[As she made her way back towards her own or Riku's room - she had yet to decide - Kairi's thoughts were far away.
She thought - hoped - that maybe it might be okay. Riku... Riku had died. It felt like something heavy had been dropped on her chest every time she thought about it. He had died. But... But so had others. And Bobby had said that people who died came back. And they had been coming back. While she was stuck alone and hurting in quarantine, she had been reading her journal and they had been coming back and well... Riku wasn't back yet.
But he would be.
He had to be.
And she had been holding on to that hope all day, through every action and conversation. It was the only thing that let her talk to other people or leave her room.
She was so caught up, she didn't notice the man in the hallways ahead of her until they were quite close.
She looked up, gasped, and had to scramble to keep from dropping the bowl of fruit she'd been carrying. She caught it, but not without catching her elbow painfully on the wall and using it for support. But she didn't care. That didn't matter. Kairi's attention was immediately drawn back to that tanned skin and those yellow eyes.]
[That... was not any sort of reaction he'd expected to get today.
Riku frowned slightly, perplexed, as the girl in front of him gasped and nearly dropped her food. Fruit. Why? He glanced to the side, then behind him to make sure there wasn't something there to startle her so, then looked back to the girl.]
[A hundred expressions fly across her face, beyond her control, her confusion and care paramount. Finally, she sets her jaw, and shakes her head once.]
No. You're still you.
[And hesitating only half a step, she walks up to him and moves to hug him.]
[He watches her expression change, unable to understand why each one is there, but knowing there's something wrong. But then she's stepping forward and hugging him, and his mind and his heart are at odds because his heart tells him that this is right, but his mind tells him that he doesn't know her at all.
So Riku steps away, his confusion plastered all over his face.]
Do I... know you?
[But wait. He takes a closer look at her face, sees her for an instant with different hair.]
[Confusion returns as he pulls away from her, and at his words she can't help but be hurt. She knows that there are so many things that can damage memories. It should hurt that he doesn't remember. There were so many things that she forgot. But she had hoped so much that he'd be back, and now he was.
He just didn't know her.]
Riku...
[She stared up at him, trying to look for any trace of recognition in those yellow eyes.]
[There's still that certain familiarity to it, the mismatch between his head and his heart. Riku holds onto the name, trying to dredge up a memory from anywhere to match to it, because even though he doesn't know her at all he knows that he hates the look of hurt on her face.
[She won't cry, not again. But she can't stop it. She blinks and drops her gaze as a film of tears obscures her vision. Not one falls. She had hoped... She had hoped so much.]
It's okay.
[The words are mechanical. It's not that she doesn't mean them, but that she can't force them to sound real. For now, it's all that she can think to say.]
...whoops. :|unleashedpowerSeptember 20 2011, 06:36:45 UTC
[He wants to try. Riku looks down at his hands, trying to find the memories she's talking about.
But it works a little bit too well. As he stares down at his hands, several memories hit him all at once. Smaller hands, half-gloves ending at the bottom of his palms, edged in white. Working, building--at one point grasping the full moon and clenching into a fist as he made a silent vow.
Dark hands, gloved hands, the gloves purple and fading into red as they continued up his arms. Clenching a bat-shaped weapon, casting spells of fire as he faced off against a boy he didn't recognize.
Larger hands, hands the size of his own right now, gloved yet again in white. Arms always folded, only out to gesture as he told his plans to the three that opposed him--and a pain in his heart, a refusal to let him go on.
Smaller hands, not as small as the first he recalled but smaller than his own were now, enclosed in leather gloves. The coat of the Organization covered all of him now, as he sought to move about their ranks without suspicion.
And his hands as they were now--the same coat, the same gloves, the only difference the size.
Who is he? The images blur, all melding together as he tries to separate them, to figure out what belongs where. Names swirl around in his mind, names that he knows are not his own and names that might have been. The people he's known and those he's never met. Who he's been and who he is.
He looks back up to Kairi, the uncertainty clear as day on his face.]
Eheh...heh |DlightyourwaySeptember 20 2011, 08:38:01 UTC
You're Riku.
[She says it with a certainty that brooks no argument. And then, realizing how it must have sounded, she goes to take one of his hands in both hers and turn it over, adding.]
You'll remember.
[But the certainty is gone.]
You were born on an island where star shaped fruit grow. When people share one, they become connected.
Apologizing for length before I even start this thing |XunleashedpowerSeptember 20 2011, 08:56:52 UTC
Riku...
[He turns the name over in his mind as she takes his hand, looking down at the glove she holds as she speaks. And as she speaks, there are memories to go alongside them.
"You wanted one, didn't you? If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives, no matter what. C'mon, I know you want to try it!"
He sees the star shaped fruit, hanging from a tree. The tree he used to sit on. He sees another girl with brown hair, talking about its legend. He remembers the stories the girls at school all used to tell, remembers how every one of them would go lovesick over the thought of sharing one with somebody else.
He remembers how they were the only ones who knew where to readily find their own.
"If you win..."
"I get to share the paopu with _____."
He sees her, running across the bridge, unaware of what they're talking about. Her face, which reminded him of Xion's at first, is framed by chin-length hair--the exact cut, if not color, as Xion's. He suddenly knows where the resemblance comes from, knows -why- Xion looks like her.
She thought - hoped - that maybe it might be okay. Riku... Riku had died. It felt like something heavy had been dropped on her chest every time she thought about it. He had died. But... But so had others. And Bobby had said that people who died came back. And they had been coming back. While she was stuck alone and hurting in quarantine, she had been reading her journal and they had been coming back and well... Riku wasn't back yet.
But he would be.
He had to be.
And she had been holding on to that hope all day, through every action and conversation. It was the only thing that let her talk to other people or leave her room.
She was so caught up, she didn't notice the man in the hallways ahead of her until they were quite close.
She looked up, gasped, and had to scramble to keep from dropping the bowl of fruit she'd been carrying. She caught it, but not without catching her elbow painfully on the wall and using it for support. But she didn't care. That didn't matter. Kairi's attention was immediately drawn back to that tanned skin and those yellow eyes.]
Reply
Riku frowned slightly, perplexed, as the girl in front of him gasped and nearly dropped her food. Fruit. Why? He glanced to the side, then behind him to make sure there wasn't something there to startle her so, then looked back to the girl.]
Is something the matter?
[She looked familiar. Why was that?]
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No. You're still you.
[And hesitating only half a step, she walks up to him and moves to hug him.]
Reply
So Riku steps away, his confusion plastered all over his face.]
Do I... know you?
[But wait. He takes a closer look at her face, sees her for an instant with different hair.]
You look just like her.
Reply
He just didn't know her.]
Riku...
[She stared up at him, trying to look for any trace of recognition in those yellow eyes.]
I'm Kairi.
Reply
[There's still that certain familiarity to it, the mismatch between his head and his heart. Riku holds onto the name, trying to dredge up a memory from anywhere to match to it, because even though he doesn't know her at all he knows that he hates the look of hurt on her face.
But there's nothing.]
I'm sorry.
Reply
It's okay.
[The words are mechanical. It's not that she doesn't mean them, but that she can't force them to sound real. For now, it's all that she can think to say.]
Reply
Some memories... are taking time to come back.
Maybe this is one of them.
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Maybe... I can help.
We grew up together, on Destiny Islands. You and me and Sora.
Do you... remember who you are?
Reply
But it works a little bit too well. As he stares down at his hands, several memories hit him all at once. Smaller hands, half-gloves ending at the bottom of his palms, edged in white. Working, building--at one point grasping the full moon and clenching into a fist as he made a silent vow.
Dark hands, gloved hands, the gloves purple and fading into red as they continued up his arms. Clenching a bat-shaped weapon, casting spells of fire as he faced off against a boy he didn't recognize.
Larger hands, hands the size of his own right now, gloved yet again in white. Arms always folded, only out to gesture as he told his plans to the three that opposed him--and a pain in his heart, a refusal to let him go on.
Smaller hands, not as small as the first he recalled but smaller than his own were now, enclosed in leather gloves. The coat of the Organization covered all of him now, as he sought to move about their ranks without suspicion.
And his hands as they were now--the same coat, the same gloves, the only difference the size.
Who is he? The images blur, all melding together as he tries to separate them, to figure out what belongs where. Names swirl around in his mind, names that he knows are not his own and names that might have been. The people he's known and those he's never met. Who he's been and who he is.
He looks back up to Kairi, the uncertainty clear as day on his face.]
Who am I?
Reply
[She says it with a certainty that brooks no argument. And then, realizing how it must have sounded, she goes to take one of his hands in both hers and turn it over, adding.]
You'll remember.
[But the certainty is gone.]
You were born on an island where star shaped fruit grow. When people share one, they become connected.
[But she, Sora and Riku never needed any fruit.]
Reply
[He turns the name over in his mind as she takes his hand, looking down at the glove she holds as she speaks. And as she speaks, there are memories to go alongside them.
"You wanted one, didn't you? If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives, no matter what. C'mon, I know you want to try it!"
He sees the star shaped fruit, hanging from a tree. The tree he used to sit on. He sees another girl with brown hair, talking about its legend. He remembers the stories the girls at school all used to tell, remembers how every one of them would go lovesick over the thought of sharing one with somebody else.
He remembers how they were the only ones who knew where to readily find their own.
"If you win..."
"I get to share the paopu with _____."
He sees her, running across the bridge, unaware of what they're talking about. Her face, which reminded him of Xion's at first, is framed by chin-length hair--the exact cut, if not color, as Xion's. He suddenly knows where the resemblance comes from, knows -why- Xion looks like her.
"Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with--"]
Kairi.
Reply
Mm. That's right. We met when I was five.
[What else? What else can she tell him?]
We built a raft to sail to other worlds...
[But they never got to launch it.]
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Yes, I remember. But we didn't need a raft to leave the islands.
[He doesn't remember meeting her, but he chooses not to say that. He's remembered who Kairi is -now-, and that's the important part.]
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[She didn't want to remind him of that, not now. Not when he looked like this.
But maybe it was better to tell him. Maybe if he knew, it would help him get his control back.]
Riku?
Do you remember what you looked like?
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Are you telling me I didn't look like this?
[How is something like that even possible?]
Reply
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