...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.
[This comes as a shock to him. Riku stares at her, his mind uncomprehending--none of that sounds even the slightest bit familiar, but it's -Kairi- telling him it. And she wouldn't lie. So it had to be true.
But not knowing unnerves him, and as he hasn't yet remembered that he usually tries not to let any uncertainty show, she can probably see a touch of it on his face.]
I do?
[He can't ask it, but the follow-up to that--"Why?"--should be a pretty obvious one.
[She nods, openly staring at his expression. It's so strange to see him unsure of himself. It unnerves her in turn. She'll have to stay close to him. If something happened...]
Mm.
[She nods.]
But, I don't know why. Maybe it's because you-
[She doesn't so much cut herself off as her voice fails. She doesn't want to say it. It can't be true. Or, could it?]
[She's staring at him. Why? Riku feels like his entire identity is suddenly under the microscope, and it's making him uncomfortable. He -wants- to remember, wants to remember what he's supposed to be like... but he can't. And it's hard.]
[The concept of dying is still an abstract one to him. His brain dredges up the meaning of it, telling him that it means not living anymore, but it can't comprehend the larger repercussions.
What it -can- understand, though, is Kairi's obvious pain at telling him what had happened.]
I'm sorry.
[Sorry for worrying her, sorry for causing her this pain.]
Riku had said Xehanort was back. He had said it when he was dying and she hadn't believed him. He'd always looked like himself to her, always, since the explosion in the nobodies' castle. But Riku didn't remember that, even before he died. It hadn't happened to him.
Did that mean that Xehanort's likeness, his darkness was still inside of Riku? And if it was, even part of it, like Riku had said, then he'd been fighting it this whole time and she hadn't known. He was still fighting it, except that now he had died. And because he had died, he couldn't remember the difference between Xehanort and himself. And that meant he was in trouble. It meant he might be losing.
In that instant, she makes up her mind to say nothing.]
I don't know.
[It's not a good lie.]
Maybe... We could go to the lake, and see if that helps. Or, are you hungry?
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.]
Reply
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.]
Reply
[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?
Reply
Are you telling me I didn't look like this?
[How is something like that even possible?]
Reply
[She glances away a moment and then looks back at his hand.]
But it doesn't matter who you look like. You're still Riku.
Reply
He doesn't miss her words--who you look like. But if he hadn't always looked like this...]
Yeah, I am.
[He thinks.]
Kairi? What did I look like before this?
Who... who do I look like now?
Reply
[She musters up a small grin.]
You were shorter.
And your eyes were the same colour as the ocean around the islands back home.
A while ago,
[Warning bells chimed in her head; shouldn't she hide this part from him? No. She couldn't. It wasn't right.]
Someone tried to steal your body and swallow your heart in darkness.
[The words leave her in one smooth arc, and for a moment she wishes she'd stumbled.]
Right now, you look like him.
Reply
But not knowing unnerves him, and as he hasn't yet remembered that he usually tries not to let any uncertainty show, she can probably see a touch of it on his face.]
I do?
[He can't ask it, but the follow-up to that--"Why?"--should be a pretty obvious one.
Reply
Mm.
[She nods.]
But, I don't know why. Maybe it's because you-
[She doesn't so much cut herself off as her voice fails. She doesn't want to say it. It can't be true. Or, could it?]
Reply
Because I what?
[She's staring at him. Why? Riku feels like his entire identity is suddenly under the microscope, and it's making him uncomfortable. He -wants- to remember, wants to remember what he's supposed to be like... but he can't. And it's hard.]
Reply
[Her breath catches on the word again, and she looks away.]
-died, Riku.
[And far more quietly.]
It was awful.
Reply
What it -can- understand, though, is Kairi's obvious pain at telling him what had happened.]
I'm sorry.
[Sorry for worrying her, sorry for causing her this pain.]
Why...
[Should he ask it?]
Why would dying mean I looked like this?
Reply
Riku had said Xehanort was back. He had said it when he was dying and she hadn't believed him. He'd always looked like himself to her, always, since the explosion in the nobodies' castle. But Riku didn't remember that, even before he died. It hadn't happened to him.
Did that mean that Xehanort's likeness, his darkness was still inside of Riku? And if it was, even part of it, like Riku had said, then he'd been fighting it this whole time and she hadn't known. He was still fighting it, except that now he had died. And because he had died, he couldn't remember the difference between Xehanort and himself. And that meant he was in trouble. It meant he might be losing.
In that instant, she makes up her mind to say nothing.]
I don't know.
[It's not a good lie.]
Maybe... We could go to the lake, and see if that helps. Or, are you hungry?
Reply
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