Pretty Little Boy Chapter 3: Little Changes, a kingdom hearts fanfic

Hey, look, Ma! A warning!

Warning: This chapter is relatively boring. But it needs to happen. Pay attention closely, chidlins, for you are about to witness the slow erosion of Sora's morals.

Hah. I need to post warning for boring chapters. Hoo boy...

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Pretty Little Boy

'Little Changes'

"...Because you are in control of your life. Don't ever forget that. You are what you are because of the conscious and subconscious choices you have made."

~Barbara Hall

Somewhere in that half-awake plane of his conscience, Riku sat motionless as a stone statue, waiting for something. Riku himself hadn't the slightest idea of what kept him there, waiting and waiting. He had no intention of sitting like that for as long as he lived and he most certainly wasn't enjoying it. Nothing to think about. Nothing to say, no one to hear. Worst of all, there was just absolutely nothing around him.

Where am I?

"...I runaway with you if things don't go as planned; planning big could be a gamble, I've already rolled the dice."

Heh. That voice sounded so familiar...

"I spit and stutter stuff and clutter worries in my worried corner. Maladjusted, just untrusted, rusted, sometimes brilliant, busted thoughts. Think I'll stay for a while, unintrigued and I'm-- red as a newborn white as a corpse."

Where am I going?

Sea-green eyes opened lazily, Riku's gaze falling upon the unfamiliar surroundings of Sora's room. Neither boy must have noticed when they'd fallen asleep... Riku couldn't even remember much of the previous night, other then the fact that both of them hadn't eaten much in the way of pizza due to the newest addition in their mouths... Which still throbbed painfully to some extent.

Riku didn't have very long to ponder the ring buried into his tongue, since the same voice he'd heard only moments ago was again coming to greet his ears, the squeaking of floorboards muffled by an upbeat tune and song.

"...I promise not to try not to fuck with yo-ur mind! I promise not to mind if you go your way and I go mine! I promise not to lie if I'm looking you straight in the eye! I promise not to try not to let you down..."

There was no mistaking the voice. Riku rolled over on the small mattress of the bed only to find the culprit of all the racket dancing around in front of his mirrors, clad only in boxers and a t-shirt. Well. That was unexpected, to say the least.

"What are you doing?"

Sora's eyes widened at the voice as he lunged for his stereo, cutting off the song in mid-verse. Since when was Riku awake?! Grinning sheepishly, Sora turned to face the older boy, hoping he hadn't been what had jarred his friend into the world of the living so suddenly.

"Ehehe... Waking up?"

Riku raised a silver eyebrow at Sora's comment blinking at the boy in front of him. "That's how you wake up every morning?"

"No... Not always!" Sora laughed nervously, rocking back and forth on his heels. He could be so... weird sometimes. But still. It didn't really bother Riku all that much. Just another adorable quirk the brunette seemed to possess.

"Mm..." Riku rolled his eyes and resumed his relaxed position in Sora's bed, where he'd fallen asleep the previous night. It was probably for the best that Sora had a full size bed rather then a twin size... otherwise both boys could have had a very interesting night trying to find room enough on the bed to sleep.

The spiky haired youth pouted, bouncing towards the lump on the bed which was, of course, Riku. "Aww, Riku! Don't go back to sleep!"

"Why?"

"Because you took my spot." Kneeling on the edge of the bed, Sora poked Riku's side plaintively. It wasn't exactly like Sora was tired and still felt like sleeping, but he would nonetheless be perfectly content to either fall asleep next to Riku or have the older boy wake up. It still even amused him how much he was thinking about Riku lately. "I can't go back to sleep either now."

"Who cares about spots? Dork." Riku's arm snaked out from beneath the comforter, grabbing Sora's arm and tugging him forward sharply.

"Whoa! Hey!" Sora suddenly found himself sprawled on top of the silver haired boy, Riku's hand still trapping his wrist in its firm grasp even though Riku's face was still hidden from view beneath the blankets on Sora's bed.

"There. Now we can go back to sleep."

Sora blinked at his ceiling for a few moments, noting that there were a few cracks here and there, but nothing serious. But he couldn't just go back to sleep like that! Everyone knew the basic principals of sleeping... Well, perhaps Riku didn't. Once you woke up, there was no going back to sleep just like that. So rather then rolling over and cuddling against Riku's warm body (which was still buried beneath Sora's comforter-- drat), Sora thought up a different way to keep himself busy.

"Can you breathe?" Sora glanced down at Riku, who was still acting as a pillow for him. A rather comfortable pillow, yes, but Sora didn't want to squash him or anything. "I just though I might be suffocating you or something."

"Nope." Alrighty then.

"Riku?"

"What?"

"Are you asleep?"
"Yes." Sora heard Riku snort and imagined that his friend was rolling his eyes at Sora's blatant stupidity.

"Oh. Okay." After a few moments of silence and several whistling ballads later, Sora spoke yet again. "Riku?"

"What?" It was nearly impossible to tell whether Riku was aggravated or not, but Sora preferred to assume that Riku didn't really mind all that much. Which, in fact, he didn't.

"Oh... uh, nothing." Silence. "...Riku?"

"...Yes, Sora?" Ah, Riku could be so patient.

"You're comfy."

"...Thanks."

"No problem." The two sat in silence for several moments, Sora mentally reciting the alphabet both forwards and backwards before beginning to see how high he could count to. He tried not to take it as an affront to his knowledge when Riku cut him off at only twenty-two.

"Sora?"

"Yeah?" And naturally, an annoying ringing noise interrupted their conversation, such as it was. "Bleeehh... One sec, Riku!" Reaching over his friend, who still really appeared to be no more then a mass of blankets and possibly a pillow, Sora removed the phone from the cradle on his bedside table, holding it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Sora, it's Kairi! Tidus, Selphie and I are gonna go down to the beach today, you wanna come?" There was a noticeable shift in the mattress as Riku sat up, nearly knocking Sora over in the process, and peered at the brunette curiously. Of all the wonderful times Kairi could choose to call... Sora figured it would be best just to take it all in stride as best he could.

"Uhh... Could I bring Riku along?"

"... If you want him to. But it was sorta just gonna be us four. Wouldn't Riku feel left out?"

"Yeah... I guess you're right..." Riku's eyes narrowed slightly, his ears picking up the conversation perfectly fine. But he wasn't exactly about to butt into it and declare that Kairi wasn't right and that she just wanted to have Sora all to herself instead of sharing him... Instead, Riku simply waited and listened for a minute longer for Kairi's hesitant response.
"But if he wants to come, he can." And that was all Riku really needed.

"Thanks, but I'll pass." Sliding off of the bed, Riku glanced at Sora's mirror, sliding his tongue out of his mouth for a moment just to get one last look at the result of the previous day's excursions. He then raked a hand through his silver hair, not looking back at Sora as he pulled on his shoes, perching on the foot of the bed.

"Please, Riku?"

"I already said I'd pass, Sora. You go and have fun." Riku turned to look at Sora over his shoulder, tossing the younger boy a small smile as though he were really being truthful. Hah. It's all a lie and Sora knows it.

Sure enough, Sora saw straight through the smile and his blue eyes turned pleading as he pulled the phone slightly further away from his ear, continuing to bed. "Riku!"

"What?"

"I... just want you to come. Please?" Why was Riku being so difficult about this? Sora was still at a complete loss as to why Riku seemed to refuse to get along with anyone other then him... It wasn't exactly as though Riku was lacking in supply of willing friends. Half the student body would die to be as close to the silver haired boy as Sora was. Was it really that hard just to accept a few more people?

"No." Apparently, for Riku, it was.

Riku held up his hand as a farewell and proceeded to exit Sora's room, a distant thud sounding his departure from the house entirely. Eyes widening in surprise, Sora focused his attention back on the phone for a split second, his voice coming out rushed and hurried as he slipped on his own shoes while he spoke. "Uh... Can I call you back, Kairi?"

"But Sora..."
"I'm sorry! I'll call you back! I promise!" Once the shoes were on that was all Sora needed to go flying out the door behind Riku. Had he not been preoccupied with the damn phone, he may very well have gone running after the older boy without the shoes, but it was always good to have the things on... Whatever. Logic didn't matter.

"Sor--" Click.

Sora tore down the hallway, zipping out the house and leaping over the steps in front of the door, careening halfway down the block before he finally managed to catch the silver haired boy within hearing distance. Thankfully, it wasn't exactly as though Sora was lacking energy, especially after just waking up to his favorite morning routine.

"Riku, wait up!"

Were Sora anyone else, Riku probably would have spat a curse over his shoulder at him and just kept right on walking without even a glance back. But Sora was just Sora, and Riku found himself stopping and grudgingly turning to face his friend as Sora jogged towards him.

"Not everyone is going to wait for you, Sora."

Sora came to a halt in front of Riku, panting and slightly out of breath. Riku's words only confused Sora more, which was really saying something since Sora felt confused beyond all rational belief as it was.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Riku only rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, unable to keep a small glare from his eyes. Although he would never be able to really hurt Sora in any way, that still didn't stop him from being slightly upset with the younger boy. Pursing his lips together for a moment, Riku seemed to debate whether or not he really felt like giving Sora a response, though he finally sighed and said, "It means that, yes, people who like you enough are going to wait for you to catch up with them and what they want to do in life, but I'm not going to be waiting around forever." Uncrossing his arms, Riku ran his fingers impatiently through his silver tendrils of hair, studying Sora curiously. "So are you coming with me, then?"

Sora found himself nearly at a loss for words. He hadn't known he was slowing Riku down... Is that all I am? Am I just a deadweight that other people have to carry around all the time? "...Yeah."

Sora fell into step beside Riku, though didn't dare to look up at the older boy for fear of still seeing a trace of that glare in his eyes. He hadn't meant to make Riku upset... Maybe he really was feeling left out like Kairi said. But Sora was trying... Hell knows he'd go to hell and back just to see Riku smile. Just to see him happy... Sora's mind laughed wickedly at his own sappy thoughts, only causing the boy to get more confused internally. Sora couldn't remember any time he'd felt so lost in his life. Did Riku even need him at all?

"Shh..." Sora's eyes widened slightly at the sudden tenderness in Riku's voice as the older boy slid an arm around Sora's shoulder's, giving them a gentle squeeze of comfort. Sora hadn't even realized he'd been crying. Great, just great. Now he was a crybaby too.

"You're not mad at me, are you, Riku?" Sora asked meekly, still focused more on the ground beneath his feet rather then the boy beside him.

"No, I'm not." Well, at least Riku didn't sound angry anymore. And it did seem as though he were telling the truth.

"That's good. I... don't want you to be mad at me."
Riku chuckled at the childish comment. Sora was so innocent, there was just no way possible that Riku could ever truly stay upset with him. "You don't have to worry about it, Sora." Looking up from the brunette next to him, Riku steered them to the right, taking the sidewalk which branched off into a neighborhood separate from Sora's own. "This way."

"Where are we going?" Sora's eyes were no longer riveted to the floor, but now looking around him, trying to figure out where Riku was leading him this time. He hoped it wasn't another tattoo parlor or something... He'd had enough excruciating pain to last him an entire lifetime.

"We're going to my house."

"Wow, really?!" Yep. Sora definitely bounced back quickly.

Riku smiled as they turned down another street, the houses there slightly bigger then Sora's own and the yards slightly cleaner. To Sora, it looked like a whole new world apart from what he was used to. Granted, the houses weren't mansions, but they were quaint and adorable in their own way. Riku started up the walkway of a brick house, the concrete path bordered by brightly colored flowers, every inch of the lawn seeming to sparkle with cleanliness.

"Yeah. My dad's not in and I don't know if my mom's there. She might still be asleep."

"Ooooh, this is nice." Sora grinned broadly and it was all he could do to keep himself from kneeling down next to the flower bed, just to get closer to the brilliantly colored blossoms.

Walking through the front door, Sora continued to drink in his surroundings eagerly, enjoying the simple and homey touches Riku's house held. It was quite different from his own, which was usually messy and covered with hair supplies for his mother's salon. Riku moved away from Sora for a moment, walking quietly towards a glass paneled door which apparently led to a small sun room.

"One sec..." Poking his head through the doorway, Riku listened intently as he stared at the overstuffed couch seated on the far side of the room. Sure enough a gentle and steady breathing reached his ears and he turned back to nod at Sora. "Okay, come on." Sora would've pressed more to get a better look of the sleeping person, but Riku was already moving down the hallway towards the kitchen, leaving Sora with only a quick glimpse of silver hair, draped over one of the many pillows adorning the couch.

Riku appeared to be busying himself, sifting through the refrigerator for something, intently focused on the task. After several moments, Sora knelt down next to his friend, amused by the concentrated look on Riku's face as he continued to look. "Hey, Ri-ku? Whatcha looking for?"

Riku raised an eyebrow at Sora's childish tone before giving a small smile of triumph, his hand freeing itself from the refrigerator, a wine bottle clasped firmly in its grasp. "Here."

"What's that?"
"What does it look like?" Riku rolled his eyes as he stood up from the floor, bumping the refrigerator door shut with his hip as he moved across the kitchen to remove two glasses from a cabinet.

"We're not gonna drink it, are we?" Sora appeared at his shoulder, blinking at the liquid which Riku poured from the tall bottle, instantly wary as all of the school health lessons and parent talks about alcohol came flooding back into his mind.
"No, Sora, we're going to set it on fire." The brunette blushed slightly, aware that his comment had been a little immature. Sora suddenly found Riku offering him a glass of the wine as the older boy leaned against the counter, sipping from his own glass with a practiced grace. "Here, try some. Loosen up a little, sheesh."

Alrighty, so Sora was a little tense. It was understandable, though! But after a few brief moments of consideration, Sora finally shot Riku a small smile as he took the offered glass and brought it to his lips, sipping gingerly at the pale liquid. It tasted... strange, but not necessarily in a bad way. Sora found himself thankful that Riku had picked a rather fruity wine instead of something more potent. He wasn't exactly sure just how much of an alcohol tolerance he had and Sora wasn't exactly sure if he wanted to push it.

He snickered softly as he held the glass up to the light, admiring the light pink sheen it took on, the color dancing across the tile floor in the sunlight. "It tastes kinda funny... But it's pretty good!"

"Good. You'll get used to it. Follow me."

Sora obediently followed his friend up the thickly carpeted stairs as Riku led the brunette to his room, flipping the light switch up as he opened the door. Much like the rest of the house, Riku's room was spotless and perfect, with only a few posters and pictures adorning the walls rather then the masses which Sora had in his own room. Sora also noticed the color of Riku's bedspread was just really stunning for some reason. The deep auburn color reminded him of something...

"Oh crap!" Kairi!
"What now?" Riku had set the wine bottle on his desk and opened a window to let in the fresh air from outside, a gentle breeze instantly drifting into the room as he turned back to survey his friend, who seemed to be a sudden panicked state.

"I told Kairi I'd call her back earlier!" Oh. Kairi. Right.

"..." Riku mulled over the whole thing for a moment. He could always just say that his phone wasn't working... Although that was a pretty sad excuse. No, Riku was already fabricating a new plan. One that would be much more fun to carry out. "You can call her from here if you have to." Riku nodded towards the phone beside him on the desk before he moved towards his bed and sat down, watching curiously as Sora darted towards the hand-held phone.

"Thanks, Riku." Rapidly hitting the buttons on the face of the phone, Sora then moved over to sit next to Riku, who was still trying to figure out why Sora was so freaked out that he could possibly have forgotten to call the girl. The fact annoyed him slightly, but Riku pushed it out of mind. He had other things to focus on at the moment. "Kairi?"

"Hey, Sora." Well, at least she didn't sound angry. Disappointed, possibly. Odds were that Kairi knew exactly what had happened and was probably thinking pretty lowly of her friend at the moment. Sora cursed females for being able to think like that. Why did they always have to know everything? Oh well... Maybe if Sora put on his happy attitude, Kairi's disappointment would just melt away.

"Hi! Sorry I didn't call earlier, I..." And Riku chose that exact moment to put his plan into action, turning towards Sora and leaning in, brushing his lips lightly over his jaw while Sora's eyes widened, his mouth instantly unable to form complete words, much less normal sentences. "I..."

"You what?" Riku's lips reached Sora's ear, the silver haired boy tugged playfully on the brunette's earlobe with his teeth, snickering softly at the surprised expression on Sora's face while the other boy still struggled to hold up his end of the phone conversation. Too bad Sora could hardly remember why he'd called Kairi in the first place... Or even what the girl had said only seconds ago.

Well, when in doubt, there was always one excuse Sora could use.

"I... forgot what I was going to say." At least it was the truth. Not the whole truth, but a truth nonetheless.

"You forgot what you were going to say."

"..." Sora completely forgot about responding to Kairi as Riku smiled softly before capturing Sora's lips in a light, tentative kiss, the fruity taste of wine still lingering on Riku's mouth. The younger boy found that he actually liked the wine much better when Riku served as a glass...

"Sora!" Eyes widening, Sora blushed deeply as Riku allowed him to break the kiss, the phone instantly returning to his ear where Sora would have kept it, were it not for Riku's sudden action... Some part of Sora's mind was still trying to figure out a way to get out of the entire situation, but the shock from Riku's kiss as well as the light dosage of alcohol was making everything more then a little difficult for poor Sora to figure out.

"Huh?"

"Where the heck are you?" Okay, now it seemed as though Kairi was getting a bit upset. But then again, if females really did have the power to know everything and Kairi knew that Sora had been 'preoccupied' with Riku while on the phone with her... Well, it was understandable as to why she'd be upset then.

"I'm..." Sora found Riku pressing his wine glass into his free hand with a small smirk before the older boy leant down to gently nip at Sora's neck. Honestly, could Riku possibly make it more difficult for Sora to hold a normal phone conversation? Well, yes, he probably could. "Ri-kuuuu..."

"What?!" Whoops. Sora hadn't exactly meant for Kairi to hear that. But Riku was nudging the wine glass towards his mouth, so Sora willingly took a large sip from the glass, now enjoying the tang of the wine, before his attention wavered back to Kairi's distressed voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hmm?" It was all Sora could do to keep from giggling like an idiot as he realized the whole humor of the situation. Poor, poor Kairi.

"What's going on?!"

"I'm at... Riku's..."

"I see." Kairi did her best to keep in a weary sigh, not wanting to give Riku the satisfaction of knowing that he just really bothered the girl. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on at the other end of the phone. "So you won't be going to the beach then?"

"Ah..."

"Nevermind, Sora." Kairi glared icily at the phone as she slammed it down back in its cradle, suddenly aware of just how quickly she'd lost Sora to the silver haired boy. The whole thing was just sickening... What had happened to the old Sora? To her Sora? "Ugh!"

"Mm... Good job, Sora."

Sora burst into a fit of giggles he'd been holding back for the past five minutes, the phone still weakly hung in his hand while the other brought the wine glass back to his lips, allowing Sora to take another drink before chuckling more. "That was so mean!"

"I know." Riku laughed heartily along with Sora for a few moments before retuning the phone to its place on his desk.

Sora walked himself home that night, probably against his better judgment. Not that he really had much of it left by the time he waved farewell to Riku and began his trek back to his own house. Between the two of them, Riku and Sora had somehow managed to polish off two entire bottles of wine throughout the duration of the day, and Sora was slowly discovering that his alcohol tolerance, or lack thereof, was ridiculously low.

It took him several wrong turns and dead ends, but Sora eventually found his tipsy little way back to his own street and, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets innocently, his trudged up the front yard towards his small house, noting that one light was still on. Sora could only hope that Cloud had fallen asleep and just forgotten to turn it off, but even in his barely-coherent state, Sora knew that just wasn't going to be the case.

He had barely reached out his hand to clasp the doorknob before the front door seemed to swing open on its own accord, revealing a rather peeved looking Cloud, scowling down at his younger brother.

And suddenly Sora felt very sick.

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"Sora..." Cloud stood in the living room, looking worriedly at his younger brother who emerged from the bathroom after nearly half an hour spent trying to unsuccessfully control his stomach and its violent reaction to the wine he'd ingested that day. The last thing Sora really felt like doing was looking at Cloud, the perfect older brother. It would just send him through one hell of a guilt trip he didn't feel like going on right then.

"I don't feel well right now, Cloud, in case you couldn't tell. ...Leave me alone." With that, Sora turned to head towards his room, eager to escape the blonde's gaze as soon as he could. However, apparently Cloud had other ideas.
"Will you just get in here?" Sora turned and scowled at his older brother, through he knew Cloud wasn't exactly one to just let him walk free so easily. It wasn't Cloud's fault he was stuck looking out for Sora all the time, after all. But that kind of reasoning was a little bit beyond Sora's grasp at that moment as his stomach continued to churn unhappily and his tongue still hurt from the previous day. "You're so lucky Mom's not home. She'd flip if she saw you like this."

"Is that all?" Cloud didn't even notice that Sora had gotten his tongue pierced what kind of brother was he? Sora's previous scowl turned into an icy glare as he turned again to storm off towards his room, unaware of just how strange he was acting. "I'm going to bed now."

"Sora!" Some part of Sora's mind still willed him to stop when Cloud used that tone and Sora stopped walking dead in his tracks, though he didn't turn back to look at his older brother as Cloud continued to speak. "I shouldn't have to stay up all night worrying about what the hell my kid brother is up to." Cloud crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the back of Sora's head, practically willing his younger brother to turn around with his stare. "So why don't you enlighten me?"

Sure enough, Sora wheeled around to face Cloud, his blue eyes glittering with sudden anger. "What the fuck are you talking about?" How dare Cloud act as though Sora was the only one who had ever done anything wrong? Sora knew Cloud wasn't perfect. He had no reason to put on an attitude like everything he did was right.

"Sora, look at yourself!"

"What? What about it? If you don't like the way I am, why should I care?" Both brothers were raising their voices slowly but surely, each of them convinced that they were right and the other was wrong. There was nothing that could probably convince them otherwise, no matter how strong the proof and reliable the evidence. The other one was wrong and that was all that mattered.

Cloud seemed to realize what was going on and he stopped himself from yelling back a scathing response, instead taking in a deep breath of air and responding in the most calm tone he could manage at the moment. "Because I'm worried about you, Sora."

"Fuck you, Cloud. I don't need you to worry about me." Sora turned away again, walking quickly down the hallway and slamming his bedroom door behind him, muffling the sounds of Cloud's protests slightly, but not completely blocking them out as Cloud moved towards his brother's door, speaking to the wood paneling.

"Sora!" It was so frustrating... What had happened to the real Sora and who was this new person in his place? Leaning against the wall next to Sora's doorway, Cloud again regained control of his voice, speaking in a calm and controlled tone. "Tell me. Why is he so important to you? Does he make you feel loved? You've got love without him, Sora."

On the other side of the doorway, Sora sat crouched on the ground, still trying to figure everything out from earlier that day. What was Sora to Riku? Was he just extra baggage for the older boy to carry around? What he just a friend? Was he something more?

"You don't know anything about Riku, so just shut up!"

"You know who he looks like, Sora, don't you?" Cloud closed his eyes as he tilted his head back to rest against the wall as well, trying desperately to think of a way to pull Sora back to his senses. He never thought he would every miss his brother so much.

"Shut up, Cloud! Just leave me alone!" What did Sora mean to Cloud, anyway? Cloud never wanted to look after him all the time, who would? What did Sora mean to Bryna, who was never around when he needed her anyway? What did Sora mean to Riku? Riku, Riku, Riku.

"His eyes are just like Dad's. Is that what you saw in him?" Sora's own eyes widened as his thoughts momentarily stopped racing around in his mind, carefully listening to the quiet words Cloud spoke from behind the closed door. "What did he see in you?" Cloud pushed himself away from the wall, turning to leave as he spoke one last time for that night. "Did he see my brother or the person you are now?" There was only so much he could take of trying to consolidate Sora for problems he'd only made for himself in the first place.

Once Sora was sure that Cloud was downstairs in the basement, the brunette finally curled in on himself, wrapping his arms around his knees, convinced that if he could make himself as small as possible, he would just disappear and stop bothering people. That was all he was, wasn't it? A small part of Sora's mind couldn't help but insist that someone had to need him. Riku needed him, after all.

"You don't know anything about Riku, so just shut up!"

But Sora didn't know anything about Riku either.

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Geeeh. Forgot to credit the song at the end of the last chapter to Everclear. It's called 'Unemployed Boyfriend.' One of my all-time favorites. The song used in this chapter... Well, I have no idea who it's by. T____T My sister put it on a CD for me which she in turn got from her friend, so somewhere along the line the name of the song and who sings it just got lost. So my apologies to the song writer/singer/whatever.

Now then! I'd like to thank everyone who wished me a happy birthday. ^^ I did have a rather good time, though I gave everyone in my house the sickness I'd had, so for the past few days, everyone around here's been too sick to do much. Ah well, shit happens. Stay tuned for next weeks sloooow update!

Things are slowly starting to gear up and turn towards the real meaning of this fic. Abstinence! ...I'm kidding. REALLY. *laughs at her own joke* Anyway, I'd like to just notify you all, because several people have brought it to my attention... Some people seem to think this story is going to be fluffy. Like all my other stories. Well, just remember, I'm basing it off a movie. And let me tell you, I closed my eyes several times during that movie because it was so depressing. (I'm odd...) So these upcoming chapters have angst. And a very distressed Sora. And while I'm on the topic of distressed people... I love Cloud. *hugs him*

Yes, this chapter was terribly dull, I know. ___ But as I said earlier, it needs to happen. It's the beginning of a string of bad things and... Yes. In short, I promise to try and make the next chapter extra special. ...Somehow.

Rambling: done.

~Ori