On Glass Wings

--xxSerenity

note: It was truly a joy to come home from work to such a full mailbox XD and by full I mean the group of like 17 reviews. That makes me happy and I am quite glad that this story is being enjoyed, because i'm loving it, even more than paopu even >.> though I do promise to finish that one too..someday..i hope . ;

note number two: for people who were fans of my limes in The Paopu Predicament, I wrote a particularly dark one on The link to whichis in my profile under "whats new?", but I warn ye now, if you're one that isn't fond of violence, or themes involving s&m, or rape,do not read. I really don't want flames to it. It would hurt my self esteem ;-;..It took a lottoovercomecertain inhibitions in writing after all xDSo yeah, It's a first for me,and i'm anxious to hear feedback Thanks in advance!

Now onto this chapter :D


-10-

of unwanted memories...


Leon looked tense. There was something notably off about this character, though he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Do you have proof of this?" He asked.

"He's not his father! He's that creep from the alley that time!" Riku jumped in, after having gripped a frozen-in-place Sora by his upper arm just to throw him behind him.

Xehanort regarded the teen with cold, hating eyes before that malevolent expression altered into a small, dark smile.

"I do apologize about that day. I never meant to frighten you. It was just– truly heart-wrenching to see my son after so long, I hope you can understand."

But Riku didn't back down. There was something nagging him, biting him from inside that kept trying to tell him this was wrong, this man was wrong and something very bad was about to happen. Though he didn't respond to that, and merely narrowed green eyes as he felt the smaller form behind him actually sort of huddling up to him.

"Well?" Leon cleared his throat, bringing the attention back to the necessary proof that this strange man was indeed Sora's biological father.

"Hm? Oh, quite.." He handed the paper he was carrying along with an I.D card, to Leon. It was a birth certificate, and indeed, it had all of Sora's statistics at birth, as well as Xehanort's full name, along with the name Tsukihana, apparently his late mother. The I.D card with his picture also showed that this was the same Xehanort that was on the birth certificate.

Leon studied the document for any flaws, and when he found none, his lips tightened and his eyes narrowed.

"Come on, Leon. So what if he is the father. You didn't see him in the alley that day." Riku warned, and Sora blinked, surprised at the will with which Riku stood up for him. The younger peered around the taller one, and Leon caught the bit of fear radiating off those cerulean eyes. He sighed, clearly torn between the two sides.

"Leon, Is it?" Xehanort then questioned, after shooting the mouthing-off teen a hard glare. He stepped between Riku and Leon so that now his back was to the two adolescents, and his hand outstretched in an offering sort of gesture. "You can deny me my child if you want. But think about it. Then you'll be throwing him in the middle of an ugly custody battle. And I'm sure no one wants that." He reasoned.

Leon frowned anew and held out the documents back towards the man.

"Is that a threat?" He inquired with narrowed eyes.

Xehanort only smirked, and shook his head once, though leaving his face positioned off to the side before eyeing Leon out of the corner of his turned eyes.

"I wouldn't call it a threat. More like a certainty. Things are liable to get quite messy from here if you don't let me take him now."

There was a moment when neither of them spoke. Xehanort had returned his gaze so that amber eyes met cold, steely blues and Leon then pushed past him, opening up a small path to the open door of the limo.

"Get in, you two." He grumbled, stressing the two portion of his words.

Riku didn't need to be told twice, But Sora needed that extra shove, literally speaking as well as figuratively, since Riku had moved behind the younger, and with hands to his back, he ushered him forwards to the open door of the limo, shoving him in with the rest just so he could climb in after. The door shut fast and hard with a resounding slam

Xehanort merely stood back and watched, a look if disappointment upon his cold face before he turned back to Leon with an over dramatic sigh.

"You'll rue that choice, but being a gentleman a I am, I won't react rashly." He turned his back, and started in the direction from whence he came. "But expect to be hearing from me soon, Mr. Squall Leonhart"


Riku drummed the tips of his fingers impatiently against the wall of the building while Namine stood idly by, her arms crossed over her chest.

"For someone who hates Sora, you're exhibiting a strange concern." She stated pointedly, a ghost of a grin upon slightly glossed lips. Riku scowled, although he bowed his head slightly.

"I never said I hated him." He offered. "He merely aggravated me"

"Yeah but once that happens you usually hate the person."

The teen's oceanic eyes became slightly fierce, and although fixated upon the stretch of tile that made up the floor, Namine could sense the arrival of a drastic mood swing.

"You never saw this guy" He grumbled, clearly annoyed. "There was something about him that was just– unsettling" And for Riku to be unsettled was a big feat, Namine inwardly declared with a thoughtful look.

"Well still. What are you waiting for? It's like you're expecting something. Do you think he's going to walk out of there and hang all over you?" She inquired with a cant of her head to the side. Riku sighed and shook his head.

"You should've seen him back there. He was like– nestling up against me. He was afraid and I felt bad. Namine, I genuinely felt bad." He paused for a moment, letting the silence settle in before he cleared his throat. "And I felt– I felt like I wanted to protect him"

Namine's sardonic chuckle caused a new anger in Riku, and he shot her a bit of a glare.

"Why is this funny?"

"Because you're going through such an identity crisis that it's not even funny." But then she sighed and leaned her head back, soft blue eyes scanning the ceiling in thought. "You really want to be his friend? Here's a little tip." A smirk replaced her thoughtful glance as she redirected her attention once more at him. "Stop being a dick to him. Generally you win people over when you're not an asshole." She abandoned the scenario after that, pushing past the teen still leaned up against the wall without casting him a second glance.

And Riku watched her go with a somewhat baffled expression.

"I'm not an asshole.." He replied inaudibly, in more of a childish whine than anything else. But she was too far down the hall to have heard it, so after, he'd turn his attention to the closed door, allowed a balled fist to come in contact with it three solid times.

"Damn it Riku, I told you, you can't come in." Leon's gruff voice was muffled from behind the door, and aggravated, Riku flipped him off as if Leon could've seen it.

-oOo-

Meanwhile, inside the office, Leon wasn't exactly having the best of luck trying to get Sora to open up.

Leon's hands were interlocked with his elbows on his desk, while his joined fists pressed up against his nose as he sighed.

"I know you'd rather go back to the orphanage.." He started, but Sora shook his head, which caused a curiously raised brow from Leon. "You'd rather go with your– father?" Another shake of the boy's head. The sound of a throat being cleared broke through the uncomfortable silence. "So you'd rather stay here?" Sora surprisingly nodded, and Leon sighed in exasperation.

"So after all that, you've finally decided to stay" He leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose while grumbling about how he wished he could've been a puppy or something. People didn't engage in custody battles over puppies, well, not usually. And now that Sora elected to remain with the company, without the resistance he had once put up, there went option A of forcing him back to the orphanage to let Xemnas deal with the custody issues. 'Of all times to change your mind, kid..' Leon inwardly grumbled.

And Sora didn't answer Leon's statement. He merely sat in the chair opposite the desk with his hands neatly folded in his lap, although they idly fidgeted in a mixture of anxiousness as well as aggravation; Aggravation at many a thing, including the fact that Kairi wanted him to stay there. In truth, he wished there was an option D after all of Leon's suggestions; None of the above. Too bad there wasn't.

Blue eyes watched the elder and his inner battle, until another sigh was offered, although more in relaxation than anything else, and he once again leaned forwards, his arms coming to rest, crossed, over the top of his desk.

"Alright then Sora. If you're going to stay here, then you need to tell me everything, including why you were in the orphanage in the first place."

Sora frowned, and went to shake his head. But a warning look from Leon had him idly staring towards the floor instead, fidgeting all the while.

More silence befell the two, though Leon wouldn't rush it. If he was going to tell him everything, Leon would give him all the time he needed. Didn't need to scare him off now anyway. But he did need to know these things if he was going to be thrown into the middle of an ugly custody battle.

The tension was visible in the small form of the boy, who then swallowed the nervous lump in his throat. His stomach clenched unpleasantly, and his hands had parted, seeking out the arms of the chair which he gripped for dear life, until his knuckles whitened.

The memories clearly had him distressed, but he tried as best he could to overcome the fear and mentally tell himself he could trust this man, he could..he had to. What other choices did he have?

After a long, long silence, dejectedly, he sighed, pinkish lips finally parting:

"Well, it went like this..."

-oOo-

Riku's ear was pressed up against the door when he heard Sora speaking, but to his dismay, the boy's voice was so meek and timid that he could barely make out the muffled sounds from behind the door.

The story lasted for a good fifteen minutes before there was a bit of silence. 'Awkward' Riku thought, but then sprang backwards when the click of the door was suddenly heard, and Sora stood in the doorway with a bit of an angry pout towards the flustered Riku, who tried to play off his eavesdropping with a small, cool shrug.

"Everything okay?" He asked the younger one, with genuine concern, and Sora stared up at him with that annoyed scowl, although it wasn't as harsh as it normally was. It looked like he was trying hard to frown, but as he did, there was a bit of a red hue that crept across his face. Riku couldn't help but stare at the out-of-place blush. "I know I'm hot, but geez.." He teased, grinning all the while.

Of course, this only made Sora's frown more real, and he pushed past the elder without so much as a word as he stormed down the hall.

Riku watched him go, but he sighed in exasperation at his smooth attempt to be friendly.

"I am more than surprised that this kid hasn't snapped yet" Leon's voice suddenly behind his brother made Riku jump, but he regarded his statement with interest.

"What do you mean?"

Leon eyed him for a moment, and then looked down the hall just as Sora rounded the corner.

"He's liable to go crazy if he knew I told you. So promise me you won't bring it up to him"

Riku blinked, but nodded nonetheless, and turned to face his brother, his arms over his chest as he listened intently.

And Leon relayed the entire story, word-for-word, that Sora had told him.

-oOo-

At first he wanted to go find Sora. He had this unrelenting need to be near him for a strangely unfamiliar reason, although he attributed it to that foreign want to protect him. Hearing his story from Leon then made that want even greater, but he knew it was out of the question just yet, so he left him to his own and headed for his room instead.

Lips pursed in a straight line as he leaned against the closed door to his dorm. It was actually strange that he chose to stay here when he could've gone home with Leon and Sephiroth at night, back to the mansion they inherited from their late parents. But Namine had wanted to stay here, to be closer to the equipment so she could practice when she wanted, and he had wanted to stay with her, so here he was.

He never complained though. It was nice to have this large room at the very top floor of the main dormitory building. The large practice rooms below caused the building to be extremely high, and it always gave him a rather pleasant look of the city from his window, especially at night with the bright, blaring lights of the buildings.

But nothing could bring him pleasure at that moment.

Sighing to himself, and with incessant thoughts of Sora troubling his mind, he flopped at his computer and brought up the IOL screen, IOL being the acronym for Island OnLine. He idly punched in the letters for his password, since his screen name was already brought up being that it was his computer, and his internet service, and he leaned back, unsurprised when the electronic voice announced the presence of mail in his virtual mailbox.

"Ah yes, My daily stash of unwanted porn and rude solicitations."

But when he brought up the mailbox, a strange, new letter immediately caught his eye. It wasn't porn, or an unwanted sales add. The screen name read "Writer14" and the subject stated "To:Sora"

Greenish eyes narrowed lightly, and his hand lingered idly atop the mouse. To Sora was this letter addressed, but it was in his email. So...Should he open it? He canted his head to one side, and double-clicked. Of course he should. It was his mail after all.

"Sora-

Hey, what's up? It was really good to see you today. I hope you don't hate me for wanting you to stay there. It will be good for the both of us, and you said you're gonna be the best there right?"

Riku smirked lightly, but continued on reading.

"..Axel spoke with that Leon guy, and he said I could keep in contact with you this way, and that Riku wouldn't mind. He said to tell Riku to tell you that I was emailing so you'd know. Then maybe Riku would let you come on and talk to me for a while? Anyway, that's all I really want to say. I miss you, and think about you often. Hope you write me back soon. Much love.

-Kairi

P.S. Did you read the paper I gave you yet? It's only the start, but I'll be adding more to it on my blog. I'll give you the link once we talk again. ttys "

Kairi: Riku mused over the name, playing with the syllables on his tongue and then frowning a bit.

Why was he so jealous all of a sudden? Brows furrowed, and the cursor lingered threateningly over the delete button, but he pulled it away when the instant message jingle sounded from his speakers, announcing the presence of the unknown user: Writer14, and offering the options of accepting her message, ignoring, or blocking it.

Against his better judgement, Riku chose to accept, and the I.M box then took shape in the corner of his screen.

"Hi Riku, can I talk to Sora?" it read, and he scowled. How dare her even address him like they were friends.

"Sorry. I don't know where he is right now, but I'll tell him about your email." He wrote back, and then instantly signed off.

-oOo-

OnGlassWings has signed off at 9:23 P.M

Kairi stared at the message on her instant message box with disdain, and slumped in her chair with a sigh of defeat.

"Maybe he does mind.."

-oOo-

He looked awkward, but a lot better than he had looked upon his first few tries. His small body was halfway tilted, one arm stretched out behind him while the other reached toward the other offered bar that sat stationary in the air, and his legs were parted in half a split.

The boy felt his muscles tense in his form as he strained to reach the bar. He had been at it for a few hours again. No flipping this time though. He was just trying to at least catch the opposite bar, and all times he had failed.

But this time..he'd feel the force of gravity hindered, and when he opened his tightly-closed eyes he'd realize that his single outstretched hand was tightly wrapped around the swing.

"I..I did it!" He exclaimed happily, even if he was in an awkward position and dangling by one hand. Grimacing lightly, he pulled himself just so his other hand could latch on, and he hung a bit more comfortably. Of course, then the realization dawned on him. "Okay, uh..Now what?"

He could easily leap from a platform, otherwise known as the board. But now that he was on the second swing, which rocked idly just from the force at which he landed just so it could slow to a stop, how did he get it moving again?

Blinking, he stared down into the net. He could drop again, but then where would that get him? He'd leap again and catch again and he'd still not know what to do from there.

Frowning lightly, he started to kick wildly, but that only twisted the swing from side-to-side, and served no real purpose other than to tire him out.

"Hah, Stuck again it seems." Then there was that unwelcome voice once more that made Sora tense up, and he scowled lightly.

"Go away, please." Sora grumbled, although he tried not to sound as nasty as times prior.

But the bounce of Namine's trampoline beneath him told him that Riku had no intention of leaving.

"Now why should I do that? You didn't seem to want me to leave back at the orphanage with– that guy wanting to take you away from us." He snickered lightly, and bounced a bit higher.

Sora winced at that recollection, and shook his head lightly while inwardly cursing himself for his undeniable weakness and reluctant need for close comfort. He sighed in defeat, but offered no form of verbal response.

Riku, sensing his discomfort, grinned and crossed his arms, his constant bouncing never faltering.

"The way I see it, you have two choices. One: I can come up there and get you, or two: your hands will tire out and I'll meet you in the net here. But either way you're going to come down and we're going to talk."

There was a bit of surprise from the younger one, and he tilted his head, trying to glance at the elder teen as he bounced contentedly. He couldn't get a good view, but if he had, he would've made out the folded piece of paper in his hands.

"There's nothing to talk about." Sora responded instinctively, and once more kicked his legs messily which in turn propelled the swing waywardly. Then he realized that his hands were sore from clutching so hard, and if he didn't get to the other board somehow fast, he was going to fall.

This thought made him whine, and Riku laughed out loud before giving one last bounce.

He jumped sideways, off the trampoline and landed comfortably in the net, on his back, with that characteristic grin upon his face.

"Hey, Nice shorts!" He commented with a snicker, referencing to the new training clothes that Leon had ordered for the younger.

Unfortunately, they were tight, like Namine's pants, but they were for males, and they were shorts, as opposed to pants. A short white t-shirt was all he needed on top, but even with the extra small size it still drifted down one bony shoulder.

Sora offered another half whine, half whimper as he felt his grasp start to slip, until he was barely hanging on by the tips of his fingers.

He sucked in a deep breath in preparation for the fall to come, but when that fall did come, he'd find himself unable to twist so that he was on his back, once he involuntarily leaned forwards that is.

And Riku was more than ready with outstretched arms, though he did brace himself for the impact.

"NoNoNoNo!" Sora flailed and tried to pull himself away, to the side, anywhere, but even if he did land besides Riku, rather than on top of him, the net was already indented with the elder, heavier teen, So Sora couldn't stop himself from rolling right into those waiting arms anyway.

Then, when eyes that had been tightly shut did finally open, he'd find himself in a most awkward position: Hands fumbling messily on either side of Riku's head, trying desperately to grasp onto solid ground, and sinking into the net even more with each time. Meanwhile, Sora's face was inches from Riku, and his small body was pressed most uncomfortably against the stronger, more solid one beneath.

"Well, Hello there" Riku snickered to the most embarrassed Sora, whose face had heated up enough that the blush spread down his throat.

Too frozen to move, he was, but more so it was the arms that wrapped tightly around him that hindered his reaction, and caused him to freeze up in utter humiliation.

And nothing more was said after that moment. The two just eyed each other, both a bit surprised, even if Riku tried to act like he wasn't, and both unaware of the lurking shadows watching them from the two small glass windows implanted in the double doors to that practice room.

"Holy Crap! Look at them!" Selphie exclaimed in utter amazement, but Namine only giggled faintly and knowingly.

"I wasn't even planning this. Riku can be so great sometimes." She replied before dropping from the window to face her friend, who then canted her head to one side with a curious sort of expression.

"Do you really think that it's gonna work?" Selphie inquired, and Namine's wide smile accompanied her excited grin.

"If it doesn't work, I swear I'll shoot myself." She paused then, and glanced back through the window at the two figures in the net, one on top of the other, Niether of which had moved from that awkward position. "But Sora really needs to get better at the trapeze first."


IOL, Island OnLine: Spoof on AOL, America Online xD I do not own AOL btw :D

ttys: talk to you soon ( for anyone who actually didn't know o.o )

I think that's it for the questionable material.. Hope you all enjoyed. Don't forget to leave me some love? ;-; muah -heartheartheart-