A/N: Ok, so I followed up my awesome deadline-keeping self with a deadline epic fail. Anyway, I'm going to be focusing most of my attention on this story right now. I'm still determining plot for Mistakes and I'm considering another story. Not saying it's set in stone... just keep that in mind.
Also, to avoid confusion, here's a few things about this story that I figure I should put in. 1) This story is made up of two main elements: flashbacks and the present. Each chapter will alternate between the two and the flashbacks will NOT be in order 2) Each chapter's set up will consist of the present at the beginning (with the exception of the prologue), a flashback in the middle (each will be started with the '- - -REGRET * REGRET * REGRET - - -'), and back to the present at the end (marked by '- - - REVENGE * REVENGE * REVENGE - - -') 3) Finally, this story will consist of 10 chapters, one for each year, so to speak. I'm not counting the prologue, though, so the site will say that this story has 11 chapters.
Anyway, enjoy this installment of Ten Years!
-Wildfire37
Chapter 2: Auburn Angel
Sora passed by a small church when he heard, "You may now kiss the bride." His curiosity got the best of him, and he peered in through the glass windows of the door to the church. In it, he saw two men and a woman. The woman was wearing a long, white, bridal dress and a veil over her face. The veil did nothing to conceal her smile, though, at marrying the man she loved. One of the men, a gentleman with blond hair, standing in between the two and holding a bible in his hands wore a white suit. The other man wore a black tuxedo, and his hair was slicked back. His smile matched that of his bride's.
The next Sora did, he couldn't understand why. He walked through the church's doors and sat down in a pew near the back. Only the priest noticed him, as the bride and groom were too busy kissing. Sora observed the room he was in. It was a standard chapel, white walls, white, vaulted ceiling, and white tiles. At the back of the room, where the wedding was being performed, was a pedestal, no doubt used to speak from on church days. High on the wall behind the pedestal was a stained glass picture of a man being crucified. The pews were made out of a light-colored wood. The strangest thing about the room was the fact that it was only him, the priest, and the happy couple inside.
- - - REGRET * REGRET * REGRET - - -
Everyone in the room stood up and clapped as Roxas and Naminé pulled away from each other. The two were beaming at each other, at life, at everything. They broke their loving gaze to accept the applause given from the crowd, yet stayed in each other's arms. Sora, standing next to Roxas as his best man, was honestly happy for the two of them. They were so young, and yet Sora couldn't say he found a flaw in their love. Roxas and Namine had been friends since elementary school and started dating in high school. If they could make it past all the drama that had followed them, they could make it through anything.
A half-hour later, Roxas had been called to the middle of the room for a dance with his bride. Sora smiled sadly at the couple, he knew it was unlikely that he would ever find that kind of love. He was currently seated at a small, round table, lavishly decorated with a white, embroidered tablecloth. Extremely fine china and ornately designed silverware, accompanied with napkins that matched the tablecloth, laid atop it. A bouqet of different flowers was used as the centerpiece. As he let the music go to his head, Sora felt his thoughts drifting back to her. He suddenly found himself fiddling with his phone in his hands. Sora opened up the contacts list, and scrolled down, looking for her name.
Sora felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his stern brother's face. "Don't call her, Sora," Roxas said.
Sora stood up and protested his brother's statement, "I have to, Roxas! She's the love of my life!"
Only Roxas' stony gaze met Sora's passionate one, "You'll find another one."
"How do you know that? Not all of us are lucky enough to meet our soul mates in elementary school!"
"Trust me, Sora. Whatever you're looking for, you won't find it in her."
Sora's face reflected his irritation, and he glared daggers into Roxas. A moment later, he lost all his anger. Turning the chair to face Roxas and sitting back down, Sora confessed, "I know. I just... I need someone to love, you know?"
Roxas sat next to him. "I get it. Remember what she did to you, though? Do you really want to go back to that?" He said, as gently as he could. Roxas had already broken through Sora's mental wall, now he needed to guide Sora back to the light.
Sora sat there in his own misery for a little while, being comforted by Roxas. Finally, after a lot of mental reflection, he truly got over her. Sora sat up and looked into Roxas' eyes, giving him one of the grins Sora was famous for. Then Sora said, "You know what, Roxas? I'm over her."
Roxas was, unsurprisingly, a little taken aback by this sudden change in character. He hesitated before asking, "Are you sure? I mean, you've been sitting in silence for like half a minute, maybe."
"Yeah, I'm good," Sora replied.
Roxas searched Sora's eyes to see if he was telling the truth. Seeing that he was, he laughed, "All right, then! Welcome back to the world of dating."
The brothers shared a laugh, with much hair ruffling and noogies. After that, they sat back in the chairs and watched everybody dancing. Sora remembered that Namine was now married to Roxas, "By the way, Roxie, aren't you supposed to be dancing with Nam?"
Roxas shook his head. "She's dancing with her dad. I'd dance with mom, but..." He trailed off.
Sora understood, "I get it. In that case, you can be my wingman."
Roxas stared at Sora, confused that this was the same person that sounded like he wanted to kill himself a few minutes earlier, "Umm... what?"
"Yeah! I can't ask Tidus, he'll end up deciding that he wants the girl, and I definitely can't ask Axel, he'll accidentally set the girl on fire. Actually scratch that, he'd set the girl on fire because he thought it was funny. I figure that you probably still like Namine enough for you to not want to hit on my girl, and if you do, then I'll just tell your new wife. Plus, we're both handsome, charming, and talented. What girl could say no to that?" Sora explained, "Now let's go."
Sora got up and walked away, leaving Roxas still scratching his head, before realizing that he should be following Sora.
"Hi, have you met Sora?" Roxas led off. The girl, realizing that she was being talked to, turned to face Roxas, who was presenting Sora. "He's handsome, charming, talented, and is the cockiest son of a gun you'll ever meet. Here he is."
Roxas pushed Sora into the seat next to the girl. He didn't realize that Roxas would be so aggressive about this after the initial shock. She was actually very pretty, with short, black hair, and she was wearing a black dress. "Umm, hello... Sora," Sora heard from beside him.
Sora chuckled nervously, deciding to go with the overly-nervous-yet-really-sweet approach, "Uh, hi. I'm Sora... wait, you already knew that. Ugh, stupid move, Sora. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Can we start this over?" Sora turned around, smirked, ran his hand through his hair, and turned to face the girl again. Only the girl wasn't there anymore. In her place was a tall man, with long, brown hair, a scar running across his nose, and wearing a nice suit.
"Looking for my girlfriend?" The man said, cracking his knuckles ominously.
Laughing nervously for the second time in two minutes, Sora backed out of the chair. After getting a safe distance away from the jealous boyfriend, he scanned the room for Roxas. After the finding the blond groom, he maneuvered his way through the crowd until finally reaching Roxas. Roxas grinned at the approaching Sora, saying, "So how'd it go, champ? Lemme see the numbers."
Sora glared at Roxas, "She has a boyfriend. A jealous, tall, muscular boyfriend." Sora continued the glare before bursting out laughing, which Roxas quickly joined in on.
Their laughter was interrupted by a distraught Namine. "Roxas! There you are! Where have you been this whole time?" She exclaimed.
"I was helping Sora get game," Roxas replied, earning him a hit to the back of the head from Sora. "Why? I thought you were dancing with your dad."
"For one dance! It's been at least seven songs since I last saw you. Now get your ass on the dance floor and dance with me!" Namine yelled at Roxas. Roxas looked at Sora pleadingly, to which Sora responded with an apologetic look. Namine grabbed Roxas by his collar and threw him out onto the dance floor. She turned back to Sora with a sweet smile on her face, "By the way, Sora, you're looking for a girl, right?"
Sora hesitated, seeing a master manipulator at work. Then again, what do I have to lose? His thoughts reminded him. "Well, I'm not looking for a guy," Sora replied sarcastically.
Namine ignored his comment, and said, "That red-head over there has been sitting by herself this whole event. That means no boyfriend."
Sora's eyes lit up. That girl was as good as... holy crap. This girl was unbelievably beautiful. She had auburn red hair, flowing neatly down past her shoulders. Her face was decidedly the most strikingly attractive that Sora had ever seen, and she looked to be pretty fit, to top it off. Forget the girl, Sora. YOU are as good as gone, he warned himself.
With his eyes locked on the auburn angel, he told Namine, "Thanks, Nam. I'll see you on the other side." Sora straightened his tie, and made his way over to the girl. Roxas, looking for Namine, walked back toward where she was observing Sora make his approach.
Roxas followed her gaze and realized her plan. "Uh, Nam?" He asked, "Are you sure it's a good idea to unleash Sora on your sister?"
Namine, without even looking at Roxas, replied, "Who knows? Maybe the Refay and Michaels families are just good together. Now, come on, let's go dance." Namine took Roxas' hand and dragged him again onto the dance floor.
Sora straightened his tie again and ran his hand through his hair. It was his nervous habit, and he was as nervous as all hell. He picked up his courage and walked up to the girl, who looked disinterested with her arms crossed. Smiling charmingly, Sora went for the kill immediately, "Have I told you that you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen?"
The girl returned his smile, improving her beauty tenfold. Sora observed her eyes. They were like violet seas, and Sora had to snap himself out of them before he lost his cool. She replied, "No, but I doubt that it could hurt your chances with me."
Sora grinned, this was a girl he could get along with. He sat down next to her and stuck out his hand, "Hey, I'm Sora."
She took his hand, and Sora almost died from how soft her skin was. This girl is perfect, so far. Keep up the cool, Sora, he thought. Sora rotated their hands so hers was on top, and he kissed her hand. The girl giggled, "Nice to meet you, Sora. I'm Kairi."
Keeping the smile up, Sora said, "You wanna know something, Kairi? I think we're gonna be great friends."
- - - REVENGE * REVENGE * REVENGE - - -
The bride and groom finished their kiss, and Sora stood up and clapped. The two, startled by their only visitor, looked in the direction of the stranger. Sora smiled in their direction, and their doubts or fears were assuaged. The groom swept the bride off her feet and carried her out of the chapel, into a limo that was waiting outside. A tear crawled down Sora's cheek and he sat down again, sucked into his own private world of misery.
"Are you alright there, my son?" Sora looked up and saw the kind face of the priest. He shook his head in response to the priest's question. What could be the harm in telling this priest, who knows nothing about me? Sora rationalized, but he didn't have to make that decision, as the priest continued. "That was a good thing you've done for that couple. I'm assuming you don't know who they are?"
"No, should I?" Sora asked.
Shaking his head, the priest replied, "I don't see any reason for you to. They come from relatively low-status families."
"Why did you want to know if I knew them, then?"
"I was hoping that their families would have forgiven them, sending you as their representative. Do you want to know their story?"
Sora hesitated, then agreed, "Sure, what's the harm, right?"
The priest chuckled at the stranger, "Their names are David and Ashley. You see, like I told you, their families aren't very well off. However, a few months ago, a wealthy family, called the... Malusians, if I remember correctly," Sora blanched at the name, but the priest didn't notice, "wanted to marry their children to those two you just saw. They offered vast amounts of money and power to the families in exchange for their children's hands in marriage. Naturally, the families agreed and for a while, all was well.
"However, as David and Ashley grew to know each other better, they fell in love with each other. Of course, this threw a wrench in the plans of the families. They forbid David and Ashley from ever seeing each other again. Somehow, though, they kept sneaking around and meeting up in the middle of the night.
"One night, David was caught in the yard of Ashley's family. So, seeing the need for drastic measures, they banished him from this town. Yet, he kept sending letters to Ashley through trusted friends. The family found one of these letters in Ashley's room. Deciding that they cannot keep the two apart, they agreed to call off the marriages. They've never forgiven David and Ashley, though, and tonight, the two are going to run away together, away from their vengeful families," concluded the priest.
Sora scratched his chin, "That sounds like a Romeo and Juliet story if ever I've heard one."
The priest laughed at Sora's joke, "Yes, yes, indeed it does. Anyway, I was hoping that you were a member of one of those families, ready to be forgiven for your transgression against them and ready to accept their love."
Sora laughed bitterly, "I'm afraid that, unfortunately, that won't happen. Revenge cuts deeper than love can heal."
The priest eyed Sora for a few seconds before responding, "Spoken from the voice of experience, I see. I believe that love can heal all pain, though. Even revenge's hateful grip can subside with love's gentle touch. You just need to let go of the pain first." Sora became deathly silent, and the priest decided to leave him to his thoughts. Walking back behind the pedestal, he opened a door to the back of the chapel. "If you ever need me, my son, just come back here. I'm always here." With that, the doors shut on Sora. In a few minutes, he got up and walked out of the doors of the chapel.
A/N: So... how'd you like it? This chapter was my favorite so far in this story. Considering that it's out of two, I suppose that isn't saying much, but oh well. Like I said before, don't expect an update on Mistakes for a while, all focus is being directed towards this. Anyway, reviews are like my bread and butter, and I'm hungry! No pressure.
Thanks to: MylilFluttershy for reviewing. Come on, one person. Really?
-Wildfire37