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Solstice

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By: oathk33p3r

Disclaimer: I wish.

OH MY. I couldn't concentrate with my computer going RRRRRRRRRRRR!

Characters

-Kairi
-Sora
-Roxas
-Mr. Narumi

-- - - Chapter Six - --

+Beware+

+Sora+

"You may come in now."

A nurse dressed in a clean, white dress with a clipboard clutched to her breast stepped aside from the door. On another day, the faint sound of warm blood pulsing through her veins would've made Sora lose his lasting sanity, but this wasn't another day. He was obliged to finally get up the stiff, plastic chairs of the waiting room. The sun had set long before, and the parking lot was nearly empty.

Sora gave the mousy nurse a small nod and went inside the small, composed room. Like the halls, the floor was white and polished to the point where he was able to see his worried, blue eyes look back at him.

He advanced towards the only bed in the room with swift and silent strides. After making sure that the bandaged human was the girl he had been waiting for, Sora sat himself on the stool by the head of the bed.

Despite the fact that her neck was bruised and nearly half her face was strapped in bandages, Kairi's breaths were slow and even. Anger surged through his body again as he recalled the argument he had with Roxas a few hours ago. He could've dashed off with Kairi if he wanted to, but he simply hurt her to see Sora's reaction. Now that he confirmed Sora's connections with the human, Roxas was surely going to kill Kairi the next time they crossed paths.

After fuming over Roxas, Sora calmed down and focused on Kairi again. He decided to describe her as almost angelic and peaceful. Her hair was free from the clip she usually used to bind her hair together on the back of her head, making them flow past her heart-shaped face and down to her shoulders. A few strands were covering her face.

Before he knew it, Sora was tenderly brushing the auburn hair away from the girl's closed eyes and gently tucking it behind her ears. Her eyelids slightly flickered at the touch and she moved her head towards Sora's hand before continuing to sleep soundly.

Surprised, but not shocked, he moved his hand away from her face and brought it to her wrist instead. He took her thin, bruised wrist and put it by his ear.

It played a melody of "lubs" and "dubs." After a few moments of listening to the rhythm of Kairi's heartbeat, Sora realized that he was being pulled in by the temptation of evil and roughly pulled his hands away from the girl. Disgusted by himself, he got up from the seat and marched towards the door.

But a faint voice stopped him.

"Don't leave me," it whispered.

Sora turned around and rushed back to Kairi's side.

She was still asleep, but her pulse was faster and her breathing wasn't as soft as before. After thinking things over, Sora slowly sat back down on the seat and tentatively patted Kairi's hand.

"Shh, everything will be all right," he murmured with such softness that one would've thought he was speaking to an infant.

He could've sworn that those soft, rosy lips turned up in a small smile.

Sora leaned over and got a closer look of the girl's face. Humans were so vulnerable when asleep; the last time he slept was the day before he turned into the monster he was now. She was an islander, yet she didn't have a single trace of a freckle on her nose and cheeks; her skin was even clearer and smoother than he thought.

His eyes memorized every line and curve of Kairi's face. This human interested him in a way that was different from anything else he had experienced before. He didn't want to know how her blood would taste on his tongue, he didn't want to know how long it would take to drain all the blood out of her, he didn't want to know how long she would take to die…no, none of these evil questions that usually filled his mind upon the thought of forbidden, human blood came across him.

He wanted to know what made her smile so sweetly, just like she did a few seconds ago; he wanted to know her favorite things in the world and the things that made her angry; he wanted to know everything about her.

He had gotten so close that his eyelashes nearly brushed against her cheeks. He felt like he was hit by a sledgehammer when he inhaled the sweet, warm scent of Kairi. The pair of dangerous knives immediately slid out of his gums and demanded his lips to part. Saliva welled up under his tongue and his fingers dug into the side of the bed.

No…

This wasn't what he wanted. He tried to fight back those treacherous fangs, but they seemed to tug his mouth closer to the curve of Kairi's neck. His knuckles turned whiter than his skin as he tried to stop, but he couldn't.

The temptation was too great.

His lips grazed on the flesh of the girl's throat, and then he pulled back with all the willpower he managed to scrape up.

It was just a kiss.

A small kiss, nothing sinful.

-Kairi-

The familiar bell tinkled softly as the door swung open, bringing in a warm gust of wind from outside.

Kairi was too nervous to notice. After speeding after Sora on her bike for a few blocks, she realized that she left the shop unattended and had to rush back. She planned on going to the hospital once Selphie returned, which was in half an hour.

"Aren't you supposed to greet me with 'hello, welcome to Flowers for Destiny'?"

Kairi snapped her head up and nearly fell off her chair. She was surprised to see that it was the albino stranger from a few days ago.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't notice you came in, sir. May I help you?"

The customer, who had been bending over a few bachelor's buttons, straightened up and turned around to face Kairi. He plucked one of the small, blue-violet flowers and gave her a smile that reminded her of a full moon hiding behind wispy clouds of fog.

"God must have painted this with the same color as your eyes," he said while twirling it in his fingers.

"Are you looking for anything in particular, sir?" she asked, ignoring his comment. She held back on some of the sweetness this time.

"You're a florist. Surely, you must know what each of these flowers mean, am I right?"

Yes, he was right; she had studied every single flower before bringing them into the shop. The one he was holding meant "single blessedness," but of course she didn't say it out loud.

The stranger smiled as if he read her mind and continued.

"Well, I'm looking for a bouquet of begonias. Please make sure they're not bruised or anything; I want them to be perfect for a special someone."

Kairi quickly went around her shop and gathered a dozen, full-blossomed flowers with white petals that seemed to have been dipped in faint red. She always thought they looked like ruffled dresses, and preferred them to the classic roses. The petals seemed to have no beginning or end.

After wrapping the bouquet in plastic and tying the flowers with a red ribbon, she charged the stranger fifty munny and finally sent him off. The cash register clicked open and she dropped each orb into its proper slot.

Instead of counting five large yellow and blue orbs, she counted seven.

"Oh, no," she gasped. She pocketed the twenty extra munny and barged out of the store. She climbed onto her bike for the third time that day and pedaled after the customer.

Luckily, he was by the nearby bookshop, flipping through one of the new releases displayed outside the shop. The bouquet of begonias was tucked under his arm.

"Sir, you forgot your change!" she exclaimed.

But suddenly, Kairi couldn't see the stranger anymore; in fact, she couldn't see anything at all.

And then she couldn't feel anything either.

At one moment during her time in the dark, she saw Sora's soft, blue eyes looking down at her. But after a few second, they were gone. She screamed after him several times, hoping that he was able to hear her. Unfortunately, she didn't see him again, but felt his soothing voice caressing her body within seconds after her cry. She wasn't so scared of the dark anymore.

"Kairi," a voice called out to her.

Kairi stirred awake and was blinded by the light flooding into the room through the opened window.

Sora?

After her eyes had adjusted, she turned to see the man hovering over her.

It was her most favorite face in the world.

"Dad!"

She got up and wrapped her arms around the neck of her father.

"Honey, I was so worried. I heard you got hurt and rushed over as soon as I could. Are you all right now?"

Kairi giggled at her father's concerned expression.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Besides being extremely hungry, I'm fine, Dad."

Her father didn't seem convinced, but loosened his grip on his daughter's shoulders. He gave a wry smile and stroked Kairi's hair.

"Thank goodness. I thought you would never wake up," he said softly.

Kairi raised a brow in confusion.

"How long was I asleep?"

"It's been nearly three days now," he answered.

As her father explained, Kairi looked around the room she had been in the past few days for the first time. There was evidence proving that someone had been living here for a while. A sleeping bag was tossed in the corner, a few bottles of water were on the stand next to the bed, and a pile of magazines was stacked by the door.

"Daddy…you've been here with me the entire time?" she asked.

Her father's face immediately fell and he coughed a few times into his sleeve.

"Um, about that…" her father's eyes seemed to fill with unreasonable guilt.

"I just came back from Radiant Garden this morning. I had…business to attend to. It was on such a short notice that I didn't have time to tell you, honey. I'm really sorry. If I had known earlier, I would've come back sooner."

"Oh, I see…"

Kairi looked back at the pile of magazines. Her father followed her gaze and then turned back to face his daughter.

"About that, a kid named Sora's been around. He never left your side. I told him to go home and rest up a bit." After a brief pause, he carefully asked: "Are you dating him, Kairi?"

Kairi's mouth fell open and she gave her father an incredulous look.

"Dad, you know that I won't be dating anyone until I move out. Do you really think I would break your promise like that?"

Her father looked flustered as he coughed a bit more and squirmed in his seat.

"No, it's not that, honey. I was just worried and wanted to make sure. I mean, I'm not saying that he's a bad guy; in fact, he's quite a gentleman from what I see."

He sure got that right.

"But you can never trust guys before you're married, Kairi. One moment they can be a rabbit and then turn into a monster the next. Especially when-"

"Dad, please don't start the don't-have-sex talk with me again. First of all, I'm not stupid. Second of all, I'm not dating him. Third of all, I hardly even know the guy."

Kairi plopped back onto the small, hospital bed and pulled the covers up to her chin.

Why was Sora by her side the past few days?

"Oh, and you got a bouquet from someone; I put them in a vase for you."

Kairi turned her head to see a vase of flowers she hadn't noticed before.

It was obvious that the flowers were maltreated, judging by the bruised petals.

"I found them stuffed in the trashcan."

Kairi reached out and touched the tender, white and red, ruffled dresses.

They were begonias.