Silently Deciding
Thank you reviewers! I only got a few for the last chapter but it was enough for me to feel wanted. Although one thing, I would truly appreciate it if you all could give me well-rounded reviews. Is there something wrong with this story? Are any of my characters not fitting their personalities? Is there something I need to improve on? I'd really like to know. It would help the story move along and if anyone wants a certain scene in here go ahead and request it. I'm free to accept any ideas.
It's just when I get reviews that say 'Great chapter' I want to know why. Which part did you enjoy? Which part was not to your liking? I'd like some more feedback from the reviews. It only takes a second for the reviewer to say 'Great chapter' but no good really comes from it. Good feedback would boost their author's ability to continue, even though they'll keep writing because they love too. It shows that their fiction is truly going according to plan and getting the right idea from the readers. So if you honestly think it's a 'great chapter' and you're not just saying that in order to get more, explain yourself and vote for ideas. The recipient will appreciate it.
::thoughts:: -'inner voice'-
Chapter Eight: Comforting a Guilty Maiden
Second Day- Early Monday Morning
It had been eight hours since their last meeting. It was two o'clock in the morning and the words have yet to fade away from Riku's memory. They just repeated and all he wanted to do was forget the truth of them. It was all he could do not to fall into insanity's pit but Sora wouldn't fall for a crazy loony like him so he'd have to stay strong-- for him.
His arms were spread out as he lay on his large king-sized bed and his eyes had lost their luster, dulling to a blank and empty sea green void. His hair was clumped uneven at the top of his head like a halo but he was no angel in this forgetful world. He was merely a doll for life to cast aside and play with until the fun was over and all could end. He wore nothing except for a loose baggy white t-shirt, coming down to rest on the middle of his thighs and red boxers that were striped with thin gold lines on his lower half that reached his knees. They clung to him like a second skin and he smelt of musk and sweat.
He couldn't remember much of yesterday's conversation with his best friend when they laid tangled in the sand together after Sora had thrown some harsh words his way. Did he run away from him or did he attack him? Did he hurt him for saying that? Did he yell at Sora for saying those words or did he threaten him? Did he silence him somehow with either his lips or his fists? He couldn't remember! Was he repressing the memory? He just hoped he didn't hurt Sora. He couldn't bare the thought of causing him more pain. He didn't deserve that. His precious sky didn't deserve to go through this pain.
How he wanted to end it but he couldn't because of Sora. He was the one who gave him a reason to live. He wasn't just living for himself but for his best friend, the love of his life, his companion in this lost world, his... or maybe Kairi's... precious sky, Sora. But the promise to himself he made about only giving this world one last chance, a week to figure out his meaning or end it. He couldn't believe he had made that ultimatum with himself. But being as proud as Riku was, he couldn't back down from his own promise. So it was time to decide what's better: Sora or his pride? He just had to hope he would make the right choice in the end.
As Riku pondered on one side of the island, across the street from him, lying in his own twin-sided bed, his arms crossed underneath his head, staring up at the ceiling, Sora did his own pondering in his room. His head hurt from all this unnecessary and uncommonly-used thinking. He tried to analyze the situation and figure out the problem with his best friend. Lately, everything had become a soap opera in his life. He couldn't make heads or tails of anything. It weirded him out of his mind.
Losing his focus and deciding it was enough thinking, he rolled over unto his side, tucking a hand underneath his pillow and his other arm against his side, letting his elbow joint to bend so his hand fell against the cool texture of the sheets on the mattress. Sora let out a relieved sigh and was glad the pressure from his temples had somewhat ceased. Thinking and him didn't mix too well like Riku had said once. It was playful teasing on a happy sunny day so why couldn't they go back to those days when everything was alright? Why did everything have to turn out so wrong?
Not wanting to think more about this, Sora wished dearly that recalling yesterday's previous events after his little outburst wouldn't cause him a headache and hoped it didn't enlarge it...
He wasn't prepared for the shocked expression or the sea green eyes that closed suddenly, as if in pain. He wasn't even prepared or aware of the uncomfortable clenching of his stomach muscles as he watched his friend above him with care. His anger was gone as quickly as it had come but he still felt like he should hurt the silver-haired youth even more for what he had done to Kairi. He deserved it for trying to kill her.
Not knowing he was being unreasonable, he still bit viciously at Riku's already injured pride.
"What now Riku? You can't handle the truth now?" he sneered.
And just at that one simple phrase, that little question, brought on the rage that would probably undo them both. The older boy exploded. His eyes snapped open to reveal raging emeralds tinted with silver but behind his fire of anger, if one looked deep enough, they would see his insecurity and the betrayal he had been enduring. But Sora couldn't see it. He was blind with his own emotions that overpowered his senses.
"Shut up!!" Riku yelled. He ripped away from Sora and launched a fist at him in his fury, wanting to strike him in the face as hard as he could. He wanted to hurt him. He wanted him to feel what he felt. He wanted him to feel intolerable pain just as he felt every day when he saw Sora hanging around Kairi. He wanted him to understand how he felt. In that way, wouldn't it just bring them closer? This was all for the right cause. He could do this and Sora would be able to feel a deeper connection with him than he would ever have with Ms. Princess of Hearts.
But as his fist flew at Sora, he saw fear in Sora's cerulean eyes. A type of fear that was created by him was gleaming in his eyes. It dared Riku to lower his fist and stop of the action of his swinging limb, wanting him to see reason, reason that wasn't contained in his actions. How could someone love someone like him? He'd maim the one he loved just to get even, just so he knew how it felt to be hurt. That was too low and he knew it.
His angry punch met the ground next to Sora's left ear. His knuckles were red and they stung from the connection from the ground to his fist. The younger boy was shaking underneath him. Whether in fear or rage, Riku didn't know. All he wanted was to run away and that's just what he did.
The confused teen jumped up quickly, off of his love's tempting body and sprinted away from Sora, not knowing where he was heading. He just needed to clear his thoughts. He needed to be alone with himself, the monster he had become out of his love for his best friend.
So Sora just lay there, trembling like a coward. He was afraid of his best friend, the person he had grown up with, his childhood buddy. This seems so unreal. Why was this happening to them? And as this was happening, he knew, it wasn't going to be the end of this spiral of indecision and of this heartache.
Afterwards, Sora just walked along the beach for hours until his feet hurt and calloused. He needed to decide on how he could correct this. Even hours lately as he was in his bed now, with sleep not coming to rest his tired body, he hadn't reached a verdict on what he should do to correct all the mistakes that had happened over the last couple of days.
Staring out the window, the brunet noticed it had started to rain lightly. He had to question whether anyone was watching them fore there should have been a storm outside to fit their anguished emotions and not a gentle drizzle of cool water. Some of the raindrops flew in through his opened window along with the scent of the salty ocean. He felt no need to close the window, so he just laid there as the drops splashed on his heated cheeks, cooling him from the summer's warmth.
Minutes must have passed slowly and four hours went by because the sun was starting to rise barely over the ocean's horizon but it was still raining. Sora enjoyed it when it rained during the sun's appearance in the sky. It was something he looked forward to when it rained but right now Sora just wanted sleep. He had spent the whole night just watching the rain solemnly but it didn't matter. Nothing changed.
Looking out towards the direction of the ocean of which his window faced, Sora saw someone running on the beach. The dark shadow of a person was shaped like a girl's figure. She was running really fast and Sora watched as her legs flew down on the sand, stomping hard and leaving footprints in the damp substance, and then tore up into the air again to just come down and apply another outline of her foot. These movements were repeated over and over and Sora thought he was going to get dizzy from just watching her move. It was so memorizing and he couldn't tear his eyes away. It was something about her.
He heard himself gasp as he saw her stumble and reach out to grab something. Her hands flew up but only met air and unfortunately, she landed hard on her knees, the sand staining and scratching her delicate skin. Her hair was outlined a red painted gold from the sun and she looked not a part of this world, ethereal, something holy but striped of her wings. She turned her back to him and he noticed she was only clad in a tank-top, her creamy bony shoulders looked so pale and luminescent.
Sora's hands were against the windowsill and he was gazing out at her, watching her like a bug in a glass tank, examining her like a specimen in a vial and inspecting her like a bug under a microscope. It was as if he was really trying to figure the lone girl out. His curiosity was yearning to know her identity and desiring her name. He had to know.
He jumped out of his bed in a hurry and yanked his door open. He ran down the hallway and down the corridor with his feet pounding on the wooden floor. He swept past the living room in a blur, around the couch and past the television set. He pulled open the white-painted front door in a rush, his fingers quickly undoing the twistable lock on the handle. He even forgot to shut it on his way out and the rain dripped into the sitting room, wetting the carpet.
He didn't care about his clothes getting drenched as he raced down towards the beach, wanting to meet the maiden sitting there in the sand that looked spotted with the rain drops as they fell leaving their patterns in the dirt. He could hear the sound of the waves crashing in the sea and the little pitter of the rain hitting the earth. As he came closer to the girl, his ears were drowning with the sound of pitiful cries and senseless pleas of thoughtless words drabbing endless on in a twist of confusion.
He was sprinting with his chest high and his shoulders squared, upright and eager, but his legs felt like they were attached to weights, pulling him down so he couldn't get to the girl on the shore. His arms were swinging around hazardously as he ventured forth to the ocean. The sand particles flung up behind him in clumps as his feet flew down into the sand as he stomped with each step.
Sora came to an abrupt stop in front of his mysterious maiden with red fiery hair. His breathing was labored and came out in gasps. His shoulders rose and fell with each strained breathe. His legs were shaking and his arms hung at his sides. The sand dug uncomfortably into his feet and prickled his skin. He remained silent and waited for her to turn and face him but she remained looking into the ocean.
The wind swept over them and felt like ice as it caressed their dampened skin from the light drizzle of rain. Their clothes were soaked with the liquid but they didn't care. The girl looked into the rising sunrise and watched as the light played off the waves in colors appealing to her eye. The boy standing only contained to watch her. The gentle winds picked up the visited sand particles on the beach and they run underneath the maiden's nose, teasing her into a sneeze until eventually she did.
"Bless you," he whispered for the wind to hear him and the girl picked up his words, overhearing his small talk to nature's biding gust.
Slowly, she turned around and locked her gaze with his. Her hair shown like a halo over her head and Sora saw her as an angel. Her eyes shown and sparkled with spendor but their lavender color looked slightly dull and blank, even if they were filled with despair. They were rimmed red with the look that the maiden had been crying for a long while. Her assortments of necklaces were removed and her neck looked vulnerable and bare without their presence. Her hands were fisted into the sand. Her appearance startled him, but what unsettled him was the lone tear that trailed down her cheek and fell onto the beach, leaving another dot.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I truly am so sorry Sora. I didn't mean... I didn't mean to say..." But her voice broke and she couldn't continue speaking those words. The girl tore her eyes away from the boy, unable to look at him anymore, afraid she'd see rejection and hate in his eyes. More dot and spot patterns appeared in the sand and they weren't only caused by the water of rain from the sky, but from the water collected in her eyes.
The boy knelt down to her level with his left knee buried in the sand. He lifted a hand and feathered his thin fingers lightly through her hair, feeling the coarse texture of the mistreated roots. He could feel bits of sand that had gotten caught in the tresses. Sora felt guilty about her position and he couldn't feel like he was the one to blame. He didn't want her to feel this way. She wasn't responsible for this mess. It wasn't her fault. But was it really his?
Riku was the one who was standing over her with the knife in his hand. It was his fault, right? He wanted to kill her and doing so must have terrified Kairi into saying all those things she said. She was scared and she resorted to turning the tables on Riku, giving him the knife and allowing him to kill her. Does Riku want me so bad that he would kill for me? Am I that important or am I so worthless he has to prove my worth to everyone? I am the cause. I'm the problem, not Kairi and not Riku.
"Kairi, it's not your fault," he whispered loud enough for her to hear. He said this apologetically and hearing his soft tone, Kairi turned her head up to face him. Her eyes were clouded with tears and rimmed with even more red, the color of blood that could have been spilled yesterday.
Those words did something to the girl and she just couldn't hold anything in anymore. Her eyes collected more water and she flew at Sora, wrapped her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. The force caused Sora to fall back on his behind, leaving his legs spread and open for Kairi's body. He wrapped his arms around her tiny, shaking frame and prayed from someone to heal her pain.
"Sora, it is my fault! I said all those terrible and stupid things! How can you hold someone disgusting like me? How can you stand to be by me? Why are you here comforting me? I don't deserve this! I'm--" Her words were once again caught off but not by her unwilling throat. It was by Sora's lips.
He didn't know what he was doing but he didn't want to hear that from her. She was so much better than she said she was. She wasn't worthless like him who needed someone to kill for him. After all, he had defended her all this time telling people like Riku that she wasn't worthless. She deserved so much more than a kiss from him but he wanted to give her something. He wanted to be the one to heal her pain.
Sora pulled back but left their lips slightly connected so they could feel each other. He opened his eyes and the azure color of his iris meet the lavender purple of the girl he just kissed to silence. They just looked at each other for a while, staring into each other's eyes. The girl's eyes asking for forgiveness while the boy's eyes asked to give help, hoping it would be wanted.
Keeping their eyes opened, the girl moved forward until her lips completed touched and covered the boy's. She loved the feel of his lips on hers (or should it be the other way around?). They were so soft and they felt caring like his personality and his playful nature. She was grateful for his kindness even if she didn't deserve it, she wanted it. Kairi didn't care if that made her selfish because right now, she was wanted and not rejected by the one she feared most would reject her.
Tears appeared in her eyes again and Sora's noticed their blur of her lavender color. Pulling back, he lifted his right arm from Kairi's waist and traced a finger from his hand underneath her eyes, collecting the moisture betraying her emotions. He looked worriedly at her, keeping his right palm on her cheek, but then he saw her smile. It was even more radiating then the sunrise behind her. Her beauty was so elegant and he felt him smiling with her too.
Leaning down, he captured his lips again and both their eyes closed in reaction, sealing a promise that Sora would always be there for her. She would never be alone. Kairi had him and they would be together. Sora was now proud to say that he had a girlfriend. Thinking this thought, he tightened his arm around the girl and leaned into the kiss more and Kairi did the same.
The rain kept falling and sunrise grew, but nothing else wished them happiness on their quest to find some comfort in each other. Neither did the silver-haired boy who was locked inside his room, sleeping without dreams and his brows furrowed in confusion and tension.
{----{End of Chapter Eight}----}
Author's Ending Notes: I don't like the ending. I can't find a suitable one. However, this chapter is important (even if it sucks) because now the story is coming to action. The first chapters were just an intro but here comes the real deal. I wonder how Riku is going to react to this. We already now he is capable of many things (see earlier chapters) but can his hatred for Kairi grow stronger? Till next time, which will hopefully be sooner!
Thank you reviewers! I only got a few for the last chapter but it was enough for me to feel wanted. Although one thing, I would truly appreciate it if you all could give me well-rounded reviews. Is there something wrong with this story? Are any of my characters not fitting their personalities? Is there something I need to improve on? I'd really like to know. It would help the story move along and if anyone wants a certain scene in here go ahead and request it. I'm free to accept any ideas.
It's just when I get reviews that say 'Great chapter' I want to know why. Which part did you enjoy? Which part was not to your liking? I'd like some more feedback from the reviews. It only takes a second for the reviewer to say 'Great chapter' but no good really comes from it. Good feedback would boost their author's ability to continue, even though they'll keep writing because they love too. It shows that their fiction is truly going according to plan and getting the right idea from the readers. So if you honestly think it's a 'great chapter' and you're not just saying that in order to get more, explain yourself and vote for ideas. The recipient will appreciate it.
::thoughts:: -'inner voice'-
Chapter Eight: Comforting a Guilty Maiden
Second Day- Early Monday Morning
It had been eight hours since their last meeting. It was two o'clock in the morning and the words have yet to fade away from Riku's memory. They just repeated and all he wanted to do was forget the truth of them. It was all he could do not to fall into insanity's pit but Sora wouldn't fall for a crazy loony like him so he'd have to stay strong-- for him.
His arms were spread out as he lay on his large king-sized bed and his eyes had lost their luster, dulling to a blank and empty sea green void. His hair was clumped uneven at the top of his head like a halo but he was no angel in this forgetful world. He was merely a doll for life to cast aside and play with until the fun was over and all could end. He wore nothing except for a loose baggy white t-shirt, coming down to rest on the middle of his thighs and red boxers that were striped with thin gold lines on his lower half that reached his knees. They clung to him like a second skin and he smelt of musk and sweat.
He couldn't remember much of yesterday's conversation with his best friend when they laid tangled in the sand together after Sora had thrown some harsh words his way. Did he run away from him or did he attack him? Did he hurt him for saying that? Did he yell at Sora for saying those words or did he threaten him? Did he silence him somehow with either his lips or his fists? He couldn't remember! Was he repressing the memory? He just hoped he didn't hurt Sora. He couldn't bare the thought of causing him more pain. He didn't deserve that. His precious sky didn't deserve to go through this pain.
How he wanted to end it but he couldn't because of Sora. He was the one who gave him a reason to live. He wasn't just living for himself but for his best friend, the love of his life, his companion in this lost world, his... or maybe Kairi's... precious sky, Sora. But the promise to himself he made about only giving this world one last chance, a week to figure out his meaning or end it. He couldn't believe he had made that ultimatum with himself. But being as proud as Riku was, he couldn't back down from his own promise. So it was time to decide what's better: Sora or his pride? He just had to hope he would make the right choice in the end.
As Riku pondered on one side of the island, across the street from him, lying in his own twin-sided bed, his arms crossed underneath his head, staring up at the ceiling, Sora did his own pondering in his room. His head hurt from all this unnecessary and uncommonly-used thinking. He tried to analyze the situation and figure out the problem with his best friend. Lately, everything had become a soap opera in his life. He couldn't make heads or tails of anything. It weirded him out of his mind.
Losing his focus and deciding it was enough thinking, he rolled over unto his side, tucking a hand underneath his pillow and his other arm against his side, letting his elbow joint to bend so his hand fell against the cool texture of the sheets on the mattress. Sora let out a relieved sigh and was glad the pressure from his temples had somewhat ceased. Thinking and him didn't mix too well like Riku had said once. It was playful teasing on a happy sunny day so why couldn't they go back to those days when everything was alright? Why did everything have to turn out so wrong?
Not wanting to think more about this, Sora wished dearly that recalling yesterday's previous events after his little outburst wouldn't cause him a headache and hoped it didn't enlarge it...
He wasn't prepared for the shocked expression or the sea green eyes that closed suddenly, as if in pain. He wasn't even prepared or aware of the uncomfortable clenching of his stomach muscles as he watched his friend above him with care. His anger was gone as quickly as it had come but he still felt like he should hurt the silver-haired youth even more for what he had done to Kairi. He deserved it for trying to kill her.
Not knowing he was being unreasonable, he still bit viciously at Riku's already injured pride.
"What now Riku? You can't handle the truth now?" he sneered.
And just at that one simple phrase, that little question, brought on the rage that would probably undo them both. The older boy exploded. His eyes snapped open to reveal raging emeralds tinted with silver but behind his fire of anger, if one looked deep enough, they would see his insecurity and the betrayal he had been enduring. But Sora couldn't see it. He was blind with his own emotions that overpowered his senses.
"Shut up!!" Riku yelled. He ripped away from Sora and launched a fist at him in his fury, wanting to strike him in the face as hard as he could. He wanted to hurt him. He wanted him to feel what he felt. He wanted him to feel intolerable pain just as he felt every day when he saw Sora hanging around Kairi. He wanted him to understand how he felt. In that way, wouldn't it just bring them closer? This was all for the right cause. He could do this and Sora would be able to feel a deeper connection with him than he would ever have with Ms. Princess of Hearts.
But as his fist flew at Sora, he saw fear in Sora's cerulean eyes. A type of fear that was created by him was gleaming in his eyes. It dared Riku to lower his fist and stop of the action of his swinging limb, wanting him to see reason, reason that wasn't contained in his actions. How could someone love someone like him? He'd maim the one he loved just to get even, just so he knew how it felt to be hurt. That was too low and he knew it.
His angry punch met the ground next to Sora's left ear. His knuckles were red and they stung from the connection from the ground to his fist. The younger boy was shaking underneath him. Whether in fear or rage, Riku didn't know. All he wanted was to run away and that's just what he did.
The confused teen jumped up quickly, off of his love's tempting body and sprinted away from Sora, not knowing where he was heading. He just needed to clear his thoughts. He needed to be alone with himself, the monster he had become out of his love for his best friend.
So Sora just lay there, trembling like a coward. He was afraid of his best friend, the person he had grown up with, his childhood buddy. This seems so unreal. Why was this happening to them? And as this was happening, he knew, it wasn't going to be the end of this spiral of indecision and of this heartache.
Afterwards, Sora just walked along the beach for hours until his feet hurt and calloused. He needed to decide on how he could correct this. Even hours lately as he was in his bed now, with sleep not coming to rest his tired body, he hadn't reached a verdict on what he should do to correct all the mistakes that had happened over the last couple of days.
Staring out the window, the brunet noticed it had started to rain lightly. He had to question whether anyone was watching them fore there should have been a storm outside to fit their anguished emotions and not a gentle drizzle of cool water. Some of the raindrops flew in through his opened window along with the scent of the salty ocean. He felt no need to close the window, so he just laid there as the drops splashed on his heated cheeks, cooling him from the summer's warmth.
Minutes must have passed slowly and four hours went by because the sun was starting to rise barely over the ocean's horizon but it was still raining. Sora enjoyed it when it rained during the sun's appearance in the sky. It was something he looked forward to when it rained but right now Sora just wanted sleep. He had spent the whole night just watching the rain solemnly but it didn't matter. Nothing changed.
Looking out towards the direction of the ocean of which his window faced, Sora saw someone running on the beach. The dark shadow of a person was shaped like a girl's figure. She was running really fast and Sora watched as her legs flew down on the sand, stomping hard and leaving footprints in the damp substance, and then tore up into the air again to just come down and apply another outline of her foot. These movements were repeated over and over and Sora thought he was going to get dizzy from just watching her move. It was so memorizing and he couldn't tear his eyes away. It was something about her.
He heard himself gasp as he saw her stumble and reach out to grab something. Her hands flew up but only met air and unfortunately, she landed hard on her knees, the sand staining and scratching her delicate skin. Her hair was outlined a red painted gold from the sun and she looked not a part of this world, ethereal, something holy but striped of her wings. She turned her back to him and he noticed she was only clad in a tank-top, her creamy bony shoulders looked so pale and luminescent.
Sora's hands were against the windowsill and he was gazing out at her, watching her like a bug in a glass tank, examining her like a specimen in a vial and inspecting her like a bug under a microscope. It was as if he was really trying to figure the lone girl out. His curiosity was yearning to know her identity and desiring her name. He had to know.
He jumped out of his bed in a hurry and yanked his door open. He ran down the hallway and down the corridor with his feet pounding on the wooden floor. He swept past the living room in a blur, around the couch and past the television set. He pulled open the white-painted front door in a rush, his fingers quickly undoing the twistable lock on the handle. He even forgot to shut it on his way out and the rain dripped into the sitting room, wetting the carpet.
He didn't care about his clothes getting drenched as he raced down towards the beach, wanting to meet the maiden sitting there in the sand that looked spotted with the rain drops as they fell leaving their patterns in the dirt. He could hear the sound of the waves crashing in the sea and the little pitter of the rain hitting the earth. As he came closer to the girl, his ears were drowning with the sound of pitiful cries and senseless pleas of thoughtless words drabbing endless on in a twist of confusion.
He was sprinting with his chest high and his shoulders squared, upright and eager, but his legs felt like they were attached to weights, pulling him down so he couldn't get to the girl on the shore. His arms were swinging around hazardously as he ventured forth to the ocean. The sand particles flung up behind him in clumps as his feet flew down into the sand as he stomped with each step.
Sora came to an abrupt stop in front of his mysterious maiden with red fiery hair. His breathing was labored and came out in gasps. His shoulders rose and fell with each strained breathe. His legs were shaking and his arms hung at his sides. The sand dug uncomfortably into his feet and prickled his skin. He remained silent and waited for her to turn and face him but she remained looking into the ocean.
The wind swept over them and felt like ice as it caressed their dampened skin from the light drizzle of rain. Their clothes were soaked with the liquid but they didn't care. The girl looked into the rising sunrise and watched as the light played off the waves in colors appealing to her eye. The boy standing only contained to watch her. The gentle winds picked up the visited sand particles on the beach and they run underneath the maiden's nose, teasing her into a sneeze until eventually she did.
"Bless you," he whispered for the wind to hear him and the girl picked up his words, overhearing his small talk to nature's biding gust.
Slowly, she turned around and locked her gaze with his. Her hair shown like a halo over her head and Sora saw her as an angel. Her eyes shown and sparkled with spendor but their lavender color looked slightly dull and blank, even if they were filled with despair. They were rimmed red with the look that the maiden had been crying for a long while. Her assortments of necklaces were removed and her neck looked vulnerable and bare without their presence. Her hands were fisted into the sand. Her appearance startled him, but what unsettled him was the lone tear that trailed down her cheek and fell onto the beach, leaving another dot.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I truly am so sorry Sora. I didn't mean... I didn't mean to say..." But her voice broke and she couldn't continue speaking those words. The girl tore her eyes away from the boy, unable to look at him anymore, afraid she'd see rejection and hate in his eyes. More dot and spot patterns appeared in the sand and they weren't only caused by the water of rain from the sky, but from the water collected in her eyes.
The boy knelt down to her level with his left knee buried in the sand. He lifted a hand and feathered his thin fingers lightly through her hair, feeling the coarse texture of the mistreated roots. He could feel bits of sand that had gotten caught in the tresses. Sora felt guilty about her position and he couldn't feel like he was the one to blame. He didn't want her to feel this way. She wasn't responsible for this mess. It wasn't her fault. But was it really his?
Riku was the one who was standing over her with the knife in his hand. It was his fault, right? He wanted to kill her and doing so must have terrified Kairi into saying all those things she said. She was scared and she resorted to turning the tables on Riku, giving him the knife and allowing him to kill her. Does Riku want me so bad that he would kill for me? Am I that important or am I so worthless he has to prove my worth to everyone? I am the cause. I'm the problem, not Kairi and not Riku.
"Kairi, it's not your fault," he whispered loud enough for her to hear. He said this apologetically and hearing his soft tone, Kairi turned her head up to face him. Her eyes were clouded with tears and rimmed with even more red, the color of blood that could have been spilled yesterday.
Those words did something to the girl and she just couldn't hold anything in anymore. Her eyes collected more water and she flew at Sora, wrapped her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. The force caused Sora to fall back on his behind, leaving his legs spread and open for Kairi's body. He wrapped his arms around her tiny, shaking frame and prayed from someone to heal her pain.
"Sora, it is my fault! I said all those terrible and stupid things! How can you hold someone disgusting like me? How can you stand to be by me? Why are you here comforting me? I don't deserve this! I'm--" Her words were once again caught off but not by her unwilling throat. It was by Sora's lips.
He didn't know what he was doing but he didn't want to hear that from her. She was so much better than she said she was. She wasn't worthless like him who needed someone to kill for him. After all, he had defended her all this time telling people like Riku that she wasn't worthless. She deserved so much more than a kiss from him but he wanted to give her something. He wanted to be the one to heal her pain.
Sora pulled back but left their lips slightly connected so they could feel each other. He opened his eyes and the azure color of his iris meet the lavender purple of the girl he just kissed to silence. They just looked at each other for a while, staring into each other's eyes. The girl's eyes asking for forgiveness while the boy's eyes asked to give help, hoping it would be wanted.
Keeping their eyes opened, the girl moved forward until her lips completed touched and covered the boy's. She loved the feel of his lips on hers (or should it be the other way around?). They were so soft and they felt caring like his personality and his playful nature. She was grateful for his kindness even if she didn't deserve it, she wanted it. Kairi didn't care if that made her selfish because right now, she was wanted and not rejected by the one she feared most would reject her.
Tears appeared in her eyes again and Sora's noticed their blur of her lavender color. Pulling back, he lifted his right arm from Kairi's waist and traced a finger from his hand underneath her eyes, collecting the moisture betraying her emotions. He looked worriedly at her, keeping his right palm on her cheek, but then he saw her smile. It was even more radiating then the sunrise behind her. Her beauty was so elegant and he felt him smiling with her too.
Leaning down, he captured his lips again and both their eyes closed in reaction, sealing a promise that Sora would always be there for her. She would never be alone. Kairi had him and they would be together. Sora was now proud to say that he had a girlfriend. Thinking this thought, he tightened his arm around the girl and leaned into the kiss more and Kairi did the same.
The rain kept falling and sunrise grew, but nothing else wished them happiness on their quest to find some comfort in each other. Neither did the silver-haired boy who was locked inside his room, sleeping without dreams and his brows furrowed in confusion and tension.
{----{End of Chapter Eight}----}
Author's Ending Notes: I don't like the ending. I can't find a suitable one. However, this chapter is important (even if it sucks) because now the story is coming to action. The first chapters were just an intro but here comes the real deal. I wonder how Riku is going to react to this. We already now he is capable of many things (see earlier chapters) but can his hatred for Kairi grow stronger? Till next time, which will hopefully be sooner!