For Love
Reality 13
Tuesday, April 28
The day began peacefully enough.
Kairi woke up to the sound of Reno pounding on her door, demanding to know where she hid his lighter and keys. Meanwhile, Axel was blasting music loud enough that she felt sure the Strife's could hear it over at their house.
"I don't have your damn lighter!" Kairi yelled, chucking a pillow at the door.
Reno wasn't deterred. "What 'bout my keys, yo?"
"I don't have those either!"
"Well get up and help me look for 'em!"
"Look for 'em yourself!"
As much as Kairi loved her brothers, she drew the line at being ordered to do anything. Besides, she was sure his keys were in the same place as always--the freezer.
"I'm the oldest! You're s'pose to do as I say!"
"Bullshit!" Kairi rolled herself out of bed to stumble across the room and open the door. Glaring at him, she said: "The freezer and the bread cabinet. That's where your shit is probably at. Like always. So shut up and go away!"
Grumbling, Reno walked away.
Kairi retreated into her room and slammed the door shut. She stood in the middle of her room for a moment, trying to figure out what she was suppose to be doing and what day it was, and then began gathering things for school. Into her bag she scooped what homework she managed to finish between fighting Heartless and surviving dinner with her family. After buckling it shut, she located her school uniform and quickly dressed before rushing downstairs to see if she could get food before Axel got to it.
In the kitchen she found Reno with his fingers shoved down the garbage disposal.
"Boy, get your hand out of that damn thing before you lose a fucking finger!" Mr. Sinclair snapped.
"I dropped my damn key, yo! Gotta get that thing out!" Reno replied, pulling back his hand to peer down the drain. "Damn thing."
Kairi rolled her eyes and decided it was in her best interest to ignore her oldest brother as he stuck his fingers back down the pipe. "Mornin'," she greeted her dad as she picked up a grapefruit.
Mr. Sinclair eyes her as she easily sliced the citrus fruit and only took one half. "You need to eat more. You're too skinny."
"Tell that to Reno and Axel," Kairi replied. "I'll eat at lunch. I have to go now!"
Axel walked down the stairs at that moment and saw an opportunity to get out of the house. "I'll give you a ride!"
Mrs. Sinclair seemed to appear out of the woodwork as she grabbed Axel by the ear and pulled him off to another room. "Your first class isn't until noon! You wouldn't dare be thinking about skipping chores, would you?"
"N-n-no ma'am!"
Kairi felt no pity for him, fleeing the house the second she slid her feet into her loafers. It was his fault they were grounded, after all. The more he had to suffer the better she felt.
"Kairi!"
She looked up as Tidus honked the horn of his small, bright yellow car. She smiled and ran the rest of the way down the driveway, pulling open the door to hop into the passenger's seat. "Ti, you're a lifesaver."
Tidus grinned. "I know." He paused as he reached down to shift the car into first gear. "Are you feeling okay? You look exhausted."
Kairi waved away his concern. "I'm fine. Just been doin' some late night crammin' is all. No big."
"If you say so." Frowning, Tidus shifted gears and eased off the clutch and onto the gas.
They drove along in silence for a few minutes. Tidus concentrated on staying on the road and avoiding people while Kairi watched the passing scenery.
Despite Wakka's previous complaints about Tidus driving too slowly, they made it to school in a short amount of time, even after being stopped on the bridge to allow a barge to pass by.
Tidus pulled into a parking place and switched the car into neutral before pulling up the parking brake and turning off the car. As Kairi went to open the door he asked: "Kairi, you'd tell me if something was wrong, right?"
Kairi looked away from him, a feeling of heaviness settling in her chest. "Of course, Tidus."
"I see…" Tidus removed his keys from the ignition and got out of the car. "We'd better go meet up with the others."
Kairi agreed, though she felt like screaming in frustration. As much as it hurt to lie to Tidus, she couldn't risk involving him in the fights. 'I'm sorry.'
Elena impatiently tapped her foot, her brown eyes focused on the slim watch decorating her right wrist. 'Where are you, Roxas?' She huffed and leaned back against the wall, her long blonde hair forming a cushion against the brick. She spotted Kairi being ambushed by Olette and Naminé further up the hall, but paid them no mind once she didn't see a certain boy with spiky blond hair.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Elena scoured the hall for any sign of her Guardian. At last she spotted him walking down the hall amidst a crowd of moving people, his head bowed and his bag held up to his chest. She pushed her way through them and clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"I've been looking everywhere for you, Roxas! Where have you been?" Elena looked down and quickly removed her hand. Instead of being met by annoyed royal blue eyes, she was looking into confused light blue eyes. "Sorry! I'm sorry! You just look so much like a friend of mine!"
The boy blinked up at her and tilted his head sideways. "I do?"
Elena found herself itching to squeal and hug him. Despite knowing he couldn't be more than a year or two younger than she was, she found herself reminded of a curious little boy.
"Yeah," she told him. "It's your hairstyle. I'd say it's exactly the same."
He smiled shyly. "That explains a bit. The others who mistook me for him ran away before I could ask them. His name is Roxas, right?"
Elena nodded. "Yeah. And I'm Elena."
"I'm Ventus Brook." He held out his hand and his smile grew wider when she took it and gave a firm handshake. "Looks like your Roxas is coming."
Elena turned around and waved to Roxas to get his attention. When she looked back to thank Ventus, he was gone.
"Something wrong?" Roxas asked as he joined her.
"No… no. I'm fine. I was just talking to, uh…" She paused and grinned. "I was just talking to your 'alien clone'."
Roxas rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha, very funny."
"You know you want to laugh."
"I really don't."
Elena nudged him. "You're allowed to laugh at a joke, y'know."
"It's too early for jokes," Roxas said. He pulled her over to his locker so they were out of everyone's way. "What did you want to talk about?"
"It's been bothering me for a while now, but I've never been sure how to word it." She lowered her voice so there was less of a chance of being overheard. "How are Soldiers born?"
"Well," Roxas began with a sarcastic bite in his voice. "When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much--"
"I'm being serious," Elena interrupted. "We know that Knights were normal humans gifted with abilities either due to exposure to Soldiers or because their world didn't have anyone to protect it. But how did Soldiers come to be in the first place? Are they like Knights?"
Roxas looked away. "I don't know."
Elena narrowed her eyes. "You're lying."
"Look, I can't tell you. I don't know all the details," Roxas said, still refusing to look at her.
"Then who would?" Elena demanded.
Roxas said nothing. "I can't. I'm sorry."
"Fine," Elena turned away from him and began walking away. "I'll find out eventually, Roxas. Whether it is from you or the other Guardians or our enemy. I just hope it turns out for the best."
Roxas watched her walk away, unable to quell his feelings of guilt.
"But you're so cute!" Olette squealed, practically jumping on Naminé as she hugged her. She giggled when her girlfriend blushed and reached up to adjust the large blue bow in her hair. "Don't you think so?"
"I agree!" Sora said with his usual enthusiasm.
"Not my taste," Lulu said thoughtfully. She rifled through a bag in her locker and withdrew a pink and black ribbon. With unparalleled grace, she reached up and wrapped it in Wakka's hair. "This is my taste," she said with a completely straight face.
There was a very brief moment of silence before they all started laughing, including Lulu and Wakka.
Wakka pulled the ribbon out of his hair and tied it onto one of Lulu's braids. "I happen to think that is much better. I don't look good in black, ya."
"You look good in anything," Lulu said, kissing him on the cheek.
Wakka blushed and grinned in an embarrassed way, shoving Tidus when the boy and Kairi joking mocked the exchange.
As Kairi avoided Wakka's swat to her head, laughing all the while, she thought: 'I wish it could always be like this.'
A man appeared over the city, his gray hair blowing in the wind. He narrowed his orange eyes as he looked out over the buildings and people with a sneer of disgust on his face.
"How I loathe the people of this world," he slowly spoke. "I will cleanse this world of its disease."
His sneer changed to a smirk as he raised his hand up and violently grabbed at the air. All at once, pandemonium struck the town streets as horrific creatures appeared out of nowhere and began attacking people.
Laughing, the man vanished before seeing the group of people who were out fighting the monsters.
"Watch out!"
Love tackled Peace to the ground as a Spiked Crawler slammed into the ground, showering them with asphalt.
"Thanks," Peace said breathlessly.
The two girls were back on their feet mere seconds later to rejoin the fight.
Elemental attacks and weapons flew in every direction, effortlessly cutting down Heartless. Somewhere amidst the chaos, Storm and Floral were firing off their own attacks in rapid succession. The area they were fighting in was perfumed with the scent of cherry blossoms.
Down the road, Heart was working with Strength, Sora, and Roxas to keep the creatures contained. Not too far from them were Love, Peace, Wisdom, and Riku. Cloud and the Knights were dashing around, trying to prevent the Heartless from spreading even farther.
"Light Mirage!"
"Blizzard!"
The two attacks merged together to form a kaleidoscope effect that caused Heartless to run around in confused circles, crashing into each while freezing.
Peace and Wisdom exchanged triumphant glances before being mobbed by more Heartless. Riku and Love blasted them away, giving the two Soldiers room to fight back.
It was the same for the others. The second they cleared out a row of Heartless, even more came to take their place in overwhelming numbers.
Heart Soldier let out a yell mixed with pain and surprise as a small group of Shadows jumped on her back, knocking her to the ground.
"Get away from her!" White Rose swooped in to knock them away with her oversized weapon. Even once they were gone, she stayed close to keep the others away while Heart got back to her feet.
"Aqua Splash!"
White Rose gasped and knocked Heart back to the ground so the frigid water attack wouldn't hit her.
A figure in black and blue landed near them. "I'd stay down," warned a feminine voice.
"Earthquake!"
The ground rumbled beneath their feet, splitting apart in various places to send Heartless plummeting into the earth. Rocks and rubble flew through the air, colliding with the creatures.
A second figure--in tan and black--landed near the first with an audible noise.
Heart looked up, somehow unsurprised to find a man with brown hair staring down at her with steel blue eyes hidden behind a brown mask.
"Earth Soldier?" She breathed questioningly.
The man nodded and held out his hands to help both girls up. "We're here to help."
"Thanks," Heart said sincerely. "We're going to need all the help we can get."
"Let's get to work," Ocean said, summoning her water sword.
The two older Soldiers separated, charging right into the fray. The two expertly took down Heartless, their moves effortless in grace.
Before Heart could get back to fighting, a whistle from the rooftops caught her attention. Looking up, she spotted two figures standing on the edge looking down. One was obviously female, with curled hair and a short dress. The other she assumed to be male by the pants and jacket he wore.
Fire blazed to life around the feminine figure, illuminating the yellow-clad form of Passion Soldier. The second figure jumped down, holding an unusually-styled sword in a striking position. The blade pulsed and began growing icy blue before growing two times its original size. Shards of ice flew with every swing of the blade, some impaling the Heartless.
On the roof, Passion Soldier leapt into the air with her arms spread wide like a great phoenix. The fire around her surged and then converged into a large, molten ball above her.
"Hellfire!"
The ball of molten fire broke apart, raining down on the Heartless, obliterating them upon touch.
As the attack finished, Passion landed on the ground and immediately threw herself onto Heart. "I missed you so much!"
Heart awkwardly hugged her back, fully away that there were still Heartless around, though there was considerably fewer. "Umm, Passion? Could we maybe save this for later?"
Passion pulled away, a blush of embarrassment spreading across her cheeks. "O-oh, right! Let's beat these things!" She seemed to pull a pair of nunchaku out of thin air as she ran away to join Brave Soldier.
Heart watched for a brief moment as the yellow-clad girl dodged the shards of ice to deliver her own attacks in a blaze of fire.
'That's not her original uniform…'
"Heart!"
Shaking her head, she spun her ribbon of energy to life around her hands. She used it as a whip to smack Heartless away until she found an opportunity to use a stronger move.\
Ventus flinched as he watched the ongoing battle. Both hands tightly gripped his schoolbag so tightly his knuckles were pure white.
"Ocean… Earth…" He closed his eyes as tears began to gather, sending one drop sliding down his face. "I'm sorry. I wish… I wish I could help."
Trembling, he slipped away from the fight.
Strength Soldier kicked the last of the Heartless against the wall of a nearby building, where it fizzled away upon impact. With a grim smile she turned to face her comrades. Most of them were leaning on one another for support.
"Damn Bookmaster's," Passion muttered, leaning against Brave Soldier's leather-clad form. "Can't they use something other than ice?'
"At least you're able to destroy them," Peace said.
"That's why we work together," said Heart. "For all of our strengths and weaknesses, we wouldn't succeed if we were separated." She looked to Ocean and Earth and held out her hand with a smile.
Ocean tentatively smiled back and took her hand, shaking it. "Sorry about before."
"It's okay," Heart said reassuringly. She shook Earth's hand next. "I'm just glad we're working together now. But where's Sky Soldier?"
Ocean lowered her gaze to the floor and Earth clenched his fists tightly.
"We don't know," whispered Ocean.
Brave Soldier stepped forward and rested a hand on Ocean's shoulder. "We'll find him. Can't you feel it? The shine of other Soldiers gathering on this world? It won't be long now."
Earth nodded in agreement. "There's a lot we have to do before then."
Cloud cleared his throat and nudged the Knights out of the way. "It's not much, but we have a house we're using as our Headquarters. Let's go back there and talk."
After a few minutes of consideration, everyone agreed and they set off for the Strife house.
End Chapter
There's not much I want to say about this one... Probably because I didn't sit and write down scene after scene. It also took me a while to sit down and type it up. I'm trying to write chapters more quickly so I can post at least one every week, and after all the snow (and school being closed) you'd think I'd have more written. But I don't.
Next time - Reality 14
"Zidane?"
"The one and only! Nice to see you again, Princess Yuffie."
"Please don't call me that."
"But it's true! Then and now."