Dance With Me

Description: As a college freshman, Sora faces a choice: the brotherly bond he has formed with his roommate or the possibility of love with a sophomore who loves to dance. AU, Amazing Grace crossover. SoraxRiku, LeonxCloud, ChristianxJustin, J'nelxIrene.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all the Final Fantasy games belong to Square-Enix. Amazing Grace and its characters belong to me.


Twelve: Corner Partner, Corner Partner

Corner Partner, Corner Partner: An eight bar figure for three couples.
First couple begins in second position, standing back to back, facing their first corners.
1-2: First couple turns first corners by the right hand.
3-4: First couple turns once and a quarter by the left hand to face second corners.
5-6: First couple turns second corners by the right hand.
7-8: First couple turns by the left hand to own sides.

The lovely scent of baking batter filled my nose as I rocked back and forth from my toes to my heels. "Waaaa-ffles," I sang tunelessly to myself. "Yummy waffles. How I love waffles. Oh, waffly waffles …"

Next to me Justin unsuccessfully tried to keep from laughing. "I can't believe you," he finally said. "You're like a little kid."

I threw him a wide grin and went back to watching the iron as it made my delicious breakfast. "Wonder where Irene is this morning," I outwardly mused as my brain continued to sing the praises of waffles.

"Yeah, it's not like her to miss breakfast," Justin agreed with me. He stood up from where he had been leaning against the counter and cast his eyes about in an attempt to find her.

"Maybe she's skipping," I fake-whispered to him. The waffle was almost done. Just a little bit more …

"I doubt it," Justin replied to me with a smile. "She's the one who wanted to take physics in the first place, remember?"

"Oh, I remember. You don't need to remind me."

He laughed again at the pained expression on my face. Just think of waffles, Sora. Yummy, fluffy, whipped-cream-covered waffles. Mmmmm…

"Done! Hooray! Now I just have to top it." I grabbed the handle of the spoon that sat in a tub of syrupy strawberries.

"Ugh, I don't want to be around for this."

"Then go find a table," I told him, spooning large amounts of sugary goop onto the still-hot waffle. "I'll find you."

"I think I w--"

I looked up to see why he had stopped and found him staring at something in the adjoining room. Turning around, I caught sight of Riku, tray in hand, getting a glass of orange juice from the dispenser. My throat immediately constricted, which was good considering my heart was trying to push its way through it and out my mouth. He had his hair up in a messy ponytail, and he looked tired and generally unhappy to be awake. And in spite of that, I still thought he was gorgeous. Think I got it bad? Naah, not me.

Riku's back was mostly towards us, so he hadn't seen us yet. I returned my gaze to Justin to see if he wanted to hide or just ignore. To my surprise, I watched his face harden into something that looked like determination. He shifted his attention to me for a brief second, and I thought I heard him whisper, "For Irene." And then he walked forward, directly towards Riku.

"Good morning," Justin said once he was within earshot.

Riku turned to him with a mixture of disinterest and annoyance, but when he saw who had spoken to him, he blinked several times and his expression cleared. "Good morning." His voice sounded a bit huskier than normal, probably due to the tiredness, and I found my throat squeezing closed even more tightly. His eyes cast about over Justin's shoulder, and when they found mine, he smiled at me. I smiled back and then busied myself with my breakfast again. Waffles, Sora. Think about waffles.

I listened carefully as Justin's voice continued, "I wanted to apologize for yesterday. My behavior was … inappropriate."

"Well, I forgive you, but I'm not really the one you should be apologizing to."

"I know." Justin's voice had dropped, and I imagined him lowering his head slightly. When he spoke again, it was in a stronger tone. "Are you here alone?"

"No, I'm here with Chris."

"Oh, well …" … come on … "… would it …" … say it … "… would it be all right if Sora and I joined you?"

Yes! Justin, I am so proud of you.

"Sure. That would be great." I lifted my head to see Riku smiling at me again, but when I picked up my tray and walked towards them, the expression on his face turned to one of disgust and alarm. "Sora! I sure hope there's a waffle underneath all that mess!"

I looked down at my pile of strawberries, blueberries, peaches, and lots and lots of whipped cream. "There is. Somewhere."

God, I love waffles.

Christian was so surprised and delighted to see us that he nearly fell off his chair. Justin apologized to him as well, and he took it with an ease and grace that completely soothed all of my roommate's awkwardness. Within half a minute, the four of us were talking and laughing like we were old friends instead of near-strangers.

"So, no Irene this morning?" Christian asked, and Justin and I both shook our heads no. Interestingly, Riku smirked at the question and swallowed a small laugh. Christian raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Nothing," he replied slyly.

"Don't give me that, Aggie. You know something, so spill it."

Riku's eyes narrowed dangerously, and his lips thinned out into a severe frown. "Don't you start calling me that again," he growled. "You know I hate it."

Christian grinned while Justin and I exchanged confused glances. "I know. And you know I hate it when you keep secrets from me."

"What secrets?" Riku snarled. His mood seemed to be inversely related to Christian's. "All I know is that J'nel didn't get back to his room until nearly one in the morning. That's all."

Christian whistled lowly at this revelation. "Well, that explains his absence this morning, and Miss Irene's as well. Although …" He lifted an eyebrow at his friend again. "What were you doing up that late?"

"Linear algebra."

"Ah. Why didn't you get Max to help you?"

"Because I want to learn the stuff, Chris."

"Um, excuse me?" I lifted a hand to get their attention. They both shifted their heads to look at me. With as innocent a smile as I could manage, I asked, "'Aggie'?"

Riku groaned and buried his face in his hands. Laughing, Christian patted him on the head and answered, "Element 47. Ag. Silver." He lifted up a lock of Riku's long hair. "Hence, Aggie."

"I hate it," Riku's voice rumbled from behind his hands.

"He hates it," Christian echoed with a smile. He leaned forward a bit and whispered to me, "Which makes it a great weapon against him. So remember that, Sora." He tapped me gently on the nose before sitting back again.

I blushed in spite of myself. Although Christian's tone had been light-hearted and teasing, the look in his eyes had not. If I had had any doubt of Riku's feelings for me, Christian had just banished them with one subtle look designed to tell me all without alerting Justin. The conflicting feelings of joy and sadness overwhelmed me, and I focused all my attention on my sugar-drenched waffle to keep myself from reacting too badly. Riku still had his face in his hands, but I didn't want to risk meeting his eyes before I could get myself back under control.

"So, change of subject," Christian announced much to my relief. He half-disappeared under the table for a moment and then reappeared with his backpack. "I have something for you," he informed my roommate as he zipped it open and dug inside.

Justin sat up a bit straighter. "Oh yes? What?"

"This!" Christian dropped a thin stack of paper on the table between them. I let my eyes wander over to it and saw several staves of music printed on the top sheet. "A sampling of the pieces we play," he explained as Justin lightly ran his fingers over some of the notes. "I was going to bring it over last night, but it took me longer than expected." He smiled with a trace of what might have been embarrassment. "I wanted to make sure I gave you a good set to look at. So there are some jigs and reels, some strathspeys, and a couple of waltzes." I noticed his eyes watched Justin's face carefully as my roommate idly inspected the pages in front of him.

After a long silence in which Justin barely moved except for some twitching of the fingers of his left hand, he commented quietly, "I don't know. These pieces are awfully simplistic."

Riku had risen his head again, and now he and Christian glanced at each other in worry. "Well, it does get a little dull playing the same thirty-two bars eight times," Riku admitted, "so we often try to mix it up a bit. Variations and things."

Justin tilted his head a bit as he continued to look at the music. "Hmm. I haven't done improv in a while." The mild interest in his voice caused both of the others to noticeably relax. They clearly wanted him to play.

"Why don't you give it a try?" I encouraged him. "At least see if it's something you like." I flicked my eyes briefly over to Riku's and saw his gratitude shining in them. The sight made me smile.

Justin said nothing in reply, but he reached into his own bag, pulled out a pencil, and within moments was making notations on the sheets, murmuring quietly to himself under his breath. The remaining three of us watched him in silence for a moment. Eventually, I lifted my head and informed the other two, "That would be a 'yes'."

"A tentative yes," Justin corrected me, but his gaze did not lift from the music and his pencil had begun to scratch like mad. Perhaps it was still tentative to his mind, but to mine, it was obvious, especially when the pencil lifted and jabbed at Christian. "What do you play again?"

Christian's eyes widened at the change in Justin's attitude. Gone was the shyness and the deep sadness; he was a flurry of activity and excitement. "Flute," Christian answered him.

"And you?" The pencil stabbed at Riku.

"Acoustic guitar."

"And J'nel plays something that sounds like bagpipes," I supplied.

Riku smiled at me with a trace of surprise. "That's right."

A frown formed sharp lines on Justin's perfect face. He had yet to lift his head or look at any of us. "Does no one play the piano?"

"Leon does," Christian answered very softly.

The pencil stopped. Very, very slowly, Justin laid it down. As he breathed deliberately in and out, I snuck a glance at what he had been doing. My own eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw that he had taken one of the tunes and from it had instantly composed two interlocking melodic lines and a third chord-based line to support the other two. I was so shocked by his astounding talent that I very nearly missed the silent battle that was raging within him. But I recovered in time to see his face twist into that same mask of determination.

"I see," he replied, his voice strained but still strong. "That's good then." And he picked the pencil back up and returned to his work. The first few strokes jerked with unease and hesitation, but the thrill of the music soon soothed his anxiety. My heart swelled and ached with pride as I watched him. I knew every cell of his body was screaming terrible epithets at the prospect of playing in a group with Leon, but he was fighting it. Whether it was for me, for Irene, or for himself, I didn't know, but it didn't really matter. He was going to try.

And that meant that maybe someday, maybe some wonderful day in the far-off future, there would be a little bit of hope shining there for me.