Me: Some of you may be asking; Why the hell hasn't she updated in a month?
Readers:...
Me: And I have a very simple explanation for it.
Readers:...?
Me:... It was all Fire's fault! (runs off cackling insanely)
Fire: eyes go wide:
Readers: GRAWR! (proceeds to hunt down Fire)
Fire: DAMN YOU WISH:takes out bazooka and runs like hell:
Me: Mwa ha ha! READ!
On top of a Rooftop
The wind whipped through silver hair like ripples in waves of the vast blue ocean that stretched out before his eyes. Green eyes sparkled beneath the silver locks, set in a pale face that was attached to a muscular frame.
He shifted his head and cocked it to the one side so the silver hair would fall out of his face. He didn't like it to be blocking his view. And what a view it was.
The sun was setting low in the sky, dipping below the line of blue and sending it's vivid shades of orange and reds billowing across the sky and skimming across the waters, reflecting in the mysterious depths of the ocean. A lone seagull flew across the sky towards the sun, letting out its cawing sounds that signaled the end of the day.
The young teenager barely took the time to see the sunset anymore, however much he loved it when he was a child. But when he was a child, things were... different.
Sighing, the teenager laid down on his back, arms folding behind his head for support. The sky above him had not been painted in the colors of a sunset yet, but were instead a bright blue.
Trusting blue eyes shone up at him with trust and admiration as Riku hopped down from the tree, coconut in hand.
"Are you sure we can eat this, Wiku?" little Sora asked, brown locks hanging limply across his face.
"Of course we can!" Riku stated. "Here, let me show you how..."
Teenage Riku shifted to the side to get rid of the view of the sky. Instead, he turned to face the main island. Standing out clearly on the edge of the island was a white wooden house. It had a perfectly aligned picket fence surrounding it and neat rows of petunias lining the straight path that led to a porch. Despite the wonderful breeze that wafted through the air, the windows were tightly shut, curtains clamped shut.
'It's not like they need to close those…' Riku thought bitterly. 'Nothing to hide anymore. No little boy to keep from view.'
Huffing angrily, Riku sat up. This was a bad idea, he should have just stayed home. But at home, he shifted through memories of keeping Sora in his room, hidden away from his brutal parents.
When he swam in the ocean, he could remember teaching Sora to swim. When he hung out with Wakka, Tidus or Selphie, he remembered the guilty feeling of leaving Sora behind when the boy refused to come out. Or couldn't come out.
No, it wasn't fair. That smiling little boy was smiling less and less, and Riku did what he knew he had to do. And now it was coming back to bite him in the ass.
Heavily resigned to a long evening, Riku let the thoughts run around in his mind on their own accord.
He remembered the day after he and Sora had said their good byes. No one noticed a thing. Well, this was to be expected; Sora often went missing for days, sometimes weeks, kept hidden in Riku's room or trapped in his own home. But after a month passed by, they finally noticed.
Those god damn bastards finally noticed.
Yes, thee was a search party that lasted for all of five days in which they checked Riku's house multiple times. And Riku had too let them. He had to be mistrusted; he couldn't let them know where Sora really was. Not that anyone would believe him.
Sometimes, Riku didn't want to believe it himself. There were times that he wanted to forget the little brunette. To live the rest of his life in peace. But he could never do that until he found Sora again. Like he had promised him ten years ago.
But Riku wasn't the only one who had remembered. Sora was remembered, alright, in the hearts of children. Corny, but true. Despite his shy nature, Riku's friends were Sora's friends as well.
And they remembered. Wakka, Selphie and Tidus were the first to notice Sora's disappearance. And they were the ones among the few who still remembered the boy. The adults of Destiny Islands, after grieving for a short period of time, turned around and went back to their business. They had completely forgotten about Sora.
And this is what made Riku what he was today.
Riku trusted no one. Not even his own parents. No one remembered that boy who went away ten years ago, nobody bothered to bring him up. No one wandered out loud if Sora was okay. Sure, his other friends remembered, but it wasn't enough. It was a daily thing for them now, like brushing your teeth. Remember it, speak it, shut it. Rinse, cycle and repeat.
Riku did not forget. And he was going to find Sora. No matter what.
Disney Castle
"I can't trust you anymore."
Nobody spoke a word. King Mickey was gaping at him, Yuffie looked like she was in shock, Leon didn't show anything, Oram wasn't looking him in the eye and Ninna had her hand clamped tightly over her mouth, eyes tightly shut and refusing to let the tears slide.
Sora continued to step backwards, trying to get them all in his range of view. He was confused, this wasn't funny, this was painful. He couldn't bear to see them like this, but it was all a fake! Everything! His home, his friends, his family... he didn't know who his family was! Nothing was real.
"Nothing is real," Sora whispered, snapping the rest out of their trance. "Here, nothing is real. It's all a fake... I don't even know where I am."
"Sora, please don't do this," Aerith begged. "It's not as bad as you think!"
"And why not?" Sora croaked, still stepping backwards. "You took me from my home, my life, and set me up here. You filled me with lies! Everything I know is a lie! I'm not from here! I'm from another world and you never told me before!"
His breath caught in his throat for a brief moment, a stinging sensation creeping up behind his eyes. "I want to believe you," Sora whispered. "But there's nothing to believe anymore."
The rest could only watch in stunned silence as the distressed boy finally turned around and ran off. Oram was still hunched over, giving the floor a blank look. The rest were staring at King Mickey, expecting him to give them an answer.
"There's... nothing we can do," King Mickey whispered slowly.
"What do you mean there's nothing we can do?" Ninna exclaimed. "There has to be something!"
"What do you want us to do, knock him over the head with a pipe to make him forget?" Donald squawked.
"Could we do that?" Yuffie asked excitedly.
"NO!" everyone chorused. She pouted.
A Peak of Disney Castle
It was an empty feeling.
To live your life with the people you loved, people you'd die for. To trust them beyond anyone else. When you needed help they were the people you came too. And no matter what, they shaped your life. They were the foundations under your castle.
But to have those foundations shatter...
When you realize the people you trusted the most deceived you the most, all the things you cherished were lies. That there was another world out there that you belong to, but to be taken away fro it to be tangled in a froth of lies threatening to boil over.
It was a sinking pit in the bottom of Sora's stomach. It hurt... it hurt so badly! He wanted his family back, the ones he had been with over the years! But look what they had done to him... nothing could excuse their lies! Nothing!
And it was with those troubled thoughts that the boy was scrunched up in a fetal position on the roof of a tower at the castle, confused. Below him he could hear people shouting his name, looking for him. He didn't want to go back. He was scared.
Sora never thought of his life as being under a shadow. Everything was perfect. And now he was paying the price. For something he had no control over! He had a wonderful life dangling in front of his ace and then it blew up, pain replacing the happiness, loneliness replacing the comfort.
He wanted Oram, He wanted his guardian to protect him like he always had. But now, there was nothing to protect Sora. He was all alone. And for the first time since he could remember, he felt the true meaning of pain.
Leon
"Damn it, kid, where'd you go?" Leon mumbled under his breath. Him and the others had decided to split up in search of the brunette. And unfortunately, Leon was paired with...
"Oh cheer up, Squall," Yuffie scoffed.
Oh Leon was going to murder that kid when he found him.
"He looked pretty scared," Yuffie said worriedly.
"He's fine," Leon said gruffly. But deep down, although he'd rather jump off a cliff then admit it, he really didn't believe his own words. Sora wasn't as stable as other people thought.
Flashback
The gunner had finally been able to get away from all the noise of Disney Castle. It was complete and total chaos in the place, kids and animals jumping every which way. It got on his nerves and this was one of those precious afternoons when he found a deserted corridor with no one in it.
Or so that's what he thought.
His eyes snapped up at the sound of a crash and a small yelp of pain. Frowning, he jogged in the direction of the noise.
Skidding to a halt, he looked into a doorway to see a small boy trying to get up, a fallen and crashed vase behind him. Leon raised an eyebrow.
Sora, upon hearing Leon enter, jolted and he scrambled backwards, stuttering apologies. "I-I'm s-sorry, I-I didn't see where I was going!"
"Kid, it's fine," Leon told him, eyeing the small child who's frame had begun to shake. Was the kid always like this when he knocked something over? Sora had been here for two weeks and Leon had never taken the chance to talk to him.
But Sora would not listen. He was now walking up to Leon and he bowed down low, eyes scrunched up tight as if expecting something.
Leon stared at him in bewilderment before it finally hit him as to what Leon expected Sora to do. This was not right.
Sighing, Leon knelt down so he was eye level with the kid. "Look at me," Leon commanded softly. But when Sora just continued to shake and whimper, Leon folded his hand around Sora's chin and forced him to meet the brunettes eyes.
Leon was disgusted to see so much fear in a child's eyes. It scared him a bit; Leon had to do something about this now.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Leon whispered.
Sora blinked. "Aren't you going to hit me?"
Leon snorted is disgust. "Why the hell would I do that?"
"Not affected in the least by Leon's language, Sora replied quietly, "Daddy and Mommy would hit me if I broke something..."
"No one will do that to you here," Leon said sharply, making the smaller boy jump. Leon sighed in impatience; he wasn't good at dealing with kids. So he said in a much more gentler tone, "You're safe here, no one will hurt you."
Sora looked at Leon with a weird expression. "Promise?" he said in a small voice.
"I promise," Leon said firmly. "And if anyone lays a hand on you, I'll beat the shit out of them, okay?"
Sora giggled. "Okay!" he said happily.
Leon smiled slightly at the brunette's sudden change of mood. "C'mon, let's go get some ice cream."
"Yay!" Sora chirped. He took Leon's hand in his and the servants watched in wonder as stone-cold Leon led a little boy by the hand to go get some ice cream.
End Flashback
Yeah, Sora was sometimes as stable as himself in a room full of children (or George Bush at a spelling B XD). Leon knew this very well, and they couldn't let Sora get too far.
Another end of the Castle
"Where did that kid get to!" Donald squawked impatiently as he walked along side him companion.
"Aw, you know Sora," Goofy said. "He'll turn up when he wants to."
"That's not good enough!" Donald snapped, but one could tell he was worried.
"I sure do hope he's all right," Goofy said frowning. "He was pretty upset…"
"Of course he's upset!" Donald said. "He just found out we've been lying to him his whole life!"
"Think he'll forgive us?" Goofy asked hopefully.
"Who knows?" Donald said, peeking into the trophy room.
They continued down the hallway, occasionally calling out the brunette's name. Goofy sighed, looking outside; thick gray storm clouds were rolling in from the West, covering the sun. He heard a distant boom, the warning of a storm coming on.
But as he continued the search for the distressed teen with Donald, a thought struck him. It was a memory from a long time ago, one on a rainy night just like tonight. (Readers: (go to kill Wish for the cliché ness)) (Fire: sharpens mallet)
Flashback
Goofy's large feet slapped against the marbled floor loudly, humming tunelessly in beat with the rain that was pouring by the gallon outside. The storm had started somewhere around noon and hadn't stopped since, the chime of the giant clock now hitting nine.
Goofy was making him way down to the kitchens for some hot cocoa when he passed Sora's bedroom, the child who had mysteriously appeared with Oram and Linna a week ago. He stopped when he heard small noises coming from the inside of the room. It sounded as if someone were...
...crying?
Worried, Goofy knocked lightly on the door. "Sora?" he called softly, not wanting to scare the child. When no one answered and the sobbing continued, he opened the door slowly and walked inside.
It was pitch black inside the room and he closed the door behind him, feeling the darkness sweep around him as the last means of light died. The curtains were open but no moonlight seeped through the window, the moon hidden behind clouds of black and thunderous rain.
Lightning lit up the sky once again and the lanky dog heard a yelp of fright and in the few seconds the bolt of lightning lit up the sky, he saw a small lump shaking on the bed.
"...Sora?" Goofy asked. Reaching up to the side of the, he gently prodded the shivering bundle. He heard a small squeak and watched as the figure huddled away.
"Aw, don't be scared, it's just me," Goofy chuckled. He tugged down the blanket slightly and was met with glowing blue eyes. Goofy's heard melted a bit at the frightened look the tiny brunette was giving him. His short arms were clutching what looked to be a flashlight.
"Whatcha doin' under there?" Goofy asked, tilting his head to the side. He noticed the flashlight had a piece of tape stuck to it and another flashlight illuminated the untidy scrawl on it. Riku.
Eyeing Goofy as if he were the one thing even worse then the rain, Sora finally opened his mouth to speak. "I... I don't like the wain."
"Aw shucks, there's nothin' to be scared of!" Goofy exclaimed. "It's just rain!"
A loud clap of thunder erupted from the sky, making Sora jump. "Big boom!" Sora yelped.
"Do ya always get this scared?" Goofy asked curiously.
Sora shook his head slowly. "No, Wiku would sneak in my house when the wain came and he stayed with me."
Goofy smiled down at the boy. "Well, I ain't no wiku, I don't even know what a wiku is!"
Sora glared, which turned out to be more of a pout. "Wiku is my bestest friend!"
"Ohhh!" Goofy said, understanding (is that possible? O.O). "Well, I'm not your bestest friend, but I can still be your friend if ya want."
Sora peeked out from his safe blanket, exposing more of his tanned face. Goofy took that as an invitation to go on.
"If ya come on outta there, we can go to the kitchens and get some hot cocoa!" Goofy persuaded. "I'll stay up with you 'til ya fall asleep."
"Weally?" Sora asked.
"Weally! Hyuck!"
Slowly, as if he'd get whip lash if he moved to fast, Sora crawled from under the thick blanket.
"C'mon!" Goofy said, standing up.
Smiling a bit, Sora hopped out of the bed. He didn't really want to go with this creature anywhere; he wasn't Riku! But he was sure that his best friend would be proud of him if he did. So he followed the mutt (Fire: mutt? Your so mean wish!) through the door and into the kitchens, fear of the lightning forgotten.
End Flashback!
"Hey, what are you waiting for ya big lump?" Donald snapped. "Are you gonna help me find him or what?"
Bt Goofy wasn't paying attention to him. Another bolt of lightning lit the sky and in it's light, he saw a lump that shouldn't be there on the curved roof of a tower.
"What are you looking at?" Donald asked, tapping his foot impatiently with his hands on his hips.
"There!" Goofy point at the roof. A few moments later the lightning lit the sky again. Staring closely, they could see a lone figure huddled a top of the tower.
"SORA!"
End
Me: MWA HA HA!
Reader: You haven't updated in TWO MONTHS!
Me: Because of One Piece.
KH Cast: (twitch)
Fire: whack's her on head with mallet: Damn one Piece…
Me: But good news! I'm off the OP train. It doesn't appeal to me that much anymore, so I'm completely KH dedicated now!
Readers: (cheer)
Me: Expect the next chapter out next Friday! Until then, ja ne!