Kiss Paralysis
You were always so careless but even more so during night.
Chapter 11, Night Again
After their talk of Riku's whereabouts they all huddled around the fire taking their usual spots that they've had since their childhood. Sora sat to the left of Kairi and on the other side of him was Riku, then Wakka, then Tidus, and lastly Selphie on the right side of Kairi. Riku sat on the sand, uncaring of the dirt that may cake up on his pants. Sora and Kairi shared the woolen blanket, Riku convinced Tidus to allow Selphie to sit on top of him, and Wakka had his own chair.
Kairi began to call for everyone's attention, "Well now that we're all settled--back to my ghost story!"
"Riku is back, let's have him take his turn," Tidus complained as he adjusted Selphie from on top of him, "Could you lose some weight?"
"Excuse me!" Selphie said turning half of her body around and semi-unintentionally slapping Tidus in the face.
"Here we go . . ." Wakka exasperatedly ran his hand over his face.
Tidus with a hand over the cheek in which Selphie slapped 'accidentally' lashed out another insult, "You heard me, you need to lose weight!"
"Riku tell Tidus I'm fine the way I am!"
He sighed and just ran his hands through his hair, coming up with an idea, "You want to sit on my shirt?"
"Could I really?" she asked, her green eyes sparkly.
He nodded and began to unbutton his white long sleeved shirt, tossing it to her above the fire in a bundle.
"Thanks Riku!" she gave Tidus a 'hmph' face as she unfurled the shirt and laid it across the sand.
"Let's get back to da story!" Wakka commanded, chewing on a marshmallow.
"Alright Riku--tell us a story!" Tidus said, eagerly sitting forward to hear one of Riku's renowned ghost stories.
"Tidus that's so rude, the least you could do is wait for Kairi to finish telling her's!"
"Fine, fine," he sighed and leaned back and Kairi started her story back up again.
Of course during this whole seemingly joyous and exalted get together with friends Sora couldn't find his way to mingle into conversation or pay any sort of attention. He was still in a happy-high on the fact Riku was back. Being here right beside him as he did when they were children. Yet there was guilt wedged into his sick happiness. Here on the other side of him was his fiancé, the girl he thought to have love ever since he set eyes on here the day she moved here. Who could focus under all these circumstances? Not to mention the ordeal that happened recently. The rainy night, the injury, the cool-crisp morning, and those kisses. Sora longed to be freed from this mosaic of emotions.
When he came here, everyone was so glad. The girls gave him hugs, Tidus and Wakka immediately asked where he was, but for a while I just stood there. Then when he shot my eyes with that sea green stare I had to look away.
He told everyone, "I was just on another island," and everyone believed him.
They asked him, "What were you doing?"
He told them, "I was helping out an old friend."
They still believed him.
I know it's not my place to say where Riku's been but I think he was here on this island the entire time, staying at one of the huts, probably our secret fort hut that we hid from everyone. I didn't remember it up till now.
I'm glad Kairi and Riku made up but maybe it's a bad idea that he's here . . .
"Hey Sora, wasn't my story scary?" Kairi asked, nudging him in the side.
He smiled and nodded, "Yeah."
"He doesn't seem that frightened . . ." muttered Tidus to Wakka and then he was pelted with a marshmallow, Selphie acting a little too innocent to be just a bystander.
"So back to Riku, ya?" asked Wakka.
"Yeah, this is going to be good," Tidus replied, eyes and ear attentive to Riku.
Riku propped up one of his knees and rested his arm upon it, the glow of the fire reflecting his porcelain white skin, "I'll tell you guys the local ghost story that went around at the island I visited."
Sora focused onto Riku instead of the fire now. Sora had heard every single ghost story Riku knew and Sora had told Riku all his own stories as well. He could test his hypothesis if he listened carefully enough.
"Surrounded by a small wood that always was dead even during spring the trees never replenished, there was a house, a dilapidated house . . ."
Somehow Sora found himself not focusing onto the story. He couldn't find it in his mind to remember this story.
". . .and in the house was . . ."
Riku's muscles were relaxing with every breath and his hands moved smoothly with the gestures he made.
". . . it was like . . ."
Why can't I listen?
"Almost as if . . ."
Riku was an attractive nuisance.
Sora turned away from Riku and tried to see if he could regain his hearing that way. Then as soon as he began to hear the tale clearly. He saw Riku's body hovering above him.
"And he came upon his prey like this."
Sora jumped from his position and Kairi giggled.
"Scared Sora?" she asked in a teasing whisper.
He shook his head, "No!"
Riku smirked slyly and sat down once again.
Sora's tension was too obvious. He could tell just by the look within the corner of Riku's eye that Riku believed he had complete control over Sora's emotions. Sora couldn't let that happen to him he was too old for Riku's mind games. Standing up he suddenly grabbed everyone's gaze inadvertently.
"I'm going to go take a walk around the island, I'll be back," his goofy grin undeniably cute.
Kairi's girlish smile widened, "I knew you were scared."
He just chuckled and started walking towards the shoreline, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his stare upon the horizon of the ocean. He trekked near the wispy waves and eventually he removed his shoes and waded through the water. He took a seat near the paupu tree Riku, Kairi, and Sora had replanted a few years back, the darkness seemed to blend with his subconscious and he wavered off.
"Fall asleep?"
"Umm yeah."
"They were looking for you, I told them I knew where to find you."
"Hmm . . ."
"Kairi fell asleep a few minutes after you left."
"Did she?"
"Yeah."
Sora wiped the sandmen from his eyes and sat up from his position against the tree, "Riku, you were here the entire time, weren't you?"
A small orange light emitted from Riku's cigarette add light to his masculine facial features, "I knew you'd figure it out."
"Kairi and I are tying the knot next Friday," Sora explained to Riku.
A fog of smoke exited Riku's mouth, "I know this."
He looked to the night, a clear night, the view was incomparable to any other view on any other part of the chain of islands, "Riku . . . Kairi is really sorry about what happened."
"I'm not mad at her," Riku replied his hair getting tangled in the night time zephyrs.
It was so placid like this, here with Riku. With Kairi everything had been so chaotic lately, with all the preparations, did dedication to love have to take so much effort? A relaxation came over Sora, one that he hadn't felt since before talks of weddings. His cold feet were warming, his butterflies were leaving, it was a silent ambience inside himself once again.
Riku put out his cigarette and saw the serenity in Sora's blue eyes. A serenity he wanted to taste one last time before he gave him up.
Sora kissed Riku.
Riku kissed Sora.
A/N: OK, readers it's up to you if I make the next chapter a limey-lemon or not. I bet you guys are wondering when the wedding is coming up, well it's a comin' just wait and see. Sorry the updates are so slow. I'm sure you guys understand by now that I'm lazy. Please review or I'll quit this fic altogether. And everyone who did review, thanks a lot, your critiques are wonderful. Who's pumped for Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus? I know I am!
Disclaimer: The copyrights are somewhere near my computer desk, I swear . . . but in reality they're somewhere near Squares-Enix's computer desk.
