O.O An update! Read my profile thingy if you wanna know more. XD And sorry for this chapter! It's shorter than usual, and I didn't edit it. XD

LiLi-Sama- No, don't worry! You didn't miss anything. But I'm happy you caught that detail though. :D It should come into play later!

Sky-Pirate-Tat- Well, not quite. But she might as well be! She just doesn't really care about her appearance anymore . . . Maybe she really will be a total goth someday! She just doesn't dress it. :P

cobra-2k- Thank you very much! Sorry for the long wait on the next update. I really touched a vein? What a saying:D I'm happy you enjoy it so much, and I really hope I get it finished too.

Kage-chan- Thanks:D Yeay for the happy-baker dance! XD lol!

Kia Saphia- Wow, seriously? Thanks so much! XD Kairi is my favorite character to describe in this fanfic, so that makes me really happy.

AlexX- lol, thanks:D I'm glad you like this sor far . . . It's immersing? Wow! I hope it stays that way.

Forbidden

A Kingdom Hearts Fanfic

Chapter Eight

Riku's father figured it was about time to leave. It had barely been a week since Riku began working and it had barely been two weeks since they have been staying in their apartment. Still, they were both relieved he was going. The tension of being around each other made their lungs suffocate.

His father already had the last bag in the back of the taxi by the time Riku had come back from his job at the post office. The two stared for only a moment then turned away. They both frowned to themselves. They just wanted it to be overwith.

"Dad," Riku muttered in a low voice. He sounded almost ashamed to be speaking. ". . . Say hi to Mom for me if it wont make her cry."

"I have a feeling it will," Riku's father replied bluntly. He sounded just as ashamed. He pushed down the trunk and turned to the car. His voice sounded cold as he spoke. "What you did . . . is complicated. I will bear it; you're my son. But your mother and Kairi . . ."

The both of them were locked in silence. A deafening pressure rose between them, the same kind they had felt for as long as Riku could remember since . . . it almost felt like forever.

Riku gulped as his father reached for the handle. His eyes glanced between the car and his father's face. His heartbeat palpitated rapidly and his mouth became dry. Why this all of a sudden? He was glad they were out of his life. His mother, his father . . . 'Kairi . . .'

"Dad," Riku said again, repeating it louder once he watered his throat. The dead look his father gave him left him unable to figure out what to say. He had words, but he wasn't sure how to say them. It was al there in his head. The letters to speak, the images in his head. . . . they just wouldn't come out. He hated this feeling.

"What is it?" his father asked. Riku looked away. He felt small.

"What if I said . . . What if I said things weren't what they seemed? That it was all a misunderstanding?" 'That's right, these are the words.' Riku looked to his father, the questions suddenly coming up almost innocently. "What would you say?"

Oddly enough it didn't take his father long to answer. He was taken aback, but he replied simply. "Do you . . . love Kairi?"

"Y . . . Yeah. Without a doubt."

His father looked disturbed, as if he hadn't ever heard of it before. But it seemed to confirm both of their questions. He opened the door to the taxi and only nodded before closing the door behind him. The car drove off with a spurt until it was on the city road and gone. Riku didn't even bother to wave.

Sora opened the door to the room where the pose office was, behind the desk. He poked his head in and glanced around until his eyes came across Cloud. His face tainted itself with a small shade of pink but despite being nervous he let himself in.

Cloud noticed him and stopped, putting a large bag down on the floor and smiling softly. He glanced down as Sora's arm out of habit and frowned. It was behind his back.

"Sora," he started seriously. The boys head jerked up as if he were surprised. Cloud looked around to see if anyone in the office was really listening. No one. He turned back to Sora. "Did you do it again? This is really becoming a problem . . . you're doing it way to mu-"

"No, it's not that," Sora interrupted. He held up one hand from behind his back defensively and gave a bit of an awkward smile. He took his other hand from behind his back and wrapped in between his fingers was a small bouquet of flowers.

Cloud instantly understood and his eyes seemed to look far off as he remembered. An image of someone passed though his mind and he knew Sora was thinking the same thing. "Leon's death . . . his anniversary . . ."

Sora smiled, but it was sad. "Yup."

The two of them stood together in the walkwat of the office, not sure of what to say. Cloud looked to see Sora's eyes downcast to the floor and he put on a comforting hand on his shoulder. Sora didn't glance up. "Do you want me to come to his grave with you?"

Another pause. Then an answer. "Uh-huh."

Cloud smile weakly and pulled away from Sora only slightly and reached into his pocket, pulling out a cell. "Don't worry, I'm with you. I've got to call Aerith and tell her . . . Do you want her to come along too?"

Sora looked like he was taking a moment to think about it, then he shook his head. "No . . . not really."

"That's okay."

Sora heard Cloud dialing the buttons and the mutterings of their conversation in the back of his mind. Still, he couldn't really pay attention. Even if it was Cloud, the one person whom he'd listen to every syllable he uttered if he could, he couldn't pay full-well attention. Today was Leon's day. Even if he wasn't really there.

X x x x

Well, it wasn't as long as I had planned, but it ended up being a little shorter because th next scene is longer and I didn't want to do too many pages. XD I dunno why! Lol!

Hopefully I haven't lost any readers since I haven't updated in a while . . . I haven't stopped! I was cut off! Honest!