Thank you to Scarletnight13, Poseidon's-Princess, the Poet's Raven, OneDestiny5 and Moe10 for such enjoyable reviews thus far on a story I was sure wouldn't be as good as my usual work (mostly because my fanfiction writing skills are still at mile 0) and I am glad you all enjoy Paper Moon thus far, and I hope I will continue to entertain you with this story =3
Paper Moon
Chapter Three
Darkness And Light
Sora
"Umm... what is this?" I laugh a little as I see his confused expression, cerulean eyes showing nothing but that as he looks at the control in his hands.
"It's a controller." I tell him, skidding a little closer so I can show him how it works. Introducing him to video games isn't as easy as I've thought it'd be thus far. "See, you press this button to make the character jump, and you use this to make them move."
"That still tells me just about nothing about the rest of this contraption." He says as he looks at me. "Honestly, I've never even seen one of these things."
"You'll enjoy it once you get the hang of it." I tell him, going on to explain rather quickly how the rest of the remote works. He nods after a while.
"Okay, I think I got it." He grins.
"Just remember that jumping into a hole doesn't count as finishing the level." I remind him.
"That's no fun." He whines as he chooses his character. I laugh.
Of course, so to speak, he falls into the first hole we encounter. But it doesn't really matter. We both just laugh and continue on, the sky outside the windows slowly darkening into the sunset. He eventually manages to attack without falling into a hole or blowing himself up, and pretty soon he's just about good at it.
I look out the window at some point to see the sky a glorious shade of orange, pink and red, as if the sky was on fire. Letting out a little squeak of exitement, I drop the controller and grab his wrist, pulling him along.
"Where are we going?" He asks, running to try and keep pace so I don't rip his arm from its socket.
"I want to show you something!" I laugh, turning sharply around a corner and run up the staircase, stopping shortly at the top to open a door to the left. I go behind him and push him through the door, he a little confused at my eagerness.
Around the edge of the balcony I make him divert his attention to the west horizon.
"Why were you so exited?" He asks as he looks to where I'm pointing, falling into silence as his eyes fall onto the sky.
"Because sunsets are my favorite." I tell him simply, walking to stand beside him, stomach leaning over the railing. "Mother used to bring me onto this balcony to watch them every day." I say silently. "They were the best moments of my life. I loved my mother."
He stays quiet, but somehow I can tell he's listening. I can just tell.
"She would always tell me this story about the sun while we watched the sun set. I adored listening to it, so she told me it once a week, on a Wednesday. Wednesdays were my favorite days of the week." I smile. "She was like the sun herself... her hair always seemed to shine, with her blue eyes lighting up the way."
"You talk as if she's gone..." He says gently, hand against the railing beside my own, our little fingers barely brushing against each other. "Did she...?"
"It was my father who started it." I close my eyes. "He was arguing with me about being useless, how I couldn't live up to even a fragment of his expectations. But he didn't understand that drawing is my life, and that the piano was the thing I enjoyed the most. He said he'd disown me for being so useless, and he'd have another son somehow. Mother took up my defense, saying how he should stop looking at what he wanted to see, open his eyes, and see what was truly there, what truly shined. She was like that... caring."
He leans his arms on the railing, his chin resting on them as his eyes continue to watch the sunset.
"Your father... he sounds like my mother and father mixed into one being."
"That's how he's like. He told mother to go out for a walk and cool her head down. She did." I bite my lower lip. "She was shot on that walk."
Standing back up with his hands on the railing supporting him, he puts a comforting hand on my own.
"It was on my birthday, exactly one year ago."
"When's your birthday?" He asks me silently, watching as the fire in the sky dwindles.
"It's today. She used to tell me a special story on my birthday, one about the sun and the moon."
"Can I hear it?" He asks. I nod. (A.N.:This is a story I did in history class for myths about the sun&moon, got an A+ on it, and I figured it depicts them both very well, albeit in a hidden way. Hope you enjoy it XD I don't know what went through me to put it here, though.)
"Back before where darkness ruled the world, two tribes fought for dominance over the lands. There was the Phoenix clan of the light, with the daring yet glorious Phoenix as their clan animal, and the Lunar clan of the Wolves, with the wolf as their clan guide. Both forbade each other to speak to the other clan, unless if it was in an act of war. The darkness hated the light, and the light detested the darkness.
"Two girls, however, put their very lives on the line to speak together. They were well gifted with the otherworldly arts, one of which included speaking to the animals that existed at the time, which weren't many. One was named Amaterasu, and she was always followed by her friend the Phoenix. The other was named Luna, and she always enjoyed the company of her wolfen friend. The two met during the hunting breaks of their clans, and were quickly enough the best of friends.
"One day as they spoke, they were followed by the clan's teller, who always told the village chief about any mischief, in hopes of gaining something from his tales. He saw them talking and laughing together, and with a smile, knowing full well that the punishment for this was decapacitation, he left to tell the village chiefs of both clans, who were in a meet to decide something quite trivial.
"The girls were surrounded soon enough by spears and rough swords all around them, their animal companions hissing and growling at the offending points. The chiefs pointed accusing fingers at the girls, who did not deny anything, but rather agreed to the accusations.
"'You may kill me if you shall.' Amaterasu said, proud and bold, the very essence of fire itself. 'But know that it will change nothing, for you all fight within a useless war that will only end up in the annihilation of yourselves. We are all people, therefore, we are all the same, and we are all free. This darkness is the only reason you fight, it feeds your desire for blood to be spilt on the innocent Earth. So, should I die, I will make sure that I will light up this world with firery light, so as to light the way for all of you to be at peace.'
"'The same will go for me.' Luna says, always the quiet and shy one. 'You may cut us down both, but that shall only be another death on your hands, one you shall bitterly regret some day. I will light up the darkness which Amaterasu cannot light, and I will be a home for all who seek shelter. We are not afraid to fight for our cause!'
"In slight bloodlust the teller grabs a sword from a person to his left and cries out as the two young girls stand there to face their punishment, their heads loping off their bodies, but not dying.
"As they promised, a great ball of fire lit up the sky, showering them with unfamiliar light that burned slightly at their skin. Within the newly blue sky the sillhouette of the moon, as tiny as an eye in the sky but just as powerful as its friend, waited in the shadows of the sun for its own time to shine."
He remains silent a moment, lost in thought as the last of the sun dipped below the horizon. The memory of everything I used to do with mother flashing over and over in my mind.
Arms wrap around me and my head, halfway of its own accord, leans against his collarbone, a slightly fluttery feeling in my stomach. I know its nothing to do with nausea, mostly because I feel so comfortable leaning there.
"Thank you." He says, and I can hear his heart beating gently underneath my ear, but the beat is slightly irregular, jumpy. It matches mine to the letter.
"For what?" I ask, slightly confused. He laughs a little to himself.
"For the gift. It just so happens it's my birthday today too." I look up at him. "Happy birthday Sora."
But the way he says my name makes me hide my head again, slightly flustered with my face feeling a little warm. He says it so softly, so smoothly, as if he's practiced before.
"And it's the second best gift I could have ever asked for." I look back up at him from the top of my eyes.
"What's the best one?" I ask, somehow a little miffed.
"Getting to have a friend." He says simply, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
I smile to myself and hide my eyes again.
"Happy birthday Roxas." I say, my stomach feeling a little more fluttery now, doing a flip as I say his name. I could say it forever.
Awww, I love Sora's p.o.v. It's easy to write in this story =3
Stay tuned for more soon! Maybe another chappy today if I want.