Silver Lining: Forced Encounter

Author's note: I realised that I have a thing for titles that start with 'S'. That was utterly irrelevant and I request for forgiveness for seriously sidetracking. I need to give credit to the author whose book from which I am gleaning ideas and inspiration for this fic. Since I lack the relevant 'real world' experience and information on the ambition genre of fiction I had chosen to write in, I look to all my 'happy' manga and books as sources of knowledge. Credit to all the authors and artists of these books I exploit.  (Since my book collection is really too long to expound upon, I shall just give a general thanks to all my muses.)

Now onto the serious bit: If you are not a Sora/ Riku fan, you either stay away or get converted. This piece of fiction is set in an alternate reality/universe. In other words, everything but the characters (they might also be altered) is different from the original Kingdom Heart storyline. Many apologies for naughty thoughts, bad grammar and spelling because I just cannot be bothered to check my work beyond a cursory glance.

Disclaimer: None of the KH characters belong to me, they belong to those who spent their youth designing and developing them.

Selphie pulled at the ends of a daffodil yellow sash that was tied around her waist. Her troubled eyes sought momentary solace in seeing her fidgety hands knotting and untying the innocent silken sash. But procrastination was never the answer to any problem. Sighing a sigh to mark the start of the inevitable, Selphie finally looked up into the treetop above her.

"Riku-sama, will don't have much time left. If we do not leave soon, the doors will be closed for winter solstice and they wouldn't be opened before spring solstice. By then, it will be too late to enter the real realm in search of your bride!" pleaded Selphie earnestly, her voice tinged with desperation.

No answer came from above. Nothing except the happy whistle of the wind sweeping through the intricate tree branches, as if mocking the figure in lemon yellow below.

Tears welled up in Selphie's pretty eyes. She loved her master and would do anything for him. But he was just so obstinate! Selphie did not want him to get punished just because of sheer stubbornness. For his sake, Selphie would get her master to carry out his quest and out of unnecessary trouble from the elders.

"Please Riku-sama! Even if you don't want a bride, you can take this opportunity to visit the real realm. You can go back to any time you want and even anywhere you want. Why not go back?" Selphie said, trying her very best to persuade her master to comply with the elder's command.

Riku's lips curved upwards into a cynical smirk. Selphie did not understand that he did not wish to go back to the place he had been so ruthlessly torn from. She had been created from minerals and raised in this false fantasy. This realm they call 'home'. It was a place always filled with light that would not hurt them. The weather was pliable, the air was pure. Landscapes of whatever the heart desired. It was 'paradise' or something close to what can be created. 

What Selphie did not know, despite the intelligent consciousness that they had instilled in her, is that going back to the real realm would remind him of what he had loss. And the real realm would bring more hurt and sorrow compared to the bearable idleness of living in this current fantasy.

Selphie's mind whirled in effort to come up with more reasons her master should go to the real realm.

"Riku-sama. Please, I beg you. Let us go. For my sake? I want to see what this world of yours is like…" her voice trailed off as she feel a pang of emptiness within her.

She was a creature created only to serve. She did not know much except for the world in which she was enclosed. She was curious and envious of what she did not know. Perhaps the elders made a mistake when creating her because she did not understand why she had longings to belong to what she was not born with. She wanted a taste of the real realm.

When she was assigned to her master, she was ecstatic as she would finally be able to do what she was intended for and maybe a chance to learn more from someone who was originally from the world she seeks. But she failed to take into consideration the emotions that would be involved. Her master was not easy to serve. He did not want her devotion, which he mistook as pity. Slowly, Selphie learnt how to deal with her master's complicated nature. And soon, her master got accustomed to her eagerness to please him.

For Riku, Selphie was the only consolation to his banishment to this fantasy realm. He was wary of her at first, as he had lost his trust in everything he had believed in. But she was just an innocent creature with the simple motive of serving him. Once he realised her loyalties were to him, and him only, Riku accepted Selphie. She had helped him, unconsciously, to learn to adapt to his new circumstances. Thanks to her, he found his existence bearable. So when Riku heard the longing in Selphie's voice, he nearly relented to her pleas.

Yet, like a wounded animal, Riku did not want to risk getting hurt again. He was afraid of the now unknown real realm. How could he return when he knew that he no longer belonged?

Riku looked down. When he saw Selphie silently wiping the tears from her cheeks, he decided to reconsider his fears.

Closing his eyes, Riku saw flashes of the world he had been born into. The sea, something that he had never been able to recreate her in the fantasy realm. That was one thing he missed. Should he return?

"We will leave. Not because of the quest."