Oh! I practically fought tooth and nail to get to you guys with this chapter!
Now, then: There have been three guesses concerning the character reappearance I hinted at last chapter—someone from Org. 13, Axel, and Raca. All of the above are DEAD WRONG! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! If you wanna find out, well…you'll just have to read, won't you? It'll also be the introduction of a new pairing! ;D
Song of the Week: Tattoo by Jordin Sparks
"In the wind, I am a warrior; in your arms, I am a child."—Jack Black as Nacho, Nacho Libre
Chapter 35: Who's Your Granddaddy?
Riku and Ame stood back on the mountain peak with the spirit child under the golden light of the pouring rain.
"Thank you, Shitaro," Ame smiled, "You've done a beautiful thing."
"And here's another one!" he pointed to the sky, "See how I made the rain all pretty and sparkly?"
"I do!" she said in awe, "It's gorgeous!"
"Thanks," he nodded modestly, "I gotta go home now and clean up my storm cloud, but it was great to see you again, chibi!" Ame giggled and blushed slightly.
"I'm not so chibi anymore, Your Divinity," she beamed as she knelt to him. He looked straight at her with ageless wisdom that lay beneath his innocent demeanor, his shimmering eyes changing color every second. He smiled and took her hand.
"You're always chibi to me," he said quietly before hugging her, then Riku around the legs.
"Thank you, Riku," he piped and floated up on angel wings, "I won't forget either of you!" He flew in a spiral of sunny sparks back into the cloud while shouting, "Remember! I'm always watching! Listen for me on the wind of the ocean! Blow me a kiss and I'll carry it everywhere!"
Ame was left mesmerized as the black cloud departed like a broom sweeping dust away; the rain came down in torrents of beautiful, sparkling, sunshiny gold. Feeling a surge of happiness, Riku lifted Ame up by her waist and the two of them rejoiced at their victory; she felt light as a feather in her heart. Her boyfriend had vanquished Kohor and avenged her parents' deaths just for her. (Okay, mostly for her.)
He held her around her waist above himself slightly and smiled as he looked in her eyes; she held his face in one hand and stroked it with her thumb. The gold of the sunny rain lit up his eyes like candlelight and made the ripples in hers shine the same way. She slipped her hand into his hair and kissed him fully and intently.
"Thank you," she murmured with her forehead against his, "Thank you so much."
"I'll fight anyone I have to for you, Ame," he smiled softly at her, "You are my love…my Beautiful Love." Thus he established his second nickname for her (I forgot what the 1st was; see previous chapters).
"Come on," she took his hand, "Let's join the others; we'll take the express."
She summoned a small wave, also gold with sunshine, and it carried them away by their ankles.
They hadn't gone very far downhill before some leftover Heartless jumped them from both sides and knocked Ame over. Before Riku could help her, some Shadows latched onto him. A blaze of the white fire whooshed around them and burned the Heartless, leaving the two heroes unharmed, even though it had touched them, too.
Ame sat up on her bottom and Riku was standing; he ran over to her (the fire disappeared again).
"Hey, you okay?" he asked. She was shaking and coughing.
"I'm fine," she panted and gulped, "I'm just so tired." She then lost consciousness for a minute. He let her lean into him and heard approaching footsteps. He looked up to see a figure emerging from the trees. He moved into the clearing and the sunshine in the rain put a gleam to the gold in his hair and beard. The sun's rays gave him a halo-like aura.
Riku's eyes widened and a name he hadn't spoken for over 2 months fell from his lips.
"Ansem!"
It was true, too; standing before him in all his wisdom and glory was Ansem the Wise. The only change was that his outfit was now a shining, glorious white that would make snow look mother-of-pearl. He was also clean and bright—no longer the broken-down, self-proclaimed 'fool' grasping at a chance for redemption, but the refined, almost-young, proud and wise philosopher he'd been before the darkness had come. His whole countenance seemed to shine with the light of Heaven…which was where everyone had thought he'd gone!
The wise old man gave the young boy a warm smile.
"Your hair's grown longer since last we met," he said. Riku staggered to his feet with Ame lying limp in his arms and his mouth gaping.
"Ansem!" he cried joyfully as he went to him, "You—you're here! You're alive! But—but the castle…the balcony…the Kingdom Hearts Encoder…you disappeared! We all thought…"
"That I had perished in the self-destruction of my own machine?" Ansem said wryly, "That will all be explained in due time; for now, we must rejoin the others." He then looked at Ame and moved her hair out of her face.
"My most precious victim," he murmured emotionally. Riku looked bewildered at him as Ansem gently stroked Ame's face with his thumb.
"Come now, my dear," he said soothingly as he picked her up and held her like a baby, "This is no place to nap." Ame stirred and instinctively draped her arms around his neck. She opened her eyes and gasped (she recognizes him from Sora's crystal).
"Ansem the Wise?" she said groggily and turned her head to Riku confusingly.
"I'm as surprised as you are," he shrugged. She gasped with realization.
"It was you!" she said, "You sent the white fire to help us, didn't you?" He nodded.
"That will also be explained in due time," he said, "Come; we must rejoin your friends downhill. Will you allow me to carry you down, my dear?"
"Um…" She blushed slightly. "I suppose…if you like." He nodded and walked down the hill carrying her with Riku striding by his side. Riku wasn't sure if he was more happy or confused at his comrade's return.
'Looks like I'll find out soon enough,' he thought.
Sora and Kairi and the newly-wholes were hiking uphill and found a rock in a nice clearing to sit on; the sun was shining in full glory and the rain kept coming down in a steady sparkling shower.
"There's no sign of Riku, Ame, or Granda," Kairi mused, "I wonder if they're okay."
Naminé moved the princess' bangs out of her face.
"I'm sure they are," she said.
"Is that you, children?" called Granda's voice as she approached them.
"Granda!" Sora jumped and ran to her, "How's everything?"
"Your families are all well," she said, "But what's this?" She saw Roxas and Naminé.
"Didn't you just make them whole?" Sora asked as the others walked up.
"No," she shook her head, "That was no doing of mine. I was going to, but I suspect the Wind Spirit beat me to it. This is wonderful! Congratulations, you two!"
"The flower that blooms in adversity is again the most rare and beautiful of all," said a deep, rich voice behind her.
Granda froze where she was and her eyes mooned over for a moment. Sora and Kairi looked weirdly at each other; they'd never seen her like this before.
"Granda?" Kairi looked behind the old lady, saw who it was that had spoken, and gasped. No one said anything; then Granda turned gracefully and slowly and for the first time ever, Ame saw her grandmother blush!
With sparkling eyes and soft-pink cheeks, she seemed to float for a moment.
"Ansem," she exhaled softly.
Riku's eyes popped.
"Ansem?" he said, looking at his old friend in dumbfoundment. He knew her?
"I'm afraid my return has been a long time coming, Mizuki," smiled Ansem.
"Mizuki?" Ame gaped at her grandma. No one, and I mean NO one called Granda by her name except her tea friends!
"How long ago since we parted," Granda reflected. Ansem started walking to her with Riku and Ame behind him.
"Did I not promise," he smiled, "that I would return to you, Mizuki?" Granda's cheeks flushed again and she held her left hand to herself as he approached her.
"You did," she answered, "and I waited; how short 10 years seems to have gone." Ansem, seeming to have forgotten there were teenagers there, shocked them by taking her hands in his!
"Ten hours would have been too long to be away from you," he said, looking in her eyes.
It was like they weren't even there! Ame stood next to her boyfriend wide-eyed and open-mouthed and they stood beside the two adults; her grandmother knowing Ansem the Wise this intimately was hard to believe!
The real shocker came when Ansem held up Granda's left hand and thumbed her wedding ring.
"I see you're still wearing my ring," he smiled slyly. Granda ducked her head slightly and turned her eyes up to him.
"I never had a reason to remove it," she said softly, "I promised I'd wait for you."
Something seemed to click in Ame's head.
"Grandma," she continued, gaping, "are you two…?" They both looked at her. She shared a freaked-out expression with Riku; they both looked at each other with tiny pupil dots and at the adults. Then they really freaked out.
They got between their respective adults and shouted at the same time.
"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU WERE MARRIED!"
"Well, of course I was married," Granda said with her face slightly flat, "Surely you didn't think I wanted to raise your mother without giving her a father?"
"All that time we spent together, and you never once mentioned a wife?" Riku freaked out to Ansem.
"We were focused on restoring your friend and destroying the Organization," the old man replied, "I hardly think we would have found the time to discuss our personal lives, and in the realm of darkness, no less."
"You're trying to tell me Ansem the Wise is my grandfather?" Ame spluttered, "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
Granda looked up at Ansem with a small smile.
"Do you want to tell her or shall I?" she asked. Ame spun to look at Ansem, the warm-faced philosopher who turned out to be her own grandfather.
"Um," Sora spoke up, "we'll just go off a bit and uh…let you all talk it out."
"No, Sora!" Ame cried out with a red face, "I want you guys with me! Don't go!" How in the world was she supposed to face news this big without the people she loved around her?
"Okay," said Kairi, "We'll stay if you want us to." Ame hugged her closely.
"Thank you," she murmured.
"No problem," beamed the princess.
Author's Review:
One thing I forgot to mention from the previous chapter is the meaning of the name "Shitaro." I pieced it together out of my Japanese dictionary. It means "Spirit Boy"—"shi" from "spirit" and "taro" from "boy." Hope y'all liked him.
How's THAT for a plot twist, huh? Didn't see that coming, did ya? Mwahahaha! Samuraistar strikes again!
Please review! And stay tuned!