"Sea Salts to Heal."
Disclaimer: I do not own any of said characters or Hotels. I do, however, own the ice water that is in this story. As I snuck in and provided it. That is all.
A/N: Warning: The theme of this chapter, I think, just might be water.
Enjoy!
"What were you thinking?"
Shuyin set his pen down on the table with a sign, drapping his arm over the chair and flicking his hair out of his eyes as he turned to look at the young woman standing behind him. He winced outwardly as he saw the fire that burned in them, knowing that nothing could possibly save him now from the young songstress' wrath now.
"What do you mean, what was I thinking." He asked, swinging his legs around the chair as well.
"Don't play dumb." She growled, trying to ignore his pleading eyes. "What...why would you.."
"Join the army?" He supplied, and she nodded. "The same reason you became a summoner."
"I had the gift!" She exclaimed, shaking her hands at him. "It was my responsibility–."
"Lenne." He stood, crossing the small distance of their apartment to grip her forearms gently. "I know, okay? I've heard it a hundred thousand times."
"Then why did you–." She looked away.
He sighed again; it seemed to be a popular response for him lately. He tugged her forward against his chest, encircling his arms around her and holding her tight. He felt the cool touch of air as she sighed against his neck and smiled sadly.
"I joined the army because I can, Lenne. Blitzball is a way for people to forget...but that's not enough. Not for me. I want this stupid war with Bevelle to end...not it up."
"You make people happy with your blitzing.." She whispered.
"And I can continue to do that after the war is over." He replied, pulling back and holding her at arms length. "If I can stop the war before they put you in the front lines.."
Her eyes widened. "So that's what this is about!"
His eyes hardened, a feirce anger rising in him that frightened even Lenne. She'd never seen him so mad as when she'd first told him that the summoners were being sent out on the front lines. The war that had raged between the two biggest cites, Zanarkand and Bevelle, had gone on long enough. Aeons, the powerful creatures in which only Summoners could create, were enough to stop it. Or so the leaders of Zanarkand thought. Personally, Lenne didn't think the magical creatures would be enough against Bevelle's powerful machina.
Neither did Shuyin.
"Of course it is!" He growled. "I won't let them do this to you. I won't!"
He watched as tears bubbled in the corners of her dark eyes, brown hair falling foward and across her face as she tilted her head away. With another sigh, Shuyin touched her face, wiping her tears and tilting her chin.
"Save your tears." He murmured gently. "I'll be back."
She hugged him feircely, burrying her face in his neck. "When are you leaving?"
He tightened his arm around her. "Three days."
She gasped. "Three days. Three days?"
"I'm sorry, love." He murmured. "You know I have to do this."
She sighed and burried herself more in his warmth.
"Of course." She muttered. "You and your determination. Can't just be peaceful and stupid and stick to Blitzball."
He chuckled. "You know how selfish I am. My happiness comes first."
"Selfish, right." She snorted. "You can't help it."
He smiled at her and nodded. "Okay?"
She smiled. "Not even close."
"Ah." He kissed her forehead. "But it was a heroic effort, right?"
She giggled. "Right."
Shuyin jerked awake. He wondered why he hadn't noticed earlier that he was sleeping in chest-deep water. He shook his head to clear himself of her voice and her eyes.
'She's gone.' he told himself. 'Get over it.'
But he knew he wouldn't. Instead, he pushed off the wall, diving under the surface of the rain water and wondering how Traverse could have flooded so badly in one night. The water was freezing and dirty, but he persisted with his infamous determination, using powerful strokes to cross what he assumed (it was so filled with water, he couldn't really tell) to be the Second District. For a moment, he wished he had a Blitzball.
'Not a blitzball.' He thought. 'You want you old life back.'
He couldn't return to Tynan's persistant questions, Sora's never-ending cheer or Aerith's maternal worry just yet. He could see the Hotel in the distance and had no desire to return right away, despite the face that he was wet and cold. He needed time to think. Turning, he began to swim the other way.
He'd heard the Dalmatians had a piano.
Riku pushed open the door of Tynan's bedroom, careful not to step on the floorboard he knew made a squeeking sound. Green eyes scanned the room carefully, noting the open window and the rain that was splattering through and wetting the grey plush carpet. Wind rustled through, blowing the sheets and papers all across the room. He snorted, entering the room and shutting the window with a dull click. The storm outside continued to rage.
Tynan watched him with interest, curled up on the mattress. She was wearing a pair of pants that had most likely once belonged to either Leon or Cloud, rolled up to the knees so they would fit. Her shirt, surprisingly, belonged to her; left here from her travels before she had been captured. It was stylish but odd, threads and shreds giving it a distinct look of the place she came from. He took that moment to study her as she studied him.
Her hair was a medium brown colour, natural red highlights bouncing off the light, falling in flanks down to her shoulders. He gave a start, realizing he had never seen her with her hair down before. Indigo eyes looked around at everything with a sparking interest, wide but deep set with lines from stress caused by fighting the dark. Tiny scars littered themselves around the corners of her eyes. It gave her a look that made others think she was always tired or weary. Her skin, to his surprise, was toned and covered with freckles; it didn't make sense..since she'd been in the darkness for years. When he asked, she carefully reminded him that darkness froze time, keeping things the way they are. A good explanation, he thought, as to why they hadn't starved to death.
"Ah...Riku?"
He blinked at her. She was smiling.
"What?"
"Just making sure you were okay." She replied. "Your eyes got kinda glazed over there for a sec."
He rolled his eyes. She moved her feet up to make room for him to sit down. Once he was settled against the footboard, she smiled again and went back to the string she held in her hands. The spot beside her was unharrased, telling him why she was making a necklace so early in the morning instead of sleeping.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked quietly, moving into that empty spot.
She shifted in surprise to his closeness. "Not tired."
Riku was quite for awhile. He knew it was a lie but he didn't care. The wall was down, replaced by a feeling of friendship he had long since lost. He could lie here with her, and feel comfortable. Without feeling bad about himself. Because...she understood. And he knew perfectly well the reason she wasn't sleeping. Her socks were off and she was curled into herself. She looked so small and unprotected. And yet he knew under that 'cute' exterior that she could take care of herself. And that confused him.
"He hasn't come back yet?" He asked casually, once she'd returned to her necklace.
"No." She murmured, setting her necklace down. "He won't be back for awhile."
"You're not worried?" He asked, looking out at the pounding rain.
"Not really." She replied, lying down. "He can take care of himself."
He felt a surge of jealousy. How could she not worry? How could she not think about what could happen to him in the rain? It was something Riku had always been burdened with.
"Why aren't you sleeping?" She asked him, playfully grinning up at him.
He looked away and his lip twitched. "Sora was drooling."
It was the first time in awhile he'd made someone laugh.
With his own grin, which he made quick work in concealing as he turned his head, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. She watched him cross the room, and stared in shock as his hand was offered to her. She placed it in his, starting at the delicious warm tingle it shot up her arm. His hand was warm and calloused, uncovered by his usual glove. He pulled her to her feet, his eyes intently on hers, and she turned her face to hide her sudden blush.
"We should go wake Sora up." He spoke softly, his voice deep as he let go of her hand.
She placed her hand on her face, closing her eyes and calming her heart like she'd been trained to do in times of extreme stress. She opened her eyes again and stared at his back, a giggle escaping her throat as she smiled a little. Times of extreme stress; battle. And yet...now she was being forced to use it because he'd done something as simple as touching her hand? It made her feel stupid.
It made her feel normal.
"Riku?" She said quickly, stepping foward to catch up with him.
"Yeah?" He turned to her.
Their eyes met for a brief moment.
"I think the Hotel kitchen gives out ice water.."
She was warm. It wasn't a blanket-on-a-cold night kind of warm. This warmth also provided comfort and security, enveloping all of her and keeping her close. Shaking her head, she opened her eyes only to meet the cotton-clad skin of a smooth chest. She was drenched in sweat, she realized, noticing how it stuck to her skin instead of simply drying like water. And the sweat was coming for that cotton-clad skin. She looked up.
"No." Squall muttered, and she jumped. "Please..."
His hair was plastered to his face, his breathing ragged. She sat up a little as his body twisted, his teeth clenching in pain as he continued to mutter. It sounded as if he was running, running away from something that frightened him greatly. Filled with the frustration she'd seen in him when he couldn't find something important. Filled with loss.
'He's having a nightmare.' She thought in awe.
"Squall." She called softly, touching his shoulder. "Squall, wake up."
He groaned. "No...I'm sorry...Rinoa.."
His body jerked, beads of sweat running down his forehead as he fought against Yuffie, who was holding his arms in an attempt to wake him. She reached a hand up and touched a cool palm to his forehead, which seemed to calm him immediately. He was dangerously feverish. Probably what caused the nightmare. She was filled with a sense of fear, overcoming the strange sense of contentment she had felt just moments earlier. If she couldn't wake him up..
"Squall." She said loudly, her voice cracked. "Squall, wake up!"
His teeth clenched and he groaned in pain again, his body twisting. Yuffie's heart jumped, and she listened intently for the sound of rain on the ceiling. Squall was sick. Possibly really sick. She needed to get help.
"Squall." She whispered to him, soothing his hair. "I'm going to get Aerith."
"No!" His eyes opened, but she could tell from the unfocused look that he wasn't truly awake. His arms wrapped around her small waist, and she was pulled against his chest again with a small shout. "Don't leave! Don't leave...please..."
'He thinks I'm Rinoa.' She realized, and hesitated. 'Yuffie. Who cares who he thinks you are...he needs comfort. And if he thinks I'm her...then so be it.'
She wrapped her arms around his back, pressing into the sweat-covered t-shirt. She thought he heard Squall wimper as he held her tightly, and she closed her eyes against the sudden tears that threatened to overflow. She'd never seen Squall admit to such weakness. If he was like this in his sleep..in his conscience...that meant that maybe, just maybe, deep down beneath the Leon..
Squall was crying out for help.
She soothed his hair and held him tighter, realizing that this was probably the only chance she'd ever be able to comfort Squall. The tears slowly subsided. She wouldn't let him go through anything alone. Never again.
"I'm not going anywhere." She whispered to him softly. "I promise."
Outside, the rain began to subside.
"-- So then, Yuffie comes flying out the door. She was running as fast as she could, so I knew that Leon had been serious when he told her to leave. That's when we first saw Sora."
Cloud's bright blue eyes flickered with interest, and he shifted his position on the bed, resting his chin on Aerith's knee. Aerith's hands combed through his hair, and he considered what she had said and looked up at her thoughtfully. Her mouth was twitching in the corners, a perfect display of her thoughts concerning the two tenants of the Green Room.
"What's going on between those two anyway?" He inquired, sitting up. "I've never heard Sq– Leon argue with anyone so irritably before. I mean..its Yuffie..but even she isn't that annoying.."
Aerith smiled. "Oh, that's just what they like to do."
Cloud gave her a distinct look of disbelief. "Hello? Have you seen the way they glare?"
She smiled. "That's just how they show affection."
"Well," Cloud murmured. "I hope they're never affectionate with me."
Aerith giggled. "You'll get used to it."
Cloud sighed and shifted so that he was lying beside her, their elbows touching. His eyes scanned the ceiling as he thought. He'd been a little shocked when he'd first been told that Squall and Yuffie bunked together. He'd been even more disturbed when he discovered they slept in the same bed. It hadn't bothered him after he'd thought about it; Yuffie was young and stubborn, perfectly capable of looking after herself (not that Squall would do anything to her) Squall, no, Leon was...well....Squall. Unwilling to allow human contact. Besides...what was it about society that insisted that two people put in one room would jump eachother?
'More like jumping at eachothers' throats.' He thought, smirking.
And yet their constant bickering was that of two old friends. Or, perhaps, a married couple. The thought alone made him grin, and he wondered why the thought of them together didn't bother him as much as it should have.
"I think its more than that." He told her after awhile.
"Oh my." Aerith said softly. "When did you become so incredibly shrewd?"
"It's a natural gift." He informed her, grinning. "You were just too busy with my good looks to notice it before."
He was met with an innocent smile that worried him, and a pillow in the face. His curse was muffled as she smothered him, rolling him off the bed and on to the floor. He raised his eyebrows at her giggling form as he stood slowly, jumping back on to the bed and grabbing her by the waist. Where she expected a come back, for Cloud was not one to take pillows in the face lying down, she only felt Cloud snuggled into the pillows beside her, holding her close.
"Going back to bed?" She asked in disbelief.
"Yup." He replied. "And so are you."
"I'm not going to sleep again." She scolded. "Besides, I should check on the others..."
A gloved hand reached up and wrapped around her neck, pulling her down and into the pillow below her. Cloud immediately attached himself to her, keeping her as close as possible. Aerith found herself melting at his unfamiliar childish act.
"I'm not going to sleep!" She said forcefully.
He opened his eyes to look at her and she groaned.
'Not the eyes..' she thought. 'Not the eyes.'
"Oh, fine!" She said, as he did The Eyes. "But only for five minutes."
He grinned into the pillow, his lips ghosting over her neck and his arm encircling her waist once again. Aerith stared at the ceiling, refusing to comply to the wamrth of his embrace, the tickle his lips caused on her neck...she would not go back to sleep...
He kissed her cheek and she sighed.
"On second thought..."
"Hmm?" He asked, still grinning.
"The others can look after themselves."
He chuckled. "That's my girl."
Sora was very very very wet.
Riku and Tynan, who had scrambled rapidly out the door, a bucket that had once been filled with ice water clutched between them (and had now been so nicely dumped on him) were very very very dead.
Heeee! I liked this chapter! I'm sorry there are no review replies, but I will do double duty next time as I want to get this one up really quickly. This one took me forever guys..almost a month in fact. Please Review and tell me how you liked it!
P.S. How'd ya'll like the ending? I really really couldn't help it. Sora's so alone right now...I thought he needed a little ice water.