Title: Age-Old Traditions
Author: Maho Kiwi
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Disney and Square now and forever after have my unfailing love and respect for creating such a wonderful game like Kingdom Hearts. I will defend them to my death.
A/N: Taking a brief break from Pieces (and my legal brief) to write a holiday inspired piece. It seemed a shame to let the new year pass by without doing anything. Warning: Sappy Fluffyness abound! I'm uh, not too sure whose perspective it's in. I think its Third Person Omniscient, really.
I would also like to congratulate everybody. I remember when this section only had 7 fics in it (okay, I remember when it had less, too, but 7 seemed like a good number) and now we're up to what, 400+ ? Woot! Go Team!
***
"Sora! Hurry up, we don't want to be late!"
Six year old Sora tromped down the stairs, looking very presentable, but not very pleased.
"Awww, dad . Do I hafta come?" he whined. His father smiled sympathetically and shook his head.
"Now, Sora. You know we can't just leave you here by yourself, and we don't have anywhere else to put you. Now, let's be a big boy and not make a fuss, alright?"
Sora's chestnut head drooped.
"Sora?"
"Alllllright."
"There's my boy! It'll be okay, you'll see!" His father ruffled his hair affectionately.
"All ready?" Both males turned to the source of the voice: Sora's mother standing in the doorway, attaching an earring to her ear.
"We're all set here, honey. You?" The woman nodded and the three proceeded out the door.
"Maaan. I don't see why I have to go to some stupid New Year's Party anyway" the voice of an annoyed child drifted down the beach in their wake.
***
"Dad? Hey, dad? Wazzat?" Sora yanked on his father's coat, looking up inquisitively.
"This?" The man regarded his cocktail, then looked back at his young son. "This is bad, Sora. It's Yucky." The young boy frowned.
"Then why are /you/ drinking it?"
"Well, because grownups often have to do things they don't like. You're young, you don't have to drink this yet."
"Can I try? I'm brave enough!" The boy reached up, his face screwing up into a look of determination. His father sighed, then relented.
"Alright, but don't tell your mother. She'd have my head."
"Okay!" Sora took the cup slowly, wrapping both chubby little fists around it. Carefully he raised it to his mouth and took a tiny sip.
"Uck! That's nasty!" He spluttered. His father laughed and retrieved the cup.
"Didn't I tell you?" Sora wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and pulled a face.
"Ugh, that stuff's the worst, can't you drink juice or something?" His father merely laughed some more, causing Sora to pout harder.
"Oh, now come on Sora, don't be like that. Look, see that there?" He crouched level with the boy and pointed at the ceiling where a shiny silver ball glinted merrily down at them.
"Wooow . what is it?" The young boy gazed at it, open mouthed, a look of wonder on his face.
"That's the crystal ball. Guess what it does?"
"Does it have magical powers?" The older man smiled.
"Maybe. At midnight, it falls."
"Falls? Does it hit anybody?" Blue eyes widened nervously
"No. It floats in the middle of the air and sparkles!" The older man wiggled his fingers to demonstrate the sparkling.
"Neat! Then what happens?"
"Well, it symbolizes the passing of the old year and the birth of the new, so everybody cheers and sings and kisses!"
"Kisses?! Uck! Don't people do that enough?" This caused his father to laugh again.
"But these are special kisses! You can kiss anybody, normally it's whoever is standing closest to you. As a way of saying 'I'm glad I shared this with you.' It's just an odd little tradition Sora. Although-" he leaned closer to his son
"Once you're married, it's a good idea to be standing next to the person you married. Otherwise they might get angry with you."
"So you stand next to mom?"
"All the time."
"Do you ever want to stand next to somebody else?"
"Never."
"Never-ever?"
"Never. Now, look what else I see." He pointed through the crowd to another silvery object.
"Riku!" Sora turned and grinned at his father, yanking his sleeve excitedly.
"Riku! Look dad! It's Riku! Look! Riku!" the boy was practically hopping in place.
"Yes, yes it is. Go on, go play with your friend!" He gave the boy a nudge, laughing.
"Rikuuuuu!" Sora bounded through the crowd excitedly.
"Riku!" The sliver-haired boy turned and was caught up in a hug.
"Sora!" He grinned at the younger boy. Sora grabbed both of Riku's hands in his and bounced up and down.
"Riku! Riku! Riku! Riku!" His friend laughed and bounced with him.
"Sora! Sora! Sora! Sora!" the two continued to bounce, laughing gaily.
The adults smiled patiently, waiting for the yelling to die. It was hard to be annoyed with such young children, especially ones as adorable as that.
"I'm soooooo glad you're here, I was sooooo bored!" Stopped boucing and swung their arms.
"Me too! Now we can go exploring!" Riku took off towards the stairs, dragging his friend behind.
***
Sora's father winced as loud crash was heard from the loft, followed by shrieks of laughter and 'monster noises'. Every so often Sora would proclaim something heroic like 'Here I come to save the day!' Or Riku, in his deepest seven-year-old voice: 'Now I've got you!' to which Sora would respond (also deep-voiced) 'I think not!'.
The man shook his head good naturedly. He hoped nothing ever separated those two. They seemed to fit together so naturally, and besides, Sora needed someone to vent his boundless energy on. With that thought, he turned his head to watch as the final seconds to midnight counted down.
***
This was the moment seventeen-year-old Selphie had waited for all year. Regardless of her marital status, the New Year's Kiss was one of her favorite moments, it was just soooooo romantic! She had carefully positioned herself next to Tidus as the final moments drew near. They stood on the Paopu island, along with the rest of the kids, and Selphie was sad to see it end. Besides the kiss, the rest of the evening was terrific as well. Riku and Wakka had dragged over some logs for everyone to sit on, and Sora and Tidus had built a bonfire, which kept them all warm. Kairi had made some lovely food, and Selphie herself made sure that everyone had more than enough to drink. All in all, it was a very pleasant party. Their only indication of the passing year came from the echo of their parents' voices that drifted over from the main island.
"Three! Two!"
Selphie held her breath, waiting.
"Happy New Year!" She grinned as Tidus leaned down and kissed her briefly, smiling.
"Happy New Year Selphie!"
"Happy New Year Ti-" Selphie's mouth dropped open as she stared past Tidus at the Paopu tree.
***
Riku listened to the chanting from the main island, concentrating on keeping his face neutral, while his heart beat a million miles a second. This was the moment he'd waited for all year. If he only had the courage to follow through.
"-One! Happy New Year!" the roar of the adults' voices drifted across the water to the island party, and Riku took a breath to steady his nerves.
Slowly he leaned over to the boy next to him and pressed their lips together softly.
Sora's eyes widened, but he didn't pull away. After a moment his eyes slid closed and he leaned forward, into the kiss.
Riku's lips moved slightly against the younger boy's, and felt his heart soar as Sora responded in kind. After another blissful moment or two, Riku withdrew to a few inches from Sora and watched him.
The brown-haired boy's eyes slowly fluttered open and he stared back. Riku gulped.
An eternity passed in which a thousand hopes and dreams were both created and destroyed, then the smallest of smiles twitched on Sora's lips. Riku let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding, then smiled back.
Heart in mouth, he slowly moved back in and joined their lips again. Sora slowly placed his hand over Riku's, lightly stroking it with his fingertips. Riku moaned quietly, running a hand up and into Sora's hair, grasping and twirling the strands between his fingers. Carefully, cautiously, he opened his mouth, trailing his tongue over Sora's lower lip.
The younger boy gasped, which caused the intended reaction anyway, and Riku slid his tongue into Sora's open mouth, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"Mm-!" Sora half-protested, before relaxing and letting his older friend do lovely things to his mouth. After a moment, Sora's tongue timidly met with Riku's.
With a delighted groan, Riku pulled the younger boy up onto his lap; Sora straddling his rival's hips, and Riku's legs on either side of the paopu tree's trunk. Sora wrapped his arms around the older boy's shoulders, pressing his mouth down harder into the one below.
Sora whimpered as Riku slid his hand up under his shirt, fingertips grazing lightly over his skin. A light cough caused both boys to whip their heads around, surprised.
***
Kairi sat, arms wrapped around her knees; Selphie next to her, one hand up to her face, looking enchanted; Tidus and Wakka sat causally sprawled out in the sand, watching with mild interest.
"This is . so ."
"Weird?" Tidus supplied
"Romantic!" Sephie insisted, indicating that they should be quiet.
So they sat, and they watched. Watched as Riku stuck his tongue down Sora's throat, watched as Riku dragged Sora up to sit on his lap, watched at Riku put his hand up Sora's shirt .
*cough* Tidus covered his mouth, blushing a bit.
"Jeez . get a room" he muttered to himself. Only, it wasn't quite. He looked up to see everyone, the two boys included, staring at him.
"Ah . Um .Sorry?"
***
Sora, for his part, was glad that the other kids seemed more interested in being annoyed with Tidus that looking at him and Riku, but of course, that could only last so long.
"Riiiku! Soora!" Sora winced as Selphie purred out their names "That was amazing you two! Ah," she sighed "/So/ romantic."
Sora could feel his face go hot as he slid off Riku's lap.
"Ya, but I thought you were only supposed to kiss them for a few seconds, not eat their face!" Wakka laughed.
Riku grinned easily "Aw, you're all just jealous, 'cause I made it with the cutest boy on the island." He draped an arm casually over Sora's shoulders. Sora blushed and looked down into his lap, twisting his fingers together nervously.
Kairi smiled and stood, dusting sand off her skirt
"Well, we'll leave you to it, then. Happy New Year, you two." She smiled again, looking at the other kids, who all seemed to take her cue, standing and stretching, waving goodbye and meandering off to go to their homes, or where ever.
Once they were gone, Sora was very aware of the fact that he and Riku were quite alone . on a deserted island . in the middle of the night . alone. No one around at all. Yup. All alone. Completely alone. He gulped.
"So . " Riku dragged a finger up Sora's cheek, then cupped the younger boy's face in his hand.
Sora blushed a bit, lowering his eyes.
"So."
"Hey . you're not embarrassed, are you? You know they wont say anything about it." Riku tilted his head and softly kissed the other side of Sora's face.
"W-well, no. Just . um, surprised. A bit. I guess."
"Surprised?"
"Yeah. I-I never thought that, that you, you know, liked me . too." Riku raised an eyebrow.
"Too ..?" he asked slowly. Sora nodded fervently.
"Do-Do you remember our . /first/ kiss?" Sora asked quietly, scooting closer on the tree. Riku smiled.
"Very clearly. I was seven." Sora beamed.
"You really remember?" Riku nodded, then leaned back for another kiss, wrapping his arms around the small boy.
***
The two boys stopped their playing and looked up expectantly as the lights dimmed and the adults began to count.
"Wow! This is exciting!" Sora ran to the railing of the loft and peered over, anxious not to miss the shiny ball's big moment. Riku walked up next to his friend and watched as well.
"Ten! Nine! Eight!" the adults below chorused.
"Why do you think they're counting?" Sora asked, voice hushed "Does the ball need to be told when to fall?"
"I don't know!" Riku shushed him, and pointed at the crystal, indicating that his friend should just watch.
"Two! One! Happy New Year!" The noise from below was deafening, and the boys covered their ears, squealing with laughter.
Still grinning happily, Sora turned to his friend and touched their lips together quickly, before stepping back and grinning wider. Riku looked taken aback.
"Yuk! What'dya do /that/ for?" Riku treasured his friend, but he definitely didn't want to risk getting cooties. Or maybe only girls had those .
Sora shrugged. "I dunno. We're supposed to. My dad told me. Your supposed to kiss whoever's closest!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, It's special!" The older boy considered this.
"O-Okay." He stepped forward and copied the action, then moved back.
"Like that?"
"Yeah!" The two boys smiled at each other, then leaned back over the railing, watching their parents dance around the floor. Sora smiled as his father and mother looked up and waved at him from below.
"Riku?"
"Yeah, Sora?"
"I'm glad I shared this with you."
"Me too."
***
Gaaahhh . sugar overload! The cavities! Turned out a bit longer than I had intended, but then, so does everything else I do. I hate to do this ('cause I once wrote a three paragraph rant about it) but, if anyone has an idea for Pieces that Fall into Place, I would love to hear them. I am soooo stuck. Happy New Year, all.
Author: Maho Kiwi
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Disney and Square now and forever after have my unfailing love and respect for creating such a wonderful game like Kingdom Hearts. I will defend them to my death.
A/N: Taking a brief break from Pieces (and my legal brief) to write a holiday inspired piece. It seemed a shame to let the new year pass by without doing anything. Warning: Sappy Fluffyness abound! I'm uh, not too sure whose perspective it's in. I think its Third Person Omniscient, really.
I would also like to congratulate everybody. I remember when this section only had 7 fics in it (okay, I remember when it had less, too, but 7 seemed like a good number) and now we're up to what, 400+ ? Woot! Go Team!
***
"Sora! Hurry up, we don't want to be late!"
Six year old Sora tromped down the stairs, looking very presentable, but not very pleased.
"Awww, dad . Do I hafta come?" he whined. His father smiled sympathetically and shook his head.
"Now, Sora. You know we can't just leave you here by yourself, and we don't have anywhere else to put you. Now, let's be a big boy and not make a fuss, alright?"
Sora's chestnut head drooped.
"Sora?"
"Alllllright."
"There's my boy! It'll be okay, you'll see!" His father ruffled his hair affectionately.
"All ready?" Both males turned to the source of the voice: Sora's mother standing in the doorway, attaching an earring to her ear.
"We're all set here, honey. You?" The woman nodded and the three proceeded out the door.
"Maaan. I don't see why I have to go to some stupid New Year's Party anyway" the voice of an annoyed child drifted down the beach in their wake.
***
"Dad? Hey, dad? Wazzat?" Sora yanked on his father's coat, looking up inquisitively.
"This?" The man regarded his cocktail, then looked back at his young son. "This is bad, Sora. It's Yucky." The young boy frowned.
"Then why are /you/ drinking it?"
"Well, because grownups often have to do things they don't like. You're young, you don't have to drink this yet."
"Can I try? I'm brave enough!" The boy reached up, his face screwing up into a look of determination. His father sighed, then relented.
"Alright, but don't tell your mother. She'd have my head."
"Okay!" Sora took the cup slowly, wrapping both chubby little fists around it. Carefully he raised it to his mouth and took a tiny sip.
"Uck! That's nasty!" He spluttered. His father laughed and retrieved the cup.
"Didn't I tell you?" Sora wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and pulled a face.
"Ugh, that stuff's the worst, can't you drink juice or something?" His father merely laughed some more, causing Sora to pout harder.
"Oh, now come on Sora, don't be like that. Look, see that there?" He crouched level with the boy and pointed at the ceiling where a shiny silver ball glinted merrily down at them.
"Wooow . what is it?" The young boy gazed at it, open mouthed, a look of wonder on his face.
"That's the crystal ball. Guess what it does?"
"Does it have magical powers?" The older man smiled.
"Maybe. At midnight, it falls."
"Falls? Does it hit anybody?" Blue eyes widened nervously
"No. It floats in the middle of the air and sparkles!" The older man wiggled his fingers to demonstrate the sparkling.
"Neat! Then what happens?"
"Well, it symbolizes the passing of the old year and the birth of the new, so everybody cheers and sings and kisses!"
"Kisses?! Uck! Don't people do that enough?" This caused his father to laugh again.
"But these are special kisses! You can kiss anybody, normally it's whoever is standing closest to you. As a way of saying 'I'm glad I shared this with you.' It's just an odd little tradition Sora. Although-" he leaned closer to his son
"Once you're married, it's a good idea to be standing next to the person you married. Otherwise they might get angry with you."
"So you stand next to mom?"
"All the time."
"Do you ever want to stand next to somebody else?"
"Never."
"Never-ever?"
"Never. Now, look what else I see." He pointed through the crowd to another silvery object.
"Riku!" Sora turned and grinned at his father, yanking his sleeve excitedly.
"Riku! Look dad! It's Riku! Look! Riku!" the boy was practically hopping in place.
"Yes, yes it is. Go on, go play with your friend!" He gave the boy a nudge, laughing.
"Rikuuuuu!" Sora bounded through the crowd excitedly.
"Riku!" The sliver-haired boy turned and was caught up in a hug.
"Sora!" He grinned at the younger boy. Sora grabbed both of Riku's hands in his and bounced up and down.
"Riku! Riku! Riku! Riku!" His friend laughed and bounced with him.
"Sora! Sora! Sora! Sora!" the two continued to bounce, laughing gaily.
The adults smiled patiently, waiting for the yelling to die. It was hard to be annoyed with such young children, especially ones as adorable as that.
"I'm soooooo glad you're here, I was sooooo bored!" Stopped boucing and swung their arms.
"Me too! Now we can go exploring!" Riku took off towards the stairs, dragging his friend behind.
***
Sora's father winced as loud crash was heard from the loft, followed by shrieks of laughter and 'monster noises'. Every so often Sora would proclaim something heroic like 'Here I come to save the day!' Or Riku, in his deepest seven-year-old voice: 'Now I've got you!' to which Sora would respond (also deep-voiced) 'I think not!'.
The man shook his head good naturedly. He hoped nothing ever separated those two. They seemed to fit together so naturally, and besides, Sora needed someone to vent his boundless energy on. With that thought, he turned his head to watch as the final seconds to midnight counted down.
***
This was the moment seventeen-year-old Selphie had waited for all year. Regardless of her marital status, the New Year's Kiss was one of her favorite moments, it was just soooooo romantic! She had carefully positioned herself next to Tidus as the final moments drew near. They stood on the Paopu island, along with the rest of the kids, and Selphie was sad to see it end. Besides the kiss, the rest of the evening was terrific as well. Riku and Wakka had dragged over some logs for everyone to sit on, and Sora and Tidus had built a bonfire, which kept them all warm. Kairi had made some lovely food, and Selphie herself made sure that everyone had more than enough to drink. All in all, it was a very pleasant party. Their only indication of the passing year came from the echo of their parents' voices that drifted over from the main island.
"Three! Two!"
Selphie held her breath, waiting.
"Happy New Year!" She grinned as Tidus leaned down and kissed her briefly, smiling.
"Happy New Year Selphie!"
"Happy New Year Ti-" Selphie's mouth dropped open as she stared past Tidus at the Paopu tree.
***
Riku listened to the chanting from the main island, concentrating on keeping his face neutral, while his heart beat a million miles a second. This was the moment he'd waited for all year. If he only had the courage to follow through.
"-One! Happy New Year!" the roar of the adults' voices drifted across the water to the island party, and Riku took a breath to steady his nerves.
Slowly he leaned over to the boy next to him and pressed their lips together softly.
Sora's eyes widened, but he didn't pull away. After a moment his eyes slid closed and he leaned forward, into the kiss.
Riku's lips moved slightly against the younger boy's, and felt his heart soar as Sora responded in kind. After another blissful moment or two, Riku withdrew to a few inches from Sora and watched him.
The brown-haired boy's eyes slowly fluttered open and he stared back. Riku gulped.
An eternity passed in which a thousand hopes and dreams were both created and destroyed, then the smallest of smiles twitched on Sora's lips. Riku let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding, then smiled back.
Heart in mouth, he slowly moved back in and joined their lips again. Sora slowly placed his hand over Riku's, lightly stroking it with his fingertips. Riku moaned quietly, running a hand up and into Sora's hair, grasping and twirling the strands between his fingers. Carefully, cautiously, he opened his mouth, trailing his tongue over Sora's lower lip.
The younger boy gasped, which caused the intended reaction anyway, and Riku slid his tongue into Sora's open mouth, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.
"Mm-!" Sora half-protested, before relaxing and letting his older friend do lovely things to his mouth. After a moment, Sora's tongue timidly met with Riku's.
With a delighted groan, Riku pulled the younger boy up onto his lap; Sora straddling his rival's hips, and Riku's legs on either side of the paopu tree's trunk. Sora wrapped his arms around the older boy's shoulders, pressing his mouth down harder into the one below.
Sora whimpered as Riku slid his hand up under his shirt, fingertips grazing lightly over his skin. A light cough caused both boys to whip their heads around, surprised.
***
Kairi sat, arms wrapped around her knees; Selphie next to her, one hand up to her face, looking enchanted; Tidus and Wakka sat causally sprawled out in the sand, watching with mild interest.
"This is . so ."
"Weird?" Tidus supplied
"Romantic!" Sephie insisted, indicating that they should be quiet.
So they sat, and they watched. Watched as Riku stuck his tongue down Sora's throat, watched as Riku dragged Sora up to sit on his lap, watched at Riku put his hand up Sora's shirt .
*cough* Tidus covered his mouth, blushing a bit.
"Jeez . get a room" he muttered to himself. Only, it wasn't quite. He looked up to see everyone, the two boys included, staring at him.
"Ah . Um .Sorry?"
***
Sora, for his part, was glad that the other kids seemed more interested in being annoyed with Tidus that looking at him and Riku, but of course, that could only last so long.
"Riiiku! Soora!" Sora winced as Selphie purred out their names "That was amazing you two! Ah," she sighed "/So/ romantic."
Sora could feel his face go hot as he slid off Riku's lap.
"Ya, but I thought you were only supposed to kiss them for a few seconds, not eat their face!" Wakka laughed.
Riku grinned easily "Aw, you're all just jealous, 'cause I made it with the cutest boy on the island." He draped an arm casually over Sora's shoulders. Sora blushed and looked down into his lap, twisting his fingers together nervously.
Kairi smiled and stood, dusting sand off her skirt
"Well, we'll leave you to it, then. Happy New Year, you two." She smiled again, looking at the other kids, who all seemed to take her cue, standing and stretching, waving goodbye and meandering off to go to their homes, or where ever.
Once they were gone, Sora was very aware of the fact that he and Riku were quite alone . on a deserted island . in the middle of the night . alone. No one around at all. Yup. All alone. Completely alone. He gulped.
"So . " Riku dragged a finger up Sora's cheek, then cupped the younger boy's face in his hand.
Sora blushed a bit, lowering his eyes.
"So."
"Hey . you're not embarrassed, are you? You know they wont say anything about it." Riku tilted his head and softly kissed the other side of Sora's face.
"W-well, no. Just . um, surprised. A bit. I guess."
"Surprised?"
"Yeah. I-I never thought that, that you, you know, liked me . too." Riku raised an eyebrow.
"Too ..?" he asked slowly. Sora nodded fervently.
"Do-Do you remember our . /first/ kiss?" Sora asked quietly, scooting closer on the tree. Riku smiled.
"Very clearly. I was seven." Sora beamed.
"You really remember?" Riku nodded, then leaned back for another kiss, wrapping his arms around the small boy.
***
The two boys stopped their playing and looked up expectantly as the lights dimmed and the adults began to count.
"Wow! This is exciting!" Sora ran to the railing of the loft and peered over, anxious not to miss the shiny ball's big moment. Riku walked up next to his friend and watched as well.
"Ten! Nine! Eight!" the adults below chorused.
"Why do you think they're counting?" Sora asked, voice hushed "Does the ball need to be told when to fall?"
"I don't know!" Riku shushed him, and pointed at the crystal, indicating that his friend should just watch.
"Two! One! Happy New Year!" The noise from below was deafening, and the boys covered their ears, squealing with laughter.
Still grinning happily, Sora turned to his friend and touched their lips together quickly, before stepping back and grinning wider. Riku looked taken aback.
"Yuk! What'dya do /that/ for?" Riku treasured his friend, but he definitely didn't want to risk getting cooties. Or maybe only girls had those .
Sora shrugged. "I dunno. We're supposed to. My dad told me. Your supposed to kiss whoever's closest!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, It's special!" The older boy considered this.
"O-Okay." He stepped forward and copied the action, then moved back.
"Like that?"
"Yeah!" The two boys smiled at each other, then leaned back over the railing, watching their parents dance around the floor. Sora smiled as his father and mother looked up and waved at him from below.
"Riku?"
"Yeah, Sora?"
"I'm glad I shared this with you."
"Me too."
***
Gaaahhh . sugar overload! The cavities! Turned out a bit longer than I had intended, but then, so does everything else I do. I hate to do this ('cause I once wrote a three paragraph rant about it) but, if anyone has an idea for Pieces that Fall into Place, I would love to hear them. I am soooo stuck. Happy New Year, all.