Peanut

"Hi," Lightning responded quietly. "What are you doing awake?" Riku was the type of person who could will himself to sleep even when he didn't feel tired; apparently that skill was practiced a lot when he was travelling world to world on missions. He should have used that skill to fall asleep tonight.

Since Serah was sleeping, Lightning didn't audibly respond to the knock. Instead, she crawled out of bed and walked over towards the door, opening it quietly to reveal the person on the other side. She wasn't sure who she had been expecting, but seeing Riku was almost a surprise. She figured he'd be asleep.

Lightning and Riku told everyone that they'd come home too--Well, Riku told them; Lightning just stood there while he explained everything. Despite his reassurance, her concerns still remained. Life hadn't been fair to her so far, so why should it start now? Everyone decided to go to bed to rest up, since they wanted to leave in the morning. Lightning also went to bed, though she was wide awake in her room. As if she'd sleep when she had so much nervousness.

After a few moments, Lightning nodded slightly. She had to go back...That was Serah's home. And she promised not to uproot Serah again after what happened in Bodhum. She'd go home, turn eighteen and then live with Serah again as her legal guardian. But to do that, she had to return.

Lightning looked in the direction of Riku's hand, though she still wouldn't look at his eyes. He had logical points, but naturally she was still concerned. She almost asked what would happen if they just shot her when they saw her, but she knew the answer to that. Riku would protect her. He'd always protect her...

"What if they don't even watch it?" Light asked, keeping her gaze down on the ground. "What then?" Yeah, the footage showed that Cedric was clearly in the wrong and Lightning was the victim, but who said the police would watch it? They were convinced she was a murderer, so why bother looking at more evidence?

Light automatically softened when Riku set his hand on the side of her head. "What if that doesn't make a difference?" she said quietly. He had the evidence in her favor, but whatever video Seifer handed over was convincing enough to get her arrested immediately. What if they didn't even look at this one?

Lightning glanced down at the ground. "If I go back, they'll..." She didn't have to finish that sentence. They'd lock her in jail and throw away the key. Riku could apologize for assaulting the officers; he could lie and say that he realized he made a horrible mistake. Just because she had to stay away didn't mean he had to.

Lightning didn't bother walking far with Riku. Once they were out of the movie room, she shut the door and looked at him. "I want you to go home," she said firmly. That was where his friends and family would be, and that was where he belonged. She knew he was in trouble with the law because of what he did for her, but he could work his way out of it pretty easily because he was a Keyblade wielder.

Lightning's eyebrows automatically furrowed. She didn't like what Riku said. "Sorry," she said, looking to Sora and Kairi. "I'll convince Riku to come with you, but it'll take a minute." She walked towards her boyfriend, holding out a hand to help him stand up. They needed to talk.

While Lightning heard Ven suggest that he and Aqua would do some catching up with the worlds, she felt Riku's gaze on her back. Serah's too. There was this obvious tension in the room, and she knew that she was the cause of it. As Ven finished up his sentence, Lightning finally turned around and looked right at Riku. "...You should go home," she said quietly to him. The Islands was his home.

"...It might be good to go home," Roxas said upon hearing the silence. He sort of wanted to stay and train harder, but at the same time, he wanted Namine to go home, and he wanted to be with her. It'd be good for her to go home and get back to normal life.

"Kai," Sora said quietly, giving her a simple reminder through his tone. They talked about this before; Riku left the Islands on bad terms. He might not want to go back with them, no matter how badly they wanted him to.

"They said they wanted to come," Sora nodded. They didn't know what to do with themselves in this castle. They saw Riku and Lightning start recover from their trauma, but other than that, they had no reason to be here. They couldn't avoid the paparazzi forever.

Sora nodded as well, glancing over at Riku since he had the most concerns with going home. "I don't know what you guys want to do, but...We were thinking of going home tomorrow." It was sudden, but they were thinking about it a lot the past few days. With the Xehanort crisis over, it was time to go home.

Sora and the gang sat through the end of the movie in silence. The last hour was too intense for anyone to interrupt, and anyway, he had a feeling that a lot of people were distracted. He was, but probably not for the same reason as people like Riku and Roxas. As Lightning turned off the movie screen, Sora dropped the bombshell. "...Kairi and I were thinking that it's time to go home." Lightning stopped where she was, her back to the rest of the room. Home. Of course she thought about going home a dozen times, but then she remembered why she left. She was going to be arrested for the "murder" of her father. And Riku stopped that arrest from happening. Whenever they went back, it would be trouble. Sometimes she questioned whether she wanted to go back at all to a world that was so cruel to her.

Serah glanced over at Roxas and Namine, mainly because the two of them couldn't seem to stay quiet during the movie. But when she saw Namine under Roxas's arm, she smiled softly and glanced back at her sister. Namine and Roxas were in the pre-relationship stage, but Lightning and Riku were already in one. Why couldn't Lightning cuddle up to Riku like Namine was to Roxas?

Roxas smiled softly, his gaze briefly wandering down to Namine's lips. But he looked away and focused on the movie before he could go any further. Kissing Namine would be way too much. Yeah, he gave her a kiss or two on the cheek, but it was different than kisses on the lips. He had to keep going slowly; he'd be patient with her and go at her pace.

Roxas nodded faintly after a moment. "Alright," he said quietly, meeting Namine's eyes with a gentle gaze. If she was sure that she wanted this, then he'd gladly stay. He was moving slowly in his pursuit of her mostly because she seemed hesitant to jump into anything with him, but there was a goal he needed to fulfill too. He had to find a way to be stronger.

Roxas looked at Namine's eyes, still not quite sure how to decipher them. "Are you sure?" he checked softly. He didn't have to do this. He could pull back his arm and give her some more room--he could sit on the floor if she wanted him to. This was really fast paced for Namine. It wasn't for him, considering how much he was building up to this, but for her to accept it so quickly...

Roxas stared at Namine, unable to help it this time. She said this was okay, but... C'mon. What's the worst that could happen? He slowly lowered his arm, setting a hand on Namine's shoulder. "...Is this okay?" he asked then, whispering both due to proximity and avoiding the wrath of others.

Oh crap, Roxas thought, looking over at Namine when she looked to him. "Sorry, should I...?" Should I take my arm back? He would if he needed to. But then again, what was the difference in this to how they were before? If anything, this gave them both a little more room.

Take a chance. What's the worst than can happen? Roxas asked himself for the tenth time. However, it was this time that he listened to himself. He carefully pulled on the arm that was closest to Namine, careful not to hit her on the head as he put it behind her on the beanbag. It was just behind her, not on her shoulders. But if she wanted it to be, it could be an invitation to come closer. He doubted she'd accept that invite though....

Roxas's eyes automatically caught onto Namine's, but he refrained from staring. He offered her a weak smile before his eyes went to the screen and the scene taking place, his hand wandering into his bag to get the snack. He ate it mindlessly, mostly confused about Namine's change.

Roxas smiled faintly at Namine's calmness, finding something different about her tonight. He expected her to be totally opposed to sharing a seat with him just because he seemed to overwhelm her earlier. That was what happened, right? He complimented her too much and she got embarrassed. But even then, he told her he wouldn't stop making her feel special. He was going to live up to that promise even now. He quietly opened up the pack of twizzlers, offering them to Namine before even taking his own.