CH5 Reunion

It's been only three days since Mina, Shadow, and I entered the small trade town of Hyrule. It wasn't hard to find work even for me. Besides that, it paid well and was fairly easy. The people here are very easy to get along with. The local innkeeper has offered to let us stay with him if we help with the daily chores. We basically do odd jobs around the town like running errands and helping chop firewood. We were eventually given apprentice ships. Shadow's was with the black smith where he learned to make weapons like the ones that we all have, just in case we need them. I went with the captain of the town guard, Dalton, to learn how to fight hand –to- hand and the finer techniques of sword- play, and Mina went with the healer to learn medical arts. In my free time I would teach Mina what I had learned from Dalton since the whole female stereo type thing still exists in this place. Then, once every week we all would find a nice clearing and train for hours: fighting hand- to- hand, as well as using our powers. By the end of the day, we were exhausted. This routine continued for a long time. Months passed and I soon realized that coming up at weeks end was Mina's birthday. I had to do something special, but what? Then, suddenly a problem arose.

"Riku, it's horrible, the village was just raided and the bandits made off with the chief. They are demanding all of the valuables in the village or the chief dies. What should we do?" Asked one of the guards.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," I replied.

"But how will you do that?" The man inquired.

"Don't worry about that. Just tell me which way they went," I said tensely.

He pointed me in the direction and with Mina and Shadow's help we tracked down the bandits and took care of the five of them. This little trip left me with only about two days to get Mina a gift and with the money I was making it would have been lame, but Shadow actually helped me get her a great gift.

The night of our little celebration I went to Mina and gave her the gold necklace that Shadow helped me get.

"Mina?" I said nervously.

"Yes Riku, what is it?"

"There is some thing that I wanted to tell you," I said fidgeting.

"Yeah what is it?" Mina said, looking at me with concern.

"I don't really know how to say this so I'm going to be straight forward with this… I love you," I blurted out.

"What?" She was shocked.

"You heard me, I love you, I love being with you. As long as you're around I feel like I belong. I can tell you anything and you're always honest with me. I can't find anything about you that I don't like. I… I don't think that I could bear to lose you and that is why I unleashed all that power against Kaine."

"I don't know what to say I -----."

Right about now, Shadow stepped in and pushed me into Mina. Because of this we ended up kissing. It was the most wonderful 10 seconds of my life. Later on, I would find out how Mina felt, but at the moment something more important was happening. The villagers said that people calling themselves keepers had come into town. I had to go see this. It turns out that it was Julia, Raiden, Kit, and Aveon. We all went back to the inn and talked. I saw Mina and Julia walk off and followed them. In doing this I over heard their conversation. They walked up the stairs and into Mina's room. I crouched by the door hoping to hear what they were talking about. Julia spoke up first.

"So, what did I miss while you were here with Twiddle-Dee and Twiddle-Dum?" She asked, referring to Shadow and I.

"A lot, let me tell ya. You'll never guess what Riku did today, on my birthday no less," Mina responded.

"What did he do? Or do I not want to know?" There was an edge to Julia's voice that I didn't like. She wouldn't hesitate to beat the crap out of me.

"He kissed me," said Mina.

"He did what!" Julia exclaimed.

"You heard me. He kissed me," Mina said.

"I bet he loved that," said Julia sardonically. "What about you? How do you feel about it?"

"I didn't like it. I want my first kiss to be with someone that I'm attracted to. I only see Riku as a friend and nothing more," Mina replied. "What happened to you?"

"Nothing as exciting as that. At first it was Aveon and I traveling to Gia, then we met up with Raiden and Kit. They did look cozy together, though, Raiden and Kit, I mean. That's pretty much it. I'll tell you about in detail later. I'm going to bed; it's been a long day. Oh, happy birthday, Mina. Good night." That's where the conversation ended. Julia opened the door and closed it. At first I thought she wouldn't notice Shadow and I there, but I knew better than that. She glanced at me and then her eyes landed on Shadow. Her gaze was cool as she looked at him for the first time. There wasn't much difference between Shadow and I, except he had intimidating black eyes, black hair, and different clothes, but the eyes didn't throw Julia off. Her eyes were just as foreboding as his; they cut into him, as if staring into his soul. I could tell she didn't like what she saw. "Is there a reason you're crouching by Mina's door? Or is this a new style of meditation?"

"Um…uh…" was all I could say.

"Let me answer for you. You were eavesdropping. Am I correct?"

I nodded, too ashamed of being caught in the act. Then, I thought of something: a way to win Mina over. All I needed to do was play my cards right. "Can I talk to you?" I asked, regaining my confidence. Julia merely nodded and then led the way to her room.

She let me inside, she told Shadow to keep away from her (he's outside the room), and then closed the door.

"What was it you wanted to talk about with me?" She inquired, sitting down on a chair and crossing her legs. (Her wings are gone for now; she knows how to make them disappear)

"Um… it's about Mina. Well, you how I feel about her, right?"

Julia nodded curtly, signaling me to continue.

"Well, I want to win her over, but so far that hasn't really worked out. I was hoping, maybe, you could help me."

"No."

"That's it? You won't even consider it?" I asked.

"That's it. I won't do that to Mina, she's my best friend. And besides, you know full and well how she feels about you."

"Well, then, the only I can get your help now is to force you," I said, hoping to scare her.

"How, exactly, are you going to do that?" There was a smirk tugging at her lip.

"Two words: black mail." She cocked an eyebrow. "I have something that you don't want a certain someone to know." Her eyes went wide. I smiled inside; I had her right where I wanted her, or so I thought. "Perhaps I should elaborate. I know how you feel about Aveon and I won't hesitate to tell him."

"You wouldn't," she said, looking fearful.

"Oh, I would, but only if you don't help me," I said, hoping she would take the bait.

"No," she was smiling now.

"Excuse me?"

"No, go ahead. Tell Aveon how I feel, I don't mind, but be warned he'll probably tell you that's ancient news to him. You see, Aveon and I are happily in love, you're just to dense to notice." I just stared dumbfounded. All this time, she was merely pretending to go along with it and then BAM! It all crumbled before my eyes. Now I knew not to underestimate her acting skills.

"You do realize, of course, that he won't be able to come with us to our world, don't you?" I asked, completely forgetting he was from the same world as us.

"What did you say?" She growled, menace in her voice.

"You heard good and well what I said," acting more bravely then I felt. I could feel the air in the room grow cold and knew she was not happy with me right now. The wisest thing to do would be to make for the door, but that didn't cross my mind until after she handed my ass to me. I made my way out the door ten minutes later, bruised, cut, and partly frozen; I never wanted to get on Julia's bad side again. Shadow just about died from laughter when I came out of that room. I told him to shut up and made my way to my own room, hoping against all hopes that I would feel better tomorrow. Today was eventful, to say the least.