Just For Three
Title: Just For Three, Themes #1-4
Author: julliel
Warnings: none, I think
Rating: T
Pairings: Riku/Yuffie/Sora
1. Prologue
If someone had asked them before they met if they were happy, they’d say, “Yes” with a little bit of thought, and maybe some hesitation. Children don’t answer with seriousness too often, but they knew a somber question when they heard one. Adult voices ring with the clichéd “Think before you speak.”
Not that they’ve met and befriended and loved, they’d answer “Yes” without a moments hesitation, the entire light of the sun glowing from their smiles.
2. Parents
When Sora’s mother opened the door, Sora hid behind her skirt, peeking from the floral print. Across the threshold stood another little boy, perhaps a year or two older than he, hiding behind his own mother’s dress.
With gentle prods on their backs, Sora and the other boy, who later became known as Riku, greeted each other with stiff reluctance. As the bonds between their mothers deepened, so did the bonds between Sora and Riku. Both found it a great comfort that the other had no father.
Years later, they met the Great Ninja Yuffie. It wasn’t her official title but Sora and Riku found it in their hearts to humor her.
“Where are your parents?” Sora asked one day.
Yuffie stopped tossing her giant shuriken in the air. A moment of awkward silence passed before she answered softly,” They’re gone.”
“Why-” Sora started.
Riku slapped him on the back of his head. “Stupid boy,” he muttered.
Yuffie’s eyes glazed over. Nostalgia or sadness, neither boy could tell which clouded over her so they simply settled on hugging her from both sides.
“Sorry, Yuffs,” Sora whispered apologetically. He shared a look wit Riku. “But if it makes you feel better-”
They both said, “-you could share our parents.”
3. Childhood
Sora and Riku laid back in the sand, hands cushioning their heads. The wide reach of the palm trees cast a patterned shadow over them. A cool breeze from the clear ocean wafted along the shore, ruffling the loose strands of their hair.
They recalled the days when it was just the two of them. They were inseparable: partners in crime, the dynamic duo, the best of friends. If you saw Sora sneak a cookie before dinnertime, it was Riku’s idea. If you saw Riku raiding the fridge at night, it was Sora’s idea.
The first to find a way between the two was a girl named Kairi. A sweet and gentle girl. She balanced the boys by adding her girlish traits into the pool. For any trouble they went through, Kairi would get them out, a little scolding afterwards. For any sugary substances snuck out of the midnight cabinet, Kairi put them back. She had always played the role of “mother” to them and it was apparent wherever they went.
Their friendship took root in childhood and grew towards adolescence. Everyone thought Kairi had finally made her place as the last corner of the triangle.
They were wrong.
Like all children, there must be a time for growing up. Kairi’s interests, like most girls’ in the blooming age, strayed elsewhere, away from the path the boys have taken. Words like forever, or love, or destiny suddenly became the only words she could say. That was fine. It was normal wasn’t it? The boys can tolerate a little bit osf distraction.
Then Kairi’s concerns wandered to a place neither Sora and Riku liked. She wanted to choose. That was her mistake.
“Two,” she said. “ It could only work with two.”
It hurt, the way she played them like that. To think that she would be satisfied in keeping the both them, that was their mistake. They thought she’d be different. They thought that all the time they’ve spent as children, as teens, she’d be satisfied with keeping their trio. They thought that she wasn’t one of “them”, one of those that solely believed in even numbers. They cut her off. Choosing was not allowed. And so, a childhood friend was lost; an empty space to gather dust.
“Hey! What’re you two doing?”
The lounging boys let out an exhaled, “Oof!” as a dark-haired girl jumped and draped herself across their stomachs.
“Nothing,” they said, once they regained their breath.
She murmured an unintelligible response as she maneuvered her body parallel in the gap between them. She snuggled in perfectly. She grabbed their hands from either side of her and placed them on the smooth skin of her exposed stomach. The numerous fingers arranged themselves in the complex pattern known only to the three.
She let out a contented sigh.
Riku turned his head to the right. “Yuffie…”
Sora turned his head to the left. “What are you thinking about?”
Yuffie squinted up at the slivers of bright sky showing through the slits in the palm leaves. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” She shook a bit with the attempt to hold in her grin, wanting to look cool and composed, but her smile was so big that the skin under her eyes crinkled.
The corners of the boys’ mouths twitched upward in turn. Their fingers tightened the puzzle they made on Yuffie’s abdomen.
Too violent, too loud, too Yuffie. She embodied the very opposite of Kairi. Nobody could even imagine her develop a friendship with the two, much less anything more than that. But they didn’t know. And probably never did.
Yuffie was brash. Reckless. Boyish. She got into fights with them of course. She got into trouble with them of course. But one thing that made her so much more than Kairi was that she understood.
She knew friendship. She knew love. She knew how delicate the boundary was between the two. And yet, she knew exactly how to combine them. And together they made three points of a triangle. Just like them.
Yuffie may not have been from their childhood, but she was more. She was from their present and their future and beyond.
4. Oranges
Everyday, Yuffie picked a random object to bestow all of her attention and imagination on. Riku and Sora loved that about her. Something new. Something spontaneous. Something fun. Like when the object was one of their boxers or the can of whipped cream they bought yesterday. Other days, they hated that about her. Like when the object was Leon or “the cute bag boy” at the grocery store.
Today’s object is an orange. Or oranges to be more specific.
Riku walked down the sidewalk, several plastic bags filled with oranges in each hand. The heavy rays of the sun beat down on his head. Sweat trickled down the side of his face. It was only noon but Yuffie had already used up their entire orange stock.
That morning, Riku woke up late, an hour or so before twelve o’ clock. He stepped into the kitchen to find Sora sitting at the counter and Yuffie tending to the stove. Sora looked to be devouring his breakfast. Yuffie was facing a convenient angle to ignore his (lack of) table manners.
Riku near the counter. A meticulously arranged meal lay waiting for him. His heart gave a small flutter at the sight. Yuffie always made the effort to keep the her attention even between Sora and him.
But there seemed to be a running theme in his gorgeous breakfast. A glass of orange juice. A platter of waffle sticks next to a jar of orange marmalade. A plate of omelet rice with a small bowl or orange sauce.
Riku raised an eyebrow. Oranges…?
Yuffie turned off the stove and put the pot she was boiling on one of the cooler unused squares. She turned and her eye’s lit up as she took in Riku’s form.
“Riku! Good morning!” she greeted cheerily. Hands on the smooth surface of the counter, Yuffie leaned towards him. Riku did the same and met her in the middle. His lips pursed as he tasted the orange in her mouth. Oranges were sour.
“Mornin’, Riku,” came a voice to his right. The loud smack of a wet kiss rang out as Sora smooched him on the cheek. They stayed like that for a while. Moments like this were too precious to let pass by in a fleeting moment.
They separated and returned to their previous positions. Sora resumed inhaling his food while Yuffie contented herself with just watching over Riku.
Riku sensed that she was waiting for feedback on her cooking and sat on the high chair to commence his eating. He tipped some marmalade on one of the waffles and put it in his mouth obediently. It was surprisingly tasty.
The astonishment must have shown on his face because she squealed happily, leaned in to kiss him and ran around to another part of the house.
Once he was finished eating (and washing the dishes), Riku ventured into the living room. His lack of surprise at the sight made him think of just how long he’s been with the two. Yuffie and Sora lay sprawled on the floor surrounded by bushels of oranges. Riku didn’t even know it was possible to do some of the things they were doing. Permanent markers, cardboard, glue, and oranges peels made (amazingly) accurate maps. Two lumpy bags of oranges stuffed in Sora’s shirt served as makeshift breasts. Two handfuls of oranges under Yuffie’s tank top made her look like she was pregnant with a mutant.
“Hey, Riku!” Yuffie waved at him. “ Look, I’m entering my third trimester!”
“And I’ll be breastfeeding!” Sora interjected. They glanced at Riku’s expression and burst out laughing.
Riku shook his head at their antics. “You guys are too weird.”
Sora cried in mock offense, “I resent that!”
Yuffie pointed at Riku and commanded,” For that insult, you are to venture to the store and replenish our supple of oranges!”
“Fine, fine.” He held his hands up in defeat.
And that’s how he ended up walking to their house with plastic bags full of oranges. As he made his way up the stairs, a thought occurred to him. Didn’t Aerith and Leon give them a massive amount, crates full, of oranges just last week? Riku calculated in his head. Even all that food, and all those maps, Yuffie couldn’t have possibly finished all those oranges.
The plastic bags he was carrying dropped to the floor with a thump, some escaped oranges rolled down the steps. Riku scrambled for his keys and opened the door. Rushing in, he spied them in a position he knew too well.
“Hey!” he yelled in outrage,” You started without me!”
So... here you go.
._.;;
Author: julliel
Warnings: none, I think
Rating: T
Pairings: Riku/Yuffie/Sora
1. Prologue
If someone had asked them before they met if they were happy, they’d say, “Yes” with a little bit of thought, and maybe some hesitation. Children don’t answer with seriousness too often, but they knew a somber question when they heard one. Adult voices ring with the clichéd “Think before you speak.”
Not that they’ve met and befriended and loved, they’d answer “Yes” without a moments hesitation, the entire light of the sun glowing from their smiles.
2. Parents
When Sora’s mother opened the door, Sora hid behind her skirt, peeking from the floral print. Across the threshold stood another little boy, perhaps a year or two older than he, hiding behind his own mother’s dress.
With gentle prods on their backs, Sora and the other boy, who later became known as Riku, greeted each other with stiff reluctance. As the bonds between their mothers deepened, so did the bonds between Sora and Riku. Both found it a great comfort that the other had no father.
Years later, they met the Great Ninja Yuffie. It wasn’t her official title but Sora and Riku found it in their hearts to humor her.
“Where are your parents?” Sora asked one day.
Yuffie stopped tossing her giant shuriken in the air. A moment of awkward silence passed before she answered softly,” They’re gone.”
“Why-” Sora started.
Riku slapped him on the back of his head. “Stupid boy,” he muttered.
Yuffie’s eyes glazed over. Nostalgia or sadness, neither boy could tell which clouded over her so they simply settled on hugging her from both sides.
“Sorry, Yuffs,” Sora whispered apologetically. He shared a look wit Riku. “But if it makes you feel better-”
They both said, “-you could share our parents.”
3. Childhood
Sora and Riku laid back in the sand, hands cushioning their heads. The wide reach of the palm trees cast a patterned shadow over them. A cool breeze from the clear ocean wafted along the shore, ruffling the loose strands of their hair.
They recalled the days when it was just the two of them. They were inseparable: partners in crime, the dynamic duo, the best of friends. If you saw Sora sneak a cookie before dinnertime, it was Riku’s idea. If you saw Riku raiding the fridge at night, it was Sora’s idea.
The first to find a way between the two was a girl named Kairi. A sweet and gentle girl. She balanced the boys by adding her girlish traits into the pool. For any trouble they went through, Kairi would get them out, a little scolding afterwards. For any sugary substances snuck out of the midnight cabinet, Kairi put them back. She had always played the role of “mother” to them and it was apparent wherever they went.
Their friendship took root in childhood and grew towards adolescence. Everyone thought Kairi had finally made her place as the last corner of the triangle.
They were wrong.
Like all children, there must be a time for growing up. Kairi’s interests, like most girls’ in the blooming age, strayed elsewhere, away from the path the boys have taken. Words like forever, or love, or destiny suddenly became the only words she could say. That was fine. It was normal wasn’t it? The boys can tolerate a little bit osf distraction.
Then Kairi’s concerns wandered to a place neither Sora and Riku liked. She wanted to choose. That was her mistake.
“Two,” she said. “ It could only work with two.”
It hurt, the way she played them like that. To think that she would be satisfied in keeping the both them, that was their mistake. They thought she’d be different. They thought that all the time they’ve spent as children, as teens, she’d be satisfied with keeping their trio. They thought that she wasn’t one of “them”, one of those that solely believed in even numbers. They cut her off. Choosing was not allowed. And so, a childhood friend was lost; an empty space to gather dust.
“Hey! What’re you two doing?”
The lounging boys let out an exhaled, “Oof!” as a dark-haired girl jumped and draped herself across their stomachs.
“Nothing,” they said, once they regained their breath.
She murmured an unintelligible response as she maneuvered her body parallel in the gap between them. She snuggled in perfectly. She grabbed their hands from either side of her and placed them on the smooth skin of her exposed stomach. The numerous fingers arranged themselves in the complex pattern known only to the three.
She let out a contented sigh.
Riku turned his head to the right. “Yuffie…”
Sora turned his head to the left. “What are you thinking about?”
Yuffie squinted up at the slivers of bright sky showing through the slits in the palm leaves. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” She shook a bit with the attempt to hold in her grin, wanting to look cool and composed, but her smile was so big that the skin under her eyes crinkled.
The corners of the boys’ mouths twitched upward in turn. Their fingers tightened the puzzle they made on Yuffie’s abdomen.
Too violent, too loud, too Yuffie. She embodied the very opposite of Kairi. Nobody could even imagine her develop a friendship with the two, much less anything more than that. But they didn’t know. And probably never did.
Yuffie was brash. Reckless. Boyish. She got into fights with them of course. She got into trouble with them of course. But one thing that made her so much more than Kairi was that she understood.
She knew friendship. She knew love. She knew how delicate the boundary was between the two. And yet, she knew exactly how to combine them. And together they made three points of a triangle. Just like them.
Yuffie may not have been from their childhood, but she was more. She was from their present and their future and beyond.
4. Oranges
Everyday, Yuffie picked a random object to bestow all of her attention and imagination on. Riku and Sora loved that about her. Something new. Something spontaneous. Something fun. Like when the object was one of their boxers or the can of whipped cream they bought yesterday. Other days, they hated that about her. Like when the object was Leon or “the cute bag boy” at the grocery store.
Today’s object is an orange. Or oranges to be more specific.
Riku walked down the sidewalk, several plastic bags filled with oranges in each hand. The heavy rays of the sun beat down on his head. Sweat trickled down the side of his face. It was only noon but Yuffie had already used up their entire orange stock.
That morning, Riku woke up late, an hour or so before twelve o’ clock. He stepped into the kitchen to find Sora sitting at the counter and Yuffie tending to the stove. Sora looked to be devouring his breakfast. Yuffie was facing a convenient angle to ignore his (lack of) table manners.
Riku near the counter. A meticulously arranged meal lay waiting for him. His heart gave a small flutter at the sight. Yuffie always made the effort to keep the her attention even between Sora and him.
But there seemed to be a running theme in his gorgeous breakfast. A glass of orange juice. A platter of waffle sticks next to a jar of orange marmalade. A plate of omelet rice with a small bowl or orange sauce.
Riku raised an eyebrow. Oranges…?
Yuffie turned off the stove and put the pot she was boiling on one of the cooler unused squares. She turned and her eye’s lit up as she took in Riku’s form.
“Riku! Good morning!” she greeted cheerily. Hands on the smooth surface of the counter, Yuffie leaned towards him. Riku did the same and met her in the middle. His lips pursed as he tasted the orange in her mouth. Oranges were sour.
“Mornin’, Riku,” came a voice to his right. The loud smack of a wet kiss rang out as Sora smooched him on the cheek. They stayed like that for a while. Moments like this were too precious to let pass by in a fleeting moment.
They separated and returned to their previous positions. Sora resumed inhaling his food while Yuffie contented herself with just watching over Riku.
Riku sensed that she was waiting for feedback on her cooking and sat on the high chair to commence his eating. He tipped some marmalade on one of the waffles and put it in his mouth obediently. It was surprisingly tasty.
The astonishment must have shown on his face because she squealed happily, leaned in to kiss him and ran around to another part of the house.
Once he was finished eating (and washing the dishes), Riku ventured into the living room. His lack of surprise at the sight made him think of just how long he’s been with the two. Yuffie and Sora lay sprawled on the floor surrounded by bushels of oranges. Riku didn’t even know it was possible to do some of the things they were doing. Permanent markers, cardboard, glue, and oranges peels made (amazingly) accurate maps. Two lumpy bags of oranges stuffed in Sora’s shirt served as makeshift breasts. Two handfuls of oranges under Yuffie’s tank top made her look like she was pregnant with a mutant.
“Hey, Riku!” Yuffie waved at him. “ Look, I’m entering my third trimester!”
“And I’ll be breastfeeding!” Sora interjected. They glanced at Riku’s expression and burst out laughing.
Riku shook his head at their antics. “You guys are too weird.”
Sora cried in mock offense, “I resent that!”
Yuffie pointed at Riku and commanded,” For that insult, you are to venture to the store and replenish our supple of oranges!”
“Fine, fine.” He held his hands up in defeat.
And that’s how he ended up walking to their house with plastic bags full of oranges. As he made his way up the stairs, a thought occurred to him. Didn’t Aerith and Leon give them a massive amount, crates full, of oranges just last week? Riku calculated in his head. Even all that food, and all those maps, Yuffie couldn’t have possibly finished all those oranges.
The plastic bags he was carrying dropped to the floor with a thump, some escaped oranges rolled down the steps. Riku scrambled for his keys and opened the door. Rushing in, he spied them in a position he knew too well.
“Hey!” he yelled in outrage,” You started without me!”
So... here you go.
._.;;