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     1.2 +++ b/old/stories/prismhearts-11.txt	Fri Feb 19 20:53:12 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,460 @@
     1.4 +Prism Hearts 
     1.5 +Chapter 11
     1.6 +Love is the Gift
     1.7 +by Amazoness Duo
     1.8 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com
     1.9 +
    1.10 +
    1.11 +
    1.12 +"She just left?" Relm asked anxiously. "She didn't say anything?"
    1.13 +The painter paced the expansive room, chewing on her lower lip. That
    1.14 +wasn't how things were supposed to happen. Yuffie was supposed to
    1.15 +come in and confront her with another girl. To get jealous and demand
    1.16 +to know what was going on. Granted, they weren't dating so it wasn't
    1.17 +like Yuffie had a right to demand what she was doing with anyone, but
    1.18 +she'd hoped Yuffie was too headstrong to care about that tiny fact.
    1.19 +Eiko had helped make sure Yuffie could escape the dungeon so that
    1.20 +she'd eventually stumble on her with Celeste, a very realistic
    1.21 +painting that Relm had made. If Yuffie didn't want anything to do
    1.22 +with her when she was available, maybe if Yuffie thought she'd lost
    1.23 +the chance, the ninja would do something. Now it seemed that plan had
    1.24 +all but fallen apart.
    1.25 +
    1.26 +"Well..." Eiko sat on Relm's bed, looking down at her hands. Yuffie
    1.27 +hadn't really said much. The ninja girl had looked hurt and confused,
    1.28 +but that wasn't what Relm had been looking for. Eiko had tried to
    1.29 +convince Yuffie to go back in to talk to Relm, but Yuffie had
    1.30 +disappeared. "Not much," she finally decided on saying. 
    1.31 +
    1.32 +"This was a stupid idea. I need to go find Yuffie. I need to talk to
    1.33 +her."
    1.34 +
    1.35 +"And say what?" Eiko asked, looking over at the girl in the
    1.36 +bandanna. " 'Thanks for treating me like crap. I'm sorry for making
    1.37 +you sad. Can I hang on your arm again?' " She only had what she'd
    1.38 +heard from Relm to guess what had happened with Yuffie, but from what
    1.39 +she'd heard of how they last parted ways, there wasn't a big reason
    1.40 +to feel guilty over any of this.
    1.41 +
    1.42 +Pausing, Relm considered this. With a sigh, she nodded. "I guess
    1.43 +you're right. I don't know what I could say to her right now that
    1.44 +could make her understand. I've tried to get it through to her, but
    1.45 +it's like she's just not listening." The painter crossed her arms,
    1.46 +pouting. Looking up, she tried to stare up into the heaven's. "Mom,
    1.47 +was it this hard with dad? Are all ninjas this difficult? Or am I
    1.48 +just lucky?"
    1.49 +
    1.50 +Before the heavens could answer Relm's question, the door burst
    1.51 +open. Or, rather, it would have burst open if it was anyone other
    1.52 +than the prim and proper princess of Alexandria, Garnet. But even for
    1.53 +her, it whipped open rather swiftly. "Have either of you seen Kairi?
    1.54 +I wanted to talk to her about something before she saw my mother, but
    1.55 +I can't find her."
    1.56 +
    1.57 +Eiko could tell that Garnet was more worried than she was letting
    1.58 +on. The princess looked terribly distracted. A cold chill passed
    1.59 +through Eiko as she slid off the bed. "Garnet, what's wrong?" She
    1.60 +hurried to the princess's side. Despite being a rather regal
    1.61 +princess, Garnet could be very impulsive at times. Having the
    1.62 +princess run off into trouble without her didn't sound good to Eiko
    1.63 +at all.
    1.64 +
    1.65 +"Kairi...?" Relm spoke the name as if speaking it for the first
    1.66 +time. Her eyes widen as realization slowly sinks in. Everything had
    1.67 +been happening so fast. She had been too wrapped up in her own
    1.68 +problems to be thinking clearly. Kairi. The girl who was the key to
    1.69 +all this. The girl that Celes had sacrificed herself for. If anything
    1.70 +happened to Kairi, Celes' sacrifice would be in vain "We have to find
    1.71 +her. Now. She could be in trouble." Whatever her concerns about
    1.72 +Yuffie, they would have to be put on hold until after Kairi was safe
    1.73 +and sound. 'Some protector you're turning out to be. I'm sorry,
    1.74 +Celes.'
    1.75 +
    1.76 +Garnet nodded, turning back to the hallway. "I can't find Kuja
    1.77 +either," she said, in a whisper that betrayed her fear.
    1.78 +
    1.79 +Though Relm didn't understand the significance of Kuja's
    1.80 +disappearance, it hit Eiko loud and clear. The gravity of the
    1.81 +situation weighed heavily on her small frame. The girls that Kuja
    1.82 +took to his personal workshop never came back. No one knew what
    1.83 +happened to them. Eiko had almost been taken their herself. Garnet
    1.84 +had personally ordered the guards to let her go and had been trying
    1.85 +to keep her from Kuja ever since. If they didn't get to Kairi soon,
    1.86 +there wouldn't be anything left to save. And if Relm was right about
    1.87 +Kairi being the Keyblade Mistress and needing to unleash the light,
    1.88 +then they would all follow shortly afterwards. 
    1.89 +
    1.90 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
    1.91 +
    1.92 +"No! Not over there! How can we see the moonlight falling over the
    1.93 +water with all those decorations in the way?" Selphie stood on the
    1.94 +dock, directing the hapless boys under her command to finish up the
    1.95 +decorations. The festival was going to be that night and she wanted,
    1.96 +no, needed it to be perfect. What with all of the strange things
    1.97 +happening on the Destiny Islands, they all needed a way to relax, to
    1.98 +forget it all. And she had practiced her dancing every day with Yuna
    1.99 +so that she and Quistis could dance on the beach under the moonlight
   1.100 +with the waves lapping at their feet. She wanted that perfect moment
   1.101 +with the cute blonde girl she was so in love with. It was that
   1.102 +thought that she fixated on, that pushed her forward to make the
   1.103 +festival a success. If the adults were too scared to have a festival
   1.104 +this year, let them stay inside and sulk. She knew that would never
   1.105 +help. Now, more than ever, they needed a chance to have fun, to laugh
   1.106 +and twirl under the stars. They all needed this and Selphie was going
   1.107 +to do her best to make sure they had their festival. "Put that over
   1.108 +by the waterfall. It'll look great there."
   1.109 +
   1.110 +A soft chuckle behind Selphie shook the brunette from her
   1.111 +singleminded devotion to the task at hand. "Those poor boys." Quistis
   1.112 +wrapped her arms around Selphie from behind, rubbing the smaller
   1.113 +girl's stomach. "I had no idea you could be so bossy, Selphie."
   1.114 +
   1.115 +"Hmph..." Selphie mock pouted as she rested against Quistis. "You're
   1.116 +mean, Quisty. I'm not being bossy. I'm just... taking charge of the
   1.117 +situation. Someone needs to if we're gonna be ready in time for the
   1.118 +festival." 
   1.119 +
   1.120 +"Oh, don't pout." Quistis pulled Selphie closer, nuzzling the
   1.121 +smaller girl's ear. "You're cute when you're bossy. And it's sweet
   1.122 +that you'd work so hard to get the festival ready." The blonde smiled
   1.123 +wryly. "Or that you'd make the boys work so hard for the festival."
   1.124 +
   1.125 +Wriggling in Quistis's grasp, Selphie turned to face the other girl,
   1.126 +looking up into her glasses and smiling brightly. Her hands rested on
   1.127 +Quistis's shoulders as her green eyes stared up into crystal blue.
   1.128 +The brunette giggled, smiling brightly. "Like I said, someone has
   1.129 +to." Standing on her tip toes, the smaller girl's lips brushed across
   1.130 +the blonde's, a small kiss that still managed to spark an electric
   1.131 +haze across her heart. Still smiling, she pulled Quistis's glasses
   1.132 +off and slipped them on herself, looking up at the blonde girl. The
   1.133 +brunette gave her best scholarly look as she pushed the glasses up
   1.134 +the way she'd seen Quistis adjust them a thousand times before. "And
   1.135 +I've even been studying for it. Yuna's been teaching me how to dance."
   1.136 +
   1.137 +Placing a finger on Selphie's nose, Quistis couldn't help but smile
   1.138 +at the bundle of energy that was her girlfriend. Many people on the
   1.139 +Destiny Islands admired Quistis. Even many of the adults listened to
   1.140 +her ideas. But the one she admired was the childish girl in her arms.
   1.141 +The blonde wanted to try and fix everything, worrying incessently
   1.142 +over things she couldn't hope to change, working late into the night
   1.143 +over small details that eluded her. She got depressed easily,
   1.144 +withdrawing further into her studies in an attempt to drown out her
   1.145 +concerns. But Selphie always managed to grab her by the arm and drag
   1.146 +her away from all of that, leaving her worries as well as her books
   1.147 +in a cluttered pile on the floor. 
   1.148 +
   1.149 +It wasn't that Selphie didn't get depressed. Even the energetic
   1.150 +brunette had been hit by the loss of her friends and the coming storm
   1.151 +that threatened their island paradise. But Selphie always bounced
   1.152 +back. No matter what happened, she would see it through, finally
   1.153 +breaking away from what troubled her with the same exuberance she did
   1.154 +everything else. And it was this that Quistis admired her for. 
   1.155 +
   1.156 +The blonde traced her fingers over Selphie's cheekbones, standing
   1.157 +close to the smaller girl on the pier. A wild gust of wind brushed
   1.158 +past them, the smell promising rain that would not be long in coming.
   1.159 +'In a way, the entire universe is a giant puzzle. One piece doesn't
   1.160 +make sense without another. To unravel its mystery, you need to have
   1.161 +the whole. People are the same way. One person alone doesn't make
   1.162 +sense. You need that other piece to truly understand. That other half
   1.163 +that balances you out. My Selphie...' Selphie's cheeks began to warm
   1.164 +under her touch, turning a delicate pink beneath her fingertips. The
   1.165 +sight of Selphie looking up at her, blushing faintly with the
   1.166 +blonde's glasses perched on her nose, made Quistis's heart spin
   1.167 +dizzily. There had been a time when she had wanted to travel just as
   1.168 +much as Riku had. But eventually she had come to realize that
   1.169 +sometimes you can find everything you're looking for right at home.
   1.170 +Maybe in another lifetime, she had searched through worlds to find
   1.171 +this girl that she held so close. But in this one, she had been right
   1.172 +next door all this time. Laughing softly, Quistis pulled up the hat
   1.173 +that hung at Selphie's back. "You took Irvine's hat again?" She set
   1.174 +it snugly on the brunette's head, resting her fingers under Selphie's
   1.175 +chin so she could get a good look at her in the hat.
   1.176 +
   1.177 +Pouting again, Selphie met Quistis's warm gaze. "I didn't take it. I
   1.178 +borrowed it. He's busy helping Tidus and Wakka put up the decorations
   1.179 +anyway. Besides, I look cuter in his cowboy hat than he does anyway."
   1.180 +
   1.181 +The smile Quisits had been wearing broke into a grin. "You can say
   1.182 +that again." Leaning forward, she gave Selphie another kiss, not near
   1.183 +as short at the one Selphie had given her. The two stood upon a world
   1.184 +in its death throes, preparing for a mad party in an attempt to stave
   1.185 +off the horrors that awaited them, but that was only one aspect of
   1.186 +things. At that moment, they were simply lovers basking in the simple
   1.187 +things, the power that lay in a single kiss. Mirrors upon mirrors
   1.188 +upon mirrors. At any one second, at any given perspective, reality is
   1.189 +a thousand different things and reality is nothing at all. In the
   1.190 +end, reality is simply a suggestion. And rather than let her natural
   1.191 +inclination to worry turn Quistis's world into a waiting game with
   1.192 +the Angel of Death, she let her world become a taste of heaven, a
   1.193 +taste that lingered on Selphie's lips. 
   1.194 +
   1.195 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   1.196 +
   1.197 +"Thank God Quistis showed up." Tidus fell back onto the sand,
   1.198 +staring up at the cloud filled sky. The clouds that he used to
   1.199 +imagine as all sorts of fun things now merely looked dark and
   1.200 +malavelont, misshapen boogeymen waiting for their chance to become
   1.201 +real. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and ignored the
   1.202 +strangely waiting storm clouds. 
   1.203 +
   1.204 +"Ya. I thought we'd never get a break. Selphie can be as bad as
   1.205 +Lulu." Wakka rested against a tree, stretching.
   1.206 +
   1.207 +"Hmph..." Irvine crossed his arms, still watching the girls kissing
   1.208 +on the pier. "I gave her my hat and what do I get? Nothin'." He
   1.209 +sighed, brushing back his ponytail. "Some festival this is gonna be."
   1.210 +
   1.211 +Tidus nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, if it's a festival, there'll
   1.212 +probably be dancing and stuff." He let that sink in for a moment
   1.213 +before looking at the other two boys curiously. "Who are you gonna
   1.214 +ask to dance with you?"
   1.215 +
   1.216 +Wakka shrugged. "I don't know. Dancin's not really my thing, ya
   1.217 +know? Though if Lu asks, I'll probably dance with her."
   1.218 +
   1.219 +Irvine sat up, shaking his head. "Girls aren't like that, Wakka.
   1.220 +They want you to go up to them all smooth-like." He grinned,
   1.221 +pretending to be doing just as he said. He gave Wakka his most
   1.222 +winning smile, winking. He took the other boy's hand, holding it
   1.223 +warmly. "Hey there, good looking. How 'bout we show 'em how dancin's
   1.224 +really done?" 
   1.225 +
   1.226 +Wakka blinked in confusion, staring at Irvine for a long moment. He
   1.227 +finally pulled his hand away from the cowboy, wondering just how
   1.228 +steeped in fantasy Irvine was at the moment. "Umm... I don't know
   1.229 +whether other girls go for that or not, but not Lu. She's way too
   1.230 +bossy to care for that sorta thing. She pretty much gets what she
   1.231 +wants."
   1.232 +
   1.233 +"Yeah, and it's not like your approach worked on Selphie," Tidus
   1.234 +added helpfully. He didn't notice Irvine wincing. "She just laughed
   1.235 +and said that was sweet and that she was going with Quistis." He
   1.236 +rested his head back on his hands, ignoring the clouds again. "I
   1.237 +think I'd probably ask Yuna. She's a great dancer. And she's really
   1.238 +pretty."
   1.239 +
   1.240 +Irvine shook his head. "Well, yeah, I guess. But she's so shy and
   1.241 +quiet. And she's been spending all of her time with that weird
   1.242 +catgirl lately. Speaking of which..." The cowboy grinned widely.
   1.243 +"Maybe the catgirl doesn't have a date yet."
   1.244 +
   1.245 +"But she's a cat..." Wakka pointed out.
   1.246 +
   1.247 +"And what a cat," Irvine said, whistling.
   1.248 +
   1.249 +"But she's still a cat." Wakka blinked again. What wasn't Irvine
   1.250 +getting? That was just.... weird....
   1.251 +
   1.252 +Tidus laughed, watching the other two boys. "You just wanna ask her
   1.253 +because she reminds you of Selphie. They're both hyper and bubbly."
   1.254 +
   1.255 +"And what if that's part of it? At least the catgirl isn't already
   1.256 +chained at the hip to some other girl on the island." Crossing his
   1.257 +arms, Irvine frowned. 
   1.258 +
   1.259 +Yawning tiredly, Tidus pushed himself to his feet. "Well, you can
   1.260 +ask her in a bit. I'm gonna go find Yuna and see if she wants to
   1.261 +dance with me at the festival."
   1.262 +
   1.263 +Wakka nodded, not getting up. "You go ahead and do that. I'm just
   1.264 +gonna wait and see if Lu winds up asking me."
   1.265 +
   1.266 +Grinning, Tidus waved. "Good luck, you two!" He bolted off across
   1.267 +the beach before Selphie could regain her composure and get them back
   1.268 +to work.
   1.269 +
   1.270 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   1.271 +
   1.272 +
   1.273 +"So what's the festival like?" Rikku asked curiously as she walked
   1.274 +side by side with Yuna across the beach. The water lapped right up
   1.275 +near their feet. They were both walking barefoot, Rikku's paws
   1.276 +leaving strange marks in the sand. She knew that a lot of the rest of
   1.277 +the Islands' children were on the other side of that particular
   1.278 +island preparing for the festival, but Yuna had preferred more peace
   1.279 +and quiet. That didn't particularly bother the catgirl. She usually
   1.280 +got along well with people, but she'd rather be with Yuna anyway. She
   1.281 +knew Yuna better than the rest of them, even if she could tell there
   1.282 +was a lot that the quiet girl wasn't saying. Still, it had been a
   1.283 +small victory that Yuna had confided in her earlier. It made her
   1.284 +feel... special. She was happy to be the one that Yuna would tell her
   1.285 +worries to. It was nice to be close to -someone-. She was on an
   1.286 +island chain somewhere far, far away from anywhere she'd ever been,
   1.287 +seperated from her big sister and the rest of the Radical Dreamers by
   1.288 +countless worlds. It was taking all she had to be optimistic about
   1.289 +things. But it seemed easier with Yuna. In a way, it felt like the
   1.290 +other girl needed her. And that let her push her concerns to the
   1.291 +side. She hadn't been able to help Kairi much, trapped as a cat for
   1.292 +most of that time. But now she could finally talk again. Maybe she
   1.293 +could actually help. 
   1.294 +
   1.295 +"Well... It's just something we have every year or so. All of the
   1.296 +Islanders gather together and celebrate late into the night. There
   1.297 +are feasts and dancing and singing and...." Yuna smiled, twirling
   1.298 +lithely on one foot. The wind tugged at her kimono as she did. "It's
   1.299 +wonderful. Some people tell stories and you get to play all sorts of
   1.300 +games. Sometimes father would...." For one bittersweet moment, Yuna
   1.301 +couldn't tell if the memory of her father made her feel warm and
   1.302 +happy inside or if the emptiness that his absence at this festival
   1.303 +and every festival she would ever go to in the future created inside
   1.304 +of her would drag her down into a sea of tears. All she could do was
   1.305 +try to freeze the thought exactly as it was, pushing it back deep
   1.306 +inside of herself and continuing. "But this year, the adults are too
   1.307 +worried about everything. The storms that are approaching, the weird
   1.308 +holes that have been appearing on some of the islands, the
   1.309 +disappearance of Kairi, Riku, and Sora, everything. Because of all
   1.310 +that, they cancelled the festival. Selphie thinks that's a mistake,
   1.311 +so she's organized our own festival."
   1.312 +
   1.313 +Rikku nodded excitedly. "That sounds like fun! I can't wait till
   1.314 +tonight, then." The catgirl watched the other girl for a moment,
   1.315 +trying to pick up on that shadow that covered Yuna when she spoke of
   1.316 +her father. Whatever it had been, it seemed to be gone now.
   1.317 +Nevertheless, Rikku wanted to be careful not to let it get any worse.
   1.318 +She knew that Yuna had lost her father some time ago, but she didn't
   1.319 +know much beyond that. And Yuna seemed to try to ignore the topic, so
   1.320 +it was difficult to find out anything else. But even then, Rikku
   1.321 +wanted to protect the blue- and green-eyed girl. She might be younger
   1.322 +than Yuna, but that didn't mean she couldn't protect her. After all,
   1.323 +Yuna had saved her life. And besides, the quiet girl seemed like she
   1.324 +could use a guardian. And who better than thief extraordinaire,
   1.325 +Rikku? Grinning inwardly, the catgirl pictured herself in some of her
   1.326 +older sister's self-serving poses. Yep. She could help. Any trouble
   1.327 +she saw coming, she'd send it yelping off in pain. 
   1.328 +
   1.329 +"Are you okay, Rikku?" Yuna asked at last, watching her friend's
   1.330 +goofy expression.
   1.331 +
   1.332 +Laughing nervously, Rikku shook her head. "I'm fine. I was just
   1.333 +thinking. It's been a long time since I've been to a festival. The
   1.334 +last time I went was with the rest of the Radical Dreamers. My
   1.335 +friends," she added helpfully. "It was at East Heaven Kindom. It was
   1.336 +really, really nice. All sorts of food you could ever even dream
   1.337 +about. One of the princesses there, Mint, kinda reminded me of big
   1.338 +sis. We were there to steal this Relic, an ancient magical book, and
   1.339 +she showed up to steal it, too. It seemed she'd been kicked out of
   1.340 +the kingdom. So she and Yuffie were both bragging about how they'd
   1.341 +kick the other one's ass until they finally ended up wrestling on the
   1.342 +floor. It was so funny! Zidane and I were just laughing and Kid was
   1.343 +all pissed off about it." She grinned at the memory, her cat ears
   1.344 +twitching subconsciously in the wind. "We all got thrown in the
   1.345 +dungeon after that, because we were all just standing there while
   1.346 +Mint and Yuffie were rolling around on the floor, trying to take the
   1.347 +book from the other."
   1.348 +
   1.349 +Yuna giggled into her hand, watching the catgirl. She certainly was
   1.350 +interesting. She'd never met anyone like her. Rikku was part of a
   1.351 +mysterious band of theives/performers who travelled the worlds in
   1.352 +search of various treasure. Yet she wasn't scary or menacing in the
   1.353 +least. She was just... silly. And spirited. It was interesting
   1.354 +hearing her stories as they sat up late at night in her usually empty
   1.355 +home. Yuna shook her head, her hair fluttering in the breeze. She
   1.356 +tried to stifle her giggle. "But that's awful that you all ended up
   1.357 +in the dungeon."
   1.358 +
   1.359 +Shaking her head, Rikku just smiled again. "No, it wasn't that bad.
   1.360 +We didn't stay in that long. Mint knew the guards, some guys named
   1.361 +Biggs and Wedge that I swear I've met in half a dozen other places,
   1.362 +and they let us all out." Laughing again, she placed her hands behind
   1.363 +her head. "Mint and Yuffie kept bitching at each other until Kid and
   1.364 +I finally had to drag Yuffie off so we could catch our ship out of
   1.365 +there. I guess if you travel enough, eventually you'll meet someone
   1.366 +like you."
   1.367 +
   1.368 +"I don't think so. I think you might find someone who seems a bit
   1.369 +like you, or who acts similarly. But we're all different somehow. If
   1.370 +I looked over a thousand different worlds, I'd never meet someone
   1.371 +quite like you," Yuna explained, watching the catgirl. 
   1.372 +
   1.373 +Blushing faintly, Rikku was glad that her fur made it impossible to
   1.374 +tell. She smiled ecstatically, her embarrassment growing as she heard
   1.375 +a steady purr resonating within her. She tried to stifle the purr,
   1.376 +but it refused to die down. She was glad that Yuna would think that
   1.377 +about her. Even worse, her tail was swishing about happily behind
   1.378 +her. Before she could get it under control, it thumped against Yuna's
   1.379 +rear, making the other girl take a quick step forward in surprise.
   1.380 +Rikku could only stare forward, mortified. Stupid Dragon's Tear and
   1.381 +it's half-done job. Stupid half-cat body.  Her heart thundered in her
   1.382 +chest, feeling to Rikku as if it should be just as audible as her
   1.383 +purr by now. Surprisingly, Yuna simply turned, walking backwards
   1.384 +slowly so she could look at Rikku. The young summoner was still
   1.385 +smiling. A wave of relief crashed down over the catgirl's head, cold
   1.386 +and refreshing. Maybe she hadn't totally screwed that up after all.
   1.387 +"Thanks, Yunie," she said at last, smiling wide enough to show her
   1.388 +fangs. "I don't think I'd ever find anyone like you, either."
   1.389 +
   1.390 +"I'd argue, but then I'd be contradicting myself." Yuna giggled. 
   1.391 +
   1.392 +"And I can't let you do that," Rikku agreed, purring happily.
   1.393 +Without warning and with only the barest of thoughts, Rikku took one
   1.394 +of Yuna's hands in one of her soft paws. It felt like there were a
   1.395 +thousand different things that she wanted to say at once, but the
   1.396 +words eluded her. Just a cacophony of emotions and feelings surged
   1.397 +through her. But being here with Yuna... She had to say -something-.
   1.398 +Anything would do. She hoped. Squeezing the brunette's hand in her
   1.399 +own, swirly green eyes gazed into Yuna's blue and green eyes, hoping
   1.400 +to get across whatever her words failed to through her eyes. "Yunie,
   1.401 +I won't let anything bad happen to you. Whatever's happened to you
   1.402 +before now... I won't let it ever happen again. I'll... I'll protect
   1.403 +you. From everything. I promise." It was and wasn't what she wanted
   1.404 +to say at the same time. Whatever the case, she knew it was the
   1.405 +truth. She wanted to protect this fragile flower, wherever the winds
   1.406 +may carry her. She wanted to be there by Yuna's side, there to help
   1.407 +her through everything. Yuna needed her, right? And she wanted that
   1.408 +so badly. To be needed. To help. To be able to make things better.
   1.409 +She'd always been Yuffie's little sister. She loved her sister
   1.410 +dearly, but she'd never been able to protect Yuffie, only managing to
   1.411 +help a bit here and there. Yuffie was too sure of herself to allow
   1.412 +anyone else to do things for her. But with Yuna... She wanted to make
   1.413 +sure nothing bad ever had to happen to her again. She wanted to fight
   1.414 +off Fate itself to make sure she could always have a smile. A real
   1.415 +smile. 
   1.416 +
   1.417 +"I..." Yuna blushed, her eyes locked onto those swirly emeralds,
   1.418 +almost drowning in them as they pulled her in. "I want that, too..."
   1.419 +she whispered at last, furiously embarrassed that she'd admit that.
   1.420 +But she did. Sometimes she could get so tired of being strong for
   1.421 +everyone. She wanted to be able to collapse sometimes, to have
   1.422 +someone to catch her when she stumbled. She trusted this catgirl,
   1.423 +this thief from another world, this bouncy young girl with an
   1.424 +indomitable spirit. Rikku was sweet and devoted and warm and... For a
   1.425 +moment, Yuna couldn't tell which way was up. Her world seemed to have
   1.426 +turned upside down. Her heart was dizzy, lost in conflicting
   1.427 +thoughts. What she wanted to do and say clashed with what she thought
   1.428 +she should do and say. Her mind and heart struggled on the
   1.429 +battlefield of her soul for what felt like a short eternity. And
   1.430 +finally, it ceased to matter what the outcome was going to be. Soft
   1.431 +lips pressed against hers, paws holding tightly enough onto her
   1.432 +shoulders that she could feel the claws digging through the fabric of
   1.433 +her dress. Whiskers tickled her upper lip, and Rikku's soft, furry
   1.434 +form pressed against her. Yuna slowly melted into the kiss. For this
   1.435 +moment, she didn't need to know what to say or what to do. There was
   1.436 +only this moment. Of soft, neko kisses and the wonderful fragrance of
   1.437 +the rain encircling them. 
   1.438 +
   1.439 +By now, trying to stop her purring would be almost impossible.
   1.440 +Rikku's chest and throat vibrated with the happy purr that seemed to
   1.441 +come from the very depths of her soul. She couldn't explain why she
   1.442 +had kissed the quiet, sometimes sad girl, but she also couldn't
   1.443 +explain why not. It just seemed right. It was what she'd wanted to
   1.444 +do. It was what her words had wanted to express but couldn't. It was
   1.445 +the manifestation of the emotions and feelings that burst through her
   1.446 +like a fireworks display. And now it seemed perfectly right. Yuna's
   1.447 +soft lips opened and closed against her own lips as the taller girl's
   1.448 +hands went to her furry waist, pulling her closer. Thoughts were lost
   1.449 +to Rikku as she kissed deeper, her scratchy tongue pushing between
   1.450 +Yuna's lips as her claws nearly dug into the brunette's shoulders. 
   1.451 +
   1.452 +So this was a kiss... A beautiful moment in time wrapped up in silk
   1.453 +and offered up on the wings of angels. It was a precious gift that
   1.454 +could topple kingdoms and move mountains, a gift that when combined
   1.455 +with the dewdrops of love could become a force that could move the
   1.456 +very stars in the sky. And now it was in Yuna's hands. So delicate,
   1.457 +so fragile, yet so strong and powerful that it left her breathless
   1.458 +and shaking. So enraptured by Rikku's kiss was Yuna, her mind so far
   1.459 +away from the world around her, that she didn't see the waves moving
   1.460 +as something large pushed through the water towards the Destiny
   1.461 +Islands.
   1.462 +
   1.463 +