cherry blue skies [riku]

[Kairi]

❤ YOU FEEL JUST LIKE THE SUN

She could almost touch him. Her fingertips brushed against his, but as she curled her fingers to grasp his hand, the gap between them widened. Kairi leaned hesitantly forward, the tips of her shoes hovering over the edge of the abyss, but it always seemed that millimeters separated her from Sora. She wanted to yell, to tell him to jump and that she wouldn’t let him fall, but nothing came out. He was speaking, but she couldn’t hear him. The familiarity of this situation seared her heart. She knew what the outcome would be. A jolt. Darkness enveloped Sora, and she... she was engulfed in light.

Fluttering her eyes open, Kairi realised that the light was the residual glow of the sun, sharp and hot. Her hand moved to shield her eyes, and she spat as grains of sand fluttered into her mouth. The warmth radiating from the ground beneath her back and the sun were good enough indicators that she wasn’t in her bed. The crystal waters and palm trees she spied as she slowly pushed into a sitting position-- and then onto her feet- told her exactly where she was: Destiny Islands. In particular, their island.

Their island.

She pivoted, to the left, to the right. If she was here, perhaps he was, too. Perhaps she, Sora, and Riku were finally allowed to come home and be kids again. Peripherally, she caught a faint imprint in the sand beside her. It looked vaguely body shaped-- her hope was too great to allow it to be anything else-- and a stirring of excitement flushed her cheeks. Shaking the sand out of her hair, Kairi very slowly began to walk along the beach. There had only been one print, but perhaps Riku had woken up on the other side of the island, and Sora went to find him. She refused to consider the idea that only two people made it home. It wouldn’t be fair. Both Sora and Riku deserved a break-- more so than she did. If one was missing, the other would feel distinctly responsible.

Kairi cupped her hands over her mouth and called out. ”Sora!” She trudged up the steps toward the path to the treehouse. ”Riku!” The sun was setting, she realised. It’s fiery body was inching toward the horizon. It was probably why none of the town children were still out and about. A shudder traveled down her spine at the thought of it being deserted. If darkness fell, it would remind her too much of that fateful night. Best to find her friends and head home.

So she called again.

[riku]

Kairi had still been sleeping with the silver-haired teen – man? – had awoken. Riku had found himself lying on his back and staring up at the clear blue sky, the edge of his vision touched ever so slightly by the rays of the midday sun. It’s warm here. That was his first thought. Not that they were home, not that they were together, and most certainly there was nothing about Sora floating inside his head.

All he knew was that it was very warm now, and where they had been before had been cold. Very cold.

Ever so slowly the keyblader started to push himself up into a sitting position. His arms and legs felt weak, tired, and rubbery, and all he really wanted to do was collapse back onto the sandy beach and just lie there for an hour or thirty. Close his eyes, relax under the sun, and fall asleep onto the stars came out. Maybe then he could think about getting up and actually doing something, and maybe then he would feel up to doing so. It wasn’t like there was any reason for him to be on his feet now, was there?

No, yes, wait… Aquamarine eyes narrowed as he started to glance about himself. To his left was nothing, just eerily familiar stretches of sand and water, and to his right was a sleeping red-head. Kairi. He blinked and stared, for a moment not making the connection between the figure and the name.

Kairi… and… Sora! His eyes widened to near-unnatural proportions as thoughts of the brunet finally filtered back into his mind. All thoughts of just lying back were swept away as Riku climbed to his feet, the action made clumsy by stiff and lazy limbs. A small grimace played across his lips as he forced himself to stand before stretching a moment, willing to life to return to his arms and legs. It wasn’t like they could have possibly been lying there for that long. After all, they had just been-

Where? Where was that?

-before returning back here. To… to… The Islands.

“We’re home. We made it back.” His own voice sounded unfamiliar to his ears and Riku sighed as the words escaped him. Home, yes, and we was true – he was there with Kairi – but where was Sora? If it was only just the two of them then it wasn’t like it was going to count. No… because it doesn’t matter what we’ve gone through, it doesn’t matter what we’ve done. It has to be all or nothing, right? The barest hint of bitterness was edging into his thoughts, though the silver-haired teen was able to bat it away easily enough.

He took two steps toward Kairi’s still sleeping forward, intent on waking her, when Riku stopped. They were back on Destiny Islands after all, and they were finally somewhere safe and secure after however long they had been… doing… what it was that… There was no reason that she needed to be up with him. The keyblader could only imagine how tired she would feel too and it wasn’t fair to force her up and about when she could just as easily rest.

Ignoring the fact that there might have been less pure motives to his reasoning Riku stepped away quickly, his gaze staying trained on the sleeping princess. We’re on the Islands… Which meant that it would be okay to leave her there. She would be safe because they were somewhere safe.

Right?

=====

“Sora!”

Is that…

“Riku!”

It is.

Riku grimaced as he turned, lifting a hand up to push his hair back and out of his face as he did. The thought that he would need a haircut briefly flickered through his mind before disappearing into the abyss; it wasn’t important enough to worry about now and it would doubtfully be important enough to take care of later. The voice that was calling out for him (and the voice that had called out for Sora first, he couldn’t help but note) was unmistakably Kairi’s. Well. It had been a bit since he had awoken from his own slumber in the sand and it wasn’t like he had expected her to stay asleep forever.

Still, combing the island for any sign of Sora was something that seemed easier to do while she was out of his hair. And he had already looked over it, looking through every nook and cranny that he could think of to come up with nothing. If the brunet had returned with them then he most certainly wasn’t on this island, which meant that he most likely just… hadn’t… come back.

As he heard Kairi started to holler out again Riku shook his head before cupping a hand around his mouth. “Kairi! I’m over here!” He was in the divided section of the island, the area populated with palm trees.

Words:: 815
Notes:: I don’t even know. I… ran out of steam at the end.

[Kairi]

❤ YOU FEEL JUST LIKE THE SUN

”Kairi! I’m over here!”

Riku. She paused only long enough to kick some of the sand out of her shoes before jogging in the direction of his voice. As she closed the distance between them, Kairi noted that he said “I.” That meant Sora wasn’t with him. If Riku had been the one to get up before her, no doubt he had also searched the island for their missing companion.

Which meant that Sora wasn’t here.

There was no doubt in her mind that if he wasn’t on their island, then he wasn’t with his mother or father or any of the townspeople. He wasn’t on this world, and there was an itching suspicion that he might not be anywhere she could look. The pace of her approach dragged; her feet slid through the sand as her shoulders fell. The rest she thought Riku and Sora could have wasn’t as close as she thought, after all. It wasn’t fair. Blinking back tears, Kairi glanced around and called again. ”Riku? Where’s ‘here?’”

She saw him, though, shortly after asking. The light hair. The bright eyes. He was there, standing among the palm trees, and, for a moment, Kairi felt home. Why was she so sad? Though Sora was lost, Riku wasn’t. She should be celebrating that one of her friends was still here, safe and sound. How ungrateful. A smile crept across her face; the corners of her mouth pulled upward. Relief, happiness, a strange sort of contentment flooded over her as the yards between them shortened to feet, feet to inches. Her pace picked up again. Kairi couldn’t stop herself from throwing her arms out.

From hugging him. He was safe. He was solid. And he was here. Before she could manage to compose herself, Kairi felt tears surging forth. She tried blinking again, but to no avail. There was a soft choking sound and then a deluge of tears.

[riku]

Kairi’s voice hadn’t sounded all that far away and yet Riku was more than aware of the seconds that ticked on by as he waited for the redhead to appear. She wasn’t that far, the island wasn’t that big, so where the hell was she? The Islands are safe so… it’s not like anything could have… happened… Yes, they were safe, and that was what the keyblader kept on telling himself as he waited. Safe and nothing bad could have possibly happened to her.

Safe. Except for that one time. When he had given up and given in and invited the darkness to the invited. That one time, when he had left without Sora, without Kairi, and when he had cost Kairi her heart. That one time when he had managed to set into motion a series of events that wouldn’t even until years down the line.

Yes. Safe. Except for that.

Riku was about to give up the pretense of being okay with the wait when Kairi finally emerged. A smile was slowly spreading across her face and the expression was so full of pure unladen joy that the keyblader almost found it painful. He smiled back a bit awkwardly, reaching up to rub at the back of his head. “Kairi…” The name had barely escaped him when she stepped forward, her happy expression crumbling to be replaced by misery and tears.

“Oh, jeeze, Kairi.” For a moment he found himself frozen and at a complete loss as to what to say or even do. He wasn’t the one who was supposed to have to deal with situations like this. Kairi was… but what was supposed to happen when she was the one on the edge?

As the redhead continued to cry Riku slowly dragged himself forward. With more than a little hesitation he reached out to slip his arms around the girl, hugging her gingerly.

[/justify]

Words:: 317
Notes:: This kinda fails xD

[Kairi]

❤ YOU FEEL JUST LIKE THE SUN

”Kairi...” He said her name, and every pretense she had of being okay with this development crumbled. How many years has it been? Four years? Five years? They were supposed to be navigating high school, worrying about tests and crushes and pimples and plans for the future! They were not supposed to-- Ugh. She’d been awake for less than an hour, and she couldn’t stop herself from bemoaning their lot in life. Kairi set her jaw as she cried and decided that an hour of self-pity was enough. Crying for the first time in four years was enough. This was going to be the first and only time she was going to indulge in every bitter feeling she harbored for the keyblades, King Mickey, her own weakness, and Sora and Riku’s hero complexes.

It was the shock, she decided, working through her thoughts as Riku awkwardly attempted to comfort her. She’d woken up with only one of the two most important people in her life after... Well, that was the kicker, wasn’t it? She couldn’t remember a thing before waking up on the beach-- unless one counted receiving the letter from King Mickey. All that she could safely come to the conclusion of-- this was based on niggling feelings just beneath the haze-- was that there was a time gap between then and now. No, not just feelings. As she paced the beach, Kairi saw a flower she’d planted now a whole patch. There were things she didn’t recognise and pictures in the clubhouse of kids too old to be the babies whose diapers she’d changed.

Briefly, Kairi hugged Riku back before pulling away, wiping her eyes with the heels of her palms. She sniffed; her voice warbled, and she paused to compose herself a little more before speaking. ”When are we going?” Breathing unevenly and clenching her hands into fists, Kairi continued, ”Where do we start first?” She was sticking with this gut feeling that Sora wasn’t in their world.

She glanced in the general direction of their homes and mused whether she remembered seeing an extra boat docked on the island. If there wasn’t, it either meant sleeping in the club house, treehouse, or leaving completely and finding a room in another world. Kairi patted her dress, waiting for the familiar clink of munny. When the sound didn’t greet her ears, she figured the last option was out. No money. No energy. The urge to cry pushed toward the surface, but she shoved it back down. Taking a deep, deep breath, Kairi reminded herself that self-pity wasn’t going to get them anywhere. Besides, awkward Riku made her feel awkward.

Actually... Her gaze flickered back to him. ”Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

[riku]

As Kairi threw herself onto him, crying fitfully against his shoulder, Riku could do nothing except for continue to awkwardly pat her on the back. It really wouldn’t take that much effort for him to just draw her in close and tight and really hug her back. That probably was what she was looking for and probably was what she needed. Out of all of them Kairi was the one that really felt the most and it was more than understandable that she would wake up and just… let it all out. Let it all out. He should have been sympathetic and caring instead of just standing there like he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

“Kairi…” Riku smiled sourly as the red-haired girl pulled herself away. He watched as she struggled to compose herself and hide the tears that were so painfully obvious, and after a moment he turned his gaze away from her to the ocean behind her. There was no point in watching her right now, not when it was clear that this wasn’t how she wanted to be seen.

When she started to speak up again the silver-haired teen glanced back at her before frowning. Where are we going? The answer to that question was a loud and clear ‘no where’. He was going to find a way off this world and he was going to start looking for Sora all over again. She was going to stay here and go back to her normal life like she should have all those years ago.

Of course, it wasn’t hard to guess that Kairi would be a little less than pleased to hear that. Before Riku could be forced into the awkward situation of having to answer her she changed the topic again. It really wasn’t to one that was all that much better, but at least he could avoid creating a scene for now.

“I’m okay Kairi.” He smiled again, this time managing a far more natural expression, as he turned back to face he fully. “And I’m not hurt. At least, I don’t think I am. What about you?”

Words:: 357
Notes:: Eeeehhh…