A/N: If this chapter is a bit… unrealistic, sadistic, and just plain not my kind of writing, blame my dramaful friends who just HAVE to come to me as the mother hen. I'm ready to rip out every single one of their hairs and teeth along with mine it's so bad. I hate it when five people, all connected in some way, are pushing five different things on me! It stresses me out, it makes me sadistic and cruel, and it just flat out makes me want to cry myself to sleep.
…anywho, please enjoy the next chappie.
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I was staring out into the night sky, the stars glittering the pitch black canvas and the moon piercing through the dark. The streets below were empty, as they always were during the witching hour. It was almost as if it was a ghost town, but I knew the truth. The only thing the people here were afraid of was the darkness within the dark.
I sighed and turned my head towards the dim lights in the room. The outline of brown hair and a black leather jacket made itself known as my eyes became accustomed to the lack of lights. I smiled at the figure.
"It's about time Riku came out of his shell. He's been hiding in that hallway for a decade by himself, scaring everyone for his enjoyment. I can't say I blame him, but I don't want him to disappear, either." I heard the figure say as he undoubtedly watched something I couldn't dream to see.
"It's good to know that he's happy, I guess." I frowned and got off of the sill I was sitting on. Thinking of Leon's friend made me think of my little brother. It was sad, not knowing where he was or how he was doing. I hadn't seen him in ten years.
"Hm, he may be happy, but that brunette seems like the type that would annoy him to his grave. Riku was never one to take lightly the figure of hyperness." A thought flickered in my mind for only a split second before it rushed right back out. There was no way it could be true, anyway.
"Still, I suppose anything is possible. Wouldn't you think, Cloud?" I didn't answer. He already knew what I was going to say to that, anyway, so why bother?
I watched as Leon dipped his see-through hand into the sea of holy water, pulling out as dry as it was in the first place. He then walked over to my side and grabbed my hand.
"Perhaps the time is coming for us to go and visit." This thought scared me beyond belief. What if my parents saw me? What if my little brother hated me for leaving him? Would they remember me? All the different questions made my head hurt.
Leon could obviously see the distress in my face. He pulled me closer before dragging both of us out of the study and down the stairs.
"Wanna go for a walk?" it was more like a statement then a question. I nodded and grabbed our coats before heading out the front door and into the chilly night.
For a minute I envied the guy next to me for not being able to feel the cold. It wasn't as if I was going to die from being outside, but I honestly would've rather of been wrapped in a blanket in our bedroom. Leon could feel the cold, but it didn't exactly effect him like a body temperature would. He just knew it was there.
Just then, he wrapped his arms around me in a kind of insulation wrap. I blushed, but kept walking. One would think that after ten years I would be used to this, but I think it's just human nature to get spooked when something is behind you that normal people can't see, anyway.
"What are we going to do about this place?" I asked, kicking aside one of the many shadow beings. It was really sad, seeing how a place could go from a happy world to a nightmare in just a few years. What was the world coming to?
"Give it a few more years. The longer we wait, the better the reward will be in the end." I looked over to Leon, knowing exactly what he was talking about, though I didn't really want to think about it. How many people were going to die for-
"The portal is only a little ways away now. Are you really sure you want to go back? If you are caught by any other person you had ties with, I might not be able to kidnap you again." Leon told me seriously. I nodded, knowing that it could be a mistake just to let my brother see me. But I had to know if he was alright, especially if was about to go through the same ordeal.
"Alright, but there is no teary eyes, either. You will be a ghost, meaning you could see someone you really miss but can't talk to them. No goofing off either, we're there on business. Got it?"
"Yes for the millionth time tonight. You act as if I'm a kindergartner asking to walk to the grocery store on the corner!" I told Leon, huffing before glaring fiercely at him. Though, judging by his smirk I was failing miserably…
"Alright then, no if, and's, or but's. We go, visit and get done what needs to be done, then get out." Leon said before grabbing my hand. I still blushed whenever he did that. Stupid arse blood not doing what I-
Before I could finish my thought process, Leon yanked me down into the hole-like portal that led us back to the world of the living. The familiar feeling of a vortex sucking all the air out of me still made me nauseous, but not as bad as when we first went to the limbo land. It was like getting seasick on a roller coaster…
"We're here." Leon said, walking a perfect straight line. I cringed while trying to see straight, let alone move.
"How many times have you actually passed between the two worlds?" I asked, annoyed by how steady his feet were as we walked in the direction of the high school. He looked into the sky in deep thought.
"…Twice? Yup, just twice." I twitched. So he hadn't been to the world before I went with him. So comforting, my boyfriend was…
"So when we get to the school, are we just going to go straight towards the lockers? Or shall we take a look and see who all of the new teachers are first? It's your choice."
"Hmm… seems boring just to stand there and wait for the classes to get out. Why don't we go ahead and take a look around. Who knows? Maybe we'll bump into them while we're out and about." We walked straight through, yes straight through the front doors and made our way first to the gymnasium. I shivered as I remembered when Cid's granddaughter Rikku was the coach…
The new girl it seems wasn't very far off from being as scary. The only difference was she didn't toss around grenades like they were little bouncing balls. At least the glass didn't set you on fire right when it hit the ground, either…
A couple of minutes of watching glass being broken and blood splattering, we made our way up to the science hall. It was funny to see Reno teaching, since his supposed worst subject was science. "And if you add this to the mixture class…" That was all we needed to hear before walking out the door, smoke following in our direction. Good thing ghosts don't have noses, since he just created a stink bomb…
We looked around in all the other classrooms, seeing some of my old classmates in the spots where most of them never dreamed they would be. It was kind of scary, thinking that I could still be trapped as a teacher in this school… then again, whatever pays, right?
It wasn't long until we made our way back downstairs into the English hall. That hall itself conjured many memories, from the wonder teacher Ms. Aerith, to meeting one of my best friends. Speaking of which…
"Heh. Never thought he would be one of the teachers here, seeing as how he so terribly wanted to get out of here. I can be just plain evil sometimes." I looked in through the window of the room where Ms. Aerith had been. No doubt in the world that it was him; the only difference was his hair had gotten a bit longer. I wonder what got him to stay…
"Wanna go say hi?" Leon said, walking to where the back of the room was and stepping a foot into the concrete. I sighed but followed him anyway; boy I sure hope there wouldn't be any fights this time.
It didn't take him very long before he noticed we were sitting in the back of the room, waiting for the rest of his assignment to be handed out to the rest of the class. "I have to go run some things down to the office. I trust you will all work and stay seated while I am gone?" He threatened. I snorted. He was too kind to be taken seriously when it came to threats.
We followed him out the door and waited as he turned to face us. It turned out to be like one of those dramatic horror films, the victim turning to look at the killers. I rolled my eyes at his fake look of fear.
"It's been a long time, Zack." I told him, tapping my foot when he put on this goofy grin. Figures nothing had changed with him.
"Right back at 'cha. Where have you been hiding for the past ten years? Getting a little too friendly with the wife now have we?"
"I beg to differ; I'm no Uke." Leon shot back, glaring venomously at the black-haired joker. I sweatdropped before quickly changing the subject.
"Just around. We were actually coming to visit my little brother. We weren't expecting you to be here, and teaching on top of that." Zack put on a face that clearly said 'kill me now.' Knowing him he was forced into this job by an unknown source.
"Well, when you marry the daughter of one of the greatest English teachers ever to walk these halls, it has it's… disadvantages. The job being one of them. But I still couldn't ask for a better family. Or a better pay for that matter, considering my skills or lack of" He whispered the last part to himself. I looked over to Leon who was obviously trying so hard not to laugh that he was crying.
"Marlene finally got through to you, then? After all those years of you densely ignoring her hints? You better consider yourself lucky."
"Ah well, with age comes wisdom. Or in my case, guts. Your brother really has gotten big, you know that? He's only a couple inches shorter than you. Though, I would appreciate it if he would pay more attention to the board than to your pestering friend, Leon." …Was it even possible for Sora to be that tall? Last time I saw him he only came up to my waist, if that much. Say goodbye to the dream of being the greatest big brother in all of history…
"Whatever Riku does is none of my business. And isn't it up to you as the teacher to make sure your students are paying attention? Hm"
"I can't just waltz up to Sora and tell him to stop talking to his ghost friend that clearly I can only see in this school. Sheesh Cloud, you left me here to rot alone. How could you!" Zack cried with crocodile tears. It seems the old saying is true, high school never ends. At least, not around here.
"You know very well why. And honestly I wouldn't change my mind even now for the decisions I made. I have no regrets for going with Leon, and not even the heavens would keep me from making the decisions I made. Now before I forget, do you have any idea which lunch my brother has?"
"He has first lunch, which should begin in about fifteen minutes. Speaking of which, I have a class that has probably torn the room to shreds by now. You can never trust teenagers to sit put and do their work. It's just not done." He sighed and headed back towards the classroom, a look of pure doom spread on his face. But before he went inside…
"I'll see ya around Cloud, Leon! Don't let me catch you in the vent again where all the kiddies can see you!" I blushed cherry red. I remembered the day that Leon and I had went into the vent just above Zack's head during 4th period. Needless to say I couldn't face my friend for a good three weeks without both of us getting embarrassed.
After hearing a string of curses come from inside the English room, Leon and I made our way back into the cafeteria in which we started. It was obvious that the food was just as wonderful and delicious as it was ten years ago. Yuck.
"Do you think he will even recognize me?" I asked Leon. I knew it was a very big possibility, considering he was seven last time I saw him. Still, I couldn't help but hope for a miracle.
"It's possible. I mean there has to be something he has in his possession that shows your picture on it. And even if he doesn't Riku will. It's all just a matter of how close you were to him really." That really didn't help much. I don't even remember how I treated Sora way back when. It's really sad when you think you might have even abused your brother at some point in time.
Soon enough, the bell rang signaling the beginning of lunch, and students came running from every which direction to get a good place in line. We walked into the middle of the lunch tables and started searching for the boy. I was starting to think he hadn't showed up today when I spotted something that looked so familiar…
I ran over to him and shook his arm lightly. He turned around with a small 'huh?' and looked me straight in the eye.
Brown, Spikey hair that defies gravity…
Baby blue eyes that could easily put the sky to shame…
The innocent look that automatically spread over his face…
Sora, I found you…
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A/N: Holy. Fluck. A. Duck. It's horrible when you work on one story then get writers block on it. It's downright DREADFUL and MISERABLE when you have SEVEN perfectly good storylines that you have NOTHING to add onto. I truly am sorry this chapter took so long. To top it all off, Cloud is just a really difficult person to be! He is nothing like me, which means I have to try really damn hard to portray him as himself. Even now I know I probably did a poor job of it. arg…
Anywho, R&R, and I will get the next chapter done A.S.A.P. Hopefully that doesn't mean in another few months. I absolutely hate doing that...