Me: one warning. There's a song required for this. Its:
"Where are you Christmas?- by Faith Hill
When you see this mark (TL) that means play it. If you don't have the song, E-mail me and I'll send it.
NOW READ!
The lobby burst into an uproar as all eyes fell on Riku and the glowering Sora slung over his shoulder. His hair was a jumbled mess from him and Riku's recent squabble but his expression and mood hadn't changed due to the curse. Riku failed to notice and held the stolen angel up in triumph. causing a shriek of happiness to emit from Fire's throat and everyone to clap and cheer for his success.
Like ants they began to swarm toward him, several tripping out of there chairs to check on Sora which consisted of Kairi, Wish, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey.
"Riku, what did you DO to him?"
The teen turned toward them and raised an eyebrow, smirking despite himself. "Don't look at me, you know how hard it was to pin him down?" he shouted over the uproar of questions and squabble.
"Just put him down Riku," Donald quacked angrily.
Kairi knew that glint in Riku's eye and knew he was going to have fun teasing them. Every time he beat Sora at something he had to rub it in for a little while before he was satisfied.
"I don't know… he's a little demented. That curse still has a good hold on him, maybe we should tie him down first."
Sora struggled harder against Riku's grip, the darkness in his eyes swirling madly. Donald and Goofy backed away, but Mickey stared him down with a look that seen deeper then anyone could ever see into the brunet's eyes.
For a moment Sora stopped struggling and let his gaze lock with the kings. They stared each other down silently, the noise and chatter of the room becoming mute in there minds. Mickey's eyes bore into Sora, drinking in all the darkness, pain, and hatred emitting from his heart. His memories, his guilt, his sadness… Everything he had locked deep within himself was loose and tearing him apart from the inside and working its way out.
And all because of a dumb snake?
"Riku just put him down!' Kairi screamed kicking the smug teen hard in the shins.
Riku winced and frowned at her. "All right, all right, I've had my fun. But I'm not sure what he'll do." Quickly he kneeled down and loosened his grip on Sora's legs letting the teen slid to the marble floor with a "thump."
It was like the mouse had just freed himself from the evil clutches of the cat. Sora's confused mind had got wind of his temporary freedom and he began to scramble to his feet, but Donald, Goofy, and Mickey pulled him back down with shaking hands.
"Sora! Sora calm down!" Kairi ordered, kneeling before her boyfriend and placing a gentle hand on the side of his face.
Mickey's eyes narrowed in thought, watching as the brunet immediately calmed down at Kairi's touch. His whole body seemed to go limp, and he carefully avoided her gaze; eyes drifting down to the marble floor as they became shrouded in a purple haze.
Suddenly Mickey's mind clicked, and his ears flew up to the top of his head.
"Yoshi, go to the medicine cabinet in the back of the kitchen and look for a small red bottle with no label. It should be in the front."
The boy jumped at being addressed so suddenly and everyone turned to stare at him. Some (like Wish), smirking at his befuddled reaction.
"Y-yes sir," he replied racing off past the others and through the crowd Leon and Cloud were trying to usher away to the other side of the room. Leon glanced back occasionally to see what was going on, but he figured Mickey needed the space and decrease of questions.
Oh, how right he was.
The king glanced at the crowd and then at the angel in Fire's hands. The maid was staring at Sora with pity in her eyes along with everyone else in the group. Each having sympathy for the boys ruined holiday. Everything had gone down hill fast and they didn't know how to fix it. Sora would probably be unhappy even after he would be cured and it would of all been a waste.
But Mickey wouldn't let it.
Yoshi came running up in the background, fighting through the mob of people and almost getting knocked out by Leon as he mistook him for a impatient spectator. A little red bottle was clasped in his hand, no bigger then a milk carton, which he handed to Mickey as soon as he reached the group. The mouse nodded in thanks, and handed the bottle to Kairi who took it questionably.
" Make sure Sora drinks that," he explained. "All of it. He calmed down at your touch, so I trust you with him more than anyone else right now."
Kairi nodded, looking over the bottle with care. Wish and Fire stared at it curiously, before looking at each other with a shrug. They trusted the king more then anyone, perhaps this would work.
Riku tapped his foot impatiently, glancing at the red liquid for a couple of spare seconds before averting his gaze back to his best friend. He was the same as he had been up on the top floor when he found him. A lifeless doll.
Sora was NOT meant to be a lifeless doll! He was a bouncing ball of energy bent on annoying the crap out of him like a best friend should!
Angry tears threatened to break free from his reeling mind. All the pride from his recent retrieval and capture had been put aside for the worry of his friend.
He just hoped the rat knew what he was doing.
"Take him to his room Kairi and stay with him there," Mickey ordered, pointing a gloved hand toward the staircase. Everyone cast glances at each other and watched the red heads expression. A slight blush rose in her cheeks and she wrapped her hand around Sora's slowly and carefully before nodding. The coldness from his fingertips sending shivers up and down her arm.
With little difficulty, she pulled Sora to his feet who understood her motivation and let himself be led toward the staircase. He kept his clouded gaze down toward the ground staying safe within the darkness he had wrapped himself in, yet letting the small amount of consciousness left in him will his feet to move in the right direction.
"I'll...see you guys in the morning," Kairi called back with a small smile.
The others waved, watching them disappear up into the darkness of the stairwell. A heavy silence was left in the circle of friends; each waiting for one of the other to break it. The crowd had also quieted down on account of seeing Sora and Kairi leave.
Now what?
"HEY!"
Relieved on hearing a voice (and a loud one at that) everyone turned toward the open hallway to find Yuffie standing there, frowning but with a hint of triumph still lingering I her eyes. "Why's it so quiet? Did you put up the angel without me?"
Fire blinked. "No."
"Well then lets put it up! Come on!" She raced up to Fire, pulling her by the sleeve toward the tree. "The angst-fest is over people! Lets get this holiday going again for God's sake!"
Everyone muttered in agreement and Yuffie winked at Mickey who winked back; happy that someone had decided to take control of things in the holiday compartment. Mickey had other things to attend too.
"Help Yuffie out, okay guys?" he whispered to an eager looking Donald and Goofy. "I gotta go find Minnie and the others so they can help. We got to have everything swinging tonight, or this week's going to be a flop. Got it?"
"Yessir your majesty!" both sang in chorus before bowing and running off toward the tree where the crowd had gathered. Yuffie was staring at the tree curiously while Fire watched her with growing interest. Wish stood nearby eying Yoshi evilly.
"Well guys…um…" She tilted her head back to try and get a view of the top of the tree, nearly falling over backward in the process. Leon and Cloud snickered from the back of the crowd and the ninja shot them a dirty look. "Well how are we going to get it up there?" And then her eyes widened. "How did Sora get it from up there? Where did you hide the ladder?"
Fire smiled. "It's easy. Watch." She turned toward the tree, standing on her tip-toe and looking questionably through the mass of branches and ornaments. After several minutes, she pulled out a small, yet adorable ornament. It was a simple glass belle, painted a smooth burgundy red. The inside was a bright gold with a tiny clear glass bead hanging in the center. There were several others like this around the tree, but this one in particular had a silver glittered bow at the top and had a magical air to it.
With a flick of her hand, she swung the belle back and fourth causing the bead to collide with the glass walls of the ornament and create a soft, yet sweet twinkling sound to soar through the air.
A flash of light illuminated from the tiny trinket, enveloping it entirely until instead of a Christmas belle, a long gold staff rested in the maids hand. A large clear glass sphere rested at the top with what looked like snow, was zooming and swirling around within its center. Gold wires stuck out from all ends, curling at the end in a short spiral. Small silver and gold belles hung from the middle of these swirls creating a dazzling display of shine and music.
"You just got to levitate it up. And since Sora's a magic user it would have been simple for him. I just learned levitation at the beginning of the season so it was a real pain to try and get it up there." She tossed the angel up in the air and with a flick of her staff, stopped it several feet before it hit the ground. Everyone watched in awe as it soared slowly up toward the top of the great tree. The ornaments seemed to shine brighter in the growing warmth of the candlelight as the heavenly decoration neared the top of the tree.
With a gentle plop, the angel found its place and the crowd cheered in delight. Something Wish and the others were happy to here.
Immediately the band started up in a whirl of "Jingle Bells" and the crowd scattered into a jumble of talk and laughter as they spread out amongst the hall; taking seats at the black, candlelit tables and rushing off to dance on the open dance floor.
Riku teetered on the edge of his feet, not knowing what to do now that both Kairi and Sora had left. Wish smirked despite herself but Fire pushed past her toward the silver haired teen. Riku seen her coming and immediately straightened up.
"Um, I wanted to thank you," she told him smiling. "For getting my angel back."
Riku's ego began to swell but he forced it back down with a gulp. "I-it was nothing."
Wish let out a loud cough from several feet away which sounded something like 'Cliché' but the two chose to ignore it and walked off to find a table to sit and talk.
Wish's mouth dropped open. How dare they leave her! They deserved to be dipped in boiling chocolate then left outside to be fed to the squirrels for that!
As she began to find out how she could get that much amount of chocolate, Yoshi tapped her on the shoulder and she turned with a start.
"What?" she snapped.
Yoshi winced. "Go fetch the other maids, tell Gus to bring the brooms in here for there performance, and go get more penguins to come in here and take orders. We got people ordering cookies by the dozen."
The red heads mind swirled with the orders and suddenly she felt like dipping Yoshi in boiling chocolate with the rest of them.
She opened her mouth to protest, but Yoshi covered it with his hand. "I'll give you three bottles of Mountain Dew. In the glass bottles, free of charge."
Wish's eyes widened. She loved that stuff. Hell, if she had a choice she would eat, drink, and breath it. And the glass bottles were hard to find these days.
"…DEAL!"
"Good. NOW GO! GET! OUT!" Yoshi yelled pushing her toward the hall where she broke off into a run. He laughed inwardly to himself at his success, walking briskly back to the kitchen. But he stopped as he noticed an all to familiar ninja blocking his way.
"Hello Yoshi!" she called cheerfully.
The boys eyes narrowed.
"Here, let me get the door for you," she offered, holding it open and beckoning him to walk through. The kitchen boy hesitated slightly, but took his chances by sliding baseball style through the opening before it slammed on him. The ninja growled in annoyance and shouted through the keyhole as she heard it lock. "I'll get you Mr. Handsome! And your double chocolate cookies too!" And with that said, she raced off to find Cloud.
But Yoshi wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot. And as he sat behind the locked door twirling his kitchen hat in his hand, he came up with the best, useful, revengeful idea sense the woopie cushion.
"This..." he muttered to himself, "is going to be fun."
Kairi didn't like leaving Riku and the others down there to themselves. Talk would surely spread about Sora, and questions would be flying in every direction.
Questions no one could answer.
She led Sora by the hand through the dimly lit halls, feeling chills race up and down her spine from the sudden decrease in heat on the upper floor. But nothing was colder then her hand which was clasped tightly around Sora's…
…or at least, she thought it was. She couldn't even feel it anymore.
The lake of noise and conversation stung even more numbly in her ears and she began to count the numbers plated in gold on the room doors absent-mindedly, not paying any attention to where she was going. It wasn't until she realized she had passed Sora's room by five doors down that she stopped; cursing herself for her stupidity.
"Why…did we stop?" Sora whispered faintly. Kairi had to blink five times before she could register that he had said anything. The voice was unnaturally shy and lacked the usual tone of teenage happiness and energy that it usually carried. Like a candle still burning, but stripped of its scent.
"I went too far," she explained. "Your room's right there." She extended her hand toward the door a few feet behind Sora but he didn't turn to look and went mute again.
Kairi strolled up to it, checking the lock and walking inside. Her hand was still cemented to Sora's in a hold she couldn't break or feel. She scanned the room quickly taking in the un-made bed and scattered articles lying about. There weren't many, which showed that Sora hadn't spent much time in his room as of now.
Sighing, she plopped down on the edge of the bed. Sora followed somewhat dragging way. As if a puppet being held up by strings.
Kairi bit the lower corner of her lip at this. She wanted those strings to be cut and she would use everything in her power to make it happen. She was determined to have this be Sora's best holiday ever.
And that alone would be the best Christmas present of all.
(TL)
But looking at the boy beside her who she had grown to love over the years was becoming more and more difficult to feel comfortable around( this being the most uncomfortable of all). There were things he felt that she could never feel even if she wanted too. Things he had gone through, experienced, and thought that made him stand out amongst the others. Away from her reach.
And now he was out of everyone's reach. During the holiday season in a castle with all his friends who had planned to make his Christmas special.
Oh, why did everything have to go wrong?
Kairi, who had become so caught up in her thoughts didn't realize Sora's eyes had fell upon her. Her features reflected what she was feeling deep inside. No mask to hide behind, no walls, no barriers. Even in Sora's state he realized something was troubling her.
"What's wrong?" he asked faintly.
Instead of acting startled, Kairi simply slapped on a weak smile. "Nothing. Just wondering if I've been naughty this year."
Sora simply stared at her. Eyes revolving with hues of purple and blue like a storm cloud waiting to burst on the horizon. Kairi felt her throat tighten in reply and had the sudden urge to turn her head away but she refused. The least thing she needed to dwell on was guilt.
The brunette winced slightly, that being his first sign of an emotion over some time. His face screwed up in pain and his eyes clenched shut, blocking the storm playing within them.
"What's wrong?" Kairi asked, startled.
"It…hurts."
"What hurts?"
As if made of glass, Sora guided Kairi's froze hand up to the middle of his chest slowly.
It took a few moments for Kairi to comprehend.
"…Your heart hurts?" she whispered.
Sora nodded, bangs shading over his eyes heavily. The red head stayed silent, concentrating on the material of Sora's shirt where her hand was being held in place by his shakily.
That's when she remembered the red bottle.
"Oh, I have something you need to take Sora," she piped up, fishing the red bottle from her pocket. The brunet recoiled slightly at the sight of it. "It's okay, you just have to drink it."
His purple eyes stared at the bottle wearily and to Kairi, he looked like a little kid about to be force fed medicine. Only there was more sadness then fear.
She unscrewed the bottle, removing the lid and holding the vile out to him. He took it shakily, bringing the edge to his lips and swallowing it in two small gulps. He scrunched his face up in slight disgust, but Kairi wasn't paying attention anymore. She had focused her gaze on the snow falling steadily and softly outside the window. Watching each flake fall down onto the sill of the window and the Disney grounds below, coating everything in a fresh layer of pure white.
"It's…snowing."
The red head nodded, smiling slightly despite herself. "There will probably be another foot or two by tomorrow morning. I bet the others will want to have a snow ball fight again."
Laughter rumbled distantly from the crowd several floors below them. It was taking all of Kairi's love for the brunet and her concern to keep her from running down there to the cheeriness and warmth which everything around her was lacking.
Except the snow.
Even with the depression Sora had left her in, the sight of the snow seemed to cause that feeling to dissolve; as if that very snow was falling on the surface of her heart.
"Why do you look so sad?" Sora asked, the color in his eyes swirling to a slight black and blue; the innocence in his voice almost making her smile again.
She turned to him slowly, holding his hand in hers, noticing the frigid iciness of his skin was beginning to dissolve. "I'm not sad..." she told him slowly.
The brunet bit his lower lip in reply and Kairi had to stifle a laugh. "I can't be sad. 'Cause I know, no matter what happens, everything will turn out all right. We just have to have hope…which I've had a lot of lately."
"Hope for what?"
She looked at him directly in the eyes this time. Taking in all his features from his spiky brown hair, silver earring, and pouting lower lip. All her hope revolved around him. Around him returning to normal, forgetting the past, and finally being himself. His old self.
But she couldn't tell him this. But she wouldn't lie either.
"Hope for…" she began, "the darkness of the past to be forgotten and replaced with a new light. One that won't burn out."
Sora didn't reply to this but Kairi could tell his un-clouding mind was floating on the edge of sleep. The medicine was doing its work.
" I have to go." Kairi told him. "I have to go downstairs with the others."
But as she began to get to her feet Sora held tight onto her hand. "Wait!"
She blinked at him. "What?"
"Please stay…I don't want to be alone," he whispered pleadingly.
Kairi felt her heart skip a beat and faced the fact that she wouldn't be going back down with the others this night. If Sora wanted her to stay she would.
She would…
"All right," she told him, sitting back down. A small smile played on the brunettes lips, showing that his old self was starting to shine back through. But it lasted only for a second as he laid his head carefully on her shoulder and closed his eyes.
The blush in Kairi's face threatened to overwhelm her features and her hand tightened around Sora's as if it had a mind of it's own.
"Strange…" he mumbled, starting to drift off. "When I'm around you… my heart doesn't hurt as much anymore."
The snow continued to silently fall outside the castle casting the world into a wintry wonderland of magic. Below, the guests of the Disney Castle talked, sang, danced, and ate, having the time of their lives. The live band swelled into a chorus of "The Carol of the Bells" and Riku and Wish danced joyously across the floor along with Mickey and Minnie and Daisy and Donald. Several brooms joined in being instructed by Gus from atop a nearby cello, swinging his tail to the rhythm.
Yuffie, Cloud, And Leon walked through the crowd laughing non-stop, arms swung over each other for support. A bottle of green liquid rested in Yuffie's slack hand which was half empty and open. It had been a special gift from Yoshi which Yuffie had graciously shared with her two friends. But that had all been forgotten as the three sang a very off-key chorus to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" as they staggered out into the court-yard. No one stopped them, glad to be free from there screeching tunes.
Yoshi sat in the kitchen, watching Yuffie from the serving window, laughing in triumph at his success. He celebrated by plopping a spare cookie in his mouth and broke into a waltz with the cleaning mop in the back room, out of site. Unfortunately for him, Fire, Hue, Duey, and Luey were having fun snapping as many zoomed in pictures with Yoshi's own camera as possible a camera could.
And as the stars winked high above the castle, sheltered by the gray snow clouds which filtered the stars ever watching light down onto the world in the form of pure, white snow, Kairi and Sora lay curled up quietly on the bed in Sora's room. The light from the moon which had chosen to stray from its hidden covers in the sky spilling across the covers which they hadn't chosen to cover up in. Sora's arms rested limply around Kairi, hugging her close to his chest as he slept.
The red head was awake, though, but just drifting on the edge of consciousness as the warmth of her loves body lulled her into dream filled state. His last words were the only thing keeping her awake as they buzzed in her head over and over in constant replay:
"When I'm around you, my heart doesn't hurt as much anymore."
Kairi smiled, tears dripping silently from the corner of her eyes as she closed them.
"…Neither does mine." She whispered.
And as the snow continued to fall, and the clouds covered the moon once again, everyone slowly made there way up to bed (Yuffie, Cloud, and Leon needing to be carried.) And as Riku passed by Sora's bedroom, he peaked his head in for a minute, curious as to why the door was unlocked.
The image which greeted him inside, was more then enough to make his heart swell an inch or two. The party had been fun, despite the fact his two best friends had been up here. But things seemed to be taking a turn in a better direction from the look of the two sleeping teenagers.
"We can escape from the past as long as we stay connected, guys..." he whispered, closing the door with a soft click. "I promise."
KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK
Me: I had song lurics in here, but I took them out cause I remembered they weren't aloud. so sorry. I did my best. :sighs: Well, next chapter up tomorrow. Hope you enjoy!
Wish's Note (because I edited this and I want one): I do not, NOT act like this in real life! (points at chapter) I swear! And who the Bloody Hell is Yoshi? ...should I kill him? Oh, and for everyone's information, I prefer Dr. Pepper to Mountain Dew any day. MWA HA HA! Oh, and Merry Christmas, too!