours to get it built."
"Don't rush yourself." Hinata told her. "If we need to stay longer so you can finish it, we can."
Waving her hand dismissively, she replied, "Nah, its fine. It's actually a pretty simple design and I have the parts." Leaning back in her chair she lamented, "Too bad we don't have that magic stuff in this galaxy. Then space travel would be literally faster than light. You guys get all the luck."
"Sorry for the wait," Sarah quickly told them, finally stopping at their table with a platter of food in her hands. "It's been a madhouse here today."
"No worries," Hinata assured her with a smile. "I totally get it."
Sarah began placing the food and drinks on the table, while she spoke. "So, how is everything going today?"
"Great," Hinata told her. "Sam is getting my ship ready so Riku and I can head back to our galaxy."
"How wonderful!" She smiled, "I am so happy that you are finally going to get home. When are you planning on leaving?"
"I know it's soon, but probably tomorrow morning." Hinata admitted, "Which also means, I won't be working here anymore."
Sarah chuckled, "Yes, I figured as much about the working thing; but wow, tomorrow morning? I'll talk with Doppler, maybe we can have a little good bye party here tonight so everyone can see you before you head off."
"That would be great." Hinata nodded.
"Well that should be everything," Sarah placed the last plate on the table. "If you need anything else, just give me a call."
"Will do!" Sam told her, already digging into her food. As Sarah left the table, Sam asked. "So what are you and Riku going to do after lunch?"
"I'm not sure." Hinata admitted, looking over at Riku.
"Do you need to pack your things?" Riku asked.
"I suppose that's true." She nodded, "Maybe we'll head back to Doc's house and get my stuff ready to go."
"That would work." Sam agreed. "Just make sure not to take too long. After I finish the Drive Core we're going to need Riku to make that dark portal thing so we can make sure it works."
Hinata felt Riku tighten his grip around her shoulder as Sam mentioned him. "Are you worried about making the portal?" She asked him.
"Not worried," He admitted, "It's just, I've never made a Corridor that started and ended in the same place. I didn't even know it was possible. So I'm not exactly sure how I'm supposed to do it."
"We'll figure it out." Hinata assured him, placing her hand on his leg. "You told me before that when you create one of those portals you just imagine where you want to go, right? So maybe you just have to imagine the drive core."
"Maybe," He shrugged, removing his arm around Hinata so he could eat. "I guess we'll find out when we get there."
They continued to talk while they ate. Riku mostly stayed silent unless he was asked a question as Sam and Hinata chatted away about various things. Soon they had finished their meals and were about to pay until Sarah told them lunch was on the house. Thanking her, they all headed out of the Inn, into the cold air outside. The sky was still in a gloomy overcast and threatened what looked like rain.
"It sure is starting to get cold here." Hinata noted, running her hands along her arms.
"Well it is winter now," Sam told her, putting on a navy blue jacket and smiling. "Which means Christmas is coming soon and Jim will be on shore leave!"
Hinata laughed, "Well at least you have something to look forward to then." She looked over at Riku and grabbed his hand. "You ready?"
"Yeah," He smiled back and squeezed her hand.
"We'll see you at the shop in a few hours." Hinata told Sam.
"Sure thing," Sam nodded, waving as she jogged away.
They watched Sam run off before beginning to walk on their own. Hinata began to shiver as they walked, her breath creating small puffs of white smoke from the cold air. Looking over at her, Riku let go of her hand and took off his jacket, wrapping it around her arms. She grabbed it gratefully, but then glanced over at his now bare arms.
"What about you?" She asked him. "You can't tell me you're not cold."
Stretching his arms, he snidely remarked. "Yeah, well maybe I'm just better at handling the cold than you."
Hinata laughed, and nudged him with her shoulder. "Yeah, whatever. Good to see you still have your sarcasm. "
Riku chuckled in response before wrapping his arm around Hinata's shoulder. "Christmas is coming soon, huh?" He asked her.
Nodding, she replied, "Yeah, only about two months away." She sighed in relief. "I was worried I wouldn't be able to spend it with you; but it looks like I don't have to worry about that now."
"Maybe I can convince DiZ to let us put up a Christmas tree or something." He told her.
"Do you remember our first Christmas together?" She asked. "It was right after we started dating."
Riku chuckled, "Yeah, I was so worried about what to get you and all the suggestions Selphie and Kairi gave me didn't really fit you."
Laughing in response, she said. "Yeah, Selphie never really had the best relationship advice. Even though she acted as if she were some love guru." She paused for a moment, before adding. "I liked what you got me though."
"I know," He told her, running his hand along her arm. "But I'll make sure this year's gift is even better."
"You don't have to." She assured him, "Just being able to spend Christmas with you this year would be enough."
Letting out a short breathy laugh, he told her. "Man, you can be sappy sometimes."
She scoffed, "Yeah maybe, but only with you." Her cheeks dusted a light rose as she mumbled, "Does it bother you?"
Riku stopped walking and turned towards Hinata. Placing his hand under her chin, he tilted her face up towards him before leaning down and giving her a kiss. "Not at all." He told her when he pulled away, smiling as he noticed her blushed cheeks. Kissing her quickly on the nose, he noted, "I think it's cute."
Hinata sighed as Riku went back beside her. "There you go calling me cute again."
"Because it's true." He told her, grabbing her hand and beginning to walk again. "You can deny it all you want, but you are."
"Well alright then, I guess I can live with that." She replied, squeezing Riku's hand. They walked in silence for a few minutes before she spoke up again. "Is it weird that even though we were apart for five months, we're right back to where we were before?"
"A little," He admitted, "I had thought that if I ever did find you, you wouldn't want anything to do with me."
She quickly looked over to him, "Really?"
"Well, yeah." He nodded, "After everything I did… especially after what Xehanort made me do to you…" He held out his free hand in front of him and sighed. "Those are pretty good reasons to want nothing to do with me."
Hinata squeezed his hand and looked down at her feet. "When you were going through all of that stuff… I knew something was going on, but I couldn't figure it out. In all honesty, I was just being really naïve and wasn't there for you the way I should have been." Riku opened his mouth to interrupt, but she continued. "By the time I realized you were falling into darkness, you were asking me to leave Hollow Bastion. Even after that I couldn't make myself stop caring about you. I wanted to help but I didn't know how. And then when I came after you when Xehanort was taking you over… I honestly thought that I had lost you." She stopped walking and placed her free hand over her heart. "But then in those last moments you overpowered him and brought me safely back to the gummi ship."
"Yeah, a whole lot of good that did you though." He muttered.
"The point is… after that moment I knew that you were still there. That underneath all of that darkness you had fallen into that the real Riku I knew and fell in love with was still there." She pushed some of her hair behind her ear and looked over at him beside her. "And I knew that if I ever saw you again I was going to tell you how I really felt and I would do everything I could to help you out of the darkness."
Without warning, Riku immediately pulled Hinata into a tight embrace. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her hair. She was stiff at first from the unexpected contact, but soon relaxed in his hold and wrapped her own arms around him. Leaning her head against his chest, she listened to his heartbeat and felt his warmth surround her.
"I don't deserve you." He whispered after several moments of silence.
"Don't say that…" She replied, her own voice barely over a whisper. She pushed away from his hold, just enough so she could see his face and standing on her tip-toes she gave him a kiss. When she pulled away she told him. "I don't think you realize just how amazing you are." Grabbing his hand, she began walking again, "Come on, I really need to get packing."
Riku smiled as he followed her the rest of the way to the home. They came up on the doorsteps and Hinata quickly unlocked the door and led inside. The inside was dimmed as even the fireplace was not lit and everything was quiet.
"I think they all must be out." Hinata commented, closing the door once Riku was inside.
Walking into the study she grabbed a few books, handing Riku a couple to help her carry them upstairs to her room. Riku looked at the titles of the books she gave him and asked, "Are these yours?"
"Yeah," She nodded, balancing the pile she held in her hands. "There's a nice book store in the market place I go to with Doc every once and a while."
"But these don't seem like novels, they're more like text books." He noted.
She shrugged as she led the way upstairs. "Yeah, when I was on Treasure Planet, I saw some different types of guns from the pirates and from Jim. And I guess they just left an impression on me; so I went and bought some books on them and Amelia has been giving me some shooting lessons." She stopped walking mid-step and realized, "I don't have one of my own… maybe I should buy one before we go."
"What about that one you used when we fought the Organization?"
"That wasn't mine, it was Sarah's." She told him, walking again.
"Oh… with how well you handled it, I thought it was yours."
"Well thanks!" She beamed, "I'll have to tell Amelia you said that. She'll be proud." She chuckled as they reached her closed door but then stared at the knob. "Hmm… I'm not sure how to open this." She began trying to balance her pile of books on one arm and started reaching for the doorknob, wobbling to keep the books upright.
Riku stood a few feet away, watching the ordeal with a small smirk on his face. "I can open it." He told her.
"No, no I've got it." She quickly replied. As she began to slightly turn the knob, the books suddenly lost balance and toppled to the floor, making Riku laugh. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." She rolled her eyes as she heard Riku's laughter. She took the opportunity to open the door with her now free hands and then knelt down to pick up the stray books.
Chuckling to himself, Riku dropped off his pile of books on the desk inside before heading back to the hall to help Hinata pick up hers. Together they brought in everything they needed to and Hinata closed the door behind them.
"Thankfully I don't have too much to pack." Hinata noted heading to her dresser to begin going through her clothes.
Riku nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, leaning back on the palms of his hands. He watched Hinata take out her outfits and lay them on the comforter beside him; looking over each one. As she pulled out a blue dress, he asked, "A dress? Who blackmailed you into getting that?"
Hinata laughed, "Sam. It was for the reopening of the Benbo Inn. Jim invited her and she wanted to go out and buy dresses for it."
Riku looked it over as she placed it on the bed. "I bet you looked great in it."
"I should actually have a couple pictures." She told him. "They should be in my red journal if you want to see them."
"Yeah," He replied, getting up from the bed and going over to her desk.
He picked up her dark red journal and pulled out two photographs that were sticking out of the pages. One of them was a group picture in front of the Inn and Hinata stood in the blue dress beside Sarah and Amelia. Riku smiled to himself and went to the next picture to see Hinata standing along the wall inside the dining room with a small smile on her face. She wasn't looking at the camera, as if she hadn't known the picture was even being taken. Her hair was in tight red curls and the dress hugged her chest and waist before flaring out around her legs. Riku looked her over but then focused on her face. Her smile was there but her eyes seemed sad, just like the way they were when he found her at the Benbo Inn.
Turning around to face Hinata, he told her, "I was right, you looked great."
Hinata chuckled and looked up at him, "Well thanks. I wish you could have been there. It was quite the party."
"Does this red journal come after that green one I read?" He asked.
"Yeah, I got that one shortly after I moved here." She told him. "Did you finish that green one already?"
Nodding, he told her, "Yeah, this morning I did. Speaking of, there was a drawing on one of the pages that I couldn't tell what it was."
"Oh…" She laughed, "I found something really amazing on Treasure Planet and wanted to make sure I remembered it… but I can't draw worth anything."
Riku smiled and went back to the edge of the bed, the red journal in hand and began reading it while Hinata continued to pack. He read through part of her time on Montressor until the point Hinata had gone to Sam to build a ship. As he turned the page, Hinata sat down beside him on the bed with a sigh.
"Well, I finished packing the clothes." She told him. "Just need to get all of my books and journals put away."
"Can you take a break for a little bit?" He asked her, closing the journal and putting it beside him.
Shrugging, she said, "Yeah, I suppose so. Why?"
Without replying, he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss.
Hinata blushed as he pulled away and smiled.
"What is it?" He asked her, noticing her flushed cheeks.
She laughed under her breath, "We've kissed so many times, but you still manage to make me blush every time."
Riku laughed in return, leaning forward for another, more tender kiss. "I think it's cute."
She rolled her eyes once he pulled away, her face warmed. "You just have to remind me of that, don't you?"
"I wouldn't have to if you didn't keep being it." He chuckled.
Shaking her head with a smile, she quickly kissed him on the cheek. "Alright, I need to finish packing."
Reluctantly, Riku let her go and watched as she scurried around the room, packing away her books. He glanced at the desk top and saw a large brown book with gold lettering across the top that read, 'Journey Journal'. Reaching forward, he picked it up and asked, "Is this that book Santa gave you?"
Hinata stopped and looked at the Journal in his hands. "Yeah, how did you know? Oh wait… you read it in my journal."
He nodded, "Yeah, do you mind if I look through it?"
"Go ahead." She told him, getting back to packing. "I haven't looked at it in a while; I wonder if it added any new pictures."
Riku sat back on the edge of the bed and opened the book. He smiled as he went through each page, remembering the places he and Hinata had gone. Then he reached the pictures where Hinata was travelling on her own; one in Atlantica with the mermaid sisters and the other talking with Santa. He looked at Santa sitting in his large chair laughing heartily.
"He looks different than I thought he would." Riku commented.
Hinata chuckled, "Yeah, he was shorter than I imagined."
"What are you wearing?" He asked, looking closer at the picture.
"Oh geez," Her cheeks flushed, "Just turn the page. That dumb magic drive on the gummi ship made me look ridiculous when I went there."
Riku laughed as he turned the page. He looked at the next picture with slight confusion. It was Hinata sitting alone in another gummi ship, but no one was around her. He held up the book and asked, "What were you doing in this picture?"
Hinata stopped and looked over, "You know, I can't quite remember. I feel like I was on Donald and Goofy's gummi ship for a little bit, but I don't know why the Journal would add a picture of it."
"I wonder if Sora is supposed to be in it." He pondered, turning the book around so he could see it.
"Maybe," She shrugged, sitting down beside him since she finished packing.
Riku turned the page to see a breathtaking sight. Hinata stood beside Jack in front of a large meadow blanketed with yellow-green grass that stretched as far as they could see. Across the meadow was a river and towering blue-mountains. He pointed to the page and asked, "Is this what you were trying to draw?"
"Well if I had known it would be in here I wouldn't have even bothered trying to." She sighed, "But yeah."
"Where's your green journal? I want to compare them." He asked.
"No that's alright," She declined, "We've pretty much established I'm an awful artist."
Riku chuckled and kissed her cheek, "You aren't that bad. I'm no good at drawing either."
They went through the rest of the pages, showing Hinata drinking tea with Doppler and Amelia, another showing her filling out paperwork with Sam and James. Then the last photo showed Hinata in the blue dress dancing with James at the reopening of the Benbo Inn.
"Oh that's a nice picture to put in here." Hinata groaned.
"You seem to really be enjoying yourself though." He pointed out. "More than the other pictures I saw of you at that party."
Hinata sighed and examined the picture. She had a large smile on her face and was laughing at something James had said. "That must have been right before I made him mad." She told him.
"What did you say to him?" He asked, looking at her.
Avoiding his gaze she told him, "It's really not important. It's not a moment I like to remember." Grabbing the book from him, she stood up and brought it to her bag. "Alright, everything's packed. We should probably head back to the shop."
Riku eyed her for a moment before sighing and standing up. "I'll carry the book bag for you." He offered.
"No worries!" She told him, "It's one of those bags with wheels." Pulling up a handle she rolled the bag behind her towards the door.
"You got your boots and gloves packed too?" He asked, opening the bedroom door.
"No actually, they are still on the floor over there." She motioned her head to the other side of the bed. "But I want to wear them tomorrow so I kept them out."
"Alright then," He nodded, "Off we go then, I guess."
They headed down the stairs and Riku grabbed the clothing suitcase before opening the front door so they could leave. A slight drizzle had begun to fall from the sky, but not enough to soak through their clothes as they made their way back to the shop. They chatted about various things along the way, making it to the marketplace without trouble. Due to the rain, the market wasn't nearly as busy as before and they were able to make it to the alley without having to run into many people.
"We're back!" Hinata called as they entered the factory.
"Took you long enough!" Sam replied, jogging over from the ship. Coming to a stop when approached them, she crossed her arms. "All that time and you only had to pack two bags? What were you doing?" Her eyes suddenly widening, she waved her hands in front of her and quickly told them, "Wait, never mind, I don't really want to know. I'm just glad you're back."
Both Riku and Hinata's cheeks blushed as Sam spoke and they stood there awkwardly for a moment before Hinata cleared her throat. "So… How is the drive coming along?"
Sam perked up and told her, "Great! It's pretty much done. I had Ben help me and a few other workers put it down in the lower decks of the ship near the cannons so it won't get in the way of the living area. All that needs to be done now is to take her out for a test drive." She turned to Riku, "Are you ready to try making that portal thing?"
"Yeah, I'm ready." He nodded.
"Let's get my stuff on board." Hinata told him. As they walked towards the ship, she asked Sam. "Where are we going to test drive to?"
"I was thinking the Montressor Space Port." Sam told her. "It's far enough away to test the engines but also close enough where we could get back in a good time if the Drive doesn't work right."
"Sounds good." Hinata agreed. "Is James coming along?"
"I haven't seen him at all today." Sam admitted before sighing. "I think he's sulking in his room."
"Can I invite him?" She asked, glancing at Riku to see his reaction.
Riku looked over at Hinata, his expression hard to read at first; but then he nodded. "If you really want to. Just make sure he doesn't try anything."
Hinata smiled and leaned up on her toes, to kiss Riku on his cheek. "Thank you," She told him.
Sam reached over and grabbed the handle of the bag from Hinata. "I'll take this to The Highwind with Riku. You can go get James if you want. Just take the door at the far end of the factory and our room is the first door in the hall. You'll know what I mean when you see it."
"Alright, thanks." She nodded, looking over at Riku she told him, "I'll be right back."
Riku looked unsure but strained a smile as she ran off. She jogged past the ship and went towards a door in the back of the shop, slowing to a stop once she approached it. Reaching towards the knob, her heart suddenly began to race, but she didn't quite understand why.
"I've never been in their actual home before." She whispered to herself. "I hope I'm not intruding."
Taking a deep breath she opened the door and stepped into a living room. The room itself was mostly bare; with a rug in the center of the room under a couch and an old television placed on a coffee table against the wall. The walls were scattered with various sized picture frames but Hinata wasn't able to make any of them out as everything seemed to have a thick layer of dust. She bit back a cough from the musty air and looked for the hallway Sam had mentioned. There was a door on one side of the room and on the other was a long hallway. Hinata glanced at the door by itself but didn't want to stick her nose where it didn't belong; so instead she walked towards the hall and stopped in front of the first door. Raising her hand, she lightly knocked on the door and heard someone rustling around inside. Within seconds a shirtless James opened the door and looked in confusion at Hinata standing in front of him.
"Um… hi?" He finally spoke up. "What are you doing back here?"
Clearing her throat, Hinata avoided looking at him and pointed behind her, "Oh, uh, Sam told me I could find you here and I wanted to invite you to come along to test drive The Highwind."
"The what?" He asked, leaning against the door frame.
"My ship," She clarified, "That's what I named it."
"Is Riku going?" He asked.
"Well, yeah, of course he is." She admitted.
"I think I'll stay here." He told her.
"Oh, come on James!" She pleaded, finally looking up at him. "I know you two don't get along that well, but I'm leaving tomorrow morning and I would really like to spend some time with you before I go. Plus, what other time are you going to be able to ride my ship?"
James sighed and crossed his arms, thinking it over. After a few seconds he resigned, "Fine, I'll go. Just let me get a shirt." He stepped back and fully opened the door so Hinata could come in.
Hinata entered the room behind him and looked around. There were two small beds, one on either side of the room as well as two wooden desks. Hinata sat in a chair in front of one of the desks and glanced at the collection of model ships on display on shelves around one half of the room. On top of the tabletop she sat at, was a partially built ship that looked like a model of the RLS Legacy.
"Is this Sam's side?" She asked, glancing at James as he dug through his wardrobe.
James paused momentarily and stood up straight, looking at where Hinata was sitting. With a chuckle he told her, "Nope, it's mine. I put model ships together, I know it's weird."
Hinata leaned forward and examined the tiny pieces of the ship. "It's not weird," She told him, picking up a small replica of one of the plasma cannons that still had to be put on the model. "It's actually sort of cool. I had no idea you were into this stuff." Placing the piece back on the table she asked. "Is this what you've been doing all day?"
Finally finding a shirt and pulling it on, he nodded, "Yeah, it's something I like to do to relax."
"I don't know how you do it," She told him. "I would never have the endurance. Too many pieces, like a puzzle."
He chuckled as he walked to Hinata and commented, "Well, I can be pretty patient. Plus, once I get into the mode of building it, it comes pretty easy."
"When did you start this one?" She asked, standing from her seat. "It looks like the Legacy."
"That's because it is," He told her, "And I started it this morning."
"This morning?" She repeated, looking at the model. "But it's more than half-way done!"
"I told you it comes easy to me now!" He laughed.
"I'm surprised you aren't more involved in building the actual ships in the shop." She told him turning around.
James opened the bedroom door and shrugged, "Yeah, but I know how the hull and decks go together; I don't know the first thing about the mechanics of what makes it work."
"I bet you could learn." Hinata assured him, following him out of the room.
"Maybe," He shrugged, "But I don't mind handling the customers and the paperwork." Looking around the living room, he apologized. "Uh… sorry you had to see the mess in the living room. Mom always tells me and Sam to focus on keeping the shop clean and she'll take care of the house… but she doesn't leave her room very often."
"No it's fine." Hinata assured him. "I hope I wasn't intruding coming in here."
"Nah, if Sam told you you could, then it's fine." He smiled at her and was about to open the door to the shop, but asked. "This is going to sound weird, but can I hug you?"
Hinata gave him a look and asked. "Um… why?"
"I have a feeling Riku won't exactly let me hug you any other time today. And I would like to give you a proper goodbye rather than being scared that your boyfriend will try to kill me." He explained.
With a laugh, Hinata nodded, "Sounds fair, but I do think Riku would let you at least hug me to say goodbye."
"I don't know," He told her. "With the way he reacted with me just talking to you earlier I don't think he wants me anywhere near you."
"Well, he let me invite you to come along on the ship today." She pointed out, before smiling, "But if it would make you feel better, yes, you can hug me." She chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck, "Weird giving permission to hug."
James laughed as he wrapped his arms around Hinata and hugged her tightly. "No, I really appreciate it." He held her for a moment before admitting, "I'm really going to miss you."
Hinata hugged him back but remained silent, unsure of what to say. Soon she pulled away to break their embrace, but she noticed James eyeing her as if there was something on his mind. "What?" She asked.
"It's just…" He started. "If the border had never gone down and Riku never came back… would you have eventually gone out with me?"
"Don't make this awkward." Hinata groaned.
"No, really," He defended, "I just… before you leave, I'd really like to know."
Crossing her arms, she sighed and averted her gaze. "If I was stuck on Montressor for a long time, like more than a year or two… then yeah… I probably would have at least gone on a date with you."
"Really?" He asked, a smile appearing on his face.
"You would have had to wait a really long time though." She told him, reaching forward to open the door back to the shop.
James smirked, "Yeah, well like I said before, I can be patient."
Hinata rolled her eyes as they entered the shop and walked towards The Highwind. They walked onto the deck of the ship and could hear the murmur of voices below deck.
"Have you looked through all the rooms yet?" James asked as they walked down the stairs.
"Not all of them." She admitted, "There was one room that took Sam a lot longer to finish than the other ones and I haven't looked in that one yet… why?"
"Just curious," He shrugged with a smirk.
They went down the second set of stairs towards the area of the plasma cannons as well as the FTL Drive Core. Riku stood in front of the Core beside Sam and Ben while Jack floated towards Hinata to greet her. The Core itself was a round clear chamber with five boxy computers around the base; with multiple metal pipes running up and down the entire thing as well as metal coils around the top.
"Look who decided to grace us with his presence!" Sam spoke up, turning around as she noticed James and Hinata entering the room.
James rolled his eyes and admitted, "Yeah, yeah, Hinata convinced me to come along."
Ben's eyes brightened when he saw them, "Oh welcome! Did you come to see the Drive Core I invented?"
"I keep telling you Ben, it wasn't you!" Sam crossed her arms.
Hinata smiled before heading over to Riku. "Have you tried making the Corridor yet?"
He looked away from James and back to Hinata before shaking his head, "Not yet. We wanted to wait until you were back. You took a while."
"Yeah… we got caught up talking." She admitted. "I found out he makes model ships."
"Cool, I guess." He shrugged before asking quietly. "He didn't try anything, did he?"
She shook her head, "No, we really just talked."
"Alright Riku," Sam interrupted their conversation. "Let's try starting it up."
"Alright," He nodded, holding out his hand.
"What is he going to do?" James asked, before being shushed by Sam.
Riku closed his eyes and concentrated. He outstretched his hand, trying to control where the darkness would go. Inside the clear chamber a single Corridor appeared out of the ground and then one sprouted right in front of Riku. He opened his eyes and sighed; clenching his hand closed and making both portals disappear.
"What was that?" James asked. "That looked like what that Organization guy did."
Hinata was about to explain when Sam spoke up first, "It's a dark magic portal that quickly takes you from one place to the next, now shush!"
"I'm going to try again." Riku told them, closing his eyes once again.
The first portal appeared inside the chamber again and mere centimeters away from it the second one sprouted up; however something about it seemed to flicker as if it wasn't completely there. Riku's hand began to tremble and the portal disappeared completely. With a grumble he placed his arm back down on his side.
"I can't make the connection." He admitted with frustration clear in his voice.
"It's like the darkness knows the Corridors are too close together and won't let you create them." Hinata contemplated, walking beside Riku. "DiZ did say it would require a lot of concentration. The Corridor was there, it was just flickering." She thought for a moment, before asking, "Would it help you concentrate if we went to another room?"
"It might," He nodded, "I wouldn't mind you in here though."
Hinata smiled and turned towards the others. "Riku really needs to concentrate for this, could you guys go to the deck for right now?"
"Sure thing!" Sam nodded, grabbing her brother's arm and dragging him upstairs with her. Jack and Ben followed closely behind.
Once they were gone, Hinata leaned up and kissed Riku on the cheek, "You can do this." She encouraged him.
"Thanks." He smiled at her before closing his eyes and trying again.
His eyes were closed tightly and he held out his hand. Nothing happened for several seconds and his hand began to slightly shake; but then suddenly the first portal appeared directly in the middle of the chamber. Right in the center of it the second one grew from the ground. The moment it appeared the computers surrounding the bottom of the chamber immediately lit up with bright screens and electricity began sparking through the wires. Riku let out a breath and stumbled a couple steps forward, letting go of the power but the portals remained in the chamber.
"That was amazing!" Hinata beamed, reaching forward to help him balance. "You did it!"
"Yeah," He smiled and leaned on her for support for a moment before standing back up straight.
"We better head up to the deck, to let them know we did it. Do you need to rest?"
"I should be fine. I'll just grab some water from the kitchen." He replied.
"Alright, I'll see you up there." She told him, running up the stairs towards the deck.
She came up the steps to see Sam opening up large factory doors that led outside. The trench in the center of the shop went all the way outdoors so the ship could easily take flight. Hinata walked up beside James and leaned her hands along the railing.
"Can you believe we're actually going to fly her?" She asked. "Just a few months ago she was just an idea I had."
"Yeah, it's awesome." He agreed, "I'd like to have a model of The Highwind someday."
"Ooh, that would be cool." She nodded. "I'd love to see that."
"Maybe I'll make one." He told her, leaning his back against the railing.
"Did he do it?" Sam asked, running onto the deck.
"Yeah," Hinata nodded with a smile. "We should be all ready to go."
"Hell yeah!" Sam pumped her fist in the air excitedly. "Let's take The Highwind out for a test drive!"
Hinata laughed as Sam ran up to the navigational system with Ben, getting everything ready to go. She noticed Riku walking onto the deck and left her place beside James to see him. "How are you feeling?" She asked him.
"I'm fine," He assured her. "Much easier to recover from than trying to make Corridors to worlds that are out of range."
"Was Montressor out of range?" She asked.
"Yeah," He nodded, "I had to stop at four different worlds to get here from Twilight Town."
"Wow…" She mumbled, grabbing his hand. "Thank you for coming. Even if you didn't know it was for me."
Riku smiled, "Of course. This is the best mission I've ever been on."
Hinata laughed in response and led Riku towards the ship's railing. "Wait until we get to space with this thing. The view is so much better than the gummi ship!"
"I remember being on Hook's ship travelling through space, it was amazing." He told her, leaning his arms against the railing. "I had wished you had been there with me so we could look out at all the stars together."
"Really?" She asked, leaning beside him. "Well now we have our very own ship to do that."
"I guess you're right." He smiled, lightly nudging her with his shoulder.
"Alright, we are ready for takeoff!" Sam called from the wheel. "Hinata, did you want to come over here to drive it?"
"Maybe it would be better if Ben did it?" Hinata offered, reluctantly walking over to Sam.
"Oh come on! Let's make good use of those lessons!" Sam told her.
Riku chuckled as Hinata walked away and watched her as she tried to work the navigational system. Her eyes were focused but her facial features were so unsure of themselves. Ben and Sam stood beside her giving her encouragement and instruction and with the touch of the right button, the ship became alive. The solar sails of the ship lit up a bright gold, automatically filling out as if there was strong wind. A loud whir filled the air as the engines sputtered up and soon were blowing into full power, their sound decreasing drastically into a soft mechanical buzz. Hinata glanced up towards Riku from the controls and he smiled at her when their gazes met. Her cheeks flushed and she smiled back before looking back at the navigation to begin lifting the ship off of the ground.
"Artificial gravity, engaged." Ben reported, pressing various on a control board beside Hinata. "We should be able to reach space in less than five minutes."
"Alright," Hinata nodded, obviously still nervous. "Full speed ahead I guess."
Pulling down on a lever beside her, The Highwind began to move forward towards the outdoors. The moment they were free of the shop, Hinata pressed a few buttons on the control board and the ship began to rise off of the ground going straight up into the sky.
"This is crazy," Hinata whispered to herself, "I'm actually flying a ship."
"Isn't it great?" Sam nudged her. "Trust me, the thrill of it is addicting!"
Turning the large wheel as they got farther into the sky, Hinata then grabbed the lever she had pulled earlier and moved it into a different gear, causing the ship to change course and head straight for space. Just as Ben had predicted, they reached the outer atmosphere within the next five minutes. Once they were among the stars, Hinata leveled the ship to a slow movement and let out a breath.
"That's enough flying for me today." She said, backing away from the wheel.
"What, already?" Sam complained. "But you weren't even flying for more than ten minutes!"
"Just… a little bit at a time, alright?" She defended.
"That's just fine Captain Hinata!" Ben exclaimed taking the wheel, "I can take over from here."
"Thanks Ben," Hinata smiled, "But you really don't have to call me captain." She turned towards Sam and asked, "So how do we try out the Drive Core?"
Sam motioned her hand towards the galaxy map on the control board. It was a large black screen with different clusters of planets scattered across it. "This is the galaxy we're in now," She explained to Hinata. "That DiZ guy sent over the map of your galaxy too, but I'll show you that later. For now, all you need to do, supposedly, is press the planet you want to go to and then press this button to activate the Drive." She pointed to a blue button above the galaxy map.
"That's… surprisingly simple." Hinata crossed her arms.
"Yeah, well that's what were on the schematic plans." Sam told her. "But let's see if it actually works."
"Alright then, you said we're going to try going to the Space Port, right?" She asked, spotting the crescent shaped planet on the map. When Sam nodded she pressed the small icon on the screen and then reached up towards the blue button. Right before pressing it, she asked. "Should we be holding on to something? I mean, will we feel the ship going that fast?"
"I…I don't know." Sam admitted slightly ashamed. "I wish I could tell you, but I don't have any experience with this FTL Drive. I can at least tell you that the artificial gravity will keep us on the ship."
Hinata glanced up at Riku and James, and then nodded, "Alright, here it goes." Taking a deep breath, she pressed down on the button and with a sudden jolt all the stars around them suddenly turned into streaks and before they could fathom what was happening, they came to a halt in front of a large crescent shaped planet.
"I didn't even feel us moving." Hinata noted, looking around.
"No way!" Sam exclaimed, "We are seriously at the Montressor Space Port?! In less than five seconds!?" She ran over to James and excitedly talked, "James, could you imagine all the possibilities with this technology? We could travel from one end of this galaxy to the other within a day! Forget that dumb portal thing Captain Flint had!"
"Yeah, except we don't have Mr. Dark Portals to help us with it." James pointed out.
"Maybe we can find some sort of material here to compensate." Sam pondered, getting lost in thought, before rushing back to Hinata and excitedly talking about what had just happened.
While the girls chatted and Jack floated around the ship, James walked over to Riku and leaned against the railing to look out at the stars. "You know, when I asked you yesterday what was so special about you, you said nothing." He glanced over at Riku. "That dark portal thing you pulled off below deck was pretty damn special."
Riku let out a short laugh, "Yeah, well it's caused me more harm than good."
"Is it the reason you have that cloth over your eyes?" James asked.
"Yeah…" He replied, crossing his arms. He and James stood in silence for a moment, before Riku spoke up. "I should… apologize about before. I was frustrated about something and taking it out on you."
James looked over at him in surprise and said, "I wasn't expecting an apology… but uh, thanks I guess."
"I still don't like the way you treated Hinata when she kept telling you to back off." He told him, his voice firm. "But I know she thinks of you as a friend and I need to respect that."
"It's not like you were around then." James started.
"Don't push it…" Riku warned him.
"Yeah, you're right, sorry." He said quickly, looking back towards the large Space Port in front of them.
Ben had the ship slowly orbiting the planet from space while the crew enjoyed the view and the success of the Drive. Riku and James stood in silence for a few minutes, until Riku broke the silence.
"I don't mean to bring up bad memories, but at that party at the Inn…" He began.
"You mean the night she decked me?" James interrupted.
"What did she say to you that got you mad?" He asked.
James sighed and pressed his hands against the railing. "It was dumb on my part to get mad about it… but I had convinced her to dance with me and I could tell she was nervous; so I started making jokes and telling her to relax. And I guess she relaxed a little too much, because I said something that made her laugh and she called me… well your name."
"She called you Riku?" He clarified.
James nodded, "Yeah… and for some reason it really hurt. I guess I felt like she was pretending I was you or something; which I know is dumb. I probably just said something that reminded her of you; but rather than brush it off… I sort of started yelling at her about it."
"In the middle of the dance?" He asked, tightening his hands around the railing. "No wonder she hit you."
"Heh, yeah, I get that a lot." James agreed. "It's not a night I like to remember; but damn, that night she looked…" His voice stopped mid-sentence as he remembered who he was talking to. "I mean, uh… nothing, never mind."
Riku shook his head and resisted the urge to punch James himself until Hinata came up to them. She grabbed Riku's arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. James strained a smile at the couple before turning around and heading away to talk with Sam.
Once he was out of earshot, Riku quietly told Hinata, "I really don't like that guy."
She ran her hand along his arm and nodded, "I know, but I really appreciate you smoothing things out with him."
"Of course," He told her, kissing her temple. Looking back at the stars, he commented, "This is amazing."
"Isn't it?" She asked. "I can't believe we're actually going to be flying this from now on."
"Good job on flying, by the way." Riku told her, moving his arm so he could wrap it around her shoulder. "You were impressive."
Hinata giggled, "Thank you. I was really nervous."
"I know, but you did a good job." He assured her.
"You about ready to head back to Montressor?" Sam asked, calling from the navigation.
Riku glanced down at Hinata and they both nodded. "Yeah, we're ready!" Hinata called back.
Sam pressed a few buttons on the control board and within seconds they were back at Montressor. Ben did the maneuvering and flying to get back into the atmosphere and inside the shop. Once they were landed safely, Ben turned off the artificial gravity and finally left his post at the navigation.
"Wasn't that great?" He exclaimed running over to Hinata. "To feel the wind in the sails again was almost invigorating! Or as invigorating as it can be for a robot."
Hinata chuckled, "It was pretty amazing. I'm really glad we have you to help with the navigating. We're going to need it with all the flying we're going to be doing."
"Yes Ma'am!" He saluted, "Oh but look at the time!" He looked at a nonexistent watch on his arm, "We need to be heading over to the Benbo Inn for the goodbye party!"
"Really?" Hinata asked. "When did that get planned? I mean, Sarah never told me the time of it."
Ben laughed and waved her off, "Oh, Sarah told me after I finished telling Sam my brilliant idea for the Drive Core."
"Ben, if I have to tell you one more time that it wasn't yours…" Sam started.
"Then we should probably get going." Hinata interrupted, looking over at Riku. "Is that alright?"
He nodded and grabbed her hand, "Yeah its fine. We'll be able to relax on the ride to Twilight Town tomorrow."
"We should look at the other rooms on the ship first." James spoke up.
"Why?" Hinata asked, "We could do that tomorrow before we go, couldn't we?"
"Yeah, but you'll be leaving really early and might not see… everything?" He tried to argue.
"Yeah, actually," Sam joined in, "You haven't seen the newest bedroom yet. Just pop in to see it and then we can all head to the party."
Hinata eyed the two of them for a moment, before resigning, "Alright fine, I'll look at the other rooms."
Sam and James excitedly went below deck as Hinata and Riku followed behind. Hinata walked past the table in the center of the living area and approached the first door, opening it to reveal a regular bedroom. She glanced inside it and looked back at Sam and James; not sure why they were insisting on her checking the rooms.
"Well… uh, there's a bedroom." She told Riku, "Bed, dresser, desk… the usual." Keeping the door open she walked to the next room down the hall and as she opened it, she said, "And here is the same exact thing…" She turned and looked inside the room and her mouth gaped open.
Instead of the regular bedroom she had expected, the entire area looked like a dojo. Along one of the walls were racks filled with different weapons, some of them real and sharp while others made for practice. A large sparring mat was laid across the wooden floor in the center of the well-lit room.
Hinata entered the room stammering, "When did this… how did you…" She turned around and saw Sam and James beaming.
"Surprise!" Sam chimed
"What gave you guys the idea to do this?" Hinata asked, finally finding her voice as she still looked around.
"It was James's idea initially." Sam told her.
"Well, you always talked about the sparring you used to do back on the island and then you went for hand-to-hand training with Amelia every day; so I thought you would like a sparring room on your ship." James explained.
"And so he pitched the idea to me and I loved it!" Sam added. "We were going to tell you about it, but it just seemed like it would be more fun as a surprise." She watched Hinata for a moment before asking, "So… what do you think?"
"I… I love it…" She smiled. "This is amazing. I don't know why I didn't think to add this to the ship initially." She turned and ran towards Sam and James, pulling them into a group hug, "Thank you guys so much!"
Riku stepped aside and watched as Hinata hugged her friends, slightly unnerved that James had put the entire thing together for her; but he shrugged it off for Hinata's sake.
"Alright, now we really should head to the party now!" Ben called down the stairs. "What if they start eating the cake without us?"
Hinata pulled away from the hug, her eyes teary, "I'm really going to miss you guys." She told them, her eyes averted.
Riku's heart sunk as the words left her mouth while Sam hugged her friend.
"I'm going to miss you too; but we'll see you again!" Sam told her, her own eyes teary.
James looked like he wanted to hug Hinata as well, but he glanced over at Riku and turned around to head up the stairs after Ben. Wiping the corners of her eyes, Sam broke the hug with Hinata and followed James out of the room.
When they were gone, Riku went over to Hinata and grabbed her hand. "You don't have to leave." He told her. "If you want to stay, I'm sure I can figure something out to protect you."
Hinata looked up at Riku, "What? No, I definitely want to go with you. It's what I've been dreaming and hoping for as long as I've been here."
"I know… but there's a good chance you won't see these people again." He told her. "And I can tell that they mean a lot to you."
"They do…" She admitted, "But so do you and Kairi. I belong in our galaxy and there is too much unfinished business there for me to just leave it."
"You guys aren't making out down there, are you?" Sam called down.
Hinata's cheeks flushed, "No! We'll be right up!" She turned to Riku and grabbed the tassels on his black jacket, pulling him down to her level for a kiss. "I wish we were though." She told him quietly with a smirk.
Riku smirked and placed his hand under her chin. "We could be." He told her, kissing her as the words left his mouth.
With a giggle, Hinata turned her head to make Riku stop kissing her and laughed, "No we can't, we have to get up there!"
"You're no fun." He sighed, straightening back up and grabbing Hinata's hand, while trying to hide the smile on his face.
They walked up the stairs to the deck and walked with everyone to the Benbo Inn. The sun was just beginning to set and the ground was moist from the rain that day. They talked the entire way, while Ben and Jack ran off ahead. They reached the Inn just as Sarah was beginning to hand out cake and Ben scrambled inside before everyone else. Doppler and Amelia happily greeted Hinata as she walked in, their four children crawling around the Inn. Everyone ate the cake while chatting and enjoying Hinata's company one last time before she left the next day. They stayed at the Inn late into the night, to the point where Hinata was barely able to keep her eyes open and all four of the children were fast asleep in Sarah's arms.
"I suppose we should call it a night." Amelia spoke up, noticing Hinata beginning to fall asleep on Riku's shoulder. "It is rather late."
Everyone reluctantly agreed and Doppler got up from his seat to retrieve his children from Sarah. Riku lightly shook Hinata's shoulder telling her it was time to go. She sleepily opened her eyes and got up from the booth.
"Thank you for putting this together." Hinata told Sarah, trying to seem awake.
Sarah pulled her into a short hug, "Of course. You've been such a sweetheart working so hard at the Inn and being a friend to Jim. We're going to miss you here."
"I'm going to miss it too." She admitted, holding back a yawn.
"I'll get the carriage ready." Doppler told them, as he went outside with Amelia and his children.
"So, I'll see you tomorrow before you leave, right?" James asked, walking up to Hinata and placing his hand on her shoulder.
Too tired to care who was touching her, she nodded, "Yeah, we'll try to be there before you open the shop for the day. So make sure you're up early tomorrow."
He smiled at her and chuckled, "I don't think I've ever seen you this tired before." He was about to hug her, but noticed Riku walking up beside her and quickly removed his hand from her shoulder.
Yawning, she admitted, "Yeah, for some reason whenever Riku is around I get tired a lot easier."
"What do you do to tire her out so much?" James asked, looking up at Riku before shaking his head. "You know, I probably don't want to know the answer to that."
Hinata scoffed, "No, no it's nothing like that… I think I'm just relaxed around him."
"You aren't relaxed around me?" He asked, feeling the glare Riku was giving him.
"Oh please," Hinata chuckled, "Relaxed is definitely not the word I would use around you."
"Ouch," James winced, but still smiled. "What word would you use then?"
"I don't know. I'm too tired to think right now." She waved him off. "Ask me tomorrow."
"Alright then I will." He nodded, giving a nod at Riku before turning around and leaving the Inn.
Sam ran up and tackled hugged Hinata, almost causing her to lose her footing. "I'm going to miss you so much!"
Hinata laughed, "I'm going to miss you too; but I'll see you tomorrow."
"I know," She admitted pulling away, "But I wanted to hug you anyways."
Hinata and Riku followed Sam out of the Inn while Ben stayed inside to help Sarah in cleaning the dining room. Jack floated up to them when they came outside, his tail low and he landed on Hinata's shoulder with a yawn.
"You're tired too, huh?" Hinata asked him, patting his head. "I feel like I've barely seen you today; we're you visiting everyone?"
Jack nodded and gave a small lick to her cheek, making Hinata giggle.
"See you tomorrow!" Sam called, waving her hand as she walked away with James.
Hinata raised her hand and smiled as the siblings disappeared into the night. She looked over at Riku and smiled up at him and he wrapped his arm around the back of her waist while they waited for the carriage to be ready. They climbed inside the cart once Doppler told them it was ready and it was if the night before was in replay. Hinata leaned against Riku and fell asleep on his shoulder and by the time they reached the home, Riku picked her up and carried her inside; while Jack slowly floated behind.
"I wanted to thank you for taking care of Hinata." Riku quietly told Doppler and Amelia as they entered the house. "I'm glad she had someone like you looking after her."
Amelia smiled, "We were happy to. She's been a joy to have here."
"Yes quite," Doppler agreed. "She's always been enjoyable company and we were glad to welcome her into our home. We are most definitely going to miss her."
Readjusting Hinata in his arms, he told them, "Well, thanks. We'll see you tomorrow morning. I'll try to make sure she's up so she can have tea with you guys."
"We look forward to it." Amelia replied. "Sleep well."
Riku nodded and carefully walked up the stairs, keeping Hinata balanced in his arms. He reached the bedroom and placed her on top of the comforter. Looking her over he smiled and then turned around to change into his pajamas. He took off his shirt and pulled on his flannel pants before climbing onto the bed beside Hinata; quickly falling asleep beside her. The morning rays of the sun awoke him as they did the morning before and he found Hinata cuddled up beside him. He ran his hand along her arm and kissed her forehead, causing her to stir. She sighed as she half opened her eyes and smiled when she saw Riku beside her.
"Good morning," She whispered.
"Good morning," He replied, pushing a few strands of hair out of her face, before leaning over and kissing her. "Did you sleep well?"
Nodding, she answered, "Yes, I'm surprised I slept without taking any of my pills."
"Maybe you don't need them anymore." He offered, kissing her cheek.
"Maybe…" She replied, leaning into Riku's touch as he placed his hand along her face. "You're really cuddly this morning." She noted.
"That tends to happen when I wake up next to someone as beautiful as you." He told her, kissing her again.
When he pulled away and began kissing her face, Hinata asked, "And how often do you wake up to that?"
"Only when I've been lucky enough to have you sleep in the same bed with me" He admitted, pulling away to see her face.
"Are you always this affectionate?" She teased, with a giggle, leaning forward and giving him a kiss.
"Only with you." He told her, with a smile, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her more passionately.
A knock on the door, caused them to pull apart as Doppler voice was heard through the door. "I just wanted to let you know that Amelia and I are about to sit down for tea. Since you're both leaving today, we wanted to make sure you had the chance to come down."
"Thank you," Hinata spoke up, sitting up on the bed, "We'll be right there."
She looked to Riku as he also sat up and asked, "You ready to head back to Twilight Town?"
He nodded, "Yeah, there's a whole lot waiting for us." He looked at her, "Are you sure you're going to be up for it? We'll be busy pretty much every day."
She reached over and grabbed his hand, "As long as I'm with you, I don't care what we do."
He looked at her for a moment before giving her a small smile. Hinata opened her mouth to ask why he was smiling; but before any words came out of her mouth, Riku leaned forward and kissed her.
He was about to kiss her again, but Hinata placed her hand in front of his lips, "If we don't get down there soon, they are going to drink the tea without us." She removed her hand and kissed him quickly, "We'll have time on the ride back to Twilight Town."
"Alright," He resigned, getting up from the bed and putting on a shirt. "Let's get going."
Hinata stood up and agreed, "Yeah."
They left the bedroom together and headed downstairs to enjoy their last morning in Montressor.
