(There is a replacement on chapter EIGHT at the VERy End. Go read it, okay?) Forgive me for not updating!
Chapter Nine: Heartbroken
Larexen groaned as Zexion morphed her appearance so that Sora or his friends would not recognize her. Why did if have to be her? Marluxia looked like a girl-he could do it! 'Yeah, he has such long girly hair! He could easily pass off as a woman! Xaldin already mistaked him the first time they met!' She heard Zexion start laughing and realized that she had been talking aloud.
She turned her head sharply to glare at the silver-haired usually emotionless man beside her. She herself, could not see the difference in her appearance, nor could Zexion, though he knew what he had done. Meanwhile Xaldin was staring at her, drool appearing in the corner of his mouth. Upon seeing this, Larexen raised her gloved hand-not her clawed one-and smacked him across the face. (heh-heh poor Xaldin!-not!)
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Aerith stood beside Tifa, looking at the images with laughter clear on her face. Yuffie was also giggling profoundly, leaning against Leon, her face buried in his shoulder as she tried to contain her screams of laughter. Meanwhile Leon kept trying to inch away from the laughing ninja, but he might as well go up to Rinoa and tell her that he was going out with Yuffie and had been cheating on her. Hell would break loose before Yuffie stopped laughing at the pictures of Rufus!
"Yuffie! Get off!" Leon snapped at her angrily, but Yuffie tightened her grip, her fingers digging into his shoulder, making him flinch.
Aerith meanwhile, had grabbed the PHS from Tifa and had, faster than anyone had thought possible, rushed out the door and was now sitting a on a slab of stone. Aerith held the PHS up to her ear and asked into it uncertainly, "Cloud? Cloud? Are you there?"
"Huh?" a confused voice said. Aerith could hear someone that sounded like Riku asking Cloud if it was his phone. Cloud picked it up, muttering, "Damn, keep forgetting they're still connected!" Aerith rolled her eyes, laughing to herself. "Hello?"
"Hi Cloud!" Aerith greeted cheerfully.
"Oh it's you Aerith, hi-so um…why are you using Tifa's PHS again?" Cloud asked, his voice sounding surprised from hearing Aerith on the other end.
"Cause I stole it from her. So why'd you hang up on us?" Aerith asked, her green eyes flashing as she spoke to Cloud. She looked in the broken window of Merlin's house and noticed Tifa and a few others were watching her. She sighed and stood up and walked on down to the Market Place, not realizing Axel was down there with Demyx-who was just about to run past her.
"Sephiroth came up and-" Cloud began, but was interrupted by a scream of Aerith. He heard her intake a breath before she grunted. "Aerith?"
Aerith glared at the teen-or someone around twenty-who had just ran into her. He looked down at her, his blue eyes widening. "Oh, I'm sorry!" he said rather quickly as he bent down clumsily and offered his hand to her. (in marriage! Nah! I'm just kidding-lol)
"That's alright," Aeris responded lightly, dipping her head, showing she forgave him. 'He's cute…' Aeris thought, staring into the boy's face she was hardly aware that she had shut the PHS and disconnected the link with Cloud.
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Demyx stared at the woman, truly sorry, but he could not stop staring. 'She's hot," he thought. 9heh-heh-I'm going to be evil!) Demyx noticed that deep shade of red appearing on the young woman's face realized with horror that he had just said that aloud! "Oh…um…uh…opps-th-that wasn't supposed to come out," he said modestly.
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Riku noticed Cloud was staring at the phone with utter horror and wondered what had just happened. He sighed and rolled his eyes as Aurithia grabbed him by the arm and began dragging him towards the place where he used to live. At first he wondered why she was taking him there, that is until he saw Sora following, a grim look on his face. His wonders about where they were going suddenly changed. Why did Sora look so grim? Well despite the fact that the very Keyblade they had all believed to be destroyed was back-and in the very person who had given into the darkness a few years back, was wielding.
Tidus, meanwhile, had vanished to Riku's relief. In truth, he thought Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie as very immature, but mainly Tidus. Sora seemed just about as immature as Tidus-and Kairi, well she was just Kairi to him; she was rather immature, but not as much as everyone else.
Within moments, Riku found himself standing in front of his old house. It seemed abandoned. Where had his parents gone? "Er…Aurithia, why are we here?"
"Because Riku, this is where we find what we are looking for." Aurithia replied simply, her blue eyes scanning the area as if searching for something before she walked up to the door.
"What do you mean? What are we looking for?" Riku demanded, paying no attention to the sulking Cloud, who seemed to be dragging his feet and muttering under his breath, something about Aerith. Sora, he also ignored, who was now looking at the house with confusion. Kairi was being Kairi and jumped up in front of Aurithia, "Yeah, Aurithia! What're we looking for?"
"We are seek something that cannot be sought." Aurithia replied simply. They watched as she opened the door and step inside. Riku found himself running after her and stepping into his house. When he entered it, he found that everything was the same way he had left it. Yeah, he was old enough to move out-but his parents wouldn't allow it for some unknown reason. Riku looked around the dusty room, seeing no sign of life. All the furniture was still there and everything.
He walked through the house, walking right past Aurithia. "How are we supposed to find something that can't be found?" he asked her quietly, and walked into the hallway towards his room. Something was pulling him there, telling him that there was something there waiting for him.
"You will understand in due time, Riku, but for now, you must find our new ally or our new enemy."
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Sora, who was outside with Kairi and the sulking Cloud, was the first to spot the swim suit model running towards him. (omg! My eyes!-you can guess who this is!) She looked rather upset about something. Sora walked up to her, his eyes shining as he stared at her, "Hello, um…what's wrong?"
"Oh nothing!" the model said, her blue gaze flashing. She seemed rather angry, but Sora didn't notice. "Just wondering if you…"
"If I what?"
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Riku entered his room and was surprised to find two people standing there. One wielded a weapon-er weapons, another didn't have one. He knew who they were. His aqua blue-green eyes flashed and his Keyblade appeared in his right hand-his Dark Keyblade. I his left, his Way to Dawn appeared. Both of the two were smirking in front of him. "What are you doing here?" he snarled, raising his blades, ready to attack.
Aurithia appeared beside him, her blue eyes cold and stone hard. "You cannot interfere with destiny!" she growled, her voice dark.
Zexion remained emotionless; Xigbar however, grinned, "We'll see about that," and raised one of his guns, ready to shoot Riku.
Riku, meanwhile was looking at Aurithia, surprised at her angry words. All at once a beam of red shot past him and he jumped. Riku spun to look back at Xigbar and rushed forward. He grunted as he struck out at Xigbar and Zexion. Zexion leapt nimbly aside, his expression not changing. Riku growled, swinging at Zexion with his Dark Keyblade and at Xigbar with his Way to Dawn. Xigbar shot at him and one bullet barley missed Riku by an inch, but the dark warrior, reflected two bullets and hit Xigbar. Zexion, however, had something in his hand. Riku didn't realize what it was until he had been hit by it. Pain laced through his shoulder and back. He spun around, his eyes blazing as he saw a leather whip in Zexion's hand, glowing a light silver-blue.
Aurithia had drawn her sword and had leapt into the battle at last and was attacking Xigbar with all she had. Riku gripped his Keyblade tighter, willing it to vanish. He felt the weight in his hand vanish and he switched the Way to Dawn to his right hand. He braced himself for Zexion's next strike, but it never came.
In a flash, both men had vanished. Riku blinked, looking around, "Where did they go?" he asked Aurithia, turning to look at the woman who had a bloody sword, a twisted grin on her face. "Aurithia?" Riku asked, staring at her.
Aurithia seemed to shake her head and turn to face Riku, the strange look vanishing from her eyes. She smiled lightly at him and said quietly, "I got him,"
"I can see that," Riku commented, glancing at the blood on Aurithia's blade. She quickly whipped it away and asked, "How is your shoulder?"
Riku remembered the place where Zexion had hit him with the whip. He looked down at it and found that the sleeve was torn on his cloak and revealing blood trailing down his skin. In the excitement of the battle, Riku had forgotten his pain like he did every time, but now that it was over, he felt the pain and reached to touch the wound absentmindedly. He flinched as his fingers touched the gashed shoulder. "I think I'll be fine," he told Aurithia, knowing that the wound would heal. He didn't need help.
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Cloud sulked, not paying any attention to Sora, Kairi, or the other girl. Why had Aeris hung up on him saying, "He's cute,"? W-Was she in love with someone else? His closed his eyes, praying that she was not. Yes, as we all know, Cloud was in love with Aeris and she knew he was. Maybe he should go back and drag her along with him. 'No…that would only send her to her death.'
"Cloud!" a voice suddenly yelled. Cloud opened his eyes and looked up to see Rufus walking swiftly towards him. Cloud didn't say anything as Rufus began to speak, "I'm going over to Hollow Bastion to go pick up a friend of yours that just called, do you want to come?"
Cloud glared daggers at Rufus as he replied bitterly, "No," His tone was icy and heartless. Rufus stared at Cloud for a few seconds and shrugged, "Suit yourself," and left.
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Vincent glared at the door as it opened. His eyes narrowed as Aeris walked in, dragging a teenager or someone in their very early twenties into Merlin's house. He didn't know who the teen was, so at first he ignored him until Tifa, Yuffie, Merlin, and Leon jumped up, all drawing their weapons. "Aeris! Why did you bring Demyx here?" Tifa gasped loudly, raising her fists up.
Vincent turned to look at Aeris with narrowed crimson eyes. Aeris grinned sheepishly as she responded, "Cause," He blinked at her careless answer. Vincent had long-since gotten over the fact that Aeris was alive and Cloud's girlfriend. Now that he looked at the teen Aeris was dragging in, he assumed she was dumping him. He noticed Tifa's PHS in her free hand. It was closed-she had hung up on Cloud.
'Stupid girl, how could she fall in love with the enemy? Heh-such a stupid, stupid girl!' Chaos mused within Vincent's mind. Vincent's eyes hardened at Chaos's comment, but he said nothing back to the Weapon. Instead, he spoke what Chaos had said-actually agreeing with him for once, "Aeris, are you that naïve? You can't just go around with a little crush on your enemies."
Aeris turned to look at him, her face turning a light shade of pink. "I-I don't have a crush on him! He's just looking for a place to stay! He's different now, right Demyx?" Aeris said, her voice cracked. Demyx shook his head, obviously very frightened.
Vincent narrowed his eyes. He stood up straight from where he was leaning against the wall and strode over to Aeris. He stood in front of her, staring her in the eyes. He noticed that she shuttered under his bloody gaze. "Is that so? Then why, if I may ask, do you sound so nervous?"
'Heh, she such a stupid girl. Libel to get her throat slit open in her sleep. What a funny sight that would be!' Vincent was now ignoring Chaos completely.
Aeris, he noticed, turned away from him and responded, "Um…uh…"
"That's what I thought," Vincent sighed, shaking his head. Then he looked up at Tifa. "Is this Demyx guy dangerous? He doesn't look it, nor do I sense any strength in him-but if he is an enemy, I must know."
"Er…no, he's not exactly dangerous. The worst he could do is mess up your hair with his water. Oh and he had a guitar."
"It's a-!" Demyx objected, but Vincent did allow him to finish as he spun around, narrowing his eyes at the teen who was at least a foot shorter than him. "Keep your mouth shut!"
Just as Tifa was about to continue, the sound of a helicopter was heard. Vincent blinked and then turned away from everyone without speaking. He was about to walk out the door when Tifa snapped, "Where are you going?" Her voice was stern and demanding. Vincent sighed. It wasn't like he had anything to do here-he could help with rebuilding the place, but that just wasn't his thing.
"Somewhere that's not important," he replied simply and then walked out the door-which Merlin had fixed. Vincent made his way over to where the helicopter had landed. He walked over to it, ignoring the pilot-Reno, and the person sitting beside Reno-Rufus. He sat in the back of the helicopter and waited for it to take off.
"Hey, Vincent! Long time no see, eh?" Reno yelled over the helicopter. He looked back at Vincent, who only glared at him with utter rage. "Whoa-you still aren't all that friendly are you?"
"What do you expect?" Rufus said, his voice cheerful and relaxed, "He was after all-once a Turk like yourself-much better though! Heh-heh, the leader of the Turks-unlike you. All you ever do is drink and try to find a woman who will go on a date with you!" (idiots…)
"Can you just take me to Cloud, and those other four already?" Vincent growled. "I have to talk to Cloud about something."
Reno sighed and began to pilot the helicopter, making it rise off the ground. Rufus turned around in his seat and yelled, "About what, Vincent?"
"Vinnie!!"
Vincent jumped at the sound of the voice. He looked out the window and saw Yuffie standing there, waving her arms. "Get back here and take me with you!" she yelled.
Vincent was about to reply, "No," but Reno suddenly swung the copper downwards and landed it again. Vincent glared at him but did not speak. Yuffie, however, leapt up in joy and raced over to the copper and jumped in, climbing into the back with Vincent. The first person she noticed besides Vincent, was Rufus.
"Hey Rufy!" Rufus flinched at the nickname. "How'd you like the sun screen all over your face?" she asked, her eyes bright with amusement.
"What? You had sun screen all over your face?" Reno choked, understanding Yuffie's meaning.
"Don't say anything Reno, or I'll kick you out of this chopper right now if I have too!" Rufus growled.
"Okay…Hey Yuffie, will you go on a date with me?" Reno suddenly asked, turning to look at the teen behind him. He was met by non-other than-no, it wasn't Yuffie's hand-but Vincent's fist. It wasn't his metal arm, thankfully, otherwise Reno would most likely be dead from the crushing oh his skull around his nose.
"Thanks, Vinnie! I was going to slap him, but you did much better!" Yuffie said, beaming at him. Reno, meanwhile, had tears in his eyes, but he wasn't crying, his eyes were just watering from the pain. Blood poured onto his Turk suit and he groaned.
"Ow…Vincent that hurt…Rufus, where's that dam Cure 2 at?" Reno demanded, turning to look at his boss, who glared at him. Rufus sighed and reached into his pocket and gave Reno the Cure 2 materia. Reno, expertly steered the helicopter with one hand and half blind from the pain.
Vincent was surprised that Reno could actually do that, but he shrugged it off, reminding himself that Reno was the best pilot in all of ShinRa. Yuffie was staring at the materia with large eyes, her fingers slowly moving towards it. "Not now, Yuffie," Vincent growled, noticing what she was doing.
Yuffie turned to look at him grinning sheepishly. She sat back, disappointment shining in her eyes. "Sorry, Vinnie,"
Vincent flinched once again at the nickname. How long was she planning to keep calling him that? He hoped not for long. He hated the nickname. 'Heh-heh, found something to annoy you with, Vinnie.' Vincent glared at the wall, hearing Chaos talking to him. He didn't know Chaos had a sense of humor…strange-oh well, everything about Chaos was strange. Down to his creepy zombie-type appearance to his tattered and torn wings.
"Hey Vinnie, where are we going?" Yuffie asked after a moment of silence.
Vincent turned his crimson gaze on her and responded, "To Destiny Island. And please, with all due respect, stop calling me Vinnie." Yuffie looked a little surprised at how Vincent had worded that sentence, but she shrugged and then grinned. Vincent glared at her as she mouthed the words, 'Okay…Vinnie.'
"Hey, Vincent!" Rufus suddenly yelled. "You never told me what you needed to talk to Cloud about!"
"That's none of your business, Rufus!" Vincent snapped, his eyes flashing. "And it's not all that important, I'm only warning him about something."
Vincent held up his metal arm, flexing the claws on it, a devilish look appearing in his eyes as he stared at the claws. He quickly hide the golden, metal arm from his sight and looked over at Yuffie who was watching him with a close eye. He almost asked her what she was looking at, but he stopped himself and shut his eyes, leaning back in his chair, but he did not sleep. Sleep only brought him nightmares, renewing the sins he had committed.
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Yuffie looked over at Vincent, wondering why he had looked at his metal arm. She knew enough about him to know that he despised that arm. She looked at him now, wondering if he was sleeping. 'No, Yuffie, he doesn't sleep, remember?'
(Okay! There's you guys the Ninth Chapter of A Shadowed Heart with half of it about Vinnie! Opps…I forgot he doesn't like that…well anyway, I love YXV(Yuffietines) so if you guys know any really good ones that are rated K+-T then can you tell me about them. And if any of you are going to say 'Destined Souls'-I already read it, but that's like the only one besides some really short ones oh and there is 'Sink to the Bottom With You'. If they're complete and long-I'd love to read them! And if they're not-I'd still love to read them! Poor Cloud! He got cheated on-heh-I'm evil)
(Hi! Guys, I apologize for the long wait and I hope you forgive me. Today I was working on Dawn Til Twilight (A Story about Riku) and I thought 'Heck, everybody's mad at me for not updating, so why not update? And so here I am. Yes, Chapter Ten is nearly done-HALIUJAH! And so it will be updated soon, very, very soon. I hope you guys are still willing to read this. Thanks.)