Hey everyone!
Here's a small bit of thanks for reading this—my first foray into the Kingdom Hearts fandom. I know it seems like an odd first piece—following a character that wasn't even mentioned in the game, but its an idea that's been hiding in the back of my mind for a couple of months. The idea crystallized finally on Wednesday (the 26th of October '05) during our weekly Dungeons and Dragons session. The DM used a ton of dream sequences, and those lead to flashbacks and that led—finally!—to an opening to this piece.
Not only did I want to explore a bit with Rinoa in the KH universes here, but I also decided to challenge myself some too. I decided to write an entire fic in under 5000 words, entirely in Present Tense. Both these feats were a bit of a challenge for me, but I did it. Took me tow days to write (Thursday and Friday), one to edit (Saturday), and one to type (Sunday). My fastest project aside from the Interludes series, which tend to get written, edited and posted in the same day. I'm not entirely sure that I'm satisfied with the end result here, but I posted it anyway.
Let me know what you think. I'd really appreciate the feedback. And sorry about the novel of an intro. I decided to do something different with my notes for a change.
Enjoy the fic!
Eerian
PS: sorry about adding the library to the Dalmatian's house in Traverse Town. I needed a place that would remind her of home, tho… ;-)
"Squall, run! Just run!"
"No! I can't leave you here!"
"I'll catch up with you, I promise! Get the others to
Cid!"
He opens his mouth to protest again, but closes it before anything comes out. More arguing will only get them all killed.
"I love you," she says.
"I love you, too." They won't say goodbye—its too final.
He takes Yuffie by the arm and pulls her to the Gummi ship dock where Cid is waiting to take them to safety.
She turns back to the oncoming Heartless, wings extended, and begins flinging spells at them. Not far away, she can see Cloud and Sephiroth slashing at them with their swords. A girl she doesn't know has summoned Shiva and together, they too are fighting the swarm.
She doesn't see the Heartless that creeps behind her. She doesn't feel the blow that ends her part in the fighting.
All Rinoa knows is sudden, complete darkness.
She opens her eyes to a place filled with books.But I wasn't in the Library…
She looks around and realizes this place isn't familiar after all. The books remind her of the Library in Hollow Bastion—but this place is not her home.
Her attention is drawn to a yipping near her feet, and she looks down to see a small Dalmatian puppy barking at her shoes.
"Hello." She picks the puppy up and nuzzles it, painfully reminded of her own dog Angelo—lost in the initial wave of Heartless.
A door opens and closes somewhere nearby. The puppy gives a happy bark and jumps from her arms. It runs through a swinging door and out of sight. In the next room, many puppies start barking with happiness.
Curious, she too enters the next room to see a brown haired boy setting three puppies in a box on the floor. At least thirty more puppies are jumping and yipping with joy. She is amazed by the presence of so many puppies.
The boy looks up from the puppies and sees her. "Oh, hi. I've never seen you here before. Did you just move in?"
She shakes her head, unsure of how to respond to this very open stranger. She is not sure how to respond to anything since the Heartless.
"Oh, well, that's probably good. Pongo says there are ninety-nine puppies after all. I don't think you'd fit." He smiles, and she is reminded a bit of her friends at lunch the day the Heartless attacked. "So, I'm Sora. What's your name?"
Her name? She hasn't really thought about it. Not since she made Squall go.
Squall!"I need to find Squall," she says, ignoring Sora's question.
"Um, okay. What's he look like? Maybe we've seen him around."
She describes him, making sure to include every detail she can remember. From the color of his hair, to his scar, to his jewelry and gunblade, she paints as clear a picture of Squall as she is able.
"Wow," Sora says. "Sounds just like Leon. Maybe he knows something. Let's go ask him!"
"I don't know…" She isn't sure that it's a good idea to trust this boy she has just met. But he has offered to help her find Squall, and he seems to like dogs…
"It'll be fine," the boy assures her. "Leon knows about everything. I know he can help us."
"Okay."
"Great. So, what was your name again?" He's pretending that she didn't ignore his question earlier.
She has to think for a moment before she can answer now. "Rinoa."
"That's pretty. C'mon, let's go."
"Okay." She wades through the puppies and follows the boy through the door.
They emerge into an alley where a…duck and a bipedal dog?…are waiting for Sora.
"What kept you?" The duck demands, although she must decipher the words through his lisp.
"Garwsh, who's this?" The dog interrupts, before Sora can answer.
"Guys, this is Rinoa. She's looking for someone too. Rinoa, this is Donald and Goofy."
The dog, who is tall and gangly—deserving of the name Goofy, extends a hand. "Nice to meet ya!"
Tentatively, she takes his hand. "Nice to meet you too."
The duck crosses his arms and makes a huffing noise.
"C'mon," Sora says. "Let's get to the ship. I want to get to the coliseum before the tournament starts."
"I thought we were going to see this Leon person.," Rinoa interrupts.
"We are," Sora replies. "He'll be at the tournament. I owe him a rematch."
"Oh."
"C'mon, let's go!" He takes her hand, and pulls Rinoa along after him.
She runs with him, hoping that this Leon he talks about really can help her find Squall. She also hopes that things will stop seeming so vague and out of focus soon.
Their Gummi ship is small—perhaps a third the size of Cid's—and they are cramped during the short trip to Olympia.
The duck—Donald, she must remember that—complains the entire way. Sora tells him to lighten up, and tries to reassure her that Squall will be found. Goofy just watches them bicker with eyes that have a wisdom belied by his name and manner.
When they land at the coliseum, the crowd is much smaller than Rinoa is expecting for a tournament the size of the one Sora is describing to her.
"Sora sure does like his tournaments!" Goofy laughs as the boy runs off to register, leaving Rinoa with the dog.
She smiles at this. During the trip she has developed an affection for the boy. He is warm and open and honest.
And he has an uncanny way of making her thoughts more…focused.
"Rinoa?" Her thoughts are interrupted by a familiar voice.
She turns and is stunned to see Cloud behind her. He is different—aside from the clothes—but she cannot pin down how.
"Hiya, Cloud!" Goofy says, breaking the silence that no one has realized is forming. "How have ya been?"
"Fine. Have you seen Squall?"
She shakes her head. "Not yet. Sora's helping me look for him."
He gives her a knowing smile. "I don't think you'll have too much trouble."
"Really?" For a moment, in her excitement, she has forgotten the disorientation that she has felt since waking up in the Dalmatians' house.
"Yeah, but you should go find a seat inside. Phil won't let any of the competitors back out once they've registered. Sora's in there now, so you'll be on your own 'til he's done."
When he walks past her, she realizes how he is different. He has become very much like Vincent. She wonders if this is something the Heartless have done to him, or if it is something more.
She doesn't analyze it too much. Instead, she goes inside to find someplace to sit. The few other spectators there are all there to see Sora—it seems that he won the last three tournaments single-handedly. The fans are anticipating a good show, because Sora is going to try the Hades cup alone.
One spectator gives her a spare program, and she sees Yuffie's name there, along with Cloud's and this Leon person Sora has promised can help.
In the sixth round, she cheers when she sees Yuffie enter the field. She is happy to see her old friend alive and in fighting form. To her neighbor's irritation, she boos when Sora defeats the ninja. The boy smiles and gives her a cocky wave from the field. She will have to explain later.
Nearly an hour passes before the thirtieth round begins. Here is where Sora will face Cloud and Leon. She doesn't share the crowd's positive outlook for Sora's chances; she knows how Cloud fights and she has noticed that he has only one potion left.
When the boy's opponents enter the arena, her heart stops. Sora has said that Squall sounded just like Leon, but she wasn't expecting this much resemblance.
As he charges, she realized that it isn't just resemblance—this is Squall.
"Squall!" She doesn't realize that she has screamed his name until his steps falter and he skids to a stop.
Cloud and Sora both step away from him as if they were expecting this. The small crowd of fans falls silent.
"Rinoa?" Squall's quiet question echoes across the arena.
She runs down the stairs and into the arena, heedless of the barrier preventing such actions. It ripples in her wake, and little tendrils of magic trail after her, almost as if they are trying to pull her back.
Rinoa flies into Squall with enough force to knock the breath from his lungs. But the gunblader will not complain—it feels too good to have her in his arms again.
Only Sora notices a small heart drift from Squall to Rinoa. Just like me and Kairi, he thinks.
"I thought you were dead," Leon whispers. "I felt it on the ship…"
She is sobbing now. She remembers everything. Remembers becoming Heartless, helping dismantle Hollow Bastion looking for the princess.
"I was just lost," She tells Squall. "But I had to keep my promise. I had to catch up with you…"
"But how? Cloud saw you go down." He is puzzled.
Sora comes to his rescue. "It was like me and Kairi. She gave her heart to you, and you protected it from the Heartless until you met up again."
He thinks for a moment. "But it must be different for each person to be heartless. Kairi got sick and slept. Most people become monsters. You were really lost and confused."
"I was a Heartless," She tells them. "At Hollow Bastion, you freed me when you defeated the behemoth." Rinoa buries her face in Leon's chest, trying to forget again.
"Wow." Sora is surprised. "I, uh…I didn't hurt you did I?"
"Not like you mean. I was glad you were fighting me. I would rather have been dead than be a Heartless." She smiles at Sora, genuinely full of happiness. "Thank you for your help."
"Sure. No problem."
"So," Cloud says, "Do you think this means there's hope for the others, then? Even if they're Heartless?"
"There's always hope," Sora assures the swordsman. "You'll find who you're looking for too."
"Come back with us, Cloud. We'll help you look." Leon extends a hand to Cloud. "Yuffie and Aerith would be glad to have you around."
After a moment's hesitation, Cloud takes his hand in a firm grip. "I think I'd like to see them too."
"All right! All right! Enough with the sappy reunion stuff!" A short, balding satyr runs into the arena waving his arms and shouting. "I've got a tournament to run here. You, back to the stands!"
Rinoa laughs as he makes shooing motions to her. Squall kisses her soundly, ignoring Phil. The crowd cheers.
"C'mon you guys!" Phil pleads.
Rinoa breaks away from Squall and smiles at him. "If you throw this match, just so you can come sit with me, I'll kick your butt."
"I know. Sora, you ready?"
"You bet. Cloud?"
"Always."
"All right!" Phil dashes back to the arena gate and Rinoa runs back to the stands.
"You're going down this time, Sora," Leon tells him.
"Whatever you say, Squall," The boy replies.
Squall doesn't miss a beat as he and Cloud circle Sora. "I guess you can call me that now."
"Good," Cloud says. "It fits you better than Leon ever did."
"Besides," Sora says. "Rinoa would never remember anything else."
As the gunblade specialist glances over to the sorceress at the mention of her name, Sora leaps to the attack.
"Hey! No Fair!"