A friend and I have been doing a RP for a while now, and it has been scattered across several threads on two different sites. It started as a group story (about fast food of all things ) but then it transformed into something else entirely.

 

We request that nobody join in this RP or post anything on this thread; if you wanna say how awesome we are, message us some other way.

 

Um...You're free to read this for fun if you want to, but this thread has major Birth By Sleep spoilers. And since we've been doing this for a while, we will probably refer to things we've done in the past and you will have no idea what we're talking about. So if you want to save yourself from confusion, then you probably wanna stay away. If not, hey, whatever.

 

The plot was discussed and posted on another website, but here's a quick summary of the whole thing: It's the return of Xehanort.

 

Characters:

Peanut: Sora, Namine, Leon, Aerith, King Mickey, Terra, Ventus, Xehanort, etc.

Forever Love: Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Yuffie, Aqua, Vanitus, Tron, etc.

 

I believe I've said everything that needs to be said...Forever Love, let's get this show on the road, eh?

"...Yeah," Riku replied with a nod. Lightning was hurting more than he thought. He assumed she was alright, but now... Now Riku felt like a jerk for even bringing up Valhalla. Maybe he should have just stayed quiet. Me and my big mouth...

"And me knowing would hurt her worse, right?" Serah asked then, lifting her gaze to Riku. Lightning was trying so hard to keep whatever this was from her. It had something to do with a place called Valhalla and death of loved ones, and some kind of unfulfilled future...That was all she could gather so far and Lightning surely knew that. So that meant there must have been even worse things that she was keeping secret.

Riku nodded again, but he didn't look at Serah. He said too much, just like Lightning told him earlier. "...I should go," he said then, running a hand over his short hair. "Talk to her, if you want. I'm the last person she probably wants to see right now." He glanced briefly at the younger Farron, but he didn't necessarily make eye contact. He waved slightly before starting toward the sliding glass door to the balcony. He needed to go home... His new home, the condo that was once Lightning's that was now in his name.

"Riku," Serah called after him, rising from her seat. "You're wrong." He was so blatantly wrong that she couldn't believe it. Yeah, Lightning probably didn't want to see Riku right now, but despite her desires, she needed to see him. Lightning was grieving, and she needed somebody to face that grief head-on with her. It couldn't be Serah right now, so it had to be Riku.

Riku stopped, turning around a little. "Hm?" he hummed in question. He didn't get it. Lightning stormed off because of him. How was he wrong in saying that he wasn't the person she wanted to see? She literally walked away because he used her grief against her, which he didn't even intend on doing. It just...happened.

"She may not want you, but she needs you," Serah elaborated, giving very similar advice to what she told Riku in Valhalla and in Lightning's heart. "Lightning tries to handle grief alone, but she can't do it. She needs you to face it head on, and then she will too. She won't sink into despair." At least, Serah hoped she wouldn't. This time seemed different.

Riku blinked at the words, opening his mouth to say the words on the tip of his tongue: You've said that before. But...Serah didn't remember that. To her, it never happened. Only to him, and to Lightning. He lowered his gaze to the floor, not knowing what to do. If Lightning needed him, why did she walk away? 

"It's up to you," Serah said. "Go to her or leave her alone. I know one thing though--she definitely doesn't need me around right now." Serah only made things worse since she confronted her about the Corps. That argument, though it took place only a few minutes ago, was a distant memory now. There were clearly bigger things going on. "Good luck," Serah called as she began to leave.

"...Serah," Riku called after a few seconds. He wasn't sure why she was leaving, but he knew one thing. "...It's not your fault." Whatever she was blaming herself for, and what happened in Valhalla (even if she didn't know about it), she wasn't to blame. Fate was.

Serah stopped and took in Riku's words. There was a lot that Riku could have been referring to, but she took it to mean that she wasn't responsible for Lightning's emotions. She probably just triggered something; she didn't cause it. She looked at Riku and nodded slightly before she headed out and left.

Riku watched Serah go, and once she was out of his sight, he looked to the hall. But then his eyes darted to his exit, and then back again. He rubbed his face, exhausted mentally from everything that just happened. Lightning used to always stand her ground, but now she ran away. Where was her strength? Did she put it in Riku now?

It only took a few moments for Lightning to open her bedroom door. She partially came out because Serah was gone, but she would have come out anyway. She slowly lifted her gaze from the ground to Riku down the hall, and thankfully she wasn't crying. In Valhalla she cried and ran away, but here she only ran. It was sort of an improvement, wasn't it?

Riku sensed a gaze on him, and he lowered his hand to find Lightning down the hall. He gazed at her in silence, simply shrugging with a small motion of his hands when they made eye contact. What was he supposed to say? What did she want from him? He wasn't perfect; he never claimed to be. He just...wanted to help.

Lightning briefly looked away from Riku at his lost expression. He didn't know what to do, and neither did she. It was obvious now that she wasn't recovered from the emotional toll of Valhalla, and she probably wouldn't be for a long time. Riku didn't understand just how badly Valhalla upset her until he brought it up in the living room. But even if he did upset her... She slowly approached him, stopping in front of him as she stared at his chest. "...I don't...ever want to grieve alone again," she said quietly. She had a year of that in Valhalla, and it turned her into a different person. She didn't want that happening again.

Riku released a small breath, glancing to the side. "...I should have known you were," he said, speaking of grieving. Lightning did it in silence, and he thought she was fine...until he mentioned Valhalla. "Sorry I didn't see it." He would have helped. But how couldn't he sense it? Was he blinded by the happiness in their lives?

Light shook her head softly. "I wasn't pretending to be happy," she stated quietly. "I truly was happy, especially on our date. There are just...triggers that will set me off right now." Mentioning how she was in Valhalla definitely was one of those triggers, and she hadn't even seen that comment coming. Of course it hurt that Riku held her emotions against her to keep her around. He didn't realize just how much that was going to hurt her at the time though.

"Like what I said," Riku declared with a small nod. That wasn't his smartest move, and he realized his mistake after he said it. Riku used to be in tune with others' emotions and thoughts all the time, but now he just...wasn't. "I'm an idiot. I shouldn't have said anything." He should have let Lightning handle it, even if he didn't agree with her ways.

"You should have at least talked to me before forcing me on Serah," Lightning agreed. She thought that they agreed to keep it a secret, but then Riku did a 180 and completely changed his mind. He was ready to spill everything to Serah and Lightning wasn't. She told herself it was to protect Serah, and that truly was most of the reason, but a part of her wanted to forget everything that happened there by acting like it didn't occur. It was a stupid move on her part.

"I tried," Riku said, finally looking into Lightning's eyes again. "But Serah..." She wasn't going to let Lightning leave the room. "Forget it, it's not an excuse," he mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry for what I did. My patience was wearing thin and I just snapped, I guess." He didn't mean to hurt Lightning. She had to know that.

Though Riku was looking at her face, Lightning kept her gaze on his chest. She couldn't look him in the eye just yet, because her eyes were like his. They couldn't lie. And he would definitely see the worry in her eyes with this next question. "Have I been...taxing you?" she asked, voice weaker. Was she wearing him thin? Being a burden? Being a pain to the one she loved?

Riku blinked at the question, not expecting it at all. "No," he said with a shake of his head. Of course Lightning wasn't. He would never consider her a burden. How could she even ask him such a thing? Did she think that lowly of herself? Of him?

"I don't know if I believe that," Light said quietly. "...I was..." She swallowed before she could finish her sentence. Words couldn't describe what she was in Valhalla. She was the opposite of who she was at her core. She was a fighter who never gave in, focused enough to not give into emotions when she needed to get something done, considerate of others...But in Valhalla, all she did was take from Riku and cry. It was pathetic.

Riku knew where Lightning's thoughts were going. She was weak, sad, and broken. And she was that way because Riku helped soften her up. Maybe if he didn't, she would have been the way she was when fighting as a l'cie. She wouldn't have given in to her emotions and stayed strong. Riku lowered his gaze, sighing softly. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be sorry for how I was," Lightning said, shaking her head once more. "That's on me. I...I'm ashamed." She turned away from Riku so that her back was to him, her head lowered. "So ashamed..." She was so weak in Valhalla. She ran away from her problems, just like Riku said. 

"I didn't exactly help," Riku said, his eyes on the back of Lightning's head. "I softened you up." He made her vulnerable. He had always made her vulnerable, starting with Maleficent way back when. Maybe that was a mistake. But then what would have come of them? Would they be together?