Party time~!
Sora: There can't be a party right now my relationship with Riku's at steak!
Oh hush! You know how I like to end me stories!
BTW it's August 23, and I'd like to say Happy Birthday Squall~!
Leon: It's frickin' Leon you frickin' fan girl!
I'll call you whatever the hell I want! I own nothing~!
The beaches were crowded, stands created pathways as they lined the sand, people walked all over between each stall looking for food, drinks, charms, games, and souvenirs. Sora was seated on the stage that overlooked everything wishing he had the heart to join in before he was expected to sing along with everyone else.
The playlist was simple, Sora and Kairi would open with the first song together, one they had written and sang a long time ago with Riku's help, the next song Sora would sing on his own, Kairi and Selphie decided to perform Matryoshka after all because the guests who were at the girl's party begged and pleaded for them to. Kairi would sing a song she wrote on her own, then Sora and Riku would do a song together, and so on. Breaks would be between each song.
Kairi said she had a surprise for him and Riku for the song Magnet and that got Sora scared. He didn't exactly trust Kairi with surprises. He didn't think too much on it though, he was worried about Riku, the silverette had managed to dodge his questions and avoid him ever since that morning last week! He showed Kairi the message from King Mickey and she started flipping out too. She threatened to break his window if he didn't talk to them and she did! Although that back fired when Riku's dad came out of the house extremely pissed.
The point was Riku still wasn't talking. They met up to help set the stage up for the festival but that was it, they never saw him otherwise.
"Sora you ready?" he heard from behind him.
Turning he saw Riku for the first time all day, and he was wearing the black leather coat of Organization XIII over his outfit. When had he gotten that back, Sora wondered. Shaking his head he stood up and walked over to his friend "Riku I need to talk to you, it's important." He said.
"Not now, we're about to start." Riku said going over to the left center front of the stage where his guitar stood next to his mike, Sora's was between his and Kairi's.
"Sora, get to your mike and make the announcement." Kairi called from her mike.
Sora ran to his and clicked it on, a screech passing through the speakers quickly and getting everyone's attention. He put on a happy demeanor and spoke, "Hey everyone! Hope you're having a good time during this year's Paopu Fest! Now my friends and I are going to liven things up with some awesome songs that we've been working forever on so we hope you enjoy them!"
The crowd cheered as Selphie started on the keyboard, a soft piano tune as Kairi started singing.
"(KAIRI)
We were strangers
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming
What we'd have to go through
Now here we are
And I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you"
Tidus started in a simple drum beat and Riku strummed his guitar softly with Wakka on bass as Sora started to sing.
"(SORA)
No one told me
I was going to find you
Unexpected
What you did to my heart
When I lost hope
You were there to remind me"
As the tempo picked up Sora and Kairi started to sing together.
"This is the start
And...
Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you"
(KAIRI)
We were strangers
On a crazy adventure
(SORA)
Never dreaming
How our dreams would come true
(BOTH)
Now here we stand
Unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you
And...
Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
I knew there was somebody somewhere
Like me alone in the dark
Now I know my dream will live on
I've been waiting so long
Nothing's gonna tear us apart
And...
(SORA)
Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
(BOTH)
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you
(SORA) (Hey ay ay)
(BOTH)
Life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is a river I wanna keep going on...
(KAIRI)
Starting out on a journey
(BOTH)
Life is a road and I wanna keep going
Love is river I wanna keep flowing
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you.
(KAIRI)(Hmmmmm)
The song ended with Selphie hitting the keys of her keyboard and crowd erupted in cheers. While Kairi, Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka smiled and waved at the audience and thanked them Sora stared forlornly at Riku who had just set his guitar on the stand and went to get a bottle of water from the ice chest that was placed on stage for them.
Sora had hoped, even though he sang it with Kairi, that Riku would understand he was referring to them. It's not like it wasn't obvious to everyone that he was staring at the silverette the whole time!
He walked up to his friend again "Riku we need to talk." He demanded.
"Sora, just focus on memorizing the next song because you're on your own for it. And we all know that unless you do a last minute review you'll screw up." Riku looked at the brunette, his expression gentle "I'm not trying to be harsh, but it's true you know. I'll go get us something to eat." He said walking off the stage and getting lost in the crowds.
Sighing Sora sat down again deciding to do what he was told. But he couldn't help but think about the warning as he had been for the past week that if he didn't save Riku from the darkness something terrible would happen, to both of them apparently. He thought about showing the message to Riku in hopes of getting the older boy to talk to him, but he was also afraid Riku would just walk away or even snap.
"Sora!" he jumped up and looked to see Riku holding out a container to him "Jeez I called your name five times. Were you in La La Land? Take your sandwich."
Sora took the container with a small apology, opened it and began to eat going over his lyrics in his head again.
Kairi came over and sat beside him "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I guess." Sora answered.
"He still won't talk to you will he?" she received a no "He won't talk to me either. Sora listen, Riku told me he was going to leave the Islands."
"He's going to what?" Sora exclaimed.
Kairi nodded sadly, "You have to convince him not to, it has to be you because you would give him a reason stay more than anything."
Sora shook his head hopelessly, "How? He's been dodging me and brushing me off every time I try! How can I get him to stay?" he was ready to cry. The thought of Riku leaving him again had his heart in a vice grip that wouldn't release easily, in a way that was damn impossible to break "You can't leave me again." He whispered.
"Sora! Let's go ya!" Wakka called.
Sora stood up and ran over to his mike as Tidus did the opening beat on his drum set, Riku was already playing by the time he got there and he immediately started singing.
"He drowns in his dreams, an exquisite extreme I know
He's as damned as he seems and more Heaven than a heart could hold
And if I try to save him my whole world could cave in
It just ain't right, Lord, it just ain't right
Oh, and I don't know, I don't know what he's after
But he's so beautiful, he's such a beautiful disaster
And if I could hold on through the tears and the laughter
Lord, would it be beautiful or just a beautiful disaster?
He's magic and myth, as strong as what I believe
And a tragedy with more damage than a soul should see
But do I try to change him? So hard not to blame him
Hold me tight, baby, hold me tight
Oh, and I don't know, I don't know what he's after
But he's so beautiful, he's such a beautiful disaster
And if I could hold on through the tears and the laughter
Would it be beautiful or just a beautiful disaster?
I'm longing for love and the logical but he's only happy hysterical
I'm searching for some kind of miracle, waiting so long, I've waited so long
He's soft to the touch but frayed at the ends he breaks
He's never enough and still he's more than I can take
Oh, and I don't know, I don't know what he's after
But he's so beautiful, he's such a beautiful disaster
And if I could hold on through the tears and the laughter
Would it be beautiful or just a beautiful disaster?
He's beautiful, Lord, he's so beautiful
He's beautiful"
The crowd erupted again but Sora and Riku didn't pay them any mind. Sora had been staring at his friend again through the whole song and if people noticed they didn't comment, and that was just fine to the brunette.
Lulu had come up onto the stage and was talking to Wakka, Kairi and Selphie were chatting away without a care in the world, and Tidus had run off the stage screaming that he had to go to the bathroom. In the shadows of the grappling on the stage Sora saw Axel and Roxas together not looking all too happy, in fact they looked at if they were spending their last moments together.
'That's right. If Riku leaves Axel goes with him. Poor Roxas, and after they'd just gotten back together. Maybe if I hadn't have been so blind…' Sora thought sadly.
Time was going by; Kairi and Selphie had already done Matryoshka and Kairi sang her song that she called I Still Believe and Sora couldn't help but smile, at some point in the song she looked between him and Riku. That song was her way of telling the silverette to stop being an idiot.
When sunset came around it was time for Sora and Riku to sing their song, Imitation Black. This song required some unique sounds so Riku had his laptop set up to play the music while Riku and Sora sang. Kairi and Selphie had gotten them to dance to this song too so one could imagine that it was gonna be more work on them because they would need more air for it.
The music started with a string instrument that quickly when into guitars, bass, and drums before Riku started singing.
"Yuganda nichijou yurusarenai ai
itsuwari no kokoro
kuroku nuritsubusareta fukanzen na ai
shikkoku no sekai"
Sora noticed something while his friend sang, it wasn't just him. He looked harder and he saw it, Axel was there singing right along with him!
But he couldn't call on it right now, his cue was coming up.
"Zutto kimi ni iitakatta
tatta hitotsu no kotoba na no ni
osaekirenai shoudou ga
kowarete shimau no nara"
As Riku sang Sora sang with him in la's. Riku noticed that Roxas was singing with Sora again.
"Aishi aisare kuruisou na hodo ni
amaku atsui kuchizuke wa IMITATION
mahi suru kankaku tooku naru ishiki
afureru omoi to shinjitsu
kuro de nuritsubushite"
"Shizunde'ku tsuki ga kumo to kasanatte
marude kage o kakusu you ni
mou modorenai no?
kono mama futari de kiete shimaou"
Sora sang with him again.
"Itsuka kimi to musubareru to
shinjite te o hanashita no ni
jibun-rashisa no nai ai nara
kowashite shimaeba ii"
Sora began singing la's with Riku's cue again.
"Kitsuku tsuyoku dakishimete hoshikute
kasanaru karada no nukumori wa IMITATION
taiyou ga terashi boku o komaraseru kara
kimi ga mienaku naru
Please teach me the answer?"
The song came to the bridge and Riku sang his part first.
"Joushiki mo moraru mo buchikowashi
batsu o ukeru no wa boku dake de ii
saigo ni kimi ga itta
kotoba o daite"
Then Sora sang his part of the bridge.
"Itsu no hi mo kimi o omou yo
dakishimeta kata no kanshoku
tokete kiete nakunaru mae ni
kimi ni ai ni yuku yo"
There was the sound of glass breaking then Riku began singing again with Sora singing la's.
"Yurari yurameku gensou ni idakare
kimi ni itta kotoba wa IMITATION
tsumetai hada ni kienai kizuato
kioku no subete nani mo ka mo kuro ni shizumete
ochite yuku
Aishi aisare kuruisou na hodo ni
amaku atsui kuchizuke wa IMITATION
mahi suru kankaku tooku naru ishiki
afureru omoi to shinjitsu
kuro de nuritsubushite"
With that the song ended and the crowd cheered again. Sora watched Riku as the silverette looked out over the audience as if he were taking everything in for the last time. That meant he was going to leave the Islands! Now! Sora wasn't going to let him.
When Riku walked off the stage Sora followed after him to the docks. He gave his friend a good lead before jumping into his own boat and paddling after him to the Play Island. Sora stopped at a distance watching Riku tie off his own boat and walking the dock then paddled the rest of the way to the dock, got out and tied off his own boat, and followed after Riku who was already walking the bridge to the Paopu Island.
Sora went into the shack and up the stairs that led to the bridge, ran across the many planks stopping a distance from Riku.
Riku was standing near the edge of the islet and he was taking off his coat, letting it drop to the sand and showing his white sleeveless jacket and black vest; Sora noticed something on his arms and walked closer unnoticed still. The two tops were removed and Riku's back was completely exposed to Sora making the brunette gasped.
"Riku what happened to you?" he cried.
Riku jumped and turned to look at Sora, fear taking over his features, "Sora what are you doing here? Go back!"
"Not without you! What were you thinking trying to leave? Don't you know you're hurting me by doing this? Riku let's go back, we'll get you help. You know your stronger than the darkness when someone's fighting it along side you rather than alone. Please, come back with me." The brunette pleaded.
Shaking his head Riku looked to the ground, "I'm sorry, I can't. I'm beyond saving so I have to go. I'm sorry Sora."
Darkness started secreting from Riku's back, surrounding him, pooling at his feet and rising to wrap around his body. Sora ran forward and threw himself against Riku just as the darkness surrounded them both.
"Sora, don't!" Riku shouted trying to push the younger off of him but Sora wouldn't let go.
The darkness wrapped around them and Sora felt like he was suffocating but he wouldn't let Riku go. He endured it all, letting the darkness close around him as if to crush him into dust, squeezing the air out of his lungs making it difficult to gasp for a breath, but he refused to let Riku go.
When the darkness evaporated from where they stood, Riku and Sora were gone.
OMG where did they go? Wait until the next chapter.
At the Begging from Anastasia
Beautiful Disaster by Kelly Clarkson, suggested by LovelessHyde. Sora was singing about Riku.
I Still Believe by Hayden Panettiere for Cinderella III
Matryoshka and Imitation Black from Vocaliod
Sora singing, Riku singing