Author's Notes: I want to apologize for taking so long to update. Truthfully, I was in the hospital having surgery done; nothing major, just scoliosis surgery (spinal fusion) The surgery went fine, but I found I couldn't get to the computer for a while XD Sorry!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Kingdom Hearts, only this story.
Chapter 3: The Smell of Rain
The morning sky was gray, and cried heavy tears onto the horizon in hopes of sympathy.
Key rolled over in the bed, pulling the covers over his head in an attempt to go back to sleep.
He could hear the steady patter of rain hitting his window.
It was morning again.
The darkness of night had never lifted from the room.
He sighed, wondering the time, nuzzling his face deeper into the pillow.
He did not feel like waking up.
He did not feel like exerting the effort to get out of bed.
He sighed, a sleepy yawn fumbling through his lips.
It was going to be one of those days.
He glanced around the kitchen as he slumped his feet lazily against the tiled floor, surprised to find that Anitta was not there.
"Perhaps, she is not awake yet?"
He didn't bother flipping on the light.
He decided he wasn't hungry, and sat down at the table empty-handed. Elbows on the rough wooden surface, and his own chin resting in his cradled hands, Key let his eyelids flirt across his eyes in the thought of sleep. He listened to the rain purr as it hit the ground outside.
'This place is not as horrible as I thought it would be.'
Compared to other worlds he had been to, this was one of the nicer ones, even if it wasn't as appealing to the eye. He had been welcomed and ultimately 'accepted' immediatley. The people were kind. He felt…
'Content.'
It was a strange feeling, he decided, and yawned widely.
His gaze swiped across the clock.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
Time.
Time was exactly the same in every world. While there were variations of hour, day, night, year…None of it withdrew from the fact that time existed; time was constantly flowing, constantly being wasted.
'Is it a waste to stay here?'
He shook the thoughts away as he felt his body lean forward as if in an attempt to lull him back into dreams.
He heard Anitta's familiar footsteps gallop down the stairs as a small grumble of thunder growled from the clouds.
She appeared in the doorway opposite of him, her presence casting an amusing shadow behind her. She was wearing a neon pink bathrobe; it nearly glowed in the dark. Her long blonde hair was held loosely into a bun at the nape of her neck with a toothbrush. She stumbled slightly and gasped as she saw him.
"Key! You gave me a fright sittin' derre in the dark like that. Whatsa matter, you want some breakfast? Getin' ready to leave for work?"
He nodded.
"Youz alright boy? You seem a bit outta it this mornin'."
Key shrugged. "I'm fine."
And again it hit him, a distant thought fluttering through his brain in a familiar instant of luminance. He hated when people asked him questions, it was too often that he did not know the answer.
His eyes grazed the clock again.
"Actually, breakfast sounds wonderful."
Anitta grinned widely, tightening the sash on her robe as she immediately started to wander around the kitchen. She flipped the light-switch up, and the room was instantly drowned in the brightness.
"Now…what does Key like to eat?"
He knew she didn't expect him to answer.
So he didn't.
She started to complain about the Hotel's most recent residence.
They were too commanding.
Too bossy.
Rude.
Inconsiderate.
Key stopped listening after that.
He yawned again, listening to Anitta fumble clumsily around the kitchen. He suspected she was more tired than she was letting on, or else she didn't know her own kitchen very well.
"Didn' think it was gonna rain today." She finally mumbled, leaning over Key to set a glass full of orange juice in front of him. He stared at it absentmindedly.
"It smelt like rain last night." He replied finally. It didn't occur to him how odd it sounded. He dipped his pointer finger into the orange juice and swirled it around curiously, like a kid might. It foamed slightly and he wondered what the hell he was doing.
He shook off his finger hastily, sucking away the stickiness with disregard before gulping down the juice frantically. It tasted tangy. It tasted sweet. It enveloped his taste buds as he remembered how much he liked orange juice.
Anitta chuckled slightly snatching the glass away instantly.
"Thirsty, eh?"
Key nodded, slouching lazily into the frame of the chair, his arms draping over the back until the hard hand of the curvy Anitta slammed unsuspectingly into his forehead.
"Sit up straight, boy." She scoffed, an amused look crossing her face as he reluctantly obeyed her request. He sighed, but only to squelch the need to yawn.
"What essactly does rain smell lyke, Key?"
He looked at the woman for a moment. She didn't look at him, rather out the window, almost longingly. Nostalgia. It was a feeling he was unfamiliar with. He wondered what she was thinking, what she wanted to know about the rain, why it made her look so sad. Anitta was lost in memories when he finally decided to answer.
Key bit his lip for a moment, thinking of ways to describe a smell.
"It smells…wet. Almost like mud, I guess. The air is heavy, almost rusted. It tastes metallic, but not like the bitter metallic taste of blood. It's more refreshing." His eyes stayed locked onto the woman. Her gaze never averted from the windowpane.
She giggled suddenly, as if his words had just then entered her consciousness.
"Youz a strange kid, Key."
He blinked.
Was it supposed to be an insult?
He felt his ears burning at her words, a wrenching embarrassed flush crossing his cheeks.
"But I wouldn' haff it any udder way."
Anitta flicked a reassuring smile over her shoulder before returning to preparing his breakfast.
It burned.
But Key ate it anyway.
Key sat with his back pressed hard against the door of Cid's shop and under the cover of the roof that overshadowed him. He listened to the rain. He knew the store wouldn't be open (it was far too early, the sun had not even risen) but he gave no care just the same. Cigarette buds littered the ground, like little decapitated bodies that had once belonged to smoldering soldiers. He pushed his feet forward, his toes curling in the rain underneath his shoes.
Truthfully, he had no where else to go.
He looked up; his caramel eyes fixed on the sky. The sky was not violet, as it was usually, but the gray fog seemed absent. Instead it was blue. Brakish-blackish-blue. He couldn't see the stars, but he suspected that twilight had chased them away. He saw only the fleeting raindrops collapsing to the ground.
Stars.
He wondered if all the worlds he had jumped to existed under the same sky.
Like mirrors, himself, and time…was the sky also the same wherever he traveled? Was it raining in other worlds now, as well?
He buried his fingers in his hair, and tried to occupy his thoughts with something other than questions, but the uncertainty remained. He itched at his scalp. The gesture was soothing.
He began to watch as lights began to flicker on in other homes and buildings.
People were waking up.
He smiled lightly, sitting on his knees.
He then realized that this was a stupid thing to do, because his wet feet pressed right up against his butt. He quickly changed sitting postions, crossing his legs in front of him. But his butt was damp nonetheless.
There was a sudden jerk in his gut.
"Who are you?"
Key snapped his gaze up not moving his head, the back of his skull pressed against the wooden door. He found that a tall man hovering over him.
He thought it was Cid, at first, but he was dreadfully mistaken.
The man blinked, crossing his arms over his chest.
He was tall, a good six inches taller than himself. Long brown hair fell over his shoulders; a slightly disheveled look present in the tufts of brunette. His frame suggested strength. Whoever this man was, it was obvious he was a fighter. Across his handsome face was a scar, connecting from the tip of his eyebrow, across the bridge of his nose, and to the top half of the cheek opposite.
Key blinked slowly, his lips parted as if his voice were trying to convince him to say something. The man scoffed, taking a spot on the wall next to the boy. He didn't sit, but leaned lazily against it. It was obvious that he was still waiting for an answer.
"Key." He finally replied, looking up curiously at the man. He felt the man's stare fix instantly on the keyhole tattoo.
And for a second he felt ashamed of it. He hated it. He jerked his head stiffly so that hair fell in front of that eye. It was a tantrum-like movement.
The man shrugged.
"Sorry." He mumbled. His voice was deep, but did not sound as intense as he had anticipated. "I have a big gaping scar across my face, I should know how it feels."
Key said nothing in reply. He did nothing in reply. Key merely sat, his wet feet pressing numbly into the back of his pants as he wished silently to disappear from the awkward situation.
The man readjusted his arms, holding a gloved hand out for the boy to grasp.
"I'm Leon."
Key shook his hand out of mere politeness and remained silent.
The sun streamed in little strands of golden hair between the rain clouds, but made no other effort to signal the morning. Drizzling disappointment echoed in the puddles. The gloom and rain would stain the day.
The man called Leon shifted uncomfortably, glancing around as if expecting something or someone. His mouth worked into a small frown of impatience and Key sighed.
"I've never seen you around." Said Leon pointedly, as if he were suddenly suspicious of something.
Key shrugged; what was he supposed to say?
'Sorry, I just jumped to this world the other day, and truthfully, I haven't seen the whole town yet!'
He decided against it, and shrugged again.
"Yeah, I get it." Murmured Leon. "It's none of my business."
There was another moment of silence.
"Waiting for Cid?" Asked Leon.
Apparently he held distaste for the silence.
Key nodded. "I work here." He mumbled reluctantly. He didn't look up, and kept his gaze straight forward, looking for anything familiar to excuse himself for.
Leon grunted, sounding a bit surprised.
Or aggravated.
Key couldn't decipher.
"Really now? " he said. Again his voice was bland; the comment was mere politeness. "What do you do?"
"I sweep. And clean."
"That's it?"
Key shrugged, hesitating again to tell the man he had only worked there for a day. "Pretty much. What about you?"
"I don't work here."
"I suspected that."
"I need to talk to Cid."
Key shrugged becoming bored with the conversation. "Well I don't know where he is."
"I figured you didn't."
Key stayed silent, his hands twitching absently in his lap. Come to think of it, Key was not even aware what time Cid opened shop. He glanced around nervously.
They had run out of things to talk about, yet Leon still persisted to keep the thread of conversation going out of pure decency.
Or out of boredom.
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen."
Key felt the word hiss between his teeth.
"How long have you lived in Traverse town?"
Key paused. "Two days."
Leon raised an eyebrow at this reply, and his interest in the boy seemed to suddenly change.
For the worse, in Key's opinion.
"Is that so?" he mused flicking his gaze across the boy again. His tone of voice didn't change, and this intimidated Key immensely.
"And where did you say you were from?"
Key inhaled deeply, silently.
"Some town. You probably wouldn't know it."
It wasn't a lie.
But it wasn't exactly the truth.
Leon nodded stiffly. "You're probably right."
This time, Key concluded, it was aggravation.
But how else could he respond?
'I'm from some other world. I'm not exactly sure which.'
No.
He had learned early on in his travels that people mistook his tales of 'World Jumping' for insanity.
He knew he sounded snappy and ignorant.
They reverted to silence.
It seemed like hours before Cid arrived, and when he did Leon immediately pulled him aside.
Cid grunted in response, removing the jacket he had pulled over his head to keep himself from getting wet. He told Leon to wait until they were inside, and his keys jingled noisily in his numb cold fingers. The door opened when he gave it a shove squeaking in protest like it wanted to sleep just a bit longer.
Key found that he was feeling nervous; as if some judgement on his character would soon come to pass. He stood, and couldn't be more aware of the giant wet-spot on the butt of his jeans. He made sure he was last to walk through the door.
They were all glad to finally have escaped the rain; Leon and Key more so than the only slightly damp Cid.
Cid lit up a cigarette, and the match flittered fleetingly for a moment before he shook the flame away with a twitch of a finger. He caught Key in a stare that needed no words, and jerked his head in the direction of the broom. The boy followed the command that was implied.
Cid situated himself behind the counter and Leon against the wall beside him to pursue conversation.
"Whatchoo need today, Leon?" asked Cid heavily, wiping his nose as the orange rim of his cigarette danced the white path closer to his mouth. He took a drag. "Find out anythin' new?"
Leon shook his head, but murmured quickly in response. "What do you know about that new kid you hired?"
"Not even his name, why?"
Leon shrugged speaking quietly. "I think he may be from another world." The last part of the sentence ended in a whisper.
Cid snapped his gaze over the boy from across the room, and returned it unfazed back to Leon. "What makes you so sure? Is that even friggin' possible?"
Leon blinked. He wasn't sure it was possible.
"Cid, he won't give a straight answer on where he's from."
"And that automatically makes him from another world?"
"He won't give a straight answer on anything." He protested.
Cid shook his head scoffing, smoke billowed away from his mouth. "Neither would you, if asked. Look Leon, all I know about the kid is that he's staying with Ann. This is the fourth time in the last two months that you've speculated people merging here from other worlds, but I just don't think it's possible anymore. I mean, you've been researching and working on building this new ship ever since Sora sealed the connections and so far you've got nothing. As much as I'd like to believe you Leon, it all just seems very unlikely. So the kid is shy; it doesn't mean he's from somewhere else."
The sound of sweeping stopped, as did the subtle sound of heated whispers.
"I'm done." Said Key.
They knew. Well, Leon knew. Was that a good thing? Should he tell them?
Cid nodded as if in answer and ushered him over. Key said nothing as his boss instructed him in other chores. Deliveries, cleaning…
Leon left soon after.
Chapter Notes: I really REALLY planned on writing more, but I felt a strong urge to update and this seemed like the perfect stopping place. Look! It's Leon! Let's all pretend that him and his crew (Aerith, Yuffie, Cloud…) all ended up back in Traverse Town and not Hallow's Bastion, neh? Because I'm pretty sure that's where they ended up at the end of Kingdom Hearts, and I don't want them there XD; So for simplicity's sake…please bare with me . ;
Special thanks to Sumi for encouraging me and helping me and stuff! I really appreciate it.
Also, thanks to all the people who reviewed last chapter! You're the ones who keep this story going, so if you like it, please let me know! If there's something that confuses you, let me know! If there's something about my writing that's just bugging the crap out of you, let me know! This story is very experimental for me as far as the writing style goes, so your opinions and critiques really matter to me!
Also, Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you all have a joyful December!