Embracing Hearts
Greetings all! This is one of my first Fanfic, so please shower me with gifts of praise. I would rather have that than flames. This may be drivel to some of those out there, but I put my heart.. or rather this character's heart into making this. Review! And enjoy! Oh, and some of the things may seem odd because this txt won't let me italicize. I know I should go through and fix it, but will for later chappies. I'm just lazy o.o . Sorry for the inconvience, me "special" writer.
Chapter 1
Phoenix.
He wasn't expecting to get out of this alive. Riku knew that he was sealing his own fate when he had helped Sora close the door. That one last farewell said all the things that Riku couldn't.
"Take care of her.." Riku said in a brotherly tone. All the hidden meanings in those four words. Brother..love..friend...apology...death...life..next life... So many emotions, connections. One couldn't count all the emotions in his words or expression. Adamantly, he had hoped that Sora would forgive him for all the wrongs he had caused him. And with one nod he had.
There was also a problem, King Mickey was stuck in the darkness with him. It would have been fine if he was by himself and faced death alone, but there was the king... There was someone that he had to take care of, and protect. He couldn't protect Sora or Kairi anymore.. Riku probably would never see them again.
The King's face wrinkled in consternation, as the small mouse thought of the possibilities of him seeing his wife again. Riku knew that is what he hoped for. But the marks at the corners of the King's mouth showed that the mouse knew that the possibilities were slim to none. Riku also hoped that he would see his friend Sora and Kairi again, and like Mickey's his face frowned at reality.
Mickey was looking glumly at the now closed door. Riku knew how he felt to leave loved ones. Riku had once thought that the darkness would bind his friend, and most of all.. Kairi with him. And that they would be together forever. The three of them. His body may have been taken over by Ansem, but this heart was still pure. Sure it wasn't the purest hearts of hearts, but it contained good nonetheless. Ansem couldn't take that away. All these trials had proved this. And just like all darkness, there was a light within. It may be weak but it is still there amid the bundles of shadows. Sora had said that and also had the balls to prove his theory true within the last moment.
Suddenly a light flared and dimmed behind him. He knew exactly what that meant. It meant that they would die, and darkness would win again. Riku smiled, though darkness had won here, it hadn't won against Sora. The door had been closed. Riku was weak. If only he hadn't fallen to darkness... if only...
Riku could picture the last second: a light flared with a strong purpose illuminating the king's body, then gradually dwindling until the light and Mickey's heart failed. The King's body had slumped in despair before the light died. Darkness descended on them.
Looking up at the sun the seventeen year old girl was pondering whether or not to walk home or to explore. The sun was overhead foretelling lunch with a promise of inescapable heat. No one could tell where this girl was heading with her silly mask upon her face. She was on a journey home, and no one or anything could stop her.
The Hikari family lived in Florida near the coast in an apartment complex. A little girl Tessa Hikari seemed as she skipped once in a while to avoid the cracks that "would break your momma's back," on the hot pavement. Silly superstition. Her eye sight was still marred by green spots of the glaring sun, but she ignored it and continued on. Taking a right at the next turn she saw all the beautiful houses just waiting for her amber eyes to rest their gaze on them. Tessa Hikari hurried on past with a small sigh. Someone yelled out her name with annoyance behind her. She slowly turned around to find her African American friend, Rachel Hobbs.
(First Person POV for Tessa)
"Tessa Hikari get your butt back here! You know better than to walk alone in this town." Our town of Jacksonville was quite a big city and that was considering it had the largest population of all the cities in Florida. I even more deeply sighed and turned around. Rachel jogged up to me with her little brother in tow. Her figure was slightly obese from all the fast food she had chugged down during her early and former years. Leaning towards my face she scrutinized me with her brown eyes, and 5'3" body. She was taller than I just like anyone else. I was small "like a bird," she would say often just like a grandma. I only reached to her nose and I was 4'9". Some would call me the dwarven mistress of God. When I examined her homely appearance, I saw the thing that I usually saw with aspiraty. Her hair was pulled back in corn rows of at least two hours work. Those locks always caught my attention. After all, who could put that much effort into hair?
"Whatcha thinking?" Rachel asked, pulling her six year old brother's arm towards her.
"I was thinking of how beautiful these houses are," I indicated a three story house with a nice lawn in front, "also wanted to go to the park."
"Hmmm. Should have figured it. You are always dreaming of something bigger." Rachel then looked down at her Walmart clothing and closed her eyes. When we were little we would always fantasize about expensive clothing, and jewelry. I patted her arm in understanding. We wouldn't ever get what we want. Reality was cold like that. "Well, anyways you shouldn't have walked around alone." She was a good friend, which is why she is always nagging about my hair-brainedness. I always forget important things to do even the smallest important thing.
I knew about her tough childhood, and she is still finding about mine. Her mother died in a subway with a bullet lodged in her chest. There was a drunk on there that was carrying a gun and just started to shoot everyone. Rachel's father took care of Rachel and her brother, but Rachel had to look over the kindergarten brat more than her mother did when she was alive. I met her dad once and he seemed a nice fellow in their five room apartment. Heck, it was better than where we were living. He is working for some company as a salesman, but rent is high in this city so their place or their possessions aren't the best. Leaning towards her face I got nose to nose with her and glared.
"Oh, the Miss Hikari thinking she is getting all high and mighty with me. You are forgetting that I am one year older than you," at this she stuck out her tongue.
"Yeah, yeah. Umm. I think I better get home. My mother will be home, and I have to make supper for my two sisters and... her." Widening her eyes in understanding we started to walk rapidly down the pavement to the next block and rounded a corner. As we continued on -me with my arms around my chest, and Rachel dragging her brother with her- the buildings became more shabbier.
"Well, this is my stop. Adios!" Rachel waved and walked to a not so shabby but kind of broken, ten story apartment complex. I waved goodbye and continued on. The sun was almost at the 3 o'clock point in the sky when I reached a dilapidated building. It was an barely standing building with shingles missing and an unweeded lawn. It was just awful. You could barely recognized it was a building except for the fifteen stories. We were on the fourteenth story so I had a lot of climbing to do because we lacked an elevator. On the sixth level I rested briefly as I helped an old lady I knew, back to her room. It was depressing to see such a worn and sad face to old to care anymore, for no one else cared. I talked a brief five minutes with her taking some cookies because it was impolite to refuse, and ran up four more levels before resting again then making my way up to our apartment. The carpet had holes in it and the lights flickered here and there as I went to a red door with the number 1420 on it in white paint. It was barely distinguishable since the paint chipped. Knocking twice I heard a click and the door opened to show a red haired youth about eight years old with bright green eyes. The exact mirror image appeared shortly behind her with a mischievous face.
"We don't want any!" The little girl yelled, and started to close the door as I stuck my foot there and replied, "Oh, I think you do for I am selling about three fairy tales for tonight and DINNER." Their mouths made little O's, then they decided to "kindly let me in." Patting each on her head, which was hard to do because they were getting bigger than I was, I made my way to the kitchen in our three room apartment. It was basically one small bathroom with a shower, one medium bedroom, and one huge room for the kitchen, dining room, and living room.
I looked over the big room and smiled at the girls. In one area we had our blankets and pillows on the floor, also a dresser for all of our clothing. In right corner was our "kitchen" of one stove, one refrigerator, one sink in a countertop, and below that was a small cabinet for additional food. In the middle of the room was a fifty year old couch which was sunk-in as it aged further. Near the couch sat a garage sale table with four poorly made chairs around it. The room didn't hold any pictures, only one big window near where our blankets were. It gave a nice breeze at night.
I poked each brat as I pulled the only thing left in our refrigerator of eggs, toast, and bacon. I started the bacon and assigned Jessie (one of the twins with a birthmark on her neck) to watch it. I then ordered Rebecca to watch Jessie, and implied "no mischief" in my tone. Walking to the window, I opened it to emanate a breeze as the sun descended farther. Whistling a tune, I strided into my mother's room. There was one full-size bed in the corner near a tiny window. At the foot was a dresser against the wall, and right beside the bed was a full-length mirror. A door to the right showed the bathroom. I looked at the clock atop the dresser. It read 5:30 p.m.
I heard one of the girls screech. Hmm. Must have been a mouse or a cockroach. I shivered at the thought of each crawling over us when we slept, but we had no choice. We had to sleep somewhere. I went up to the mirror and examined myself. My yellowish eyes peered from beneath chopped reddish-brown hair. Turning sideways I examined my figure. I was small like a child yet only my eyes told my age, as my body was grossly thin, and my eyes were underlined with bags and shadows. My small sized breasts swelled through a T-shirt that said B.U.M Equipment and cheap Salvation Army jeans bagged around my ankles. My feet were in flip flops in a size five and a half. I sighed thinking of my friend Rachel and laughed a little.
"HEEEEEEY! IT ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THAT COLOR!" Jessie was yelling at Rebecca, as I ran to the kitchen to see the charred remains of the bacon. I coughed at all the smoke coming off of it, and threw it in the trash can. Forcing myself to smile, I grinned at the girls and told them that it was okay, and "don't worry mom won't care." Secretly, I hoped she wouldn't but I knew she would. It was Monday today, and that's when mom got paid from her job at the restaurant. She always got drunk on whiskey with one of her "boyfriends," then come home with a bottle of more, sometimes even with one of her garbage boyfriends.
"Why don't you go over to Mrs. Garfield next door and eat there. I am sure you would like to play with Jeremy.... Ask her if you can spend the night too." Their eyes widened with delight as they opened the door, saying a brief goodbye and ran out. I heard them knock and ask Mrs. Garfield all this. She said yes, like I knew she would. She knew how our mom was on Mondays. Rebecca returned and said that it was okay, grabbed a few pillows and blankets.
"You know you owe us those fairy tales tomorrow," she said with a glint in her eyes. I nodded, gave her a kiss, and told her to give one to Jessie from me too. When she left the room seemed darker, the shadows deeper, the breeze colder, and the silence was terrible. I sang briefly to myself.
"When you walk away,
You don't hear me say,
Please, oh, baby, don't go...." I picked up a little around the house and checked the clock. It was now 6:00. Any minute now, and she would be home. I sat on the couch holding a library book. It was by George R.R. Martin's A Storm of Swords. It was due tomorrow, and I was near the end.
I was about done, when I looked up to find a bird perched on the window ledge. Getting up on impulse I walked slowly up to it. Without disturbing the bird, I kneeled in front of it and reached out a trembling hand. It landed on my hand, and nuzzled it! Confused, I sat there staring at it. I then reached out my other hand to pet it gently. The bird chirped happily, and flew off whistling. I shook my head and returned to the couch, stunned. I sat there for a few minutes just staring and thinking rapidly. Letting out a breath, I figured I had imagined it and opened my book. Soon it got too dark to read and so I closed the window, then turned on both lights in the wide room. Then I went to the couch and laid there until I fell asleep.
Greetings all! This is one of my first Fanfic, so please shower me with gifts of praise. I would rather have that than flames. This may be drivel to some of those out there, but I put my heart.. or rather this character's heart into making this. Review! And enjoy! Oh, and some of the things may seem odd because this txt won't let me italicize. I know I should go through and fix it, but will for later chappies. I'm just lazy o.o . Sorry for the inconvience, me "special" writer.
Chapter 1
Phoenix.
He wasn't expecting to get out of this alive. Riku knew that he was sealing his own fate when he had helped Sora close the door. That one last farewell said all the things that Riku couldn't.
"Take care of her.." Riku said in a brotherly tone. All the hidden meanings in those four words. Brother..love..friend...apology...death...life..next life... So many emotions, connections. One couldn't count all the emotions in his words or expression. Adamantly, he had hoped that Sora would forgive him for all the wrongs he had caused him. And with one nod he had.
There was also a problem, King Mickey was stuck in the darkness with him. It would have been fine if he was by himself and faced death alone, but there was the king... There was someone that he had to take care of, and protect. He couldn't protect Sora or Kairi anymore.. Riku probably would never see them again.
The King's face wrinkled in consternation, as the small mouse thought of the possibilities of him seeing his wife again. Riku knew that is what he hoped for. But the marks at the corners of the King's mouth showed that the mouse knew that the possibilities were slim to none. Riku also hoped that he would see his friend Sora and Kairi again, and like Mickey's his face frowned at reality.
Mickey was looking glumly at the now closed door. Riku knew how he felt to leave loved ones. Riku had once thought that the darkness would bind his friend, and most of all.. Kairi with him. And that they would be together forever. The three of them. His body may have been taken over by Ansem, but this heart was still pure. Sure it wasn't the purest hearts of hearts, but it contained good nonetheless. Ansem couldn't take that away. All these trials had proved this. And just like all darkness, there was a light within. It may be weak but it is still there amid the bundles of shadows. Sora had said that and also had the balls to prove his theory true within the last moment.
Suddenly a light flared and dimmed behind him. He knew exactly what that meant. It meant that they would die, and darkness would win again. Riku smiled, though darkness had won here, it hadn't won against Sora. The door had been closed. Riku was weak. If only he hadn't fallen to darkness... if only...
Riku could picture the last second: a light flared with a strong purpose illuminating the king's body, then gradually dwindling until the light and Mickey's heart failed. The King's body had slumped in despair before the light died. Darkness descended on them.
Looking up at the sun the seventeen year old girl was pondering whether or not to walk home or to explore. The sun was overhead foretelling lunch with a promise of inescapable heat. No one could tell where this girl was heading with her silly mask upon her face. She was on a journey home, and no one or anything could stop her.
The Hikari family lived in Florida near the coast in an apartment complex. A little girl Tessa Hikari seemed as she skipped once in a while to avoid the cracks that "would break your momma's back," on the hot pavement. Silly superstition. Her eye sight was still marred by green spots of the glaring sun, but she ignored it and continued on. Taking a right at the next turn she saw all the beautiful houses just waiting for her amber eyes to rest their gaze on them. Tessa Hikari hurried on past with a small sigh. Someone yelled out her name with annoyance behind her. She slowly turned around to find her African American friend, Rachel Hobbs.
(First Person POV for Tessa)
"Tessa Hikari get your butt back here! You know better than to walk alone in this town." Our town of Jacksonville was quite a big city and that was considering it had the largest population of all the cities in Florida. I even more deeply sighed and turned around. Rachel jogged up to me with her little brother in tow. Her figure was slightly obese from all the fast food she had chugged down during her early and former years. Leaning towards my face she scrutinized me with her brown eyes, and 5'3" body. She was taller than I just like anyone else. I was small "like a bird," she would say often just like a grandma. I only reached to her nose and I was 4'9". Some would call me the dwarven mistress of God. When I examined her homely appearance, I saw the thing that I usually saw with aspiraty. Her hair was pulled back in corn rows of at least two hours work. Those locks always caught my attention. After all, who could put that much effort into hair?
"Whatcha thinking?" Rachel asked, pulling her six year old brother's arm towards her.
"I was thinking of how beautiful these houses are," I indicated a three story house with a nice lawn in front, "also wanted to go to the park."
"Hmmm. Should have figured it. You are always dreaming of something bigger." Rachel then looked down at her Walmart clothing and closed her eyes. When we were little we would always fantasize about expensive clothing, and jewelry. I patted her arm in understanding. We wouldn't ever get what we want. Reality was cold like that. "Well, anyways you shouldn't have walked around alone." She was a good friend, which is why she is always nagging about my hair-brainedness. I always forget important things to do even the smallest important thing.
I knew about her tough childhood, and she is still finding about mine. Her mother died in a subway with a bullet lodged in her chest. There was a drunk on there that was carrying a gun and just started to shoot everyone. Rachel's father took care of Rachel and her brother, but Rachel had to look over the kindergarten brat more than her mother did when she was alive. I met her dad once and he seemed a nice fellow in their five room apartment. Heck, it was better than where we were living. He is working for some company as a salesman, but rent is high in this city so their place or their possessions aren't the best. Leaning towards her face I got nose to nose with her and glared.
"Oh, the Miss Hikari thinking she is getting all high and mighty with me. You are forgetting that I am one year older than you," at this she stuck out her tongue.
"Yeah, yeah. Umm. I think I better get home. My mother will be home, and I have to make supper for my two sisters and... her." Widening her eyes in understanding we started to walk rapidly down the pavement to the next block and rounded a corner. As we continued on -me with my arms around my chest, and Rachel dragging her brother with her- the buildings became more shabbier.
"Well, this is my stop. Adios!" Rachel waved and walked to a not so shabby but kind of broken, ten story apartment complex. I waved goodbye and continued on. The sun was almost at the 3 o'clock point in the sky when I reached a dilapidated building. It was an barely standing building with shingles missing and an unweeded lawn. It was just awful. You could barely recognized it was a building except for the fifteen stories. We were on the fourteenth story so I had a lot of climbing to do because we lacked an elevator. On the sixth level I rested briefly as I helped an old lady I knew, back to her room. It was depressing to see such a worn and sad face to old to care anymore, for no one else cared. I talked a brief five minutes with her taking some cookies because it was impolite to refuse, and ran up four more levels before resting again then making my way up to our apartment. The carpet had holes in it and the lights flickered here and there as I went to a red door with the number 1420 on it in white paint. It was barely distinguishable since the paint chipped. Knocking twice I heard a click and the door opened to show a red haired youth about eight years old with bright green eyes. The exact mirror image appeared shortly behind her with a mischievous face.
"We don't want any!" The little girl yelled, and started to close the door as I stuck my foot there and replied, "Oh, I think you do for I am selling about three fairy tales for tonight and DINNER." Their mouths made little O's, then they decided to "kindly let me in." Patting each on her head, which was hard to do because they were getting bigger than I was, I made my way to the kitchen in our three room apartment. It was basically one small bathroom with a shower, one medium bedroom, and one huge room for the kitchen, dining room, and living room.
I looked over the big room and smiled at the girls. In one area we had our blankets and pillows on the floor, also a dresser for all of our clothing. In right corner was our "kitchen" of one stove, one refrigerator, one sink in a countertop, and below that was a small cabinet for additional food. In the middle of the room was a fifty year old couch which was sunk-in as it aged further. Near the couch sat a garage sale table with four poorly made chairs around it. The room didn't hold any pictures, only one big window near where our blankets were. It gave a nice breeze at night.
I poked each brat as I pulled the only thing left in our refrigerator of eggs, toast, and bacon. I started the bacon and assigned Jessie (one of the twins with a birthmark on her neck) to watch it. I then ordered Rebecca to watch Jessie, and implied "no mischief" in my tone. Walking to the window, I opened it to emanate a breeze as the sun descended farther. Whistling a tune, I strided into my mother's room. There was one full-size bed in the corner near a tiny window. At the foot was a dresser against the wall, and right beside the bed was a full-length mirror. A door to the right showed the bathroom. I looked at the clock atop the dresser. It read 5:30 p.m.
I heard one of the girls screech. Hmm. Must have been a mouse or a cockroach. I shivered at the thought of each crawling over us when we slept, but we had no choice. We had to sleep somewhere. I went up to the mirror and examined myself. My yellowish eyes peered from beneath chopped reddish-brown hair. Turning sideways I examined my figure. I was small like a child yet only my eyes told my age, as my body was grossly thin, and my eyes were underlined with bags and shadows. My small sized breasts swelled through a T-shirt that said B.U.M Equipment and cheap Salvation Army jeans bagged around my ankles. My feet were in flip flops in a size five and a half. I sighed thinking of my friend Rachel and laughed a little.
"HEEEEEEY! IT ISN'T SUPPOSED TO BE THAT COLOR!" Jessie was yelling at Rebecca, as I ran to the kitchen to see the charred remains of the bacon. I coughed at all the smoke coming off of it, and threw it in the trash can. Forcing myself to smile, I grinned at the girls and told them that it was okay, and "don't worry mom won't care." Secretly, I hoped she wouldn't but I knew she would. It was Monday today, and that's when mom got paid from her job at the restaurant. She always got drunk on whiskey with one of her "boyfriends," then come home with a bottle of more, sometimes even with one of her garbage boyfriends.
"Why don't you go over to Mrs. Garfield next door and eat there. I am sure you would like to play with Jeremy.... Ask her if you can spend the night too." Their eyes widened with delight as they opened the door, saying a brief goodbye and ran out. I heard them knock and ask Mrs. Garfield all this. She said yes, like I knew she would. She knew how our mom was on Mondays. Rebecca returned and said that it was okay, grabbed a few pillows and blankets.
"You know you owe us those fairy tales tomorrow," she said with a glint in her eyes. I nodded, gave her a kiss, and told her to give one to Jessie from me too. When she left the room seemed darker, the shadows deeper, the breeze colder, and the silence was terrible. I sang briefly to myself.
"When you walk away,
You don't hear me say,
Please, oh, baby, don't go...." I picked up a little around the house and checked the clock. It was now 6:00. Any minute now, and she would be home. I sat on the couch holding a library book. It was by George R.R. Martin's A Storm of Swords. It was due tomorrow, and I was near the end.
I was about done, when I looked up to find a bird perched on the window ledge. Getting up on impulse I walked slowly up to it. Without disturbing the bird, I kneeled in front of it and reached out a trembling hand. It landed on my hand, and nuzzled it! Confused, I sat there staring at it. I then reached out my other hand to pet it gently. The bird chirped happily, and flew off whistling. I shook my head and returned to the couch, stunned. I sat there for a few minutes just staring and thinking rapidly. Letting out a breath, I figured I had imagined it and opened my book. Soon it got too dark to read and so I closed the window, then turned on both lights in the wide room. Then I went to the couch and laid there until I fell asleep.
