Author's Note: You already know the drill with these snippets. Of course, I have another to add and it has a nice song that's Disney-esque in it. After this, I might go ahead and put in the full Radiant Garden chapters since I do have enough of the pieces now to create that "collection of cutscenes" for the world. The character interactions and relationships have a decent foothold now. I just have to make sure everything's accurate, especially with the Final Fantasy characters. Anyways, enjoy this Disney-esque snippet.
Riku began to worry about Fait. That much was unusual on his part. While he didn't think it was a good idea to fully trust her, he could see that Sora was right and that there was more good in Fait than bad. As he watched Fait carry Shinnosuke's body to the vacant house in the Third District of Traverse Town, he could see an unbearable amount of sadness and frustration in her violet-purple eyes. In fact, he could see that Fait, Shinnosuke, and Melvin cared for each other deeply - deeply enough to sacrifice their strength just to protect each other from harm. It was something easily relatable for him. Which, more or less, was the true source of his guilt as he looked for the freckled blonde. Alleviating that guilt was becoming harder for him, especially after watching her use her keyblade to free a Heartless that was pleading for help. He nearly killed it on sight, but she was right in waiting for it to speak.
It didn't look like she was in the Third District at all, so he moved on to the Second District. There she was on the fountain rim, dressed in regular clothes and looking just as sad as before. He sighed as he tried to think of something to say to her, but it was getting harder and harder as he approached her. She wasn't wearing her lipstick this time. She was just quietly holding a flower and looking into its glittering and colorful petals. The woman that she freed from darkness must have shaken her terribly. Startled by meows, Fait jumped as a kitten nuzzled against her leg. She didn't see the kitty apparently. Probably too focused on her feelings to notice it. Fait smiled gently at the creature and gently picked up the kitten with the flower still in her hand as she stroked it. The cat seemed happier now with its newfound attention. For a moment, Fait looked beautiful to Riku and pure like she was meant to be... a bringer of peace. A sudden thought crossed Fait's mind, though, and from her lips came a beautiful humming that almost sounded like a lullaby. Soon, the melody seemed to overcome her as she looked into the night sky to look at the stars.
Light shining above me
Light shining within
I don't know if you're up there
To hear my plea and prayer
In no way am I worthy
I've no right to come to you
Yet in their eyes I can see me
Because I was lost like them too
Please guide these people
Please light their path
Grant them a true strength
They won't find in man
Please give them hope as I once had
Save them from darkness
To never be lost again
Protect my brothers
Protect my friends
Protect those bound to an unfortunate end
Within the dark
Shed your light
Give them salvation
As you've done for me
I ask you humbly
To free us from pain
Send us an angel
To shield us from rain
Grant me the mercy
To deliver the lost
Heed this hopeful prayer
For the children of the lost
Heed my prayer of hope
For those who are lost
Finally, the freckled beauty broke down in tears with the kitten in her arms meowing sadly for her. That's why she was so sad before was Riku's first and only thought. She remembered being trapped in the darkness with no way to return to the light. But... who freed her? How was she freed? What happened to her and Melvin and Shinnosuke? There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but Fait wouldn't be ready to answer any of them. She was too distraught and depressed right now. Riku finally walked up to her and the cat, walked into the cold waters of the fountain, and embraced her from behind. She gasped at the warmth surrounding her and turned sharply to see Riku only a few centimeters from her before leaping out of his arms and holding the kitten close to her chest. She forgot how rattled and inattentive she could be when she was emotional. Riku was persistent, however, and reached his hand out to wipe a tear from her right eye.
She backed away from his ministration and weakly said, "Stop it."
Riku sat down, facing the butterfly mosaic of the fountain wall, and asked, "Why? You're sad."
Fait dropped her head down a bit to where Riku could no longer see her face because her hair formed this curtain blocking his vision and quietly said, "I'm not a stranger to sadness. We're enemies anyway. There's no need to wipe my tears."
"Sorry," Riku said, trying to think of something to cheer the blonde up. What would Sora do here? Fait's normally a teaser when she's her self. She often cheers other people up, too. What would he do if Sora or Kairi weren't their normal selves? How would he make them smile? Riku then looked in the water, smirked, and then closed his eyes to say in a half-teasing, half-flirting manner, "But unless I'm the one making a cute girl cry, I'll wipe away her tears whether she wants me to or not. On Thursdays, I do it for anyone who cries."
Fait was silent for a moment before sniffed, wiped away her own tears, and said, "You're a terrible liar. Selphie was crying when I told her I didn't kiss people on the first date. That was a Thursday. And if you're going to give me that 'You're a cutie and I don't want to see you cry' speech, then you have no sense of humor or flirting skills."
A blunt knife went straight into Riku's chest to kill his pride when Fait said that. Clearly, the blonde was back a little bit. Sora was more right about this girl than he thought. She could be rude but she was first and foremost a teaser with a weird and wicked sense of humor. Riku then said, "Sounds like you're 30% back to normal."
"More like 15," Fait said quietly, wiping the rest of her tears. "Thanks to the cat. She's better at comforting me than you and you're supposed to be the hottie who supports me like the beam of a house."
"Oh? So you think I'm a hottie?" Riku questioned in the flirty tone Fait uses when she talks to Sora sometimes.
"I said you were supposed to be, not that you are," Fait corrected, nuzzling the cat and softly smiling when the kitten pats her freckled nose with her small paw. The Balloonra of Riku's pride was audibly deflating and gained Fait's attention for a moment. She lightly chuckled at Riku's defeated but annoyed face and said, "But don't worry. You'll find a girl who'll think you're more than a lifeline. You'll be her everything. If the sun's covered by the darkest cloud, your smile will be the light she needs to get through a gloomy day. No matter how dark the night might be, the warmth of your embrace and the light in your heart will give her the joy she needs to push on through whatever pain the day has brought her. Her tears are the ones you want to wipe away, not mine."
Fait stood up to lift the kitten above her head and smiled brightly. Riku could only think of her as being sweet. The real Fait, the light side of Vulture, was a genuinely kind girl. Riku then said, "For the record, I did hug you and it's night and you're sad."
"For the record, Quicksilver," Fait said, confusing Riku with the new nickname. Sora gets Baby Blue, Kairi gets Poppy Seed, and he gets Quicksilver? Yeah, okay. Fait turned around and produced one of the most gorgeous smiles he had ever seen her make before saying, "The cat did all that stuff first. You only got me back to 45% of my happy. She got me to 80."