comparison old/stories/prismhearts-11.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
1:dbe144217c71 2:fc00894c1d4a
1 Prism Hearts
2 Chapter 11
3 Love is the Gift
4 by Amazoness Duo
5 amazonessduo@hotmail.com
6
7
8
9 "She just left?" Relm asked anxiously. "She didn't say anything?"
10 The painter paced the expansive room, chewing on her lower lip. That
11 wasn't how things were supposed to happen. Yuffie was supposed to
12 come in and confront her with another girl. To get jealous and demand
13 to know what was going on. Granted, they weren't dating so it wasn't
14 like Yuffie had a right to demand what she was doing with anyone, but
15 she'd hoped Yuffie was too headstrong to care about that tiny fact.
16 Eiko had helped make sure Yuffie could escape the dungeon so that
17 she'd eventually stumble on her with Celeste, a very realistic
18 painting that Relm had made. If Yuffie didn't want anything to do
19 with her when she was available, maybe if Yuffie thought she'd lost
20 the chance, the ninja would do something. Now it seemed that plan had
21 all but fallen apart.
22
23 "Well..." Eiko sat on Relm's bed, looking down at her hands. Yuffie
24 hadn't really said much. The ninja girl had looked hurt and confused,
25 but that wasn't what Relm had been looking for. Eiko had tried to
26 convince Yuffie to go back in to talk to Relm, but Yuffie had
27 disappeared. "Not much," she finally decided on saying.
28
29 "This was a stupid idea. I need to go find Yuffie. I need to talk to
30 her."
31
32 "And say what?" Eiko asked, looking over at the girl in the
33 bandanna. " 'Thanks for treating me like crap. I'm sorry for making
34 you sad. Can I hang on your arm again?' " She only had what she'd
35 heard from Relm to guess what had happened with Yuffie, but from what
36 she'd heard of how they last parted ways, there wasn't a big reason
37 to feel guilty over any of this.
38
39 Pausing, Relm considered this. With a sigh, she nodded. "I guess
40 you're right. I don't know what I could say to her right now that
41 could make her understand. I've tried to get it through to her, but
42 it's like she's just not listening." The painter crossed her arms,
43 pouting. Looking up, she tried to stare up into the heaven's. "Mom,
44 was it this hard with dad? Are all ninjas this difficult? Or am I
45 just lucky?"
46
47 Before the heavens could answer Relm's question, the door burst
48 open. Or, rather, it would have burst open if it was anyone other
49 than the prim and proper princess of Alexandria, Garnet. But even for
50 her, it whipped open rather swiftly. "Have either of you seen Kairi?
51 I wanted to talk to her about something before she saw my mother, but
52 I can't find her."
53
54 Eiko could tell that Garnet was more worried than she was letting
55 on. The princess looked terribly distracted. A cold chill passed
56 through Eiko as she slid off the bed. "Garnet, what's wrong?" She
57 hurried to the princess's side. Despite being a rather regal
58 princess, Garnet could be very impulsive at times. Having the
59 princess run off into trouble without her didn't sound good to Eiko
60 at all.
61
62 "Kairi...?" Relm spoke the name as if speaking it for the first
63 time. Her eyes widen as realization slowly sinks in. Everything had
64 been happening so fast. She had been too wrapped up in her own
65 problems to be thinking clearly. Kairi. The girl who was the key to
66 all this. The girl that Celes had sacrificed herself for. If anything
67 happened to Kairi, Celes' sacrifice would be in vain "We have to find
68 her. Now. She could be in trouble." Whatever her concerns about
69 Yuffie, they would have to be put on hold until after Kairi was safe
70 and sound. 'Some protector you're turning out to be. I'm sorry,
71 Celes.'
72
73 Garnet nodded, turning back to the hallway. "I can't find Kuja
74 either," she said, in a whisper that betrayed her fear.
75
76 Though Relm didn't understand the significance of Kuja's
77 disappearance, it hit Eiko loud and clear. The gravity of the
78 situation weighed heavily on her small frame. The girls that Kuja
79 took to his personal workshop never came back. No one knew what
80 happened to them. Eiko had almost been taken their herself. Garnet
81 had personally ordered the guards to let her go and had been trying
82 to keep her from Kuja ever since. If they didn't get to Kairi soon,
83 there wouldn't be anything left to save. And if Relm was right about
84 Kairi being the Keyblade Mistress and needing to unleash the light,
85 then they would all follow shortly afterwards.
86
87 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
88
89 "No! Not over there! How can we see the moonlight falling over the
90 water with all those decorations in the way?" Selphie stood on the
91 dock, directing the hapless boys under her command to finish up the
92 decorations. The festival was going to be that night and she wanted,
93 no, needed it to be perfect. What with all of the strange things
94 happening on the Destiny Islands, they all needed a way to relax, to
95 forget it all. And she had practiced her dancing every day with Yuna
96 so that she and Quistis could dance on the beach under the moonlight
97 with the waves lapping at their feet. She wanted that perfect moment
98 with the cute blonde girl she was so in love with. It was that
99 thought that she fixated on, that pushed her forward to make the
100 festival a success. If the adults were too scared to have a festival
101 this year, let them stay inside and sulk. She knew that would never
102 help. Now, more than ever, they needed a chance to have fun, to laugh
103 and twirl under the stars. They all needed this and Selphie was going
104 to do her best to make sure they had their festival. "Put that over
105 by the waterfall. It'll look great there."
106
107 A soft chuckle behind Selphie shook the brunette from her
108 singleminded devotion to the task at hand. "Those poor boys." Quistis
109 wrapped her arms around Selphie from behind, rubbing the smaller
110 girl's stomach. "I had no idea you could be so bossy, Selphie."
111
112 "Hmph..." Selphie mock pouted as she rested against Quistis. "You're
113 mean, Quisty. I'm not being bossy. I'm just... taking charge of the
114 situation. Someone needs to if we're gonna be ready in time for the
115 festival."
116
117 "Oh, don't pout." Quistis pulled Selphie closer, nuzzling the
118 smaller girl's ear. "You're cute when you're bossy. And it's sweet
119 that you'd work so hard to get the festival ready." The blonde smiled
120 wryly. "Or that you'd make the boys work so hard for the festival."
121
122 Wriggling in Quistis's grasp, Selphie turned to face the other girl,
123 looking up into her glasses and smiling brightly. Her hands rested on
124 Quistis's shoulders as her green eyes stared up into crystal blue.
125 The brunette giggled, smiling brightly. "Like I said, someone has
126 to." Standing on her tip toes, the smaller girl's lips brushed across
127 the blonde's, a small kiss that still managed to spark an electric
128 haze across her heart. Still smiling, she pulled Quistis's glasses
129 off and slipped them on herself, looking up at the blonde girl. The
130 brunette gave her best scholarly look as she pushed the glasses up
131 the way she'd seen Quistis adjust them a thousand times before. "And
132 I've even been studying for it. Yuna's been teaching me how to dance."
133
134 Placing a finger on Selphie's nose, Quistis couldn't help but smile
135 at the bundle of energy that was her girlfriend. Many people on the
136 Destiny Islands admired Quistis. Even many of the adults listened to
137 her ideas. But the one she admired was the childish girl in her arms.
138 The blonde wanted to try and fix everything, worrying incessently
139 over things she couldn't hope to change, working late into the night
140 over small details that eluded her. She got depressed easily,
141 withdrawing further into her studies in an attempt to drown out her
142 concerns. But Selphie always managed to grab her by the arm and drag
143 her away from all of that, leaving her worries as well as her books
144 in a cluttered pile on the floor.
145
146 It wasn't that Selphie didn't get depressed. Even the energetic
147 brunette had been hit by the loss of her friends and the coming storm
148 that threatened their island paradise. But Selphie always bounced
149 back. No matter what happened, she would see it through, finally
150 breaking away from what troubled her with the same exuberance she did
151 everything else. And it was this that Quistis admired her for.
152
153 The blonde traced her fingers over Selphie's cheekbones, standing
154 close to the smaller girl on the pier. A wild gust of wind brushed
155 past them, the smell promising rain that would not be long in coming.
156 'In a way, the entire universe is a giant puzzle. One piece doesn't
157 make sense without another. To unravel its mystery, you need to have
158 the whole. People are the same way. One person alone doesn't make
159 sense. You need that other piece to truly understand. That other half
160 that balances you out. My Selphie...' Selphie's cheeks began to warm
161 under her touch, turning a delicate pink beneath her fingertips. The
162 sight of Selphie looking up at her, blushing faintly with the
163 blonde's glasses perched on her nose, made Quistis's heart spin
164 dizzily. There had been a time when she had wanted to travel just as
165 much as Riku had. But eventually she had come to realize that
166 sometimes you can find everything you're looking for right at home.
167 Maybe in another lifetime, she had searched through worlds to find
168 this girl that she held so close. But in this one, she had been right
169 next door all this time. Laughing softly, Quistis pulled up the hat
170 that hung at Selphie's back. "You took Irvine's hat again?" She set
171 it snugly on the brunette's head, resting her fingers under Selphie's
172 chin so she could get a good look at her in the hat.
173
174 Pouting again, Selphie met Quistis's warm gaze. "I didn't take it. I
175 borrowed it. He's busy helping Tidus and Wakka put up the decorations
176 anyway. Besides, I look cuter in his cowboy hat than he does anyway."
177
178 The smile Quisits had been wearing broke into a grin. "You can say
179 that again." Leaning forward, she gave Selphie another kiss, not near
180 as short at the one Selphie had given her. The two stood upon a world
181 in its death throes, preparing for a mad party in an attempt to stave
182 off the horrors that awaited them, but that was only one aspect of
183 things. At that moment, they were simply lovers basking in the simple
184 things, the power that lay in a single kiss. Mirrors upon mirrors
185 upon mirrors. At any one second, at any given perspective, reality is
186 a thousand different things and reality is nothing at all. In the
187 end, reality is simply a suggestion. And rather than let her natural
188 inclination to worry turn Quistis's world into a waiting game with
189 the Angel of Death, she let her world become a taste of heaven, a
190 taste that lingered on Selphie's lips.
191
192 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
193
194 "Thank God Quistis showed up." Tidus fell back onto the sand,
195 staring up at the cloud filled sky. The clouds that he used to
196 imagine as all sorts of fun things now merely looked dark and
197 malavelont, misshapen boogeymen waiting for their chance to become
198 real. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and ignored the
199 strangely waiting storm clouds.
200
201 "Ya. I thought we'd never get a break. Selphie can be as bad as
202 Lulu." Wakka rested against a tree, stretching.
203
204 "Hmph..." Irvine crossed his arms, still watching the girls kissing
205 on the pier. "I gave her my hat and what do I get? Nothin'." He
206 sighed, brushing back his ponytail. "Some festival this is gonna be."
207
208 Tidus nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, if it's a festival, there'll
209 probably be dancing and stuff." He let that sink in for a moment
210 before looking at the other two boys curiously. "Who are you gonna
211 ask to dance with you?"
212
213 Wakka shrugged. "I don't know. Dancin's not really my thing, ya
214 know? Though if Lu asks, I'll probably dance with her."
215
216 Irvine sat up, shaking his head. "Girls aren't like that, Wakka.
217 They want you to go up to them all smooth-like." He grinned,
218 pretending to be doing just as he said. He gave Wakka his most
219 winning smile, winking. He took the other boy's hand, holding it
220 warmly. "Hey there, good looking. How 'bout we show 'em how dancin's
221 really done?"
222
223 Wakka blinked in confusion, staring at Irvine for a long moment. He
224 finally pulled his hand away from the cowboy, wondering just how
225 steeped in fantasy Irvine was at the moment. "Umm... I don't know
226 whether other girls go for that or not, but not Lu. She's way too
227 bossy to care for that sorta thing. She pretty much gets what she
228 wants."
229
230 "Yeah, and it's not like your approach worked on Selphie," Tidus
231 added helpfully. He didn't notice Irvine wincing. "She just laughed
232 and said that was sweet and that she was going with Quistis." He
233 rested his head back on his hands, ignoring the clouds again. "I
234 think I'd probably ask Yuna. She's a great dancer. And she's really
235 pretty."
236
237 Irvine shook his head. "Well, yeah, I guess. But she's so shy and
238 quiet. And she's been spending all of her time with that weird
239 catgirl lately. Speaking of which..." The cowboy grinned widely.
240 "Maybe the catgirl doesn't have a date yet."
241
242 "But she's a cat..." Wakka pointed out.
243
244 "And what a cat," Irvine said, whistling.
245
246 "But she's still a cat." Wakka blinked again. What wasn't Irvine
247 getting? That was just.... weird....
248
249 Tidus laughed, watching the other two boys. "You just wanna ask her
250 because she reminds you of Selphie. They're both hyper and bubbly."
251
252 "And what if that's part of it? At least the catgirl isn't already
253 chained at the hip to some other girl on the island." Crossing his
254 arms, Irvine frowned.
255
256 Yawning tiredly, Tidus pushed himself to his feet. "Well, you can
257 ask her in a bit. I'm gonna go find Yuna and see if she wants to
258 dance with me at the festival."
259
260 Wakka nodded, not getting up. "You go ahead and do that. I'm just
261 gonna wait and see if Lu winds up asking me."
262
263 Grinning, Tidus waved. "Good luck, you two!" He bolted off across
264 the beach before Selphie could regain her composure and get them back
265 to work.
266
267 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
268
269
270 "So what's the festival like?" Rikku asked curiously as she walked
271 side by side with Yuna across the beach. The water lapped right up
272 near their feet. They were both walking barefoot, Rikku's paws
273 leaving strange marks in the sand. She knew that a lot of the rest of
274 the Islands' children were on the other side of that particular
275 island preparing for the festival, but Yuna had preferred more peace
276 and quiet. That didn't particularly bother the catgirl. She usually
277 got along well with people, but she'd rather be with Yuna anyway. She
278 knew Yuna better than the rest of them, even if she could tell there
279 was a lot that the quiet girl wasn't saying. Still, it had been a
280 small victory that Yuna had confided in her earlier. It made her
281 feel... special. She was happy to be the one that Yuna would tell her
282 worries to. It was nice to be close to -someone-. She was on an
283 island chain somewhere far, far away from anywhere she'd ever been,
284 seperated from her big sister and the rest of the Radical Dreamers by
285 countless worlds. It was taking all she had to be optimistic about
286 things. But it seemed easier with Yuna. In a way, it felt like the
287 other girl needed her. And that let her push her concerns to the
288 side. She hadn't been able to help Kairi much, trapped as a cat for
289 most of that time. But now she could finally talk again. Maybe she
290 could actually help.
291
292 "Well... It's just something we have every year or so. All of the
293 Islanders gather together and celebrate late into the night. There
294 are feasts and dancing and singing and...." Yuna smiled, twirling
295 lithely on one foot. The wind tugged at her kimono as she did. "It's
296 wonderful. Some people tell stories and you get to play all sorts of
297 games. Sometimes father would...." For one bittersweet moment, Yuna
298 couldn't tell if the memory of her father made her feel warm and
299 happy inside or if the emptiness that his absence at this festival
300 and every festival she would ever go to in the future created inside
301 of her would drag her down into a sea of tears. All she could do was
302 try to freeze the thought exactly as it was, pushing it back deep
303 inside of herself and continuing. "But this year, the adults are too
304 worried about everything. The storms that are approaching, the weird
305 holes that have been appearing on some of the islands, the
306 disappearance of Kairi, Riku, and Sora, everything. Because of all
307 that, they cancelled the festival. Selphie thinks that's a mistake,
308 so she's organized our own festival."
309
310 Rikku nodded excitedly. "That sounds like fun! I can't wait till
311 tonight, then." The catgirl watched the other girl for a moment,
312 trying to pick up on that shadow that covered Yuna when she spoke of
313 her father. Whatever it had been, it seemed to be gone now.
314 Nevertheless, Rikku wanted to be careful not to let it get any worse.
315 She knew that Yuna had lost her father some time ago, but she didn't
316 know much beyond that. And Yuna seemed to try to ignore the topic, so
317 it was difficult to find out anything else. But even then, Rikku
318 wanted to protect the blue- and green-eyed girl. She might be younger
319 than Yuna, but that didn't mean she couldn't protect her. After all,
320 Yuna had saved her life. And besides, the quiet girl seemed like she
321 could use a guardian. And who better than thief extraordinaire,
322 Rikku? Grinning inwardly, the catgirl pictured herself in some of her
323 older sister's self-serving poses. Yep. She could help. Any trouble
324 she saw coming, she'd send it yelping off in pain.
325
326 "Are you okay, Rikku?" Yuna asked at last, watching her friend's
327 goofy expression.
328
329 Laughing nervously, Rikku shook her head. "I'm fine. I was just
330 thinking. It's been a long time since I've been to a festival. The
331 last time I went was with the rest of the Radical Dreamers. My
332 friends," she added helpfully. "It was at East Heaven Kindom. It was
333 really, really nice. All sorts of food you could ever even dream
334 about. One of the princesses there, Mint, kinda reminded me of big
335 sis. We were there to steal this Relic, an ancient magical book, and
336 she showed up to steal it, too. It seemed she'd been kicked out of
337 the kingdom. So she and Yuffie were both bragging about how they'd
338 kick the other one's ass until they finally ended up wrestling on the
339 floor. It was so funny! Zidane and I were just laughing and Kid was
340 all pissed off about it." She grinned at the memory, her cat ears
341 twitching subconsciously in the wind. "We all got thrown in the
342 dungeon after that, because we were all just standing there while
343 Mint and Yuffie were rolling around on the floor, trying to take the
344 book from the other."
345
346 Yuna giggled into her hand, watching the catgirl. She certainly was
347 interesting. She'd never met anyone like her. Rikku was part of a
348 mysterious band of theives/performers who travelled the worlds in
349 search of various treasure. Yet she wasn't scary or menacing in the
350 least. She was just... silly. And spirited. It was interesting
351 hearing her stories as they sat up late at night in her usually empty
352 home. Yuna shook her head, her hair fluttering in the breeze. She
353 tried to stifle her giggle. "But that's awful that you all ended up
354 in the dungeon."
355
356 Shaking her head, Rikku just smiled again. "No, it wasn't that bad.
357 We didn't stay in that long. Mint knew the guards, some guys named
358 Biggs and Wedge that I swear I've met in half a dozen other places,
359 and they let us all out." Laughing again, she placed her hands behind
360 her head. "Mint and Yuffie kept bitching at each other until Kid and
361 I finally had to drag Yuffie off so we could catch our ship out of
362 there. I guess if you travel enough, eventually you'll meet someone
363 like you."
364
365 "I don't think so. I think you might find someone who seems a bit
366 like you, or who acts similarly. But we're all different somehow. If
367 I looked over a thousand different worlds, I'd never meet someone
368 quite like you," Yuna explained, watching the catgirl.
369
370 Blushing faintly, Rikku was glad that her fur made it impossible to
371 tell. She smiled ecstatically, her embarrassment growing as she heard
372 a steady purr resonating within her. She tried to stifle the purr,
373 but it refused to die down. She was glad that Yuna would think that
374 about her. Even worse, her tail was swishing about happily behind
375 her. Before she could get it under control, it thumped against Yuna's
376 rear, making the other girl take a quick step forward in surprise.
377 Rikku could only stare forward, mortified. Stupid Dragon's Tear and
378 it's half-done job. Stupid half-cat body. Her heart thundered in her
379 chest, feeling to Rikku as if it should be just as audible as her
380 purr by now. Surprisingly, Yuna simply turned, walking backwards
381 slowly so she could look at Rikku. The young summoner was still
382 smiling. A wave of relief crashed down over the catgirl's head, cold
383 and refreshing. Maybe she hadn't totally screwed that up after all.
384 "Thanks, Yunie," she said at last, smiling wide enough to show her
385 fangs. "I don't think I'd ever find anyone like you, either."
386
387 "I'd argue, but then I'd be contradicting myself." Yuna giggled.
388
389 "And I can't let you do that," Rikku agreed, purring happily.
390 Without warning and with only the barest of thoughts, Rikku took one
391 of Yuna's hands in one of her soft paws. It felt like there were a
392 thousand different things that she wanted to say at once, but the
393 words eluded her. Just a cacophony of emotions and feelings surged
394 through her. But being here with Yuna... She had to say -something-.
395 Anything would do. She hoped. Squeezing the brunette's hand in her
396 own, swirly green eyes gazed into Yuna's blue and green eyes, hoping
397 to get across whatever her words failed to through her eyes. "Yunie,
398 I won't let anything bad happen to you. Whatever's happened to you
399 before now... I won't let it ever happen again. I'll... I'll protect
400 you. From everything. I promise." It was and wasn't what she wanted
401 to say at the same time. Whatever the case, she knew it was the
402 truth. She wanted to protect this fragile flower, wherever the winds
403 may carry her. She wanted to be there by Yuna's side, there to help
404 her through everything. Yuna needed her, right? And she wanted that
405 so badly. To be needed. To help. To be able to make things better.
406 She'd always been Yuffie's little sister. She loved her sister
407 dearly, but she'd never been able to protect Yuffie, only managing to
408 help a bit here and there. Yuffie was too sure of herself to allow
409 anyone else to do things for her. But with Yuna... She wanted to make
410 sure nothing bad ever had to happen to her again. She wanted to fight
411 off Fate itself to make sure she could always have a smile. A real
412 smile.
413
414 "I..." Yuna blushed, her eyes locked onto those swirly emeralds,
415 almost drowning in them as they pulled her in. "I want that, too..."
416 she whispered at last, furiously embarrassed that she'd admit that.
417 But she did. Sometimes she could get so tired of being strong for
418 everyone. She wanted to be able to collapse sometimes, to have
419 someone to catch her when she stumbled. She trusted this catgirl,
420 this thief from another world, this bouncy young girl with an
421 indomitable spirit. Rikku was sweet and devoted and warm and... For a
422 moment, Yuna couldn't tell which way was up. Her world seemed to have
423 turned upside down. Her heart was dizzy, lost in conflicting
424 thoughts. What she wanted to do and say clashed with what she thought
425 she should do and say. Her mind and heart struggled on the
426 battlefield of her soul for what felt like a short eternity. And
427 finally, it ceased to matter what the outcome was going to be. Soft
428 lips pressed against hers, paws holding tightly enough onto her
429 shoulders that she could feel the claws digging through the fabric of
430 her dress. Whiskers tickled her upper lip, and Rikku's soft, furry
431 form pressed against her. Yuna slowly melted into the kiss. For this
432 moment, she didn't need to know what to say or what to do. There was
433 only this moment. Of soft, neko kisses and the wonderful fragrance of
434 the rain encircling them.
435
436 By now, trying to stop her purring would be almost impossible.
437 Rikku's chest and throat vibrated with the happy purr that seemed to
438 come from the very depths of her soul. She couldn't explain why she
439 had kissed the quiet, sometimes sad girl, but she also couldn't
440 explain why not. It just seemed right. It was what she'd wanted to
441 do. It was what her words had wanted to express but couldn't. It was
442 the manifestation of the emotions and feelings that burst through her
443 like a fireworks display. And now it seemed perfectly right. Yuna's
444 soft lips opened and closed against her own lips as the taller girl's
445 hands went to her furry waist, pulling her closer. Thoughts were lost
446 to Rikku as she kissed deeper, her scratchy tongue pushing between
447 Yuna's lips as her claws nearly dug into the brunette's shoulders.
448
449 So this was a kiss... A beautiful moment in time wrapped up in silk
450 and offered up on the wings of angels. It was a precious gift that
451 could topple kingdoms and move mountains, a gift that when combined
452 with the dewdrops of love could become a force that could move the
453 very stars in the sky. And now it was in Yuna's hands. So delicate,
454 so fragile, yet so strong and powerful that it left her breathless
455 and shaking. So enraptured by Rikku's kiss was Yuna, her mind so far
456 away from the world around her, that she didn't see the waves moving
457 as something large pushed through the water towards the Destiny
458 Islands.
459
460