moonlitnights: old/stories/prismhearts-05.txt comparison

comparison old/stories/prismhearts-05.txt @ 2:fc00894c1d4a moonlitnights

[svn r3] moved all the bad stuff to 'old'

author	rlm
date	Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:53:12 -0500
parents
children

comparison

equal deleted inserted replaced

-:dbe144217c71
+:fc00894c1d4a
+Author’s Notes: I’d like to thank Laine for her help in writing
+this. ^-^ And I’d like to thank my brother, Cloud, for a lot of the
+ideas that show up in Prism Hearts. Without his Kingdom Hearts RPG,
+Kairi’s travels through Prism Hearts would be completely different.
+Prism Hearts
+Chapter 5
+Time’s Scar
+by Amazoness Duo
+amazonessduo@hotmail.com
+‘What was the start of all this?
+When did the cogs of Fate begin to turn?
+Perhaps it is impossible to grasp that answer now,
+From deep within the flow of time...
+But, for a certainty, back then,
+We loved so many, yet hated so much.
+We hurt others and were hurt ourselves.
+Yet even then, we ran like the wind,
+Whilst our laughter echoed,
+Under cerulean skies.’
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Kairi struggled through a fitful sleep. Something felt terribly
+wrong, but she couldn’t make out what. But that feeling that things
+weren’t right pervaded her sleeping form as she tossed and turned.
+She tried to push through the thick fog that clouded her mind, to
+force herself to wake up. The harder she tried, the more confused she
+became. She could feel herself in bed, the blankets wrapped around
+her. But she could also feel herself somewhere else, waves lapping
+somewhere nearby. She rolled onto her side. The bed shifted under
+her. Her hands opened and closed slowly, damp sand pressing against
+them. It felt like she was in two places at once. Water slowly rose
+and fell against Kairi’s hand. It must be the waves she had heard.
+Was she back home? But which home? The Destiny Islands or the room
+she so often found herself in? Or both?
+Footsteps slowly approached her, but Kairi couldn’t tell if it was
+from the beach or the room. Her eyes struggled to open, but they felt
+so heavy. Her whole body felt weak and exhausted. She just wanted to
+sleep, even though she felt that someone was watching her.
+The footsteps grew closer, finally stopping next to her. ‘Get up!’
+she told herself. Now wasn’t the time to be lying there. She needed
+to see whoever it was. But despite her concerns, she just couldn’t
+work up the will to get up, let alone to open her eyes.
+The footsteps finally stopped abruptly next to her. The person or
+creature that had made them seemed to be studying her for a long
+moment. She strained to get up, but the most she could manage was to
+clench her fists, one in cool water and the other in bed sheets.
+The person watching her tsked, looking down at her. “Zere will be
+great enemity between you and ze worlds. Tis not speculation. Tis
+histoire. You are ze key to opening it all up or shattering it all
+completely. Which will you decide?” the voice finally said in a
+feminine French accent. A soft sigh escaped the girl above Kairi
+before she turned to leave. “But first you must decide where you are,
+no?”
+Kairi wanted to respond, to ask the person what she meant, but all
+she could get out was a weak, sleepy grumble. What did she mean that
+she could destroy everything? She was only one of the seven
+princesses. And the doorway the princesses could open was already
+sealed, so her importance was over. Now she was only a girl searching
+for her friends. She tried one last time to get to her feet, pushing
+off from the bed.
+And she was up. She blinked wearily, a hand going to her eyes to
+shield them from the sunset that greeted her. It stretched out lazily
+along the horizon before her, beautiful swirls of pink and orange
+marking the sky above. The sun glinted from both above and below, as
+if it were in two places at once. It took her a moment to understand
+why. It was reflecting off of the water she had been feeling later.
+But she was not on a beach somewhere. She was in the middle of a vast
+ocean, no land in sight. Her feet were resting on the water. The
+water shifted under her, almost throwing her off balance. It still
+felt like water, but she was somehow walking on it, the liquid
+holding her up. She shot her gaze about quickly, trying to spot the
+girl who had been speaking earlier, but she was all alone on the
+ocean.
+“Why don’t things ever make sense!?” She called out in anger and
+frustration.
+‘Because it’s not real,’ a voice whispered in her ear.
+Kairi jerked around, trying to spot the voice. She sighed when she
+realized it was the one that always seemed to appear in her head.
+“Why won’t you leave me alone? If you aren’t going to help me find
+Riku and Sora then you could at least stop bothering me all the time.”
+‘Maybe you’re looking in the wrong places. I know where Riku and
+Sora are,’ the voice taunted.
+“Where? Where are they? I need to find them!” Kairi said
+desperately. This trip had already been so long and grueling. She
+longed to see her friends again, to laugh and cry with the two of
+them by her side. She just wanted it to be over.
+‘Going to give up already? Riku wouldn’t give up so easily. He’d
+keep going until he found you. No matter how far. And Sora never
+returned to the island because he’s still looking for Riku. So they
+can both come back to you on the island. Only you won’t be there.
+Because you gave up in the middle of nowhe.’
+“I’m not giving up! I won’t give up until I see them again! No
+matter how long it takes!” Kairi cried out, her fists clenched
+angrily as she scanned the horizon for any sign of the voice. “I… I
+love them! Nothing will keep me away from them! No matter how many
+worlds I have to travel across!”
+A chuckle filled Kairi’s mind. Slow at first, but increasing in
+volume. It seemed to come from deep within herself. It took Kairi by
+surprise when she found herself to be chuckling as well. She stopped
+immediately, disturbed by the source of that eerie feeling. ‘Very
+well, Princess. Keep up your search. But remember, the door is
+waiting for you as soon as you’re willing to accept reality. Come
+back to me. I’m waiting.’
+Trying to ignore the voice, the brunette kept travelling forward,
+trying to focus on getting away, far away from the voice at the
+‘reality’ that it claimed to be from. The voice, the feelings, they
+all seemed to swirl about inside of her. Like a thought she couldn’t
+get rid of, neither willfully thought up or willingly kept. She
+hugged herself, trying to force away the confusion. She had to
+concentrate.
+Onward and onward she traveled, the only sight the shifting water
+beneath her feet. The sunset was slowly disappearing, the sky
+becoming a deep purple. Stars began to hint at their existence in the
+skies above. And still she was no closer to finding out where she was
+or where she was going. Kairi sighed, collapsing. Hunched over, her
+hands rested on her thighs as she tried to think. This wasn’t getting
+her anywhere. There had to be some way to...
+She blinked. That reflection in the water, it wasn’t her own. She
+stood up again, looking down below her. The reflection in the water
+was someone else as if she were standing on someone’s feet. With a
+flash of recognition, her eyes went wide. “Riku!” she called out.
+“Riku!!” She blinked back tears. He couldn’t hear her. “Riku!!!” He
+blinked beneath her, starting to look around. It looked like he had
+faintly heard something. A surge of hope welled up within Kairi, her
+hands held tightly to her chest. “Riku! I’m right here!” He kept
+scanning around, looking about him. “Look up! Please look up, Riku!”
+she pleaded. If he saw her, then maybe they could find a way to be
+together again. She wouldn’t be on this quest alone.
+She needed him, needed someone to help her forget the cold reality
+that kept being forced upon her. She needed to get to him. Kneeling
+down, she tried to claw at the water, trying to reach him. “Riku!”
+Her fingers broke through the water, hands plunging into the waves
+beneath. And suddenly, so did she. As if the ground had been dropped
+out from under her, the princess dropped into the depths. As water
+surrounded her, she could see him up above, on the surface. But she
+couldn’t swim up to him. It felt like her body was a lead weight. No
+matter how hard she struggled, she kept sinking lower into inky
+darkness. He grew further and further away, disappearing as the
+darkness overcame her. She reached out, remembering his words from so
+long ago. ‘Take my hand, Kairi. Take my hand and everything will be
+all right.’ Her arm ached against the water as she struggled to reach
+him, plunging ever deeper. She could see him, reaching for her. But
+even that dissipated into nothingness as she sank.
+And she landed heavily onto something soft. For a moment, she could
+only lie there. “Riku...” she said mournfully. So close... If only
+she could have reached out faster, then maybe...
+“Told you that you were looking in the wrong places,” the voice
+chided from the other side of the door.
+Kairi sat up immediately, her eyes wide. Not here. Anywhere but
+here. Sure enough, she could see her room once again, pictures of the
+Destiny Islands, Riku and Sora on the walls. Figurines from a dozen
+Squaresoft games littered her desk. Dolls she had made lay all over
+her bed. This was the last place she wanted to be. She couldn’t deal
+with it at the moment. “No...” She sighed, picking up the Riku and
+Sora dolls and hugging them as tightly as she could.
+“I already knew you didn’t like it here, Kairi. Why else would you
+spend all of your time escaping into fantasy? Playing games and
+watching fairy tales and pretending you were this pretty girl on an
+island where you two best friends were boys who were in love with
+you. Oh, and your whole suicide stunt. I think you’ve made it
+blatantly obvious you don’t like it here, Kairi. I think everyone
+knows that but you. Because you’re so obsessed with your fantasy
+world that you can’t step back for a second and remember the sad
+lonely girl you really are,” the voice said, sounding frustrated.
+“This can’t be real,” Kairi whispered, getting off the bed. She
+slowly walked to the locked door to her bedroom, squeezing the dolls
+in her arms. They were the boys she loved, yet here they were only
+fluff and cloth.
+“It is, Kairi. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can open
+the door and step out into reality. Reality is darkness. But it’s
+also Truth. So the Truth is darkness.”
+Kairi shook her head, kneeling in front of the door. “No, it can’t
+be like that. Even in the darkness, there will always be light.
+Grandma told me that. Back.. Back at the palace. I can remember
+that.” A smile of satisfaction lit up her face. She could remember
+bits and pieces of her life back at the palace as a princess. That
+gave her some hope. She didn’t just have memories from this place.
+“That’s only because we can dream. Dreams are the light. But hopes
+and dreams are lies. Only there to delude ourselves with visions of
+what we wish would happen,” the voice argued.
+“It’s not like that. It’s not,” Kairi replied softly, resting her
+head against the door. “It can’t be. I have to find Riku and Sora. I
+need to be with them again. And we’ll travel to all sorts of
+beautiful places.”
+“I know you’re lonely. I know you miss them,” the voice whispered,
+pressing it’s own head against the door. “I just wish you could
+accept things, Kairi. You’re so far away because of this. And no
+matter how hard I try, I can’t get you back. Because you keep running
+away. Come home, Kairi. Please,” the voice pleaded.
+Fingers slid under the door, lying there. The princess slowly
+reached out, taking them. They curled over her own, trying to hold
+onto her. They felt warm and soft against her hand. And it felt so
+nice to be near someone in this creepy room. Even if it was some
+faceless person behind a door. But she felt like she could almost
+remember who it was. Almost...
+The hand held onto her tighter, starting to squeeze her hand
+painfully as it gripped her own. Kairi felt a pit of anxiety in her
+stomach. She tried to pull away, but the grip was too tight. “Hey...
+Let go. That hurts.” She yanked back, but still with no results.
+“Oww...” A shattering sound got her attention, her heart pounding.
+Her window had burst. She could see water gushing in as if the house
+were underwater. She tried harder to pull her hand away to no avail.
+Water was quickly filling the room. It was already up to her thighs
+and she couldn’t stand up to get away from it because of the hand.
+“Let go!” she cried. She was cut short by the rising water. She was
+quickly submerged in her bedroom. Books and figurines floated past
+her in the churning waters. She was going to drown. That thought
+horrified her. She was going to drown in that lonely, evil room.
+The hand holding hers tightened further and yanked her forward. The
+door was no longer there. Neither was the rest of her room. She moved
+swiftly through the water, finally breaking above the surface of the
+water. Her lungs burned painfully, her body weak. Her knees gave out,
+her body slumping back into the water. But arms were quickly around
+her, pulling her out of the water. “It will be all right, Kairi. I
+have you.” She looked up weakly to see the cloaked boy she had met
+some time ago. Her head collapsing against his chest, she passed out.
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Sephiroth watched a small floating image before him. There were
+several keyholes in front of a larger keyhole. One of the keyholes
+had lit up. “Kefka,” the soldier murmured to himself. That was one
+down. There were only so many left. It was only a matter of time.
+Kefka hadn’t understood that he was serious when he had said that
+Kairi was the key to all of this. She was the important thing, not
+her keyblade or her friends. But now was not the time to act. All he
+could do was sit and watch and wait.
+“So she’s opened one of the Keyholes already? She may be more
+trouble than we had thought,” a woman said, crossing her arms.
+“One little girl is not going to be a problem. Kefka was a fool. As
+long as she can’t get close enough to use her Keyblade, she isn’t a
+problem. I’d simply wipe her out with an Eidolon, but I’ve been
+forbidden from doing so,” the bishounen said, pouting.
+“Destroying her would only be problematic. Why kill that which we
+can use? She is the key to obtaining all of our goals, after all.
+With her, we can unleash the Heartless entirely. And then we can do
+what we will in our own worlds. I already have such plans for mine,”
+a soft voice said, slowly smiling. “We never would have been able to
+accomplish our goals before, but we have banded together to make our
+dreams come true. Let’s not forget what is important. Realizing our
+dreams, no matter how we must go about it.”
+“Yes. Kefka forgot about that. But his dream was one of madness. He
+couldn’t fight off the Princess. She was too strong for his madness
+shrouded heart. Just be careful none of you make the same mistake,”
+Sephiroth said. Closing his hand, he dispersed the image. “I have
+work to do. I’ll leave the rest up to you for now. Don’t make the
+same mistakes Kefka did. And remember, I want her alive.” Turning, he
+exited the dark room.
+The pretty boy grinned. “I guess that means it’s my turn. I better
+hurry home to make sure everything’s going according to plan.” With
+that, the white haired boy disappeared in a flash of light.
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Kairi awake with a start, glancing around a dimly lit room. The
+kitten that she had rescued was rubbing it’s head into her chin,
+purring softly. She smiled softly at it, scratching its chin. It
+looked up at her with its odd green eyes, questioningly. The ocean
+was gently washing up on shore somewhere not far from where she was.
+She sat up slowly, looking about the room. This didn’t seem familiar.
+At least it wasn’t her bedroom. She sighed in relief.
+“You’re up,” a voice said.
+Swallowing, the princess tried to pinpoint the voice. She finally
+found it on the bed rather than in her head. Another good sign. It
+was the silver haired cloaked boy. He was sitting on the edge of the
+bed, watching her. Well, as best as one can watch someone while
+wearing a blindfold. She reached out slowly for it, but he moved
+away. “Why do you wear that?” she inquired, watching him as he stood
+up.
+“To blind myself from the darkness. So I won’t see it anymore. I’ve
+already looked too deeply into it. This way I can keep from staring
+at it again. If you look too deeply into the darkness, it stares back
+at you,” He explained.
+Kairi nodded simply. She didn’t exactly understand, but that seemed
+to be the best explanation she could get. “Who are you?” she asked at
+last.
+“A friend,” was his only reply.
+Sighing, the brunette slowly got to her bare feet. Looking around,
+she finally spotted her shoes. She stared at them for a long moment,
+thinking. “You saved me. What you said about their being light even
+in the darkest heart. If it weren’t for you...” She shuddered at the
+thought of being possessed by the Slave Crown. What horrible things
+would Kefka be making her do?
+The boy said nothing for a long moment. He undid the blinds, letting
+them raise up and let light into the room. It was small and messy, a
+room in some small village. The ocean rolled nearby. “You’re looking
+for your friends, aren’t you?”
+Nodding emphatically, Kairi stood up. “With all my heart. I have to
+find them. They need me. I know it.”
+“One of them is searching for the other. You’ll find him by
+searching for the one he is looking for. Your paths will eventually
+cross if you seek the same thing,” he said, turning back to Kairi.
+“Riku...” Kairi nodded. “If I look for Riku, I’ll run into Sora.”
+That made sense. Then they could find Riku together. And they could
+all be together again. She smiled. That sounded so perfect. She
+looked down at the kitten. Having hopped off the bed, it was now
+rubbing against her ankles, meowing. It almost sounded like it was
+trying to say something. She reached down, picking it up. Petting the
+kitten, she looked up thoughtfully at the cloaked boy. “But where do
+I look for Riku?”
+“You can’t reach him yet. He was locked away when Sora locked the
+Doorway to the Darkness.”
+Kairi’s shoulders slumped. “But.. There has to be some way to reach
+him, right? He can’t be locked away forever.” Her heart skipped a
+beat. All that Sora had done to save everyone couldn’t have doomed
+Riku. It didn’t seem fair that Riku would have to suffer so that
+everyone else would be safe. Damn it, she wanted to Riku to be there,
+to smile at her. He couldn’t be lost forever.
+“There is always a Doorway to the Light. That is the door he is
+behind now that the darkness is banished. If you can unlock the
+Doorway to the Light, you can reach him,” the boy explained.
+“Great! Now where’s the Doorway to the Light? If I can find that, I
+can meet up with Sora and we can open it up and see Riku again.” She
+felt almost giddy again. She finally had some inkling of what was
+going on, of how to find her friends. She was anxious to be underway.
+“It isn’t that simple,” the silver haired boy warned. “The Doorway
+to the Light has several locks on it. These locks are Keyholes that
+reside within the hearts of several people. You must unlock all of
+them in order to unlock the Doorway to the Light.” He watched her
+disappointment for a moment before continuing. “You have already
+unlocked one of the Keyholes. The Keyhole of Madness lay within
+Kefka’s heart. You must unlock the rest before the Doorway to the
+Light will open.”
+Kairi nodded thoughtfully. It had been hard enough to unlock Kefka’s
+heart. But if that was the only way to save Riku, she had to do it.
+He would do no less for her. “Whatever it takes,” she said at last.
+“Good. I was hoping you would say that. He needs you. You’re the
+only one who can save him. Go and find the Keyholes. Unlock them.
+Then you will find the Doorway. Behind it lies your friend. And the
+Light. It is the only way to stop the Heartless. When the Doorway to
+the Darkness was closed, they were cut off. They are limited in
+numbers now. By opening up the light, you can vanquish them forever.”
+“No more Heartless,” the princess repeated. ‘And no more of that
+messed up reality. That’s tied into the Heartless, that voice said.
+So if I can stop the Heartless, I won’t ever have to go back. We can
+go back to our islands,’ she thought to herself.
+“You’re the only one who can open the door, Kairi.” The boy turned
+from her, heading out the door. His work here was done. For now.
+Kairi could only watch him go. He seemed so familiar. But she didn’t
+know what to say. “Thank you,” she said as he reached the doorway. He
+paused for a moment but said nothing before disappearing through the
+doorway. Kairi sighed, clutching a hand to her heart. She knew what
+she had to do. Even if it did feel a little overwhelming. But she’d
+already unlocked one of the Keyholes. What were a few more?
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+‘Dear Diary,
+Hi again! Well, we’re working on the Island Festival after all. The
+adults cancelled it because of all the weird stuff going on lately,
+so we’re gonna throw one ourselves. I’ve been so busy making
+decorations for it that my hands hurt! But as long as we can have our
+festival, it doesn’t matter. Besides, Quisty has been rubbing my
+hands when I complain about it. *blush* So I’m happy about that. I
+was complaining about it earlier while she was studying on the beach.
+At least I got her out of the house, even if she insisted on bringing
+her book with her. And she just nodded, looking at me with those
+pretty blue eyes of hers looking at me through her cute glasses and
+then she reached out and took my hands, rubbing them. And it felt a
+lot better because of that. We talked a bit while she did that, even
+though my mind was elsewhere. I hope it wasn’t too obvious.
+That hole’s still there on the island. It’s looking bigger now. It’s
+really spooky. There’s just nothing there. Wakka said someone should
+take a look. Then he asked Tidus to go do it. Tidus shook his head,
+saying he wasn’t gonna do it and that Wakka should because Wakka’s
+older. I’m starting to wonder if Kairi fell down that hole. I sure
+hope not. I’d hate to think she was swallowed up by that big scary
+nothingness. It almost made me want to go in to look for her, but I
+just stood closer to Quisty as we all stared at it. We finally left,
+trying to think of something to play to get our minds off of it. But
+I don’t think the hole’s gonna go away. And what happens if it keeps
+getting bigger? We can’t ignore it forever.
+But that’s what we have the festival for! To forget about things
+now. We’ll deal with things later on. Right now we have that to worry
+about. I’m in charge of the Destiny Island Festival Committee! It was
+Quisty’s idea to give it an official sounding name. So we put it all
+together and since it was my idea, I get to be in charge. We’ve been
+drawing up plans of all the stuff we wanna do for it. The boys
+weren’t too thrilled about the whole dance on the beach under the
+stars, but I told them that we’re doing it anyway. I’m dancing with
+Quisty at the festival whether they like it or not! Tidus is just too
+shy to ask Yuna to dance with him. If he doesn’t ask soon, Lulu’s
+going to and he’s gonna lose his chance. Seems like everyone like’s
+Yuna. I can kinda understand. She’s a bit like Quisty. They’re both
+really thoughtful and quiet sometimes and get depressed over little
+things because they’re worried about disappointing everyone. If only
+they’d realize we love them anyway! They don’t have to be perfect.
+But I’d be better off telling Quisty that than my diary. I’ll
+remember to do that later when she’s being quiet again.
+Tidus and Wakka are putting up some decorations right now. I can
+hear them hammering away. It’s hard to think. But I’m still exhausted
+from running around all day collecting stuff for the decorations, so
+that’s probably part of the reason. Lulu’s using her magic to light
+some fires so we can see. It’s not too late, but some really dark
+clouds have rolled in and it’s hard to see. Yuna’s giving moral
+support and carrying some of the decorations from place to place. Now
+that I think about it, I’ll probably ask her to teach me how to dance
+before the festival. I know Quisty’s a great dancer because she’s a
+scholar-type and she learned that sorta thing for some reason. Yuna’s
+a great dancer, too. Sometimes she’ll dance out in the waves and it’s
+really, really good. I wanna be good, too, when I dance with Quisty
+during the festival, but I can’t ask her because then it won’t be a
+special when we do. So I’ll get Yuna to teach me. I’m so excited! I
+can just imagine twirling about with Quisty under the stars! If these
+dark clouds ever go away. Grrr... Go away! I want my starry nights!
+The seas have been getting angrier, too. It’s like they’re restless.
+I was collecting shells on the beach for the decorations and the
+waves just pulled back for a moment. Then this big, dark wave came
+crashing into me. I was so surprised that I let go of everything I’d
+collected. I tumbled around until I was completely dizzy and then the
+water rolled right back out. When I finally got back to my feet, I
+realized one of my sandals was missing. The wave stole it! Anyway, I
+ran off after that, deciding to look a little further inland on the
+island for things to make decorations. I don’t like how angry the
+ocean looks. It’s not that beautiful aquamarine it used to be. It’s
+all jagged and very dark. I hope it’s not a bad sign.
+Oh, good! There’s Yuna. I’m gonna go ask her to teach me how to
+dance. We don’t have much time until the festival, so I’m gonna try
+my hardest for it! Booyaka!
+Selphie Tilmitt’
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Relm sat on the edge of the dock, idly swinging her legs above the
+quiet waves that rolled up to graze the shore as Yuffie paced
+restlessly out of the corner of her eye.  The ninja’s light footfalls
+on the worn wooden planks were steady and rhythmic, lulling her into
+a sense of peace that seemed so at odds to everything that had
+happened.  They had appeared in Arni out of nowhere, two days ago,
+lying just out of the clutching grasp of the sea.  The fishermen had
+taken them in, thinking them victims of a rough sea.
+But how could that have been?  They had been in Kefka’s prison, and
+then they were here.  The only way it could dubiously be explained
+was Kairi’s Keyblade, but the princess was still asleep.
+“When did they say she was going to wake up?” Yuffie demanded for
+the umpteenth time, scowling.
+“They didn’t say, but they’re pretty sure she’ll be fine.”  The
+artist turned slightly to watch the water rise and fall as if it were
+breathing, orange-gold sunlight edging the waves.  ‘I’d love to paint
+this…but all my paints are back in Narshe.  Assuming Narshe stills
+exists.’  She closed her eyes for a moment, marking the loss that
+still seemed fuzzy and undefined.  Had all that really happened?
+Celes…and Kefka…and Interceptor?  Or was everything, even her being
+here, just a dream?
+With a sigh, Yuffie sat down besides her, leaning back until the
+ninja lay flat against the boards.  “Well, at least we’re safe for
+now.”
+“Are we really?”  Relm asked in a soft voice, remembering that her
+grandfather had presumed the same thing.
+“Huh?”  Yuffie raised her head, surprised at Relm’s dampened
+spirits.  She’d thought that the other girl would have been perky and
+optimistic till the sun fell out of the sky. It just goes to show you
+how different people can be from what the seem.
+She reached out and patted Relm’s shoulder, a bit awkwardly, but
+sincere nonetheless.  “Hey, it’s ok.  No one would dare to cross the
+world’s greatest ninja, after all!  So you’re safe here with me.”
+She grinned her trademark grin, hoping to rouse a bit of cheer.
+Flushing, Relm smiled a little. “Thanks, Yuffie.” Lying back on the
+planks, she rested her head on Yuffie’s bare stomach, curled beneath
+the large sun in the sky above. She closed her eyes but they
+fluttered open instantly, visions of Celes and Interceptor and the
+burning buildings of Narshe invading her thoughts. Better to watch
+the sea, she decided. With Yuffie. Yes, she could believe that things
+would be all right as long as she had this ninja girl to protect her.
+She scooted closer. Yuffie smelled so nice and felt so warm. She took
+solace in those little things. They calmed her, soothing her spirits.
+Yes, she’d be fine. ‘I’ll be all right, Interceptor. You just rest,
+my friend. I know I’ll be safe. Yuffie can protect me for now.’
+Yuffie lay there awkwardly, staring up at the brilliant blue sky.
+She could feel Relm’s eyelashes tickling her stomach as they blinked.
+This wasn’t quite the reaction she’d been expecting when she’d
+attempted to raise the artist’s spirits. The back of the blonde
+girl’s bandana swished in the wind, moving across her ribs. But then,
+what could she do? Push her away? The girl had just lost her
+surrogate family and her best friend. Even if it was just a dog. So
+it made sense that she was feeling a bit clingy. It wasn’t like it
+was that hard to suffer through. Though part of her wanted to explain
+that she wasn’t something to cling onto. She was a ninja and a thief,
+not something cute and cuddly to grapple onto. But she decided to let
+it pass this once. The younger girl needed some comforting and it
+looked like she’d have to try her best. Hesitantly, Yuffie reached
+down, placing a hand on Relm’s head. ‘Now what?’ she thought.
+Sighing, she let her hand drop. Maybe she wasn’t the best for this
+anyway. After all, she’d spent her whole life looking out for
+herself. She wasn’t used to trying to perk someone else up.
+Relm looked up when she felt Yuffie’s hand pull away. Giggling
+softly, she reached up, pulling her bandana away. Medium length
+blonde hair fell about Yuffie’s stomach. Relm rested her head back on
+the ninja’s stomach, looking up the small slope of Yuffie’s chest to
+the short haired ninja, waiting.
+Yuffie smiled nervously at the artist, looking at those deeply
+intent blue eyes. It seemed fairly obvious why she had gotten rid of
+the bandana. ‘I’m not good at this stuff! I’m not used to dealing
+with kids! Well, except my little sister, but she’s not around right
+now.’ Reaching down, Yuffie’s fingers brushed through Relm’s soft,
+blonde hair. The artist smiled happily, still looking up at her.
+Yuffie relaxed a bit as she kept stroking the younger girl’s hair.
+‘At least she seems to be feeling a little better. So I guess it’s
+worth it. But she better not be expecting this all the time.’ And it
+really wasn’t so bad, feeling the silken hair under her fingers, the
+other girl's warm breath against her stomach. There was something odd
+in those eyes, though. And Yuffie wasn’t a stranger to weird eyes.
+Her little sister had strange, spiral eyes. And Cloud had shining
+green eyes. But there was something more subtle about these. They
+were normal eyes, she decided at last. It was the look  she was
+getting that was strange. So direct and intense and... something. She
+felt a little embarrassed having that warm gaze directed at her.
+‘Great. She’s probably gonna think of me as a mother figure or
+something. And I am not a mother figure.’
+Relm, on the other hand, was thinking anything but motherly thoughts
+about Yuffie. “Yuffie? Do you have a boyfriend?” she asked at last.
+It seemed quiet, the sound of seagulls and the waves all a part of
+the background.
+Shaking her head, Yuffie looked back up at the clouds thoughtfully.
+“No, I’m too busy. Not that I really want one anyway. I see all these
+couples around me like Cloud and Aerith, Rinoa and Squall, and I just
+can’t see myself like that. Nothing against Aerith or Rinoa. I just
+can’t see myself like that with some boyfriend.”
+Relm smiled, pleased with Yuffie’s response. “Good.”
+“Good? Why good?” Yuffie asked, blinking, looking back down at the
+artist. That was an odd line of questioning. And she didn’t see why
+that would be a good answer anyway. She just didn’t care about
+finding a boyfriend right now. There were too many other things to
+worry about. It wasn’t anywhere on her list of priorities.
+“No reason,” Relm said, smiling secretively, tracing images on
+Yuffie’s stomach with her finger. The warm skin felt like a wonderful
+background for her. She could imagine her brushes running over it,
+drawing the images in bright colors on Yuffie’s skin. “You should
+really let me paint you sometime,” she said absentmindedly.
+“I’m not really sure I’d be a good model for a portrait,” Yuffie
+replied, sweatdropping.
+Relm giggled. “I was thinking about something else, but a portrait
+would be nice, too. And you’d be a great model. Ninjas can be patient
+and sit and wait for hours to ambush someone. So just use that deep
+well of patience and it’ll be done quickly.”
+Yuffie frowned. She was a great ninja, after all. She couldn’t argue
+with that. She sighed in defeat. “Yeah, I guess you can. Sometime.
+Maybe.” She could imagine Aerith having a picture painted of her.
+That girl could be patient. But she just couldn’t see herself sitting
+there, being sketched. But if it made the girl feel better, then she
+guessed she could suffer through it. And it might make for a good
+picture. Relm was obviously very good with art. It might be
+interesting, she thought grudgingly.
+“Great!” Relm squealed happily. It was nice to have other things to
+think about. And right now she was happy just to be thinking about
+Yuffie. And feeling her so close. She shifted a bit, resting her head
+now on Yuffie’s chest. The ninja almost sat up, but Relm didn’t move.
+Yuffie sighed and stayed where she was. The artist could feel the
+small green top under her cheek, and the soft skin underneath. And
+beneath all that, the gentle thump of Yuffie’s heart. It was the
+heart of her princess, the ninja she had long awaited. She smiled at
+the thought. “It must have been Fate,” she said softly.
+“What must have been Fate?” Yuffie asked, watching the quirky
+artist. She sure was acting strangely. But then, all artists were a
+little strange, weren’t they? At least, Zidane had said so. But who
+was he to talk? Yuffie tried to look up again, but her eyes kept
+being drawn back to the head on her chest, to Relm’s bright blue
+eyes. Her keen intuition was telling her to be on guard, but logic
+told her there was nothing to fear from the younger girl. But still,
+she couldn’t quell her growing unease.
+“Meeting you. Finding myself lost somewhere far away with you. The
+two of us sitting under the endless sky right now. It must have been
+Fate. I don’t think this is all an accident. We were destined to
+meet. I was destined to rescue you from a frosty death. We were
+destined to travel together. Destined to fall madly and passionately
+in love,” Relm said, her eyes sparkling. Yes, it was all Fate, a
+guiding hand that had led her to this beautiful moment. Her budding
+romance with her very own ninja. Just like her mother.
+“Destined to.. What?!” Yuffie blinked, her mind whirling at the
+artists words. That had certainly not been what she had been
+expecting. Possibly a surrogate mother figure, but a lover? Where was
+Relm coming up with all of this stuff? She tried to get up, but Relm
+pinned her. She was stronger than the artist, but Relm had caught her
+by surprise and Yuffie’s head was still spinning. The blonde had
+straddled her, looking down into her eyes. Yuffie could easily push
+the girl off, but she found herself paralyzed underneath the blonde
+artist.
+“Destined to fall in love and spend forever together. Don’t you
+believe in Fate?” Relm asked curiously, looking down at the older
+ninja girl. “I guess I’ll just have to prove it to you.” She
+whispered. Leaning down, she could see Yuffie’s wild eyes as she got
+closer. Her own heart pounded feverishly, a delicious thrill cycling
+through her blood. Had this been what it was like for her mother
+while falling in love with her father? It was definitely dizzying.
+Yuffie felt Relm’s lips press against her own, soft delicate petals
+that seemed to melt against her own, flowing into them. She could
+only sit there, aghast at what was happening. This little artist girl
+had just professed her love for her. And here they were on some other
+planet. And she was pinned underneath her, being kissed. Not just
+some stage kiss, but a true, warm kiss. ‘Stop her!’ part of Yuffie
+cried out. ‘She can’t do that to you!’ But Yuffie’s body refused to
+cooperate. She could only lie there, subject to Relm’s will. That
+thought sent a shudder through Yuffie. No one could control her but
+herself. So she needed to get up and prove it. But Relm kept kissing
+her. And for some reason, Yuffie couldn’t get herself to push the
+young artist away. Her hands had reached Relm’s stomach, but she
+couldn’t call upon the strength to force her off.
+“Now what the bloody ‘ell is this?” a bemused voice asked.
+Yuffie shoved the artist off, standing up and whirling about. She
+winced as she heard the splash behind her. Relm was not going to be
+happy about that. Wait. Why did she care if Relm liked it or not?
+Relm deserved to get dunked for trying to kiss her. Well, not exactly
+trying. Damn technicalities. Yuffie tried to cover her embarrassment
+with anger, glaring at the intruder. “Kid?! What are you doing here?”
+The blonde thief laughed, her hands on her hips. “Didn’t know ya had
+it in ya, Yuffie.” She winked, sending an angry flush across Yuffie’s
+cheeks. “And here I always thought you’d be the one on top.”
+Relm yanked herself back up onto the dock, soaking wet and
+grumbling. “What was that for?! You could’ve asked me to stop!” She
+hugged herself, shivering in the light breeze. Her hair hung wetly
+across her face. She tried to blow some wet hair from in front of
+her, but it stubbornly refused to move.
+“Wouldja have stopped?” Kid asked, still grinning. She had been glad
+to see her fellow Radical Dreamer, but she found the situation she
+found Yuffie in the be endlessly amusing.
+Relm crossed her arms, frowning. “No. But she could’ve tried, at
+least, before throwing me into the water.”
+“I didn’t through you, I just... Wait,” Yuffie shook her head,
+trying to clear her thoughts. “Like this is my fault. You were the
+one who started... Just don’t do that!”
+“I can’t make any promises,” Relm said stubbornly.
+“Kid! There you are!” A voice said behind them.
+Kid had a caught look on her face, but it melted away as she turned
+around, masking it. “And if it isn’t the light o’ my life right now!
+How ya doin’ Leena?”
+“I thought you were supposed to be getting my Komodo scale necklace
+right now. If you’re still around here, there might not be any when
+you get there. And then I’ll be the only girl in the village without
+one. You don’t want that to happen, do you?” Leena asked. She seemed
+to be taking this incredibly seriously. And why wouldn’t she? It was
+a big deal in a world filled with fishing and the everyday facets of
+life. This was something important, a gift that all boyfriends got
+their loving girlfriends. And Kid was her boyfriend. Or something
+like that. So Kid was going to get her one. Whether she liked it or
+not.
+“Just about on my way, darling,” Kid said, trying to appease the
+redhead. “Just getting some help from a friend of mine. Isn’t that
+right, Yuffie?”
+“Who’s the one on top with you two?” Yuffie asked dryly, raising an
+eyebrow.
+Kid gave her a dirty look before grinning back at Leena. “Well, off
+we go. We’ll be back with your necklace before you know it, love.”
+She kissed Leena’s cheek as she walked by, dragging Yuffie behind her.
+Leena sighed reluctantly. “All right. I’ll be waiting, Kid. Come
+back, soon! I’ll be done babysitting by then!” She waved at the
+departing thieves.
+“Wait! I’m coming, too!” Relm said angrily. She wasn’t about to let
+Yuffie leave her behind. She had to teach the ninja a thing or two
+about Fate. Yuffie was hers, most definitely. She just didn’t know it
+yet.

Mercurial > moonlitnights

comparison old/stories/prismhearts-05.txt @ 2:fc00894c1d4a moonlitnights