Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
Author's note: I am sorry for not updating this for a long time. School and life are the only excuses I have for such a long absence. I'm hoping to spend more time on this fic though so stay tuned.
Thanks again for all the encouragements I got while I was away, they were highly appreciated. And kudos goes out to anyone who got the 'Mr. Nomura' insertion in the previous chapter :D
Alright, enjoy!
Touch the Sky
Chapter Two: Search
She was falling again…
Falling… falling… and falling…
The dark abyss seemed endless and almost frightening. The shadows surrounding her were growing at large and the light cocooning itself around her form felt so miniscule and insignificant in comparison.
She felt lost.
She was… alone.
But someone was calling out her name… Somewhere in the darkness, someone hadn't forgotten her. It was soft and barely audible, but she heard it. She called back, her voice just as soft, and at once, as if encouraged the voice cried out even louder. There was a bubble of happiness, of relief and of hope building up inside her all at once and she couldn't contain her tears.
As though sensing this, the light surrounding her began to glow even fiercer and the gloom apart from her seemed smaller, and getting smaller still … and less intimidating.
She felt a familiar pair of arms wrapped themselves around her just as everything faded into white…
Sora…
"Kairi, honey, get up. It's almost eight," said a soothing voice in her ear. A gentle hand touched her lightly on the back of her head, raking tender fingers through her thick, red hair. The hand went south to her back and started to nudge her awake again. "C'mon, sweetheart, you'll be late for your lessons if you don't hurry."
There was shuffle in the room and a soft click of the door as it shut close. And then silence. From outside, she could make out the sound of birds chirping and through her window the sun shone brilliantly through the curtains, the small breeze through the crack she'd opened last night billowing them slightly. In all honesty, she wanted to sleep in more, but the awareness of the time and the day made it now impossible to roll back into the covers and dose off again.
Kairi blinked one eye and then the other. Then very slowly, she pushed herself up to sit on her bed, legs crossed and hands going up immediately to rub at her tired-worn eyes. She was in a disheveled shape, as she always was in mornings; her hair was sticking up at the back, along with her bangs, which were twisted in the other direction than they were supposed to, and to that effect she'd never felt more groggy and disoriented getting out of bed as she did now.
What was more was the even stranger dream she had last night. She rubbed at her eyes again, more firmly this time to get rid of the sleepiness and the grime. She couldn't place it, but she felt a serious case of déjà vu come over her just then, as though she'd witnessed said dream some time before. Trouble was… she didn't have any inkling how.
She didn't think on it much further, because her mother was calling her down for breakfast. She slid out of bed, and immediately felt the rush of the cool, morning air hit her bare arms and legs. She grabbed for her sweater that hung against the chair by her desk, combed her hair back into a sloppy ponytail and then jogged the rest of the way down the steps.
As she skipped by the hall, she came across a red picture frame, decorated with blue and yellow stars, sitting on a long wooden table. There were many other picture frames that were assorted next to that one, but it was this particular photograph that had caught her eye – or rather it was the three persons standing in it that had called to her immediate attention.
She was one of them, sitting between the other two as the picture was taken. She was grinning from ear to ear, her hair held by a tiny clip that wasn't doing its job against the slight ferocity of the wind that day. But it still had been a beautiful day.
She was wearing a yellow sundress and she had her arms linked with either arm of her companions. On her right was a tall, silver-haired boy with a dark blue sleeveless shirt and black shorts; he had a smirk on his face and he was looking at the person on Kairi's right as if trying to provoke him. Kairi couldn't help but roll her eyes in amusement; Riku was always trying to rile him up. She missed the older boy fiercely.
The person on Kairi's left was another boy, her age, with dark brown hair that stood on ends and incredible blue eyes. He was wearing a white t-shirt and red shorts that looked too big and too long for someone of his height and stature to be wearing; he had a fairly large grin on his face that was both infectious and delightful. He was leaning in close to Kairi, his free hand posing a peace sign, while his other hand, which was linked with hers, hung itself casually at the side of her waist. She remembered his touch and how it'd seemed to magnify electricity throughout her entire being with just a slight brush if it. Any non-suspecting passerby who looked at this picture would only see a brown-haired, smiling young boy looking directly at the camera.
However, for someone like Kairi, someone who knew this boy better than anyone, someone who looked at this particular photograph every single day at every waking minute, knew better that this boy wasn't looking at the camera, wasn't sending that large, contagious smile at the camera's way at all.
No. He was looking at her. Kairi. And now that she thought about it, he had always looked at her in that way; that happy sort of manner that was mingled with a love that seemed too big for one simple photograph to contain. It was the same kind of love she felt for him when she looked at him in return. Only he couldn't see it like she can.
Not where he was. Wherever he was.
She wondered if he often thought about her as she did about him. Their connection was strong, and it burned fiercely and so intensely within her heart that she knew at once that such a bond between them could not easily be forgotten or intercepted.
Kairi only wished there was more she could do for him. For now, all she could manage was to be strong and just wait for him to come back, like he promised. She simply hoped that the love she felt from him he could feel from her, no matter how many miles or worlds away he was from her.
To her dismay, it didn't lift the impending weight off her chest one bit. She thought knowing this comforting detail about Sora would make her feel, perhaps a little better, but instead she felt worse. It just made her feel more inadequate than ever, knowing he was out there and she was stuck here… unable to help.
Sora…
"Kairi, are you up yet? Your plate is getting cold, honey," her mother called.
"I'm up, mom," said Kairi from the hallway, her eyes still staring at the picture. At both of the boys she missed tremendously. "I'll be there in a sec."
As she placed the picture frame back down onto the table, she had a brief moment to feel sorry for herself. She was here on Destiny Islands… safe and doing nothing, while her two best friends were off saving the world, facing unknown danger and who-knows what other monstrosity that was out there aside from the Heartless. She felt useless and powerless.
No… Sora and Riku wouldn't want me to be feeling like this, she thought, shaking her head. I need to be strong. Not just for my sake, but for theirs.
It was the only thing she could do for them in her current state, she suppose. At least for now.
She nodded firmly with renewed assertion and conviction before walking into the kitchen.
She couldn't give up.
She couldn't afford to give up.
000
Roxas awoke with a start, nearly falling off the bed as he did, and then was rapidly greeted by a ghastly headache.
"Fuck," he grumbled, his hand instantly going up to rub his temples. He moved around the covers and blindly reached over for something in the drawers. When he couldn't find what he was looking for, he was quick to conjure up another series of expletives.
"Looking for this?" said a crafty voice.
Roxas fell off the bed this time with a loud 'thud.'
"Oops," said the visitor, who didn't sound nearly as apologetic as he should have.
"Fuck…" Roxas said again from the floor.
Apparently knocking your head on hard wood and then shouting was not a good combination to go along with a headache either. The shock alone was enough to give him permanent brain damage, he was sure.
As he got up, however, it took him awhile to register the sight of Axel, sitting on the chair beside his bed with his hands crossed over his lap and looking every bit as prime evil as any jackass would at eight in the morning, was not a mere hallucination from his harsh landing. He wished it were so though. That way he wouldn't feel the need to strangle his red-haired friend.
"God, and here I was hoping you were a nightmare. It's way too early for this, Axel, seriously," he muttered, rubbing his forehead. He took note that Axel was dangling the bottle of aspirin in his hand. He snapped his fingers promptly. "Just give me the damn pills and go away. Then I'll think about sparing your life."
"Aw, that's no way to treat your best pal, now is it?" said Axel, in mock hurt.
The smile said otherwise and it continued to test the limits of Roxas's patience, which wasn't much to begin with. A headache and Axel in the morning was not how he wanted to start off his day.
"Considering I'm the one who practically took the time off their own busy schedule to come see how you're doing!" Axel went on, smiling broadly.
"How thoughtful of you," said Roxas, flatly. "No, really, Axel, what the hell are you doing here this time? Surely not to drive me insane again."
"Fine," said Axel, dismissively, "since you put it that way. The Boss-man sent me."
"Again?" Roxas said, pausing in disbelief. "What for? I just updated Xigbar the other night!"
Axel shrugged. "He just wanted to make sure you weren't… lying around doing nothing," he said, and his eyes went over to the bed and then at Roxas's disheveled state, as if that confirmed everything.
Roxas scowled. "What does he think I am? A machine? I need my beauty sleep too, you know?" he said sarcastically. "And I'm not doing this goddamn mission just for his sake; I'm doing it for mine. So when I finally do hand him the Princess he can shove that foot long light-saber up his ass and leave me the hell alone."
"You know the Boss is a hard bug to get rid of that easily," said Axel, who was evidently enjoying Roxas's heated outbursts. "But I'll let you off the hook… this time. I'll tell the Boss-man right now that you've located the Princess."
"Right, right, thanks," Roxas muttered, still aggravated that even many miles away from Headquarters the other members still found some way to drive him up the wall. It was infuriating.
God, my head hurts, he thought sourly, rubbing the bridge of his nose. And the day had barely started…
"Okay. Axel, the pills – any day now, please." He snapped his fingers again.
"Right, sorry about that, buddy," said Axel, grinning from ear to ear, and tossing him the small container.
Roxas dumped several pills into his hands before shoving them into his mouth.
Axel eyed him wearily. "Aren't you taking a bit too much there?" he asked slowly.
"Please. With the way things have been going these past ten minutes, there clearly isn't enough in here," was Roxas's dry reply. He moved into the bathroom, where he took a glass cup, filled it with water and then drank it straight down.
When he went back into the room, he saw Axel peering over the stack of DVD collection that he had thrown aside the previous night. Seeing them again brought horrible memories.
"I see you've already gone through my stash of homemade movies, huh?" said Axel with some display of amusement. He flicked through several movies and then held a couple over his shoulder. "Did you these two yet? They're brilliant. Although," he went on, tapping his chin thoughtfully, "I was a little skeptical of the title at first – 'Babes in Paradise'… I mean what good for nothing person names a movie Babes in Paradise? A bit corny, don't you think? I thought so at least. But then after watching a few episodes, I realized the director was an absolute genius."
Irked, Roxas replied with obvious distaste, "Well, you can take those back. I don't want any of them."
Axel gasped in shock and dropped the DVDs he was holding. He whirled around and faced Roxas with such an expression of absolute horror that it was hard to tell this time whether or not he was simply exaggerating again or was truly offended.
"B-But, Roxas… my… you… homemade movies!" he sputtered pathetically, brandishing several DVDs in his hands for emphasis. "And after I took the liberty and the time to actually assemble these for you? You'd just turn them away? Oh, my aching heart!"
Roxas clenched his teeth. "You don't have one."
"Ah, good point," said Axel cheerfully, ending his dramatics. "I thought I'd try a bit of Shakespeare."
Roxas stared back at him blankly.
"What?" said Axel, still somewhat confused. "The man has quite the influential choice of vocabulary."
Roxas shook his head. "Axel, I don't think Shakespeare would appreciate you butchering his idea of good theatrics," he said pointedly.
The redhead shrugged, unfazed by this. "Well, it was a bit too fancy for my liking anyway," he said casually. He moved over to the bed again and grabbed the folder, which was lying precariously across the edge of the mattress. "You've read through this yet?" he asked, flipping through several pages.
"Not thoroughly," said Roxas, who went to his duffle bag for some fresh clothes. "But I got the main gist of it."
Axel nodded. "Alright," he said. "So you do know that the Princess should be going to school at this time, right?"
Roxas hesitated. "Uh… no, not exactly." At his friend's raised brow, he elaborated, somewhat defensive, "I only knew she was attending Alexandria Academy. I had no idea she was still going to school." He shrugged, going back to his duffle bag. "I figured she was off on summer vacation already."
"Well, if you read any further than the first page you'd have known she was going to school to volunteer," said Axel, who, for the first time, looked disapproving and serious. "Roxas, you've got to get your head straight. This isn't a game, you know?"
The blonde scowled. "I know that," he said, stung. "I was just so fucking tired is all—"
"And what did we say about that mouth of yours?" Axel said, sternly.
"Sorry, mom," grumbled Roxas sarcastically. "Shall I go to the corner for a time out?"
"Don't be an ass," said Axel, rather sharply. "You think I'm only telling you this for my benefit? I'm only doing this—"
"I know, I know," Roxas murmured, and felt his shoulders sag in defeat, "You're only doing this to help me."
"…And that means I'm laying my ass on the line for you," said Axel, scowling.
"I know… I'm sorry," he replied, coming to stare out the window, where he could see the view of the ocean. "I'm sorry," he said again, much more quietly that his voice was barely audible. However, he had meant it.
Axel exhaled a sigh and came to stand beside him. "What's with you, seriously?" he asked, staring at him. "I know you're usually grumpy in the mornings, but to be like this?" He waved around in gesture to what just happened a few seconds ago. "That's not like you, man."
Roxas ducked his head low. "I don't know…" he mumbled. "It's just… this place. Everything here… I don't know what it is, but there's something about this island … it's doing strange things to me."
The redhead frowned. "Strange things?"
"Yeah…" he said. "Like I can't shake off the feeling like I've been here before. I feel like I've been here my whole life but I know don't know why, seeing as how this is the first time I've ever been to Destiny islands. And the Princess…" he thought back to her heart-shape face and red, glossy hair and her blue, blue eyes… "I feel like I know her from somewhere, but I've never… I don't think I've ever met her before. I don't know…" he shook his head in frustration. "But last night… I had this bizarre dream—"
"Dream?" said Axel, his frown deepening considerably, "What kind of dream?"
"A dream about … a girl," Roxas murmured, his tone soft and somewhat tinged with longing. "She was falling… and I wanted to catch her… but she disappeared… almost like a ghost…" he trailed off as he placed a hand over his chest, where he remembered the feel of her passing right through him. He refrained himself from shivering out loud.
"Who was she?" said Axel intriguingly.
The blonde shook his head. "I don't know," he said quietly. "But… she felt familiar… like I knew her somehow."
Axel was in deep thought for sometime, before he said, with a sly, knowing look, "So, was she pretty?"
"What?" Roxas wasn't sure he heard him right.
"You wanted to catch her right?" Axel prodded, his smile widening. "What else did you wanted to do to her?"
Roxas promptly slapped his forehead. Oh, but of course. He should have figured Axel would take his words the wrong way. And if those DVDs weren't any implication that his friend was a walking porn machine, he didn't know what would.
"Never mind," he groaned and pushed himself off the ledge. He went back to his duffle bag and grabbed some fresh clothes.
"What?" said Axel, calling after him. "I was just curious."
"Yeah? Well, you suck," said Roxas surly. That was it. This was definitely going to be the last time he was ever going to tell Axel anything personal like that again. He was only going to end up feeling like an idiot. "Well, if you have nothing else better to do, then do me a favor and go away."
"Alright, alright," said Axel with a roll of his eye as he pushed himself off the ledge. "I'll go. Just don't forget to give your report tonight."
Roxas nodded. "Okay," he said. "Later then."
There was a moment of silence to which Roxas had thought Axel had already left, but as he turned back around Axel was still in the room, watching him with a look of contemplation… or was it worry? Roxas frowned, not at all used to seeing such a serious expression on Axel's face.
"What?"
The redhead shook his head. "Nothing," he said and turned the other way before Roxas could say any more. A black portal appeared on the wall before him. "See ya, partner," he called, waving at Roxas before disappearing altogether into the darkness.
"Yeah. See you," said Roxas, a tad confused. That was a little strange, he thought.
Now that he thought about it some more, Axel was acting slightly weirder than usual, even for him. Maybe hanging out with Marluxia and Larxene was finally driving the redhead up the crazy wall.
Roxas couldn't help but feel some retribution to this. He'd been picked on non-stop since he'd gotten here; it was high time someone else got a taste of their own medicine. He allowed himself to smirk, hoping Marluxia, Larxene and Axel all went crazy in being in each other's company.
He didn't dwell on this for too long, however. He went straight into the bathroom to take a shower.
He had more troublesome things to deal with later after all.
000
Kairi was late. When she finally reached the classroom, the boy she was assigned to help tutor was already in there waiting for her.
"I'm sorry I'm late!" she said, bursting into the room. Her face was flushed from the running she'd did.
The boy turned around and smiled. "It's okay, Kairi," he said, "it's no big deal. I didn't wait very long."
He was ten-years-old with soft brown hair and clear blue eyes; he was very sweet and patient for someone who was spending a part of their summer in school. He also had a very welcoming smile, one that reminded Kairi vaguely of a younger version of Sora. Although, knowing Sora he'd be too restless to sit in a room for an hour and a half just to study; his attention would have wandered endlessly.
But Kairi didn't want to think of Sora. Thinking of Sora made Kairi's heart soar and sink at the same time. She missed him terribly even when she had finally convinced herself she wasn't going to let his absence depress her anymore. They had made a promise to be together when he came back – that was enough to keep her going. She only had to endure. She could do that, she thought, even though it was very easy to lapse back into hopelessness.
"Kairi?"
She blinked out of her reverie, remembering she wasn't alone.
"Are you alright?" said the boy, staring at her with worry.
Kairi managed a small smile on her face. "I'm fine, Denzel," she said. He still looked slightly unconvinced. She patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. "Don't worry, okay? I'm just concerned I won't be up to par with my mathematics today. Algebra is kind of a foggy memory on my part."
Denzel shook his head. "But you're a great teacher, Kairi," he said, and from his tone Kairi knew he was being sincere. He was truly a sweet kid; it made Kairi's tiny smile bloom into a wide one. "Aw thanks, Denz. That was nice of you to say."
The boy blushed up a storm and turned to take the books out from his bag to avoid further embarrassment.
Kairi took out her own notebook and pen from her bag. Denzel's face was still a bit pink when he turned to face her again. She simply smiled.
"Shall we get started then?"
000
Roxas had found the school with ease.
Along with the other documents in the folder, there had been information regarding the school and its whereabouts. After dressing up in a casual white shirt and jeans, Roxas quickly shoved the communicator, the cell phone that had been given to him, along with the Princess's photo, into his pocket for good measure before rushing out of the house.
The weather was considerably tolerable today; the heat wasn't nearly as intense or as dry. It was the perfect balance of sun and cool breeze; it felt wonderful to be walking around, unlike the previous day, where he could barely take two steps without sweating up his own pond.
As he walked along the side of the beach, he took the time to stare out at the ocean. He had never seen nor been near the ocean before; it was quite riveting. The vast blueness of it was breathtaking; it just seemed like it could go on forever.
And again, for whatever reason, he was overcome by this inexplicable feeling of familiarity. He felt right at home with the sand and the sea, the salty breeze and the warm rays of sunshine against his skin. He just couldn't quite fathom why. How was it that he could feel so at peace, so content, in a place he barely even knew about, let alone been to before?
Roxas just couldn't understand, and thinking too much about it only worsened his confusion.
Maybe he was reading too much into this, he thought finally. Maybe the heat was doing funny things to his head. Or maybe it was his intense dislike for this mission altogether that was making him so paranoid lately – he had been an endless body of nerves since the moment he'd gotten here, perhaps it was just his frustration clouding his judgment. It certainly didn't help that the other members were making it even harder for him to wind down a bit.
That had to be it, he thought with some certainty. It was the only explanation that made sense.
He put an end to his aimless thoughts as he slowly approached the school gates.
There was a grass laneway with grass sculptures lined up on opposite sides of each other. In the middle of the runway was a fountain, made of white marble and adorned with gold trimmings. Passed that was the school itself; a wide, pale yellow structure, with black window panes and matching obsidian doors. The name of the school 'Alexandria Academy' was melded in glossy, thick cursive letters across the top of the main entrance.
Roxas whistled his approval. So this is where the Princess was studying, he thought. He supposed it made sense. He couldn't imagine royalty receiving education from anything less sophisticated. He pushed the gates open and strolled down the pathway until he was at the bottom of a short flight of stairs leading straight into the entrance hall.
Once inside, he automatically spotted the office up ahead. A woman was seated at the front desk. He supposed she was the secretary or whatever.
The woman looked up as he approached the desk. She gave him a friendly smile. He caught sight of her name on a silver plaque just on the edge of her desk: Milly… and a last name he didn't think was possible for anyone to pronounce. "Hello there, how may I help you?"
Roxas shuffled in his place. "Uh hi," he said, somewhat awkward, "um… I'm kind of looking for someone right now. A girl. Her name's Princ—Kairi," he amended quickly, remembering that these people were not aware that this girl was a Princess of Heart. "I heard she was tutoring here."
The woman's brow scrunched a bit. "And you are?"
"Fujioma Takeru," he said. It was getting easier telling people this was his name even though it still felt weird rolling it off the edge of his tongue.
"And what business do you have with Kairi, Mr. Fujioma?" she asked, this time seeking a file from one of the drawers. She pulled out a thin brown folder; Roxas briefly caught the Princess's picture. "Are you here to be tutored too? Are you a student?"
He took a moment to consider whether or not he should lie, but decided against it. "Uh no," he said with a shake of his head. "I'm just an old friend of hers."
"Well, Mr. Fujioma," said the secretary, shuffling the folder back into the drawer, "I'm afraid visitations from non-students are restricted till after three."
Roxas glanced quickly at the clock. It was only 11:00. Shit.
"Aw c'mon," he tried to wheedle. He gave her a charming smile Axel would be proud of. "Just this once? It's not like I'll tell anyone you let me through," he said, leaning in as if conspiring a secret.
The woman simply smiled. "Sorry, Mr. Fujioma, but it's school protocol."
Roxas's smile faltered as he tried to suppress his growing annoyance. "Look," he said, his voice low and forced with patience, "Kairi has been expecting me all week. I told her I'd come as soon as I got here. She's been waiting forever for me, the least you could do is grant a sweet girl her wish." He gave her an expectant look, as though daring this woman to do otherwise.
The woman's smile didn't waver at all, much to Roxas's disappointment. "Well, if Kairi's been waiting forever for you, surely she could wait for another four hours, right?"
This time Roxas dropped the smile altogether. "Fine," he said, curtly. He didn't bother to say thank you as he stalked heatedly out of the office.
He was cursing up a storm by the time he'd made it to the foot of the entrance hall again; however, a sudden idea made him pause. He glanced back at Milly-whatshername, who, as luck would have it, had chosen that particular moment to turn her chair the other way around; she was nose deep, searching through a filing cabinet for something.
Roxas felt his lips curl upward in triumph. Sweet, he thought. He spared the woman another fleeting glance before dashing past the office and into the central part of the building.
000
He found the Princess where he knew he'd find her: in a small classroom on the very end of the hall of the second floor. And as usual, she was still tutoring her ten o'clock schedule.
He took out the picture from his pocket for confirmation. The girl sitting in the room was definitely the one; pale, rosy cheeks; short, red hair and blue eyes. He could only catch her profile, but he was more than positive it was her. She was wearing a purple shirt with a faded grey skirt and white belt; adorned on her left wrist was an assortment of bracelets, and around her neck was the same silver chain she'd worn in the picture.
Watching her made things surreal for Roxas; a picture was not nearly as real-like as seeing her up close. It only made his mission that much more apparent to him and he began to feel doubtful. He had to bring her back to Headquarters in two weeks time, but could he possibly do it? Deceit and kidnapping were not his style, and watching the Princess, so unaware, only solidified his abhorrence to the idea of tricking her. But he would be a fucking hypocrite to say he'd never done anything as appalling as deception before since he'd joined the Order. He had done a lot of things he was not proud of.
He began to wonder how he was going to approach her. Should he do it right after her teaching session? Or maybe when she was alone? He certainly didn't want anybody else to be around when he'd approach her, it would only increase his awkwardness. Or would that be too forward? He wondered.
Roxas scratched the back of his head. He wasn't good at this. He'd never talked to a girl before, save for Larxene, and she was as easy to get along with as it was to grab a porcupine with your bare hands. He had zero experience with girls; he didn't know the first thing to say to them. As annoying as this was to admit, Roxas thought maybe he should have paid more attention to Axel and the others whenever they talked about women. Maybe then he wouldn't be so lost.
He sighted heavily and leaned his forehead against the wood of the door. He'd rather fight Heartless than do this; it was certainly a lot easier than thinking up ways on how to approach a girl. Not to mention, he was a complete stranger to her. How was he going to convince her to let him be around her without making it seem like he was some kind of creep?
He continued to watch her, hoping maybe an idea might arise somewhere. He learnt fairly quickly she was a very patient person. The boy she was tutoring was obviously fumbling a lot with whatever subject they were studying and kept looking up at her in fear and embarrassment, but the Princess never got mad or scolded him. She was the perfect air of calmness and patience. When the boy made yet another mistake, she simply smiled, pointed out his error and show him the correct way on doing it.
It was unbelievable. If it were Roxas, he'd have gotten fed up already. Then again, the people he usually had to teach were idiots.
The boy must have said something funny to her because she was laughing next. Her laugh sounded like bells, soft and pleasant to the ears. As she tilted her head back, Roxas found himself leaning closer and closer to the windowsill until the tip of nose was pressed against the glass. He suddenly was fascinated by this scene, by her; he was quite sure, had he been more aware otherwise (which he wasn't), he would not be have been able to tear his eyes away from her.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when the communicator in his pocket started vibrating and beeping. He ducked beneath the window lest the Princess suddenly overheard the noise and caught him there. It would definitely blow his cover. I'm going to kill whoever is calling me, he thought irately as he dug into his pocket for the device.
"What?" he growled, trying to keep his voice down. "This had better be good."
But the voice on the other end evidently didn't care for secrecy. "Yo, Roxas, did you find the Princess yet?"
It was Axel. Go figure.
Roxas pressed a hand over the receiver, hoping to drown out the static and the volume of Axel's voice. "What do you want?" he hissed, "I'm busy right now!"
Static. "The Boss-man wanted to know the moment you found the Princess."
The blonde didn't know whose neck he wanted to strangle first: Axel's or Xemnas's.
"Well, tell that annoying son-of-a-bitch, I found her already," he said, seething. "Can't he just leave me alone already? I'm sick and tired of—"
"You found her? Where is she?" Axel cut in, the degree of loudness his voice was exuding was enough wake up the dead. It made Roxas want to bop him on the head.
He was sourly tempted to just hang up right now. "She's in class. Tutoring," he gritted out, as if this was obvious.
"And?" Axel prompted.
"And what?" said Roxas, still annoyed.
"Have you talked with her yet? What? Details, c'mon!"
"I haven't talked to her yet," said Roxas, seeing the Princess turn her head towards the door, a frown on her face. Deciding it'd be best if he took this conversation outside, Roxas quickly slipped into an empty classroom down the hall, before unleashing his irritation, "What the hell, Axel! You're going to get me caught!"
"I just want to know what happened, that's all!" said Axel defensively. And, as an afterthought, he added, "And watch your language, young man. I thought we already talked about that."
Roxas rolled his eyes, but decided on cooperating; most of his anger was already dispersing as he remembered this morning's conversation. "Well, nothing happened yet," he muttered.
"What do you mean 'nothing happened yet'? Get a move on already!"
"I was just about to before you decided to give me a call," replied Roxas tersely, knowing full well that was a lie. He'd have been stuck there all morning, mourning on the most effortless strategy on how to speak to the Princess if Axel hadn't called to check up on him, but there was no way in hell he was going to admit that.
"So how are you going to approach her then? What's your game plan?" There was just too much excitement in Axel's voice for it to be legal.
"I'm… still thinking about how to do that," said Roxas, hesitating. When static was the only response he got, he said in a petulant tone, "Hey, I've never done this before, okay? Cut me a break!"
There was the sound of a scoff on the other end. "What's there to think about? Just use your background story as a cover! How hard can that be?" said Axel.
Suddenly the descriptive details of his so called cover story flooded his mind and he instantly wanted nothing more than just to forget about it again. It was annoying knowing the others had only written that out for him just so they could make fun of him, but now he had to actually act it out? They had to know there was just no way he could act the part of an expert womanizer when he could barely handle saying hello to just one girl.
Or maybe that's exactly why they wrote it, he thought, mentally hitting himself.
"I can't use that," Roxas gritted into the mouthpiece finally.
"What? Why not?"
"Because it's stupid," he mumbled, knowing he sounded like a baby throwing a temper-tantrum.
An aggravated sigh. "Now's not the time to be picky, Roxas," Axel growled. "Just casually approach her, say hi and ask if she'd like to catch lunch with you or something. And if she says no, just keep asking her until she says yes, okay?"
"Easy for you to say," said Roxas, scowling, "being relentlessly annoying is just something you're good at."
Axel chuckled. "Well, seeing as how you know me so well, it shouldn't be that hard to put some of my expertise into good use."
Roxas groaned. "Shouldn't you be focusing on your own mission, Axel?" he asked wearily, rubbing his nose. "If you wanted my mission that badly, you should have used some of that persistence on the Boss."
"My mission is going swell," said Axel, his voice neutral. "Marluxia and Larxene are the ones doing all the work. That gives me plenty of time to check how things are going on your end."
"Really, you shouldn't have," he replied monotonously. "No really, Axel, you shouldn't have." Then, curiously he asked, "So what is your mission anyway. You never mentioned it to me."
The static on the other went on for so long that Roxas almost thought Axel had been disconnected. But then he heard a rough sigh on the other end.
"Nothing exciting. Just to observe and report."
"Observe and Report what?"
"To what end this game of charade will last," said Axel softly before laughing. Roxas didn't see what was so funny. "Never mind. Like I said, it's nothing exciting."
Roxas was confused; Axel… was acting strange again. "Has Marluxia and Larxene made you lose a few light bulbs in the head there?" he asked, tapping his temple although he knew Axel couldn't see him do it.
The redhead just laughed. "No. Strangely enough, they are both keeping me highly entertained."
Roxas decided he didn't want to know what kind of entertainment that entailed. "Well, whatever. I've got to go," he muttered, remembering the Princess. "And don't call me anymore, okay? You're only going to get me in trouble."
"I'll keep that in mind," said Axel, cheerfully. "But I expect all the juicy details tonight!"
"I know, I know. I have to give my report remember?" said Roxas, inwardly cringing. He wasn't looking forward to that, not at all; that was just as bad as conjuring casual methods to approach the Princess. He could just see them all laughing at him now. "Well," he muttered, "later then, Axel."
"Later, buddy," he said and the line went dead.
Roxas slipped the communicator back into his pocket, mauling over everything Axel had told him.
"Just casually approach her, say hi and ask if she'd like to catch lunch with you or something."
He wanted to rip out his hair. He was so screwed. Okay, he thought, trying to derail himself from thinking any more negative thoughts, just say hi… and… a-ask her out for lunch. Right. I can do that. How hard can that be, right?
But as he walked back towards the classroom and peered through the window again, he saw that nobody was inside anymore.
He looked up at the clock on the other end of the room and nearly keeled over. 11:40. Class time was over.
"Shit," he muttered, before dashing off in search of her again.
000
"You did really well today, Denzel," Kairi commented as they reached the gates of the school.
The boy looked up her reluctantly, an expression like that of a wounded puppy. She was sure he was still brooding about earlier.
"Really?" he asked, not quite believing her. He looked back down again. "You're just saying that. I did horrible. I kept making so many mistakes."
"I'm not just saying that, you really did great, Denzel, honestly," said Kairi, smiling as he looked at her again. "As for the mistakes, you learnt from them, didn't you?"
Denzel nodded.
"Well, then that's all that matters," she said. "Making mistakes is natural. I make them all the time—"
"You?" said Denzel, in astonishment. "But you're so good!"
She shook her head "I made a ton of mistakes just to get where I am now, and I'm still learning," she said, a little wistfully. "Mistakes are good because they are what help you get better, they are there for us to learn from so that we may try harder next time."
She gave his shoulder an affectionate squeeze as his smile broadened. "Thanks, Kairi."
"No problem."
"Hey, Kairi, over here!" called a voice.
Turning around, she spotted Selphie and Rinoa waving at her from across the lot. She waved back.
"We're heading to the ice cream shop down on Lake Front," said Rinoa once they've approached. "Tidus is throwing a party there."
"Another party?" said Kairi, bewildered. It was just last week he and Wakka had thrown a beach party.
"You know Tidus," said Selphie, with a roll of her eyes. "There's always something else to celebrate, and this time it's for coming in first place at the Blitz Ball Tournament this year."
"They've been bragging about it nonstop since it happened," said Rinoa, a tad amused.
"Yeah, and we're just hoping that after this party it'll be the end of that," said Selphie, her brows scrunched in mild irritation.
Kairi couldn't help but laugh.
"You're coming, right?" asked Selphie finally.
"I don't know," said Kairi with a side-ways glance at Denzel, who was keeping himself occupied by staring at his shoes. She could tell he was bored. "I think I'll go back home and crash. I'm pretty bea—"
"What?" said Selphie, staring at her as though she'd just spoken blasphemy, "You mean you're choosing sleep over an afternoon of fun?"
"Uhh…" Well, Kairi wouldn't exactly word it like that.
"I mean, first you volunteer to tutor during the summer when everybody's been dying for school to end. I mean, honestly, who in their right minds does that?"
When Kairi opened her mouth to say something, Selphie simply held up a finger to silence her; there was a look on her face that meant she was just getting started. Kairi had been dreading that look.
"Here we go," she heard Rinoa sigh.
"And then you bail on every party that's been happening since summer started. You hardly go shopping with me or Rinoa anymore. Heck, even Tidus and Wakka think you've been avoiding them. And let's not forget the fact that you've stopped going to the other island—"
"Okay, okay," Kairi cut in, not really in the mood to explain her sudden avoidance to go to the other island. Not that she didn't want to go; it was just… whenever she'd go there she'd always find herself walking into the Secret Place, whether it was intentional or her feet would just subconsciously take her there. She'd spend hours staring at that one particular drawing on the wall and get lost in a sear of bittersweet memories. "So I may have been a little anti-social lately—"
"A little?" said Selphie, skeptically.
"Selphie," said Rinoa in disapproval.
Kairi shot Selphie a pointed look. "Okay, so maybe a lot," she mumbled, biting the insides of her mouth as she thought this over.
She hadn't realized she'd been this out of touch with everybody. She just hadn't been in the right frame of mind for social gatherings that was all, not that she'd been avoiding anybody on purpose.
Did people really think she'd been shunning them out of her life deliberately? She felt guilt spread through her then.
"Oh, alright, I'll come," she relented.
Selphie brightened considerably at this and clapped her hands together in excitement. "Great, knew you'd come around eventually," she said.
"Or maybe it's because you bullied her enough that she had to give in," said Rinoa, rolling her eyes.
"It's not bullying," said Selphie, slightly insulted. "I'd rather like to call it 'making her see the light'."
"In short it's called bullying," said Rinoa with amused dark eyes.
Kairi smiled weakly while her two friends bickered before turning back to Denzel, whom she was surprised hadn't left yet. "Do you want to come along too, Denzel?" she asked.
"Nah, it's okay. Besides, Marlene would get jealous if she knew I'd gone out for ice cream and she didn't," he said, snickering.
"Aren't you a thoughtful big brother," said Kairi, laughing. "Anyways, I'll see you again tomorrow, okay?"
Denzel nodded as he hoisted his bag firmly over his shoulders. "Okay," he said and waved. "See you tomorrow, Kairi!"
Kairi watched him bound the corner before turning back to Rinoa and Selphie.
She took a deep breath. "Well, shall we?" she said, successfully managing a smile.
000
Roxas was not having much luck on his search. To top it off, he was quite sure he was lost. After sprinting out of the school gates, he blindly ran in all sorts of different directions with the hopes that by doing so he'd run into her. Well, he hadn't. Meanwhile, he was getting even more lost, zigzagging down block after block.
How hard could it be to find just one girl? He thought as he came to a crossroads. From where he was, he could see the beach just a few miles away. At least he wasn't completely misguided anymore; he could probably make it back to the school from here, but by then the Princess could be anywhere.
Would she have gone home? He wondered, glancing at the time on his communicator. It blinked 12:30 in small green lights, making him doubt that she'd choose to end such a fine, sunny day so short and on account of wanting to stay home. That rules out stopping by her place, he grumbled inwardly.
She must have other plans, he assumed as he re-routed his direction east towards town. It was summer after all. He considered the likeliness of her going shopping – he had passed the marketplace a few times upon his search.
I should have given her profile a better read, he thought, sullenly, while he rubbed the bridge of his nose. At this rate he would not have a report to hand in tonight. No doubt he'd have hell to pay, and all because he could not keep track of one, simple person. He was getting a headache just thinking about it.
That was when he spotted that boy from the school, the one the Princess was tutoring. He was walking down the other corner. Roxas felt his insides jump.
"Hey, you! Wait! Hey you, kid!" he called, dashing to run after him. He caught the boy by the shoulder. "Hey, you… uhh, oh," he realized how this must have looked to the kid: a tall stranger grabbing him and then blurting out nonsense… that would give the boy license to assume Roxas was some kind of creep. He quickly dropped his hand to his side. "Sorry about that," he muttered, "but I'm looking for Pri—Kairi. S-She's a friend of mine and I can't seem to get a hold of her. Do you mind telling me where I can find her – Please?" he added for good measure.
The boy relaxed a little, but he was still looking at Roxas with something akin to suspicion.
"I haven't seen you around before," he said, eyeing Roxas up and down. "Who are you?"
"Fujioma Takeru," Roxas said automatically, a little startled that a kid could talk so boldly to someone he'd never met before. "I'm not from here. Like I said, I'm an old friend of hers." The boy continued to look at him as though he was someone from "Most Wanted" which was only ticking away at Roxas's last nerve. "I'm kind of in a rush, you know.
The boy finally gave in, albeit reluctantly. "She and her friends are going to the ice cream shop on Lake Front. That's in the outskirts of town," he added when Roxas looked confused. "It has a huge ice cream billboard so you shouldn't miss it."
"Alright, thanks," Roxas said and sped towards the direction of town.
000
True to the boy's words the ice cream shop had an ice-cream shaped billboard so huge that he would have to be blind to have passed it. It was rather packed inside and the music was cranked high.
He walked a bit closer until he could see the commotion through the windows. It looked like there was a party going on there; there were streamers and balloons everywhere; people were dancing to the music and chatting amongst themselves. His eyes automatically sought for a familiar shock of red hair. He spotted her instantly, sitting on one of the corner tables; she was smiling and listening as one of the other girls – a brown-haired girl with a yellow sundress – talked animatedly. There was another girl at their table – a dark-haired girl, but Roxas couldn't tell what she was doing; her back was turn to him.
Now that he'd found her and she was sitting just a few meters away, Roxas knew that this was the moment of truth, where he would actually have to approach her, initiate a conversation with her. He gulped down the feeling of apprehension from earlier.
"Right," said Roxas, as he tried to collect himself, "Just approach her and say hi. Right. Easy. I can do that."
"Just use your background story as a cover! How hard can that be?"
Anxiety flooded his senses and he pulled at his hair. "Ugh. I can't do this after all."
People were starting to give him weird looks.
"C'mon, Roxas," he muttered, looking away from them, "You can do this. You need to do this. If you don't Xemnas and everybody else will be annoying you for the rest of your life."
It wasn't exactly encouraging.
He looked at the Princess again. She was laughing, her head tilted back with strands of hair falling past rosy cheeks and her neck at an arch; he vaguely remembered the sound of soft bells and how pleasant he thought they sounded to his ears.
He could do this, he thought, this time with affirmation.
Squaring his shoulders, he took a deliberate step inside.
000
Kairi was barely paying attention to what Selphie had been telling her. She nodded, smiled and laughed on cue, but otherwise her attention was elsewhere. She was poking at her half-melted ice cream with her spoon when Selphie nudged her with her elbow.
"That guy has been staring at you for the past ten minutes since he got here," she whispered in her ear.
"Wha—"she said, having only caught half of what Selphie was saying; when she was giddy about something, her words turned into another language altogether.
"That blond-haired guy at the corner," said Selphie, giggling, eyes staring off at a distance.
Kairi looked. Passed the dancing crowd of people, she spotted him across the room. He was wearing a white collared top, the buttons at the top loose and open, the sleeves cut off at his elbows; his jeans were dark and baggy, his boots black. His blond hair was at disarray, although, strangely enough, it looked natural on him, and he had pair of very deep, blue eyes.
Eyes that were watching her.
Selphie giggled again. "He's really, really good-looking," she said.
Kairi continued to stare back at him, suddenly transfixed. She had never seen him before, although for some odd reason… she couldn't quite put her finger on it… he seemed very, very familiar.
He finally stood up and, much to her surprise, began making his way over, lips formed into a small, even smile.
"He's really coming here," said Rinoa in awe.
Kairi just watched him, a whirlwind of thoughts flying in her head. Who was this boy? Where did he come from? And why do I feel as though I… feel as though I… Their eyes met half-way for the second time.
The answer struck her hard like a ton of bricks.
This was why she suddenly felt like she knew him.
His eyes… she thought, feeling her heart beat furiously.
She was shaking; her fingers, her hands, her arms, every thing was shaking. Her breathing became shallow and she could no longer discern from voice to sound, save for the vicious ringing in her ears. His eyes… she thought again, as a wave of nausea and dizziness surrounded her and she began to see stars.
They're blue… Just like…
"Sora…" the word tumbled from her lips just as she lost balance.
"Kairi!—"
She felt a pair of arms go around her before her vision went completely black.
A/N: This chapter is officially 23 pages long. Phew.
I should technically be doing my assignment (which is due tomorrow) right now, but instead I worked on this. Bad Jini!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that. Look forward to chapter 3 in about two weeks. It's assignment and pre-exam time, so I'll be kind of busy for a little while.
Feedback would be most appreciated! :D