Oh wow. Must finish… Nyahh!!
Disclaimer: Life sucks. Get over it.
Chapter 8: A Little While
I felt beams of light dance over my closed eyes. Slowly, I opened them and greeted the day. I didn't recognize the room I was in at first, but then I remembered the storm. Things seemed to be clear today. I sat up in bed and looked around seeing everyone was still asleep. I figured it was around 6 or 7, so it would be best not to wake them. Carefully, I slipped out of bed and tip toed over to the deck. I pulled back the blinds that blocked the light and looked out the window. I could see some trees blown over and a lot of extra water running in the street. I quietly opened the slider door and stepped out onto the deck. The warm water that had gathered on his wooden deck tickled my bare feet. The sun shone brightly on this warm day full of after-rain and ocean smells. I could get used to living on an island like this... No, I stopped myself; you will not get attached here. You don't belong. I sighed.
"It would be nice though," I said out loud.
"What would?" Riku asked. I spun around, not knowing he had been awake.
"Oh, nothing. I'm sorry I just needed some air and-" I quickly said. I was mildly embarrassed he had been out here and caught me talking to myself. See? Everyone's gonna think you're crazy.
"Its fine, you can hang out here as long as you'd like." Riku stood beside me on the deck. "It's a really nice day after that storm."
"Yep." I agreed. We stood in silence for a few moments before Riku spoke.
"So, how's your headache feeling? Did you get what you needed?" Ah, the herbs. Riyuno... Augh. I could tell Riku wasn't very fond of him, but that wasn't any of my business.
"Yeah, but I have a question." I paused.
"Go ahead."
"What's a Paupo?" I asked. I had seen Riyuno buy some of the juice from a stand and then Sora almost bought some. Maybe it's a guy thing? It must have been because Riku almost flipped out.
"Who gave you a Paupo?! Did you eat it? Was it Riyuno? Because I swear-" he began. I waved my hands defensively.
"No one gave me one. I saw Riyuno buy some of the juice and then Sora was about to, but-"
"Sora was at the Market with you guys?" Riku raised one eyebrow.
"Well, not exactly. I'm pretty sure Kairi and him were spying on me, but they really have nothing to worry about. I can take care of myself."
"You're really independent, aren't you?" he asked. I smiled.
"Yep! It's in the job description." I tilted my head as I gazed at him, "So, what's a Paupo fruit?"
"Well," Riku began.
"Hey guys!" Sora interrupted.
"Good morning Sora!" I responded. He yawned as stretched.
"Morning, Sora." Riku muttered.
"Wow, it sure cleared up nicely today." Sora said, "Man, I'm starving." As if on cue, his stomach let out a grumble.
"I'll go make something." Riku volunteered. As he passed by me, he whispered, "I'll tell you later." I nodded and watched as he disappeared into the house.
"So, whatcha up to?" Sora asked, leaning on the deck rail.
"Just admiring the sunrise," I murmured. We stood in silence for a few seconds, gazing at the droplets of water falling from the palm trees.
"That was some storm last night." Kairi said as she joined us on the deck.
"Yeah," I agreed, "It's so beautiful today, too. " I looked out toward the horizon, watching a single puff of cloud drift through the sky.
"It probably won't rain for a while," Kairi said, "which means the Fire Festival is still a go!"
"Which means I'll be fighting that kid's brother," Sora sighed, "I don't even know who he is."
"I'm sure you'll recognize him, and then maybe what that kid said will make more sense." I responded.
"I barely remember who you fought, Sora. You didn't even get past the second round." Kairi laughed.
"Hey! I made it to the third round! Remember?"
"Second, third, same thing."
"How many rounds are there, anyway?" I asked.
"Twenty in total, including five for preliminaries. Last year, Sora made it past the preliminaries and up three rounds." Kairi explained.
"What about Riku?"
"He took first. Again." Sora muttered. "He's so good at fighting. One day, I'll be as good as he is."
"Good luck with that, Sora." Kairi laughed.
"I will! You'll see! This year, I'm going to win for sure. I've been training extra hard-"
"Breakfast's ready!" Riku yelled up to us. With Sora still rambling about how he'd gotten stronger, we went downstairs to the kitchen. I became a quiet observer, adding to the conversation when it permited me to. It was nice watching how they all got along. It was obvious to me that Sora and Riku were best friends; even though Riku constantly teased Sora, you could tell he really cared about him. And Kairi... I could tell she liked Sora and he liked her, even though neither had realized it yet. Life here seemed so together, so perfect.
Are you jealous? I heard a voice in my head ask, a voice I didn't recognize. The scenery around me blurred until it turned into complete darkness. My insides felt torn apart and shaken up; my head began to spin and disorient me. Around me, everything seemed really shaky and static-y; as if it were an old recording.
"What the-?"
Jealous of something you will never have? I know I was; for a very, very long time.
"Who the hell are you?!" I called into the darkness.
Those like us aren't meant to be happy. Accept your fate.
"What are you talking about? 'Those like us'?"
You have yet to discover what lies within your nightmare, your euphoria.
"Hey, wait, what?" Just as quickly as it had begun, I was snapped into reality. No time had passed; Sora and Riku were still continuing their debate about Sora's ability to win this year. Weird... It's like time stopped.
"You'll see; I can win this year." Sora said after shoving a pancake-like food item down his throat. I delicately cut a small piece out of mine before eating it, like Kairi. It tasted like a pancake, but with a dash of cinnamon and some other type of sweet tasting spice. The syrup, though, was identical to that of Earth. Earth... I don't see why I'm comparing everything to there. It's not like it still exists.
"We need to work on the raft today," Kairi announced. "Tomorrow we'll have school, and then the weekend..."
"My mom's making me help my aunt and her with preparations for the Fire Festival, and then I have training for the tournament so I won't be able to help this weekend." Sora said while reaching for more pancakes. Kairi nodded and passed him more syrup.
"Me either, I volunteered all weekend to help the Mayor with organizing it." she said, looking toward Riku.
"I only have to train with Sora." Riku said, "I think that's it, unless my mom needs help with something."
"I'm not doing much either..." I muttered, feeling a little lonely. The culture here was something I had yet to adapt to; not to mention everyone here had a family to go home to. What did I have? You don't need a family, just wait it out. You'll be outta here in a few days. I reassured myself.
I knew I wouldn't.
Later
For most of the day, we worked hard on the raft. Now, I was at my apartment preparing to go to bed. It seemed like Riku had forgotten about explaining the Paupo thingy to me, which was fine. I wasn't about to remind him; I would rather find out myself. Not to mention I was still banking on my friends coming to save me. I sighed, sitting on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands.
Why me? Why me? Why couldn't I have still been on Earth and went down with everyone else? Then maybe, I'd still be with someone now. I wouldn't be so lost.
"And then I wouldn't have these cursed dreams and this damn weapon." I blamed the Keyblade partially for my dreams. It seemed to hold onto something that brought out the worst in me, something that tugged at both sides of my person. And it's linked to the dreams... I knew the Keyblade had something to do with my dreams; I had seen it faintly in one of the first dreams I ever had. Although it was blurry and hard to see, I recognized it immediately. I stretched out on my bed. Last night, I hadn't had a dream. Were they finally ending? As much as I doubted this, I wanted it to be true. If they were indeed stopping, then I would finally be able to get a decent night's sleep.
I pulled my blanket over me as I began to drift off. The people here were nice, but I was holding back. I thought I wanted to make new friends... But now I'm not so sure. I'm just kidding myself. Once I'm outta here, I'll never see these people again; so why does it matter? And as I fell asleep, I realized that I may never be 'outta here'.
-----
"What you did was entirely foolish and utterly stupid." An old man scolded. The white curtain that blocked my vision slowly disappeared. I was in some sort of open hallway, between a garden and a wall that I assumed belonged to a building. It was a high-up hallway, the garden being some 25 feet under us, so I guesstimated. That girl was here with her back to me. She must've been the one being scolded at.
"But it worked," she muttered, nonchalant.
"But you could have died! Stop taking unnecessary risks!"
"I know what I'm doing, Watanabe-sama."
"I'm beginning to doubt that," The old man paused as he took off his glasses and cleaned them, "We need you for the up coming weeks. You know-"
"I'll be fine."
'So she must be some type of fighter now. Or something. Wow, what a long way she's come since my last dream.' The girl turned around and walked away from the old man, passing right through me. This sent chills up my arm, a reminder that I wasn't here, but I couldn't move from where the dream put me. Now what; will I wake up? Much to my surprise, I didn't. Instead, I watched the old man (Watanabe-sama, she said I think). The details in this dream were far more exaggerated than in any other. He pulled out a piece of paper, the writing I couldn't make out. Then, my vision zoomed in and repeated the action of him pulling the paper out.
Wait-what? It's never done this before. Again, the action repeated zooming in a little more. What did it want me to see? I squinted my eyes, 'Look past the paper…' Then, it repeated a final time. This time, I saw what I needed to see. The moment I laid eyes on it, light pulled me out of the dream.
I sat up in bed, drenched in cold sweat. I threw my covers off and ran over to my dresser, pulling the bottom open the drawer.
The dagger! The old man had the dagger! Down to the last detail, they were identical. I ran my finger along the blade. Think Passion, what did they say about the dagger during the contest? I hadn't been paying very much attention at that moment in time, mostly because there had been a hot guy standing several feet away from me. Uhh, it was one of a kind and really old. And? Something else... I'll ask the others next time I see them. I told myself. There was something very strange about this object; it had found its way to me and was even in my dream. Just like the Keyblade... Were these two items linked somehow?
"RINNGGG RINNGGG!" The loud buzz of my alarm clock caught me off guard, so I dropped the dagger. It hit the floor, blade up so now it was stuck.
"Oh damn it!" I shouted, slamming my fist on the button to stop the insane buzzing. Then, I bent down and attempted to pull the dagger out of the floor. It was stuck pretty deep, so I had to get a knife out of the kitchen to help work it out. "Today is going to be a long day…"
Once the knife was free from the floor, I rushed to get ready. I was glad we had to wear school uniforms; they protected me from making an outfit decision that could cause me to further stand out in this world. I quickly pulled on the uniform and styled my hair. Nothing seemed to be working with it. I glanced at the clock. I still had half an hour before I had to be outside. Did I have time? My bangs were already straight, so all I'd have to do was the rest of my hair. If I used a spell, I could keep it straight for a solid week, water or not. I decided to try a spell. I placed both my hands on my head and concentrated on turning each curl into a straight strand of hair. It took all of fifteen minutes, way more efficient than any flat iron I had used. My hair had grown a bit since I last wore it straight, but not enough to persuade me to cut it.
I ran a brush through my hair and watched as it fell perfectly into place. Then, I turned off the bathroom light and left my apartment. At the stairs of the complex, Sora and Kairi were waiting.
"Hey guys!" I called. They turned and looked at me, a curious expression dancing on their faces.
"Your hair," Sora said, "you changed it!"
"Yep," I nodded, "I straightened it this morning."
"Looks good!" Kairi complimented. I smiled.
"Thanks," I looked around, "Where's Riku?"
"He went in early today. He wouldn't say why though." Sora explained, "We should ask him when we get there."
"Which means we should hurry; we'll be late soon." Kairi said.
"Right," I responded while following Kairi down the long dirt path.
The moment we reached our first class, I could tell something would be off today. There were no seats anywhere in the classroom and all of the desks were against the wall. Kairi and Sora seemed fine with the change, but I was really confused. I sat next to them on the carpet and watched as the teacher began scribbling nonsense onto the chalkboard.
"What's going on?" I whispered to Kairi.
"We're preparing for the Fire Festival," she responded, "Today's probably going to be filled with activities relating to it."
"Oh," I said. The teacher than began explaining what we'd be doing in class today. It kind of depressed me, listening to her. The way she taught was so very similar to my other teachers, and brought back memories of Earth. Which reminded me that it was gone… I leaned back on my arms and stared at the chalkboard, not understanding a word that was up there. I couldn't make up my mind on whether I wanted to stay here longer and learn, or just ditch school altogether and investigate the dagger. If we had holidays off, I could investigate then instead of celebrating. But, would that be culturally insulting? I'll make up my mind tonight, I promised myself. Now, I needed to pay attention in class.
Later
It was last period again. Gym. Augh. I stood with Kairi at our lockers.
"We're using this today," Kairi said while holding up the school swimsuit. "Wear it with these shorts and this tank."
"Alrighty… These right?" I asked, pulling out the matching items. Kairi nodded and smiled.
"I'm really excited to swim today; the well is probably really full after that storm." Her smile suddenly faded, "You can swim, right? I've heard of some people who can't and it's okay if you-"
"No worries. I'm a good swimmer." I assured her while beginning to change. "I used compete at it. My average place was second, anyway." Her smile returned.
"That's great! Then, we should be on the same relay team today! Selphie, Sayo and I need one more person so we have a team."
"Sweet." I coolly responded. With that, we were ready and exited the locker rooms.
In the gym there was already a crowd of students prepared to leave. We joined Sora, Riku, and Wakka in the group. After a few moments, the Coach came and led us outside. Mild conversation followed as we hiked up a dirt path onto a hill near the school. On top of this hill was a pool-ish thing. It was dug into the ground and appeared very deep in the center. Probably more than twenty-five feet, I guessed. The shape was rectangle-ish and it was obviously made hastily by people. As everyone stripped down to their suits, the Coach walked over to me.
"So, Passion eh? Can you swim?"
"Yep." I responded.
"So, you won't be drownin' on us here?"
"Probably not."
"Well, let's see what ya got. I don't wanna take any chances." He gestured toward the shallow end. "Jump in and I wanna see ya tread water. Everyone else, start warmin' up!" I nodded and walked over to the edge of the pool. The water looked warm enough, so I jumped in and started treading. After about thirty seconds, he told me I could stop. Next, he wanted me to swim a lap. I nodded and go into position. "You know the outfits don't allow any magic. You sure you're up for this?"
"Just tell me when to start."
"Ready… Set… Go!" The moment I heard go, I was off. I was just glad no one else was watching. It had been a year since my last race and I was pumped. I easily cut through the water doing free style. When I got close to the other wall, I did a perfect flip turn and resurfaced, going strong. In no time, I had completed my lap.
"Pretty good, " the Coach scoffed, "How long you been swimmin'?"
"Competitively since I was about five or six."
"Wowee. Do a lot of your people swim?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. I shrugged.
"I don't know. I guess?" I responded, "It depends who you are though. Some people never learn how to swim. My mom-" My voice broke, suddenly overcome with homesickness. "Uhh I mean, my mom taught me when I was a few month old."
"Ahh." He murmured, "Well, I'll have you participate in a few relays then. Do you have a team?" I nodded and smiled.
"Yep! Kairi asked me to join hers earlier."
"Alright then. I'll write you in here. You'll be swimming the last leg, which I think should be okay. Its girls versus girls, then boys versus boys. We have the winners from each division compete against each other, boys versus girls' thing. Uhh so far, the guys usually win. But, we've got some pretty tough lady swimmers, so don't expect it to be easy."
"Of course. Thank you very much." I said as I exited the pool. Kairi and her team had just finished a jog and were stretching. I quickly joined them. All of the boys were on the other side of the pool, so I guessed it was a rule or something that we stay separate for now. Kairi, Sayo, and Selphie were doing the common v-stretch. I sat across from Kairi in the circle.
"To the left!" she called. I reached for my left foot, laying the rest of my body completely on my leg, nose touching the cement.
"Wow Passion! You sure are flexible!" Selphie exclaimed while struggling to touch her toe.
"It runs in my family, " I said, "All of my siblings are the same way."
"Middle!" Kairi said. I folded down, resting on the ground with each hand touching a foot.
"You're just as good as Abysia." Sayo said, "Maybe we'll beat her group this time."
"I hope so." Kairi nodded, sitting up from her stretch. "I'm not too fond of her…"
"Is she really good?" I asked, glancing at the area she sat at. Abysia and her group were trying to get the guy's attention and, of course, they were successful. I doubt they should be much of a threat…
"Yeah! Abysia's one of our top swimmers. So are Sayo, Remie, and Tera."
"Tera's on Abysia's team, right?" I asked, recognizing her as the red head to Abysia's right.
"Yeah," Kairi said, "Her team usually beats us. Leina used to be our fourth leg, but she transferred schools a few weeks ago, so we couldn't compete. But now, we can! Haha!"
"Even if we don't win, it's okay." Sayo quickly said, "I'm just glad to compete."
"I just want to watch the guys swim," Selphie said, "They're soo hot!!" I smiled.
"I second that." I said. Kairi and Sayo nodded.
"It's not worth it without the guys." Kairi said. Selphie suddenly turned and grabbed my hands.
"Back where you came from, what were the guys like?" Her eyes widened and…twinkled?!
"Uh they were okay?? It depends. Celebrities were mega hot, but the guys at my school were only so-so. Honestly, about 98 were unfortunate looking."
"So, how many boyfriends did you have?"
"Oh tons." I said, nearly drooling with sarcasm.
"Reallyyy???" Selphie exclaimed.
"Of course not."
"Why? Is it against your custom?"
"Nope. Guys just don't like me that way." I laughed, "I'm just not, you-know enough."
"Not really."
"I didn't have the American Girl look they always seemed to want. Blonde hair, blue eyes; that sort of thing. Or, if they were the 'scene' type, I wasn't scene enough."
"Scene?" Kairi asked.
"It was an underground style gone mainstream, kinda because of myspace and emo music. Short, angled hair cuts; tight pants; and band tees."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Selphie said. I laughed.
"Basically, the guys I liked never liked me back 'cause there was always something better. But, what can you do, you know?" I shook my head, "How about you guys?"
"Nope, I haven't had a boyfriend." Kairi said.
"Me either, but I can imagine how romantic It would be." Selphie sighed, suddenly getting a 'far away' look.
"I'm too shy," Sayo said, "I like this guy, but I can't seem to talk to him."
"Is he here?" I asked, "Or wait, is it a secret?"
"Oh no, I can tell you. See that guy over there, with the black hair?" She sneakily pointed at Riyuno's team. The black haired guy, Kaine I think, was laughing at something Riyuno said. He was pretty attractive and, like all the guys, definitely built. "He's really nice and funny. But we're just friends."
"Bummer." I said, "You could get him, I think." Sayo laughed.
"I wish, I wish." Soon, Kaine looked up and waved in our direction. Sayo waved back.
"See?" I said, "At least he notices you. That's a step in the right direction." She smiled.
"Maybe."
"ALRIGHT LADIES!" Coach yelled, "In heat one are teams one through four! Heat Two are teams five through seven! The winners of each heat will then compete against each other! I want all girl teams in the water for a five minute warm-up!" At once, the girls were scrambling into the water.
"What team are we?" I asked Kairi.
"Team seven, we're in Heat Two."
"Alright, so do we just watch after warm up?" She nodded and jumped into the pool. I did the same. Warming up was easy; we only did a lap each. After everyone was out, the teams lined up. I watched, attempting to grasp the swimming style here. It looked as if everyone used freestyle, which was good news to me. Each swimmer completed two laps and as soon as they tagged the wall, the next person would dive in. I didn't see anyone doing flip turns; they just tagged the opposite wall and continued.
"So, we have to touch the other wall, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, otherwise it's a DQ. You can touch it with either your foot or hand." Selphie explained.
"Oh," I said. That's good; I'll just do a flip turn… Almost as soon as it started, the racing was over. Abysia's team won by nearly four seconds. It looked as if she was the last leg, which was just grand for me. I sighed inwardly as we set up. Coach blew his whistle and Kairi dived in. She was pretty good; only one team was ahead of us so far. Next was Selphie, who was slightly slower. We were quickly put into last place, nearly a lap behind the person in the lead. As Sayo took over, I could see why she was 'one of the best'. She was able to bring up the slack and was soon only ½ a lap behind. My turn…
I watched as her hand touched the wall and I was off. My dive was decent and helped me increase my speed. In no time, I was doing my flip turn. As I continued through the lap, I saw I was ahead of the other swimmer. Just like that, my race was over. We were about five seconds ahead of the other swimmer. Sweet, I thought as I got out of the water.
"We're gonna beat Abysia!!" Selphie whispered excitedly as we stood in a huddle.
"What was that thing you did between laps?" Sayo asked me, "It really sped you up!"
"It's called a 'flip turn'. I can show you how to do one later, if you want. They're really easy…"
"Really?" her eyes brightened, "I would love that."
"Alright! I want to see teams three and seven ready! Get set, ladies!" Coach exclaimed.
"Good luck, Kairi!" I said as she took her place. As she took off, it was obviously neck and neck; both swimmers tagged the walls at the same time. Selphie and the next swimmer, a girl I didn't know, leapt into the air, gently splashing into the water. The other swimmer quickly passed Selphie, putting us half a lap behind. Next was Sayo against Tera. Sayo kept her place and caught up to Tera fast, evening us up. Looks like it's up to you now… Sayo tagged the wall and shot out. Abysia and I were about the same speed, but my flip turn put me a few seconds ahead. I focused and pushed myself, moving a little faster and farther ahead of Abysia. I tagged the wall nearly three seconds ahead of her.
"We won!!" Selphie exclaimed, jumping up and down. I climbed out of the pool and was immediately greeted by my teammates. We embraced in a circle and celebrated our victory.
"Great swim, ladies!" Coach shouted while glancing at his stopwatch. "We've got a new class record by one second." He blew his whistle. "All guys in the water to warm up!" The guys, who had been watching from the opposite pool side, all entered the water. My team and I walked to the grassy area to dry off.
After we chatted a bit, I noticed Abysia was glaring daggers at us. There wasn't much I could do about that, though. She was going to be one of those people who always hated me. Soon, the boys were finished warming up and we walked to the poolside to watch. There were nine boys' teams; the first five were swimming while the last four stretched/waited. Riku and Sora's team were in the second heat, along with Riyuno's. The first heat didn't interest me much, because I didn't know any of the guys swimming. Some team or another won, and then the second heat's guys got ready.
There was quite a bit of tension in the air as the guys took their positions. It was Sora against Gabe. Gabe was much, much bigger than Sora, but Sora looked very confident as he dove into the water. He was nearly half a lap ahead of Gabe in no time. After Sora was Wakka, who kept Sora's pace and the team's lead. However, the next swimmer of the team, Tidus, was very slow. Quickly Riyuno's team passed them, tagged the wall, and Riyuno dove in. Four seconds later, Tidus tagged the wall and Riku dove in. In no time, Riku had caught up to Riyuno. The race was drawing to an end and it looked very close. They tagged the wall at what appeared to be the exact same time.
"Tie!" Coach declared. Both boys glared at each other from their lanes as the other teams tagged in.
"That was intense!" Selphie whispered loudly.
"Yeah…" I said, "Pretty darn spiffy."
"Alright teams! I want the girls vs. both of the guys teams! Get in position!" Coach yelled. Kairi gulped.
"Well, it's okay if we don't win…" she muttered to me while we walked to get in line. "I mean, what matters is that we beat Abysia…"
"Pshht. What are you saying?" I began, "We'll totally kick their asses-" I was cut off by a loud bell from the school.
"Damnit." Coach shouted, "Everyone back to the school! Class is over, we'll continue this after the break! HAVE A GREAT FIRE FESTIVAL!" On that note, all the students quickly gathered their towels and took off toward the school.
"Oh poo." I pouted as I walked back with Riku, Kairi, and Sora. "We were looking forward to beating you two."
"Uh huh," Riku sarcastically said, "Good luck with that one."
"No need for luck when you've got major skillage." I said, making 'the face'. The face was my infamous 'your mom' face, when I tilted my shin downward, furrowed my brow, and pressed my lips together in a grin. Riku raised one eyebrow.
"Major skillage?" He smiled, "We'll see about that..." He then scooped me up and began carrying me the rest of the way to school.
"Ahh! You're taking advantage of my shortness!" I exclaimed. He continued smiling.
"I'd like to see you pick me up. So much for skillage." he said.
"I could totally pick you up if you were my size."
"But, I'm not."
"Yeah… well you know what." I muttered. He set me down as soon as we neared the entrance to the school.
"No, I don't. What?"
"…I still have more skillage."
"I can bench press twice my weight."
"Fine. You win." I glared. Riku let out a small laugh.
"It's alright. You're pretty good… You know, for a girl and all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I said, pushing open the door. We entered the gym, about to part for the locker rooms.
"I'm just teasing you."
"I know."
"So, later do you want to come over so I can prepare you for the Fire Festival?"
"Oh, yes please. I don't want to be completely lost. What time?"
"Well, directly after school I have to do something. Is seven good?"
"Yeah! That's perfect. See you then!" I smiled and waved as we parted our ways at the locker rooms. Quickly, I changed out of my bathing suit into dry clothes, got my stuff, and walked home with Kairi. On the way, we softly spoke about the raft and I told her useless, general facts about other worlds. Although they were (to me) quite simple, she seemed very interested and happy to learn. It was a relief to ramble on and on about people I knew, places I loved, things I hadn't actually had time to think about. But, it ended all too soon as we reached my apartment. We said our good bye's for the weekend, because I knew I wouldn't see her again until that Monday (Or whatever day they called it).
Six Hours Later
I sat at my desk and continued working hard on my communicator. Mechanically, it was in perfect condition. The only explanation as to why it wasn't working would have been no service, which didn't make much sense. I always assumed it received service everywhere… Then again, this world was pushed to a corner where I hadn't even begun to explore. The stars were unfamiliar, except for Orion's Belt, so maybe this was uncharted territory.
"Meh, fuck it." I said, putting the device back into my drawer, "I'll get it working sooner or later." I pushed out the wooden chair I had been sitting in and walked toward the door to slip on my shoes. I grabbed my purse off the glass coffee table on my way out of the door, which I closed and locked with my only key.
Outside, it was still very bright and very much hot. I started on the dirt path to Riku's house. When I was in sight of the house, I saw Riku just entering through the door. As he started to close it behind him, he looked over his shoulder and saw me. I smiled and quickened my pace up the steps. He held the door open, welcomed me in, and smiled.
"Right on time." he murmured, "If you'll give me a second, I'm going to go change."
"Alrighty!" I responded, "I'll wait in here?" I gestured toward the living room. He nodded.
"That's fine." Then, he began walking up the stairs to his room. I walked down the hall and into his living room, plopping down on the very same couch I had sat on when I first landed on the island. There were a few books on the coffee table this time. I picked one up and read the title, Myths and Legends of the Heart.
"Hmm…" I began flipping through the pages and found that one page had a bookmark in it. This page had a picture of the Paupo fruit! Hadn't Riyuno bought something with that in it? I though to myself, Oh yeah, that's right. And Riku got upset when I asked him about it. Ever curious, I flipped to the next page. My reading was interrupted as I heard Riku walking down the stairs. Carefully, I closed the book and set it back down on the coffee table just as he entered the room.
"Okay," he said while sinking down onto the couch, "Where to start…" He reached onto the table and fumbled with the remote for a minute, before turning on what resembled a TV. "I guess we can watch a bit of what my mom filmed from last year."
"Yay!" I said and clasped my hands together. He smiled and began to select some options that appeared on the screen.
"The first bit is of the dinner, then the tournament, and lastly the dance." As the video began to start, the sun began to set outside. The movie was very cute; I recognized most of the people in it and the locations that it was shot in. The audio was a bit difficult to make out, but I did my best to understand what was going on. When it ended, it was fairly dark out.
"Oh," Riku murmured.
"Oh?" I asked.
"I know who that kid was talking about the other day," He paused, "The kid Sora beat?"
"Yeah? He was in there? Which one?"
"During the prelim; Sora knocked him out in one hit. The kid was from another part of the island and supposedly better than me."
"Oh, you mean the huge one?"
"Yeah, I didn't notice that fight because it had gone by so quickly."
"The big fella' looked sick." I said, "Maybe he told his brother Sora cheated to take him down?"
"I guess so. Wow, Sora's in a lot of trouble this time."
"Yeah," I nodded, "You'd better look after him."
"Of course," Riku said, "He'd be doomed without me, anyway." We laughed and suddenly the front door opened.
"Riku! I'm home." his mother called while walking into the room and setting her bags down. She greeted me before collapsing into a chair. "Work was so very stressful today; I had to help over thirty clients today, all who think they have the most severe problems and deserve to be first." She rolled her eyes, "I'll tell you, never work as a doctor. If you fix the problem, you didn't do it fast enough. If you can't fix the problem, you're not trying hard enough." She shook her head. "So, what're you two up to?"
"Riku was helping me learn more about the Fire Festival. so I don't feel lost." I explained.
"Did he tell you what we're doing this year?" she smirked. I shook my head and Riku rolled his eyes.
"Is Grandma visiting again?" he meekly asked.
"Nope!" she exclaimed, "Even better!"
"Oh no, we're not-"
"Going to visit relatives! Of course!" she exclaimed and clapped her hands. It was funny to see how easily his mom went from tired to excited. I smiled and studied her character. She was decently young, probably in her early 40s, late 30s, and very, very beautiful. I wondered who his father was because I had yet to meet him. Better not ask, I wisely decided, It could be complicated…
"Oh fun." he replied, pressing his lips together and raising his eyebrows.
"Passion, would you like to join us? It would give you a change to see more of the mainland." she asked.
"I don't want to intrude on anything-" I started.
"Don't worry about it." Riku said, "I'm sure everyone would want to meet you. It'd make them feel special."
"Why yes, they'd love it! I spoke to Uncle Tanki about your arrival and he seemed very excited. Oh and Grandma, she'd love to meet you. She's…" his mom began to go on and on about every family member.
"Help me." Riku silently mouthed to me. I nodded.
"I'd love to come," I said, "If it'd mean that much to everyone?"
"Sweet! That's awesome. I can't wait to call and tell everyone. Sari will be so ecstatic!" His mother laughed whole heartedly and walked off into the kitchen where her phone was. Riku and I sat alone, once again.
"Well…" he said, glancing up at me.
"This should be fun!" I smiled, not wanting to make this situation any more awkward than it needed to be.
"I'm sorry that my mom's so pushy, you don't have to go…" he began muttering.
"Like I said, I'd love to go. It'll give me something to do. Plus," I said, "I'd love to meet the rest of your family." Riku shook his head.
"You say that now, but don't come crying to me when they attack you."
"No worries," I laughed, "I'm sure I'll be able to handle them."
"Uh huh…" he said. Riku's mother soon reentered the room with details about the trip for tomorrow. She explained that the train would leave tonight, around midnight. That meant I had to go home, change into pajamas, and pack a day bag for the trip. We'd sleep on the train and arrive at 8 am. From the station, we'd be picked up by her brother and then tour that part of the island. I nodded when she finished. Riku offered to walk me home to get my stuff, and we left shortly. I could tell already it was going to be a long weekend.
To be Continued
LOL wow. I haven't updated in FOREVER. I swear I will finish this… Ohh and I decided to change up the plot! Woot woot… Sorry, it means the main KH plot will be in a few more chapters… No worries, I've already written some of that. Hahah.