A/N: Thank you everyone. I pushed through it, and I hope you enjoy. There was more I could have done, but this was a satisfying end. So, as always, thank you for the support. I'll see you in whatever I decide to write next.
Red Karat Ring
Final Chapter
Painting
"Hi Rue...it's your daddy. We've been waiting to meet you. Welcome to the world."
He held the bundle of blankets in his arms, a delicate baby boy sporting silken white hair sleeping soundly in his gentle touch. Riku looked down at his newborn son, Rue, a smile playing with the man's lips. He stood by the bedside of his exhausted wife Vanille, the woman in question in a similar state of sleep.
"Thank you," Riku whispered to her, "for giving us our son."
She was well within a wonderful dream, yet her face twitched slightly as if she heard Riku's words. Vanille smiled.
"Rue fal'Cie. Hmm, we got so over excited we didn't think about your middle name buddy."
Riku walked around the hospital room, a spacious, softly lit room with a mound of congratulatory flowers and cards occupying a nearby table. He went over to it and studied the colorful blooms and read over the messages from family members and friends.
"If you were a girl, Vanille wanted to call you Alice. You wouldn't have made a good Alice though."
He chuckled to himself, not loud enough to rouse the sleeping infant.
"That's okay...we can figure it out once mama's awake."
"Alexander."
Riku's ear tingled. Thinking it was an itch, Riku quickly scratched the lobe of his left ear and thought little more of it.
"Alexander. His name is Alexander."
Riku looked at Rue's little face, wisps of fine hair almost glowing with a soft light.
"I'm so lucky to have you, my baby boy."
A large rectangular table sat in the middle of a field surrounded by thousands of flowers. Nearby trees were rustling as breezes swept by, sending colorful petals hurdling across an image of lush beauty. The petals fell and rose, scattering across the surface of the long table.
A thick canopy of white enveloped the air above it, creating a hazy curtain that obscured the party that already resided there. The culprits behind the ribbons of steam were dozens, if not hundreds of tea kettles placed perfectly on the table.
Dishes housing cakes and pastries, pies and scones and all sorts of delicious looking treats sat intertwined along gleaming silverware and fresh new china ready to be filled with tea.
It was a grand tea party situated in the deepest parts of the gardens of Oathkeeper Island. The towering buildings and skyscrapers loomed in the distance, observing the festivities that were about to begin.
A teacup rose from a round saucer, meeting the perfectly plump lips of a woman sporting gold hair. She sat near the head of the table, for the main seat was occupied by a man with handsome features. They looked beyond the cloud of white steam, welcoming the group that walked out from a labyrinth of tall hedges.
"It's been much too long, my darlings."
Aurora Briar Rose Hatter stood with her arms stretched wide, a grin the same length etched into her face.
The six Hatter siblings looked on at the mother they thought dead. Dozens of eyes gazed questioningly at the youthful looking woman. 12 years had passed since their supposed death, an accident that robbed Sora and his Sorceress sisters of the parents they knew.
Balthier sat with an elbow on the table supporting his head slightly cocked to the side. His piercing stare easily saw through the steam, zeroing in on Sora's figure. The intensity behind his green eyes unnerved him at first, a weak sensation threatened the joints at his knees. But there was someone there that held his hand, squeezing it gently and reminding Sora of something very important:
He was not alone.
Riku and Sora led the Hatter sisters and their collected proxies, a group of 12 people into the lush flowering fields of the central gardens. A tomb made of white stone lay beyond the fields. This was the place, the hallowed grounds where Balthier and Aurora had been set to rest for however long the world continued turning.
He had visited numerous times, his little sisters at his side as they talked to them about what was happening in their lives. On more than one occasion Sora would look at his parents resting in their clear coffins of glass and gold, beautiful beds constructed by artisan dwarves of a peaceful land, and ponder how it was that they looked as if they were simply sleeping.
But that simple thought had been true. For 12 long years Balthier and Aurora had stopped time for themselves. The king and queen had slept in a wonderful dream for all those years awaiting the moment they would come back. Their eyes would flutter open to see the dimly lit interior of their tomb and know, it was time.
Sora didn't know where to begin. There were so many things swirling around in his head that sorting them out felt like it would be impossible. But Sora knew there wasn't a turning point to this. So many people had been involved in this, and it wasn't just his life that had been affected. He needed to take the first step forward, for the sake of everyone that looked on at the beckoning tea party.
"Have a seat, please," Aurora's silky voice peppered the air, "you must have a cup of tea to go with all these delicious treats."
She waved them down, faced each person and insisting they sit. Sora and the collected group passed several looks between them before finally taking her offer. The proxies, Roxas, Saïx, Joshua, and Charlotte all sat the closest to Aurora and Balthier. The Hatter sisters followed next to them, with Riku, Sora, and Rue taking the opposite end of the table facing the king and queen.
It was a straight line from Sora to Balthier, the man he called father. He had yet to say a word to him, but the lack of words wasn't an issue when the simple stare of his father's eyes was enough to tell him everything.
He remembered that intensity. How many times had he sat in the interior of their mansion forced to see something that wasn't there. For the better part of his early childhood, Sora had been berated for something he just couldn't accomplish. Sora was born a Sorceress incapable of seeing red threads. It didn't matter how long he sat there staring at the numerous faces of clients his father brought to him, it was just not happening.
But something happened close to the time Wendy had been born. He was 11 at the time, Lulu just barely a year old, when a change occurred. His father looked at him differently. There was something there he couldn't explain. But what seemed the most alarming was that the way with which he was treated, changed. He was no longer the center of his father's ire. The clients stopped coming, and he was never asked to try and see someone's red thread again.
Sora should have been happy. He was no longer subjected to feeling like a failure by his father. Even knowing that with each new sister he was blessed with he was falling further and further behind everyone, something that did make him feel incredibly insecure and upset, it still paled in comparison to his father's lack of interest in him.
Did he prefer the abuse? Did he enjoy the way he was spoken to and demeaned? Why would anyone in their right mind want that?"
"Oh," he thought to himself one day, shortly before the twins were born, "because it meant I existed."
"That look, I never did like it."
Balthier spoke, his words smooth and like ice. Sora, transfixed on the workings of his mind, gazed up. His father leaned his face deeper into the palm of his hand as he worked a fork in front of him through a thick piece of chocolate cake. The prongs of the fork stabbed the generous portion and slowly raised it to his lips. Opening his mouth, Balthier slid the velvety chocolate onto his tongue and promptly, dropped the silver utensil.
It clattered loudly, more so due to the fact everyone was deathly quiet. Aurora giggled and stepped over to Balthier and retrieved the fork he had dropped.
"Dear, such manners coming from a king, let alone a Sorceress, is unbecoming. Please be more careful."
She patted his shoulder with a soft hand and kissed his temple before retracting on her own words. Aurora placed the head of the fork in her mouth and swirled her tongue around it, a rosy hue appearing across the bridge of her nose and cheeks.
"Slam!"
The table shook, causing the tea kettles and fine china to rattle. Penelo stood hunched over the table, hands holding her up as her body trembled with frustration.
"How dare you?"
She gathered her words, looking at the head of the table.
"Mother and father would never act like this! Just who are you?!"
Penelo was the first to break. Was it a factor of her being the youngest and thus more prone to act out? No, everyone in attendance was already on pins and needles and Penelo was the catalyst that was needed for this conversation to start.
"Penelo," Selphie addressed her sister, "stay calm."
"Selphie, they would never!" She reiterated with a pained expression.
The twins were only three years old when they passed on. They should have remembered the least about their parents, but it would seem that was an incorrect assumption.
"I agree with Penelo."
Belle, her arms crossed and golden shawl supporting her brown curls looked down the table. "Having observed this from the start, I too am convinced they are not what they seem. Mother and father would never behave this way."
She was the smartest, queen of a country endowed with the most advanced technology and break throughs in the scientific world. Belle was an analytical type, she wouldn't let the most minute detail escape her sight. She stole a moment to look at Joshua, his nodding of the head a silent agreement.
"In the past 10 years I have continued to evolve and strengthen my powers, not only as a Sorceress, but a scientist. I am the most intelligent of the Hatter sisters. I would be a disgrace to the name if my words held no evidence."
She was speaking without hesitation, evenly, and elegantly. But she'd by lying if Belle was anything but calm. There was a dam welled within her chest just bursting at the seams.
"My research and drive for further knowledge, something I craved for a very important reason," she glanced at Sora with kind brown eyes that smiled all their own, "to find our big brother, it led me to a most interesting discovery."
Belle sighed. "Our red threads...they hold fractions of other people's auras within them. I discovered that anyone that left an impact on a person, carries a piece of them within their thread. I could detect this, I could sense others someone had interacted with. This power, something I alone evolved, I called the Beast Testament."
Aurora and Balthier listened with listless expressions as if bored by listening to their daughter. Those in attendance swallowed, having learned of Belle's ability. The third eldest girl, hidden in her shawl, raised a delicate eye.
"Mother, father. Tell me...why is it that my Beast Testament can't sense a single emotion from you?"
Lulu's eyes grew wide. Sensing Belle staring at her, Lulu immediately understood. Belle smiled at her oldest sister and passed the torch. The raven haired woman sporting a dress of a thousand belts, snapped her fingers.
"I see," she said bringing a hand to her chest. Lulu then plunged her hand into her cleavage, a somewhat comical gesture considering the serious atmosphere. She pulled something out, a small and soft little something. Lulu held it close, feeling the fabric against her breasts.
"The reason sister Belle can't detect anything from mother and father is because, like this child," she said placing the object she pulled out of her cleavage and onto an empty white plate, "they are nothing but dolls. What we are looking at is the dead shell of our parents. Their life...their souls are gone."
A fabric doll sat in front of them. The seams were perfectly sown, hair perfectly placed, and a pair of black buttons gazed out at the towering trays of cakes and tea kettles.
"Belle, Lulu, what have we told you about lying?"
Aurora placed her hands on her hips, lips pouted like a child not getting what they wanted.
"Such lies! And you speak them so easily! I can see that the time we've been away has affected your ability to retain good manners." Aurora then craned her neck irregularly at Sora, his face slightly pale. "Or perhaps your big brother is to blame? Has he taught you nothing? As a mother, I am most disappointed. What a disgrace you are, Sora."
Something whizzed past Aurora. It created its own wind, sending strands of her hair into her face. Aurora veered to the side, following the trajectory of whatever it was that flew by. Looking over her shoulder, Aurora found numerous sparkling dots embedded on a tree behind her in a perfect straight line.
"Ohhh?" She cooed with a finger to her mouth.
"Never," Lulu began with an outstretched hand, a slew of silver needles between each finger, "speak to him in that manner again."
A red mark oozed from Aurora's cheek. She dabbed at the fresh wound, finding red staining her fingers. Balthier quickly snatched her hand and brought the tips of her fingers to his mouth, licking the warm blood off of them. "That's enough, Lulu."
"Don't say my name!" She spat out, glaring at Balthier, "you're a doll! I don't want to hear my name coming from something so broken, so flawed! You're no longer my family!"
"Broken?"
Balthier's neck cricked. The hand supporting it fell away, leaving him at an awkward angle. It was unnatural for a person, disturbing even.
"My dolls are flawed?"
The skies overhead were cast in the glow of sunset, showering everything in a warm orange hue. A pin prick, a spherical shadow appeared in the air above the table. Everyone looked up at the strange shadow that spoke. A crescent shape grew across the sphere, giving it a conniving grin.
"So you think my creations are inferior?"
Rings of purple and pink, colors found in a normal everyday sunset, spiraled around the fat body of a cat. His ears twitched, fluffy tail swished in an arc to rest alongside its rotund shape. With yellow eyes the color of sulfuric acid, Cheshire appeared before the masses.
"Greetings! Welcome to my tea party!"
Cheshire floated in the air, swimming in a choreographed pattern as it made its rounds. The proxies stood tense, eyeing Cheshire as it danced.
"This won't do, we can't let all this delicious tea and cake go to waste!"
Cheshire snapped his fingers, the tea kettles dotting the table rising into the air. Hot tea poured into everyone's cup, sending a new billowing cloud of steam rising.
"How about you?" Cheshire said lifting a piece of strawberry short cake up to Riku, the man alarmed at his actions, "soft and delicate, like your beloved Sora there!"
Riku made no quick motions. Cheshire arched a brow at him. "Hmmm...perhaps a proper introduction introduction is in order. I know! Here's an idea!"
Cheshire forked the single large strawberry that sat on the slice of short cake, popping it into his wide mouth. "Let's all go around and introduce ourselves. We'll give our name, and to make things even more interesting, we'll share a secret about ourselves. Doesn't that sound like fun? I'll go first, since I am the host and some of you may not not who I am."
With a pirouette, Cheshire flared his arms outwards. "Ahem-ahem, la la la! Often painted in a bad light, but only looking for a good time, the one and only, Cheshire Cat! My secret is..."
Wendy's face became like stone. As a Sorceress who's power revolved around storytelling and knowledge of every folklore in the world, the name was overtly familiar to her. She gathered her fingers into a fist, eyes shaking. "Cheshire?"
"Yes my dear, oh! You do know of me, wonderful! Okay, you next, go on, go on!"
Without her consent, Wendy was raised to her feet. Saïx tensed up at the sudden movement, but was held in place by Cheshire's acid stare. "You'll have your turn boy, don't be hasty."
Wendy regained control of her body. She took in a shaky breath and noticed the concerned looks of her companions. Wendy breathed out.
"Wendy Nana Hatter, Queen of Darling, and third child of the Hatter family."
Cheshire clapped his paws with giddiness. "Oh! Lovely, go on, share your secret! Any secret!"
The light brunette bit down on her lip, a forceful attempt to keep from speaking. But goaded on by an unrelenting urge, Wendy lost the battle. "I...I've broken the Sorceress golden rule of not interpreting the thread of someone already gifted with a reading."
Cheshire laughed, buckling back in the air. "Awww, is that all? Such a tame secret, but it'll do. Moving on!"
To her immediate side was Belle. The cat god swam to her, his tail swishing against her seat. "Please introduce yourself."
"Belle Phillipe Hatter, queen of New Lumiere, world renowned scientist, Sorceress, and fourth child of the Hatter family."
"Phillipe? What a masculine name. Doesn't suit such a pretty, rosy face as yours."
Belle didn't give in to the taunts. "I lied when I said I was the third most successful Sorceress in the world. I hacked into several world servers and changed the rankings."
She looked at Wendy, knowing they had argued over this. They shared a small smile, the matter no longer an issue. "I am no better than any one of my sisters."
"So sweet of you to say," Cheshire swooned with a yawn, "but if this is the grandeur of the secrets we hold, I must say I am disappointed. How trivial and boooring!"
"This isn't a competition. You said we could share any secret."
Cheshire turned to Lulu, the red eyed queen playing with the doll she had brought out. The purple and pink ringed cat licked his paw. "Your turn then."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to go later."
Curiosity forced a new grin. "Saving the best for last? Hmm, very well then, down the line we go."
He propped himself up on both arms facing the twins. Winking at Penelo in particular, Cheshire then held up a plate of scones. "You haven't touched a thing my dear, aren't you hungry?"
Penelo whimpered at the sight of the sugar topped scones, the glutton in her wanting for them. Swallowing her desire, Penelo stared him down.
"Penelo Ivalice Hatter, twin ruling queen of End of Evanescence, sixth and youngest child of the Hatter family."
Selphie gripped her sister's hand. "Selphie Siren Hatter, twin ruling queen of End of Evanescence, fifth child of the Hatter family," she gripped Penelo's hand harder. "And my secret is...I've always felt inferior to Penelo."
"What?"
"It's true Penelo," Selphie expressed quietly, "you are better than me in every way."
"No-no, stop saying that! It's not true! I'm-I'm the crybaby, I eat like a pig, I'm sloppy and I get tired easily. Im lazy, I hate working, I'm not even fit to be a queen."
Selphie shook her head. "That's why you're better than me."
Penelo's teary face stopped. "How?"
"Because you know exactly who you are. You never hide the kind of person you are. And that's something I can't do."
"We're twins," Penelo chimed with a hand to her face to hold back tears, "I know you better than anyone else. There's no way that's true."
"Then what's your secret?"
"Huh?"
"We're twins. We know each other better than anyone else could. But, what's your secret? Or should I already know what it is?"
The blonde queen looked at Selphie. "You do."
"I was always jealous of your dancing Penelo. The way you interpreted red threads, it was always such a beautiful thing to see. I always told myself why wasn't I lucky enough to have that same ability? I mean, we're twins. But I knew why."
"...because it was your ability to begin with."
Penelo leaned in, placing her forehead to Selphie's. "I stole it away from you. That's why your Sorceress ability is up to luck. Your "Slots" ability is pure chance. You never know how a reading will turn out. That's my secret. I took something that belonged to you."
"But you know what Pen? You forgot something really important."
"What's that Selphie?"
She raised her arms, bringing them down in an elegant manner. "What's a dance without a partner?"
Penelo's tears were falling like waterfalls. "Selphie..."
"Now that's more like it! What a wonderful spectacle. Oh, now the bar has been raised. Please, please, moving on."
Cheshire floated as if swimming on his back. He stopped in front of Roxas, the spiky haired blonde. "Who might you be?"
"Roxas Cinna Almasy..."
"No fancy title, it seems. Well, only natural when we're dealing with a commoner. Soooo...what could you possible share with the group?"
Roxas reached over the table, removing his glove in the process. He laid his bare hand, glistening complete red ring, over Saïx's hand.
"Acting proxy to their majesties, Selphie and Penelo of End of Evanescence. My secret? I've been avoiding my destined partner for a long time."
Saïx felt the warmth seeping in as Roxas looked at him. "Roxas?"
"I loved Axel. But I knew I would never be with him. So I left. It was too hard to be around him knowing that it couldn't happen. But...it was also because I couldn't bare him learning that you, Saïx, were my destined one."
Saïx looked at their hands, Roxas's red ring and the two ends of his own ring that had not yet finished meeting. "All this time..."
"My map was so simple. I knew it the second I looked at it. My red thread led to you. And I've avoided telling you for all these years."
Saïx, his cornflower hair billowing in the wind, gently stared at the younger man, his brother's best friend. He didn't realize he was running a finger over the warm red band that made up Roxas's ring. "You've been with me all these years. Complete ring or not, we've been together."
Roxas was stoic, practically emotionless, but a fissure in his facade broke. He gulped a lump in his throat as he eyed the man he was destined to be with.
"So cute!" Cheshire screamed throwing flower petals around the pair, "Congratulations to the happy couple! May the heavens bless you both. But now, your turn my dear newlywed friend."
Saïx twitched his elfin pointed ears. "Saïx Isa Loire. Acting proxy to her majesty, Wendy of Darling. My secret is..."
With a twist of his head, Saïx began changing. His blue hair shot towards the sky, the orange-gold of his eyes turned bright green, and the charismatic smirk of someone long gone, now sat in his place. With red spiky hair, Saïx donned the image of his little brother Axel.
"I share my body with Axel."
Roxas felt every inch of his skin prickling with electricity. The hand he held, it no longer belonged to Saïx, but the thin, bony fingers of the lanky redhead he knew so well. The face he was looking into, the way those green eyes twinkled, it wasn't a trick. This man was Axel.
"Axel?"
Picking up his free hand, Axel raised it to his temple. "Got it memorized?"
"How?" Roxas said feeling a wetness on his cheeks, "how is it possible?"
"Let's just say Saïx has a way with people from far off lands, people with powers we know nothing about. He knew how much you loved me...and now...we can all be together."
"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho! How utterly unexpected. This is some interesting juju we're playing with Axel, or Saïx, whoever you are. Seems you've been playing with other gods, haven't you?"
"You said a secret," Saïx said twisting his form back to his pale elfin self. "I don't have to tell you anything else."
Cheshire shrugged, rolling his eyes. "Annnnyywaaaayss! Alright, who's next, who's next?"
Joshua had taken hold of his teacup and sipped from the rich brew. Cheshire seemed pleased by this and praised the sandy blonde. "Splendid! How do you like it? It goes well with the upelkuchens over there, have one! Or two!"
He bit into the white cake textured with the words "Eat Me" in black icing, savoring the deep richness. "My name is Joshua Noise Yoshiya, acting Proxy to her majesty Belle of New Lumiere. And here's my secret..."
Joshua veered his purple gaze at Balthier, the man at the head of the table. "I was meant to rule Destiny Islands as its true successor king. The noble House of Yoshiya was viable for the the throne and had produced a superior candidate and Sorceress. One that Balthier felt threatened by. And due to trickery, I was not given the crown."
"Interesting! So is your involvement in this little gathering due to some sort of bad blood between the two of you?" Cheshire inquired with a string of question marks appearing above his head. "Are you here to get back at the man that stole your rightful place?"
Joshua smirked and let out a sigh. "One secret, wasn't it?"
"Oh drat! Maybe I should have thought this little game more thoroughly."
Cheshire soon found his next target and bounced up to her. He batted his eyelashes at the blonde Sorceress as she dabbled with her makeup. "Always looking into a mirror, aren't you?"
"Well sugar, when you're as beautiful as me, ya gotta keep it up," she teased back in her normal southern drawl. "Everyone here should know who I am, the most beautiful Sorceress in the world, Miss Charlotte Lottie La Bouff! Woo-hoo!"
She threw a fan open, holding it to her pudgy nose. "Now, what secret can I reveal? Hmm, such a toughie. Oh! I got it sugar!"
Charlotte drew closer to Cheshire, close enough to feel the ends of his whiskers tickling her face. "Pains me to say, but this lovely face of mine was bought. I got enough plastic and Botox in me to kill a stampeding herda elephants!"
Cheshire blinked furiously before falling back on the table, rolling in hysterics. "Aha-ha-hahahahahaha! Oh that's good, that's awfully good. Makes me curious, is that face the only thing you "bought"? Maybe there's someone else, someone small and insecure behind the mask, a nobody that longed for better things. Perhaps, just maybe? Little miss Lottie?"
She batted her purple creased eyes, a sadness that told of despicable memories. "Some things are better left unsaid, kitty cat.
"Hmmm, very well. Mooovvving on!"
Sora and his sisters paused to meet Charlotte with a compassionate look. There was something more to her, someone that wasn't the conniving, malicious, and self centered woman she pretended to be. Inside, Charlotte was a lonely woman that longed for something worthwhile. And despite the success and attention she had the world over, it wasn't something that could break that loneliness.
"But if I don't get back to the orphanage... I'll never get adopted."Adopted? What makes you think anyone would want a homely little girl like you?"
Charlotte dabbed at her eye, memories of long ago echoing in the back of her mind. She watched on as Cheshire met Lulu, the young woman she acted as proxy to.
"The numbers are dwindling, how about you have your turn, my dear?"
Lulu stopped playing with the doll in her hands and flicked the black bangs that covered part of her face. She reached into the bun atop her head and retrieved one of the ornate hair sticks that jingled with tiny beads and reflected the glowing sunset of the skies.
"Lulu Vivi Hatter, queen of Vidina, eldest daughter and second child of the Hatter family."
With the hair stick in hand, Lulu allowed the smallest of smirks to touch her purple lips. "And my secret is...I cut your strings 10 years ago."
She ran the pointed end of her hair stick above her. "The puppet strings you used to hurt my big brother."
Lulu looked at Rue, red gaze appearing apologetic. "I'm sorry Rue, I know about the dream you had. The moment you mentioned it at our meeting, I realized you had somehow seen the pier and the actions I took. It must have been shocking to see what I did...but I want you to understand that it wasn't by choice. You see, I was being used," she paused to stare Cheshire down, the trickster holding his paws to his mouth. "I was already under the influence of Cheshire and his sticky strings. You could say I was possessed, my actions were suspended and manipulated like a puppet."
She touched her hair stick to her doll, bringing the point against a seam, "but Cheshire, you made a mistake. You underestimated me. How could you think you could keep hold of someone like me? Me, a master of dolls."
With a swift and beautiful flick, a stray string sticking out of the doll in her hand went flying. "You may be a god, but my craft surpasses godhood."
Hands still stuck to his mouth, Cheshire let out a roiling laugh. "You got me! Oh my stars, you sure got me there! How could I not notice you had severed my threads? Hee-hee! Oh this is becoming so fun!"
He then stopped abruptly. "But, shouldn't you thank me?"
Lulu narrowed her vision. "For what?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He replied watching Riku and Sora, the pair listening intently, "had it not been for my involvement, your big brother and Riku there may have never found one another. Perhaps that little dip big brother took in the ocean was enough to force his ring to complete. And then, who was there to save him! Tada! His savior, his knight in shining armor threw himself into the water without a care for himself. Do you see, Lulu dear? That was all me!"
She grit her teeth, the end of her hair stick digging into her finger and drawing blood. "I should thank you for nearly killing them? Are you out of your mind? Are you mad?"
Cheshire lost it. "AH-HA-HAHAHAHA! Mad? Mad? MAD?! We're ALL mad here! Hee-hee-hee!"
His cackling shook the table.
"You think you're soooo special? Little girl that plays with dolls."
Cheshire gripped the base of his head and with a loud plop, lifted his head off his body and turned it around at each party member with a crazed look in his acid yellow eyes.
"All of you think I care? Bwahahahaha! What a disgusting thought!"
He then threw his head across the table. It landed with a soft thud in the lap of a white haired boy. Rue looked down at the insane deity, his breath caught in his throat.
"The only thing I care about is you...my lovely."
The headless body of Cheshire walked down the length of the table, the platters of cakes and sweets sliding away as if sentient and afraid of the feline god. Cheshire stopped before Rue, kneeling on his stubby legs and bowing a head that wasn't there.
"You're all I've wanted."
The chair housing Rue was pulled back, forcing him to drop Cheshire's head onto the ground. It bounced like a rubber ball until it reached back onto the table. With both paws, Cheshire grabbed his head and plopped it back down onto his body. The grin he held faltered.
"Don't touch my son," Riku bellowed holding Rue behind him, "I'm warning you."
"Warning me? Warning me, Cheshire? A god?"
A second body positioned itself in front of Rue, shielding him from Cheshire. Sora stood with his chest out, a gleam in his eyes. "You heard him, cat."
Cheshire parted his grin, revealing a sharp set of fangs. "Oh you wretched, disgusting boy...I should have let you bleed out all those years ago."
He jumped into the air, flinging his plump body at them. "This tea party is over."
A loud boom rocked the island. Riku and Sora stood hunched over Rue, their embrace acting as his shield. They had their eyes closed, expecting the worst, but nothing happened. Looking back over their shoulders they saw what had stopped Cheshire in his tracks.
"My lord, take everyone and run!"
Kimahri Ronso stood with his feet planted firmly into the ground, a magnificent spear held in front of him creating a barrier that held a pissed off Cheshire from advancing.
"Riku! Big brother!"
Lulu, Belle, Wendy, the twins Selphie and Penelo all gathered at their side and promptly forced them into a run. They had put a few feet between them and Kimahri when they realized something wasn't right.
"Roxas?"
"Saïx?"
"Joshua?"
"Charlotte?"
The proxies did not run. They stood by Kimahri, the men discarding their blazers and rolling up the sleeves of their shirts while Charlotte kicked off the dome-like bottom of her dress.
"This is our job," Roxas said to the twins.
"We're here to protect you," Saïx voiced with his eyes changing, one orange-gold, the other acidic green.
"What kind of proxies and advisors would we be if we can't do this much?" Joshua teased with a tussle of his wavy hair.
"So go on sugars, be a dear and let us handle this kitty," Charlotte winked as she reapplied a thick coat of lipstick.
Two figures slammed in front of the proxies, sending flower petals scattering around them. Their limbs were broken, disjointed and poised like carnivorous beasts. They were no longer Aurora and Balthier, but two crazed dolls being manipulated by Cheshire's strings.
"Everyone," Sora said softly before biting his lip and raising his voice, "as prince of Destiny Islands, this is an order, do not die! Make for the southern bridge at all costs!"
"Yes, your majesty!"
Gripping Riku and Rue tightly to him, Sora and the rest of the sisters all took off.
They dove into the maze of hedges, the many pathways one could take doing little in deterring them. Sora and his sisters knew these gardens and pathways inside and out, getting lost was not possible.
A few, quick minutes passed as they tore through the maze before another tremor shook the ground. They tumbled on their feet, but helped one another regain their balance and so no momentum was lost.
"This way!" Penelo bounded up to the front, taking the lead, "Left here! Right there! And right again!"
There was an exuberant energy coming from Penelo. She caught a side of Rue's face and winked at him, her casual action telling him everything was okay.
The party made their way to the end of the maze before breaking out and into the high canopy forests of the gardens. Thick trees forced them to take arching paths around them, forcing them to a slower pace.
"We need to get out of here and onto the main road!" Sora bellowed out.
One of the trees that lay ahead of them suddenly shattered at the base, its thick frame falling in their direction.
"Move! Move! Move!"
The tree slammed into the ground, splitting the group into two as they stared at one another from each side of the fallen giant. Sora, the twins, and Wendy were on one side, and Riku, Rue, Lulu, and Belle on the other.
"We'll meet up, get out of the gardens and just shoot for the southern bridge connecting to End of Evanescence," Sora shouted across to the other group.
"We'll be waiting!" Riku shouted back, his breath ragged.
With a shared nod, they dispersed.
"Kimahri, release this silly barrier and let me go. I promise not to kill you if you do."
The Ronso man bared his fangs, the broken remnants of his once proud horn reflecting the coming night. "Hold your tongue."
"Come on now, from one cat to another, what do you say?"
Kimahri didn't falter, his hands still holding onto his spear with a deathly tight grip.
"Hmmm, how about this then? You release this barrier and I..."
Cheshire grinned evily. "...won't set Mt. Gagazet on fire. I mean, you still have family there, don't you?"
It was all he needed, just that little bit of hesitation on Kimahri's part to break through. The barrier lost its potency for a second, a second long enough for Cheshire to escape and fly into the skies.
"Damn it!" He cursed swinging his spear. "Everyone, after him!"
"Kind of have our hands tied here," Joshua said turning on his foot and avoiding a fatal blow from one of the two puppets currently trying to rip him to shreds. "These things are stronger than I thought."
"Just what are they?" Saïx asked as he flung himself backwards in an arc.
"Ever head of Magitek, sugar?"
Charlotte swung a pink parasol at the figure once resembling the former queen, Aurora, and lopping off a piece of her left arm. "Ancient technology imbued with magic. Although, if I 'member correctly, you could imbue somethin' as ordinary as a cheese grater with it and it'd be just as deadly. Cheshire's used magic to resurrect Aurora and Balthier as Magitek."
The Balthier Magitek flung itself headfirst into Roxas, the blonde blocking it off with a cylindrical weapon of some kind. "Unless we come up with something, these guys aren't going down."
"Remember what her majesty Lulu said, something about cutting strings," Kimahri reminded them as he entered the fray and jabbed at the menacing, pincer-like attack the Aurora Magitek threw at him. "If we could figure out where these strings are, if we can sever them, they're nothing more than spare parts."
"Charlotte!" Joshua screamed as his feet were swept out from under him.
"I'm on it!"
She dropped her parasol and grabbed a tube of lipstick from her cleavage. Uncapping it and falling to her knees, Charlotte began scrawling into the dirt. Hot pink lines traced out the shape of the Magitek chasing her companions, her recreation a perfect likeness on her makeshift canvass.
"Come on Lottie, look harder," she said to herself, a deep wrinkle appearing on her forehead, "I swear to the beignet gods, if I get permanent lines in my face from this I'm going to-"
Her head shot upwards. "There! Their left hands!"
She saw the red threads. They were not true red threads, but she could see them. Joshua, a Sorceress not given his proper time to shine, smirked darkly as he zeroed in on the Magitek. "Checkmate."
In a blur, Roxas swept past Joshua, his speed unable to be processed by the human eye. Kimahri mimicked his movements, the tip of his spear shining brightly.
"Raahhh!"
Roxas roared as he drove the key shaped weapon in his hand forward like a fiery comet. Kimahri roared in unison as the spear came nearer. Guided by Charlotte and Joshua, Sorceresses capable of seeing red threads, their weapons made contact, shredding the threads that connected to the Magitek.
A dying wail. The ghastly beasts of semi-human form collapsed on the spot, their eyes growing dark. Saïx, his footsteps echoing, stopped short of the nonmoving heap.
"Just in case," he flicked his fingers and a booming fire erupted where the Magitek sat, their bodies burning away into nothingness.
They watched on as the fire continued to burn, proxies and acting guardian of Oathkeeper Island side by side. A thunderous sound of another kind came from overhead, forcing them to look up.
"Would you look at that?" Charlotte groaned. "Rain's a-coming. And just look at my poor lil' parasol."
Rain began falling, drenching the party of five from head to toe. Roxas felt the touch at his hand, a set of lanky fingers snaking themselves around his.
"It's just like that one time," Saïx said switching to Axel's jester-like face, "when you were standing at my grave for hours, the rain never letting up."
Roxas felt the hotness behind his eyes, his cheeks growing red. "Shut up Axel."
"Something's wrong."
Wendy placed a hand against a dark red tree. It towered high above them, blocking out the coming night. She looked around, seeing Sora and the twins gathered nearby. They all wore a similar expression as her own, as if something wasn't quite right.
"I've been to the central gardens more times than I can count, but I don't think we're in them anymore," Sora voiced their shared concern, "I don't even know where this is."
Wendy continued running her hand along the circumference of the tree, her fingers eventually hitting something hard. She traveled over to the spot where her hand stopped only to find an arrow carved out of wood pointing towards the sky.
"That doesn't make sense..."
"Hee-hee!"
Wendy froze. She instantly knew why the trees and gardens looked unfamiliar. That feeling crept into her chest, shuddering her breath.
"This isn't Oathkeeper," she said to her siblings.
"Wendy," Penelo whined nervously, "what's going on?"
"A forest with directions that make no sense, a place of nonsense, pathways that lead to nowhere."
She looked to the shadows, the words tumbling from her mouth.
"This is Wonderland."
The last time Rue had his father leading him around by the hand, they were on their way into the amusement park known as Aqualand back in the Land of Departure. He remembered being excited the minute he saw the loopy letters on the sign from the highway and the smiles his parents flashed him. He allowed himself to ponder over the happy memory for just a moment.
"Riku, please stop."
The silver bearded man stopped his stride, his group consisting of Rue, Lulu, and Belle also coming to a slow stop. Belle, donning her yellow-gold dress and a matching shawl around her head, held a dubious expression on her face.
"Is something wrong?" Lulu asked her sister, the long tail end of her thousand belt dress cut off at the knees. Running was practically impossible, so Lulu had taken the liberty in getting rid of the cumbersome lower half of the dress with a single swipe of her hair stick.
"Yes, these woods, she said looking at their surroundings, "this isn't the gardens I know."
Lulu seemed alarmed by this revelation, but quickly understood what Belle was getting at. "You're not seriously thinking..."
"I am, I've heard the story plenty of times from Wendy as kids. This is Cheshire's domain, the woods of Wonderland."
The silver bridge seemed to glisten, even an night. It was one of over thousands of iconic bridges that connected each and every one of Destiny Islands. A collected group gathered at the bridge facing the rainy cityscape off in the distance. They stood waiting, knowing that it was just a matter of time.
"Where are they?"
Roxas was tapping the tip of his key shaped weapon, a keyblade used by militaries all around the world with soldiers trained in a variety of martial arts.
"They should be here by now, this isn't good."
Joshua was leaning against one of the bridge beams, a concerned look taking hold of him. "Perhaps we should go back."
"No," Kimahri shook his head, spear still in his hand, "his majesty gave us a direct order. We are to wait here and together, we'll make our escape."
"I just can't stand around," Saïx interjected, "we need to think of something."
"Hold your horses sugar, I feel the same way. But we'd just be making things worse. We'd be givin' that mangy cat more pawns to work with."
"So we just wait?"
Charlotte looked up at the parasol she took shelter under. There were holes torn into the pink material, and in turn doing little to protect her, but Charlotte held on tightly to it.
"We believe in them," she replied with a smile. "They're a lot stronger than they appear. Those girls, they have their brother back. They ain't about to lose him again."
The little group all fell silent as they watched the rain continue to fall over the once grand metropolis.
Rue had taken a seat at the foot of one of the trees. He had a leg placed up against his chest with his forehead resting on his knee. He felt the thick protrusion digging into the fabric of his pants, a reminder to him that something strange had appeared on his forehead not long ago.
He touched the blue jewel with a finger, feeling its cool surface and the smoothness of the angles. Rue couldn't understand what it was.
"There's no point in wasting our energy if we're walking in circles," Belle expressed as she stood in a little clearing, her mind buzzing with different ways to approach their situation. "Perhaps it's just a trick of some kind, an illusion brought about by a distortion of light waves..."
She was droning on, the analytical side of her going about things with a scientific perspective. Lulu let her ramble as she played around with a piece of scrap fabric in her hands.
"This is getting us nowhere," she sighed.
"I'm afraid I'm no help either," Riku said with his back pressed to the same tree Rue sat under.
"No, that's not true."
Rue looked up at his father, a twinkle in his eye. "Dad, can't you feel him?"
Riku blinked in slight confusion, but realized what Rue was getting at. "You're right, I do."
"Your bound threads," Belle expressed, "of course. Destined partners can feel one another through their connection. How could I have forgotten something so simple?"
"That's what happens when you overthink," Lulu teased behind her dark bangs.
Belle shot her a pouted lip, but quickly moved on. "We should be able to detect big brother's aura ourselves, but for whatever reason I'm unable to feel him. This place," she said with a gesture of her arm indicating the woods, "is interfering with our senses."
"Let's find him," Riku added, "the sooner we get together, the better our chances of finding a way out."
"I feel him, it's getting stronger."
In a different section of the same Wonderland woods, Sora was at the head of his group. They came to the same conclusion, realizing that Sora was able to sense Riku somewhere along one of the many paths that led to supposedly nowhere.
They passed groves and groves of trees, nothing becoming any more apparent than before. But Selphie and Penelo, with Wendy leading the back, weren't going to question whether it was working. They put their faith in Sora, their big brother and the person they had lost for 10 years of their lives.
"Big brother?"
Penelo's voice brought his attention to the youngest girl. "What is it?"
"I'm trying to make sense of all this. Why is Cheshire doing this? Why is he intent on Rue?"
"I'm afraid I don't know that," he replied dejectedly, "but what's important is we find him and the others and together, we protect him."
"Yes," Selphie nodded holding onto Penelo's hand, "we'll protect him."
They had been walking, and didn't realize right away that Wendy had come to an abrupt stop. She looked pensive, a finger jutted under her chin as she thought.
"Cheshire is known as a trickster, always in search of amusement and at the expense of others."
Wendy's dialogue stopped them in their tracks. She was a natural storyteller, a Sorceress with a vast knowledge of ancient tales and folklore.
"But in some cultures, he's known differently. They see him as a collector, a merchant with treasures that would make any kingdom jealous. Cheshire is always on the look out for something precious and unique to add to his collection."
"Wendy," the twins said softly.
The lights in her head brightened, causing Wendy's face to grow alarmed. Her delicate hand dropped from her chin and hung limply at her side.
"I know what he wants."
The queen in her blue gown shot forward, grabbing the twins by the hand as she came up to Sora. "Big brother, we have to find them, immediately!"
"What's wrong Wendy?"
"Cheshire...his whole reason for wanting Rue-
The woods ended. Dark shadows licked at their feet. Before them, separated by glass that reached into the skies, was the other half of their party.
Riku stood with Rue, Lulu and Belle on one side of the glass, Sora, Wendy, and the twins on the other.
Sora walked up to the glass barrier, Riku mimicking his actions. They were standing before each other, a hand placed against the cold surface. Their palms aligned perfectly.
"Welcome to my Wonderland."
The glass began to fracture, forcing the pair away from the barrier. Fine lines liked spiderwebs began forming all along the surface of the glass, a shattering sound following after.
"Get back!"
The two groups fell back on their feet, the wall in front of them crumbling instantly into millions of sparkling shards.
"Hee-hee! Aren't they pretty? Look how the glass sparkles!"
Cheshire materialized in the air, his back paws standing on a black sphere. They all stared up at the starless sky, the purple cat grinning wide as he descended slowly on the strange sphere.
"I must say, this has been oodles of fun chasing you guys around, but I think it's time I collect my prize."
Suddenly, red threads lashes out of the shadows, gripping Rue by the wrists and ankles. Surprised by the forceful vice, Rue was left speechless as he felt his body begin to rise.
"Rue!" Riku screamed running towards him. Cheshire was quick, however, in pointing out he had crossed the line.
"No-no-no-no-no! That will not do."
Another red thread sprang out from the ground and smashed into Riku, sending him hurdling into an unmoving heap.
"Dad!"
Rue began fighting his restraints, his teeth gritting together as he dangled helplessly in the air.
"Lulu, can't you do something?"
The Hatter sisters stood in a huddle beneath Rue, Belle having voiced her question at the eldest girl. Lulu quickly gathered the two hair sticks from her bun and held them fiercely.
"I'll try to cut him free, but I can't reach that high."
"No problem, here Selphie, give me a hand!"
Penelo unraveled her dress, the fabric becoming one long silken sash. She threw one end to Selphie, the brunette twin understanding her plan. They held the sash tight, creating a springboard for Lulu.
"Lulu, go!" They screamed.
With her hair now missing its signature hair sticks, Lulu's hair flew wildly as she ran. She advanced at alarming speed, her long legs carrying her up into the air as she came plummeting down towards the sash. Feeling her weight forcing the fabric down, Selphie and Penelo dug their heels into the ground and with a swing nobody thought they'd be capable of, sent Lulu flying.
"Rue! I'm coming!"
Like a rocket, Lulu shot up. The speed carried her to Rue in a matter of seconds, her shearing sticks poised like a trained ninja.
"Girls," Sora awed at the display they were putting on as he kneeled next to an unconscious Riku.
The raven haired Sorceress swung both arms out, the pointed ends of her makeshift weapons slicing Rue's restraints like melted butter. He began falling, with Lulu still accelerating. Rue looked up at her, watching as the distance between her and Cheshire grew smaller.
"You're way in over your head, little girl."
Numerous threads fell from the sky aiming for Lulu. But she didn't seem to feel any sense of alarm.
"Don't you remember what I told you?"
Lulu dug into her breasts and quickly flung her hands towards Cheshire, a wave of glinting dots shining silver. "I am a doll master."
The needles she flung struck each and every red thread, impaling them into the very air. Cheshire glared dangerously, not at all impressed that his attack had been nullified.
"So impudent!"
The cat god placed both paws high above him, a large sphere appearing overhead. Lulu's momentum finally stopped as she began faltering and her ascension ceased. Everyone was intently staring at the massive red sphere that Cheshire held with a conniving smile.
"Cats love balls of thread," Wendy reiterated part of the story, "seems that was true."
Rue was still plummeting, his wooden gaze set on the skies. "What can I do? Everyone...they're doing this for me."
A warm sensation pressed up against his back. Arms snaked around him, pulling him closer. He breathed in deeply, recognizing the pleasant scent that carried from the entity holding onto him.
"Rue, look within yourself...see what you truly are. You hold the strength to protect everyone."
Vanille rested her chin on his shoulder, her body glowing softly and translucent.
"Mama?"
"I was blessed in bringing you into the world. Go forward, spread the wings that will carry you to endless skies."
Vanille released her touch and placed both palms of her hands against Rue's shoulder blades. The blue jewel embedded in his forehead began to shine vibrantly, and unlike the first time, it didn't hurt.
"Rue..."
Her image disappeared. Rue felt the warmth seeping out from his back, a sudden rush of wind erupting behind him. A light was shining, enveloping him in an ethereal halo.
"Rue?"
Riku had come to, his head resting in Sora's lap. A thin streak of blood coursed down his face, staining the collar of his shirt.
"Is that you, Rue?"
Everyone was looking into the brightly lit skies in awe.
"What beautiful wings," Lulu whispered as she felt her vision blurring with every inch she fell.
"NO! Look what you brats did!"
Cheshire's smile was gone. The looming red ball of thread grew larger.
"His power was not meant to awaken!"
Rue's eyes fluttered open. The glow surrounding him had waned, but in its place, feathery wings appeared. Two large wings protruding from his shoulder blades held him in the air, white geometric lines sketched into his skin. Rue looked down at his hands, his lips parting.
"I understand, mama."
Wendy and everyone gathered stared. She smiled at the heavenly figure, her story soon reaching a climax.
"Rue is the reincarnation of Alexander, God of Holy and Light."
Rue flared his wings and fell into a nosedive. His perfect swimmer's body was comfortably "swimming" through the skies.
"Cheshire's goal was to bring Riku and Vanille together, two people never meant to be together in accordance to the laws of our world. Their union would bear a child, a living, breathing embodiment of a God from ancient times."
Rue caught up to Lulu and reached out, grabbing her by the wrists a pulling her to his chest. She quickly regained her senses, a surprised look on her face.
"Is that really you?"
He smiled at her, the contrast between his pale white form and her black hair and dark attire forming a perfect balance.
"You've ruined it! Ruined! Ruined! I've waited thousands of years for nothing! I'll kill you all!"
Cheshire flung both paws, sending the meteor-size ball of thread at the group far below.
"You've taken my prize away from me!"
"In some cultures, Cheshire's known as a collector. And there was one thing he had always wanted. The jewel and crest of Alexander always caught his attention," Wendy continued her story. "The blue jewel imbedded in Rue's forehead is what Cheshire wanted. All this pain, all the suffering...all for his own selfish desire. He's nothing more than a greedy, arrogant trickster."
A looming shadow enveloped everyone where they stood. Sora understood there was no point in running, none of them would be able to outrun the size of the sphere.
"Believe in him," Riku said from his lap, "he's my son."
Sora leaned in, pressing his lips to Riku's forehead. "I will."
The remaining Hatter sisters held hands, watching the spectacle in the skies.
"Hey Selphie?"
"Yes Penelo?"
"Rue's cute, isn't he?"
She shook her head, smiling as she pressed her head against Penelo's shoulder. "Save it Pen, he's out of your league now."
Wendy and Belle giggled, finding humor in a most desolate situation.
"Lend me your power," Rue requested from the woman in his arms, "I can't cut through on my own."
Her blood red eyes were shaking, the shock of Rue's angel-like figure still lingering. "What can I possibly do?"
"You're a master, Sorceress of dolls. With your shears, we can cut through anything."
Gripping the hair sticks tightly, Lulu nodded at him. Rue grinned, then refocused on the skies. Cheshire was but a tiny dot compared to the incoming red sphere. But Rue wasn't afraid.
"Ready?"
She felt her face grow warm. "Yes."
His wings extended like a bird of prey before suddenly, taking off. The air was cold, lapping at any exposed skin. The white patterns on Rue's skin were glowing bright, creating a beacon of light against the dark of the night.
"You dare challenge me?!"
Cheshire's yellow eyes were nearly popping out of their sockets.
"I'll wait 10 millennia if I need to, I'll do this all over again! That beautiful jewel, the envy of all the other gods will be mine! So for now my beloved lord, Alexander, die!"
Rue didn't falter. He flapped his wings harder, faster, putting more and more speed behind them.
"Lulu, I trust you."
Her lungs swelled with air. Her bloody gaze grew narrow. She eyed the devil cat and fixed her sharpened hair sticks on her target.
"Cut through it all!"
Rue's geometric patterns continued to glow, creating a whirring effect. Holding Lulu with one arm at the waist, Rue threw his wings back for one final push. The red sphere was but inches away.
"Lulu!
"Rue!"
They screamed their names with everything they had. Their loved ones breathed energy into their tired limbs. Lulu twirled her hair sticks before elegantly slashing forward with an illuminating arc.
Cheshire looked on in horror, unsure as to why he was seeing everything from upside down. He blinked confusedly.
"Are those...my legs?"
He had been sliced cleanly in half.
Lulu and Rue continued ascending. The giant sphere of red split apart, the sight of wings taking its place. Their trajectory carried them higher and higher, the starless skies suddenly shattering. The darkness around them crumbled, the towering skyscrapers of Oathkeeper Island reappearing in the horizon.
"Good show," Cheshire grinned as his remnants disappeared, one pink and purple ring after another, until all that was left was a toothy, crescent grin.
"Until next time."
The smile vanished amidst the beginnings of a sunrise. Warm colors textured the clouds, no signs of the rain that fell from the previous night anywhere to be seen.
"We did it," Rue said to Lulu, "we broke through."
She dabbed at her eyes, the wetness threatening to spill. Off in the distance, hanging around the southern bridge connecting to Oathkeeper Island, a similar intake of relief was evident.
"Well, well, would you look at that? Ain't it a pretty sight?"
Charlotte beamed at the flying figure. "Who would have known? I sure didn't."
"It's over, it's finally over."
Roxas joined Charlotte, Saïx at his side. Joshua stepped over, the towering form of Kimahri also admiring the scenery. They stood at the foot of the bridge, the sun casting shadows as it rose from behind them.
"Shall we join them?" Joshua asked.
Charlotte sighed, twirling her parasol. "Let's give them some space, our job's done. This is a family matter now."
They turned and began walking down the center of the bridge, the proxies and former guardian of the Hatter household disappearing into the morning sun.
Riku, his head still in Sora's lap, looked up at the skies. Sora cradled him close, his vision shifting to the side when he sensed a warm presence.
"Riku," he whispered.
He felt the familiar sensation caressing his cheek. It was a touch he had known a long time.
Vanille leaned her head against Sora's shoulder, eyes of emerald green gazing down at the silver bearded man.
"Thank you," she said to them softly, "for giving me the greatest joy in the world."
Tears fell from her eyes, staining Riku's cheek. Vanille kissed Sora's temple, a warmth soothing him from the inside out.
"Thank you...for allowing me to be a mother."
She got to her feet, her body translucent. Vanille smiled at them happily, a genuine smile caressed her face as the morning light whisked her away.
Riku and Sora remained as they were, watching as their loved ones grew closer.
Lulu, Wendy, Belle, Selphie, Penelo, and Rue were walking towards them, a pair of feathery wings protectively gathered around them all. It was the most perfect image they could have ever asked for.
"Now that's a painting I wouldn't mind hanging in the foyer of the mansion."
With a little help from Sora, Riku got to his feet. Hand in hand, red ring against red ring, the pair walked on and into the awaiting arms of those that mattered most.
Red Karat Ring