-1"Sora!" Kairi called, running up to the docks where one of her best friends sat, swinging his legs in the calm water as he stared into the deep blue sea.
It was so like that lazy bum, to sit and enjoy the spray of the sea, rather than coming to study Algerbraic equations with her.
"Come on Sora!" She giggled, her foot touching the creaky wooden dock. Kairi paused as the ancient wood groaned under her slight weight, her mind momentarily frozen. Sora seemed different, somehow. It wasn't in his posture or his skin tone, or even in his complicated outfit. It just was.
"Sora," she was only feet from him, but he didn't seem to hear her. Unusual, since Sora's journey's had made him paranoid, and he usually jumped at any soft noises. Once a soldier, always a soldier. Sora had been a soldier, he had been a good soldier, fighting to protect people from the darkness that threatened to engulf them, the darkness of their own hearts.
"Sora?" She asked, raising her arm towards him. He seemed so small, as if she could crush him in her fist.
Then she heard the murmurs and the light footsteps around her. The sky darkened, and the sea started to churn slightly, clouds darkening the blue sky.
"Sora!" Kairi screamed, as the shadows rose from the ground, surrounding the scared red head. She hadn't seen heartless in so long. She had almost forgotten the paralyzing fear that they brought along with them, the fear of death, of nothingness. Inside her, she could feel the part of her which was Naminé, a calm whisper, a comforting smile.
"Sora!" They came closer, even as Kairi backed away, right into one of the many palm trees on the play island. She remembered gathering coconuts for their journey, watching as Sora hit the tree with his dinky wooden blade, running out of the way as coconuts fell around him. They had been so childish, so untouched, back then.
"Sora!" Their beady eyes appraised her, and Kairi felt tears leaving her eyes. They were going to kill her and steal her heart. She didn't want that feeling again, the feeling of being suffocated in darkness, thick, smothering, inky black. It was the feeling of being trapped when freedom was inches away, dehydrated when water was but a fingers width from your finger. It watching as your friends fell into darkness and not being able to save them.
One of the shadow heartless, the kind that Kairi could almost call cute, crawled towards her, tilting its head to the side as if in confusion. Most likely, it was appraising the tiny girl, wondering if she was a serious threat.
"Sora! Help me! They're going to kill me!" Sora ignored her, staring out into the deep green blue sea. None of the heartless approached him, even as he kicked the waves with his tennis shoes. Why wasn't he helping her? Surely he could hear her? Surely he cared for her enough to help her?
"Help me!" Kairi screamed, and there was a loud crack as the ground split beneath her, revealing the fires of Hell. Kairi clung onto her sturdy tree, her nails digging into the bark, cutting open her soft fingers and slicking the trunk with her blood. Did she belong in hell? Was that her punishment for inadvertently separating Sora and Riku those many months ago?
Her grip slipped, and then she was falling, into a raging inferno. And she wondered if she would have to burn to death slowly or if she would be instantly incinerated. Tears escaped her eyes, burning tears of rage, fear, and confusion. Why wasn't anybody helping her?
"Kairi!" And there was a flash of silver and a large, firm hand grasped hers. Kairi looked up into fearful green eyes and tried to stop her tears from falling. She wasn't weak, she wasn't weak, she wasn't weak…
"Riku, don't let me go! I'll die!" She pleaded, grasping his hand with her bloody ones. Riku grabbed her arm, trying to pull her up. Kairi watched as the muscles in his arm strained and he bit his lip. Her hands slid against his, the blood lubricating better than the slickest oil.
"I won't let you go!" He promised, and Kairi felt herself lift the barest inch as the flames licked at her feet, tasting her. Oh god oh god oh god oh god, she was hanging onto Riku and please let their friendship be enough to leave her hanging there instead of falling into her death.
Of all the ways to die, by fire, her worst nightmare.
She could feel the Heartless's beady eyes staring at Riku, but he ignored them, focused on Kairi. He was always focusing on Kairi, always trying to help his friends to atone for sins he never had. He had even changed forms, become the likeliness of the person he hated, just to save them.
All for her, always for her, he'll never let her go. Because they were best friends, and they would do anything for each other.
Then suddenly, Riku gasped, his eyes widening and his mouth parting in a silent plea. Behind him, the heartless jerked its claws from the silver haired boy's chest. Kairi's lips parted in a silent scream of disbelief. Riku, strong Riku couldn't die. He couldn't leave her because he couldn't because he said he wouldn't. He said he'd never let her go.
But spoken promises couldn't defy death.
"Kairi," Riku whispered, before his eyes closed and his hands loosened, allowing Kairi to fall.
"Riku!" She screamed, before the fire engulfed her, tearing through her flesh and boiling her blood. It hurt, like nothing she could describe. Kairi had broken bones, fallen from tall places, and lost her heart, but nothing compared to the overwhelming, all consuming Pain running though every nerve in her body, destroying every nerve and burning her into ashes. Then all she could do was let out an ear piercing scream.
Kairi opened her gorgeous violet eyes, sitting up on the warm, comfy mattress. A hand immediately covered her mouth, and tears escaped her eyes as she bit down on the soft flesh to smother the cries.
Sora had just sat there, and Riku had been hurt so badly, and Kairi couldn't do anything about it, and she had fallen and burned to death. She would have burned into a rotted skeleton so badly destroyed that they would have had to identify her by dental records.
Rocking back and forth, Kairi replayed the dream in her head. Riku…
"Are you okay?" A girlish voice suddenly asked, and Kairi focused her teary eyes on a girl a few inches taller than her, with wide gray eyes and cropped black hair. Her tan skin, flat stomach, and muscular disposition automatically caused Kairi to sigh with relief. This girl was one of the warriors who protected Traverse Town from the Heartless.
Yuffie… That was her name right?
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a nightmare," Kairi spoke, giving Yuffie a weak smile. Yeah, a nightmare indeed. Kairi stared at her soft, unblemished hands, wondering how just seconds ago they had been cut and burned to the bone.
"Okay! I thought maybe a heartless had come in and eaten you!" The older girl exclaimed, waving her shuriken around for emphasis.
Getting to her feet, Kairi stumbled and nearly fell as her weak limbs refused to support her. Gosh, how long had she been asleep? Where were Riku, and Sora?
"Careful!" Yuffie warned her, a grin on her face. "You've been asleep for--" she tallied off some numbers on her fingers, her eyebrows knitted in extreme concentration. "Well, I think it's been nearly three days now!" She concluded, nodding.
"Are Riku and Sora here?" Kairi asked hopefully. Obviously, if she were safe and sound here, then Sora and Riku had to have been transported somewhere, right? And what of Selphie, and Tidus and Wakka?
"Um, well that's- Let's see… No." Yuffie finished, averting her eyes.
"Oh," Kairi plopped back onto the bed, gazing at her loose Capris. Wait, wasn't she wearing a dress when the heartless attacked? Kairi fingered the bright pink fabric absentmindedly. It felt exactly like the outfit Sora had worn when he battled the heartless. Kairi sincerely hoped she wasn't wearing a jumper…
Shaking her head, Kairi attempted to focus on her friends, to no avail. It wasn't like she could do anything anyways. She was always the moral support person. She really couldn't fight too well, and then it wasn't like she had a weapon in the first place.
"R-riku…S-S-sora-a…" Kairi whimpered, brushing the tears from her eyes. Her hair had fallen in front of her face, the long, silky red strands obscuring her vision.
"Yuffie! Why didn't you tell us she was awake?" A startled voice asked, and a tall woman with long, gorgeous brown hair ran into the room. The first thing Kairi noticed about her was that she was rather, um… Busty. The second thing she saw, as the woman pushed her back into bed a checked her temperature with a callused hand, was that the woman had kind, experienced eyes that glimmered with a youthful sparkle. They weren't the eyes of a mother, rather they were the eyes of a mature older sister.
"Sorry!" Yuffie whined, bouncing up and down and crossing her arms over her chest.
Kairi almost laughed. Yuffie acted exactly Sora did when she or Riku scolded him for lying out on the beach, or some other beachside atrocity.
"Oh honey, you're crying," immediately, a tissue was dabbing Kairi's wet eyes. Tifa's beautiful gaze met hers, and Kairi couldn't help but give her a small smile.
"You should smile more often," Tifa told her. "It lights up your entire face."
Kairi pushed a lock of red hair behind her ear and smiled at Tifa. Maybe, just maybe, these people could help her find Sora and Riku.
"AHHHHHH!" The three young woman turned towards the door, and Kairi's hand automatically traveled to her heart. For some reason, it burned slightly, and it was beating so loudly she could hear it over the screaming outside.
"The heartless!" Tifa's eyes widened, and she ran out the door, pulling on black leather gloves. Another warrior, bravely defending her home, Kairi thought. These people were so brave.
"Kid, do you know how to fight?" Yuffie asked, pulling out a star shaped shuriken. Her eyes gleamed predatorily, the hunter approaching her prey.
Kairi shook her head, and Yuffie ran to one of the many shelves settled along the dark walls of Merlin's house. Quickly, she pulled out two short staffs, each about the length of Kairi's forearm. Attached to each end was a leather strap.
"Look smart!" Yuffie shouted, tossing Kairi the wooden staffs as the heartless appeared inside the room, climbing through the shadows and creeping along the walls.
Quickly, Kairi wrapped the leather straps around her wrists, holding the two pieces of wood awkwardly. Yuffie's shuriken flew past her, scattering the shadows of defeated heartless.
"Move!" Yuffie shouted.
Kairi jumped to her feet, shaky, underused legs barely supporting her weight. "I don't know how to do this!" Kairi shouted, screaming and hitting one of the heartless with the staff. There was a dull plopping noise, and the heartless flew across the room, temporarily dazed.
Kairi backed away, holding her 'weapons' in front of her. Sure, she had fought in the world that never was, but Riku and Sora had been there, and they always made Kairi feel as if she could do anything. Now, here, alone in a strange room with a girl she knew only through heartless and possessed friends, she didn't feel like fighting. She felt like running back to Destiny Islands and laughing with Selphie as she waited for Sora and Riku to come back to her.
Only, Selphie might be dead, and there might not be any Destiny Islands to return to.
"Well, it's never too late to learn!" Yuffie cheered, swinging around and slicing a heartless in half with a small dagger. She caught her shuriken in a strong, sure hand. "Just hit them until they don't get up again! It's really not that hard!" Yuffie laughed as one of the heartless leapt at her, twisting with a grace that bordered inhuman and slicing through the creature of darkness with her slim dagger.
The heartless continued to encroach upon Kairi, backing her further into the wall, and the girl silently screamed for Sora to help her.
Sora sat in the calm sea breeze as Kairi fell.
No, Sora couldn't always help her…
"Take this!" Kairi shouted, swinging one of the short staffs and catching the small heartless in the head. The thing stumbled backwards, only to meet the pointy end of Yuffie's shuriken.
"Not bad! You were better than the spiky-haired-keyblade-wonder when he first started out," Yuffie reassured her.
Kairi's eyes widened. Her, better than Sora? Remembering the ferocity and grace with which Sora lunged at the heartless, Kairi pictured herself, short, skimpy, and delicate, doing the same thing.
It would feel good, Kairi decided, to be the daring heroine, rather than the damsel in distress.
Backing out of the corner she had made for herself, Kairi swung her staff at another heartless, and before it could strike back she struck it with the other arm. The creature dissipated into darkness, dazzling red heart ascending into the heavens.
"So all I have to do is whack them?" Kairi asked, grabbing the short wooden staffs in white knuckled fingers.
"Yep!" Yuffie threw her shuriken, wiping out six heartless with one strike before catching it again.
"Okay, I think I can do that," Kairi said determinedly, her eyes scanning the dark monsters. She was Kairi, Princess of Heart, destroyer of the mold growing in Sora's room, cleanser of Riku's split ends, and protector of All Things Pink and Girly.
…Those heartless never stood a chance.
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Leon stood wearily, watching Riku as he fell through the portal. His eyes were closed, his head tilted back, exposing a creamy neck. Catching the teen in his arms, Leon started at Riku's change in appearance, almost dropping his self appointed charge.
Riku wore a spiked black collar around his long neck. His torn and bloody shirt had been replaced by a gauzy, black, loose fitting top that was nearly transparent, allowing Leon the faintest glimpse of a lithely muscled torso. The shirt itself had slid up, revealing shimmering pale skin that almost glowed in the darkness that surrounded him.
An unusual piercing, in the shape of a black, upside down cross hung across Riku's flat stomach, its end nearing low cut, black denim Kapris that tore off at the knee, ripped in several places and exposing small glimpses of the boy's muscular legs.
Riku's bare arms and hands ended in black nail polish covered claws, long and deadly. More startling yet was the silky silver tail the protruded from the teenager's lower back, and the pointed ears, tipped in silver fur.
"Urghh…" Leon glanced down at the teen stirring in his arms. Was he a werewolf?
"Am I hallucinating?" Startled aqua orbs, almost unnaturally bright, opened slowly, nearly hidden by long, ragged bangs. Riku's vision seemed to focus, and he gasped, tumbling from Leon's arms and scampering across the ground. The younger teen's silken skin brushed his bare arm, and the brunette couldn't help but notice how soft and smooth it was, despite the battles the other boy had fought.
There was a clink as Riku tripped over the glass bottle they had been searching for, sending it rolling into the drab wall of a surrounding building. It settled against the wall, stuck in a small indent between the building and the street. Loosing his precious balance, Riku's arms wind milled as he tried to stand, his tail sticking up in the air, a sign of panic. The sight would've been hilarious, the calm and arrogant teen panicking, his eyes wide, except for the fact that the ground below them was very hard, and Leon did not want to haul a concussed adolescent around the remainder of this world.
Reaching out an arm, Leon jerked the younger boy forward in an effort to keep him from falling. He tugged too hard, and Riku crashed into his chest, instinctively clutching the older man's shoulders to keep from slipping onto the cold, hard, cobblestone street.
There was a pause, as Leon inhaled Riku's scent, relishing in the smell of exotic fruit, sunblock, and warm weather. The teen's slim form seemed to fit perfectly against his, Riku's head tucked into the curve of his neck, cheek resting on the teen's head. He could feel Riku's slightly accelerated heart beat against his own slow, steady one, and feel an amazing heat resonating from the werewolf.
Riku looked up, his mouth open in what Leon guessed would most likely be a thank you of some sort, when their eyes met, and blue green paralyzed gray in a stunning instant.
Riku's heart beat, which had started to slow, accelerated again, and a faint redness appeared on almost regally high cheek bones, a pouty mouth frozen in motion, plump pink lips slightly parted.
Despite the fact that Leon's mind was urging him to look away, to notice anything besides Riku, his eyes glued themselves to the teen.
"Oooh! Werewolf and Vampy sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G! First came lust, then came bondage, then came-"
"Hey, shut up brats!" An irritated Riku shouted, his face an unmistakable shade of red. The teenager stalked towards them, his tail once again straight up in the air. As he pulled away from Leon, the older man was immediately struck by the loss of warmth, though he had no idea why. The weather was anything but cold here, wherever here was.
"Hey, here it is" One of the evil looking children announced, picking up the fragile bottle in a minuscule hand.
"That's ours," Riku demanded coldly, holding out his hand. He seemed perfectly calm, but from the slight widening of his aqua eyes and the minute twitching of his tail, Leon could sense fear.
Riku was afraid of what might happen. He was afraid that he might lose this bottle, and lose Sora as a result. He was afraid of many things, hidden under the surface, things that he didn't want, but felt he deserved.
"Ummm… No!" The children squealed, turning and running. Riku raced after the children, and Leon followed, a scowl on his face. The alley twisted and turned, and Leon stared at the garish headstones as they wandered through the dark town into the cemetery. From behind the headstones, small heartless glared at them, but for some reason they all stayed away from the two fighters, supposedly content to just watch. Their yellow eyes glowed eerily in the darkness, illuminating their shadowed forms and causing a faint shiver to run through Leon's body.
Their footsteps echoed as they raced through the empty area, the sound of Riku's heavy breathing the only other sound.
"Here ya go!" A high pitched, giggly voice declared. Slowly, a slender, black gloved hand snatched the bottle from the witch child's hand, and as Leon's eyes followed the hand to a dark clad body and hooded face, he couldn't contain the frown that temporarily marred his features.
Riku's reaction was worst, as a growl that matched his current attire erupted from his throat, a symphony of sound in the silent graveyard.
"Give that back," Riku commanded, his voice harsh. Leon stopped suddenly, his hand grasping his gunblade and fingers flexing slowly, silently begging to pull the trigger.
"Haven't you ever heard the expression 'finders keepers, winners losers?'" The woman slipped the bottle into her robe, and it disappeared into black folded depths.
"Haven't you ever heard? I never lose," Riku answered, his tail wrapped around his waist, his expression teasing and sarcastic. In all appearances, the boy seemed to be careless, his arms crossed loosely, hips swung forward in a jaunty, almost flirtatious manner, hair thrown over a shoulder as an afterthought.
Suddenly, their was a prickling, a tension in the air, and Leon felt as if every molecule was energized, standing on end and waiting for that one push…
Riku's eyes darted around, the only sign that he noticed the startling difference before the woman glared. The three children scampered away, vanishing from Leon's sight.
The air grew darker, and the world seemed to fade, the moon losing it's brightness, the gravestones around them a dull, aged gray.
"Well honey, you're in the big leagues now!" The woman hissed, and the air exploded into motion. Leon watched, frozen, as Riku's eyes widened, his arms uncrossing and ready at his side, nails extended, before the very air around them solidified into a gigantic sphere of darkness. The light surrounding them returned immediately, almost blindingly bright compared to the darkness, before the woman slung the energy, directly at Leon.
His eyes widened momentarily, urging his feet to move, but he was surrounded by towering gravestones, thick vines, and gleaming yellow eyes.
"What are you doing? Move!" And suddenly, Leon toppled to his side, a gust of wind so strong it threatened to rip his hair from his head passing less than a foot above him. Long, thin fingers and sharp claws dug into him, cutting through clothes and flesh.
Leon looked up to see Riku slinging to him for dear life, his hair in disarray, silver locks unorganized, falling around his shoulders unevenly.
Heavy footsteps sounded, and Riku had time to let go of Leon before he was slammed into a gravestone, cracking the sturdy stone in several places.
Riku's eyes narrowed into slits, his mouth open in a silent gasp, as he slid down the grave, landing in a boneless pile on the ground.
"Riku!" Before he knew it, Leon stood in front of the teen, his hands holding the glowing gunblade in front of him as if it were some magical barrier that could protect him from the amazing power the female had just exhibited.
"Oh, you plan to stop me?" The voice was sarcastic and arrogant, as if he were a mere parasite.
Leon saw the flash and barely managed to lift his gunblade in time to block the swing of a huge, silver scythe. The woman across from him leant forward, a pair of pale, nearly white lips pulled into a smirk.
Leon was pushing against what felt like a brick wall, his arms trembling slightly from exertion. Whoever this woman was, she was strong as Hell. Pushing with all his might, his knuckles white, the muscles in his arms bulging, Leon pushed the woman backwards swinging his blade down and pulling the trigger with a shaky finger.
A loud shot rang out across the graveyard, and their was a feminine scream as the cloaked figure jerked backwards, dropping her scythe and gripping a bleeding shoulder.
"You bastard," she growled, stumbling backwards. "You'll pay for this. I was going to leave you and your little world alone, but now I'll have my vengeance on you as well as DiZ!"
A dark portal appeared behind her and she disappeared, the only signs that she had been there the devastation she left behind.
"DiZ," Riku whispered, clutching his arm, which was bent at an odd angle. "DiZ is dead. I saw him die with my own two eyes…" There was a pause, and then a "well, kind of. I was wearing a blindfold."
Riku attempted to rise to his feet, collapsing, and Leon rushed forward to catch him, his arms aching sharply in protest.
"That's the third time you've caught me today," Riku informed him, a secretive smile flitting across his face.
"You better be careful. I might start to think you like having me in you arms."
And then Riku's weariness caught up to him, and his eyes fluttered closed as he collapsed against the older man, and Leon, unprepared for the sudden increase in weight, felt a sharp, dagger like pain ricochet through his body, before his eyes rolled backwards and he fell to the ground, succumbing to the darkness surrounding him.