Disclaimer: They do not belong to me, just the story does.
Tenoko: This is for the readers, since I had so many requests for it, and I suppose I did leave some loose ends. For those of you who have also read "At Second Glance", I am doing a re-write of that, much needed and much improved, but don't worry, the original version will stay up as well. Though it's a re-write, it's going to be much different from the original, so feel free to give it... a second glance.
Oh, yeah. I got jokes. lol
Cursed
Epilogue
The restaurant was mildly busy with the usual lunch crowd, the over head lights slightly dimmed to give the inside a comfortable feel without it being too dark it was distracting or so bright that it was annoying. Sitting at a semi-circle booth tucked away in a back corner, Sora watched his formerly un-dead boyfriend tear into a hamburger like it was his last meal. A ridiculous amount of food was set out on large platters in front of him, while Sora had only ordered a coke and fries, more pushing them around his plate than actually eating any of them.
Sora suddenly felt nervous, being together with his lover again, he shifted his gaze around nervously and fidgeted on the red plastic of the padded booth. He kept waiting for his alarm clock to sound, or some sign to be given that this was all a dream, that none of this was real, Riku wasn't actually sitting right in front of him.
Riku was dead.
Dead and gone forever from Sora's life.
He looked up in surprise when he realized Riku had suddenly stopped eating and was staring at Sora with a flat expression, his jade eyes drilling holes into the brunette, a slight scowl etching into his brow. Opening his mouth to ask what was the matter, Sora was cut off when Riku almost instantaneously slid around to Sora's side of the booth, cupping his jaw and pressed their mouths together.
It was Riku's kiss, but with a hamburger flavor that had never been there before. Riku pulled away and was instantly back in his original seat, still staring at Sora just as gravely as he had been a moment earlier, only this time his eyes a much darker shade. The brunette frowned in confusion, not understanding the other male's actions.
Turning back to his food as though he'd just flipped the channel on TV, Riku shrugged and admitted, "I couldn't help myself. You're the most delicious thing in this place, and I wanted a taste."
Blushing, the brunette glanced around nervously to see if anyone had seen. Last thing they needed was to get kicked out of this place because Riku didn't have restraint. No one seemed to notice or even realize the couple was even there; no tables or booths within earshot.
Riku's voice demanded Sora's attention again, causing his head to swivel around, wide blue eyes anticipating whatever was about to be said. The silver haired male looked at him in confusion, once again pausing in his meal.
"What's the matter, Sora?"
Brows knitting together, the brunette struggled to voice the turmoil he felt inside. He should have been happy, overjoyed, weeping, something! Instead, he just sat there watching, feeling mostly just numb, he didn't feel much of anything really. What was wrong with him? Maybe it was this whole scenario? Or maybe that just made it worse, made it even more unrealistic and hard to believe? He stared at Riku who watched him, waiting patiently for a response.
Riku sat there, completely whole, no sword protruding from his chest where Sephiroth had dealt him his fatal blow. He was as beautiful as he had been the first day they'd met, granted he looked slightly different, yet he still looked the same. His pale skin was now only fair, his inhuman beauty remaining, yet he looked mortal, a slight color to his lips make them more enticing than usual. Sora wanted more than anything to reach out and touch Riku, to reaffirm that he was really alive, not just an illusion, then once he was certain Riku was really there, he would hold on and never left go. Another part of the brunette just wanted to break down in sobs, telling himself that the past month had really only been a nightmare, that the suffering he'd felt had never really happened. Then he would proceed to cling to Riku like his own shadow, never leaving the other boy alone ever again, lest the nightmare begin again.
"Why don't you start with the first thing that comes to mind?" Suggested Riku, trying to help his lover out.
"You're alive." Blurted out the brunette, flinching away from the words himself.
Riku offered a slow nod. "Yes."
"I saw you die."
Now it was Riku's turn to flinch away, wincing as though physically struck. "I know..."
"You're alive." Repeated Sora.
Riku nodded again, this time in understanding. "And therein lies the confusion." Pushing his plate away, Riku rested his elbows on the tables, interlacing his fingers together like a bridge, and resting his chin on top of them. "Yes. I am alive, and yes, I did die, my second time of dying by the way, neither one pleasant." He paused to hold Sora's gaze for a long moment, unblinking and serious. "But I am alive now, human for the first time in a long time."
"But you just disappeared and reappeared from one side of the booth to the other." Pointed out the smaller boy.
Nodding, Riku shrugged as though consenting to give the brunette a point in the argument. "True. But that's you're fault."
A brow quickly arched quickly in disbelief. "My fault?" He echoed. "How is that my fault?"
Expression turning affectionate, a soft smile played across his lips as his sea foam eyes traveled over the brunette, memorizing every detail about him. "You are my One. The one I marked, in essence the one who holds my very heart and soul in the palm of your hands. Part of me lay within you, part of who I am and the power I held. That power was stored away, and released back to me once I was... reborn." He shrugged and turned back to eating. "Granted, I can't do anything overly amazing at this point. I can walk freely in sunlight now, though I still think it's too bright. I'm able to teleport within a certain distance, though I can't jump dimensions anymore. I can eat, thank God for the bonuses in life, and..." He lifted his head to smile at Sora again. "I can still feel you." Once again, his expression became that of complete affection and devotion. "Every breath you take and every beat of your heart, I could count. Every mannerism you have I know as well as my own, and every emotion you feel echoes inside of my own heart, which beats in time with yours." He was suddenly right beside Sora again, cupping the brunette's face in his hands. "Don't you see? You are what gives me life. What I feel for you, and you for me... that saved me." He shook his head. "From my life in hell, from death and un-death, even from myself... you saved me."
Weakly shaking his head, Sora's large blue eyes pleaded for understanding, tears beginning to pool as his lips began to quiver.
"But I don't understand." He admitted pathetically, his voice choked and full of tears. "I saw you die, I felt it! I could feel you, and then suddenly you were no longer there, and I watched your body disappear. Riku, it was the most horrible thing I've ever gone through and never could have imagined the suffering I was going to feel. Part of who I was, who I had become... died, both outside of me and within me." He pulled away from his boyfriend's touch, brows drawn together as he tried to stress the point of agony he had reached. "It was so horrible at first I forced it from my mind, I couldn't remember that whole day. I just woke up in bed bandaged and injured, wondering what had happened, and wondering why, even as days passed, you wouldn't come to see me and wouldn't answer my calls. No one would tell me anything, telling me instead to remember on my own." Large crocodile tears spilled over his dark lashes and ran hotly down his cheeks. Embracing him, Riku nuzzled his hair gently as the brunette began to cry, the world around them completely forgotten. "I had to learn the truth from Sephiroth. Sephiroth! The very man who killed you was the only one who would actually tell me what I had forced myself to forget."
Riku began pressing butterfly kisses to his hair and cheeks. "Baby, I am so, so sorry. I had no idea I had hurt you so much."
Remembering where they were, Sora quickly began trying to compose himself again, brushing and shooing his boyfriend away, then trying his face on the hem of his own sleeves. Riku simply watched him apologetically; Sora shook his head.
"I just... I couldn't lose you again, Riku. I barely survived it the first time; if I had to suffer through it again, it would completely destroy me."
"But you aren't going to lose me." Argued Riku, and again Sora shook his head.
"You can't promise me that anymore." His brows drew together in a frown as he tried to help the other male understand what he was saying. "You're human now, your existence as fragile as mine. You can't promise me forever anymore."
Tilting his head to the side, Riku smiled. "Then I'll promise you today." His smile grew. "And every morning when you wake up in my arms, I'll make the same promise again, I'll promise you that day."
Sora let out a weak laugh as he began to cry again, every nerve in his body seemingly pushed to its limit as he shook uncontrollably. Suddenly, more than anything, he just wanted to go home with his lover, and for it to just be the two of them for a while.
"We can't go home just yet, Kitten." Stated Riku, seemingly reading his thoughts. Blue eyes lifted in question; Sora saw absolutely no reason why they shouldn't get up and even run home, locking the door behind them and leaving the rest of the world to rot away. The silver haired male chuckled in response, nodding in understanding. "I know, but Sora... the surprise isn't over just yet. This is so much bigger than you and I, but you were the key to unlocking it all." Riku scooted closer to him, tongue darting out across his lips eagerly, eyes bright with anticipation of the great secret he was about to reveal. "I... am not the only one alive again." He grinned broadly. "You started a chain reaction that changed so many things, Sora, so many things. Our lives aren't the only ones being affected, because of you we were all given a second chance. All of us who died that day have been brought back, Sora, we are all human now. Because we all died protecting the one we loved most, we were able to be given a second chance at life." He laughed suddenly, as though in irony. "It's why we were all charged and guilty and sentenced to execution, Sephiroth ordered it. Setzer was going to let us go free, but Sephiroth forced him." He laughed again. "He said the darkness didn't suit us. But in case the legend turned out to not be true, he wanted to carry the sin of our executions himself." Riku smiled again, his head tilted slightly to the side. "And it's all because of you, we're able to live because of the light I saw in you, the fact that I was hooked the moment we met."
The brunette frowned lightly as he looked around in question. "They're alive again as well? Where are they?"
"At Robin's, waiting for you, actually." He laughed and glanced at his watch. "Where they've been waiting for nearly two hours now, but getting this hamburger came first, so I figured they could wait." He finished with a nonchalant shrug, causing Sora's mouth to fall open.
"And you just let them wait?!"
Riku drew back defensively. "Hey, you were my first priority, my second was this hamburger. They can just wait, I'll get to them eventually." His eyes narrowed dangerously, the corner of his mouth curling upward in a predatory grin. "In fact, they can keep on waiting. I have every mind to take you home right now, and do every little nasty thing I've ever thought about doing to you and with you..." His hand flew out to stop the waitress as she walked past, not breaking eye contact with Sora even as he spoke. "Check, please."
The waitress frowned in confusion as the suddenness of the request, but then nodded and fished it out of her apron, handing it to him with a smile before seeing to her other tables. Riku didn't even check the bill, just set down a fifty-dollar bill and slid out of the booth. With one hand he grabbed Sora by the wrist, his eyes coaxing Sora from his seat, making him follow wordlessly behind the taller male who was still pulling him along by his wrist, even now and then sending Sora heated glances over his shoulder.
Stepping out into the bright sunlight of day shook Sora from his revere as he stopped the taller male, causing him to look back in confusion. "What's the matter?"
"We can't just let them keep waiting." Stated Sora matter-of-factly. "What's the point in living if you're only going to make them mad enough to kill you?"
Riku grinned devilishly, shrugging that he obviously didn't care. "I like seeing how long it takes."
Sapphire colored eyes rolling, Sora smiled and shook his head. "Let's go see them, and then to make it up to you, afterwards we can go home and I'll do every little nasty thing I've ever thought of doing to you."
Riku's green eyes turned nearly black with lust and desire, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. "I'll agree to that." He stated, his voice throaty and incredibly sexy, making Sora suddenly very anxious for the impeding visit to be through.
They walked along silently, Riku never releasing Sora's hand from his own, their fingers intertwined. Suddenly, everything was right once again in Sora's world. The one person he knew he could never live without was walking by his side. They were alive and together. Joy in life can come for the simplest of reasons. They didn't speak as they made their way towards their destination, instead spoke with silent gestures, affectionate glances, a gentle squeeze of their hands, their feelings for each other once again being felt by both as their connection through the mark stirred to life between them even more.
Sora smiled happily as the house he and Kari had been adopted into came into view, the small crowd of people visiting on the large porch. What Riku had said was true. They were all alive. Sora fought the urge to cry again as his blue eyes scanned over them, the group having noticed the approaching pair, they all either nodded and smiled. Kairi and Robin were handing out drinks, Kairi waving with her free hand, as Yuffie and Rikku waved wildly.
Riku squeezed Sora's hand again, leaning into whisper. "See? I told you."
Sora nodded before they both suddenly vanished from sight. Robin frowned in surprise, Yuffie and Rikku immediately laughing out loud, while Squall and Gippal merely shook their heads. Pointing to the spot they'd just been standing, Robin arched a brow. "Do I even want to know how they just did that?" Everyone shook their head, and she continued passing out drinks. "I knew this family was weird, your family fits right in."
Blinking in surprise at his sudden change in surroundings, Sora turned to Riku in confusion, noting they were in back at Riku's apartment, in the bedroom. "Wha-? You promised we could go see them." He argued.
Dipping his head to take his lover's mouth with his own, Riku devoured Sora's mouth in a desperate and searing kiss before lifting his head to speak. "But I kept my promise, Sora. You did, in fact, see them. You never said for how long. Now it's your turn to keep your promise."
His earlier desire and anticipation immediately returned, causing him to grin seductively as he leaned into his lover. "I'll agree to that."
THE END
Tenoko: That's it for this story, no more. No sister stories either, or sequels. If you want some more KH fandom from me, I will be rewriting "At Second Glance", which will be called just that: "At Second Glance rewrite", so keep an eye out for it. It'll be way better than the first.