"Do you see them?"
"Uh… no. I can't see anything."
"How about now?"
"The ocean is moving; I can't see anything down there!"
"Oh, you are so dense!"
Frowning in frustration, Tifa crossed her arms and huffed, unable to wrap her mind around how thick Sora could be. The boy scratched his head, still unable to understand why women were so angry all the time. Pushing on the railing again, he leaned over and looked into the water.
Squinting, he shook his head. "I still don't see anything!"
Aimé ran up beside him, and pointed down into the water. "See the pinpoints of light? Those are the deep dive pillars. Now do you see?"
Turning his head, Sora squinted harder. "A little… why are they so small?"
"The ocean's that deep." Vincent commented, heaving a large rope behind the group towards the mast. "Don't fall in."
Sora laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Of course not! I'm not gonna fall, promise!" Aimé rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder. Tripping, the boy gave a yelp and hit the deck.
"Get back to work!" She laughed, giving a small smile. Then, upon hearing her name called, Aimé waved and raced off.
"Man…" Sora rubbed his cheek and stood. Tifa patted his shoulder and shrugged walking back to her station. With a sigh the boy put his arms on the railing and looked out over the ocean.
"It's getting so boring around here…" Sora sighed and slumped onto the rail.
Yawning, he brushed the hair out of his eyes; it blew back into his face but he ignored it.
"Where are all the battles? The adventure?" Sora moaned. "Sailing with Jack was so much fun…"
"Is all you ever do complain?" Kurama shook his head, walking up to Sora with a bucket and a mop. "Here – we need someone to clean the deck." Handing the items to Sora, Kurama chuckled and walked back downstairs to prepare the next meal.
Glancing from the moldy mop to the bucket of water, Sora groaned and hung his head. "Man, this bite…" With slumped shoulders Sora set to work, his face set into a permanent pout.
With one last depressed sigh the boy shoved the mop into the bucket, got it soaked, and pulled it out quick, getting the deck nice and wet. Cleaning was easy after all his exercise fighting with the heartless – Sora just had to be careful to get in all the cracks and crannies; it was boring work. Very easily Sora's mind drifted off to random thoughts, trying to make time pass faster.
To pass time, he began to hum. And even though he couldn't do it well, Sora began singing low as he moved about the deck, seemingly alone as he worked.
"Every little light… in the sky…" With a splash the mop went into the bucket. "shines down… on us…"
"People make the mistake of thinking… it's for them…"
Sora hardly knew he was singing, let alone what it was he was singing. A person close by knew though. Surprised by the words of the song, Aimé came around the corner, watching Sora sing from a distance.
"But not us; the light shines down… for the people".
Eyes wide, the girl could hardly believe what she was hearing. She knew the song from the book she'd been given about the Lost Kingdom; not only that, it was from her childhood. How Sora could've grown up without hearing it would be unfathomable – but he must have heard it once, for it knew it and was singing it now. Quietly, under her breath, Aimé was singing as well.
"And we shine…" She murmured, her voice lighter, more airy than Sora's.
"… In the light."
"… In the light."
Surprised to hear another voice with his, Sora perked up and glanced around. Shyly, Aimé came out from around the corner. "Uh… hey" She muttered, rubbing the back of her head.
Sora blinked. "Uh… hi."
"Sorry" Aimé walked towards him. "I just… know the song. It's really pretty huh?"
"Yeah… I guess it is." Sora frowned. "I know it, but I don't know from where. I swear I've heard it somewhere before…" Confused, Sora shook his head. Then a light bulb went off.
"Oh, I know!" Letting the mop handle rest in the crook of his arm, Sora's hit his fist against the palm of his hand. "I heard it at the Summit, just before I saw… Inuyasha. Weird… why'd I forget?" Confused, Sora shrugged his arms at his side. The mop fell and hit his foot, and the boy yelped.
Smiling a little as Sora scrambled after his mop, Aimé moved out of his way. "That song is from the Lost Kingdom… I think."
Being his usual "smart" self, Sora stepped on the broom handle, tripped, and fell forward face first into the bucket of water. Unable to help herself, Aimé giggled. Poor Sora's hair drooped depressingly as he spat water out. Aimé 's giggles became laughter.
Annoyed and frustrated, Sora threw the bucket at the side of the ship. Somehow it managed to fly over the side and into the water. Gawking, Sora leapt up and raced over to the side of the ship – but it was much too late, as the bucket had already become part of the ocean's bounty.
"Oh, man!" Shoulders slumped, Sora collapsed over the railing. "What'd I do to deserve all this?"
Laughing hysterically, Aimé shook her head at the downtrodden boy. "Oh, give up Sora. I'll handle the deck; it looks like you're a hopeless cleaner. Just go eat lunch before you break something." Gigging into her palm, Aimé picked up the mop. Finally calm, she pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "Besides there's so much water on the floor there's no need for a bucket."
Sora sighed and smiled. "Thanks, Aimé . You're the best." His stomach took the time to rumble. "Eh… I think I will go eat!" He began rushing over to the stairs as Aimé shook her head, smiled, and set to work.
Then Sora remembered something and stopped at the top of the stair case. "Hey, Aimé ; did you have something you wanted to talk to me about?"
Aimé seemed to have just remembered as well, but she shook her head and laughed. "It's nothing. Really."
Sora watched her for a sec, then nodded and headed downstairs. Brushing her brow off, Aimé sighed contently, and gazed up at the sky. Though it had been years since she'd heard the whole song, it was still engraved in her memory. She sang it quietly, sweetly, with no audience but the birds in the sky.
"I know the stars are far away… and seem small… but they really… aren't at all."
"I know they are … specks in the sky … but hold on tight…
My little… Prince … of Light."
0-0-0-0-0
With a broad grin Sora raced around the corner into the kitchen, food calling him from the very depths of his soul. A hand holding his grumbling stomach, Sora hurried into the cafeteria.
"Sora" Kurama greeted. "Finished already?"
"Aimé took over for me. I'm starving!"
"Wow, making a girl do the work for you, that's pathetic." Edward, sitting at the table eating his own lunch, smirked at Sora and took a bite of his own roll.
"He's pathetic, huh?" Ichigo cocked an eyebrow and smirk himself. "Wasn't it you who asked Tifa to help you with reaching that jar on the top shelf of the storage room? Huh, shrimp?"
The glass in Ed's hand cracked a little. "Oh – yeah?" He smirked broader. "And wasn't it you who was dense enough to comment on the scary guy's make up fetish?"
Ichigo's face turned red. And so did someone else's.
"Shut … up."
Both Ed's and Ichigo's eyes grew wide as out of the corner of their eyes they glanced at Gaara who'd been in the back corner the entire time. Gulping, Ed tried to look at the boy without making eye contact.
"Oh, hey, are you gonna eat that?"
Sora, a huge plate of food in one hand, pointed at a plate in front of Gaara, on which was a pile of almost untouched food. Sparkles glittered in the boys' eyes as he eyed Gaara's lasagna.
Surprised, Gaara blinked. "I … guess."
Surprised, Sora gaped. "All of it?"
"Sora, you just got a plate." Kurama attempted to speak some sense into the boy.
"Sure".
"YEAH!" Sora swept Gaara's plate over to his side, putting his own plate next to it. With a wide grin, Sora began gobbling it down, the other people in the room staring at him in disgust.
"That's…" Ichigo began.
"Gross." Ed finished.
"Congratulations Sora, you got them to agree on something!" Kurama smiled ever cheerfully. Sora grinned between mouthfuls, shoving a roll between his lips.
Gaara stared as the boy ate, and Sora hardly seemed to notice. It confused the boy; though he had recently made "friends" and perhaps learned more about love than he'd ever known, it was still surprising to him to find someone so unafraid of his intimidating aura and overwhelming glare. Perhaps it was the thick skull that kept Sora from being intimidated. That would make sense if history meant anything… (Since Naruto, the knuckle head ninja, seemed to not be intimidated by Gaara either.)
As Ichigo and Ed turned back to their own meals, and Kurama, with a knowing smile, began cleaning dirty dishes, Gaara and Sora enjoyed their "shared" meal.
Gaara glanced over the boy, finding him peculiar. "How do you eat that quickly?"
Sora was almost finished with his two plate meal. "Huh?" He gulped down the bite in his mouth and grinned. "Riku and I use to have contests over who could eat their meal the fastest." Sora pushed his chest out proudly. "I won sometimes!"
The ever permanent frown on Gaara's face lightened a little. "Huh."
Sora scooped one last bite into his mouth, and then let out a contented sigh. "Done!" He raced back to Kurama and put the plates by the sink. "Thanks Kurama."
"You're welcome."
Suddenly, a huge, astounding roar burst the silence around them, and the ship quaked like it had been turned on its side. Sora and Kurama toppled to the floor, both quickly covering their heads to protect themselves from the falling dishes and broken glass.
"Whoa!"
"Kurama!"
An entire shelf came loose from the wall, and all of the platters, dishes, and glassware began falling right towards the place Sora had fallen. The boy panicked hurrying to summon his blade and cast Aero… he didn't need to. Before he could summon his blade, a wall of sand came between him and the rubble.
"Thanks Gaara" Sora sighed, relieved. The red head nodded and stood, trying to balance. Even he fell down to one knee, a hand holding the table tightly as he grimaced.
"What's going on?" Ed gasped. "Ichigo!"
The boy's body was limp on the ground. Sora gawked, trying to crawl over to him. Kurama was not looking at the body; he, with the spiritual power of one who was once a demon, not human, watched as Ichigo's soul raced out of the room, decked out in Soul Reaper clothing. No one else realized that the reason Ichigo's body would not move was because its soul was not present at the moment. Of course, quickly enough, the soul pill came into effect.
Sora, worried, placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Ichigo? Ichigo!"
The body twitched – and then, reacted. "YAAY!! LOVE!!!"
The Ichigo body leapt on Sora, wrapped his legs around his waist, and pressed his face against Sora's face, and the brunette was utterly terrified. Ed's jaw dropped at the sight; of course, neither of them knew that when a Soul Reaper wished to leave their body, they had to eat a soul candy, which replaced their soul with a different, temporary soul. These replacements were often odd.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"
"Oh my GAWD, get it off me!!" Sora tried pushing the Ichigo body away, to no avail. Ed's brain wouldn't function.
Racing down the hall, Ichigo came up on deck, hurriedly trying to find out what had happened. "Holy… shit!" Ichigo's mouth fell open at the sight of the deck; the ship had crashed into a huge island, and the ship was literally beached.
"Hinata!"
Tifa reached for the screaming girl, but wasn't quite quick enough; she was about to fall over the side when Ichigo leapt forward, grasping her wrist tight. Hinata could not see Ichigo's soul, but she felt his hand on her wrist and gasped.
"W – Who's there?"
"Hold on!" Ichigo didn't think Hinata could hear her, but he spoke the comforting words anyway. He pulled her back onto the deck, and then glanced around. "Captain!"
Riku was sprawled over the deck, and a small amount of blood was trailing from his shoulder. Sir Integra was kneeling beside him as the quaking of the ship began slowing. Leaving the captain in her hands, Ichigo raced back downstairs towards his body.
Slipping back into it, Ichigo stood. "Come on, we've got to get out of here." The boy raced out of the room.
Sora and Ed watched him run off mouths hung open, eyes twitching.
What… the hell!?
0-0-0-0-0
As the crew of the Yume raced onto the deck to help their captain and figure out what had just occurred, they were watched from the depths of the island jungle. Sitting on the branch of a tall tree, a young girl eyed them, her legs swinging over the ground below. A little tune was on her lips, she hummed it as she watched the crew scramble about.
From far away Sora looked tiny holding Riku in his arms, trying to stop the bleeding. The little ship looked so small out there on the beach from her point of view.
The little girl held a little crown in her hand, as she ceased to hum and instead sang the melody.
"Under the… specks of Light in the sky…
Hold tight; my little Prince of Light.
Hold on… be strong…
my little Prince of Light..."
-0-0-0-0-
Tomorrow I go see Sweeney Todd yay! Johnny Depp is the sex. Other than Alucard, of course.
How was everyone's holiday? Good? Bad? Moldy? Well, that's nice. Mine was okay.
BIRTHDAY NEXT WEEK YAY!!
The story is going well, and it is headed in a GOOD direction. Can't wait to see future responses to stuff that's gonna happen! Hehe!
Another story I am starting just for kicks is a Kingdom Hearts AU Yaoi. It will be RikuSora, LeonCloud, maybe something else… but I don't know.
It's going to be a story about a world that's been in war forever… one side the government, whose army is led by the General Sephiroth Jenova; the other, a rebellious army led by Squall Leonhart.
Two boys, Riku Jenova, and Sora Strife get accidentally involved in each other's lives when Riku doubts his father, and Sora's family is taken captive by the government army. Together, they set out to do what they think is the only possible solution to both their problems; find the warrior who was there at the beginning of the war… the Legend Cloud Strife.
I hope somebody thinks this is a good idea!
Next week I'll post the next chapter on mah birthday! I only ask that MAYBE I get a special birthday treat… reviews? I promise to make it a VERY good chapter! Maybe, please review??? puppy eyes
Going to post a new video on her you tube account,
SULHADAHNE