- Created By otakualchemist
Under the Rain
It was the rarest of rare occasions.
A thunderstorm was coming through Twilight Town, bringing rain and heat to the peaceful world. Everything was sticky and humid and smelled of fresh, sweet moisture, taunting the townsfolk with its hovering presence.
Ice cream seemed to melt faster than usual. Sweat fell from every pore of every being's body. And the sun was covered up by ominous grey clouds that nullified any chance of good shade. Everything was shade.
So the three teens escaped to the Clocktower, where the second hand above them counted away the time of the storm's arrival. From their high vantage point, Shayla, Michael, and Mir could see the lightning flashing from afar and begin to hear distant thunder, which made the Blitzball player more tense with every second.
Shayla so longed to draw the ferocity of the storm, but she dared not do it from anything but memory safe under the cover of her own roof, for the rain would wash away her picture for sure.
Michael just longed for the humidity to be over, so that he could get some comfort from the heat and be able to return home and put his shirt back on. He could barely breathe wearing it, and he wondered how the girls managed. There was always a way, he supposed.
The streak of lightning that seemed to split the sky with white-hot heat was the prelude to the booming thunder that could be felt in the chests of the youths, Mir abandoning her not-so-frozen treat and clinging to Michael's arm, the noise startling her.
But soon, both were followed by sweet satisfaction.
Rain, heavy and hard, fell upon the world and its children, soaked up by the skin of those who were too young to have felt it before, and replenishing them. It was a different and much-welcome feel than that of the ever-beating sunshine.
And quickly as it came, it left, replaced by parting clouds and leaving three sopping wet teens with heavy, water-laden clothing to prove that the brief storm wasn't just a dream.
Now they, who had lived off of purified sea-water for all of their fourteen years, knew what it was like to sit under the cover of rain.
Precious Treasure
The doctor had told them he was growing just fine inside of his mother. All tiny parts, hands, feet, toes no bigger than his mother's fingertip, all were perfect and in order. And soon, the child that they had so fondly named Naruto was going to be born into the world.
They had been given the date October 10th to expect the child's arrival into the world, not knowing the horror that would befall his beloved Konoha, the one he had sworn to protect with his life. He had promised the same to his fiancee and his unborn son, as well.
Minato had run the ANBU through drills that would ensure his son's safety. Even his thirteen year old charge was run through them, and often slept at his sensei's home to personally protect the soon-to-be parents. Nothing ever happened, though, which Minato and Kushina were thankful for every day.
The best part of being a father to be, in Minato's opinion, was setting up the nursery. He, Kakashi, and even his teacher had taken the day off to work on the child's room, painted a pale orange with small blue swirls and designs. Jiraiya-sensei wasn't as skilled with a paintbrush as he was with an ink brush, but it worked out all the same.
The hardwood floors were soon covered with furniture, and finally a crib in the corner, with a handmade blanket draped over the side. Kakashi had made it himself, with hands more used to a kunai than a needle. The child's name was embroidered into the blanket that was identical to his sensei's coat.
Dresser drawers were filled with neat clothes, all meant for the tiny child, none ever to be worn. The last few things were added before Kushina went into labor. Minato couldn't wait.
While the red-headed woman went into labor, the great Fox attacked the village. Minato couldn't leave his beloved's side, though when she finally fell asleep, he took his son into his arms, his tiny Naruto, and went out to seal the creature into his stomach.
"My precious treasure," he hugged onto the child, feeling himself go, "You will be a hero to all... may it be now... may it be later... you will be a hero."
Sea-salt Ice Cream
The sunset was as vivid as ever, shining brightly upon the children of Twilight Town, giving them strength to go about their day... but Roxas was not one of the world's denizens, not yet, so he was more or less immune to the rays of light that penetrated the soul and warmed the heart.
Besides, to warm the heart, one had to have a heart to warm.
With a sigh, a black-gloved hand pushed some blond hair aside, out of sky-blue eyes, so that the Nobody, the Thirteenth, the Key of Destiny, had a clear view of his prize.
A bar of light blue ice cream. He licked his lips at the thought of it, and knew that, thanks to the sun's permeating rays of light, it would surely melt if not consumed quickly.
But... it was his first time eating it. And he wondered what it tasted like, first and foremost.
Logic told him, from the name of the delicacy, that it would taste salty, but at the same time, sweet. A perfect blend of flavors.
Yet, he couldn't help but wonder.
When he thought of a summer he had never experienced (it currently being his first spring), a humidity of sorts came to mind, or a spicyness... perhaps something salty, and yet...
A sweetness came over his senses while he imagined summer, a familiarity that couldn't be shaken, a sensation that he wanted to reach out and grab. He couldn't name it, though...
Longing. He felt that, too. It wasn't emotion, but.... it was something crying out to him from the deepest depths, the thing that filled the space where his heart once lay. He didn't know why, but he yearned for something, for someone, so desperately...
He had not been endowed with the gift to see the future, but if he had been, he would have felt that longing re-emerge at the sight of the white-clad, blonde nobody that called herself Naminé.
Roxas decided, finally, seeing a bit of the treat melt and drip down onto the cobblestone below, to take a taste...
The perfect blend was most definitely that of summer. That of memories he was yet to have, that of memories so faded and obscure that he was unsure of they were his at all. Memories of friendship and perhaps even adolescent love... A broad grin came across his face.
So what if he was alone? If what the ice cream told him was true, if what it had unearthed from the deepest regions of his memory was all true, then he wouldn't be alone for very long.
He would have the answers that he sought.
Paopu
He had never imagined that the sunset would ever seem this hopelessly lonely before. Then again... he had never imagined to become the wielder of a sword shaped like a key, or the savior of the worlds, either.
Sighing, he brushed his chestnut hair from his face distractedly as he leaned against the paopu tree. Nothing... had really changed here. Was it just him? Was he just being paranoid?
Sora laughed, a deep, rich sound that calmed him considerably, as he reached up and picked one of the golden, ripe fruits from the tree. A paopu fruit.
'If two people share one,' Riku had said, 'Their destinies will become intertwined'.
He tossed it up into the air, feeling the weight of it in his hand before switching it over to the other one. "I wonder..." he mused aloud, no one there to hear his thoughts. "What does it taste like?"
Now, he had heard many different things. His mother said that it tasted sweet and delicious, while Selphie, ever the romantic, theorized that it tasted bitter, like love itself. Now, while Sora didn't know what to think of that, he had always imagined it to taste salty. After all, the roots of the tree drank up saltwater. It would make sense... right?
Slowly, the Keyblade Master brought the fruit to his mouth, but hesitated in taking a bite. Was it wrong to eat such a fruit by yourself, with no one to share it with? What would happen if he did eat it by himself? Did that mean he was destined to be alone? Furrowing his brow, Sora chucked the fruit into the golden-pink waters.
"No way." he said, the corners of his lips turning upward into one of his trademark smiles. "There's no way that I'm going to be alone, after all that I've been through." With that, he hopped from his perch and from the small island itself, letting the waters catch him and soak him to the bone.
Destiny could wait.
