Hi. Thanx to my reviewers!
Sora
Everything is spinning, so rapidly. It's like my world is upside down, then side ways, then regular, only to be flipped again. And suddenly, it's not my world anymore. Everything is bright and pure white, like the sun turned on high. Through the swirling images, I can see a man. He looks like Riku except older, and there isn't as much pain in his eyes.
Not that Riku is somebody to be sympathized with! He's an insufferable spoiled brat who believes he can do anything he wants. He even thought he could get away with hitting my sister! The whole teaching me how to read thing was just to get under my skin so he could hurt me, so he could betray me.
"Now, now, why do you think that?" A cheery voice pipes up in my mind. I can see her, floating in front of me. While her voice and personality definitely seem to be more like Selphie, she looks a lot like Kairi. Her hair is similar, and though they have different colors, her eyes look the same as well.
"Look kid. Riku cares for you, he really does. He just doesn't know it yet, k!" She's definitely a lot like Selphie. The other person, the Riku-like one, seems to agree, though he looks much more laid back, like a mixture between amused, drunk, stoic, and evil, but yet none of those seem to fit him.
"It's done." The silver haired one tells the more energetic one. Who are these people?
"We're gods!" The hyper one replies. "Now, wake up, Sora!"
I open my eyes to look at the beautiful sunrise. I feel a wait across my lap, and another one on my shoulder. Selphie's curled up on top of me, like a cat, and Riku's leaning against my side, halfway on the bed, and halfway on the chair beside it. He looks so peaceful resting there. The god's words echo in my head.
Riku, care for me? Yeah right, he probably hates me. On that thought I gently lift Selphie off of me, rudely letting Riku's head drop from my shoulder. It lands on the bed and Riku looks up, yawning. He stretches lazily, lifting his arms above his head, and his shirt lifts a bit, giving me a clear view of his stomach, guttural hair trailing down the waistband of his pants. Leaving the rest up to imagination. Unfortunately for me, I have a very vivid imagination.
He gets up, leaving me drooling, staring at his ass as he leaves the room. I awaken Selphie gently, and she stares up at me with tired eyes. "Five more minutes," she grumbles and abruptly falls back asleep. This time I shake her harder, and she awakes with a start.
"Ohh!" She exclaims, running out of the room. Tiredly, I change into my clothes. I pull off my shirt, but before I can slip on a new one, a hand on my bare shoulder stops me. The hand is warm and dry, callused and large. I turn and see Riku staring at me. He gives my body an appreciative glance before he looks away.
"You won't be wearing those clothes. All of us need to wear more comfortable clothes, so that it's easier to fight." I look at him. He's not being hypocritical. Instead of his usual clothes, he's wearing a tighter fitting wool sleeveless shirt and foreign looking pants the are full length and slightly baggy at the ends. He also has leather boots and leather gloves that barely cover his hands. His hair is pulled back into a low ponytail, long bangs framing his face. I cloak is set on his broad shoulders, contrasting his pale sin and making him look very exotic. The only colors on his face are the pink of his lips and the aqua of his eyes. It's an unusual, very foreign look, but it's very dark and sexy. Not that I like him or anything.
He hands me a bundle of clothes, but I don't argue. There's no time. If I want to find my sisters alive, I have to go with him. It's not a choice.
I don't particularly like my clothes. It's all wool, and a faded red. The shorts go down to my knees, and a red shirt covers my arms. White gloves with the fingers cut out fit my hands perfectly, and a black traveling cloak with white trim that only goes down to my knees completes the outfit. Unlike Riku, who looks dark, dangerous, and unbelievably sexy, a look like a cute little boy. I pout a little, only making it look worse. Suddenly, something falls out of the cloak's pocket. It's a silver chain with a crown on the end. Riku stares at it with suppressed horror, as if it's not supposed to be there, and I smile. Well, if Mr. High-and-mighty doesn't want me to wear it, then I might as well wear it.
I fasten the clasp around my neck, and smile at my reflection. Somehow the chain adds the perfect door. I don't realize Riku's gone until the door slams behind me. Shrugging, I grab some extra clothes from my closet and throw them into my traveling bag.
I turn to follow Riku out of the room, but I trip over something and almost fall flat on my face. Angrily, I turn to face the culprit, only to find the most beautiful sword I've ever seen before on the ground. The handle has an elaborate dragon wrapped around it with ruby eyes. The silver glints off the sun, reflecting the silver all over the room in a rainbow assortment of colors. It's gorgeous.
Suddenly, a fit of coughing over comes over me, and I collapse on the ground. I lift a hand from my mouth and see blood. So maybe, they didn't make me completely better. It doesn't matter. I need to find Namine and Kairi.
Wearily, I lift myself from the ground and strap the sword to my waist. I walk down the several flights of stairs to the kitchen, where I find Riku and Selphie already about to leave. I wobble slightly, and Riku gives me a slightly worried look before he covers it with the usual coldness.
Riku really cares for you.
And pigs can fly. Seriously, Riku doesn't even like me. Another part of my head argues that if he didn't like me he wouldn't help me, but I tune that part out. Riku has two bags slung over his shoulder. One is probably filled with his clothes, and the other is filled with food and water. I can tell it's water from the leather of the jugs sticking out.
"Are you ready to go?" He asks in his calm, cold voice. I used to think there was pain behind that voice, but I don't hear it anymore.
"Yeah," I answer, equally cold. My voice sounds weird, even to my ears. I'm not used to being mean, but Riku deserves it. He almost hit my sister!
We head out of the castle, along the road heading away from shore, back towards town. Why are we heading this way? Why not to the ocean? Wouldn't that be the easiest escape route?
"Why are we heading this way?" I ask, voicing my thoughts.
"I didn't see anybody going out to sea, so this is the only other logical way." That makes sense, kind of.
The trail is boring, familiar from all the times I've walked it as a child. Soon we make it to town. I look around at the people, they're starving and it's all Riku's fault! Now I remember why Kairi and Namine hated him so much. He keeps his gaze focused on the road, and it never strays to the peasants. I give him a pleading look. I can't stand to see my people starve, and I can't watch people suffer for wrongs they have never committed.
Casually, he grabs a few golden coins from his pocket and slings them into the crowd. The peasants lungs at them, fighting for them as if their lives depend on it, which they probably do. Those poor people, it's almost shocking to think that I was one only a week and a half ago. Riku took us away from all of that.
Riku really cares for you, he really does…And hell is actually freezing cold.
We continue our track, heading through the town. I pass by my old home, and I can see it's already been taken over by other starving people. I smile a bit. Maybe the shelter will save their lives like it did for us.
By the end of the day we've made it through the town, but the sunken in hungry faces of the people haunt me. I glance over to Selphie and see even her usually cheerful demeanor is gloomy. Riku looks as calm as always, and that makes me hate him even more.
"How can you be so god damned cold about that? Those people are starving to death! How can you not care?" For a second he's silent and I guess he's ignoring me, until he speaks, voice barely above a whisper, silver bangs hiding his eyes.
"Everybody dies someday, so does it really matter how they live?" His words sicken me. How can he think that? How can anyone see life, a precious gift, as something so worthless? In my anger I throw a punch at him, but he dodges, and I get thrown off balance. I quickly right myself and lunge again, but I miss once more. He's so infuriating, so despicable. His cold attitude, his hidden pain, his beautiful silver hair, his ocean-shaded eyes, his ticklish spots, how he seems to be bipolar. I hate everything about him, yet I don't. It's a mystery, one huge contradiction, just like Riku.
I just confused myself. I fit of dizziness strikes me, and everything's spinning. It's upside down and sideways, diagonal and still moving. Before I totally loose all sensation, I can feel strong arms encompass me, catching me. A steady heart beat pounding against my ear is the last thing I hear before I'm there again.
"Hello?" I call out, hoping to see the cheery brunet god that reminds me of a Selphie/Kairi hybrid, or even the Riku like god with the oddest eyes. Everything's empty. Desperately, I turn the corner into a room, a conference room. Four people, or gods, since I can see the girl and the silver haired man there, are staring at a reflective surface.
"Hello?" I ask, anxiously. "Do any of you know why I'm here?" A blonde man, who looks remarkably like me, except for the color of his hair, id the first to see me. He looks from me to the glass and back.
"How?" He asks. His voice is deep and quiet yet worried, and it draws the other gods' attention to me. The other two from before are here, and there's a new one, a man with brown hair and stormy gray/blue eyes.
"Hello Sora!" The female says to me. She runs up to me and shakes my hand, but her fingers go right through mine.
"Oh!" She says, looking confused. "What's up with this?"
"He must be dreaming, and it took him here." The silver-haired one smiles. "Either that or he's unconscious or dead. So Sora, would you like to go back?" Would I? He's pointing at the weird mirror in the center of the room.
I nod. Right now I don't think I could say anything, since I don't trust my mouth. I walk over to them and gaze into the shimmery mirror like surface they were looking into.
It's us! I can see, Riku and Selphie, and even myself. Riku's still carrying his own bags, along with me. Why is he carrying me? Aren't I capable of walking? And how can I be there, when I'm here?
I take another step forward and take a closer look at the moving picture. Every now and then, Riku will glance worriedly down at my still form and hold me closer. Riku worried? I must be imagining things. Selphie seems to be tired and bored, and she's slouching, being melodramatic and dragging herself down the path. It's kind of funny, seeing bright cheery Selphie act like that, but then again it may not even be real.
I also notice how she's dressed. She's wearing clothes fit for a bar wench! A short yellow dress with her unusual weapon at her waist, and worn shoes; the dress barely covers anything! I can't believe cheery innocent little Selphie is wearing something like that!
I lean in closer, almost touching the odd material, and suddenly I fall into the mirror I was watching. It feels awful! It's like a huge bucket of ice was just poured over me, and then someone decided to cook me, steaming hot and freezing cold at the same time. My heart feels funny, like it's trying to tear itself out of my body, and I can see myself down there, in Riku's arms. I smash into my body, and it feels like I just fell from a cliff and landed on the pointy parts of the rocks bellow. I fall into darkness, beautiful, painless darkness, and go to sleep in Riku's arms.
When I wake up, it's in an interesting position. Someone, most probably Riku, lit a fire, and the food and other supplies are stored by Riku. Once again, Selphie snuggled the closest warm thing, which just happens to be me. I pull her off of me, and climb off of the blanket we were lying on. Oh! I forgot to pack one, so she had to share with me. Of course, Riku wasn't courteous to give up his blanket.
He's acting like he's asleep, but somehow I know he's not. He's keeping watch, a hand at Soul Eater, ready to draw at a moment's notice.
Riku really does care for you…I climb into his blankets, but I still leave a respectable amount of space between us. After all, we're barely even tolerable of each other. Or at least, I can barely tolerate him. I can't trust him… Then what am I doing? Ignoring the part of me that just asked that, I snuggle deeper into the blankets. They smell like Riku. It's a nice smell.
Besides me, Riku shifts. "So," he asks, "does this men we're friends again?" He doesn't sound very concerned, bored actually, but I can tell he's worried, or else he wouldn't of bothered to ask.
Are we still friends? It's so confusing. "I don't know," I answer truthfully, "but I don't hate you anymore."
It true, somehow I can't bring myself to hate him. There's this art of me that refuses to do it. I think it's the same part of me that can see the pain deep inside him, the part of me that can admire his beauty, the part of me that can see the good person hidden deep within him.
Somehow, it just doesn't feel right to hate him.
From that night on I slept in his blankets with him. We passed plenty of towns and have plenty of money to buy blankets, we just haven't. It's been almost a week, and besides a few hints from the local villagers that we've passed, there haven't been any sightings of the mysterious cloaked men.
Tonight we face another night in the woods. As usual, Riku finds a clearing and lights a fire, and we set up camp. As usual, Selphie sets up her blanket on one side of the fire, and as usual, Riku sets his up on the other side. I climb into his blankets, and he gets in beside me, our sides brushing as we climb in next to each other. Every night we seem to get closer and closer until now we're touching. Every time he moves, it sends an electric feeling down me to my groin. When he finally falls asleep late at night, the way his head is slightly tilted to the side, exposing his smooth pale neck, and the way he's so slim and yet so muscular at the same time. His long silver hair, aquamarine eyes, pale pink lips, everything. God, was he blessed with a beautiful body.
Tonight, we break routine. Instead of slipping into an awkward silence with one of us, usually me, blushing at the other's close proximity, I open my mouth to speak.
"So, what's your favorite color?" I ask, surprising myself. What a way to start a conversation. Riku pauses for a moment, before he answers.
"Blue." It's as simple as that. No explanation why, no shade, just the color, and oddly enough, it's the color of my eyes. I blush a bit at that, but there's no way Riku likes blue because of my eyes.
"Yours?" He asks, and I smile.
Visions of his silver hair sparkling in the moonlight flash through my mind, and his mysterious aquamarine eyes. Silver and Aqua, my favorite colors, but I can't admit that, so instead I say, "red."
He pauses for a second before he mumbles something under his breath and rolls away from me. What did I do? Did I say something wrong?
He finally falls asleep at around midnight , and he rolls onto his back. He looks so vulnerable there. Eyes closed, giving him a very innocent look that vanishes when he opens his eyes, and his body, one arm on his stomach, catching the material of his shirt and exposing hi muscled stomach, the other thrown to his side, neck tilted and silver hair a halo around his head…
I want to touch him so badly right now. He'll never know will he? I mean he is asleep. Slowly, I cup his cheek with my hand, tracing his lips before I can stop myself. He looks so comfortable, and he's so warm. Slowly, I wrap my arms around him and climb on top of him, careful to be absolutely silent as not to disturb him. I push my head into his chest, snuggling even further into him. I hear him stir slightly, and close my eyes, well almost. I leave them open just a crack. He looks at me, not realizing I'm awake, and smiles. Suddenly, I can feel his warm lips pressed against my forehead, and even after he pulls away, I can still feel the tingle from his lips.
Riku really cares for you…I hope she didn't mean that in a brother to brother or father to don way, because I think…
I think I'm falling for Riku.
We haven't really talked much, but the silence between us isn't hostile anymore either. Sometimes he'll flash me a smile, and I'll return it, and every night the two of us spar, Selphie cheering for both of us and throwing sticks at Riku when he's beating me too badly.
Tonight is one of those nights. Selphie starts throwing sticks at Riku, laughing as he tries to either dodge or block all of them. Using his distraction as my advantage, I lunge at him, tackling him to the ground. I tickle his sides, and he bursts out laughing, shaking and trying to get away.
"Sora, stop!" I laugh at that particular comment. Wasn't he the one who taught me never to let an enemy walk away unharmed? I pin his arms to the ground over his head and stop the torture. I lean down, my lips brushing his ear.
"Only if you say you loose," I whisper. He shivers, and I smile, but as soon as I start to dwell on my victory, Riku flips us over so that he's on top and I'm on bottom.
"I never loose Sora," he smirks, his long silver hair undone and brushing my face. He leans in, closing the space between us, and I can see his eyes sparkling with emotions I've never seen in them, lust, happiness, and hundreds of other unidentifiable feelings. Then his lips are on mine, and there isn't any time to think about anything besides his sweet lips. They're soft and he tastes like sugar. The moment is pure bliss until a gasp startles us. Riku pulls away and falls backwards off of me, and I just tilt my head up to see a very angry looking Selphie.
"Sora! How could you? We're supposed to be looking for your sisters and you're off kissing the royal slut! There's no time to waste on romance, they could be dead Sora! They could be dead!" And so the guilt settles in. How could I have been so irresponsible? How could I let my emotions get in the way of anything? Riku and I are barely even friends, much less any more.
"Sorry Selph," I tell her. She looks at me, and then Riku, and slowly she calms down before walking away. I glance over to Riku, but the cold emotionless mask is on again.
"Riku?" I ask. He brushes himself off and strolls out into the forest, muttering something about more firewood. I had come so far, for nothing. The mask has come back, and I'll probably never see who he really is again. But that's a good thing, right? I mean I don't care about him, right? My mind is saying yes, I don't care, but my heart is screaming no.
That night, I sleep in Selphie's blankets.
The next morning, Riku wakes up and immediately leaves to take a bath. I start to follow him, I mean Riku naked, who wouldn't? Ten I remember, I can't have that with Riku. I'll just take my bath tomorrow.
I clean up the camp, rolling the blankets and dousing the fire. Neither Selphie or Riku are in sight, probably to get out of the cleaning…
"Stupid Selphie! Stupid Riku!"
"You called?" A relatively cold yet definitely amused voice asks. Riku walks back, hair slightly wet, but unfortunately fully clothes. Unfortunately…What kind of pervert am I becoming? I take a good look at Riku's perfect body. At least I'm a pervert with a good sense in men.
"We have to get going," he says. "I found this." He holds up a scrap piece of lavender cloth. The same color Kairi was wearing on that day.
"The wind couldn't of blown it here because it was firmly lodged beneath a rock. Purposely, almost." That means, Kairi and Namine are still alive, and they're leaving us a trail to follow!
Selphie walks in behind me, apparently she heard what Riku said, because she pumps a fist into the air and cheers. I'm still worried though. We haven't found them yet, and anything can still happen.
"Let's go!" I smile, and Riku grabs the two bags, hefting them over his shoulder before he leads the way out of camp.
We climb over several logs, slowly making our way towards the place where Riku found the strip of cloth. Then I see it. Another one stuck up in a tree. I can't believe Riku didn't see that one before.
"Hey Riku! Look over here!" I point to the lavender strip of silk, dirtied and tied. Riku glares at it.
"If you were a hostage, being dragged away by rough captors, how, pray tell, would you get a strip of cloth into a tree?" Silence follows his question as we all think about what he just said… He's right, if Kairi and Namine were held captive, how would they get one of their strips of clothing tied around the top of a tree? Suddenly a rustling in the bush catches my attention. Selphie gasps and grabs onto my arm, and Riku unsheathes Soul Eater.
"Be on your guard," Riku says, moving in front of us. "We're not alone."
Heaven
"How could we not sense them!" Yuffie, the female god cries out, horrified. All of the four gods are silent, and the victorious smirk is wiped from Seph's face.
"What if they die?" Yuffie continues ranting, pacing around the small room. "Everything will be ruined! Who are these people, and how do they escape the eyes of the gods?" Silence is prevalent around the room. Indeed, who is capable of escaping the all-seeing eyes of the gods?
"We must take this in stride," Cloud says, light blue eyes closed, and a hand cupping a weary face, too tired for such a youthful composure. "We all know that Riku can't die."
Once again there is silence, until the brunette god, Leon, breaks it. "Yes, but the other two can die. The female is not important to us, but if the boy dies…" His silence is frightening. All of the gods know what it means, and yet they fear to say it, until green eyes stare into the reflective pool and Sephiroth answers the unasked question. "We'll have no choice but to move onto the second option."
There's a pause, and he continues. "But for now, we must trust them. Those two would not be the chosen ones if they could die so easily. So for now we watch…" This comment seems to be ironic to the other members of the room. They were chosen to be gods to help people, and they are the most powerful beings in the universe, but right now, all they can do is watch.
