Copyrights: All characters belong to Square-Enix and Disney except for Aozora, Lorien, Kobi, Ashita, Yuri, and the surprise minor character Rupert. Maybe he WILL play something big in the sequel…but we'll never know. The plot is DEFINITELY mine, as you will soon see.
Notes about the Chapter: I've been warning people about this chapter for a while now. I'm not sure if I did publicly warn you but I do know some readers are aware of what may take place in this chapter. This chapter was supposed to be rated M but that turned out to be only the first two takes. This is the third rewrite and it's a bit more mellow than expected, meaning it's still rated T. But for those who have big IMAGINATION (Spongebob Style everyone!), you can safely rate this as M. Be my guest. But I warn you, I WARN you…if you're adamant on SK, don't flame this chapter once you're done reading. Instead, be polite, withhold your anger, and wait patiently for the sequel. You'll know why in good time.
Songs: The last half of COLORS by Utada Hikaru, and the amazing Endless Sorrow by Ayumi Hamasaki. By the gods, you MUST not only listen to the song but watch the music video! There is a reason why there's actually a site dedicated to the music video of that one song. Listen to both songs, please!
Secrets of Memories
Chapter 79: Tell Me What the Rain Knows
Two weeks. Two damn weeks.
And nothing had happened. No tsunami, no giant black wave of doom, nothing. It was silent on the war front, and silent at the heart of all worlds. Nothing had happened. Nothing was going to happen, not for a long time. It was as though Time had stopped and the same things kept happening over and over again.
How Riku hated it.
" Goddamn it, I'm bored!" he snapped to himself as he stormed inside the Bell Tower. Fuming, he sat down on the only couch in the room that lacked clutter and crossed his arms tightly across his chest.
" Please don't tell me you've gone insane already!" he heard Ashita exclaim in one of the other rooms. " You know, talking to yourself?"
Riku smirked. " And so the chicken said to the egg, " I laid you, therefore I came first!" The egg, of course, couldn't talk so it ran over the chicken. And that is why the egg came first-"
Ashita yelled in the other room and Riku fought the urge to laugh maniacally. He smothered his mirth with his hands when he heard Yuri enter the 'living' room.
" You are evil," she accused jokingly. " And after all he's done for you-"
" What, besides these?" Riku remarked, poking at the shades sitting on his nose.
" Well, yes, that," Yuri smiled as she sat down next to him. " And I still can't believe you did that…that other thing."
" What other thing?" he asked innocently, cocking his head towards the broken door near the bedrooms. " Oh…that thing! Well, he did seem intent on keeping these shades as far away from me as possible. The guy obviously wanted me to remain blind and handicapped forever-"
Ashita shouted something unintelligible but Yuri burst into a fit of laughter anyways. Riku sat, watching her with a smile until she regained control of herself. Taking a deep breath, she then turned to him. The smile was suddenly gone from her face.
" I-I've never lived somewhere other than the Tower for such a long time…this city's been my home for ages, Riku. I-I've never…never dreamed I would end up elsewhere, you know? I mean, its like you've been torn away from the only place you've ever known your whole life…"
" Well, we always did have Old Citadel," Riku pointed out, making her remember the faded memories of a wondrous kingdom and a kind king. She sighed, looked dejectedly at the veins in the wood paneling on the floor.
" That…that was then. I hardly remember any of it."
" You guys were living in a castle," Ashita snorted as he carried out a huge knapsack. " I was living in some stone cottage just outside of some tiny town by the sea. At least the twins were nice…"
Riku and Yuri stared at the blond teenager. " What twins?"
" Well, when I was tiny – maybe the same time you two were little – I was best friends with the craziest brothers ever. Well, at least one was crazy. The other wasn't…they were like opposites, you know. But they were cool…except when the crazy one tried to tell us what his pet fish was saying. That made no sense. Fish don't talk, period – what? What did I do?"
Riku was staring at him, his mouth agape. " That fish was Gill. You were friends with Sora and Aozora."
" I was?" Ashita demanded. " How – I didn't even know Aozora when he saved my ass from Shanks!"
" But you said he seemed kind of familiar, didn't you?" Yuri recalled thoughtfully. " Aozora thought you were weird but later on he said that you seemed kinda similar, too. Like you two met before."
" And the puzzle fits," Riku announced. " Well, let's not piss off Cid by being late to his shop with all our stuff, eh? There's an airship to catch, and the headquarters to call home."
" The headquarters of the Order of the Hearts and Souls," Ashita muttered, hefting his bag. " What are we to do there? We're just teenagers…and they're…well…not teenagers."
" Teenagers can do many things," Riku said seriously, rising to his feet and adjusting his sunglasses. " And teenagers grow up. Welcome to war, Ashita."
" War…" the blond teenager sighed, then opened the door and began his slow descent down the stairs that spiraled downwards from the rooms on the top to the floor.
Riku watched until the door closed. Then his senses told him turn around. As soon as he turned to the couch, he found himself enveloped in an embrace, as Yuri pressed her cheek against his and whispered into his ear, " Is it true? Are we really going to war?"
He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. " It's inevitable. Right now the headquarters is the safest place in the Universe. Twilight Town won't be safe anymore. The Heartless and the Nobodies know that Cid's here, so he's going to move out, too. Yuna, Rikku, and Paine are going to stay behind for the moment, until we find the back-up so that Yuna can follow us to the headquarters. And they'd be looking for me. They know who I am…so they'll be hunting us all."
Yuri sighed, seemed to accept their fate. " If that's the way things turn out…"
She pulled back, looked at his stern face and its uncertain smile. " At least…at least that ocean didn't drown us. Sometimes, sometimes I wonder why. I heard so much about how it would destroy us…yet nothing happened. Why?"
" I don't know," Riku whispered honestly. He didn't know himself. " All I care now, though, is that we're all alive. And that's how things should always be."
He leaned in and gently kissed her. Before he could pull back, she had pulled him down to the couch and pressed her mouth against his. He smiled through the kiss, glad that something so simple as an expression of love could exist in a world ripe for chaos.
""
" We are now leaving Besaid Island. We will be reaching Luca in two hours. Thank you."
Lorien sighed, leaned against her chair as the train lurched, then pulled out of the new train station built on the outskirts of the main island village, the home of two great former Summoners. One was dead; the other she left behind at Traverse Town with her lover from another era.
She pressed a finger against the glass pane, stared at the oily mark it left behind. She then drew a long, wavy line across the length of the window, sighing and feeling depressed all the while. Her heart felt so painful; its every beat hurt her in ways she couldn't even begin to imagine.
For five long years she had suppressed her emotions, crushed them so well she couldn't feel as Kobi did. She had killed – yes, she had killed – and felt nothing for those who died under her blade. Anger and cold laughter were the only reactions she had to the world around her…then suddenly Aozora had stepped back into her life, shattered her so completely she couldn't recover.
And she still couldn't. The image of Aozora and Kairi in that incredible, impossible, profane embrace left her dizzy and filled with a rage that burned away all the love she had carried for that blond teenager with the lonesome bronze eyes. And the fact he had kissed her left Lorien feeling murderous. She still wondered how she was able to pass by random strangers on the streets of Traverse Town that day and not strangle each and every one of them out of sheer spite and jealousy.
Jealousy…I'm jealous…
She rocked in her seat, sighing. It was a new feeling, something she had never sensed before. It was poisoning her mind, that she knew, yet she really couldn't do anything about it. It was there to stay, there as long as she continued to play that horrid image in her head-
" Yo, yo, yo, whattup? Why are you feelin' down, eh?"
Lorien jerked, backed away from the rough, cheerful voice. She found herself staring at a teenager not much older than herself, with bright red hair spiked up wildly, and huge sunglasses perched on his nose. He was slightly brown, perhaps from the sun, and he had piercings on both ears. He was wearing a gray and black shirt over some baggy black pants, and he had a blue and brown satchel sitting at his feet. She had been so lost in her thoughts she never even knew he was there until he had greeted her in that odd way.
" Uh…what are you doing here?" she demanded, feeling embarrassed and furious at the same time.
" Well…let me see…" he said, fishing into his pocket and yanking out a train ticket. " Motsu. Seat G9. Destination is…Luca. Well, since you're in G10, I guess this is my seat."
" Great…lovely," Lorien sighed, leaning against the window. " And why are you going to Luca?"
" I heard this one music producer guy's searching for someone to sing. Ever since Lady Yuna did the crazy singing weeks ago, people have been searchin' for singers, yo? So I thought " Why not try out for it, eh? People say you can rap so why not?" So here I am…"
" Rap?"
" It's like…I don't know how to explain it but mostly you go pretty fast and there's rhyming and rhythm to it...supposedly. I dunno…why are you going to Luca, anyways? You definitely don't look like you've been from around here."
" That's because I've been all over the place," Lorien sighed. " Been all over, seen much, heard much, talked much, did too much…but its all behind me now. Luca's where I'm going to remake myself."
" Ah…running away from some shitty life, aren't ya? Well, same here! Hey, why don't you try out singing, huh? Wouldn't that be awesome?"
" Singing? I don't sing…"
" You've got to come with me! We can do a duet! What do you say?"
Lorien sighed. She really didn't know what she was getting into, but then again, she never knew what she was getting into the day she ran into a toddler with wild blond hair and bronze eyes back home so long ago. From that moment she loved him…but Aozora never knew. And now she had lost him forever.
A smile came to her face.
" Sure, why not?"
Motsu crowed, leapt to his feet and danced. As soon as she realized just how much attention he was bringing to himself, she reached over and yanked him back into his seat.
""
" Life really was so simple so long ago…" Selphie sighed, propping her head up with her hands as she sat on the steps of the stairs in the Third District. " I wish I was back home again…then I wouldn't have to worry about fighting…killing…getting hurt…dying…"
" I wouldn't say much about fighting and killing," Zexion remarked thoughtfully, staring up at the night sky, " but I would definitely have something to say about getting hurt and dying. Everybody's bound to get hurt, one way or another, mentally, physically…and we're all going to die."
Selphie made a face. " Don't be such a pessimist. That's depressing."
" The truth hurts. Deal with it."
She scowled, punched him on the shoulder. " Shut up!"
" Hey, hey, hey – ow – I didn't really mean it – ow – that hurts! Help, Selphie's assaulting me-"
" Rawr!" Selphie launched herself at him and knocked him against the wall. Then they were falling down the stairs in the most ungainly fashion, landing in a painful, awkward heap at the foot of the stairs.
" Ow…" she moaned, trying to pull herself together. She rubbed her head; she had hit it on the ground only seconds ago.
" Now can I file charges for assault?" she heard Zexion chuckling softly inches away from her. She tilted her head towards his voice and saw him lying flat on his back, obviously talking to the faint stars in the sky. " You're like a little tiger, you know that? Playful and all but when something pisses you off, you jump at it...or in this case, me. Which would make me a 'someone', not a 'something', right?"
" You're impossible," Selphie remarked as she slowly got to her feet. The world spun as a headache exploded in her mind. " Oh, my head…"
She sank back to the ground, then felt him right besides her, helping her stand up. She leaned against his shoulder, seeking respite from the pounding headache in the warmth of another person. She also blushed; she couldn't help it but whenever she was around him, she always felt…awkward.
Selphie could still remember the days on Destiny Islands when she so romantically talked about paopu fruits to Sora, Riku, Kairi, Tidus, Wakka, anyone who was there when she was in the mood. Her dreams of a knight in shining armor sweeping her off her feet and carrying her off into a tropical sunset didn't quite materialize the night she suddenly found herself in total darkness. And she knew things were never the same the day she found herself sitting on the beach of Destiny Islands again, wondering what the hell happened, and finding Kairi standing in the waterfall, crying.
"…and if you're the supposed knight in shining armor, I might as well kill myself…" she found herself muttering as he helped her to the bottom step. She sat down and clutched her head before she realized what she had just said. That could probably explain the suppressed laughter radiating from the person next to her. She turned red with embarrassment, then snapped. "Shut up! That's not funny!"
Zexion burst into insane laughter, enough to drown out her headache. Finding her head suddenly clear, she decided to plan on her next course of action.
Calling me a tiger, eh? Well I'll show you…
Selphie still had her nunchuks hidden in the pocket of the shorts Yuffie lent her. Grinning darkly, she watched him carefully, waiting until she knew he had totally lost himself in the laughter, then swung out her nunchuks, intent on knocking him upside the head for laughing at her old, dead dreams.
She staggered back, shocked, as she stared at the black line of energy wrapped around the end of her nunchuks. She followed that line to the cord wrapped tightly around Zexion's right hand. She slowly looked up at his face and the rather evil smirk he had.
" Nice try. If we're going to battle the Society, I might as well let you in on what Lesson One will be: If a Society member is right in front of you, don't expect to catch him or her off-guard. That's impossible."
Great, I totally forgot he ran away from that stupid, stupid Society…
Feeling humiliated beyond reason, she yanked at her nunchuks.
Might as well teach him not to mess with me, either!
Selphie still didn't know what happened but what she knew was that for one moment she was savagely yanking back her nunchuks from the grasp of his rather intimidating whip, then the next moment he had pressed her up against the wall, kissing her.
She dropped her nunchuks.
""
Kobi sighed, shifting the knapsack on his back as the train tracks ran on endlessly. He was growing incredibly bored of the same sight but he just couldn't find a train that would take him to Hollow Bastion; every person at the train station in London said no one would dare even conduct a train there. And some had told him of a stranger that appeared on the abandoned train tracks from that haunted world, a stranger bathed in blood and with odd metallic eyes.
Aozora…that damn idiot…
But Kobi could no longer find his anger. He had lost it, lost it in the long ride from the World Train Station to Neverland, lost it in the last minutes he shared with Lorien before the inevitable separation. He had also lost whatever he had left of his crush; since Sora died, everything else died for him. He had broken away from Aozora completely and now that he and Lorien had separated, the friendship between these three childhood friends had disintegrated.
He knew it had happened. The deafening silence between the two had spoken enough. Lorien had refused to talk, left Kobi to mull in his own thoughts.
He still couldn't understand why the others had gone into defense mode the moment he appeared in the town square and approached Donald and Goofy about what had happened at Hollow Bastion. They seemed intense around him, perhaps even a bit angry. He never understood why. Perhaps he never will.
But then again, the view of the Universe had changed since Yuna's concert. No longer could you easily find peace and sanctuary in many of the worlds. All those refugees from the other worlds would find themselves pursued, haunted by the ghosts of war, as world after world explodes into the fire that had long threatened the stability of the order of the Universe Dragon, Phoenix, and the Prophet created eons ago.
" War has come," Kobi whispered to himself as he felt a drop of water on his nose. He blinked, stopped for a moment, then looked up at the skies. He cursed; the skies had darkened over. Kobi wasn't close to Hollow Bastion and it was starting to rain.
He yanked out his black coat and pulled it on, then slung the knapsack back onto his back. Kobi then began to run, cursing the weather all the while. He hoped fervently that the towers of Hollow Bastion would loom into view, so that he wouldn't die miserably of hypothermia.
Thing was, if Riku was right, would he find someone there? Would he find…
Naminé, are you there?
""
…karaa mo iro aseru keikoutou no moto
Shirokuro no chesuboodo no ue de kimi ni deatta
(…colors fade under a fluorescent lamp
On the black and white of the chessboard, we met by chance)
Bokura wa hitotoki mayoi nagara yorisoutte
Are kara hitotsuki oboete imasu ka
(The time we lost our way, we nestled close
Do you recall that month?)
""
Cid nodded to the song, humming as he took note of the stock in the store. The hired hand had done well but he still preferred that other kid, Rupert, who had that insane memory.
" Hey, Cid!" he heard that kid yell in the storeroom. " What do I do with these Protect Chains?"
" Have you counted how many boxes of them we have?" he bellowed.
" Oh…"
Well, Rupert had to learn how to run a store, unlike the other hired hand.
""
Orenji iro no yuuhi o tonari de miteru dake de yokatta no ni na
Kuchi wa wazawai no moto
Kuroi fuku wa shisha ni inoru toki ni dake kiru no
Wazato makka ni nokoshita ruuju no ato
(Watching the orange colors of the setting sun with you was wonderful
Your mouth was an origin of catastrophe
Black clothes are only worn when praying for the deceased
The mark of rouge leaves behind deep red purposely)
""
" Cid, you are crazy," Yuffie declared importantly as she dropped in from the Moogle Shop upstairs. She then cartwheeled to one of the couches and stretched out full on the three-seater. " Major crazy."
" Shut up. I don't need your opinion, do I?" Cid snapped back as he chewed on the end of the toothpick in his mouth. " And where's Merlin's book? I swear it was on the counter a moment ago…"
" Oh sorry," Rinoa said sheepishly as she entered the store with Leon. Cid raised an eye when he saw how tightly Leon was holding her hand but she was practically dragging him all over the place. She led him to the counter, waved the book in Cid's face, and said, " You don't mind me finishing this book, do you old man?"
Cid scowled. " Did he teach you to call me that?"
Leon smiled. " Sorry, old man."
" Bah, youngsters these days. Don't know nothing about respect…"
Rinoa laughed, then pulled Leon over to the couches. Yuffie decided it wasn't very proper to be sprawled over the couch she was occupying and sat up quickly as they sat down on the couch opposite of hers. She eyed the couple evilly but Leon caught on.
" Don't you dare…"
She pouted. " Darn you, Squall. Just when I had the best prank in mind-"
" My name's Leon!" Leon retorted.
" Yuffie, put that materia away!" Cid yelled from the counter. " I saw that!"
" Why do you want people to call you Leon, anyways?" Rinoa asked curiously as she flipped a page. " Your name's Squall."
" I know but-"
The doors opened again. He stopped and they all turned to see who had come in.
" Um…do you know where Kairi is?"
" Hey, Aozora!" Yuffie shouted. She sat on her knees and peeked over the backside of the couch at the blond teenager. " Where have you been?"
Cid decided now was not the time to tell her she was unbalancing the couch. He made a sound in his throat, then spit out the toothpick and looked at him.
""
Mou jibun ni wa yume no nai e shika egakenai to iu nara
Nuritsubushite yo kyanbasu o nando demo
Shiroi hata wa akirameta toki ni dake kazasu no
Ima no watashi wa anata no shiranai iro
(In myself, I see no dreams, like unpainted pictures
How many times must I fill this canvas?
I'll abandon time as I hold a white flag overhead
I am your unknown color now)
""
Aozora was wearing a thin white dress shirt over a black shirt, and his cream-and-brown pants. His other shirt and jacket were so bloodstained Aerith couldn't get them and finally threw them away. He had been quite unnerved for the last several days; wherever he went around Traverse Town, people pointed and whispered to each other about him. A disproportionate number of young women were eyeing him, too, which totally threw him off. He didn't quite get it, though, until Yuffie dragged him into a corner of the First District and told him – well, she tried to tell him but she kept laughing, so it took a good hour and a half before he could finally string together what the hell she was trying to say.
And that was embarrassing. For a while he had been wondering if people knew who he was and what he had done weeks ago but really they were admiring his looks. And before he could insert some choice words, she interrupted him by saying that she's overhead all those young women talking about his body, which his shirt was practically showing off for the whole world to see.
That was when Aozora turned bright red and started yelling something stupid. And that was when Yuffie knocked him upside the head to shut him up.
" You know what your problem is?" Yuffie had remarked right after he tried to yell at her for the hit. " You seem perfect on all levels but you just have that one minor problem – impulse. Sometimes you just do whatever comes first to your mind and that really turns people off. Well…no, that's not what I meant! I'm just saying, I heard the whole story of how you jumped at Sora that day at Twilight Town and…oh…that's the wrong thing to say, isn't it?"
" Yeah, it fucking is!" Aozora screamed at her before storming away.
Luckily, Yuffie wasn't one to take a hit and nurse it for days. She, just like Selphie, was so bouncy it was like nothing could ever affect her. Aozora just couldn't say the same about some others he knew. And one was them was…
" I just can't help it! I want to love you and I want to hate you, too! You gave me so much…and you took it all away, too! Don't you get it? Can't you understand? I-I can't love you, not the way both of us want to…at least the way I want to…"
" Hello, Traverse Town to Aozora! Wakey, wakey! Who were you looking for?"
" Huh? Oh…" Aozora laughed nervously, scratched his head. " I'm…looking for Kairi."
The atmosphere darkened instantly. The smile slid off of Yuffie's face. " Oh…"
He nodded miserably and decided to stare at his feet. " I…I just want to talk to her…about something…"
" Exactly what do you want to talk to her about?" Leon demanded.
" Leon – I mean, Squall – I mean, never mind…" Rinoa gave up deciding on what to call him. " Well, don't be so rude!"
He glared at her. " I'm not being rude. I just want to know."
" It's just…" Aozora sighed. He fell silent, leaving the others silent as well. They couldn't even hear Cid's hired hand in the storeroom. It was all quiet, until Aozora stomped his foot on the ground. " Just tell me where she is! I want to give her something, something I've been meaning to give to her since I can't give it back to my brother! He's dead, after all! So now will you tell me where she is?"
They stared at his sudden explosion. Yuffie then turned to Leon and pointed an accusing finger at him. " Your fault! You – whoa!"
Cid could only sigh as the couch fell on its back, taking Yuffie with it. " Yuffie, Yuffie, Yuffie…"
" Ow…what, old man?" the ninja asked as she staggered to her feet.
Aozora fumed, huffed at the bangs shrouding his face. He had been wandering around, looking for her, but she had disappeared completely. He didn't try the Third District, though. Just as he was about to enter, he heard who could only be Zexion laughing something evil. And since he had not seen Selphie around and about either, well…he just left it at that and searched elsewhere.
" Aozora?" Aerith said softly as the doors behind him opened, and Aerith and Cloud stepped into the store. " Aozora, she's at the Sewers."
" The Sewers?"
She nodded. " A year and a half ago, she gave something to Sora, along with a promise that he would give it back to her. It was there that they made a promise…and connected their hearts. No doubt she would be there now, looking for the lost connection."
" Lost connection?" Aozora echoed.
" Aerith, are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Cloud questioned. " You know what you're inferring-"
" Hush, Cloud. Don't meddle into affairs like this," she said with a smile. " Go to her, Aozora. We know what happened…but she needs you. She's lost…and so are you. Go to her…and give it back to her, as was promised a year ago."
Aozora nodded, then went around the two people and out the doors. Yuffie, who had been busy righting the couch, dusted her hands of debris, and turned to them.
" So…what did I miss?"
""
" The Sewers? But why the Sewers?" Aozora wondered aloud to himself as he ran up the stairs to the Second District. He threw open the doors, continued running, and jumped over the railing. He landed on the ground, then turned to his left, where the door leading to the back of the Hotel would be. He practically ran into the door, pushed it open, and stumbled into what he thought was the oddest part of town.
He leaned on his knees, waited until he had caught his breath, then sighed deeply and looked up at the sky. It was night, true night, and the stars were flickering faintly. But there were clouds moving, dark clouds that were slowly blotting out each star. Rain was coming.
" Rain…to cleanse the world, to heal all wounds…" Aozora whispered, recalling a book he once found during his stay at Disney Castle ages ago. " But…but can it heal…me?"
" Kairi, why are you avoiding me? Why won't you look at me?"
" Just…just don't, Aozora. Just don't."
" What are you talking about? What did I do? Tell me, please."
" I don't know, Aozora! I don't know! Oh gods, just leave me alone!"
" Kairi-"
" When you came back, I thought maybe things would get better. Maybe my heart would stop hurting so much. Maybe I could stop crying myself to sleep each night. But nothing changed. Nothing changed! He's still dead, he's never coming back, nothing will ever return to normal, he's never…just leave me alone! Whatever happened between us never did happen! Oh I don't know…I just don't know…"
" What did I do wrong?" Aozora shouted. " What did I do? I didn't kill him! I didn't kill him, goddamn it! I…I don't know…all the promises broken…the war…everything…dammit…what am I doing? Am I going crazy?"
Then something hit him, a sudden wave of sorrow that enveloped his mind. He staggered against the wall, leaned against it, breathed heavily for a few minutes, and then the feeling passed.
What was that?
Slowly Aozora let go of the wall and made his way down to where the water from the sewers ran. The stars had all gone from the sky; rain was going to fall.
And yet, and yet he knew something else was at work, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Something was going to happen tonight, he knew, but he didn't know what. He couldn't exactly explain it in kid terms with sparkles and shimmering stars but it was like something oddly 'magical' was going to happen.
But what could possibly happen to a teenager whose long lost brother died in front of his eyes and was spurned by the only girl he ever truly loved?
He stepped into the waters, shivering at the icy blast as the water flowed around his shoes and the ends of his pants. For a moment he found himself insanely curious about the contents of the water – this was the sewers, after all – but decided against it.
There are just some things we really don't need to know, do we?
He slowly sloshed his way through the waters towards the ominous opening deep into the underground of Traverse Town. He listened to the rippling water, found it soothing, then realized that no music was blasting out in Traverse Town. Had Cid turned off his radio? Was the man losing his mind?
" I thought he already did," Aozora snorted aloud. His voice was lost in the water as he continued upstream into the cold, damp sewers. Leon showed him the place days ago, explaining that he usually came here to practice his moves and keep his muscles well-toned.
" Kairi?" he whispered tentatively, as he came to a standstill and listened to the water dripping from all around. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he found himself standing on the shores of a rocky little bit of land that led to a hovering platform. Leon and Yuffie told him it led to the place where Merlin lived, but Aozora wasn't exactly interested in that.
There was no answer, except for the echo of his voice. Aozora was alone.
" Where could she have gone?" he asked himself as he sloshed ashore. And then he saw the orange and white shoes perched on a particularly large rock. He froze and stared at them for several minutes. He really couldn't think of any reason why the shoes would be sitting there like that. He also couldn't understand why she would take them off.
I mean, if she suddenly decided to go out for a swim, this wouldn't be the best place to do it…
His eyes strayed to the far wall. The waters were shallow; he could see the faint outline of the stones near the wall but there was something about the mural that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Well, besides the glowing, that is-
The freakin' mural's glowing. What the heck?
Aozora waded into the waters again, shivering as his pants soaked up the coldness. He was in cold water halfway up his lower legs when he finally came face-to-face with the mural. He studied it curiously, wondering what the heck the sun and the moon were about.
What am I doing, staring at some stupid mural! I've got to find Kairi-
He whirled around and his foot – very convenient for this to happen – slipped. He braced a hand against the mural to steady himself and got a shocker when he found his hand going through the mural.
" What the!"
Aozora yanked his hand back and stared at the rippling effect that created. He held his hand, stared, poked, and prodded at it, but it suffered no ill effects. Other then the fact it just went through a wall.
" Is this…some sort of hologram or something?" he wondered suspiciously. He poked at the mural and pulled his finger back when he felt something odd clinging to it. As he pulled back, the mural continued to cling to his finger, producing some very strange rippling effect. At a certain point the sticky bit let go and it slammed back into the mural. He found himself staring at a distorted sun and moon.
" Maybe Kairi's on the other side…"
He took a deep breath, then pressed both hands against the mural. They slid through quite easily, so he decided to push on and let himself pass through the wall. Well, it wasn't really a wall if it didn't keep him out, right?
Whatever it was, it felt strange as he passed through it. It wasn't exactly a hologram and it definitely wasn't solid. It felt like he was walking through very sticky water, if that was even possible with water. He found he couldn't breathe and Aozora briefly panicked.
Whatever Yuffie said about his ridiculous, impulsive nature was right; he charged through the odd wall and suddenly found himself waist-deep in rather cold water. That was enough to shock his eyes open.
It was like the sewers continued beyond the mural, though it was obviously hidden by the mural. The water was cold and impossibly clear. Water dripped from overhead; it was now practically a tunnel, a tunnel with an end – or was it a beginning? – that Aozora could see. And that end was glowing. He decided to head towards it.
What the hell is this place? How come nobody told me about it? Did they even know this place existed? Why the hell's a mural not a mural?
He sloshed his way to the glowing light against the flow of the water. For a moment, he almost burst out laughing at the insanity of things – there was a light at the end of a tunnel and he was walking towards it. He was going to die.
Maybe I'm just going crazy.
He didn't find the light at the end of the tunnel. He had to turn left.
His foot slipped again and he found himself sputtering as he swam up to the surface. The ground had unexpectedly given way, leaving him to slip into the cold water. He gasped as he broke the surface and slowly but surely swam his way away from the entrance. Every few seconds he tested for solid ground, then found it a good distance from the 'deep end'. He stood up, steadied himself, then shook his head. Water sprayed everywhere as his hair shed itself of the heavy weight. He then wiped the excess water out of his eyes and opened them.
He was standing in the middle of what looked like a lagoon. High rocky walls surrounded this huge cove but the roof was gone; he was staring up at the clouded sky. Water was seeping from crevices in the walls as miniature waterfalls, pouring into the lagoon with gentle, soothing sounds. Behind him, several feet away, was an island of stone, with a lone willow tree rising from its very center. Its long weeping arms reached out all around it, seeking to touch the clear water. Aozora stared at the graceful tree and the island it lorded over; this escaped the eyes of every inhabitant in Traverse Town? They didn't realize the mural hid a tunnel that led to some totally outlandish world that really didn't fit in with the bright lights of Traverse Town?
The ripples in the water changed. It was odd how he was able to sense the change but it was there. It was enough to tell him one thing. He wasn't alone.
He whirled around, looked about wildly, but saw nothing. He then slowly inched his way around the island, until he had made it a fourth of the way. Then he stopped, staring at the waterfall that fell from meters up. It was beautiful, a crystalline fluid flowing from the mouth of bluish-gray slate into the clear waters and throwing up hazy bluish white mist. It was an image he just couldn't forget.
Movement. He could feel it. Aozora slowly turned his head and his heart froze.
She stood there, waist-deep in the waters, facing the waterfall. She was dripping from head to toe; she probably didn't expect that drop when she first walked into this hidden cove. Her arms were outstretched, her fingertips touching the water's surface. Her orange dress clung to her body and her long red hair streamed over it, dribbling water down her back.
Aozora opened his mouth. Nothing came out and he closed it. He shifted on his feet, suddenly didn't want to face her. Truth was he wasn't looking for her to give her back the lucky charm; that was secondary. He just wanted to see her again. He just couldn't tell the others just how much he was in love with her.
But she had turned him aside. He knew she was miserable, lost, confused, and that meant she couldn't face him, either. Maybe it was because of what Aerith called 'lost connection'. Sora and Kairi were connected. But the connection was destroyed one day two weeks ago. Nothing was the same since.
But he wanted her to stop suffering, to stop feeling pain over the horrendous loss. He just wanted her to be happy, because he had never seen her happy. The only times he ever saw her, she had that longing look on her face. That was until he came back; the look was replaced with black despair.
" A Princess of Heart with despair in her heart is dangerous. What were you two talking about? Don't you have any idea what you probably did to her? Sora being dead is one thing; if a Princess of Heart loses her light, it's another-"
" Don't talk about Sora!"
" Stop denying it, Aozora! He's dead and you know it as well as I! I know it's harder for you because you just found your brother from your incredibly defunct family and he died in your arms, but that doesn't mean you keep pushing away his name whenever it's mentioned! What do you think would happen if you refuse to hear his name? Or have you forgotten the meaning of 'memory'?"
" You think I'm going to forget him? Leon, are you insane?"
" Not as insane as you! Stop acting like an idiot and-"
" Shut your fucking hole, dammit! I've had it already! Everything I had, everything I want, its all gone! Everything's gone! My family, my friends, they're all gone! I've lost everything!"
" There's Kairi. What about-"
" She's never going to love me, Aerith. She won't. The only person I could ever love doesn't want to love me. So…I've lost everything."
" You haven't lost everything! You're still breathing!"
" If we lose the damn war, then I will have lost everything! I'd be dead! So shut up!"
Aozora took in a sharp gasp as his vision blurred. He rubbed his face with his sleeve, tried to rid himself of the tears. Then he sighed, and looked up.
" Kairi…I'm sorry."
She froze, her palms flat on the surface. Then she let her hands sink into the waters, and slowly turned around.
" A-Aozora? What…what are you doing…here?"
Her face was wet but not with water. Her blue eyes were bright with tears that streamed down her face. It stung him and yet it entranced him. There was something about her sorrow that made her so incredibly beautiful and he felt himself drawn to her because of that. He tore his eyes away from her and settled on the waterfall instead.
" I…I was looking for you."
The water seemed to sing. It was entrancing.
" Why?"
Her voice was cold, colder than the water. He shivered at the pain and anger it carried, felt his heart breaking as the word echoed continuously.
" Because…because I wanted to tell you I was sorry."
Kairi brushed aside her bangs and stared down at the surface of the water. She bit her lip. He saw a teardrop fall, watched as it hit the water's surface, then found himself staring at the area of impact, as faint bluish white light began to glow. He looked around, suddenly realized why there was a light near the end of the tunnel. Kairi had been crying, and there was something in her tears that made the water give off that eerie bluish glow.
" I…"
Aozora looked up at her, as she slowly looked at him as well. The tears were fresh, flowing down her face. They dripped into the cove as her lips trembled.
" I…I thought Sora would be here. I thought I saw him…"
""
Tatoeba hitorikiri de
Nani mo mienaku natta toshite
Tatoeba sore demo mada
Mae ni susumou to suru no nara
(Even if for instance you
Are blinded and alone
Even so, if you just still
Try to go ahead)
""
Kairi covered her face with her hands, felt the hot tears seeping through the cracks between her fingers. She couldn't understand why the tears made the water glow, couldn't understand what it was that made her come to this lagoon, couldn't understand why Aozora was standing in front of her…
Just admit it; you love him, too!
" Kairi…"
" I thought I saw him," she whispered through the tears. " I thought he was beckoning to me, at the mural, so I came to him. And then…I was walking through the mural. And he was standing there…like his old self, smiling and laughing. I thought he was here after all, that he came back for me."
She knew it sounded ridiculous, that it seemed like she was dreaming it all, but she really did believe he was there, gesturing for her to follow him.
" He…he took me down the tunnel…to the very end. He was smiling the whole entire time…and then he took a step to the left. I followed him…here…"
She felt the water ripple, and was able to sense Aozora inching towards her. She instinctively took a step back. But that was only one step, and he was coming closer.
"…and he took my hand…and led me through the deeper part of the cove…to the waterfall. He held my hand…and told me he was sorry…sorry he couldn't come back to me. He was sorry for not keeping his promise, for breaking it…and I told him I was sorry, sorry because I found myself…"
She hiccupped, couldn't continue speaking. She didn't want to say it, but it was too late, she had already spoken too much, and she knew Aozora was waiting for her to finish, no matter what.
" Kairi…" she heard him whisper. She looked up, shivered at the sadness in the bronze eyes she had always loved. He raised a hand, dripping with water, and gently brushed aside her bangs. Somehow the touch gave her the courage to finish talking.
"…I told him I was sorry because I couldn't wait…I couldn't wait for him. I told him I was falling in love with you…I told him that…that I couldn't. I was falling in love with you…but I still loved him. I told him I could never love someone else…"
She cried openly, could no longer even try to finish. The tears fell into the waters steadily as she shook with the pain and the sorrow and the loss and the despair rushed through her body, pounding at her mind and her heart and her soul. Then she felt his arms go around her and she collapsed into him, sobbing into his wet shirt. He held her, stroked her wet red hair, as the tears began to fall from his eyes, too.
""
Koko e kite kono te o
(Come here, and take my hand)
""
It was raining. He could feel it, the cool raindrops sliding off his skin and soaking the shirts he was wearing. The soft sound of raindrops hitting the waters of the cove matched the waterfall in the soothing smoothness, lending a strange magical air to the small world that enclosed them and excluded the greater world of Traverse Town, as well as the Universe.
" Kairi," he whispered, " Kairi, I'm sorry."
He knew what he should do, what he had to do.
He slowly pulled away, left her sniffing, wiping the tears from her face. She looked up at him, her hair streaming, as the rain fell all around them. " Where are you going?"
He had turned half-away, was beginning to move towards the entrance into the cove. He looked at her with a sad smile on his face. " If I stay here, I'd confuse you more. Your heart won't be able to handle the despair within you any longer…and if I'm here, I'll speed along your breakdown. I-I can't let that happen…even with all that I promised to Sora, I can't have the Seventh Princess self-destruct. So I'll step out of your life…and see what life will do-"
" No! Don't go! Don't leave me!" she cried. " Please, don't leave me! I can't lose you, I can't…even with everything I said, everything I did, everything that's happened since In Between, I can't lose you, Aozora. Please, don't leave me…"
He froze, stared at her. Her desperate plea was still ringing in his ears as he slowly waded back towards her. Her head was bowed down; the rain and the waterfall drowned out her sobs but her shoulders were shaking.
" Kairi? Kairi, look up," he asked gently. " Kairi, please, just look up."
She didn't seem to hear him, was instead whispering.
"…I told him I couldn't love you…because of my memories of him…but Sora, he hugged me. He hugged me…and then he told me, " Let me go." He told me to let him go…and I couldn't. But he kept talking. " Let me go, because I can't be with you anymore. If you're still holding onto me, you'll only hurt yourself and the people around you…and I can't let that happen. Please, just let me go. That's all I ask. There's someone else out there who needs you…so go to him. Never forget me…but don't stay in one place forever. It hurts me to see you like this, Kairi. I heard you that night, Kairi…and I love you, too. But please…promise me you'll let go. Goodbye…" And…and he just faded away…I wanted to ask him, ask him why…but he's gone, isn't he? He's gone…but you're here…you're here, Aozora…and I never knew that…I'm so sorry…"
" Don't be," he whispered. " I guess we're both sorry, aren't we?"
" Yeah…" she said, as she looked up at him with a faint smile on her face. " I guess we both are…"
They stared at each other, lost in each other's gaze, as the rain poured all around them. The haunting, sorrowful music echoed in the rain from the speakers in the First District, yet all was forgotten as they studied each other. Kairi then flushed and looked away, touching a small tear-shaped pendent around a fine silver chain on her neck.
" Um…."
He continued to watch her, found his eyes practically devouring the beauty that emanated from her. There was something that the rain and the glowing bluish white light that made her so…ethereal.
They say she's one of the last Angels left in the Universe…and I can definitely vouch for that. She's so…
"…beautiful," he whispered aloud.
" What?" Kairi asked, suddenly realizing that he was watching her, had been watching her for the past several minutes. He turned pink, then stammered, " N-nothing…it's just…I…"
She already knew, felt so embarrassed about it. She went all warm remembering the way he was staring at her. Truth was, that was exactly how she wanted him to look at her…and that was incredibly embarrassing.
"…I think you're beautiful…in and out…as a person…"
Kairi looked at him, found herself smiling and shivering at the sheepish look on his face. He was clearly unaccustomed to such display, and so was she. And yet…there was something intangible running between them, some strange connection pulling them together.
Is this just an attraction...or real love?
He slowly neared her, a step at a time, forging a way through the glowing water to her. He wasn't that far away in the first place so he was right in front of her within seconds. They stared at each other for a few minutes, as the rain continued to fall.
Kairi found herself practically hypnotized by his wolfish bronze eyes. His smile was sad; she had never really seen him smile for sheer joy, but it was a smile that made her want to love him even more. It was a thought that made her tremble, as her insides churned and something fiery coursed through her veins. She wanted him to touch her, to caress her, to hold her close...but she was frightened at the same time, frightened of what might happen, the consequences.
His fingers brushed against her cheek and she trembled. Kairi swallowed nervously, feeling the strange fire grow. They continued to watch each other, his hand touching her face, as the rain fell all around them. She could feel him shaking, too; it was as though they both knew what they wanted, but they were too scared to go forward. Time and age were the only walls that held them back, time and age…
" You know," she whispered, blinking away the raindrops, " you never cease to amaze me."
He gave her a half-smile, as a feverish emotion welled up in his eyes. His gaze slowly slid from her eyes to her lips as he managed to say, " That's what most people say…"
He leaned forward, hesitated for a moment, then slowly pressed his lips against hers.
The rain, the water, the rising mist, the waterfall failed to dampen the fire born as she parted her lips and deepened the kiss.
""
Kimi ni moshi tsubasa ga
Hitotsu shika nakute mo
Boku ni moshi tsubasa ga
Hitotsu shika mokote nakute mo
(Even if your wings
Are all gone but one
Even if of my wings
Only one remains)
""
She had never experienced anything like this. It was like something within her heart gave way and all the loss and despair had spilled out to be burned in the purifying fire and washed away by the rain. All the pain seemed to melt away the longer they remained connected. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him even closer, closer because she wanted him to quench the fire raging within her, closer because she wanted him to fuel the flames.
Aozora braced his left arm against the smooth slate wall behind her, eased her against it as she kept pulling him even closer. He never dreamed anything like this could happen but all at once, it was happening. Attraction, love, or no, he wanted her, the same way she wanted him. He could feel it. He knew it.
""
Tatoeba shinjiru mono
Nani hitotsu naku natta toshite
Tatoeba soko ni wa tada
Zetsubou dake ga nokotta nara
(Even if for instance you
Lose every single thing you believe in
Even if for instance all that remains
With you is despair)
""
" I…" Kairi whispered, pulling back to look at him. " I won't forgive myself…"
" Neither will I," he murmured. She smiled something truly radiant, before he leaned in and kissed her again. She eased her mouth open and he plunged into the sweet, haunting flavor he had tasted once before, a heady essence that had followed him for days since that fateful night in the Second District of Traverse Town…
Vaguely he felt her move her hands and he let her pull off the now-transparent white shirt he was wearing, leaving it to float away in the water. Kairi pulled him up against her, willing him to touch her, feel her, like nobody ever had. And though in the far back of his mind something told him this was too much, the fire roared and the feeble protest fell silent.
He nipped at her bottom lip, then slowly left a trail of kisses down her neck, reveling in her haunting flavor. She moaned, arched her neck, involuntarily pulled him even closer, until their hips brushed and the fire burned away reason, left only the need, the desire to love and be loved. Her hands found the ends of his black shirt and pulled it off, tossing it into the waters. The rain fell on his bare shoulders, ran in rivulets down his back. Her hands skimmed over the taut, lean muscles, and her right hand rested above the scar. It pulsed under her touch, became heated, and he thought he was becoming fire itself.
Aozora felt himself shaking as her hands continued to explore his upper torso, the fingers tracing circles and leaving behind trails of embers. He closed his eyes, found his way to the hollow at the base of her neck, and kissed it slowly, tenderly. He heard Kairi murmur something, didn't know what she was saying, didn't care. Her voice was soft, loving, and that was all that mattered to him.
What is this that I'm feeling? Am I so in love that I will take it this far, far into eternity? Forever? Together?
Kairi gasped as his hands slowly explored her, touched her. She trembled, held him tightly, yet she wanted him to never stop, to keep touching her, until the last vestiges of reason burned away. Then his hands slid down to her hips and undid the red belt. It sank to the bottom as his hands went even lower and slowly crept up under the hem of her dress.
Aozora slowly kissed her neck, then slid his lips back up to hers. He hovered at them, suddenly seemed to waver, as his hands rested on the sides of her legs and continued to send tremors and fire up her body. She had frozen, too; her hands rested on his chest, her right hand still touching the pulsing scar. They looked deep into each other's eyes, seemed to be asking each other the question, asking themselves if they could move forward, beyond the walls of time and age.
She could see the flames in his bronze eyes, the love and the lust. She felt herself drawn into them, as the side of his face brushed by hers and he whispered into her ear a question.
" Are you…are you sure about this?"
""
Douka kono inori o
(Somehow, please answer my prayer)
""
For her it was too late. For Kairi, she had done as Sora asked of her, the very last thing he wanted from her.
" …never forget me…but don't stay in one place forever. It hurts me to see you like this, Kairi. I heard you that night, Kairi…and I love you, too. But please…promise me you'll let go…"
Never forget…but don't stay in one place forever…forever…
Aozora pulled back, waited with dread for her answer. It was one or the other; no middle ground existed between them. He didn't think he would've cared, though; if anything, he knew that they had gone much too far to turn back. There was no going back, for either one of them.
Kairi blinked, suddenly remembered the rain. She then smiled, thinking of what the rain had done, the rain, the fire, the cove, Sora's words. Whatever may happen…she would face it with a heart renewed, and her lover beside her.
" Yes," she whispered, as she slid off the straps on her shoulder and began to slowly pull down her dress.
""
Hane no nai tenshi ga
Afureteru jidai de
(In this world overflowing
With angels without wings)
""
Yuffie couldn't help but look at Cid weirdly as he leaned against the counter, the radio next to him. He had his eyes closed as he nodded – quite madly – to the tune of the rather sad, heartfelt song. He had a disturbing smile plastered on his normally grumpy face and she felt so tempted to wipe it off.
" Cid?"
Nothing.
" Cid?"
Nothing.
" Cid!"
" What? What, what, what! Something's on fire? Are we being ambushed!" Cid yelled, jumping to his feet. The cigarette in his mouth tumbled out and onto the floor; he crushed it with his boot as he looked around wildly.
" Cid, maybe you're getting a bit too addicted here," Yuffie decided as she leaned over to turn off the radio.
" No!" Cid dove on top of the radio. " Stand back! Stay away!"
Yuffie shrieked and fell backwards against the couch. " Ow! Old man, what was that for?"
Selphie and Zexion, thoroughly winded and fully soaked, walked in, holding hands and trailing water. They stopped short at the sight of Yuffie sitting on the floor, rubbing her head and her behind painfully as Cid clung to the radio and glared her to hell.
" Did you guys decide to take a shower in the fountain at the Second District?" he demanded, staring at them. " And you're trailing water into the store!"
" Uh…no," Zexion said, shaking his head and spraying water everywhere. " It's…raining…outside…"
" What!" Cid yelled, jumping over the counter. Yuffie ran to the doors and threw them open. She stared.
" Cid, it IS raining!"
" You're kidding me!" Cid barged for the doors – Selphie and Zexion dove out of the way – and stood at the doorways as Yuffie bolted out into the pouring rain and down the stairs. She then began cartwheeling in the town square as the local residents left the shelters of their homes and buildings to venture into the rain. Gepetto and his boy Pinocchio were dancing in the puddles while Louie, Huey, and Dewey played tag. Others were standing in the rain, staring up in awe or laughing with sudden, cleansing joy. Even Cloud, who didn't laugh often for all his weird, uncharacteristic changes in attitude, was laughing as he walked in circles with an ecstatic Aerith. Leon and Rinoa were standing side by side, staring up at the dark sky, arms around each other. Tidus and Yuna were standing in a solitary corner, practically making out.
" Uh…Mr. Highwind, we're in short supply of…of…of…" Rupert, who had approached him tentatively with clipboard and pen in hand, dropped them in favor of staring at the downpour. " It's never rained here before!"
" Exactly!" Cid yelled.
" Hey…they're having fun," Selphie pouted. Zexion, after the surprise move, had started teaching her Lesson One and it wasn't all that fun.
" Then let's join them!" Zexion suggested, grabbing her left hand and pulling her out into the rain. They ran down the stairs and joined the other people, all who were soaking wet but happy as hell.
" Hey, go get yourselves a room!" Yuffie shouted at Tidus and Yuna. Tidus simply waved her away while Yuna laughed, her arms around his neck.
" Hey Cid!" Louie shouted as the triplet ducklings stood at the foot of the stairs.
" C'mon out!" Huey added.
" Yeah, you grumpy old man!" Dewey agreed.
Cid grumbled. " Fuck this shit…"
" I heard that!" Aerith yelled.
Cid swore. But seeing he had no choice he walked out into the rain and down the stairs.
" Where's Aozora anyways?" he demanded as he neared the bottom and didn't see the triplets sniggering.
" I don't know," Yuffie grinned, cartwheeling away. " And I don't care!"
" And where's Kairi – whoa!"
His foot slipped on the last step and he fell flat on his butt in a huge puddle of water. Louie, Huey, and Dewey started laughing insanely.
" Why you little pipsqueaks…"
Soon everyone started laugh as the airship pilot gave chase to Donald's devious nephews. Yuna smiled, and felt Lenne smile within her as well. She then looked at Tidus, while she could feel Lenne look at Shuyin within him.
" Even in the growing darkness, we still have time for the simple joys," she murmured. " I love it…"
" So do I," Tidus said and kissed her again.
""
Kimi ni moshi tsubasa ga
Nokosarete nakute mo
Boku ni moshi tsubasa ga
Hitotsu demo nokotte iru nara
Isshoni…isshoni
(Even if of your wings
None have been left
If only one of my wings
Is left then
Together…together…)
""
Night. Rain had ceased to fall. The skies were clearing and a crescent moon gleamed among the scattered stars. It was shining full force among its few companions, the stars saved and the stars that remained untouched by the darkness. Its silver light rippled on the waters of the clear pool in the cove, shining through the faint mist the murmuring waterfall threw into the ethereal atmosphere. Its loving mercurial arm caressed the sleeping as the willow tree cast its long, weeping arms around them and provided shelter for the love they shared.
He stirred, then opened his eyes. The world lazily shifted into focus, and then he became aware of where he was. The bluish white glow was fading but the mist was creeping up the island, shrouding them and hiding them away from the wider world. There was no more music; it was silent, but it was peaceful. It was as though the darkness never existed, that the world was simply existing in its simple peaceful way, and that nothing terrible had ever happened…
Promise me…that you'll look after Kairi for me…
I promise…
" I promise…" Aozora whispered, looking at the peaceful smile on Kairi's face. She pressed up against him, seeking warmth in this warm sanctuary. Her right hand remained on the scar over his heart but he no longer felt it pulsing with the fire that once drove him mad. It was simply a mark that would remind him forever of the things he had once done…and the love that it reacted to.
He smiled, then pulled his white shirt up to cover her more. She whispered something, pressed her head against him. He lifted a hand and gently stroked her red hair. Then he leaned over and pressed his lips against her forehead. She stirred, then opened her eyes.
" Hey…" she whispered, looking up at him with her wondrous blue eyes.
" Hey…" he smiled back. " How are you feeling?"
" Tired," she said, suppressing a yawn. " Warm, I've never felt so warm…"
He smiled slightly. " Me, too…"
They watched each other for a few minutes. Then she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, She pulled him close and brushed her lips against his.
" Thank you…" Kairi whispered. " Thank you for everything…"
" Me, too," Aozora replied, then kissed her deeply. He pulled back a minute later and she flushed. He had left behind a bit of that fire they shared, the fire that burned during the whole song and deep into the night.
" You know," he murmured, pulling her up against him, " I never told you this but…"
" What is it?"
He looked at her, deep into her eyes, then said simply, " I love you."
She couldn't breathe, was frozen with surprise. As something akin to worry began to rise in his eyes, she began to smile at his confession. Whatever remained of the emptiness she had felt in her heart following the night the feathers fell vanished, replaced with warmth and love and light and hope.
" I love you, too…"
He kissed her again, pulled her close to him…
The mist rose high into the sky, thick and glowing in that strange, ethereal blue light. And this time, someone was going to notice.
""
" Riiiight….Angel Tears?" Yuffie drawled, picking up a tear-shaped whitish stone and scrutinizing it. " How come I've never heard of them, if they're so powerful and stuff like that?"
" Because I haven't seen them in years," Merlin replied with a scowl. " Angel Tears weren't all that rare…or precious, but ever since Dragon and Phoenix, the race of Angels fell into decline…and Angel Tears disappeared."
He gestured with his heavy-laden leather pouch and Yuffie reluctantly dropped it back in with its siblings. They really were pretty. But protect the wearer?
" And what do you plan to do with these 'Angel Tears'?" Leon asked coolly as Merlin securely retied the bag.
" Why, fashion them into talismans, charms, and defense weapons, of course," the wizard replied with some surprise. " What do you think? War will come, a Council has been called, and wonders upon wonders, I find Angel Tears here in Traverse Town, of all places!"
" Where did you find them?" Aerith asked curiously. " I mean, if what you say about the Angel Tears is true, then it's practically impossible to find them here, among other places-"
" Now that's the odd thing. I found them near the Sewers."
They stared at him. Then Selphie had to ask.
" You picked them up from sewer water?"
Yuffie quickly wiped her hands on her shorts.
" Exactly. I really couldn't figure out why but then there was the blue mist rising into the sky. Oh how beautiful that was…"
" Um…blue mist?" Cloud repeated. " We don't have that here. This is Traverse Town, not some magical world with waterfalls, moonlight, and purple trees."
" Well…" Yuffie mused, " we do have the moon…"
" I have heard of something, though…" Zexion mused. " Something about a place hidden in Traverse Town. It's a sanctuary, a sanctuary for Angels. Unfortunately, there aren't Angels alive today anymore…besides Sora and Aozora's mother…and those three who are supposedly somewhere out there right now…"
" Kairi's an Angel," Cid muttered. " Remember?"
" And I was an Angel, was, mind you," Merlin added. " I gave up my immortality, though…don't ask why. What? I'm serious; I was an Angel."
The others looked at each other. A look passed between them: He's got to be out of his mind.
" Okay, so Kairi's an Angel and so were you," Zexion said. " Merlin, do you know anything about sanctuaries like this?"
Merlin nodded. " I do. I know what you're talking about, actually. But I never had to go there, never…"
" So there would be a reason for going there?" Yuna asked. " Strange…"
" Angels…would die if they are full of the darkest of all emotions: despair," Merlin spoke quietly. " Despair is the loss of hope, and the true light of an Angel comes from hope. Sanctuaries have been found where an Angel can shed his or herself of that despair. Sometimes it's through cleansing fire-" every person in the room shuddered at the thought "-but most often through water. And if an Angel cries – and that's very rare, I might add – then those tears would solidify and carry away the despair, the desolation, and the sorrow. These stones…take those emotions and turn them into powers of protection against the darkest evil. No Darkness can touch the heart and soul of anyone carrying an Angel's Tear, and a weapon fashioned with and Angel's Tear can destroy evil fully, completely, and without remorse."
" So…." Selphie found it same to assume, " Kairi found this sanctuary and cried there?"
" Well, there is this one odd catch," Merlin said, fiddling with his glasses nervously. " The only way an Angel can find his or her way to the sanctuary is the follow what gave that person the feeling of despair. In her case…"
" Sora," Tidus realized. " But he's dead."
" Yeah, but we'll never know what made the tears until we ask Kairi herself," Leon said. " And speaking of Kairi, we haven't seen her in a while, have we?"
" And Aozora's gone missing, too," Rinoa added. " Wait…they're both missing…and I suppose it is safe to assume he's found her so…"
She let her sentence hang, allowing everyone to come up with their own conclusions. Selphie made a face, then shoved at Zexion when he started to laugh. He fell off the top of the stonewall fireplace they were perched on but he kept laughing.
" Um…aren't they too young for that sort of…erm…thing?" Yuffie said, obviously offering an explanation of sorts. That got everybody's face twisted at the thought. They were so intent on trying to figure out whether or not that was a plausible explanation for the whole strange deal with the rainfall, the bluish mist, and what Merlin called Angel Tears that they failed to hear the doors open. Then Rupert, who had been working in the storerooms again, appeared behind the counter with Cid and smiled good-naturedly.
" Hey Aozora, hey Kairi, have you seen the rain? Oh man, that was crazy-"
" You!" Cid yelled suddenly, whirling around on them. Rupert threw himself to the floor while Kairi yelped and clung to Aozora. " You two, running off like that, and all the stupid shit that's been happening, and those ideas that we-"
" Yuffie!" Leon shouted. " He's gonna blow!"
" Right!"
Yuffie flipped over the couch she was sitting on, snatched an oil rag on the counter, and crammed it in Cid's mouth. He sputtered, shouted some muffled words, then tried to pull the oil rag out of his mouth. Nobody needed to know where that had been, thanks.
" So…" Rinoa said slowly. " Where have you two been?"
She was eyeing the white shirt Kairi was wearing over her rather wrinkled orange dress, as well as Aozora's shoes, which Kairi was wearing. He was carrying her shoes and was walking around rather barefooted. Noticing her eyes on the shoes, he laughed nervously and hid them behind his back.
" Nowhere, really," he said sheepishly, turning pink. " We were…ah…well, I did find her…and…well…we got caught in the rain…and…"
Kairi poked him. " He wants a ticket to the World Train Station and a blank ticket from the World Train Station. Well, same here, too."
She ignored the surprised look on Aozora's face as she remained clinging to his left arm. " Please?"
Cloud shook his head. " For Aozora, maybe, but you know, we can't let Princesses wander around at a time like this. Sorry."
" We can always ask the Order," Aerith pointed out.
Kairi scowled. Aozora took this as a cue to get out of the store. " Um…well…thanks…"
He slowly eased her away from building tension and the doors closed behind them. Cid finally pulled the rag out of his mouth and threw it onto the floor. He then spat on it and wiped his mouth.
" Yuffie you are so dead-"
" She has to get authorization to go traveling?" Zexion demanded, looking horrorstruck.
" Yeah, and the same to you, too," Leon added.
" What!"
" We can't let Princesses wander around at a time like this, as Cloud said, and we definitely can't let the Society traitor go wherever he pleases. However, you are authorized to come with me to the Order headquarters."
" What?" Selphie exclaimed. " Can I go, too?"
The others looked at each other. Then all eyes turned to Leon, who had the ' Okay, who voted me leader?' look on his face.
" Well, practically everybody else is going to be there, too…meaning Tidus and Yuna are going to have to come. Can you order tickets, Cloud?"
" Can I order tickets? Why not let the triplets forge some instead of-"
Aerith smacked him on the head. " Cloud! I hope that was a joke!"
" Well now it is! Ow!" Cloud rubbed his head. Yuna giggled but it was Lenne who muttered, " Kids."
Leon sighed, then rose from the couch. Rinoa stood up with him. Leon looked at Yuna, Tidus, Selphie, and Zexion, then said, " Come. The king calls. We'd better go."
The others nodded and stood up. As they left the store to pack their belongings, Leon looked at Cloud, who was still rubbing his head.
" Cloud, you're in charge now. Make sure the old man keeps to his curfew-" " Hey!" "- and hopefully we won't have any problems."
" Problems?" Cloud snorted, staring at the doors. Aerith decided to smack him on the head again. " Ow-"
She then kissed him. Yuffie made a face.
" Okay, if you two want to get it on, go find a room. I'm outta here."
Cid was still sputtering for a comeback as the ninja skipped out of the store. Leon watched the swinging doors, then watched as Rupert slowly pushed himself back up to his feet.
" Um...is the coast clear?"
Leon nodded. " Make sure the old man keeps to his curfew like I said, okay?"
Rupert looked at Cid. " Riiight…"
As Leon left the store, Cid finally found his voice.
" Have fun at Council 387," he cackled madly. He then looked at Rupert. " Well, what's with the storerooms!"
Author's Endnote: I bet a lot of you were definitely not expecting some of the things that took place here, eh? Well, thanks for reading and please review. Share your thoughts, write nice long reviews or short reviews, but no flames, please. I may have to unleash the wrath of Tetsu upon you all then. And in case you never knew, this is the last official chapter of Kingdom Hearts: Secrets of Memories. Amazing, isn't it? Three years…and the story may finally be coming to an end. There are two more chapters after this but you'll see what they are like. But once again…thank you. And please review, once again. If you want to complain…hm…you can do so…either by e-mail or the two sites I listed on my Bio page. And for the third time: Thank you.
Author's Endnote 2 written because she's pissed: Winter vacation sucks. Hope its better for everybody else. Guess that's all. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.