Woop! Sick day! Sittin in bed with meh kitteh cat XD I'm sure he won't notice if I push him off when he takes all the room...
*Ahem* Anyways!
Reviews time!
To Tera Loveless Uchiha: Nuuu! I made you put off your sleep? Not good, bad! O-O But I am really glad you re-read the story and that you enjoy it this much. I wonder how many reads it has... Fanfiction should make a counter for those XD And yeah, I enjoyed making him act like a little child. And the authorities cannot stop WORLD DO-MI-NA-TION! *Cue evil laugh* XD
To PublicPandorum: It's nice to see a new reviewer! I was a little surprised when you said you stopped everything you were doing... I have a lot of trouble believing my stories (Fanfiction or otherwise) are good. Blame my school for that XD Truth be told, I wanted to end it a long time ago, but I got addicted to its idea. Roxas was supposed to have originally become Sora's butler, but I'm glad I trashed that. And shhh! No guessing what's inside my mind! The ebilness is for my mind only! XD And don't worry about that, writing is a passion to me, so there's no fear of me quitting that anytime soon =3
To Moe10: Thank you, and I hope this is soon enough for ya!
Shock me with some live wires if you want a one-shot/story on a certain subject and I'll do my best to find the time. (Damn my spring break will be loaded with XD) Or tell me if you wanna see something show up in this story. Thanks for dropping by and thank you for all the reviews thus far that have kept me going!
On to the story!
Paper Moon
Chapter Fourteen (hey, that's my age! =3 Woop!)
Part One
By Your Side
Third Person (Wow this view hasn't shown up in a while. Wonder what's gonna happen - *snort* like if I don't know XD)
He paces the small room, the reflective glass of the window reflecting him as he does so, the light right above the table buzzing with electricity, a fly here and there dumbly flying into it once in a while, resulting in a piling of dead corpses on the table. With a grunt the man slams his hand on the desk.
"Damn! Sarah! Are they cooperating yet?" He asks sharply at the woman standing right outside the interrogation room, holding a clipboard. She pushes her glasses further onto her nose, looking nervous.
"Umm... n-no, sir. They refuse to come to the interrogation room. They say they won't cooperate until we find the boy."
"Well find him!" He shouts. "Get a court order dictating that all residents in a house must line up to be counted while officers search every square inch of the house! And start with the biggest one you can find!"
"B-but sir, that's the Royal-"
"I don't care if it's the goddamn Queen! Do it!"
"Y-yes, sir! Right away!" She seems more than eager to get away from him.
Roxas
He laughs as I trip with my foot on the edge of the staircase, kneeling beside me, trying to help me up without laughing. I stick out my tongue at him, which makes him laugh to himself with his cerulean eyes closed in a smile, pulling me to my feet along with him. I smile at him as we continue on down the hall, smiling to each other. He opens the door into the Library, letting me walk in before he does and closes the door behind him.
"I wanna see just how much I can push your skills." He says with a grin, passing me a leather case. I raise my eyebrows in mild surprise. "Go on, open it. It won't bite."
I lean it against the piano while he opens the top of the keys, looking through music sheets. I unclasp the shined golden clasps, lifting the top open and raising my eyebrows further, my mouth hanging open as I take out the wooden instrument.
The violin looks a lot like the other one, but the metal is new at the knobs holding the strings, and the wood is stained a deep red, the edges black, with a name in elegant cursive written on the back. I smile as I see my name.
"I had May go pick it up yesterday." He says with a smile as he places a neat stack of papers on the piano. "The other one was really old and had some bad history, so I decided that it would be best for you to have a new one."
"Thanks." I say gently, taking out the rod and closing the case. "But I don't really deserve this."
"I say you do, so you do." He shoots me a look, and I can tell I don't have much of a choice. Smiling I kiss him a moment.
"Thank you." He smiles this time at my response, pointing to the music sheet. "Okay, look at this one and tell me when you think you have the beat down."
I glance at it and its complex notes, some stretching out to six at a time, some to eight. It takes me a full two minutes, but I nod right afterwards, leaning my chin on the chinrest of the violin. It smells like brand new wood, and a faint trace of Sora's personal smell.
"You start." He says, hands placed on the keys. Nodding I use the music sheet as a reference before I begin the low pitch note, taking with it a high note. He nods approvingly, fingers flying gracefully over the keys. I watch his fingers a moment, closing my eyes soon after and just feeling the music, the notes, both complex and simple weaving into my mind and telling me what to do without my consent. My fingers glide gently over the shaft of the violin, pressing down on some strings as I smile. I can hear his laugh, and I'll bet he stole a glance. I open my eyes and meet his gaze, holding it as we continue to play.
He starts playing more high pitched keys, and I follow suit by mixing both high and low sounds to make his notes sound smoother. Then he slows down, fingers taking their time over the keys as he looks back to the instrument, smiling to himself, lips mouthing words. Lyrics, probably. The notes pick up their pace again.
To know, to feel, to play me once again.
Do you denote...
Do you not know, I see you play the game.
Denote...
I smile as I catch the words he'd been speaking on his lips, the music slowing down and stopping a bit after altogether. (A.N.: This is an exerpt from an awesome song I've used dozens of times in my story. It's called Orchard Of Mines by Globus. I suggest it.) The last note hovers in the air as I remove the rod from the strings, taking a breath.
"That was a very nice song." I tell him, sitting down beside him on the piano bench as he makes room.
"It's a favorite of mine." He says with a small smile. "And one of the hardest ones I know how to play here. But there is one more I know that is more complex for one reason only."
"And that is...?"
"A song I made up." He looks through the stack of papers on the piano a moment, taking out a single sheet with at least a hundred notes. It's not long, but the notes in itself look quite hard to play. "Care to try it?"
"Bring it." I say with a grin. Laughing once, he removes the one I read labeled Orchard Of Mines - Globus and puts one that read Roxas' Theme. I raise an eyebrow.
"Have you got the beat down?" He asks me, fingers already poised knowingly over the keys. I nod, standing and resting my chin on the chinrest, waiting with the rod poised over the strings.
He starts on ain intricate layer of notes that wind together perfectly, and I follow suit, letting the notes be practically soundless, just a background noise. He nods approvingly, smiling as he weaves it through a very delicate part, nodding to me to raise the volume a little. I do so, although a bit reluctantly, since I want to listen to the weaving of the notes of the piano; they're intoxicating. It's basically just low with a few high notes, repeating itself a little and then falling into low notes for a little bit, before rising back into the regular tempo. It takes a full minute and a half to finish the song, and by then the volume of my own notes are back as background noises, but I don't mind. He lets the notes hang in the air as he ends it, turning to look at me.
"Did you like it?" He asks. I smile, putting the violin down gently on the free space of the piano bench and wrapping my arms around him. He returns my embrace.
"No." I say, momentarily pausing. "I adored it." I hear him laugh to himself as I pull back and kiss him gently, letting it linger. We don't even realize we're not alone anymore until someone clears their throat.
We both separate in shock, looking to the visitor. Sora frowns and stands up as soon as he see's the man's badge, which puts him subtly in front of me.
"Can I help you?" He asks, voice straining to remain polite.
The officer shows him papers, and his faces pales as he reads it. I look over his shoulder at it.
"Did no one come to tell you to gather at the front?" He asks. Sora shakes his head, handing it back.
"No, but the only one here besides myself and my adopted brother is the Head Butler, Kuron." (A.N.: Three cheers for random naming!)
"Where is everyone else?" He asks as he motions for us to follow him. I put the violin back in its case rapidly, being careful just the same, and we walk out with him following us behind him.
"My mother is out with the maid, May, and our chef, Karyn, has her weekly vacation today." He says as I remain silent. "What is the purpose of this, may I ask?"
"We are looking for a boy. He's been missing for a while and we need him to incarcerate him. What is your adoptive brother's name?" He asks, while I can feel the color leave my cheeks.
So they're finally serious about this. Sora remains silent as he looks to his feet, probably in his own jumbled thoughts. I look sideways at him, and I realize it's because he's trying to not show the tears streaming down his face. My fists clench, and I stop walking, turning to the man.
"Look," I say stiffly to the man, Sora lifting his head up as the two of them stop walking, his tear-stained face making my heart ache. "If I cooperate with you, you must promise to leave these people alone. And allow me to remain here, whether not my parents walk off scott-free."
He looks at me, getting a good look at my face for the first time.
"Very well. Follow me, Mr. Strife."
"One more thing." He pauses, halfway in the motion of turning around. "Sora's coming with me."
Sighing, the officer nods, gesturing for us to follow him, a little impatiently. Sora gives me a pleading look, but I shake my head, and I grab his hand to find comfort in someone's familiar touch, and also to stop my own hands from showing that they're shaking. We follow the man almost at his pace, Sora watching his feet, face still streaming with tears. Absentmindedly as we walk, I make him look at me so I can wipe them from his eyes with my left hand. I give him a smile, but I can tell it does little to reassure him. He squeezes my hand as we get to the door, and I return the gesture as we step out through it. A thin line of reporters and officers wait, and I can see the head butler some ways away on the grass. I keep my eyes downcast as we follow the man.
"Alright kid." Another officer gestures to Sora. "We don't need you tagging along."
He jerks his head up, mouth in a frown as his lips are in a tight line. He turns to look at the man.
"No." He says, standing protectively in front of me. "Either you're letting me come with him, or you're not getting him at all."
He sighs in exasperation.
"Who do you think you are, kid?" He hisses. Sora stands up a little straighter.
"I am Ansem Hikari's son, heir to the throne. Now, are you going to listen, or..."
"Fine, fine, fine. Get in the cruiser." He waves his hands and walks hurriedly away. Anothe rofficer holds the door open for both of us to step in. I let Sora step in first, and he pulls me in after him. The door closes behind us, locking us from the outside world.
"You're going to see your parents soon, kid. Isn't that nice?" The officer sitting at the wheel asks, turning his head. I feel the color leave my cheeks for the second time that day.
"Just drive." Sora says, clipping the words as he looks at me. With a sigh he drives along the road while I look at my hands, one of them still holding Sora's. He places his other hand over both of mine. "Don't worry about it, Roxas. They can't hurt you."
I let go of his hand to put my hands to my hair, gripping it as I squeeze my eyes shut.
"I don't want to see them." I say gently, so low the officer doesn't hear me. Sora pulls me to him, forehead on his collarbone as he comforts me with his presence. I put my hands onto his shoulders, trying to calm my erratic heart.
"I promise you they won't." He says into my ear. "I promise."
And he's always there. Holding me, helping me stay calm and soothing me with gentle words and kisses whenever he feels I need one. I take great comfort in him just being there. I keep imagining myself being forced to leave, to have Sora be forced to let me leave. I count him all of it while we wait for God knows how many hours on that bench. Few people pass by, but that's alright. He's always there to tell me that it'll be fine, and he never leaves my side.
Finally, with Sora having one arm around my shoulders and another holding my hand, a woman steps up, glasses on her face, a clipboard in her hands as she steps up, heels hitting the floor loudly.
"Hello, Roxas. I am Vanessa, Attourney At Law. I am the lawer appointed to you for this trial."
I look up at her, and Sora can see what I want to say in my eyes, for he says it for me.
"He won't be needing one, thank you." He says, looking at her evenly. "Because we'll be using the truth that we have on our side, not lies."
She smiles approvingly. Nodding, she jots something down.
"Will you be making a testamony?" She asks me. I look back down to my hands, one of them clenching into a fist - the one that's not holding Sora's.
"I will." Sora says, surprising me. "I saw all his injuries, and I don't want him to have to talk about it. He's having enough trouble forgetting it."
"I will, too." I say softly. Sora looks at me. "I have to."
"You sure?" He asks. I look at him, lifting my head up to do so.
"Yes."
"Well, then. Court wil be in session soon, so I'll be escorting you two into the Court room." Nodding Sora helps me stand up, and the closer we get to the room, the harder I clutch his hand like a lifeline. He doesn't complain, though I know I'm hurting him. And right before I enter the doorway, I look sideways at Sora, the attourney pausing as we both do.
"I'm not going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me broken." I say, which makes Sora smile. He lets go of my hand as I nod, flexing the fingers to re-animate them, and giving my shoulder a squeeze.
"That's more like it." He says with a smile wider than before. "Let's prove to them that they weren't able to break you, and that you're a greater person." I can see the attourney smile in aproval.
"Promise?" Grinning now, he holds up his pinkie, and I wrap mine around his.
"Promise." And we follow the woman into the room. I look to my left the closer we get to the front of the room, passing row upon row of seated people, some just here because they were appalled at my story, some people that I recognize as teens from my old school. Seeing them, some of them look at me, with pity in their eyes. I just skirt my eyes past them, ignoring the pity, and my eyes land on two heads near the front, seated at the front of the line of witnesses and reporters and journalists.
As if they can feel my stare, they turn their heads, and our eyes meet. My father's eyes are as cold as I remember, and only the amount of witnesses in the romm stop him from coming to beat me. My mother looks just as furious, but also appalled. I stare evenly right back at them. They let Sora sit down beside me at the table to the right, which makes me smile a little.
"All rise for the Honourable Judge Mathis." (A.N.:Oh I don't know, another random name. Woop.) Everyone stands, save my mother and father - typical - and she tells us to be seated.
"Court is now in session." She says with a voice that just about screams authority. I look evenly at the woman, and I can see Sora holding a small slip of paper in his hands he's fished from his pockets.
IMPORTANT!: I need to know if some people want me to continue the story passed this setting, alright. I'm running out of idea's, but I have some in reserve and I can make it longer, but I will ONLY if people tell me to. (But I might still do it just for kicks) Alrighty? Good.
Mouhahahaha, BOB has managed to control the sattelite. It is only a matter of time...
Stay tuned! NExt chapter being made AS WE SPEAK (sorta)