Chapter 10 - Chances

Chapter 10

~Melanie~

        We touched down in the field out back of Cid’s house (you know, where the rocket used to be). Cid managed to get Riku out of the ship, with me hovering over him like a vulture. Yuffie didn’t fail to notice this, and proceeded to make mental comments about “eye candy” and so forth. I so was busy complaining about this, I didn’t watch where I was going. Which was how I ended up sprawled on the grass, gazing up into a face not unlike my own, complete with glasses (Although I usually wear contacts, sometimes I’m too lazy to put them in.)

        “Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry!” she said nervously as I got to my feet.

        “That’s okay, I should’ve been watching where I was going.” I reassured her.

        Cid passed by carrying Riku and muttering obscenities under his breath. “Get me some @#$% tea, woman, don’t just stand there!” he yelled over his shoulder as her went through the door.

        “Well well well, someone’s in a bad mood.” Yuffie commented as she sauntered up.

        “Oh, hello Yuffie,” Shera said. “Would you like some tea, too?”

        “No thanks, I’m feeling kinda sick...you know,” Yuffie jerked her thumb at the gummi ship.

        “Me, too,” I said, not wanting to embarrass Shera by pointing out that I didn’t like tea.

        “Oh, I’m sorry! I haven’t even introduced myself,” Shera said, flustered. “My name is Sher-”

        She was cut off my Cid shouting, “Hurry up with that @#$% tea!!”

        Once everyone was comfortably settled around the kitchen table, with Cid (somewhat) pacified by the tea, we discussed our plans. “I gonna head over to Junon to deliver the supplies. Are you two coming with?”

        Yuffie made a face. “No, thanks! I’m not getting back on a gummi ship that soon. I’ll take the chocobo.”

        My face lit up. “A chocobo?! Really?!!”

        Yuffie laughed. “I guess she’s not coming either, Cid.” Then, turning to me, “Come on, he’s out back. I’ll show you.”

        She pushed her chair back from the table. Cid also got up to leave, leaving an empty tea mug behind. He was out the door, and I was about to follow when I remembered something.

        “I’ll be there in a minute,” I told Yuffie, who shrugged and followed Cid outside. “Shera, could you do something for me?” I asked.

       Shera looked up from the mug she’d been cleaning. “What is it?”

        “You know that boy?”She nodded. “His name is Riku. If he wakes up, tell him that we’ll be back by tomorrow.” I turned to leave, then added, “Tell him not to worry, the darkness can’t get him now.” Shera looked puzzled, but reassured me that she’d take care of him. I went into the living room, to check on him, where he was sprawled on a couch, still knocked out. I’d been so worried about him after I’d finished playing Kingdom Hearts. How could anyone survive the darkness for that long? It looked like he’d be okay now. His chest was slowly rising and falling with his breath. I took it as a good sign, then left to join Yuffie.

        I found her in the back yard, feeding the chocobo. It wasn’t tied up, since the yard was fenced in, and once it caught sight of me trotted over to investigate. “Hello, birdie,” I said, holding out a hand to him. I was a little nervous- that beak was sharp looking!- but to my surprise he presented his head to be scratched, just like any garden variety parakeet. I willingly obliged, stroking the glossy feathers. I couldn’t help but notice that they were gold, the rarest color of all.

        “Wow, you’re some bird!” I told him.

        “Wa-a-a-rk!” it crooned happily.

        Yuffie, having caught up with the curious bird by now, told me, “Yeah, Cloud went on a chocobo breeding stint once, but you know that already.” She began to pet the chocobo too, who seemed to be in his idea of heaven. “Tweety sort of belongs collectively to all of us, but Barret takes care of him.”

        “Barret?” I asked incredulously, thinking of the strong, gun-armed black man. “He doesn’t really seem the chocobo-raising type.”

        Yuffie giggled. “Tweety is Marlene’s pet,” she explained. “We gave him to her after he retired from racing, for her birthday. They live with Elmyra (Aerith’s foster mother, for those with short memories) in Kalm now, so they have plenty of room for him.”

        “I see,” I said, picturing the small, rural town in my mind. Abruptly, a picture of Marlene gallivanting around on Tweety’s back popped into my head, courtesy of Yuffie. We both burst into laughter as she added a frantic Barret running after them, waving his gun-arm and shouting for them to come back. Yuffie’s laughter was cut off as she caught sight of something behind me. A slow grin spread across her face and she whispered, “Eye candy at twelve o’clock.”


        I spun around so fast I nearly tripped, and was paralyzed by a pair of aqua eyes. I struggled not to blush in my embarrassment, and stammered “H-hello,” I was answered by an equally quiet version of the greeting. I then stared at the ground, Riku stared at me, and Yuffie stared at both of us, mentally urging me, ‘Say something!’ I tried, I really did, but my mind just kinda...came up empty. So Yuffie finally filled in, shaking her head at both of us.

        “You’re up early,” she said in a deliberately cheerful manner. “How’re you feeling?”

         “All right,” he claimed, then, more hesitantly said, “I’d like to talk with you,”

        “Okay,” Yuffie chirped, and we trailed him back into the house, leaving a disappointed Tweety behind.

        I sat down in an armchair across from the couch where Riku had placed himself. Yuffie, determined not to be deprived of another opportunity to tease me, squeezed right in next to me, pushing me off balance and embarrassing me (again). ‘You need to lighten up,’ she told me as I tried to squirm into a more comfortable position.

        “So...” she began, (since I still couldn’t get my brain to function properly) “you’re Sora’s best friend, huh?”

        “You know Sora?” Riku asked, surprised.

        Yuffie nodded, “Yeah, we’re friends of his. He’s told us about you”

        I could see he had about a million questions, but so did I. Eventually I couldn’t stand it anymore and asked, “How did you know we were...in a position to help you?” I finished awkwardly.

        “King Mickey said that someone was coming, before he left.” Riku seemed to be staring into space.

        “He left?” I blurted, shocked.

        “He said there were some deeds that he needed to do. I didn’t want him to go, I was getting so weak...” I wasn’t surprised. Ansem himself had said in one of his reports that the body was too frail to endure pure darkness. “He told me not to worry, that someone would come for me.” King Mickey sure knew a lot, I decided.

        “So, then you started calling for us?” Yuffie asked.

        “You heard that?” Riku was surprised. “I wasn’t saying anything aloud.”

         “Well, duh, we heard you! We even told you we were coming!” Yuffie snorted.

        ‘He was barely conscious, I’m surprised he can remember anything,’ I scolded her mentally. Then I explained to Riku, “We sort of heard you in our heads,”

        Yuffie tapped the side of my head for emphasis, nearly giving me a concussion in the process. “It’s called telepathy,” she corrected. I lapsed into silence, not knowing what else to say. Even Yuffie seemed to have given up on making Riku more talkative. The only sound was the clinking of dishes in the kitchen, where Shera was cleaning up.

        “Well...” Riku finally broke the silence, “I just wanted to thank you.”

        “Anytime!” said Yuffie. “We’re just always going around yanking people out of dark portals.” I rolled my eyes. The sarcasm seemed to have gone right over Riku’s head, however (either that or he was deliberately ignoring it).

        “You told that lady to tell me I was safe from the darkness now,” he murmured, looking at the floor. “Well, I’m not. I’ll never be, not after being shut behind that door.” He looked up and pinned me with those eyes again. “They’ll be looking for me.”

        It was my turn to look at the floor. “That’s all right,” I said. “They’re looking for me, too.” “What?!” Yuffie and Riku exclaimed at the same time. “Before I woke up in Traverse Town, I had a dream.” I began. “There were two voices. One said that I had an illness of the heart. The other said that I could be useful, and to keep an eye on me.” I sighed, and finished, “They want to take it from me and infest other people, so the heartless can take their hearts more easily.”

       “B-but,”Yuffie stammered.

        “You heard what Leon said!” I said in frustration, my voice louder than I had meant it to be. “He might as well have told me ‘Tough luck kid. Hope you die sooner than later!’”

        “Leon might seem uncaring, but I know he thinks you have a chance.” Yuffie said, squeezing even closer (if that was possible) to comfort me.

        “She’s right,” Riku said causing up both to look up in surprise. “You do have a chance. If your heart is strong enough, and you hold on to your memories, and to the light, you’ll make it.” He was looking at me again, but this time I didn’t look away. “That’s how I survived.”

        “Then,” I said, without dropping my gaze, “you have a chance, too.” I could’ve looked at his eyes forever, but Yuffie completely ruined the moment, by interjecting “Are you two gonna have a staring contest, or are we gonna get moving?” I blushed and immediately looked away, and Riku, amazingly, laughed.

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