Summary: It's been a stressful time for both Xion and Riku. Xion tries her best to get some relaxation time, but ends up with the shock of a lifetime. Meanwhile, Riku is about to have a very good day ruined.
Warnings: Language
IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you follow this story or have read it before and are confused, I did a major rewrite/overhaul of the story. You may have to re-read, and I apologize for the inconvenience.
AN: We're halfway there, folks! Only about 4, maaayyybbeee 5 more chapters and this is done. Huzzah.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its affiliates.
Chapter 5
in which Xion is a party animal and Riku faces the music
"…I can't figure out how to tell him! Not only that, but he's been super busy with Sora and Kairi lately. Making up for lost time, I guess. Which, you know, is fine by me. I like it when friends are friends, if you understand what I'm trying to say. But I need to talk to him more than they do. I mean, I had the laptop with me, I go to his house, and bam, he's out at Secret Island finishing the last of the repairs with the lovebirds. Do I go track down Riku? Is it alright for me to keep on doing what I'm doing? The book is really popular so far, and a bunch of poet lovers have bought it. I snuck his share of the money into his piggy bank earlier when he left his window open – I think his dad saw me again, though, he must think I'm a creeper – so I'm not doing everything wrong, I hope. Am I doing the right thing?"
Xion shook her hands together, clasped together as if in prayer. After a moment, she opened them back up.
Reply hazy, blinked the white letters of the magic eight ball. Try again.
"Damn," sighed Xion. "I have got to get a better moral compass." She put the toy in the small back pack she carried with her around the island in place of a purse, and fisted some of the sand absently, watching the small grains trickle out of her clenched fingers.
Riku and Xion didn't spend all of their time together. They had days where they didn't see each other, but this was different. There was always that knowledge that Riku would have time for Xion at the end of a long week, and Xion for Riku. But Riku had become increasingly absent since spring break ended, citing work to be done on the Secret Island, and refused her offers of help. Xion was initially upset, considering that the work on the Secret Island was supposed to be hers and Riku's project, but in a show of maturity, accepted his decision to be with his old childhood besties. Not to mention, it also gave her the excuse of not having to talk to him, something that weighed on her guilty conscience more than she'd like to admit.
Xion distracted herself by spending more quality bonding time with Olette, and while they got along, they didn't click well enough to warrant hanging out every day after school together. Olette was also involved in some preliminary science project with Pence at the moment, and both were extremely busy. They offered for Xion to join their team, but Xion was never a fan of long-term work that involved staying still and lengthy formulas.
She checked her phone and got to her feet, shrugging on her back pack. She and Roxas were going to have a pity day together over stupid best friends at noon.
She arrived on time, but spent a few minutes waiting patiently on the porch. She raised her hand to knock again, and had just made contact with the wood before a feminine voice called out.
"I've got it!" The door opened all of the way, and Xion didn't have much of a warning besides a squeal of delight before she was tackled in a hug and red filled her vision. She spit out a loose strand of hair and gingerly returned the hug, doing her best not to trip backwards and fall down the stairs a less than two feet behind her.
"Ack, hair! Nice to see you too, Kairi. I thought you and the boys went to Secret Island today?"
Kairi released her and began pulling back her hair into a loose bun. "Riku went, but Sora and I decided to have a lazy day, and I wanted to do watch something online with Roxas later. Besides, there's only a few small things left to do on the island, and you don't need three people for that."
"Oh," said Xion, not sure what to make of the new information. She followed Kairi into the twin's pristine and bright house, saying a quick hello to their father working on his laptop in the study. "So are you ready for Destiny Island Academy's first Grand Soccer Tournament tomorrow?"
Kairi threw a smile over her shoulder. "Of course. Naminé texted me last night saying that her school is paying for a part of the hotel expenses for students going to support the girls' soccer teams, but she's going to cheer for us as well. It's a little weird to think about how many schools are coming here just to watch us girls kick around a ball."
"Kairi, we live on Destiny Islands. The tournament's popular because every mainlander wants to visit the Islands."
"True. Still, nine other schools is a lot. At least the hotels are helping us pay for the refreshments, since they're getting all of that business. Hey, Roxas, look who I found."
Roxas was in the kitchen, leaning over his laptop and wearing a white apron. He paused in the middle of his typing in order to spin around and toss an idential apron at Xion.
"A proper pity party calls for pity party food," he said, skipping the usual greetings in favor of getting down to business. "Cookies or cake?"
"Pity party? I didn't know this was a pity party. Got boy troubles?" Kairi arched an eyebrow at Xion, who returned the knowing expression with a confused look of her own.
"Cake, I guess," Xion said, answering the easier question and pretending like she didn't hear Kairi.
"Cake, cake, make a cake!" Sora bounced into the kitchen and gave his girlfriend a quick peck, finishing by wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on Kairi's shoulder. "Chocolate, with whipped cream and filling."
Roxas snorted. "Get out of the kitchen, or you won't get any cake."
"So you are making cake then. Alrighty, then, let's go, Kairi. I cleaned my room some more while you were outside."
"Oh, Sora, I'm so proud of you…" Kairi's voice floated through the house as the two made their escape up to Sora's room.
Roxas made a soft noise of disgust. "He's going to be telling me all about how he got 'rewarded' later, I know it."
"Can't you just walk away?"
"You don't understand." Roxas shook his head. "It's going to be the middle of the night, when I'm dead asleep, and he's going to jump on my bed and not leave me alone until I listen to him go on about how amazing Kairi is."
"Aww, that's kind of sweet," said Xion. "Do you have cake mix?"
"Nope, we're doing this from scratch. And good for them, but I don't give a crap about Sora's love life at 2 in the morning, no matter how 'sweet' it is."
Xion scrolled over the recipe that Roxas had found, absently calculating how they would split up the work. "No chocolate filling, then? Poor Sora's going to be disappointed."
"Don't care," was the flippant response. Xion giggled.
They worked in relative silence after that, listening to music that Roxas was streaming from his laptop before Xion started up another conversation.
"Since this is a pity party day, how's Axel doing?"
"Stupid." Roxas snapped off the two chocolate-covered mixers off of the electric mixer, handing one to Xion and sticking the other one in his mouth. "Hashn´t talk´t ta me fer a weevk. An´you?"
"Avoiding me. According to him, he's just busy getting the Secret Island ready for the graduation party on Saturday, but that's bull according to Kairi."
Roxas frowned. "I thought you were the one avoiding him?"
"Yes. No. Well, maybe. I don't know. Yes?" Xion tried to express her frustration by taking a bite of chocolate, but clamped down on the steel underneath the sweet cake mix instead. "Ouch."
Roxas laughed, and the mood lightened. "So you were avoiding him, and now he's avoiding you, but you weren't really avoiding him when you were avoiding him so now you're upset. God, girls are complicated. At least I know it's Axel being a bastard, as usual."
"Hey!" Xion protested. "I wasn't really avoiding him. I had something to say to him, and then I couldn't do it. It made things a little awkward."
"Huh," said Roxas. He finished off the last of the chocolate and checked the timer for how much longer the cake had to be in the oven. "Then say it and get it over with."
"It might make things worse."
"Okay."
"Okay? " Xion was forcibly reminded why she talked about these things with Kairi and not Roxas. "You know, you're pretty bad at this."
"Xion, I am baking you a cake."
"I helped bake that cake."
"A goddamn cake."
"Right, thanks for the cake, Roxas, even if it's not done yet."
"I'm baking you a cake, and then we can eat the cake and watch The Dark Knight." Roxas leaned against the granite counter, and met Xion's eyes. "I'm awesome at this."
Xion thought it over. Cake and a movie sounded a lot better than thinking about telling Riku about the poetry business. And she could safely say 'business' since it was earning her money, after all. Well, Riku was earning money. Not that he knew that. And –
"Cake and Batman, Xion."
Xion blinked, and returned the small smile Roxas was giving her. "Cake and Batman."
"Oh! Almost forgot. After Batman, the Gullwings are doing a live online performance of some of the songs on their album. So it's cake, Batman, and the Gullwings."
"Kairi's going to join us for the last part then?"
"Psh, no. They'll both be down here for the cake."
It was true. Not a minute after the cake was cooled and covered in frosting, Kairi and Sora appeared at the threshold of the kitchen, giving pleading looks to the two chefs. Roxas rolled his eyes and deftly cut two more slices. About 10 minutes into the movie, Kairi and Sora quietly tiptoed out of the living room before clamoring up the stairs and stomping into Sora's room above them.
"Well, that was subtle," said Roxas. Xion snorted and coughed on her cake.
When she wasn't in any more danger of choking, she sank into the overstuffed couch and felt some of the ever-present tension leave her. Personally, she thought as she and Roxas laughed and joked their way through Batman Begins, this pity party was one of the best parties she'd ever had.
Sora and Kairi returned while Roxas was switching out the DVD for The Dark Knight, Kairi with Sora's laptop under one arm and Sora holding its charger. Roxas abruptly dropped the disc he was putting away and scrambled over to the coffee table where Kairi was setting up the computer.
"Is it time?"
Kairi shook her head. "Not for another hour, but they're doing a live commentary beforehand."
"Are you talking about the Gullwings?" Xion leaned over and watched Kairi navigate YouTube to the live stream. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sora picking up the abused DVD Roxas had forgotten about, dimming the lights, and starting the movie.
"Yep." Roxas got to his feet and sat down on the couch next to Xion, leaving the other sofa for Sora and Kairi to share with the laptop in front of them. "The live commentary is going to be pretty boring, and Kairi and I already know everything there is to know about the band. She'll be watching it on mute, and pause the movie when the Gullwings finally start." He nodded at his twin, and Sora tossed the remote to Kairi. "That way we can watch the movie in peace."
Roxas, however, turned out to be a hypocrite. Despite his claims of boring commentary, every five minutes or so he would twist around and ask Kairi what was going on, kicking Xion in the process. Kairi was no better. By the time Bruce Wayne made his appearance she was wearing earphones and listening to the running stream of Gullwings talk. Twenty minutes into the movie, Sora switched places with Roxas, which seemed to solve most of the problems. Xion was able to easily block out Kairi and Roxas's whispers now that she wasn't being kicked in the side, and was therefore completely engrossed in the movie when it came to a sudden halt, freezing the Joker's face into a cruel smile.
"Hey!"
She leaned around Sora and gave the two fans her best glare, but they were both too excited to pay any attention to her justified anger.
"It's on! It's on, it's on! Look, it's starting!"
Sora flipped on the lights and perched next to Kairi, sneaking an arm around her as he did. Xion gave a mournful look at the TV, but moved over to sit on the floor near the coffee table so all four teens were huddled around the laptop. Kairi had put the viewing screen in full size, enlarging the full, white-floored stage, the beaming white lights against a navy background, an orchestra pit right below the stage, and a controlled applause. Xion squinted, trying to get a better look at the people sitting in the dark audience.
"I thought this was an online performance….?"
"It's taking place for VIP fans, personnel, and sponsors in Traverse Town since that's a major commercial spot," said Roxas. "This way they won't be interrupted by the fans. But the viewing counter of the live stream is almost 27 million people, which is about a third of the entire population of Disney."
"Wow." Xion had always known that the Gullwings were extremely popular, but hearing the statistics was a bit shocking.
Kairi shushed them impatiently. "It's starting," she hissed, repeating her words from earlier.
A guitar strum echoed through the living room, and a series of lights began flashing different colors around the stage, illuminating three figures standing in the center that Xion could swear hadn't been there before.
"What can I do for you?"
The camera zoomed in on the singer, and as she repeated the opening lines of the song, Xion recognized Yuna Braska with her trademark mis-matched eyes. Paine and Rikku, backup singers and bassist and guitarist respectively, stood slightly behind her, completing the trio. An unknown drummer accompanied them as the three girls launched into the song.
"Far beyond the hazy borders of my heart,
I could see a place that's something like this…"
Xion closed her eyes, unable to watch the camera flip between the stars so quickly while trying to give each one adequate screen time. She listened to the lyrics instead, recognizing an almost familiar quality to them.
"…All I know is that I must believe,
Cause the truth I'm seeking
Always was inside of me…."
They were very familiar. Xion frowned. She could almost replace them with one of her favorite poems by Riku, written for a broken arm after a fall off of a swing set. How did it go again? Believe, not once briefly, not forever with doubt, in yourself, where you will always find truth you're seeking…
Xion sat up straighter, almost knocking her head with Roxas's as he hunched over the computer. It could always be a coincidence. She crossed her fingers.
"Coincidence, coincidence, coincidence, please be a coincidence," Xion chanted softly.
Kairi reached over and swatted Xion on the head. "Shhh!"
"And though I know the world of real emotion has surrounded me,
I won't give into it.
Now I know that forward is the only way my heart can go,
I hear your voice calling out to me:
You'll never be alone…"
Xion thought back to a month earlier, sitting in Riku's room and reading one of his revised poems he had gifted her for the very first time.
Her imagination ran wild and left her behind, she´s trapped in a world of real emotion.
No safety, no comfort, as she steps forward, the only direction her heart will go.
The song began to wrap up, and the supposedly conservative audience erupted into cheers. Xion flinched as Roxas and Kairi let loose their own cheers as well. Sora clapped along, and shrugged at Xion's blank stare.
"Even I'm going to have that song stuck in my head for the rest of the day."
Back on screen, the three Gullwings took a bow, and a male announcer began to talk as the famous singers exited the stage.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, we'll be returning in five minutes just in time for the Gullwings to perform some of their old songs, but first, we'll be discussing the Gullwings' exciting new album. We've seen a sneak peak what we can expect from the song they just preformed for millions of online viewers, "Real Emotion", a new hit song by the Gullwings."
No, thought Xion, unmoving as Kairi and Roxas chatted excitedly and Sora went to get more cake, Real Emotion. A new hit poem by Riku Jenova.
"Xion! Xion, we have to leave in like, ten minutes. Xion?"
"Wha-? Kairi?"
Xion covered her eyes against a sudden, harsh brightness, and struggled to sit up. Kairi stood in the threshold of her bedroom door, one hand on the light switch and wearing a blue and tan uniform with Destiny Academy's logo on the front.
"You were supposed to meet up with me at the café at 6:45. It's 7:20, Xion."
"Seven twe - what!" Suddenly Xion was fully awake, swearing fluently as she flew around the room. She quickly changed into her own soccer uniform and tugged on her shin guards. "Why didn't my alarm go off?" She pulled up her socks and picked up her phone from her desk, flipping it open only to be met with a screen informing her that her battery was dead. "Oh. That's why. Dad's up, then?" Xion asked as she sped to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
"Yeah, he let me in. He put a couple of bagels in a paper bag for us to eat later. You look terrible, by the way."
Xion spat out the last of the toothpaste and splashed her face with cold water. She looked into the mirror, ignoring in the dark circles under her eyes, and met Kairi's steady gaze as she stood in the doorway. "I didn't sleep well last night. Sorry Kai, we'll have breakfast together some other time since today didn't work out."
Kairi nodded once and smiled. "Pay for my food when we do get the chance to go, and you're forgiven. Also, we need to leave. Like, now."
They didn't arrive early as would be expected of the hosting school, but their coach, a history teacher who was more than happy to let Xion run the team, had played the role of hostess perfectly. Xion and Kairi left their coach to direct the different teams and coaches around the expanse, admittedly sand-infested fields that were behind the academy.
"Personally," said Kairi as they made their way over to the left-most field where their first game would take place, "I think we have a good chance at winning this."
Xion shook her head. "I don't know. Twilight and the Dragons have incredible records at the moment. Hey, didn't you say Naminé's here?"
"Mhm. She's sleeping in right now, but Sora's going to walk her over."
"Not Roxas?"
"He's helping out with the music, remember?"
"Oh yeah."
Oh no. If Gullwings-obsessed Roxas was going to be helping out with the music...Xion's stomach twisted and lurched threateningly. Kairi's perfectly manicured hand waved in front of her, and Xion absently recognized that the two girls had arrived and were surrounded by their teammates. "You all right, Xion? You look kinda stressed out."
"Blergh!"
Everyone present turned to look at a young freshman, who was bent over a small, tell-tale puddle in the grass. Xion groaned, but pushed aside her own ill feelings to take charge.
"Jane! Help your friend over to the nurse's office. Everyone else, huddle up!"
Xion took a deep breath, steadying herself. This was it - the tournament that would be the highlight of her soccer career. She had to focus. She surveyed the expectant faces around her. She had responsibilities, and right now, that was to lead her team to victory.
"Ladies, we've had a good season – one of the best so far – and we've beaten or tied with a majority of the teams here. Don't be intimidated by the sheer number of people here. The matches will stop during the hottest part of the day, but that doesn't mean it's not going to be hot. Stay hydrated, and keep stretching. 5 laps to warm up, you know the drill. Go!"
Riku Jenova didn't feel sick, ill to his stomach, tired, or nervous that morning. No, Riku woke up that day feeling refreshed. His father made bacon. His favorite yellow shirt was out of the wash and ready to wear. He walked to the school and arrived perfectly on time at 8:15. He was given a set of easy-to-follow instructions for guiding around the visiting students and teams.
He met said teams. In the process of welcoming them, Riku discovered that his phone could only hold 30 more contacts.
Two hours later, his phone could not hold any more contacts.
Yes, thought Riku as he waved goodbye to the twins Melina and Melody, today is a very good day.
He was in the cafeteria of the school, after leading the students to the best place for refreshments and where there would be some electric fans set up to try to combat the heat. The amount of people in the room was steadily increasing, a sign that the matches had come to a close or were almost done. He used his height to his advantage, and easily spotted Sora's unique hairstyle a few yards away standing near a head of almost-white blonde.
"I've never thought of memories that way," Sora was saying as he slid up next to him. "Hey, Riku. This is Naminé, Kairi's cousin. She's going to be a neuroscientist and find the cure to amnesia."
"Wow," said Riku. Up close, Naminé bore a striking resemblance to her cousin, so much that Riku felt a minor sense of disorientation. "That sounds amazing. Should I get your autograph now?" He threw in a wink for good measure.
Naminé's face turned a dark shade of red and she shook her head silently.
Sora laughed. "Don't mind Riku, he's our resident charmer. I'll introduce you to Roxas later, he's getting the music set up right now. Roxas is harmless, unlike Riku here."
"Easy, Sora. I'm harmless, I don't bite," said Riku, and Naminé started to give him a hesitant smile until he finished with, "well, unless you want me to."
Huh. Riku never knew people could turn that shade of red or squeak that high.
"Knock it off, Riku." Kairi pushed her way through the crowd to her cousin's side, Xion in tow. Sora greeted his girlfriend with a kiss, apparently not caring that she was drenched in sweat, while Xion introduced herself to Naminé and gave Riku a cheerful but tired hello.
"I take it you won?" Riku asked when Kairi and Sora broke apart.
"Yep," said Xion, grinning from ear to ear. "We were against the Radiant Garden kids, and they were dying from the heat by the middle of the second half. We ended up scoring three goals in the last thirty minutes."
"Xion's making them sound worse than they are," said Kairi. "They scored three goals in the first half while we barely managed to score one, so it was a 4-3 game in the end. There was so much running."
"You two look tired. Are you going to be okay?"
If anyone besides Riku was surprised at Naminé's ability to talk, they didn't show it. Either way, Riku looked closer at the girls. Naminé was right. Both looked tired, but Xion could be a poster-child for exhaustion.
Kairi waved off her cousin's concern. "We're fine. We have this refreshment break slash lunch for the kids that aren't from here, but we can go home and nap until this evening when we play Agrabah and Twilight Town. Oh, hey, there's the music! Come on, let's go introduce you to Roxas."
"You three go on ahead," said Xion. "Riku's going to walk me home."
"Oh?" Kairi raised an eyebrow, but before Riku could interrupt and say he would take Naminé to meet Roxas, Xion was grabbing him by arm and gently tugging him away.
"Yep," she called over her shoulder. "I'll charge my phone, text me later."
"I didn't know I was going to walk you home," said Riku, trying to recover. Xion let go of his arm unexpectedly and faced him, leaning up against a row of lockers in the hallway behind the cafeteria.
"I wanted to talk to you privately."
Alarm bells went off in Riku's head. "Um, Xion, we don't have to do this…"
"Yes, we do," Xion said, and with that, the last of Riku's good mood vanished. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and copied Xion's position, leaning against the lockers opposite of her.
"Look, Xion, I'm sorry, but we shouldn't do this."
"Wait, what would you be sorry about?"
Riku thought it was obvious. Well, better to get it over with as quickly as possible. He gathered up his courage and prepared to crush his friend's romantic hopes and dreams. "Xion, I can't return your feelings. I'm sorry."
Xion stared. "Wait. You thought I had the hots for you?"
Riku shrugged lightly, masking his own discomfort with the situation. "I'm hard to resist, I know."
Strands of music floated down the deserted hallway, filling the silence before Xion doubled over laughing , to Riku's utter bewilderment.
"Riku, you're wonderful," she said, dashing tears from her eyes. "No, I do not have the hots for you. Who the hell gave you that idea?"
"Kairi," Riku answered, slightly sullen.
"That explains a lot. She's good at moral advice, but terrible about romance. Okay, I'm calm now."
"She said you might be interested in me when I told her about how you've been acting odd lately." Riku crossed his arms. "Want to explain what was happening with you?"
"Well," said Xion, hesitating. Riku tapped a foot impatientally. "I think it started with you, and then went all the way to the music. But it mainly started with you, and your poetry."
"My poetry?" His frustration was dropped in favor of confusion. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Xion began pacing. "It's good, Riku. It's damn good poetry, and you were never going to show anybody. You were going to keep it hidden away, and share it with maybe four or five other people besides me in your lifetime all because you think it's too girly."
The frustration and anger rose up again. "Yeah? It's my choice, Xion," he said. "We've been over this before. Forget it."
"No! I wasn't going to just leave it and let the world forget that it once had this great poet that no one would ever know or learn from or study in class or make stupid key chains with quotes from. I couldn't forget it and let your work be forgotten before it had a chance to be known. We've been doing the poetry unit for the past month, and you know, your poems are better than some of the ones we read. It wasn't fair that I was the only one to get to read your words."
"Thanks, Xion." Riku thought it was sweet she had wasn't going to…oh no. Past tense. Xion was using past tense. "Xion. What did you do." It wasn't a question, it was a demand for information, information that Xion quickly gave.
"I published your poetry online under an anonymous name."
"You published my poetry."
"Yep."
"Online."
"Yep."
"But not under my name."
"Yep."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"I think the world's a little tipsy. I'm going to sit down now." Riku sat down hard.
"If it makes you feel better," said Xion, sliding down onto the floor next to him, "it's sold 97 copies so far, at about three dollars a copy. You're also getting good reviews when people leave comments or rate the book."
"Okay." Riku thought about it. 97 times 3 was a lot of money. Not bad. And it wasn't under his name, and that was similar to him occasionally bringing his poetry to lunch and saying it was someone else's. Altogether, it was okay. "Okay."
"It's okay?"
"Yeah, you know what, yes. It is, because nobody's going to find out, though I'm still mad you went behind my back to do that."
"I can live with that," said Xion.
"Good." Riku rested his head on his palm, turning sideways towards Xion. The song in the background changed to some new pop tune, reminding Riku of something Xion had said earlier. "How does my anonymous poetry have to do with music?"
Xion winced. "It…might not be anonymous poetry for long."
Riku's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"Well, out of those 97 people, someone plagiarized, big time."
"That's fine," said Riku. One person wasn't going to make much of a difference. "What's wrong with that?"
"Riku, shut up and listen to the damn music."
Riku, still in a slight state of shock, shut up and listened to the music.
"And though I know the world of real emotion has surrounded me," the words drifted past, and as he listened, a vague suspicion began to form in the back of his mind. They sat together, shoulders almost touching, and when it was over, Xion nudged him.
"Her imagination ran wild and left her behind, she´s trapped in a world of real emotion. Those are your words, Riku. Not theirs."
"Theirs?" Riku echoed.
"The Gullwings. They stole your poetry for lyrics. It can't be a coincidence. Sorry about that."
"You think they stole my poetry for lyrics."
"Yes."
"The most popular band in Disney right now."
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Silence reigned through the hallway once more.
"Well, fuck."