'I didn't feel so bad 'til the sun went down. Then I come home, no one to
wrap my arms around.'
'I am afraid there is so much to be afraid of. I kill the fire so I don't get burned. Kill the fire and you won't get burned.'
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all of its characters are property and copyright Disney Interactive and Square. Any and all song lyrics are copyright their respective owners. I do not claim them to be my own. Yep.
Thanks so much for all your reviews! They help me when I get tired of typing. ^^; I feel so very inspired tonight. I don't know why... Well, I promised you that Sora and Riku would reunite in Ch. 4. I'm not one to break promises to strangers. ^_^ Maybe we'll get to the romance part now. XD
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Sora woke with a start. His head hurt. He leaned forward, dragging a hand through his hair and leaving it to rest on the back of his neck. He closed his eyes tightly and sighed.
"Did I wake you?"
Sora came back to reality with a jolt. He spun around to see Kairi smiling softly at him.
In the brief instant before he saw her, he had no idea where he was. He thought he was in another nameless hotel, then realized the room was his own and wondered if the past seven years had been a horrible nightmare. Kairi's aged face told him it was not.
"Kairi, I-" Sora felt the need to apologize yet again. Kairi was usually easy-going, but sometimes she couldn't be pacified so easily.
"I'm sorry." She finished for him. "I'm sorry about what I said last night. It's just... Oh, Sora. It's been so long. I waited for you, and then it began to dawn on me that you loved another. It was more than I could take. I'm sorry." She leaned over and hugged him.
"I'm sorry, too, Kairi. For... Everything." He felt her breath on his neck as she giggled slightly.
"I forgive you." She sat up again and smiled at him. "But I have to ask you something, Sora." 'Oh, God, not again.' Sora thought. "You love Riku, right?"
"Yeah..." he replied quietly, afraid of another outburst.
"Hmm. Well, I want you to think about that. You've been searching for him for the last seven years. Maybe you're confusing an obsession with love." She tilted her head. "Consider that. I won't share you, Sora, so you're going to have to choose. I'm sorry."
"But..." Sora was confused. Surely he wasn't confusing a silly obsession with love. "What if I can't?"
"Then I guess you'll go without. I don't think Riku would be too keen on the idea of having to share either. He's always been rather... Possessive."
Sora eyed her curiously. "Ok," he replied. "I'll think about it."
"Good." Kairi smiled again and left him to his thoughts.
'What a nice ultimatum, Kairi. Leave it to a head-strong girl...' Sora flopped down on the bed again, staring at the ceiling. 'What am I supposed to do now?'
Sora got up and crossed the room to his balcony. It was sunrise. He smiled at the faint traces of color in the sky. He'd always enjoyed sunrises more than sunsets. Though less brilliant, they held a special meaning.
Sure, sunsets are beautiful, especially over a wide ocean. But in a blaze of glory, they're gone, and only darkness remains. Sunrises, on the other hand, may start small, but everything becomes more and more beautiful until the world is bathed in light. Yes, Sora had always enjoyed sunrises more.
Sora couldn't help wondering what had caused his collapse. He thought back to the moments just before he fell. "I think he's in pain..." A snippet of his own voice traveled back to his mind. Did this have anything to do with his 'connection' to Riku?
He looked out to the few remaining stars. Was Riku on one of those worlds? Was he... Dead? Sora pushed the thought out of his mind. No sense in worrying over something he was fairly sure wasn't true.
When day had broken, he decided to go down to the beach. Maybe he'd see Tidus or Wakka. He wondered what'd happened to them since he left.
Unfortunately, he caught no glimpse of them. Selphie, however, was sitting at the end of the dock as if nothing had ever happened.
The sight put Sora at ease, and almost made him laugh. That was Selphie for you. Maybe she thought that if she sat there long enough a knight in shining armor would whisk her away. He walked down to the end of the dock and took a seat next to her. Maybe she could offer some comfort.
"Hey Selphie!" He grinned, pulling her out of a daydream.
"Hey! You scared me half to- Sora?" She looked at him wide-eyed. He grinned more broadly at her and nodded. "SORA! Oh my God! Where have you been?!" she exclaimed, squeezing him tight.
"Urrgh..." he struggled to breathe through the bone-crushing hug. "Looking for... Riku..." he gasped.
She released her grip. "Really? All this time? Well let's hope you found him!"
"Uhh..." he smirked stupidly, not knowing what to say. "Sort of."
"Seven years and you /still/ haven't found him? Sora, you need to get on the ball!" Selphie put her hands on her hips.
"I'm getting there!" he replied in exasperation. "So... Where are Wakka and Tidus? I haven't seen them yet." He asked, quickly changing the subject.
Selphie looked over the ocean. "No one knows. After the Heartless invaded, they disappeared. Haven't seen them since."
"Geeze, I wonder what happened to them..." Selphie shrugged at him. "Well, what else has happened on the island while I was gone?"
Sora spent the next hour or so letting few of Selphie's words penetrate his mind. His thoughts wandered over the island, into the stars, and out of sight. He sighed and folded his hands behind his head. He was just about to lay back when he saw it...
Something blue streaked across the sky above the endless expanse of water. It looked like... No. It couldn't be.
But it was. It hit the ocean with a loud splash, causing Selphie to scream. Sora stood and squinted to see it. Without a second thought he dove headfirst into the water.
The Gummi Ship wasn't that far out, and Sora reached it in practically no time. He waited, suspended in the water, for someone to get out of the cockpit. His breaths were deep. Adrenaline rushed through his veins. Every muscle was tense. Waiting...
Then he came. He looked almost exactly as Sora remembered him, though his clothes were in a terrible state of disrepair. His silvery locks had grown a bit, some hanging over his fiery seagreen eyes. He looked like some fabled war hero with the wind lightly tossing his hair and loose pieces of clothing about.
It was Riku. He knew it was. Sora took a deep breath and almost choked. How long had he waited for this day? And now he couldn't speak. 'Oh great,' he thought. 'I'm making an ass of myself. Oh great, oh great...'
As he floated there, Riku noticed him and almost collapsed off the ship into the water. When he surfaced he grabbed Sora tightly. His once powerful arms seemed so frail. Sora put a hand on the back of Riku's head and stroked his lustrous hair. "Sora..." Riku called weakly. Sora barely knew what was happening when he realized Riku had passed out.
++
"Riku..."
Riku kept his eyes shut and rolled over in the direction of the distant voice. That battle and the journey had taken a bit more out of him than he had expected.
"Riku, are you okay?"
The voice sounded closer now. He recognized it, but couldn't place it. Like a voice he'd heard before, but deeper, more masculine, if that made any sense at all.
"Riku, get up."
It was Sora's voice. Riku opened his eyes slowly, letting the room come into focus. He was in his own room. A grinning face with brown, spiky hair was smiling down at him.
"Oh, thank God." Sora sighed. "I thought I'd lost you again."
Riku smiled gently. "I hope that never happens." He extended his hand and stroked Sora's cheek with his gloved thumb. Sora smiled more warmly at him and leaned down to hug him.
His face met Riku's lips.
"Sora..." Much to Riku's surprise, the younger man did not recoil, or pull away. He merely kept smiling down at his friend. "Sora, if I ever lost you again, I'd die. I... I love you."
Riku was afraid of what kind of reaction this would get him. The last thing he expected was a not-so-chaste kiss from Sora. Riku was shocked at first, but returned the kiss. 'This is too easy.' He thought. 'Too easy...'
Sora broke their contact at last. "I love you, too, Riku."
"You never fail to amaze me." Replied Riku breathlessly. They both smiled and laughed slightly. So Sora amazed him again by sitting on his bed. The younger man grabbed his wrists and pushed them down into the sheets, easily overpowering the weakened Riku. Sora kissed him again, but more passionately so, this time taking an opportunity to allow his tongue to enter Riku's mouth. Riku was in ecstasy. This was what he'd waited for; this was what he'd hungered for. It felt so right... Then suddenly, it felt wrong.
The gentle restraint Sora had held on his wrists became rougher, more violent. Riku got the sneaking suspicion that Sora was trying to hurt him. He opened his eyes in panic and saw that it was no longer Sora lying on top of him, but a shadow. Riku screamed and tried to escape... But there was no escape.
++
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Riku sat straight up, panting and sweating.
For a moment he had no idea where the hell he was. Everything was upside down. What the hell kind of a dream was that? What a nightmare...
He suddenly realized that he was on a beach. It was dark. What few stars were left were shining on him, reflecting in the water. He looked around. To his left lay the small island with the Paopu tree. To his right was... Sora?
"Riku? Riku, are you okay?" Sora put a reassuring hand on Riku's back.
"Sora?" He eyed the younger man suspiciously. Was this another nightmare? "Sora, is it really you this time?"
"Of course it's me." He looked worried. The expression looked unnatural on his usually happy face.
"Sora... I've missed you so much." He turned and embraced his friend. This felt real. It had to be real.
"Riku..." Riku felt Sora's hand run through his hair, a sublimely comforting gesture. He also felt Sora's hot breath on his neck as the boy sobbed uncontrollably. "I've searched for so long, so long... Don't ever leave me again! Ever!"
"I won't." he replied gently. He meant it. He would never leave him again for as long as he lived. "I can't."
Sora's sobs turned into a shower of gentle kisses on his neck and shoulder. Riku gently stroked his hair, letting his own tears of relief and joy fall into it.
This may have been his only chance. He cupped Sora's chin with his hands and drew him to look up into his eyes. Riku smiled gently and kissed his forehead. Sora did not pull away, but closed his eyes. Riku took this as an invitation to continue. He kissed Sora's right cheek, then his left. He hesitated before kissing his lips and chose his chin instead. Then he waited. The moment seemed suspended in time. Riku thought that Sora must've wanted to go further, but would let Riku do it. 'He's just as unsure as I am...'
Neither of them wanted to risk destroying everything they'd worked so hard to build. Those few seconds went on forever. It was Sora who finally broke the tension. He kissed Riku firmly on the lips, then pulled away, waiting for a reaction.
Riku smiled at him. Sora looked into his eyes, searchingly. "Riku, I need to tell you something... I-"
"I love you too." His heart felt warmed by the boy's innocence. They both looked at each other for a moment when Riku finally knocked him backward into the sand. "I'll never leave you again." He whispered as he kissed Sora's ear before moving back to his lips and down his neck.
'Soft hair and a velvet tongue, I wanna give you what you give to me. And every breath that is in your lungs is a tiny little gift to me.'
+++
Ch. 4 Fin
+++
Woohoo! Hot potato, I'm on fire! Two chapters in one night, and this one's five pages. O.O God bless candy and Dr. Pepper. It's almost 2 a.m. Maybe I should slee- zzzZZZzzz...
Ch. 5: Why /is/ Kairi being so weird? Will she interrupt the boy's little kissing scene? Find out next time!
'I am afraid there is so much to be afraid of. I kill the fire so I don't get burned. Kill the fire and you won't get burned.'
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all of its characters are property and copyright Disney Interactive and Square. Any and all song lyrics are copyright their respective owners. I do not claim them to be my own. Yep.
Thanks so much for all your reviews! They help me when I get tired of typing. ^^; I feel so very inspired tonight. I don't know why... Well, I promised you that Sora and Riku would reunite in Ch. 4. I'm not one to break promises to strangers. ^_^ Maybe we'll get to the romance part now. XD
+++
Sora woke with a start. His head hurt. He leaned forward, dragging a hand through his hair and leaving it to rest on the back of his neck. He closed his eyes tightly and sighed.
"Did I wake you?"
Sora came back to reality with a jolt. He spun around to see Kairi smiling softly at him.
In the brief instant before he saw her, he had no idea where he was. He thought he was in another nameless hotel, then realized the room was his own and wondered if the past seven years had been a horrible nightmare. Kairi's aged face told him it was not.
"Kairi, I-" Sora felt the need to apologize yet again. Kairi was usually easy-going, but sometimes she couldn't be pacified so easily.
"I'm sorry." She finished for him. "I'm sorry about what I said last night. It's just... Oh, Sora. It's been so long. I waited for you, and then it began to dawn on me that you loved another. It was more than I could take. I'm sorry." She leaned over and hugged him.
"I'm sorry, too, Kairi. For... Everything." He felt her breath on his neck as she giggled slightly.
"I forgive you." She sat up again and smiled at him. "But I have to ask you something, Sora." 'Oh, God, not again.' Sora thought. "You love Riku, right?"
"Yeah..." he replied quietly, afraid of another outburst.
"Hmm. Well, I want you to think about that. You've been searching for him for the last seven years. Maybe you're confusing an obsession with love." She tilted her head. "Consider that. I won't share you, Sora, so you're going to have to choose. I'm sorry."
"But..." Sora was confused. Surely he wasn't confusing a silly obsession with love. "What if I can't?"
"Then I guess you'll go without. I don't think Riku would be too keen on the idea of having to share either. He's always been rather... Possessive."
Sora eyed her curiously. "Ok," he replied. "I'll think about it."
"Good." Kairi smiled again and left him to his thoughts.
'What a nice ultimatum, Kairi. Leave it to a head-strong girl...' Sora flopped down on the bed again, staring at the ceiling. 'What am I supposed to do now?'
Sora got up and crossed the room to his balcony. It was sunrise. He smiled at the faint traces of color in the sky. He'd always enjoyed sunrises more than sunsets. Though less brilliant, they held a special meaning.
Sure, sunsets are beautiful, especially over a wide ocean. But in a blaze of glory, they're gone, and only darkness remains. Sunrises, on the other hand, may start small, but everything becomes more and more beautiful until the world is bathed in light. Yes, Sora had always enjoyed sunrises more.
Sora couldn't help wondering what had caused his collapse. He thought back to the moments just before he fell. "I think he's in pain..." A snippet of his own voice traveled back to his mind. Did this have anything to do with his 'connection' to Riku?
He looked out to the few remaining stars. Was Riku on one of those worlds? Was he... Dead? Sora pushed the thought out of his mind. No sense in worrying over something he was fairly sure wasn't true.
When day had broken, he decided to go down to the beach. Maybe he'd see Tidus or Wakka. He wondered what'd happened to them since he left.
Unfortunately, he caught no glimpse of them. Selphie, however, was sitting at the end of the dock as if nothing had ever happened.
The sight put Sora at ease, and almost made him laugh. That was Selphie for you. Maybe she thought that if she sat there long enough a knight in shining armor would whisk her away. He walked down to the end of the dock and took a seat next to her. Maybe she could offer some comfort.
"Hey Selphie!" He grinned, pulling her out of a daydream.
"Hey! You scared me half to- Sora?" She looked at him wide-eyed. He grinned more broadly at her and nodded. "SORA! Oh my God! Where have you been?!" she exclaimed, squeezing him tight.
"Urrgh..." he struggled to breathe through the bone-crushing hug. "Looking for... Riku..." he gasped.
She released her grip. "Really? All this time? Well let's hope you found him!"
"Uhh..." he smirked stupidly, not knowing what to say. "Sort of."
"Seven years and you /still/ haven't found him? Sora, you need to get on the ball!" Selphie put her hands on her hips.
"I'm getting there!" he replied in exasperation. "So... Where are Wakka and Tidus? I haven't seen them yet." He asked, quickly changing the subject.
Selphie looked over the ocean. "No one knows. After the Heartless invaded, they disappeared. Haven't seen them since."
"Geeze, I wonder what happened to them..." Selphie shrugged at him. "Well, what else has happened on the island while I was gone?"
Sora spent the next hour or so letting few of Selphie's words penetrate his mind. His thoughts wandered over the island, into the stars, and out of sight. He sighed and folded his hands behind his head. He was just about to lay back when he saw it...
Something blue streaked across the sky above the endless expanse of water. It looked like... No. It couldn't be.
But it was. It hit the ocean with a loud splash, causing Selphie to scream. Sora stood and squinted to see it. Without a second thought he dove headfirst into the water.
The Gummi Ship wasn't that far out, and Sora reached it in practically no time. He waited, suspended in the water, for someone to get out of the cockpit. His breaths were deep. Adrenaline rushed through his veins. Every muscle was tense. Waiting...
Then he came. He looked almost exactly as Sora remembered him, though his clothes were in a terrible state of disrepair. His silvery locks had grown a bit, some hanging over his fiery seagreen eyes. He looked like some fabled war hero with the wind lightly tossing his hair and loose pieces of clothing about.
It was Riku. He knew it was. Sora took a deep breath and almost choked. How long had he waited for this day? And now he couldn't speak. 'Oh great,' he thought. 'I'm making an ass of myself. Oh great, oh great...'
As he floated there, Riku noticed him and almost collapsed off the ship into the water. When he surfaced he grabbed Sora tightly. His once powerful arms seemed so frail. Sora put a hand on the back of Riku's head and stroked his lustrous hair. "Sora..." Riku called weakly. Sora barely knew what was happening when he realized Riku had passed out.
++
"Riku..."
Riku kept his eyes shut and rolled over in the direction of the distant voice. That battle and the journey had taken a bit more out of him than he had expected.
"Riku, are you okay?"
The voice sounded closer now. He recognized it, but couldn't place it. Like a voice he'd heard before, but deeper, more masculine, if that made any sense at all.
"Riku, get up."
It was Sora's voice. Riku opened his eyes slowly, letting the room come into focus. He was in his own room. A grinning face with brown, spiky hair was smiling down at him.
"Oh, thank God." Sora sighed. "I thought I'd lost you again."
Riku smiled gently. "I hope that never happens." He extended his hand and stroked Sora's cheek with his gloved thumb. Sora smiled more warmly at him and leaned down to hug him.
His face met Riku's lips.
"Sora..." Much to Riku's surprise, the younger man did not recoil, or pull away. He merely kept smiling down at his friend. "Sora, if I ever lost you again, I'd die. I... I love you."
Riku was afraid of what kind of reaction this would get him. The last thing he expected was a not-so-chaste kiss from Sora. Riku was shocked at first, but returned the kiss. 'This is too easy.' He thought. 'Too easy...'
Sora broke their contact at last. "I love you, too, Riku."
"You never fail to amaze me." Replied Riku breathlessly. They both smiled and laughed slightly. So Sora amazed him again by sitting on his bed. The younger man grabbed his wrists and pushed them down into the sheets, easily overpowering the weakened Riku. Sora kissed him again, but more passionately so, this time taking an opportunity to allow his tongue to enter Riku's mouth. Riku was in ecstasy. This was what he'd waited for; this was what he'd hungered for. It felt so right... Then suddenly, it felt wrong.
The gentle restraint Sora had held on his wrists became rougher, more violent. Riku got the sneaking suspicion that Sora was trying to hurt him. He opened his eyes in panic and saw that it was no longer Sora lying on top of him, but a shadow. Riku screamed and tried to escape... But there was no escape.
++
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Riku sat straight up, panting and sweating.
For a moment he had no idea where the hell he was. Everything was upside down. What the hell kind of a dream was that? What a nightmare...
He suddenly realized that he was on a beach. It was dark. What few stars were left were shining on him, reflecting in the water. He looked around. To his left lay the small island with the Paopu tree. To his right was... Sora?
"Riku? Riku, are you okay?" Sora put a reassuring hand on Riku's back.
"Sora?" He eyed the younger man suspiciously. Was this another nightmare? "Sora, is it really you this time?"
"Of course it's me." He looked worried. The expression looked unnatural on his usually happy face.
"Sora... I've missed you so much." He turned and embraced his friend. This felt real. It had to be real.
"Riku..." Riku felt Sora's hand run through his hair, a sublimely comforting gesture. He also felt Sora's hot breath on his neck as the boy sobbed uncontrollably. "I've searched for so long, so long... Don't ever leave me again! Ever!"
"I won't." he replied gently. He meant it. He would never leave him again for as long as he lived. "I can't."
Sora's sobs turned into a shower of gentle kisses on his neck and shoulder. Riku gently stroked his hair, letting his own tears of relief and joy fall into it.
This may have been his only chance. He cupped Sora's chin with his hands and drew him to look up into his eyes. Riku smiled gently and kissed his forehead. Sora did not pull away, but closed his eyes. Riku took this as an invitation to continue. He kissed Sora's right cheek, then his left. He hesitated before kissing his lips and chose his chin instead. Then he waited. The moment seemed suspended in time. Riku thought that Sora must've wanted to go further, but would let Riku do it. 'He's just as unsure as I am...'
Neither of them wanted to risk destroying everything they'd worked so hard to build. Those few seconds went on forever. It was Sora who finally broke the tension. He kissed Riku firmly on the lips, then pulled away, waiting for a reaction.
Riku smiled at him. Sora looked into his eyes, searchingly. "Riku, I need to tell you something... I-"
"I love you too." His heart felt warmed by the boy's innocence. They both looked at each other for a moment when Riku finally knocked him backward into the sand. "I'll never leave you again." He whispered as he kissed Sora's ear before moving back to his lips and down his neck.
'Soft hair and a velvet tongue, I wanna give you what you give to me. And every breath that is in your lungs is a tiny little gift to me.'
+++
Ch. 4 Fin
+++
Woohoo! Hot potato, I'm on fire! Two chapters in one night, and this one's five pages. O.O God bless candy and Dr. Pepper. It's almost 2 a.m. Maybe I should slee- zzzZZZzzz...
Ch. 5: Why /is/ Kairi being so weird? Will she interrupt the boy's little kissing scene? Find out next time!