A/N: Thanks to all my readers! You guys, now on with chapter 5.
Chapter Five: Can I Tell You?
Riku looked at the girl for a moment and played a small smile on his lips when her gaze didn't catch up with his. The girl was in rapture, this here being the sense of joy, that she was eating a sea-salt ice-cream popsicle stick so early in the morning, strange how someone could find it that enjoyable to be eating ice-cream so early in the morning. He in turn ate the ice-cream he bought for himself and savored the taste that melted into his mouth.
"Thanks, Riku," she said quietly looking at him for a moment.
"No problem," he said patting her on the head. He asked her to give him her hand and she did without question. Riku pulled something out of his jean pocket; it was the little blue mp3 device. He handed it to her, letting his hand linger on hers for a second longer.
"Did you like the songs?" she asked looking at him.
"I liked the Black Mages a lot," he said remembering a tune from her mp3 device. She said that they were her favorite. "I liked Jenova," he told her smiling slightly as he took a bite out of the ice cream.
"Jenova was pretty good," she said smiling slightly humming the tune as she moved side to side. "Those Who Fight Further, and Matoya's Cave were my favorite."
Riku smiled for a bit, watching the area around him. The two of them were sitting outside the ice cream parlor, it opened around 8 in the morning considering that the temperature would get around the 80 mark, especially during the summer.
He decided to wear a black and white version of the clothing he wore two years ago, his other clothes didn't fit him, and so he had gone to buy some new ones. Selma was wearing a black t-shirt with some sort of tribal marking on it, it was fabricated in white material, and she also wore some black jeans and white tennis shoes with black skulls on them.
"Hey come on," Riku said holding a bare Popsicle stick, "let's go we have more things to do." He out stretched his hand and waited for her to take hold of it.
Selma looked at the wristband for a moment it had an emblem, it looked to be custom made. It was a shape that looked oddly familiar in her eyes. It brought back a feeling of nostalgia, she let a smile slip out as that little emblem brought a warm fuzzy memory into her heart, but she didn't know why. 'It's been decades since anyone has seen that,' she thought to herself, unknown to her that Riku was trying to get her attention.
" Selma…" she finally snapped out of her little trance and blinked for a while looking up at Riku. "Come on, we have more stuff to do," he said in a gentle tone.
"Ri…Right!" she said trying to push the embarrassment off of her. She took hold of his hand and he led the way onto their next destination.
Unbeknownst to the two of them Sora and Kairi were watching them from a safe distance. Riku's two good friends enjoyed seeing him this happy, but at the same time when they thought about it, it was also depressing. Out of all the days he finally found happiness he had to leave to do what it was that Keyblade wielders did.
Riku led her down the sidewalk, and Sora and Kairi were right behind them. Selma with her free hand placed her little mp3 device into her pocket and allowed Riku to led the way. 'I feel like a little kid,' she thought walking behind him. 'But he's enjoying himself, so that's good.'
"Where are we going now?" she asked looking at the back of Riku's head. "Hey come on, don't tell me it's a secret."
"I can't really say…" he told her looking at her for a moment. "But I think you'll like it."
"I'm sure whatever it is I'll like it anyway." She told him honestly as she patted his hand with her free hand.
Riku felt a small blush creep up on him and he turned away from her, clearing his throat. The two of them were waiting for the cross light to turn green, because no matter where you lived green meant 'go.' He still held onto her hand and at some points he had to pull her close to him when the streets would get crowded as the two of them went deeper into the area. Sora and Kairi struggled to keep up with them, and Sora had to follow Riku's tactic, Sora didn't want to lose Kairi in the sea of people.
"Hey hold on," Kairi said wrapping both of her arms around Sora's left arm. "Where the heck is he leading her?"
"Beats me…" Sora said looking straight ahead. "I think he's taking her to the little shopping area, the one in Anatore."
"Anatore, hey remember when you and Riku said you'd take me there?"
Sora laughed slightly, out of embarrassment and out of nervousness. He finally remembered that day. He told her that it was lucky her day then, since it did happen to be true that they were going to the shopping center in the city of Anatore.
"Anatore…" Riku said answering Selma's question. "You said you wanted to go, so that's where we're going."
"You were actually paying attention when I said that?" she said stopping him as she squeezed his hand.
"I listen to what you have to say…" he said sounding a bit wounded. Riku looked back at the dark eyed girl with his turquoise eyes. She was able to mend him without words all it took was a big smile to get him moving again. "So then, Selma where do you want to go?"
"Anywhere you decide to go." She said laughing a bit as they walked past the crowd of people. "Besides you're the one leading the way." She said holding hold his hand in her grasp.
Riku laughed nervously completely forgetting that he was still holding her hand. He let go of her head as they finally reached the outside door of the shopping center. Selma stated that she didn't have any money with her at the moment.
"Don't worry, I'll buy you something, as a little keepsake." He said looking back at her.
'That's very gentleman like of him. Though it's not right for him to buy me anything he doesn't have to, I mean I haven't given him anything, or have I?' she thought about it for a moment and sighed, she managed to smile.
Riku held the door open for her and she thanked him, he loved watching the way she would act, it was almost funny, but in a cute way, if that way could even be accomplished. If it could, Selma had it down to perfectly, it made him feel like he was at peace whenever she thanked him or smiled at him.
He noticed right there that the blue streaks in her were gone they had faded away with time. He never noticed the little things, until now that was.
"Hey your streaks are gone." He pointed out following after her.
"They fade with time of course," she said bumping into him. The place was crowded; after all it was the weekend. "Hey you know what I've noticed, the weekend is a time for couples…" she started to ramble on a bit about the subject.
"Yeah I guess they are," he said tapping her shoulder to get her attention. "So then, since I'm leading the way," she turned to face him, "I'm guessing we should probably go to Little Tokyo. Does that sound all right with you?"
"Yeah!" she said nodding her head happily. A couple of people passed and Selma leaned against Riku so that they wouldn't bump into them. Riku blushed slightly looking away for a moment. "Little Tokyo it is!" she said wrapping her arm around his waist.
"You act like such a little kid." He said messing up her hair slightly. She in turn did the same to him, the two of them laughing for a moment. He placed his arm over her shoulder and expressed amusement for a second or two, "I forgot how short you are…"
On the Second Floor
Above on the second floor Kairi and Sora were gasping for air as they had to make a mad dash so that the other two wouldn't see them.
"Do you still want to spy on them?" Kairi asked closing her eyes for a moment.
"How about…" Sora thought about it for a moment. "How about we just walk around, you know relax, I know for a fact Riku does have his cell phone, so…" he played a devilish grin.
Little Tokyo
"I'm not coming out…" Selma said standing a mere inch away from the curtain. "I change my mind I don't like how it looks on me…" she had finally picked something out.
Riku sat in the waiting room flashing a nervous smile to the lady who was waiting for the girl to finish up in there.
"Is she your girlfriend young man?" the woman in her mid forties asked.
"Ah, no we're close friends," Riku said looking up at the lady for a moment.
"Yeah, it starts out that way," the woman said reminiscing about her days when she was young.
Riku pleaded with his friend to get out of the dressing area so that others could use it. The owner of the store was patient, but still he prayed that, that one girl would come out some time soon. Selma sighed slightly and shook her head; the good thing was that no one could see her due to the curtain in the way.
"Amaterasu let's go!"
"Wait hold on Xe-" she paused for a moment not wanting to say his name.
"The ceremony's going to start. King Ansem said I can't be late!" he took a hold of her hand and led her down the corridors. "Besides you said you were going to wear that dress, and you look nice in it too, and I REALLY don't think you want to keep King Ansem waiting." He said smiling at her. That day he smiled at her, it was the first time she had blushed in plain sight.
"I like how it looks on you," the woman in her mid forties brought Selma back into reality. Selma blinked and gave a big smile to the woman, and bowed at her in gratitude. The woman walked past her and it was her turn to try on the clothing she wanted to buy. Riku stole a glance at his close friend and he felt a blush creep up on him that was when he looked away from her.
"Does it look okay?" Selma asked modeling the dress shyly. She wasn't a big fan of Asian inspired dresses, although she did think that they looked very attractive.
"Um," his turquoise eyes scanned the dress from head to toe. It was rather elegant looking in his eyes. It had a mixture of blue, white, and gold designs on it, with a thick black lace around the torso to keep it all together. The sleeves were a bit long on her, but they both didn't care, the length went to her ankles with a slit down the thigh area on each side. Riku pulled out his phone from his back pocket and switched the cellular device to act as a camera. "Cheese!" he said.
"Cheese!" she said giving a big smile. The flash of light from the little phone came out and Riku's phone captured Selma in a stylish looking kimono. "How does it look?" she asked leaning over him, watching the screen on the phone.
"See for yourself…" he said handing the phone to her.
Outside of the store
"Kairi!" Sora whispered to her grabbing her arm. The blue eyed brunette boy pointed inside the shop. "It's Selma! Look at that!"
Kairi turned around and smiled. She commented on how that type of dress appealed a lot to the girl's figure. And from what she could tell it looked like Riku was also having a good time, just being around her.
Sora pulled out his own phone and zoomed in, he wasn't able to get a good resolution from the picture, but he knew who it was anyway. He pressed the flash button and there in still life, captured a picture of Selma standing next to Riku smiling slightly.
"They look like they're having a good time," Kairi said. "I really wish we didn't have to leave though, it makes me sad just thinking about it."
"Think of how Riku must feel," Sora said, he knew quite well how his bosom friend was feeling. "I'm sure of it though, well meet up with her someday, right?"
The question was directed to Kairi and she nodded, watching the two of them, the dark haired girl and the boy with silver hair, it was a bitter-sweet. The moment was cut short due to the fact that those two were already purchasing something. Sora and Kairi left entrance of the store rather quickly.
The cash register
"Wait Riku, I mean $35.60, that's too much!"
There was no way around to stopping him. He had promised her that he was indeed going to buy her something and that he didn't care how much he paid so long at he did indeed get her something. She protested once again, and this time he did listen.
"I love the dress, but it's too much for me…" she said getting out of the line. She let other people pass by her so that they could pay. "I love to draw…" she said pointing out a small set of pens and pencils by the register. "I want that instead."
"What a shame, you would've looked so cute in that kimono," he said joking around with her of course, but then again fifty percent of the joke is always true.
"Ha…" she forced herself to laugh as she brought the pen and pencil kit to him. "So, give me the kimono and I'll go put it back, and you can pay for that."
Riku watched her walk across the store with many Asian trinkets, and items, lamps, clothing, and even food. After a while he lost her in the crowd of people with the same colored hair. He missed watching the blue streaks, since they stood out from that of other people. The young teen went back in line to pay for the $20 item. As he approached the cash register she came back standing next to him, like a little kid impatiently waiting for their turn.
The cashier rung up the total and told the two of them to have a nice day. As Selma was the last person to leave from the register she heard the cashier say that Riku was 'pretty hot,' her cheeks blushed slightly and she shook her head laughing away the reaction on her face.
It was about 2 o'clock now, and the walk back to the beach from Anatore would be too much for both of them to handle. Kairi and Sora for the most part, unknown to the other two, were already back at the beach.
It was Riku's idea to take the bus to the beach. Selma still felt bad about the whole thing, he was paying an enormous amount, she added everything up in her head and the total came out to about $50. She sighed for a moment feeling even worse because of how much he was spending. 'I know it's out last day, but he doesn't have too… In a way he was like that too, funny they're both so alike,' she thought sitting next to Riku on the bus.
There were so many things she wanted to tell him, 'But not like this, this isn't right, he's leaving and I don't want him to worry,' she thought sighing for a moment or two.
Riku was lost in his own thoughts. He had never felt so, happy, ever, but the only times he did remember being happy was when he was with his friends. Selma was his friend, but it was completely different. Even after spending less than a month with her, well really almost a month, he felt as though he could accomplish something new each day. He loved the fact that when he could ramble she would listen so intently. Though the same question came back to haunt him, 'I wonder if that's just how she is?'
He wanted to hold her tightly like he did the two nights ago; he wanted to comfort her when she cried. He knew that when she did cry today, it was because of him. He didn't want her to cry because he was leaving. 'I'm just thinking selfishly,' he thought to himself, as he so desperately wanted to stay by her side, to protect her.
Riku's turquoise eyes looked at her face, it was flawless to him. The way she smiled the way she talked sometimes. He realized that was what drew him to her, their first meeting she was shy. He closed his eyes and leaned against his seat thinking back to that day, she had made him feel more cheerful. 'She doesn't deserve me as a friend though…' he opened his eyes slightly looking at the scenery from the moving vehicle.
The girl glanced at him for a moment and flashed him one of those very smiled that he enjoyed seeing. The more she thought about him and Riku, the more she began to see how similar the two were. 'His smile, his jokes, everything about Riku does remind me of him… But Riku's different he's so much more, Riku-ish,' she said trying hard not to laugh out loud. She noticed the familiar scene, the beach was coming into view, from where the sun was positioned in the sky one could say it was about 3 o'clock now. She looked at the yellow chord that would signal the bus to stop. She was about to pull on it when she heard a familiar ding.
"Stop requested," the automated voice said from the speakers overhead.
"Riku, hey, come on," she said nudging him softly the boy had fallen asleep. "Our stop's right here." She said softly whispering into his ear. "Wakey, wakey, eggs and backey," a Chester cat smile was plastered onto her expression.
On the other Island
"Give her a paopu fruit?" Riku asked again for the umpteenth time.
"Yeah, it's kind of sweet, don't you think?" Sora said reiterating what Kairi had told him a while ago. "It's obvious you really do like her."
"I don't know if she feels the same way though," Riku said scratching the back of his head. When it came to emotions that made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, Riku didn't rally major in stuff like that. It was even a miracle if Sora understood that feeling, the only one he could turn to was Kairi, but she said it was better and more rewarding if Riku found it on his own. "I should probably give it a try though…"
"That's the spi-" Kairi almost feel forward, straight down the pier. She had felt something creep up against her leg. She regained her balance and titled back before she dove forward. "As I was saying before, that's the spirit. I'm sure she feels the same way about you, I mean isn't obvious?"
It was like talking to a pair of rocks, the two of them just shook their head.
"Well it is…" she said whining a bit.
"Riku, E-R-F to Riku, hello?" she said exaggerating the last word a bit. "Hey…" he finally blinked coming back to reality. "You dozed off on me there buddy. Are you okay?" he nodded a bit confused but never the less back once more into reality. "I was asking you if you knew at what time they were going to come and pick you up."
"Around…" the turquoise eyed teen started to speak, but then found the cause of the problem. "I don't know…" he said hearing her sigh sharply.
Riku called up Sora on his phone and waited to hear his voice pick up.
Sora and Kairi
Sora finally was able to get into the moment of things. He was just about to plant his first kiss on the girl he came to care for so much. Though just as he was mere inches away from her his cell phone rang out.
Selma and Riku
" Five o'clock," Riku said hanging up with Sora. "He sounded a bit depressed though when I called."
"Aw, I hope he wasn't in the middle of something important, like eating or something," she said thinking about if for a moment.
"You think about food 24/7." He said.
"What can I say, I love food!" she said happily twirling around for a moment, her plastic white bag moved along with her. Riku took a hold of her wrist, he held on to her gingerly for a second and pulled her carefully. She spun around for a moment, and she bumped into him. "Hey…" she looked up slightly at him.
"We got about an hour or so before I have to go back to the other island," he said sounding a bit dejected. She tried her best to cheer him up, but she felt as though she didn't have the mental stamina to do it.
"Hey, come on…" she said poking him slightly in the ribs. "It's not going to be that bad. We can send each other text message through our cell phones, you know that."
The two of them sat down by the shore of the beach taking in the beauty that Destiny Islands had to offer. The skies were starting to set, and it as around 4 o'clock now. The firmament was starting to display a color of pink orange, and light crimson dusky color, painting the water as well. It was peaceful just sitting there hearing the waves hit the shore, or hit the larger body of water in the distance.
"You're lucky," she told him; "You get to see the sun set in a lot of different worlds, don't you?" he turned to her slightly.
"I've… I've never really paid attention when I was in the other worlds," he said holding some remorse in his voice; he wanted to cheer her up a bit.
"Well then," she said punching his arm playfully, "Start paying attention, I want you to take pictures of the different sunsets in each world you visit, okay?"
"It's a promise then," he said holding out his little finger to her. "All right?"
"A promise," she said grasping his little finger with hers. "I had a lot of fun today."
Riku eyes brightened up a bit when he heard her say that. His heart was fluttering around when that sentence rolled of her tongue. She started to fidget around with the necklace he had given her not that long ago. At that moment a very faint smile was placed on her face. Selma's vision was starting to double as tears were starting to form. She tried her best to smile at him, but al she could do was let the tears fall, and her bottom lip started to tremble.
"You can cry…" he said to her as softly as he could. Riku looked down at the sand. 'She probably doesn't want me to look at her while she cries,' he thought hearing her sob a bit. At that moment he felt a pair of hands gently touch both sides of his cheeks. They felt cold and he quickly cupped them with his own hands. She closed her eyes and gave him a big smile. 'I wish we met earlier, you're probably thinking the sam thing, aren't you?' he removed one of his hands from hers and wiped away one of her tears with his thumb. "You know, I really would've loved to have bought you that dress…" he tried to get her to relax.
"It's…" she cleared her throat and placed her hands down to her lap, "It was too much for you to pay."
"It wouldn't have mattered to me," he said looking at the white plastic bag she had placed by her feet. "You've done so much for me, and I wanted to repay you with something."
"But…" she shook her head slightly. He noticed she had her eyes closed tightly. "It was a lot, and I mean…"
"Well technically…" he smiled at her, "You're worth more than that."
"Oh hey… did you know there's this survey you can take on the internet, and it tells you how much you're worth? Anyway, because I'm left handed I'm worth $5 million," she said trying to get him to laugh. "I'm sorry, here you were trying to make a point…" she paused as her eyes wandered to his facial expression. "Riku…?"
Riku felt his eyes get a bit warm, and his vision was starting to blur a bit, his own emotion of sadness finally caught up with him. He didn't want her to see him cry, but part of him wanted to have her comfort him. Selma wrapped her arms around him, placing her chin to rest on his head. She rocked him gently side to side, hearing him sob a bit, his body shaking as he began to break down a tad bit.
"Riku…" she whispered his name. "I'm glad I met you."
His turquoise orbs looked up slightly, feeling more tears slide down his face. He felt a little bit like a child in her arms and hugged her tighter. He could hear her heartbeat race as he rested his head on her chest. She finally let him go and the two of them cleared their throat forcing a smile out of the other person.
"Listen, Selma…" he started to twirl his thumbs around. Riku sat with his knees against his chest. "I…" he stammered a bit, but yet she still placed attentive eyes on him. "Come with me…" he finally mustered enough courage to say.
He took her hand in his and the two of them stood up. They walked down the shore and into a little shack. It was dark in there, so the two of them had to watch their step as they went up the stairs. Riku pushed the door open and watched the sunset touch the area they were on. The two of them walked down the wooden bridge and Riku ran up to the paopu tree. He plucked two out from the crooked tree and ran back showing her what he held in his hand.
"A paopu fruit…" she said touching the edge of one of the curious star shaped fruit.
The silver haired Keyblade wielder placed one of the star shaped fruits in her hand . She accepted the gift and smiled happily. The dark haired girl paused for a moment and offered to share her piece only if he shared his.
"This way," he said smiling to her, "we won't be that far apart. We'll always be connected."
"Friends in my heart…" she whispered to herself. The two of them bit into the star shaped, it was tangy, but the after taste was rather sweet. "It's sour…" she said making a face as the tangy flavor danced in her tongue.
Sora and Kairi
The two of them sat near the edge of the pier waiting for Riku and the gummi ship to arrive. It was Sora who had noticed that Riku's boat was gone, so it would be a nice surprise to greet the two of them after their little 'date' ended. Kairi pointed out a silhouette traversing over the water, it looked like a boat. The two of them waved happily to their friends. It was at that moment that something was glistening in the sky. Sora looked up at the dusk setting in the sky and noticed something red approaching. It was the gummi ship piloted none other than Donald and Goofy. Riku finally made it to the pier and looked up at the sky, pointing out the rocket that would take them away. Selma looked up and smiled, she felt a distance memory come back to her, though that feeling went away as the gummi ship started to hover over the beach.
"I'm going to miss you," Sora said helping Selma out of Riku's boat. "You've been a great friend to him, and to us too." He said giving her his trademark smile.
"I really hate saying goodbye…" the dark haired girl said blowing up her cheeks. Kairi hugged her with all her might and Selma felt as though her ribcage was going to collapse or something.
The ship landed on the sand of the island, and all four of them huddled by the red ship. It made a loud hissing sound as the engine was slowly starting to turn off. One side of the ship started to slowly come down, like a mechanical garage door. Selma watched the ship for a moment and looked back at her new friends.
At that moment a white duck with blue clothing walked down the hatch and onto the side. Selma titled her head slightly trying to figure out how the duck came to be, but she didn't get anywhere with her thoughts. This duck's name was Donald Duck, Sora had spoken about him once or twice around her. She remembered that he used magic, it stuck in her head as Sora use to poke fun at him. Then a tall figure came out making a a-hyuck sound. Her mind went back to a distant memory, but she brought herself to reality before she became absorbed into her childhood past. Introductions were said and done hugs were given out to everyone, a warm fuzzy feeling and a lot of other things too, like nostalgia, and it was almost time for the three teenagers to leave.
"Ya know, you look pretty familiar…" Goofy said nodding slightly to the dark haired girl. "Ya sure we haven't met before?"
"Nope, Goofy," she said shaking her head. She pulled out her little mp3 device and checked the time on the little machine it read 5:25 p.m. "It's late you guys, I mean I really hate to spoil the fun but…" she heard the duck laugh nervously.
"Let's go guys," Donald said also bidding his goodbye to Selma. Goofy said his good bye as well. He still didn't shake off the fact that he had seen her somewhere else.
Kairi and Sora walked towards the ship, and they each looked back at Riku and Selma. The silver haired teen was trudging behind them slowly. A gentle voice called out his name and he looked back at her. Selma held on to his wrist and forced a smile on her face.
"Take this with you…" she said forcing the little mp3 device in his hand. "I want it back, so you have to take good care of it, okay?"
'There are so many things I want to tell you…' Riku thought for a moment pulling her into a hug. 'I'm not going to see you for who knows how long, I won't see you laugh or smile, get angry, or even see you cry,' he sighed heavily onto to her hair, it smelled just like mandarins, papaya and paopu. 'I understand what it is I'm feeling, I…'
"I…" Riku started to whisper softly to her.
"You have to go…" she said letting go of him. "Take care, please?"