Thanks to...
Mirae-no-Sekai for reviewing (Thanks for the warning... They really do. ^_^ I'm glad to hear that they still sound sweet after all this, LOL. Haha, A. they were on a bed in some private room wherever they're staying at the time—I vote Mysterious Tower—and B. thaaaank you! :DDD It's really almost over—you have a couple drabbles left, and then...! At least it's online so you can reread it. I'm glad you enjoyed reading this so much! (Haha, well, it's already missing an arm... ooh, ow, and an eye... Why, thank you—although it's a little creepy to know you have good aim in common with Xigbar. -_-),
Nozomi Illuminated for the favorite story,
DemyxAxelfan225 for the favorite story,
RoseOfADifferentColor for the review (Thank you so very much! I'm glad you liked it! Haha, couldn't have timed it any better, really. Thank you; that's probably the most rewarding thought/feeling in the whole drabble... Haha, and we know they'll always fight together. ^_^ Thank you, thank you, thank you, and since you told me to, I will be very proud of this. Thank you! See ya soon.),
LoveBri for reviewing (*Sniffle. It's over... :( But at least this is online so you can reread pretty easily, plus you've got this whole chapter left. Thank you so much! And thanks again for deciding to read this when you did. ^_^ I'm glad you enjoyed the ride! (Also, forgive the shameless self-advertising, but if you haven't read it yet, OHS on my profile is the exact same idea and format as this if you want some more reading...)),
DGMSilverAirHead03 for reviewing (It's almost... over... I'm gonna cry now... XD Well, I hope you're not too sad to enjoy the bonuses.), and
SJ for reviewing! (Haha, I really, really hope she does—she'd make a nice addition to all the FF characters already in KH, plus break up the group a little. XDD Hope probably stole one of the giant machines again and got separated while the two of them are out on their own... Amen to that!)
So, as promised, I bring to you chapter 101 of "Strength and Courage," full of outtakes and a few other bonuses I couldn't justify posting by themselves... Let's get started!
As I explained to Knight-Dawn once, most of these drabbles were written the day they were posted, which didn't often leave a lot of room to have an entire other drabble written. There were, however, some that got to be too long, or sometimes I had one written the day before and changed my mind before posting. This is one of the former, and it's also one of my favorites. The full, unedited version of #26, "Fate," had some side jokes that I had to take out, but they're truly part of Disney's incarnation of the Fates...
"So... that means Xehanort's... dead?" Riku would probably be laughing at Sora's twisted-up "confused" face with Lea right now if he wasn't equally mind-blown.
"He was dead," the Fate proclaims, sticking her nose up in the air—and considering the length of her nose, she makes an impression. "He has created a new thread of life for himself."
"He's hardly the first, however," the short one says. She has the eye at the moment, for which Riku is thankful; she doesn't have a second empty eye socket blinking at him... "There was a girl just recently—"
"Xion?"
Sora tosses a slightly-less-confused glance at Riku; Lea casts a very concerned glance in his direction.
The green Fate chuckles, twisting a wormy strand of yellow hair in her fingers. "Oh, that one—we haven't cut her string."
"Yet," the hook-nose Fate adds.
Riku laughs in relief all the same.
I debated whether I should include this one in here or not—#28, "Alone Again," is pretty much an early version of #39, "Torture," but as this was centered around Riku being alone, this one has some lines and ideas that I couldn't justify putting in "Torture" but still liked.
"Get out of here," Roxas hisses, shrugging out of Naminé's grip. "This is all your fault—if I lose my best friends—"
"Please, Roxas," Naminé begs, pulling in his arm. Roxas heeds her plea, turns away; Naminé sends Riku a sympathetic look before running back to Xion.
Sora claps Riku on the shoulder from behind, but Riku doesn't move. He feels disconnected, like this is a nightmare his body is in but his conscious is far away—somewhere with Xion's, maybe.
But for now, even before Sora slips away to heal Lea, he's all alone in his misery once more.
#48, "Harmony," was in a similar situation as #26, "Fate," if a little shorter. It has a running gag I have for Atlantica—you have that many shirtless, extremely fit and muscular guys in Atlantica, there'll be fangirls. I mean, just look at me, LOL.
Riku's pretty sure if Xion blushes any redder, the water is going to start boiling.
It's bad enough that she's having to swim around in nothing more than a fancy bra—not that Riku would've minded if he was looking—but now Sebastian and the people of Atlanitca are asking her to...
"Sing?" she chokes. "I—I don't sing, trust me. Roxas can, but—"
"Oh, you're not that bad, Xion!" Roxas grins like he's helping while one of the mermaids pets his golden hair.
"You could try harmony," Riku says. Xion turns to him, eyes widely hopeful. "Just follow me, alright?"
"Sure." As the others drift away to finish their plans, Xion whispers, "Thanks."
"No problem. Sora's made me come with him all the time. All you have to do is stay in the back and act like you know what you're doing." Riku winks.
Lookie here, Knight-Dawn, another "Sleeping to Dream" related drabble. (You might want to get a Kleenex... Sorry.) I wanted to put more Sleeping to Dream themes in this challenge, but as I was double-posting on dA, I thought it might get too boring to explain the concept, and I was already uploading ten to eleven drabbles a day getting OHS up at the time this was written. As such, I cut it from the final list, but I adore the original #50, "Dreaming." I really do. I even have a quote for it!
"You know that place between sleep and awake; that place where you can still remember dreaming? That's where I will always love you. That's where I'll be waiting." - J. M. Barrie, Peter Pan
"Am I...?"
"Dreaming? Yes." Xion leans back and falls into the grass beside him; stars gleam in her eyes. "It's the only way I can reach you."
"Ah." Riku rests his weight on one hand and watches Xion watch stars. "I'm sorry."
"Not your fault." Xion blinks slowly, still doesn't look at him. "At least you can fall into the Sleeping Realms now."
"At least we have that." Riku reaches over with his free hand and rests it on her arm. "I miss you."
"Not half as much as I miss you." Xion closes her eyes and sighs. "Nowhere near."
#51, "Moon," has two bonuses to it. The first was a drabble I liked but didn't fit the theme well—I'm not even sure if I got "moon" in there anywhere... But we never see Riku sleep, so...
"It must be pretty bad if you're asleep by the time I get here."
Riku doesn't stir when Xion flops beside him on the bed, brushing the fringe of hair in front of his eyes away. It's not often that she finds him asleep—usually he's waking her up before she's realized she fell asleep—but she doesn't dare wake him up as pale as he looks under the light of the moon.
Instead, Xion pulls one end of the blankets over her and lies close to him, imagining some of his exhaustion drifting onto her as she falls asleep.
I guess I got moon in there once. :P The other version of "Moon," however, had absolutely no chance of being included. I seriously, highly doubt anything ever happened and ever could have happened between Riku and Xion in Days—in fact, to be honest, I doubt Riku had any "more than friendly" thoughts about Xion ever. He was just beginning to respect her and be her friend by the time she went back to the Organization. This time, though, I wanted to ignore canon just a bit and pretend something had happened during that Forty Days of Temptation...
For days after she returns to the Castle, she spends hours watching Kingdom Hearts from the windows; her mind is so far from the rest of them that Roxas thinks she's actually inside the heart-shaped moon, reveling in whatever she's learned and cannot tell any of them.
And while Xion isn't that far away, even she feels like she's on a separate world when she gazes at the moon—she's back on the Islands that feel like they should be home, lying in the light of the perfect circle of the moon with the man in black that does feel like home, his mouth on hers and one hand resting on her back to hold her close—
She can't tell Roxas about any of that, not without breaking his heart before the moon can even give it back.
For a while after I finished OHS, I kept going back to the pivotal time period where both Riku and Xion realize there's a mutual attraction, but Riku is trying to protect Xion from Xehanort and the incarnations that know him too well by refusing to act on that attraction. There's a drabble I already have published called "Should Have Known" which I'm guessing most of you have seen; it deals with the fallout from Riku telling Xion why he can't let himself do this from Riku's side. The original #52, "Fall," was Xion's side of the same conversation. Technically, it would correspond to OHS #43, "Love," and SAC #33, "Stardust," in that it's the moment that Xion finds out she's in love with Riku...
Xion isn't sure if she's shaking because she's so angry about Riku not looking at her or if she's just trying to match her breaking heart. No matter the reason, it hurts; she's only hurt like this for one other reason, and if she was to believe Roxas—and she might see things his way from now on—that was all Riku's fault, too.
It's only ever been Riku who hurts her this badly.
It's only Riku who can.
And it's while standing here, quivering as Riku turns away, that she realizes it's only ever Riku that she's fallen for.
#53, "Tears," was also too long originally, but I really liked Roxas's response in the longer version... Plus I got to throw in a reference to Roxas and Riku's original fight in KHII/Days.
Silence rings throughout the room as Xion's voice falters and falls silent; she folds her hands in her lap and glances up at Roxas, scared but steady.
Riku looks away, crossing his arms. This is between them—and besides, looking at Xion is more than he can stand anymore.
"What?" Riku turns back just in time to see Roxas marching at him, face contorted into a snarl.
The room almost dims and darkens with the force of Riku's memories.
"How could you let this happen?"
"Roxas...!"
The other boy manages to stop himself before he slams Riku into the wall, but only just. "Have you ever considered that you're no good for her?"
"Have you?" Riku snaps.
"Enough!"
Even Roxas heeds Xion's tears.
#60, "Rainbow," also goes back to "Sleeping to Dream," but I ran into the same problem as I did with #50. This one shouldn't break anyone's heart, but I never quite know what to expect... ^_^
The night sky is gone when Riku opens his eyes, lying on grass instead of sheets; the stars are replaced instead with—
"Rainbows?"
"What's wrong with rainbows?" As always, Riku turns his head to the left and smiles softly at Xion, who continues staring up into the sky.
"I got used to stargazing."
"I thought we needed some color for once. I'm tired of living in shades of gray." Xion turns to him, narrowing her eyes in thought. "I'll go back to the stars, though, if you like them better."
"Whatever makes you happy."
Why are Riku's cheeks warm suddenly?
I didn't actually want #61, "Dying," to be as depressing as the theme called for; I was in the mood for lighter, if more passionate, drabbles at the time, but I did get the deep, dark, and depressing theme in for the other incarnations of the prompt.
The first one goes back to the OHS "Riku is a scaredy-cat" arc again, and it was the first time I ever had a drabble where Riku himself explained why he couldn't bear to just go for it... :P
Riku almost gasps when he realizes it.
The reason he's never been as happy as he's been with Xion is because Ansem never let him...
And Xehanort never will.
They used Kairi's kidnapping against Sora before...
He knows what he has to do even as he thinks it. He'll be dying with every word he says—but if it keeps Xion alive and well, he'll do it.
There's one last thing, though—one last thing he has to do for himself, one last thing before he turns his back on her forever...
He just hopes she'll understand and forgive him.
It wasn't my best, but it wasn't my worst, either. ^_^ The other went back to the "Blood" scenario that I'm trying to retcon (LOL) and was the part I focused on in #90, "Climb"—how Terra convinces Riku to get back in there and stay with Xion despite Roxas. (I like this drabble way better... Dang it all.)
Riku doesn't look up as Terra sits on the floor beside him slowly, as if anticipating a reaction. "Nothing like knowing she's in there dying, is there?"
Terra blinks, staring at the infirmary door behind which Xion lies sleeping. "I lived with it for twelve years... No, there isn't."
Riku closes his eyes then, his hand curling into a fist. He'd rather feel the pain in his hands than in his heart, but no such luck...
"I know Roxas is hurt about this, but..." Terra turns to him then, almost smirking. Almost. "He's probably asleep. Get in there, man."
I almost wrote a new drabble for #63, "Fantasy," since I loved this idea so much and since it was so long, but I ended up changing my mind and just shortened it. Here's the full one—you'll like this...
"I still wish I could have seen you in the Grid," Xion says over the irritating (or so Riku thinks) clicking of the laptop keyboard. "You'd have been so cute..."
"Are you fantasizing about me as a computer program?"
Riku grins when Xion glares at him over the top of her damn reading glasses "Very funny, but no. Besides, if I had a fantasy, it would be of you as a vampire in Halloween Town."
"Where did you get that idea?"
"It's a joke."
"Damn. I could have actually worked with that." Riku slips around her to stand behind her and brushes her hair to one side, exposing the column of her neck.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" Xion's voice is breathy, low, and Riku has to take a deep breath to calm himself before he goes on.
"Just fulfilling a fantasy," he murmurs, pressing his lips to the corner of her jaw, then leaving a trail as he works his way down.
"If you're doing what I think you're doing—" Xion grips the sides of the computer, the keyboard falling silent at last, "—and you leave a mark or make me drop this computer, I'll start staying in a separate room."
"Relax," Riku whispers. Xion shivers, breathing shallowly while he kisses the nape of her neck quickly. "It'll make this more enjoyable for the both of us."
"Should I be worried? 'Cause you're good at this..."
"Should you?"
Xion gasps loudly as Riku bites her neck.
#77, "Doll/Puppet," was actually a blank prompt, but when I asked if anyone had a suggestion or request with which to fill it, I had two answers within five minutes, LOL. The original version has both elements in it, but I also wrote separate drabbles for "Doll" and "Puppet" as well.
AlianaFireheart specified "china doll" in her request, which I took to mean porcelain doll, but this could work with either china or porcelain dolls. (Apparently there is a difference, LOL.)
It's pretty enough, Xion decides, except for the eyes.
The jade-green orbs of the porcelain doll sparkle down at her, but they lack warmth or life; its beauty is lost on her under the eerie gaze.
That must have been what she was like in the beginning...
...and that's what she would have been in the end—a doll with no purpose without her friends, with no soul, no light in glittering eyes like Sora's—had Riku not saved her.
With a shudder Xion wraps a cold hand around one of Riku's and drags him away from the bleak memories.
It was Knight-Dawn who requested "Puppet," which is plenty fitting for Xion; we also had a discussion about how Riku seems to have a thing for puppets... ;) Enjoy!
"But I'm nothing more than a puppet—something that someone created..."
Outwardly Riku doesn't flinch, but...
How can anyone be able to admit that to herself? Either she's more heartless than he thought or...
Xion continues, unaware of his quandary, still talking in that matter-of-fact tone. "...so why would I have their memories?"
"Xion—" For what it's worth, he likes the sound of her name, the ease with which it comes...
It's not worth nearly enough in light of the truth.
The least he could give the puppet is a moment of his sympathy.
(He gives her much, much more.)
This is just a longer version of #80, "Transform," but I thought it flowed together a little better and just sounded better... Enjoy!
Seeing Xion in such pain that she wants to cry is nothing new.
Riku's throat, though, closes around what he wants to say at the sight of her, eyes closed tightly and hand covering her mouth. He pulls up a chair near her, silent, waiting for her to speak.
"There's not much of a life for a Replica. Not really, not as much like you as he is." Xion opens her eyes; they're remarkably dry, like always. The knot in his throat grows. "But how bad is it really if he chose to join them?"
And for the first time, he wants to take her pain himself, if only it meant she would smile again.
It takes his Replica choosing to transform into one of the thirteen for Riku to see how his relationship with Xion has transformed as well.
His hand takes her free one, lightly squeezing it. "Better than you think it is. I promise."
Xion squeezes back tightly.
And finally, we come to #96, "Hello?" This one got long and awesome—it's twice as long as it was supposed to be, but it's way too fun not to keep that long. ^_^ Enjoy!
"Mm... First kiss?"
Riku almost snorts his drink; he covers his mouth, face burning, until he swallows and bursts into chuckles. "Oh, man—I think it was Selphie."
"You think?" Xion's insides melt into carbonated elation at the grin on his face and his hand over hers. Who knew staying up this late could be so much fun?
"I was six, I don't remember very well—not to mention I've been trying to block that memory."
"Player."
Riku chuckles. "And you?"
"Uh, hello? Former Replica here. Little too preoccupied to think about kissing someone."
"I just wondered if you and Roxas...?"
"Ew." She's going to ignore his satisfaction at that... "Actually, you were my first kiss."
"And I screwed it up that badly? You'd think I'd get something right after a while..."
"Riku—"
"Make you a deal," he says, pushing himself up and closer so that his body is only a few inches from hers, close enough that each breath they take intermingles between them. "We'll say this was our first kiss and forget about the other."
And lighter than a butterfly's wing grazing her skin, gentler than if she were made of glass, he presses his lips to hers.
To cap it off, here's the official chronological order of SAC—but if you catch a mistake like Knight-Dawn did with the OHS order, please feel free to let me know! Maybe someday I'll even get ambitious and try to combine the OHS and SAC orders... Enjoy! Have fun with the potential reread!
358/2 Days: 88, 10, 84, 17, 02, 97, 15, 54, 23.
3D and Between: 07, 70, 65, 79, 26, 86.
Return and Pre-Kiss (OHS) Arc: 49, 29, 08, 75, 04, 64, 93, 48, 85, 71, 24, 57, 87, 31, 05, 51, 41, 43, 89, 19, 30, 55, 13, 80, 77, 09, 94, 14, 47, 25.
Kiss Drama: 18, 46, 12, 11, 22, 36, 45, 61.
Post-Kiss Establishment: 44, 96, 73, 35, 38, 28, 01, 58, 98.
Xion's near death: 39, 90.
Public and closer: 21, 82, 72, 60, 76, 66, 69, 50.
Maleficent: 53, 68, 52, 34, 40.
Closest/In Love: 27, 20, 78, 63, 92, 32, 33, 91, 83, 56.
Vanitas: 62.
End KHIII: 81, 67, 16, 100, 37.
Post-KHIII, Haruki: 74, 03, 59, 99, 95, 42
Special bonus time! The first bonus I have for you was written during the school year—le gasp!—and is a follow-up to an OHS drabble—"White Lie," whatever number that may be, in which Xion admits that she thought Riku made the Organization coat look like a dress—and it's also their first night sharing a bed, LOL. MonMonCandie left a review for that chapter, saying it would have been funny if Riku actually had kicked her out of the bed like he'd threatened to... I present the drabble "Bedtime."
Xion's squeal is so loud that Riku glances at the door before his head flops on the pillow.
"I can't believe it!" The bed shifts, but not enough for Xion to have clambered back up. "You kicked me off the bed!"
"Serves you right," Riku grumbles; he turns his head enough to listen, not enough to see her. "Be quiet."
"Well, then," Xion huffs, but the bed springs whine as she slips back under the covers. Her arm slides under his, her hand resting on his, head leaning against the nape of his neck. "'Night."
...Damn it, he smiled. Again.
This was written about the same time as "Bedtime," but it's set at a later time; Xehanort has been defeated, and the gang is all staying on the Islands to recuperate and decide where to go from there. Xion obviously has no legitimate family to stay with and ends up staying at Riku's old house, and for the sake of appearances, she decides to stay in the guest room instead of with Riku... I present "Late-Night Knocking."
Riku should be used to the knock on his door at one in the morning, and it shouldn't surprise him that it comes just as he's falling asleep.
Xion at least looks ashamed when he opens the door. "I really did try sleeping without you," she murmurs.
He can't even stay the slightest bit annoyed when she's got that tone. "It's fine—come on. Just no tricks; my parents are in the next room, and while I could care less about what my father hears..."
He has to kiss her quickly to keep her laughter from waking the old folks.
Final bonus, everyone, and this'll be the real tearjerker. This was nearly uploaded by itself, but KH3D had already come out, and I was sure people were sick of my speculation, anyway. However, this is quite possibly my favorite section out of ten from "Sleeping to Dream," and I figured this one would be cool to share—and I told Sakura Scout that Ven needed a cookie the next time I wrote about him. ;) I hope you enjoy "He Came Back"!
"Oh, Xiiiooon," Ventus calls, and she can practically hear the Cheshire grin he's wearing. Xion doesn't look up from her hand of cards, though; Terra has just raised the stakes in their card game, and when those stakes include the cookies Ven manages to dream into existence whenever the nightmares hit hard, it's a very serious card game. Besides, Ven is always a little over exuberant, so he's probably just found another pretty stone for her to make up for the boys not showing up yet. He can wait.
"What, you're not even going to look up at me?"
Apparently not. "Hold on two seconds, Ven," she replies—delayed, and even she can hear the pause—"I've almost got him."
Terra lifts an eyebrow from behind his own hand. "You. Wish."
There's a snort from Ventus's side of the room—a very not-Ventus, not-Roxas snort. Xion gasps.
Terra's eyebrows shoot back down immediately as he frowns at her. "Xion—?"
But there's no time for that, not when she's already late. Xion springs up and twists toward the door of the lounge so quickly that she would be surprised she hadn't knocked over her chair if she'd cared about that now. The suddenness of how quickly she finds what she's looking for after waiting and searching this long almost knocks her to her knees, but her hand grips the tabletop as she sees him—she's not dreaming about him this time, he's really right there.
Whatever smirk Riku must have had when he was laughing at her is gone already, replaced with wide eyes and a gaping mouth as he takes in the sight of her. His hair is practically gone as short as he cut it, he's wearing colors, and Xion thinks he looks shorter, less intimidating, though that's probably the influence of the Dream World, but that's Riku. Riku's here . . .
"You came," she whispers, breathing shallowly. "You found us." She thinks she hears Terra standing up, too, but the silence between them—and the distance, a whole fifteen feet—swallows up extraneous anything.
Riku blinks, takes a step forward. "I came back," he says, his voice echoing through the lounge and through her soul like he was shouting.
And Xion sprints at him like she's never sprinted before, throwing her arms around him, almost surely tackling him if his arms hadn't been ready and waiting. There's a warm, shaking hand on her back and another in her hair, and from here Xion hears his own struggle for air against disbelief as he pulls her as close as he can. There's no way this is a dream, not if she can smell the blood and sweat and Riku smell all at once, and Xion buries her head in his shoulder. "You came back . . ."
"I came back," he confirms, his breath tickling over her scalp. "I came back for you, Xion, I'm so sorry it took this long—"
"Don't be." She pulls back, just far enough to look up at him, and grins for the first time in a long time. "You're here now."
And Riku smiles back, eyes alight.
Before I go, there are some incredibly sentimental thank-yous I really need to give out.
First of all, to the first reviewer: Knight-Dawn, my friend, you finally got to watch the whole challenge unfold and get a direct say in at least one part of it. Congratulations again on finishing your own challenge, and thank you ever, ever so much for the consistent reviews and fun times! Have fun moving forward.
To probably one of the most diligent reviwers I know: DGMSilverAirHead03, you never fail to amaze me as you comment on every single chapter I post—maybe not on time, but you never fail to make give your feedback. ^_^ Thanks so much for everything!
To another of the most diligent reviewers I know, and the one with the single funniest, sarcastic reviews ever: Mirae-no-sekai, seriously, I'm not lying when I say ROFLMAO. Seriously. Just for you, here's an Ansem-kitty and a ball bat. ;) Have at it—and hit one at Roxas for me, please... Good luck with your ZekuNami challenge that I still have not reviewed... -_- You have permission to throw Ansem-kitty at me now. I won't dodge it.
To the most astounding reviewer here: MidnightxRose, I'm sorry if reviewing to all 89 currently posted the day you reviewed (not to mention the 95 or so chapters of Knight-Dawn's you reviewed) gave you any callouses. My God, woman, you're freakin' amazing like that. Here's to more speedy fingers!
And to the reviewer who's always come back right when I need her: MegaWallflower, I know you're not done reviewing the rest of the series—if you cheat and just skip reviewing, by the way, I won't care a bit and will probably be relieved—but when you read this, thank you so much for reading yet another silly series of drabbles. I hope you enjoy(ed) the rest of the series!
Don't think that just because I didn't respond to you that I've forgotten you or don't love you just as much—a super huge thanks is in order for RoseOfADifferentColor, Destiny Crusader, LoveBri, EmmyMetal, Blaze1662001, Chris Coard, Xero, Peach, g-peachy-chan (which, by the way, are you actually Peach out-of-disguise? XD Just curious, don't feel obligated to answer and/or blow your cover. ;D) for reviewing!
Also, thanks to CarelessWhispers13, CrystalRose123, delphigirl689, DemyxAxelfan225, derpylikescake, Element's Sole Protector, Kuroiikawa, lightsoldier297, Nozomi Illuminated (who has an awesome new series you should read if you like this— .ever.), RAINRAIN9, RisuMisu, and the Trio of Twilight for the favorites and support!
And even if your name isn't anywhere in this chapter, thank you ever so much for reading this to the end!
Well, guys, it's been a blast, but this is all for now... I wish you all the best of luck in your own personal endeavors, particularly of the written variety, and I hope I get to see you all again very soon!
"And who knows: starting a new journey may not be so hard, or maybe it has already begun. There are many worlds, but they share the same sky—one sky, one destiny."