6H:Hello and welcome to chapter 25! This chapter is for Dragon and Sword Master, who told me awhile back he wished this fic was Cedeile/Sora. Well, I'll ease your pain a little! YAY! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Anaretsu: meh.
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Kingdom Hearts-Shattered Fragments
Fragment 25-Star Gazer
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The sun began to set over the enchanted storybook world as Cedeile and Sora made their way to an area where a stream ran through and a bridge linked the path to the other side. A tree with a swing stood atop a huge hill that bent over the river. It was very quiet and the crickets began their nightly serenade. The two friends leaned on the bridge railing and watched the water beneath them, their own relflections looking back at them.
"It's really peaceful around here. It's weird not to have to fight the heartless." she said, flicking a stone into the water below.
"I know. That's what I was thinking the first time I came here. Now, I just come back every once in awhile to relax after a particurally hard battle. So, what have your adventures been like, Cedeile?" Sora asked, looking at her. She still kept her gaze on the water.
"It's been really fun. Ryu, Aru and I make a great team. I really like hanging out with them too. We're all great friends already, and we put complete trust in each other. It's kind of weird that it all clicked so fast, but when you're involved in battles of life and death, then you learn that you hafta rely on the people around you. We've gone to three worlds so far-Nightville, The Colusieum, and McFuzz Town. We just got back from there, and they were really creepy at first, but once we got to know them, they weren't really creepy at all."
"I've gone to Wonderland, Deep Jungle, and also the Colusieum, where we just were. I fought in a tournament with Donald and Goofy, and we met this guy named Cloud. I've made alot of other friends in the other worlds, but I've run into alot of heartless also. And in Wonderland, there was this girl named Alice, but she got kidnapped by the heartless. I felt bad that we never found her."
"Yeah, that sucks. Kind of like the pain in my leg."
"You're hurt?" he asked, a tone of worry in his voice.
"It's no big deal. It's almost healed anyway. But I guess I shouldn't have shown off so much before, cause it's been bothering me." Cedeile insisted. Sora looked down at her injured leg and saw the blood spotted bandages.
"Was it a hard battle?"
"You wouldn't believe it! First, the mayor's house turned intoa mountain thing with all these platforms, so I carried Aru on my back to the top. We were waiting for Ryu to get his sword fixed-that was why we went to McFuzz Town in the first place, but Aru and I went to search for some fragments. Anyway, we were making our way up, when we had to fight this huge flying bird heartless! So I jumped on it's back and began using my heartblade on it, while Aru gave me support fire. That's when it got really annoyed with me, and tried to get me to fall off. It went straight up into the sky, and that's when I knew I had to purify it. And I did! But I began to fall...that's when, I heard a voice..."
"What did it say?"
"Um...well, it was saying "Ce-" like the first part of my name. Well, Sora...I thought it was your voice. That's what I believed anyway, cause after that, I blacked out. Luckly, Ryu caught me so I didn't die. The three of us climbed to the top and faced this strange monster covered in masks. We fought and fought until Aru collapse from getting her energy drained and Ryu had an injury, so it was me and the monster, I was unable to run. And where was I gonna run anyway? It was a really really looooong way down. So I stood my ground and came up with a super cool attack to purify it! So it becomes purified and the house turns back to normal and we're made heros of the town!"
"Wow. Sounds alot more dangerous than our battles." Sora said.
"I guess. But Ryu and Aru both look out for me, and I look out for them, so we're all covered." She said, making her hands into fists shooting them into the air. Sora laughed.
"You've found good friends, Cedeile. And I was worried about you." He said, smiling softly.
"You have no reason to worry! I can take care of myself!" she said cockily. Then sun's last light streched across the land and slowly faded until stars started coming out. They walked up the hill and sat down in the grass, Cedeile wincing when she tried to kneel on her bad leg.
"You okay?" Sora asked worried. She shook it off.
"I'm fine. Like I said, it's practically healed." she insisted. They looked up at the stars and the cresent moon that sat among them. "The moon is so close, kind of like Nightville's moon. It sits right behind Moonlight Castle, so the front of it is in shadow."
"Cool. Wow, you can see all the stars perfectly. Alot better than on the island, right?"
"Yeah. I guess it's cause this is a story book world."
"Reminds me of looking at the night sky on Destiny Island, right?"
"Yeah, and Riku and Kairi would be there too." Cedeile said, closing her eyes and envisioning the scene. "We would all sit outside the treehouse and have blanket wrapped around us because it as cold at night. We would pick out constellations and make up stories about them and then we would eat candy we had brought with us. When we couldn't stay up any longer, we would go back in the treehouse and fall asleep until early morning when we watched the sun rise." She fell onto Sora's shoulder, eyes still closed as she let out a loud sigh.
"Cedeile?"
"I miss it. I don't think anything can ever be the same again, Sora. The four of us will never look at the stars again like that."
"Are you scared?" he whispered
"Being scared is sissy. And I'm not a sissy." she whispered back.
"You were the one getting all nostalgic."
"Well, you reminded me of it."
"Sorry. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm a little scared too. It's hard to know what the furture holds."
"I'm not scared."
"Cedeile, I know you, you don't admit anything you're feeling."
"Oh yeah!" she said, geting up in his face. "How would you know?"
"Because I'm your best friend, that's why..." she froze. What would she say to that?
'H-hold up here! Sora likes Kairi, and Sora is only my best friend. First Riku freaks out on me, then Sora goes haywire. Has everyone but me gone insane? I don't know what to say...but, I want to be this close to Sora. Maybe I want to be closer...but I don't love him. Is this normal? I don't love him! Do not! I do not love Sora! I'm not in love with my best friend, it's not happening! He loves KAIRI, you idiot. And I'm just fine with that! I'll even arrange and plan their whole wedding without regret! Why is this happening? ACK!' she battled in her head. Sora looked at her worriedly, because she hadn't spoken in a long time.
"Cedeile? What's wrong?"
"Sora...I don't have any feelings like that."
"That's not what I meant. I meant that we're best friends and our bond is really strong, you know. It's like more than friendship, right?"
"Uh, yeah...Sorry, I thought...hell with it." she moved away and looked at the ground.
"Are you angry?"
"No, I'm not angry!" she snapped.
"You're funny when you get flustered, you know?"
"Both you and Riku act weird, you know? Riku...I don't want to even think about what would've happened if you hadn't interupted."
"It couldn't have been that bad, right?" he asked, laying back in the grass.
"It was just a little freaky, you know. Riku hasn't always acted friendly with me, and suddenly BAM! He's practially in love with me. I really can't stand all that romantic stuff, you know." she flopped on the ground next to him.
"You're just not ready yet. I bet someday you'll have a boyfriend." he smirked in the darkness.
"Oh yeah? I'd bet my heartblade that you and Kairi will be hooked up before all this heartless stuff is over."
"What! Why are you saying that!" he shouted, red making it's way onto his face.
"Just a feeling." she anwsered smartly. Sora started to panic, not wanting his secret to get out, even to his best friend.
"What if I proved I didn't like her!" he said, sitting up again. "What if I proved it by kissing you right now! If I liked Kairi, I wouldn't be able to! So what do you say?" Cedeile put a cocky smirk on her face. She pushed herself up.
"Okay then, smart guy. Go ahead." she challenged, closeing her eyes. Sora sighed and started to slowly move forward. His arm that was holding him from falling was shaking uncontroably, and he felt the heat in his face. He wondered how Cedeile could stay so perfectly calm in this kind of situation. Their lips were just about to touch when he realised he was too scared and couldn't go through with it.
"You win." he said, pulling away. Cedeile's eyes popped open in surprise.
"Huh?"
"I can't do it!" he admitted.
"Why?" she asked slyly.
"Because I...I like Kairi, okay! I love her, happy now?"
"Yes, very. Espically since you didn't kiss me after all. Heh heh."
"You were hoping, huh? That I'd chicken out?"
"I told you I'd bet my heartblade on it. I wouldn't be so confident if I didn't know."
"So how did you know?" he asked. She froze again. How would she anwser this? She couldn't tell him she'd been in the secret place! Then she'd have to say why she was there, and that meant revealing her secret place behind the boulder. "Well, how did you know?"
"I...umm...I had a gut feeling!" she lied, but lied very well.
"Really? It was that obvious?"
"Yes. Yes it was." she declared, crossing her arms.
"Do you think Kairi knows?"
"Naw, she doesn't know. I'm just really good at this stuff is all. I know the signs to look for." she said, leaning back into the grass, relieved her secret was safe.
"I miss her..." Sora said, looking wistfully at the stars. Cedeile looked over at him. His eye reflected the sky so clearly, and his face seemed so sad.
"I'm sure you'll find her again, Sora. She's out there somewhere. And she has been sending you those images, so she's okay. Right?"
"I can't help but worry." Cedeile was about to say something, but she couldn't think of anything. She sighed and looked back up at the stars.
"Yeah..." they stayed silent, not sure what to do. Cedeile finally spoke up. "Sora...we'll always be best friends,and we're connected. Our hearts have a strong bond, so we'll never really be apart from each other, right?"
"Right. We'll never be really seperated."
"That's what I'll promise you. Because I don't think I can keep my other promise right now."
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6H:That's the end of this chapter. A little fluffy, I think.
Anaretsu: I hate fluff.
6H: Well I LOVE IT. EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH FLUFF! HA HA HA! So, see you next time!
