Disclaimer: I don't own these chars. They're property of whomever created them and Square-Enix/Disney.
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Heart to Heartless: 2nd Essence
Inside the Secret Place surrounded by murals, Sora dejectedly made his way through the cave, with his head hung in defeat. Devoid, he carelessly allowed his fingers to trail across the multiple carvings on the cave walls as his mind wandered in shallow thought.
There were so many memories in this place. Half of them dealt with Riku, and the other half dealt with…
"Kairi…" his broken voice managed to raspily whisper. The same girl that he had fallen for had, in turn, shattered his heart nearly to pieces. It was such a burden to him now, that he tried not to settle his thoughts around it, but his willpower to resist was considerably weakened. Sora couldn't help but not think about her, and by thinking of her, his thoughts would roughly force him to relocate his mind on what she told him. Feeling the same stab that her words gave him while at the Cove, Sora clutched his heart and leaned against the wall of the cave on his arm in a way that it covered his face as he wept.
Clear drops of a pure and candid liquid fell to the ground in an uneven rhythm, as his heart, in contrast, wrenched in throbbing pain from being stained with the tepid acid of Kairi's words.
"Kai…ri…" he choked out just under a whisper.
Letting the once blissful sounding name of his heart's desire tumble loosely from betwixt his forlorn lips sent a cool rush of shivers throughout the young boy's body. He could feel the pressures of his mind reeling back to himself and his crush as they spent half of their afternoon at the Cove and the beach.
Before the sun had traditionally set, with more than half of its burning display still being above the water, the two had been at the beach part of the island on the dock, first. While there watching the warm phyro globe slowly sink in its illusionary decent into the sea, the two found themselves engaged in conversation about the raft that they, with the addition of Riku, put together themselves. In an irrelevant outburst, Kairi declared that she and Sora should take their newly crafted raft and sail away from the island—just the two of them. Sora also remembered the vivacious look on Kairi's face as she talked about her finally being ready to explore beyond their island. If not for her previous outburst, Sora would have thought that she gained the confidence to finally leave the island from the words that Riku spoke to the both of them earlier, but was directed more than half towards Kairi.
The older teen persuaded his friends that their time spent on the island had gotten boring and repetitive, and that they should use the raft to not only travel to another place away from their island, but to a whole other world---a whole other dimension. Riku also added that it was Kairi that gave him that fearless traveling inspiration.
The subject did sound intriguing as well as convincing, but it also didn't add up. Wordlessly, Sora thought back to when he and Riku were a few years younger. Encouraged by Riku, as usual, Sora became influenced to go out and explore new worlds and see rare sights with his best friend. It was then that Riku came up with the idea to sail away from the island some day.
But Sora pushed that aside, as the memory of he and Kairi being at the Cove then came into his mind. He grimaced at the aching of his heart as its sorrow and confusion increased from the pain Kairi shot at him, forcing him to his knees.
Kneeling in the dirt with his remorseful head bowed, the young boy gave no hesitation to set free the sobs and freshly warm tears that tugged at the core of his very being, begging to be released.
Feeling the acidic urge to curse, Sora met a building contrast by the fragility of his tender emotions becoming a burden from the bittersweet anguish he felt, which caused his speech to be hindered.
He became too overwhelmed to form any words. He felt so confused.
At that moment, a mild sea gale rolled itself upon the island, and blew through a hole in the cave. An eerie sound was produced as the wind crept inside the alternate aperture, and its unique echo bounced off each side of the walls.
As his depression bitterly continued to consume him, Sora nonchalantly looked up to the hole in the cave of where the sound came from. A large rock was lodged in-between the hole, which made a threatening sound when the wind blew through it.
In the back of his mind, memories of himself and Riku when they were younger passed by. He had made Riku come into this very cave, thinking the sound coming from it was a monster. Yet, as the older boy pointed out, the sound wasn't a monster, but just the wind circulating through the cave through its crevices.
'Riku…'
Thoughts of the older teen seemed to hardly ever leave him, and addressing the platinum blonde in his tortured mind triggered the recent image of Kairi in Riku's arms.
Sora flinched. Seeing Kairi in Riku's arms so protectively like that…right after he confessed his feelings for her…
In his mind, a brief image of Kairi laughing jubilantly while she and Riku being arm in arm tauntingly displayed itself, which in turn, only became more oxygen for the fire of Sora's anger to feed on and spread.
As he felt scorching emotions stir up inside him, Sora, in blind anger, punched the wall.
Once looking up at where his fist impacted, he could feel that familiar nipping sting at the back of his eyes. Instinctively, he shut them, forcing his tears to be exposed to the musty air around him and roll down his face. Upon reopening them, his lamenting ice blue lapis lazulis recognized one of the murals on the wall that he and Kairi had created being right in front of him.
He had etched a profile of her, and she had done the same for him. They had both done those pictures within the same year when Kairi first arrived to Destiny Islands.
With the flow of past pleasant memories between the two of them coursing through the battered veins of his emotionally severed heart, a finger went out to gently touch his picture of Kairi.
With a new form of warm tears falling from Sora's eyes, his lips curved into a small smile as the way he felt years ago came back to him, warming his insides for just that one precious second.
Then his eyes trailed directly beneath the picture where there was an image that he had added to it recently.
Near the picture that Kairi had etched of his profile, Sora had added the image of the star-shaped Paopu fruit and had it presented as if he were giving the destiny-intertwining fruit to her to share with.
"Kairi…." he mouthed, soon feeling hurt and confusion take over his already preserved feelings for the girl.
Even though she did tear his heart to pieces—not once, but twice in the same day--- he still cared for her, but…
Without thinking, Sora snatched up the same utensil he used before to etch the picture of the Paopu fruit, a jagged rock, and placed its pointed edge above the picture, preparing to scratch it out.
"Sora!"
Unexpectedly hearing his name and having it said with such a strong emotion, Sora jumped, dropping the rock out his hands and falling over onto his backside.
Stopping himself from automatically recomposing himself, Sora didn't bother addressing Riku's presence. Instead, he turned his face away from the older teen, and kept his head hung low.
Seeing his friend in such anguish struck a deep chord within Riku, making him feel solely responsible and guilty for Sora's behavior. He knew that he was upset with him, and felt that Sora would probably never trust him the same again, but Sora usually came around after a while to forgive and forget.
While keeping the catching of his anxious breath to himself so Sora couldn't hear, Riku tried to recompose himself into his normally cool attitude when he was around Sora. Attempting a suave trademark smile, Riku dared to step closer to his downtrodden friend. "Here you are. I figured that I might find you in here."
Already starting to become mildly swayed by Riku's persuasive tone of voice, Sora had to forcefully remind himself that this was the same person who took the one girl he cared for heart away. Sora frowned, amongst the mahogany barricade his drooped bangs formed while he had his head hung, so his face couldn't be seen.
It had barely even been ten minutes when he confessed to Kairi how he felt about her, then the next thing he knew, he had caught her nice and snug in Riku's protective embrace.
Now, Sora knew that something had to have happened for Kairi to react the way she did.
Maybe he read the situation the wrong way?
He knew that she wasn't a fast girl, flirtatious and brazen, yes, but she still had a conscience.
Deep down in the unfathomed portions of his heart, Sora knew that he still trusted Kairi and still cared for her greatly, but, what was Riku's story?
Slightly turning his face towards the older teen but not looking at him, Sora quickly rubbed his tear streaked face with the back of his arm and finally relocated his voice.
"Riku…" Sora began in a low and placid tone. Being addressed to, Riku took a step closer to Sora, but before he could respond with a verbal reply, the younger cut him off. "Tell me, what did Kairi say to you…?"
Riku blinked at the sudden sound of Kairi's name, even though, he expected to it come up sooner or later. Setting aside his pride for the moment, Riku took casual steps closer to Sora, as he spoke. "…She just told me that she needed help."
"Help?" Sora repeated, losing his anger in the mentioning of Kairi being in need, and turned a little more towards the sound of Riku's voice, but still didn't give his full attention to him.
"Yeah…" Riku stated, taking one more step towards Sora then, stopping abruptly.
Curious to his friend's sudden pause, Sora glanced out of the corner of his eye and pinpointed Riku standing less than 2 feet away from him. But this time, Sora turned completely around to look up at Riku. He beheld his friend with curious eyes as the older teen stood perfectly still with his eyes adverted away from Sora.
Choosing not to hold anything back from Sora, Riku placidly told him the fact of the matter.
"She said that she needed comfort because…when you told her…that you loved her…she panicked, and confronted me for help." He scoffed. "Probably because I'm older."
"Oh…" Sora replied, unknown to himself.
Seeing his best friend's mood drop for the second time that day, Riku begun to feel responsible. Not wanting to see Sora in such low spirits again, he put himself aside and walked over to him.
Sensing his friend right in front of him, Sora looked up, to meet eyes with Riku, but found the aquamarine gems he sought to be elsewhere.
As soon as he came close to Sora, Riku's eyes had aimlessly drifted over to the random murals on the cave walls, and came to a stop when the moment his eyes met with the picture that Sora had previously been tampering with.
"..A Paopu fruit…" Riku muttered under his breath. Feeling a ripple of envy charge through him, Riku's mind became flooded with thoughts. But Sora's picture also proved as a reminder for the piece of mildly ripened Paopu fruit that he had in his pocket.
Catching a secret of his exposed, Sora, scrambled to his feet and ran in front of it, blocking Riku's envious stare.
With his line of vision being cut short, Riku's eyes darted to Sora, pinning him in place.
Misreading the jealousy in Riku's eyes as a smug expression, Sora quickly took him by the shoulders, and looked him sincerely in the eyes. Riku was struck speechless by this move and was a bit confused, but kept his eyes on Sora.
"Please…" Sora began, bowing his head, "Please don't tell Kairi…"
A rapid array of multiple thoughts flashed through Riku's mind as he beheld Sora in his most genuine honesty. Riku's eyes narrowed at the vast level of trust he saw deep within Sora's eyes. He knew t had forgiven him, even though he did nothing wrong, and Riku was fine by that. He knew that with him being a bid brother figure was as close as he was going to get to the hidden and endearing depths of Sora's heart, and as long as he was close to him, Riku was more than satisfied.
Riku had accepted the fact that Sora had his heart practically set on Kairi, and shared a few mixed feelings concerning her, himself. But the fleeting emotions he felt paled in comparison to the quixotic and sureness of emotion that was clasped eagerly and tightly by the ever-jubilant Sora's heart.
Feeling a flow of warmth coarse throughout his body, Riku's lips spread to a casual smile. If it was one thing that the older boy could name that he admired from Sora was his strong and tenacious heart.
But, the actions of Kairi from the past still bothered him from time to time. First, things started out with himself and Sora always being together, hanging out and going on adventures whenever they saw fit. Then once Kairi came, the time and attention that Sora spent with his best friend began to become less and less…and soon, most of Sora's vocabulary was littered with Kairi's name.
Now, Riku didn't hate Kairi, but he did get jealous of her attachment to Sora.
But with him being older, he cursed himself for not being more perceptive.
"Riku?"
"No, I won't tell her. So don't worry." He answered Sora as he tussled in his hair. "My lips are sealed!"
"Ahh cut it out!" Sora retaliated, running a brisk hand through his assorted spiky locks.
With an alluring, yet well-needed laugh, Riku smiled to Sora, who was still sorting out his hair.
Sora grumbled. "Riku!"
"What!"
"So! Here's where you two have been!"
At the sound of the aggravated female voice, both boys turned their heads towards the entrance to the cave and were both shocked to see Kairi standing there with her hands firmly placed on her hips.
Tapping her foot, she narrowed her indigo eyes at the two of them, glaring first at Riku, then Sora.
The boys watched as the girl's features twisted into a cute little frown and leaned forward to scold them.
"Do you two have any idea what time it is?"
Upon receiving unintelligent murmurs, Kairi rolled her eyes and shot a glare to Riku. "And you!" she declared with a playfully raised voice, "You told me that you'd come back!"
Catching Riku between a rock and a hard place, he calmly kept his cool, and suavely replied, "I told you I was coming back, Kairi, and I was. But now that you're here, there's no reason for me to come back to you..."
With a 'hmph', her pink lips curled into a half frown and she haughtily tossed her hair back "Nice one, smarty-pants."
With a small giggle, K turned attention away from Riku for a brief moment to glance to Sora.
Sora was caught off guard at first, and didn't know how to react, but everything was made up, as well as made clear, as Kairi smiled warmly at him and winked at him.
Taking the gesture as an apology, Sora returned the same, as if to say that he was sorry too.
The two shared a brief moment of staring into the other's eyes, and upon meeting eyes with her, Sora instantly remembered the picture of the Paopu fruit that he etched on the wall, and nervously inched behind Riku to try and cover it up.
Kairi raised an eyebrow, and giggled. "Sora what are you…"
"Nothing!"
Glancing over at Sora as he blushed, Riku sighed and shook his head, before returning his eyes to Kairi. "Come on, you two. We've been out here long enough. Let's get some sleep."
Agreeing with him, the two younger teens nodded. Before she left, Kairi walked over to Riku and mouth a "thank you" to him. Not replying with words, Riku simply nodded to her with an unreadable expression. While standing close to him, she curiously peered over his shoulder to what Sora was supposedly hiding, and of course, Sora quickly covered the picture from her line of vision in a sloppy casual attempt.
After a while, she shrugged it off, and left out of the cave with her hands leisurely folded behind her back.
As soon as she was gone, Sora let out a whoosh of air, then looked to Riku.
The platinum blonde said nothing as he stared off into space in the direction of where Kairi left. He seemed to be in deep deliberation about something, but Sora had no clue to what it was. Laying a hand on his friend's shoulder, Sora called out to him. Riku instantly responded with a raised eyebrow as he met eyes with Sora. Astonished by the perplexing complexity of Riku's viridian eyes, Sora couldn't help but smile to his friend for helping him out. "Riku…thanks…"
Returning his smile with one of his own, Riku nodded. "You're welcome."
"Well, get some sleep now." Sora said, already getting a head start on leaving. Once out of the Secret Place, the first thing that met with Sora's eyes was the dark and clouded sky. His eyes narrowed at the large clouds closest to the island where he stood.
They looked a lot like storm clouds to him. He inwardly sighed. "Great…a storm….I hope it passes." Already at the mentioning of a storm, Sora looked around from where he stood to make sure that Kairi was nowhere in sight. 'I hope she made it home okay.' He prayed in his mind.
"Sora!"
Hearing his name, the young teen turned around with a raised eyebrow. "Huh?"
Before he had the chance to say another word, Riku emerged from the Secret Place and held out two fists.
With his eyes fleeting between the two, Sora acknowledged that Riku's fist looked like they had something in them, or at least one of them did. Unsure is he were to pick one or not, he curiously glanced up to a confident looking Riku.
With a hint of a smirk on his lips, he said to Sora: "Pick one."
On command, Sora looked between both fists, and randomly picked one. "Um…I choose…the one on the right."
"This one?", Riku asked, dropped his other arm at his side and holding up the one Sora picked.
By the unique sound of allusion in Riku's voice, Sora quickly changed his mind. "Uh…actually, I choose the one on the left!"
"The one on the left, right?" Riku asked with a smug smile on his face.
"Yeah!"
Saying nothing, but moving quickly, Riku took hold of Sora's hand and placed his left fist in it. With his shimmering aquamarine eyes on Sora, Riku opened his hand and dropped a soft object into his hand, then curled his fingers around it.. "Good choice." He stated with a smirk as he began walking away.
Sora watched him go for a second, then looked into his hand to find out what Riku gave him. And as soon as he recognized what it was, his eyes widened and he called to Riku while holding a piece of it tightly in his fist. "Riku!"
"Keep it!" the blonde shouted back. Then he added for his ears only, "So we'll be a part of each other's lives…no matter what…" Smiling to himself, he pulled out of his pocket a piece of his own of the fruit.
The legend of the Paopu fruit stated that if any two people shared it, their destinies would be intertwined…forever. And for best friends, there was no harm in being a part of each other's live for all eternity, was there?
….Riku also hoped that Sora didn't eat in until after a few days or so, because that particular piece of Paopu fruit hadn't ripened completely yet!
Oh well. If he did eat it, he'd be in for a sick surprise, but at least the effect would still remain the same.
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A/N- --
-Mel