"blah" - talking
'blah' - thinking
blah - a dream

Chapter 5

Everyone looked at Riku. Like they expected him to know where Sora was.

"Come on. I'll take you to him" he said while taking my hand and dragging me out the house. I saw that they were beginning to build a fountain in the Second District. Anyway, he took me to what they called 'the Waterway'. It was where Sora last spoke to his girlfriend, Kairi. Or so Riku said. He was actually being nice to me. I knew it wouldn't last long so I was trying to enjoy it.

"Hey Sora" Riku said. Sora looked up.

"Ah. There you are. I've been waiting for you. Let's get started. You can borrow one of my swords" Sora said.

"Great!" I said as he tossed me a sword.

"We'll start with the basic moves like blocking an attack and attacking yourself" he said. That day he taught me all that stuff and I was really getting good at it, though Riku was watching, which made me really nervous somehow. With that stupid blindfold on all the time, I couldn't see who he was watching. Anyway, at the end of the day I was totally exhausted and immediately fell asleep as soon as I laid down in bed.

The next day Sora and I went to the same place. But this time he taught me all kinds of moves. Like the one where he throws his keyblade and it comes back. He told me what it was called, but I forgot the name. Sora knew a lot of moves and I didn't know he was that good.

The day after that we just sparred all day. Of course Sora was holding back on me, 'cause if he didn't I probably wouldn't be able to fight the next day. He also told me he was 14 and I told him I was 16. Then we started talking about random things, while fighting. The three days had gone by really fast, but I still thought I had learned a lot. Soon, I found myself standing in the middle of the Third District. Riku was standing across from me. Cloud, Leon and Yuffie were the judges and were standing at the side.

"Give me everything you got. It can't be that much" Riku said. "I'm not holding back."

'Not? That's bad! Does he want to kill me or something? I was supposed to kill him, though I've given up on that' I thought. Then suddenly, he took off his blindfold and stared at me with those beautiful eyes. 'Whoa, he just gets hotter and hotter' then I mentally smacked myself 'Ah! Bad thoughts! He's an asshole and you know it. Hmm…déjà vu'

"You ready?" Riku asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be" I answered.

Then the fight began. Riku started slashing at me constantly and I could tell he was holding back on me. But why? In the beginning I could block most of them, to my surprise. But later on, I started getting tired and he started advancing on me. I stepped back as he slashed at me, blocking it or sometimes dodging if I wasn't fast enough. Then I noticed I couldn't walk backwards anymore. 'A wall! Ah damn!' He knocked my weapon out of my hands when I wasn't paying attention and pinned me against the wall. I stared in his eyes. He smirked. He leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"Not so tough now, are you?"

I shivered and felt my knees go weak. Luckily he had me pinned against the wall or else I wouldn't be able to stand up straight. His lips softly brushed against my neck. I shivered again.

"You're defenceless against me" he said softly.

I was blushing like crazy. 'What is he doing to me? What's happening?' I thought. He grinned. I gasped.

"You can still read my mind, can't you?" I asked.

He nodded. That caused me to get a little of my strength back and I banged my head against his. He let me go and stepped back, swearing. I sank to the ground, because I had used up all my strength.

'I hate you, you know that!' I thought. Then I looked up into his eyes again. I thought I saw glint of sadness, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. I stood up so I was right in front of him.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you? Seeing me suffer like this?" I said, but I didn't wait for the answer. I just turned around and walked away. I didn't know where I was going but I didn't care.

"Jen! Wait!" I heard a voice yell. I knew it wasn't Riku so I slowed down. Yuffie caught up to me and asked me what happened. I told her the whole story about what Riku had said and done.

"What did you think, that was so embarrassing, then?" She asked.

"That he was hot" I murmured.

"Oh…That's gotta be embarrassing." She said. "But if you don't like him then why did your knees go weak?" She continued with a big grin.

"I just wanna know why he could still read my mind" I said

"Maybe he's immune to Merlin's spell?" Yuffie suggested.

"Could be…I'm gonna go talk to Aerith" I said and said goodbye to Yuffie. I found Aerith in her room, reading a book.

"Hey" I said. She looked up.

"Hello Jen. What's wrong?" She asked.

I sighed. "Just need someone to talk to" she smiled.

"Then you're at the right place. Come. Sit down." She said pointing at an empty chair. I sat down and she put her book away.

"Now, tell me what's bothering you?" she asked kindly.

"It's just…do you…do you know why Riku's such an asshole to me?...Sorry" I added when Aerith gave me a warning look.

"I don't know. Maybe you should ask him"

"I'm afraid to" I said softly.

"Why are you afraid?"

"I'm afraid because…because he can make me feel so…weak and strange. And I don't know what it is and how he does it."

"I really can't help you with this. You have to figure it out by yourself. Just promise me you'll talk to Riku about this" 'Great. Even Aerith can't help. That's not a good sign'

"Yeah…I promise I'll talk to Riku" 'Someday' "Thanks Aer, for hearing me out"

She smiled and went back to reading her book. I left the house and walked around the Second District, wondering whether or not I should talk to Riku. I decided to let it rest 'cause that's what I usually do. After that was done, I didn't know what to do and I started getting bored. Then suddenly someone wrapped its arms around my waist from behind and pulled me against them. I shrieked.

"Ssh" someone whispered in my ear. "It's just me"

"Well that's comforting" I said sarcastically. "What do you want, Riku? I have better things to do"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I can see that. Walking around aimlessly"

"Shut up!" I grumbled. Riku smirked and pulled me closer to him. I could feel his muscles and for some, strange, unknown (to me, that is) reason, I started blushing again.

"Could you let go of me now?" I asked.

"Why? Do you feel uncomfortable around me?" he asked slyly.

"So what if I do?" He turned me around so I was facing him. "What do you want Riku?" I asked again.

"Nothing, I just felt like annoying you." He answered. I sighed.

"Why do you find it so much fun to annoy me. I'm boring"

"You're the only one that reacts to it. If I had done this to Yuffie, she would've beaten me up by now. And I feel that there's something on your mind"

"There's not" I replied quickly.

"Yeah…that sounded very convincing. Come on, tell me. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. Let's just go. It's getting late." I said. Riku, finally, let me go and we went back to the house. Dinner was just ready. But I told them I wasn't hungry. They looked concerned but I just ignored it. I walked into Riku's room, that was my room too now, and I laid down on the bed. I sighed.

'What's happening to me? I used to be so cheerful. Now I don't want to do anything. And somehow, all I can think of is Riku. It's strange…could I be…? No…no, he's a jerk! I really couldn't be…' The door opened.

"Are you asleep?" Riku asked.

"Yes" I answered. I heard him close the door and walk to my side. He sat down.

"Jen? Please tell me what's wrong" he said. I sighed. I had to tell him.

"It's you. You're so confusing. One day you're acting all nice to me and the next you're acting like a jerk. I don't know what to think of you, Riku" I said to him.

"Jen..-"

"No" interrupted him. "just…leave me alone for a while…" He looked sad, but he stood up and left. When the door closed, I sighed again and buried my head in my pillow. Soon I drifted off to sleep.

There was a field. Full of flowers, in all the colours of the rainbow. And a girl, a young girl. She had long brown hair, tied together in a braid. She had green eyes. She was running through the field, giggling. The scene changed to the same girl, but this time she was standing at a ravine, on a big stone. The girl tried to grab a small flower at the edge. She scooted closer. She almost had it, her fingertips brushed against the flower. And then…she fell. The girl screamed as she fell into the darkness.

The scene changed again. This time there were two girls talking to each other. The first one had short blond hair and grey eyes. She seemed a little familiar. The other…was me! It was me just a couple years younger. We were both dressed in black. "I can't do it, Amy" I said softly. "I can't bury my sister" I cried. Hard.

Then suddenly I faded away and found myself at Traverse Town on top of the bell tower. Riku was there too. He stood at the edge. I ran up to him. "Riku? What are you doing?" I asked. He turned around. I gasped. He looked so sad and exhausted. I had never seen him so sad. "I'm sorry Jen. You know I love you. I always will. I just…I can't take it anymore" "What? You can't give up now! You never give up!" I shouted at him. Then I softened my voice. "I can't loose you too" Riku stared back at the ground. He mumbled another 'I'm really sorry' and let himself fall off the tower. "Riku! Riku no!" I yelled. "Don't leave me!"

"Jen! Jen! wake up!" I opened my eyes.

"Riku?"

"Yeah. I'm here" I sat up straight. Riku was right next to me. I hugged him.

"You're still alive!"

"Of course I am! It was just a dream!" he said. "Come on. Let's go to sleep again." We laid down again and he put an arm around my waist. I felt strangely better and I was glad when I fell asleep again.

Yay! Another chapter done! This may be the last one for a while. School's starting on monday, so i'll probably be busy. But i'll try to get another chapter as soon as possible. I think the fighting part sucks, though. I'm just not very good at writing fighting parts. Maybe it's because i'm Dutch. i don't know which words to use. Yeah, i'm Dutch. Get used to it. Anyway, review please! Tell me what you think about the fighting part.

SilverHearts