Seek the Stars

IV

This Safe Place had far less light than Axel’s Safe Place, as though it were muted. There was light there, a brilliant red and blue and white and yellow light, but it was trapped beneath grey clouds. Why? What made this Safe Place different? The fingers touch sticky gauze, the grey, and realization dawns. This Safe Place belonged to Roxas who shared a Safe Place with Sora. That wouldn’t do. The two were like night and day, different despite being the same. They should be separate. But how to do that?

Ponder for a while. Couldn’t go back to Axel’s Safe Place, but think. What did Axel’s Safe Place have that Roxas’ Safe Place didn’t?

Light.

But how to separate Roxas from Sora?

Think. Of course! Sora had his own light, Roxas didn’t. So Roxas needed a light of his own! But where to get that light? Axel’s Safe Place was full of light, but that was Axel’s light. Think. Roxas needed light. What was light? What made light bright? Hearts. Hearts created light, and since Roxas didn’t have a heart of his own, he had no light. Well, maybe that should be fixed.

Fingers delve into the grey, poking and prodding, peeling back the shroud as if it were simply a rind on a fruit, pulling the grey away from Sora’s light. The grey was reluctant to let go, but eventually, it peeled away leaving the hands full of sticky grey cloud. When it refuses to glow on its own, confusion sweeps in until realization comes from a long-shadowed memory. Holding Roxas’ grey in one hand, the other delves into the body’s chest, peeling back the shell of skin to get at the piece of Self within. That Self glimmers and shines with an inextinguishable light and at once the answer is found. That Self and Roxas’ Grey came together when the hands clap and for a moment the grey bulges and grows like a toy volcano if you add too much baking soda. But the bulging stops soon enough, and then the Grey just simply sits there in the palms, doing nothing. Why won’t it glow? Was something wrong? Before a sigh could escape in a defeatist manner, the Grey began to swirl around the Self like gases swirling to create a star. Maybe it was a star that was forming, for a tiny pinprick of light appeared in the center of the Grey.

Over the few hours, that pinprick grew larger, until the Grey became a swirling mass of sky blue and royal purple with hues of red and orange swirling closer to the center. A steady pulse came from the Grey and a Heart was born. A smile. Now this Safe Place could be left, but first some sleep. Yes. Sleep sounds good.


Sora rubbed his temples as if to alleviate a headache. He’d fallen asleep an hour after Cid had arrived to get both him and Riku and the next think he saw when he woke up was Aerith’s face close to his own as she set a cool cloth on his forehead. He’d immediately protested, saying he was fine and was going to get up when Riku appeared and simply stared at him with an odd look in his aquamarine eyes. Sora chose to stay in bed for another couple hours and when he was allowed to get up, he went in search of his boyfriend.

He found Riku standing on the precipice of the Great Maw, staring off into the distance at something. Slowly, the brunette approached and put an arm around Riku’s waist.

“What’s wrong?” Sora asked softly.

“It feels familiar.” Riku answered. “This place, parts of it. Like I’ve been here before, but it wasn’t me.”

“Maybe you’re remembering things from your time in the Darkness. I mean, we did get screwed up in the castle.”

Riku didn’t look too sure. “Maybe.”

“C’mon, let’s go back. Maybe someone has some information for us.”

Riku nodded slightly and turned to follow Sora back into the town, wondering why it felt like there were eyes on his back. Leon – whose real name was Squall, Riku had learned – and Cloud met them at the entrance to the village. Almost right away, Riku was on edge, staring at Cloud as though the man would suddenly leap upon him and strangle him. Cloud seemed to react almost the same way to Riku, though a look crossed his face that was painful, as if a memory had come forward unbidden and opened a horrible wound.

Sora didn’t notice. “What’s up?”

Leon flicked a glance to Cloud. “Sephiroth’s been sighted. Since you beat the shit out of him, we had a feeling he’d try to return the favour.”

Cloud made an agreeing noise, blue Mako eyes on Riku’s aquamarine. Neither said a word.

“You don’t really think he’d try?” Sora asked, pulling Riku with him as he hurried after Leon.

Leon shrugged. Cloud snorted.

Safe within Merlin’s house Riku and Sora were treated to a nice lunch of peach tea and cheese sandwiches. The conversation changed from Sora’s stories of what happened after he left Radiant Garden, to Destiny Island, to Kairi’s kidnapping and then to any stories and information Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid had to tell. Cloud stayed ever silent, staring at Riku.

Aerith looked over to the blonde and frowned. “Cloud? Is something wrong?”

Mako blue flicked to Aerith. Slowly Cloud shook his head. “No. Nothing’s wrong.”

“Are you sure?”

Cloud grunted and Aerith let it drop with a sigh. Conversation resumed to normal. Riku soon excused himself to go for a walk and Cloud quickly followed. Sora was next, hurrying to find his boyfriend and the anti-social spike-head, hoping they weren’t killing each other. Instead he found the two just about to square off, Riku’s hand tightening around the hilt of Way to Dawn as Cloud’s tightened on his Buster Sword. They never moved, at least as far as Sora could see, and the moment Cloud made to shove off at the silver-haired boy, he quickly changed direction and launched himself at Sora. The brunette gave a strangled yell and fell back against the black leather-clad legs that certainly didn’t belong to Leon.

Shit.

Sora ducked forward and executed Dodge Roll just before Cloud impacted. He slung himself toward Riku, staring up into the wide eyes of his boyfriend. Above, swords crashed together, over and over, and the two teenagers looked up at the continuation of a battle that had been raging for years. Cloud broke away and pointed at the younger pair, saying something they couldn’t hear. Whatever it was, it made Sephiroth pause, his sword falling to his side as he relaxed his stance and turned a piercing green gaze onto Sora. No. Not Sora. Riku.

Cloud pointed again, more emphatic.

“What is he saying?” Sora asked, growing as tense as Riku.

“I wish I knew.”

Sephiroth’s head swung back to Cloud and Cloud simply nodded at whatever had been said. As if a truce had been called, both Cloud and Sephiroth maneuvered their way down to Riku and Sora. Cloud pulled Sora to the side and the brunette almost protested. Until he really looked at Sephiroth and Riku.

Sora nearly choked.

Except for Riku’s lighter eyes and slighter build, they looked identical. Cloud seemed exceptionally proud.

“Cloud? What’s going on?” Sora asked.

“I remembered.” Cloud replied quietly. “I remembered and I remembered I’d promised to tell. So I did.”

It obviously made sense to Cloud, so Sora didn’t push. But neither did he stay by Cloud’s side, moving back over to Riku and taking hold of his hand so there was no mistaking who Riku belonged to. An elegant silver eyebrow rose. Riku simply blushed.
“Sora.” Sephiroth said easily, as if he were greeting an old friend.

“Sephiroth.” Sora replied in an equally colourless voice.

Sephiroth’s lips twitched into a smirk. Sora thought he was very brave indeed when he didn’t flinch. “What are you doing, Sora?”

“Riku is mine.”

“So I understand. However, Riku also belongs to me and so if you’d let go, I won’t kill you.”

“Riku doesn’t belong to you!”

“Sora.”

“Shut up, Riku.”

“Sora, he says he’s my father.”

“Shut– what?”

Sora turned to look at Riku, looking into those aquamarine eyes and frowning. “Your father?”

Riku nodded. “I don’t quite understand it myself but… yeah. Sephiroth is my father.”

Sora looked back to Sephiroth then and prudently stepped behind Riku. Sephiroth just stared at him over Riku’s shoulder and Sora felt Cloud shift and ready himself for an attack if he had to. Finally, all seemed like it would finally settle down, and Riku finally moved a step forward, reaching out to touch Sephiroth, as if to assure himself the man was real.

“Isn’t that cute? The family is almost back together.”

The four turned almost as one to stare up at a quartet of black-hooded figures up on the small cliff overlooking the construction site. Only one of the four seemed to be having fun, while the others seemed almost a little miserable.

“What do you know?” Sephiroth snapped.

“Oh, enough,” the female one of the group replied. “We all know about you Sephiroth. What you did to him.”

Sephiroth twitched. The female continued. “Don’t tell me you forgot. He’s going to be upset you know. Who else have you forgotten? Oh, What about your eldest? What about the rest of us? And Cloud, don’t think you’re off the hook either. Or Cid.”

Sora thought a storm was coming until he realized it was Sephiroth snarling. “Who are you?”

“Guess.” The four said in unison.

“We’re only here to deliver a message to Sora the Keyblade Master and Riku the Shadow-walker.”

“Time is running out, one has fallen. Not the princess, but her knight’s shadow. If you’ve forgotten look in a mirror.”

“Come to the place where those who are forgotten gather. Then you’ll get Kairi back.”

Sora snarled viciously. “Stop playing games!”

“Who’s playing?” the smallest asked. “You’ll find the place or you won’t. There is no maybe. Here’s a clue. Both you and Sephiroth can find the way, maybe Cloud if he tried.”

A black portal swirled up behind the four, and the smallest let go of a paper airplane made from photo paper. One by one, the cloaked quartet disappeared into the portal and just as Sephiroth caught the paper airplane, the portal had closed. He unfolded the airplane and stared at the photo. Cloud peered over his shoulder and let out an animalistic sound of rage. On the glossy paper stood an image of Sephiroth without his wing surrounded by two other people. Their faces were obscured: a girl’s and a man’s. Riku shuddered.

“What is it?” Sora asked in a whisper.

Riku looked at his boyfriend and tried to smile. “I think the one next to the girl is my mom.”

“Which one?”

“The one with the belt.”

Sora swallowed and kept his mouth shut. There was a look in Sephiroth’s eyes that threatened to kill the next person that spoke and Sora didn’t feel like dying today.