Oh, I am horrible at updates. I'm sorry, I really am.
Disclaimer: If I owned it, it wouldn't be on a 'fan fiction' site, would it?
Notes: Okay, this is a nice interlude. I dunno, its okay. Short chapter, but can you believe that with 10 point Arial font and 1 inch margins this entire fic takes up almost 45 pages? This is probably the longest thing I have ever written. Wow.
I don't know what I was thinking on this chapter. Most of it was written on school computers between classes and e-mailed to myself. The style changes a few times, I just couldn't get it to work right but I think it came out okay.
Sephy: *pouts* I'm not in the story anymore.
I know, I know, I'm sorry…
Sephy: SORRY"S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
How about chocolate?
Sephy: … Okay. *^-^*
And now I give you (funky looking because Word wasn't cooperating):
Chapter 12
It was shining, somewhere. The floating was causing her head to spin uncomfortably, and her wings could not help her at all. Voices surrounded her, fading, growing. She could not make out the words, though they sounded familiar, she could not make out the faces, though she knew them. Feathers brushed past her, spinning in a growing maelstrom that spun her around again, sending the glittering blue-green-orange-red flecks of past lives billowing past her, into her, through her. She twisted to keep the voices away, to keep away what she already knew. She twisted to keep herself away, away from advancing black that ate the shining and scooped up the specks of color to draw them in, her in, to where the light and dark were one.
"Hey, you awake yet?"
Sasha blinked, and opened her eyes to see a face an inch away from hers.
"Ahh!" She tried to jolt back but found it hard since she was lying on a bed. The face that had been so close to hers had disappeared with an accompanying yell of shock.
"Yuffie!" A slightly familiar voice called, and the girl picked herself off the ground.
"Sorry, heh." The girl grinned, looking at Sasha. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Uh, that's alright." Sasha sat up and looked around.
The girl standing in front of her had short black hair, and a very skimpy ninja outfit on. Sasha turned to where the other voice had come from and saw Sora walking towards her, balancing a steaming cup and a bowl on a tray.
"Here ya go, Sasha." He grinned as he handed her the tray, then sat down on the edge of the bed. "Aerith made it, she said she hopes you like it."
"Thanks." Sasha looked down at the tray, then back at Sora. "Sora, how… why…where…?"
"You're in Traverse Town," Sora laughed a little at her mystified expression. "You got lucky, we found you floating around in gummi space not far from Wonderland. Leon says that there used to be a world there, but that it had been destroyed by the heartless. He said that if we hadn't found you, you could've… well…"
"Died?" Sasha proposed, noting the suddenly somber look that had come to Sora's face.
"Yeah…" Suddenly Sora's face brightened, and he smiled again. "But we found you and you're all right now, so there's no worries."
"Yeah," Sasha grinned. She took a sip from the cup, the soft aroma of rose tea bringing her fully back to her senses. She put the cup back on the tray and looked around the room again. "Sora, do you know where my things are?"
"Uh, yeah, just a sec, I'll go get them." He crossed the room and began to rummage among some boxes.
"They're in a box over there, we haven't been back for very long, and we didn't want to lose them so we packed 'em away." Yuffie explained, grinning. "By the way, that's a real nice battle-axe you have. What's it made of?"
"Silver Onyx." Sasha answered, taking another sip of tea. At Yuffie's puzzled expression, she explained, "It's a natural compound that's found-was-found on Arithria. Its original form is liquid metal, but when you form a coherent thought for it to take the form of, it solidifies into it. It's a wonderful metal, because of its shifting abilities you never lose edge when sharpening it, and it can't overheat or chill if it comes in contact with heat or cold."
"Wow. That's really cool, I want a silver onyx weapon…" Yuffie said, her eyes shining. "That is such a great metal, that's just amazing!"
"Yeah, well, unless Aritria somehow comes back, silver onyx is lost." Sasha said, her attention turning to a distant point in her mind.
"Ah-ha! Here we go!" Sora called out, and brought a box over to the bed. Setting it down, he opened it and pulled out her backpack and axe.
"There's also a really long sword in here, but we could barely move it-" Sora stopped suddenly, looking at the space next to Sasha on the bed. It had been empty a moment earlier, but now the black-sheathed sword lay there. "But" how'd that happen? It was just in the box…"
"Its… a different kind of sword…" Sasha glanced at it warily, then back at Sora as he began to pull something else out of the box.
"Here, this was floating around you too… I don't know what it was, but maybe you do." He said, handing her a few pieces of metal and some tattered papers.
"The book…" Sasha said, her voice breaking. She took the metal and papers, looked at them sadly. "Its… oh no… that means…"
"What? What's wrong?" Sora looked at her, concerned.
Yuffie stepped closer, looking from Sasha's face to the objects in her hands.
"This was a magic book. It… it had tried sending me home. I understand now." She gasped suddenly. "Riku!"
"What? Riku?!" Sora looked at her, shocked.
"He probably thinks I left on purpose…" Sasha looked at Sora, at his disbelieving look. "We were in Hollow Bastion, and I found this book. I hadn't thought that the magic would work, but I cast a spell on accident. And… and Riku's still there."
It wasn't just the light now. The darkness was beginning to waver too. He didn't understand it; nothing made sense. Darkness can't fade, can it? Then why was it no longer as dark as it was? Why was it, not becoming lighter, but becoming less? Less dark, less empty, less treacherous and vengeful. Walking through it no longer brought shudders, no longer teased the mind into labyrinths of ill-hidden fear and tremors of discord. Why was it so different now, so changed…
Or maybe it wasn't the problem at all.
Maybe it was him.
Yuffie had gone to check on how Leon and Aerith were doing at the Magician's house, leaving Sora and Sasha alone in the small house.
"Well, what do we do now?" Sora said, looking at
Sasha anxiously.
"I don't know." Sasha sighed. Her gaze drifted towards the Masamune lying next to her, and she quickly looked away. Outside the window the electric lights flickered softly. "What were you planning on
doing now?"
"Well, we were going to go to a world called Halloween Town," Sora said.
"Sounds interesting…" Sasha said, then looked at Sora quizzically. "Are you still looking for your other friend, Kairi?"
Sora sighed, looked away for a moment.
"Yeah… we still haven't found her." His eyes flashed suddenly, a glint of frustration. "I… I just don't know where to look. And I'm worried, what if something happened to her? What if she's in danger somewhere and I can't help her?"
Sasha looked at him for a moment, then reached out and touched him gently on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, Sora, I'm sure you'll find her. You've gotten this far." She said, smiling a little. He turned to her, doubt flickering in his eyes.
"You think so?" He asked, his tone that of a small child wanting to be told again that there were no monsters under his bed, in his closet, a sort of half-hope to mask the helplessness inside.
"I know you can. As long as you try, you can do anything." She said softly, and he grinned, belief in himself restored, at least for the moment. At least for now.
"Okay, come on, the Gummi ships ready and Cid's getting anxious to go so hurry up." The brown haired man watched as everyone got the rest of their things together and headed off to the gummi ship. He eyed the winged girl, Sasha, critically, and then sighed and headed off to the ship himself.
"Is he always this demanding?" Sasha asked Sora as they climbed on board. The boy laughed as they sat down in the seats.
"Not always. He's just too serious sometimes." Sora said, buckling up the seat belt. "Don't forget yours, sometimes the ride gets a little rough."
"So, we're off to Halloween Town…" Sasha said as she buckled up. "Sounds like it'll be fun."
"Yeah, I can't wait to get there." Sora said looking out a window.
There was a hiss that suddenly changed to a roar, and the gummi ship shook slightly. The scene behind the windows began to change as the rockets pushed out. Traverse Town was being left far, far behind and gummi blocks floated like lost thoughts in the deep blue. They, too, receded, faded until it seemed that they were stars themselves.
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Sephy: Why'd you eat the muse section?
Because… I was hungry?
Sephy: Ohhh… well that's stupid.
*grrrr* Shut up…
Thanks to:
Magic Blue Fire Kitsune (I really like it, you know? It sounds so pretty): Please don't lose faith! *sniffles* I'm sorry! I… I… I Have problems! ^-^ Well, maybe the next one will be up sooner… Thank you!
Brittany: Wowies! A new reviewer, you deserve cookies! *beams* I'm very happy you like it so far, and I hope you'll like the next chapters too! Thank you for reading.
Jade A.B. Stone: Another new reviewer! I'm so happy! *hands out more cookies* Thank you so much for your comments! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. ^-^ I know, a RikuSasha would be fun, no? But…eh, I am forcing myself to have no relationship dealies in here. I'm very very very happy you like it, and I'll try to get the next one up sooner. Really, I will.
Ari and Slinkster Sunshine, you two have been reviewing for ages, I love you two, really! IN an extremely platonic sorta way. ^-^
Reviewers, you guys make my day, really. Just knowing that someone out there likes what I'm doing makes me happy and makes me want to write more. On my crappiest of days I go on and reread the reviews and you guys just make me smile. Thank you very much and I hope I don't let you down!
^-^
~ Zoshi