I loved the lvoely reviews i have recieved, but I still want to know whether you lot want a lemon or not. I hope you like this chapter...REVIEW... -ahem-...
Flowers.
Sora held the letter tightly, he usually did. He liked to pretend it was Riku and in a way it was, a small shred of the lover he could once hold whenever he liked but was now left with the letters that came very other day. Riku's letter had been worse than the last one; he did indeed seem to be losing it. Something that made Riku, Riku was his insane determination… and now he seemed to have lost it.
He pulled the pen out his pocket he had put there in case a letter had come. Stumbling back and away from the sea he collapsed to his knees in the sand, bottle, letter, cork and pen in hand as he began to write back, the pen shaking as he once again thought, 'what if I lose him?'
It was a reoccurring thought, how could it not be? Riku had gone to war! That meant there was a very high chance that Riku wasn't coming back. But Sora would never let that happen, he would never let Riku go anywhere without him. They'd promised, ever since they were small and never even really knew what love was. They'd always promised…
"Wiku?"
"Yea, Sora?"
"Will it always bwe wike dis? Jwust us?"
Little seven year old Riku pondered this as the two boys watched the night sky from the top of Riku's house, a few years before the night the silveret's parents died. His large aquamarine eyes were narrowed in thought as Sora watched him intently.
"I… I don't think it'll always be just us…" Riku said slowly, Sora almost began to cry at the thought of losing Riku, his six year old lip trembling in warning, but Riku was still stuck in his train of thought, "…maybe… maybe it'll always be us. No matter whether there are others with us… there will always be us. Because… because we'll go together, everywhere…okay?"
Sora's lip stopped trembling as he thought over Riku's words. His face suddenly split into a grin as he decided that what Riku had said was acceptable.
"M'kay!" He giggled.
…Sora smiled faintly at the memory. Memories of the times they shared always seemed to calm him down and helped him get by. Maybe that's what Riku needed, a little trip down memory lane. The pen moved quickly as he began to scribble down as many memories as he could think of on the spur of the moment, his wonky handwriting covering the back of Riku's letter within minutes.
He wrapped the paper up and slipped it into the bottle, corking it and taking a running start as he hurled it into the ocean, the glass glinting at him like a beacon as it sailed through the air. Sora giggled madly at it, then decided that there was absolutely nothing funny about a glass bottle so he began to head home. He had a bounce in his step and a content smile on his face as he eagerly awaited the next day and the hopeful reply Riku would send him.
The brunet didn't even make it more than ten steps past the beach gate before he was attacked by a purple-red blur.
"SORA!"
"EEP!!" Sora screamed, "I DON'T WANT TO DIE! WHATEVER IT IS I DIDN'T DO IT! PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY SOUL!"
Kairi stared at him cautiously, "…I don't want your soul…" She made a face, "I'll bet soul's taste naaasty!" She blinked then her face turned serious, "Sora, have you heard from Roxas or Axel? They won't pick up when I ring and they won't answer the door either, I've had to stop Demyx from-"
"Taking an axe to their front door?" He finished knowingly.
Kairi blinked again, "How did you know?"
Sora sighed, "Because Axel had to stop Demyx from doing the same thing to my door. I have a sneaking feeling that he desperately wants to use that axe… I don't even want to know where he found it."
Kairi smiled, "Nami's house!" She supplied. Sora stared incredulously, Kairi shrugged, "She says it's the most effective weed-whacker."
Sora decided he really didn't want to know, "Axel and Roxas… last I saw of them, Roxas was unconscious and Axel was making breakfast." He frowned, realizing he hadn't gone to check if the blond was alright since he'd woken up from his mini coma, "Come on," He grabbed her by her wrist, "Let's go make sure they're okay…"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Axel you open this Goddamned door or I will give you such a cold shower you'll wish you were a girl your balls will shrink that fast!" Demyx hollered.
Passersby snapped their heads in his direction from Roxas and Axel's front door, their eyes wide with fear, or, in the case of the women, amusement. Sora and Kairi bolted into a run, the fact that they knew Demyx wasn't joking making them fear for their friend's safety.
"Demyx!" Kairi yelled as the dirty blond came into view, "Calm down!"
Sora nearly 'eeped' again that day at the sight of the axe in the sitar player's hands, poised ready to attack the innocent looking blue door, "Dem... put the axe down…" He held his hands up in a show of peace and to make sure Demyx knew he wasn't target number two, after the door of course.
Demyx let out a small whine, "But… but…but… I wanna see Axel and Roxas!"
It's not very often you see a nineteen year old whine and when you do, there's usually something wrong with them. In Demyx' case, there's nothing wrong with him per say… he's just a child that refused to grow up and that makes him all the more likeable. The only problem with Demyx whining this time was he was armed.
Kairi followed Sora's lead and held her arms up in surrender and they both slowly began to approach the older male, "Demy…" She began softly, "Sora can get us inside… Roxas gave him a spare key, remember? Sora's the only one who hasn't lost it so I went to find him."
Sora nodded eagerly, "And now we can all go see Axel and Roxas… o-okay?"
Demyx gave this some serious thought, the axe lowered a few inches in the air. The two younger teens were only a foot away from Demyx then so Kairi leant over and gently removed the weapon from his more than capable hands.
Sora breathed a heavy sigh of relief and shakily pulled his keys from his pocket, selected the right key and opened the front door. He entered and immediately went upstairs, he gestured for Kairi and Demyx to stay downstairs. The redhead and the blond looked at each other curiously but obediently sat down on the sofa in the living room. Kairi thought it wise to keep quiet in case they were asleep so she took great pleasure in smacking Demyx' hand every time it reached for the remote.
In seconds, the bouncing brunet had sprinted into the living room, his face a red hue to rival Axel's hair, his head bowed in embarrassment.
"Wassup? Are they okay?" Demyx asked, not quite figuring out why the small boy could possibly be embarrassed.
Sora nodded, "Y-yeah… there f-fine…"
Kairi's face split into a grin as she clicked, "Ooooh…" She sniggered.
"W-what?! What's up? I don't get it!" Demyx cried, his head snapping from Sora to Kairi.
She waved at him to shush him; he obediently stayed quiet, "So… should we go now? I don't think we should intrude any more than is necessary." Her Cheshire cat grin still in place.
Sora nodded and they hastily left, locking the door behind them as they went. Once outside, the brunet turned to his two friends:
"Hey, do either of you two know where Nami might be? I need to ask her for something."
Kairi smirked at Demyx who smirked right back. The blond began, "She'll be at the florists."
"Why?"
"Marly works there." Kairi explained as if that explained everything.
"And…"
Demyx sighed, "She's, like, in love with the guy." He shook his head, "Shame he doesn't even realize she's even there. I don't think he can see past his roses to know that she even comes into the store."
"He's twenty-two, isn't he?" Kairi asked, Demyx nodded, "She's going for an older man… how interesting and completely un Namine-ish."
"She's seventeen, that's not much of a difference."
"Yeah, but he's not going to be interested in a teenager…"
Sora decided to sneak away at that point. Kairi and Demyx loved to gossip; Sora didn't. He did, however, want to find Namine so he left the two of them on the street chattering away and made his way to the island's only florists, run by Marluxia and home to the most amazing flowers ever… due to his Dark Powers. Some might laugh because he has power over flowers… but it made him incredibly popular with girls... even if he couldn't see that.
The store was 'open and happy to help' according to the curvy writing on the welcome sign, Sora pushed the door open and walked into the humid shop overflowing with vibrantly coloured flowers amongst almost neon green leaves. Sora grinned as he spotted a flowing head of white blonde hair, hunched over ivory shoulders and a white dress in the corner of a room facing a particularly beautiful plant and drawing it avidly, their blue eyes taking in its every twist and edge and capturing it stunningly on the paper.
Sora gasped at the drawing, "Nami… it's amazing!" He breathed.
She jumped and looked round at him, "Sora!" She smiled, "Don't sneak up on me like that, I'll have a heart attack."
He smiled back and sat down on the floor beside her, "Kai and Dem told me I would find you here. I walked in and immediately thought I would probably find you somewhere as pretty as this too. What do you like about this place the best…?" He made idle conversation as he sneakily pinched her sketchbook from her lap.
Consumed with the need to come up with an adequate and believable reason for her being in the florists, she didn't notice as he began to flick through the pages of the book. Sora's hand stopped on one picture that he instantly recognized; it was Marly, in all his glory. He was surrounded by flowers on every side and he held a white rose loosely in his fingers. Sora grinned and gingerly pulled it out from the sketchpad.
"Erm…well…I-I…"
Namine needn't have bothered, Sora wasn't listening anyway as he rummaged through the fat and well justified book. Sora's hands froze over another picture, this one nearly made him cry. It was him and Riku, they were sitting on the tree swing in Namine's back garden, their hands interlaced, Sora leaning on Riku's shoulder and the silveret's arm around Sora's waist. It was as good as a photo… no better, you could feel the love Namine had poured into it and it made the picture almost alive as Sora and Riku were immortalized in that single moment.
"N-Nami…c-can I h-have t-this p-picture?" Sora asked, his voice cracking slightly as he kept his sorrow at bay.
Namine blinked at the picture shown to her and then she smiled sadly, "Of course, Sor-Sor. It's all yours, I was going to give it to you on your birthday, but now seems like a better time." She took the book from him and took the picture out. She handed it to him and he took it before throwing his arms around her tightly.
"Thanks, Nami… I'm going to make you as happy as you've just made me… I promise… and if everything goes wrong… I'll kill him, 'kay?" He mumbled into her neck.
She blinked, utterly lost by his words, "…okay…?"
He grinned and leapt up from the floor, gave her a sisterly kiss on the cheek and wondered off into the shop and out of her sight.
Sora spotted Marluxia working away near the back of the store and made his way over to him, his face one of determination as he stopped at the elder's shoulder.
"Hey Marly, I haven't seen you in a long time." Sora said conversationally.
Marluxia looked up in surprise, then he smiled faintly at the burnet; Sora had that effect on people, "Hey Sky, I have been busy lately. My friends and I all have summer jobs so we can make it to college, the fees are really expensive." Marluxia beamed, "But we'll make it, don't you worry."
"I have no doubt you will." Sora looked over to where he'd come from, "Hey, how come you never told me Namine was here?" pretending he hadn't already seen the blonde girl.
Marluxia blinked, "She is?"
The burnet nearly growled in anger, as much as he liked Marly, Namine was like his little sister, "Yeah… she is. She's over there in that corner drawing that plant."
Marluxia looked over and made a face of surprise, "Well… look at that. She is. Heh, I love that flower…" Had Marluxia not moved back to his work, Sora's fist would have contacted with the pink-haired male's head. Sora couldn't control it, Marly had got him cross.
Sora sighed and folded his arms; Marly looked at the glowering brunet with complete confusion which only irritated Sora further, "You really have no idea? Either that or you don't care!" Sora growled, "Look…" He pulled the picture of Marly Namine had drawn and thrust it into the elder's hands, "… look at this and you tell me what you see when you look back at her. And it better not be some stupid plant!"
Sora stormed out of the shop, barely taking the time to wave at Namine who hadn't heard any of the conversation that he had just had with Marluxia. Other than the good yelling he'd just given the pink-haired male, Sora was in a very good mood and eager for the next day and now he had the perfect gift to send Riku, plus it would fit in the bottle. Sora wasn't sure if he would and he wasn't brave enough to try just in case he couldn't get out again. Almost skipping down the street he made his way home.
"Have you located the lover?"
"Yes. And one of the keyblade bearers comrades was more than happy to tell all he knew on the subject… with a little persuasion of course."
"Good. And the results?"
"The lover lives on a small world in the middle of nowhere, we probably would not have even bothered with its pitiful heart had our attentions not been drawn to it."
"What is the name of this lover?"
"The comrade said that the bearer called him… Sora." Spra an Riku; Land and Sky… how pitifully poetic… no wonder this keyblade bearer wasn't going to last very long, "Shall I go and… retrieve him? I'm sure he'll be more than cooperative."
"After a little more persuasion?"
"Of course."
"Go, then. Bring me the key to our success."
A bottle bobbed a long the languid waves, slowly making its way to the shore in steady movements. As it approached the sand, an armored figure came running over the hill that sheltered the beach from everything else.
The armor was blood stained and slashed across at the armguards and grieves. A gauntleted hand snatched the bottle up from the sand and opened it, teal green eyes eagerly devouring the contents of the letter in seconds of the paper having opened beneath his fingers. The eyes that were, only moments ago, so empty and dead reflected a glimmer of hope and love that stayed for a few minutes as another message was scrawled on the paper, slotted back in the bottle, sealed and thrown back into the sea. Then the spark of life died and the armored figure was alone on the beach, so he began to make his way despondently back over the hill and back to the remnants of the army.
There was no color, no trees, no flowers, no life… nothing but black everywhere. Riku had never missed flowers so much.
REVIEW!
Right, so we all know that Roxas and Axel are waaay more than okay. If you didn't get what happened, Sora went up to Roxas' room to here some very familiar noises that he usually made with Riku, he got embaressed and ran downstairs. So they are okay, and of course Sora had to but his nose into Namine's life and set her up with Marly. I think taht will be just about all the social down time Sora will get, from now... it's fight for your life, Sora. :P
REVIEW! Akaiba xx
