Fan Fiction ❯ Tides of Fire ❯ The Man Who Looks Like Me ( Chapter 4 )

AN: Hey-hey! I'm back and ready to start it up again! I hope everyone's forgiving of my terribly long hold and enjoyed the last chapter that I tried to extend somehow to make up for the long wait. Thanks for all the reviews, guys! If you're expecting individual praises, that will be arranged later because I need to fix all the important junk first. (Not that you're reviews aren't important. Oh, NO! Of COURSE they are important! They are indeed!)

Disclaimer (that I keep forgetting): I do NOT own anything by KH, FF or anything that I'm adding in the future. All goes to Disney, Squaresoft/SquareEnix (whichever company they are... I'm confused after playing FFX-2), and those individual peoples whose series or whatever I'm including. (Who knows what I'm doing?)

NOTICE: If no one's seen it, well I suggest you go now. I fixed chapter one a bit and added something that wasn't there before. If no one knows, I have added the set of words "Part One" right before the number of chapter. That's right, this story will have parts to it. ^^ I hope everyone enjoys that surprise!

Rating reminder: PG13

Tides of Fire

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Chapter Four

Sora sighed heavily as he dropped the large cloth around him, folding it and hanging it over his arm as he turned to his best friend. The silver-haired teen was facing out to the sea that washed in and out convulsively against the island. As the waves washed on the shore, a light breeze passed the island, rustling the leaves of the trees. Riku smiled faintly, almost unconscious of the movements of his lips.

Sora smiled inwardly as he caught the ghost smile, coming up beside the other to look out to the waves. A hand strayed to hover his chest where the scar was, the island they stood on a tremendous reminder to him of the journey. Something inside him pulsed faintly; too faint for him to identify. He didn't know where this strange feeling came from, but if anything, he had to either figure out what it was quickly, or otherwise ignore it. Deciding on the latter, he let his hand fall, willing himself to focus on more important things.

Turning to Riku, he saw the boy suddenly leaning against the bent trunk of the Paopu tree. As he himself made his way over to stand beside his friend, he questioned, "Riku?"

The silver-haired teen tore his gaze away from the horizon to his friend. "Hmm?"

The brunette shook his head. "What do you think of the play? Do you think we're ready?"

Riku lifted a brow. "Personally? ...Well, I think we'll do fine. We were all pushed to do this and all during practice we were fine."

"But practicing is very different from performance."

The older male shrugged. "True, but if you know how to do it in rehearsal, then it means that you'll at least know what to say when you perform. As for really forgetting your lines or messing up, that's stage fright. But after all the times we practiced our roles without our costumes and such, to do it in front of an audience is not that different from the small one of the other actors."

Sora sighed. "I suppose."

Then, with a smirk, the older of the two nudged the younger. "Why? Are you getting butterflies?"

Sora scowled in defiance. "No, I'm not getting nervous or anything! I'm... I'm only asking what you think," he added, looking away as his expression smoothed out to almost a wistful look. "It's just..."

As his words trailed, Riku couldn't help but place a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Though you got dumped with a female role, you'll do fine. Besides, you'll do more acting than saying something throughout the whole play, right?"

Sora shrugged and threw the taller boy a grin. "Sure. But you better do well in your part as well; you have more lines than anyone in the whole play." He paused to think over his answer. "Well, besides the narrator, that is. But then again, they get to read from the script anyhow."

Riku chuckled. He was about to say something when the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Turning halfway around, he spotted Kairi coming toward them. In her company was that nameless man who was identical to himself. Furrowing his brows in wonder, he let his hand drop from Sora's shoulders, walking around the Paopu tree to meet the two. "Hey."

Kairi smiled. "Hi, Riku, I knew I'd find the two of you here."

Riku lifted a brow as he glanced over his shoulder at the brunette who had swiftly wrapped the cloth around his shoulders before walking up as well. "Really? And how's that?"

Kairi stepped to the side to admit the silver-haired man through. "Sir Sephiroth notified me where to find you."

Riku turned to the man and bowed slightly to him. Sephiroth, eh...? He heard that name somewhere before... How? Mentally shaking off his thoughts, the teen half smiled at the man who's face was blank and almost cold with the sharp near-glowing green eyes of his that pierced Riku like a thousand needles throughout his body.

Kairi interrupted the boy's thoughts as she spoke up. "And it's a good thing he did, too. Judging by time, we should get the play started soon. I'm calling everyone to the stage while the audience assembles in the risers. All the others are heading over, now."

When the girl gestured off to her left, the boys turned to see that indeed people were already starting to fill up the benches stacked together in a kind of staircase, enough room in each row for people to sit and put their feet down. And facing opposite of the benches was the stage, the sand used as the floor for half of the scenes of the play. Planted in the sand on one far end was a large board to serve as a wing for the actors to hide behind before their time on 'stage'. As for what would be used as the second scenery for the play was where the beginning of the cove was, before the bridge across the water that led to the other side of the island. The boards that was a barrier between the cove and the first part of the island was removed and moved back to serve as a stage wall in the back, just before the water and bridge. These two places would be perfect places for the play without the scenes being too far apart from each other. That, and the last scene that the four currently stood on.

Riku sighed slightly and turned to his best friend who bit the bottom of his lip, contradicting what he had stated earlier about not being nervous. "Well, you should go with Kairi, Sora."

The brunette tore his eyes from the 'stage' and nodded. He followed the redhead to where he knew would be a place for the females who were in charge of the play did the make-up for the actors. Riku, on the other hand, lagged behind to give one last look at the scenery, as well as get a word with... 'Sephiroth'. Turning to the man now, he eyed him in his black glory.

The man caught the teen scrutinize him and shifted his gaze toward he younger, face expressionless as eyes were unreadable. When the teen realized he was caught, he did not turn away as the man thought he would. Instead, he faced him fully. Sephiroth nearly lifted a brow. Only two persons had met him unflinchingly, and they were Cloud and Sora. It was a surprise when the brunette met him with determined eyes that held a certain depth to them. He had seen the same determination and light in Cloud's eyes when he first encountered him. But... now, this silver-haired teen that looked remarkably like himself locked eyes with him in slight wonder and hidden awe. Strange... Was this boy what he never would be? Mentally pushing the thought aside, the man turned away, walking back across the bridge and disappearing into the shack.

Riku, left in Sephiroth's wake, blinked before jogging down the bridge himself, jumping off at the very end instead of going inside the shack, making his way to the back behind the stage where the actors needed for the first few scenes were gathering. There, Kairi held several papers and the script in her hand, the other hand holding something similar to the first wand the duck magician carried in his time with Sora.

The redhead spotted him quickly, smiling. "Okay, everyone, this is it! The play will start as soon as Selphie and I make the introductions. Riku, while we're talking, please get into place." She paused to glance at a few others. "Same with the rest of you. And once the first scene starts and while the narration is heard overhead, everything should fall into place."

When the girl glanced down at the papers in her hands and did a double take, Bell spoke comforting to the girl. "Don't worry, Kairi, we'll get though this. You pushed so hard to put this together, you don't need to worry; we'll make sure this play turns out the best you've ever seen!"

Kairi smiled gratefully at the woman. "Thank you." Then, turning to address the rest of them, she concluded her speech with, "Well, let's get this show going! If anything, we can't delay this anymore!"

The actors exclaimed their agreement and Kairi walked out to meet Selphie on the 'stage' where they spoke. Riku and a few others made their way toward the stage as well, but instead of coming out front, they stood back in hiding while the girls talked. Toward the end of the speech, several actors exited to get into place, the rest waiting for their turn. Riku was among those who waited on the side, and to his surprise, he felt his heart quicken considerably. He wasn't given enough time to slow his racing heart as Kairi concluded her speech and the two walked off the stage, the redhead putting the 'wand' near her mouth to speak again, only this time of the narration for the story. (The girl had taken over Sora's original part of the play.) She winked at Riku and let him stroll onto stage as she continued talking.

The silver-haired teen walked across the platform that would've held the held the barrier for the cove, reaching the other end where he knelt, touching the stone and sand base while he bowed his head.

"Rise, son."

Riku silently stood up, facing his 'mother' and 'father'. Aurora was dressed in a light blue gown that complimented her figure and features. She sat on her 'throne' with the old mage in the seat next to her, his magic disguising him as a younger man. Aurora stood up and lightly took the teen's face in her hands, kissing his forehead.

"Are you ready for a long day?"

Riku covered the woman's hand with his own, nodding. "Yes."

"You are to head out to the desert. There you journey to..."

Riku drowned out the woman's lines as he had heard it all before. Apparently, his character was to go on a 'rescue mission' and find any survivors of the battle that was held but a few days ago. A war was just starting and the enemy of their country had launched the first attack. And their country could use all the warriors that were left and able.

He nodded as Aurora finished her line, turning to the old mage who stood up as well, but refrained from stepping forward. "Son, ride carefully; bandits and rouges will most likely willing to take advantage of but a few young men far from their home."

Riku nodded and bowed, quickly making his way off stage as Kairi narrated as he moved on to the wing of the second scene where he, Aladdin, and Tidus emerged from the corner of the stage to the sandy beach. On the beach, some feet away from them, was a replica of the aftermath of a battle, several bodies lying around with equipment either charred, destroyed entirely, or merely lying there. The three young men ran forward toward the scene, checking the people in the sand. Riku came across Sora with his outfit in near rags, the girls backstage having partially set it afire and ripped it up. The boy's crown of brown hair was messed up where it fell like a broken ring around his head. Quickly, he turned the boy over to see make-up over his face to imitate that of bruises, burns and possibly scars.

Riku lightly put a hand on the side of the boy's neck before lifting the surprisingly light boy up, bringing him back with the others to the wing where he let the boy down as he snapped his eyes opened and silently demanded to be released.

As Sora stood and rubbed the make-up off his face, Riku walked past him to the previous stage to confront the King and Queen of the play. As he disappeared, he didn't notice a pair of blue eyes follow him silently.

Overhead, as if spoken into everyone's ears, came Kairi's voice. "... Several weeks have passed and Prince Richard grows curious and slightly impatient on the recovery of the mysterious girl he found in the battlefield. She had yet to speak a word, and only but a few days ago did she finally waken from her extended slumber."

In the audience, a small group of adults turned their attention to the right where they saw Riku pacing before Bell and the mage. As the scene progressed, Yuffie and Aerith quietly chattered to each other as they sat between Leon and Cloud while Sephiroth and Cid sat behind them.

"Riku is really good with his role, huh?"

Aerith nodded. "Yes, he is."

The ninja paused to bite her lip as Sora came on stage wearing a dress similar to Kairi's only with blue and light yellows instead of red and white. "But almost got me to laughing was seeing Sora in that rag! Now he wearing a dress! Is there something about that in any pamphlet we got?"

Aerith shook her head. "I don't remember receiving any papers." But as soon as she said it, Cloud silently handed her two folded papers within each other, lettering scrolled on each page. Looking up, she smiled at the blonde warrior. "Thank you, Cloud."

While the man didn't respond, Aerith opened the folded papers and quickly found the list of actors and their parts. She handed the paper over to Yuffie who wrinkled her nose as she read. "Eeh! So then Sora was given the part for the leading female role! Well, I don't know whether to laugh at him or feel sorry."

Leon shook his head from his spot left of the ninja. "Don't laugh at him; the last thing he'll want is for someone to make fun of him. I'm sure you wouldn't want someone to laugh at you, would you, Yuffie?"

When the gunblade wielder shot her a look, the female grinned sheepishly and waved a hand at him, hoping not to be verbally berated by the stoic man. "Hey, no harm, right?" She leaned to her right as she laughed nervously. "I'm just enjoying the show..."

Leon turned back to the stage where he found Riku, Sora and Aladdin conversing on the stone stage where the King and Queen's throne were.

Riku pace before Sora and Aladdin, hands clasped behind his back. "Now, tell me again. They plan on launching some kind of weapon they have on our city if we do not give something back to them?"

Aladdin nodded. "Yes, sir."

Riku paused, anger evident on his face. "And they didn't say what they wanted?"

Alladin shook his head and was about to speak when another entered the conversation. Tidus knelt before Riku before speaking up. "Actually, Lord, they didn't. They said that we knew what we took."

Riku sighed in an exasperated tone. He closed his eyes for a moment before turning to the two males who served as guards. "Fine. Perhaps there is a way to figuring out what we took? I don't know... Did anyone pick something up in the battlefield?"

Tidus and Alladin glanced at each other and shook their heads. "Nothing but our injured soldiers, sir."

Riku frowned at this statement. "Then, did one of them obtain anything unusual?"

Alladin shook his head. "No, sir. Other than weaponry parts embedded into their bodies, nothing out of the ordinary."

Riku swept his arm out, face constricted in anger, ready to shout at the two, stopping abruptly as though a thought crossed his head. Slowly, he lowered his arm and turned toward Sora who gave off an innocent and clueless look. He stepped toward the boy and asked in a gentle manner, "Saurah?"

Sora faced Riku and smiled slightly. "Yes, Lord Richard?"

Riku gently cupped the boy's cheek. "Do you happen to remember your home, Saurah?"

The brunette shook his head, smiling still. "No, Lord. Haven't we gone through this conversation before?"

Riku nodded and let his hand slip from the side of the boy's face, turning away from all three of them toward the audience. He appeared to be thinking, and without a word, he left. And, as if it was meant for him to follow, Sora disappeared with Riku.

Aladdin and Tidus stared after the two before turning to each other. Tidus frowned. "Perhaps... Do you think...?"

Aladdin shook his head. "I do not know. It is suspicious as to where she came from and who she really is. ... Could she be...?"

Tidus shrugged. "Maybe, Alan, maybe."

With that, the two exited the stage as Riku and Sora did while Kairi's voice rang in the air as she narrated.

"After the conversation between Prince Richard and his men, Saurah was under constant watch, a guard never leaving her side. As for personal and private times, a maid was stationed in her room to keep note of the young woman's actions. But even with all the security, it seemed that Saurah indeed didn't have a clue as to where she came from or the enemy that they were at war with. If she was not discovered in the battlefield, it would seem that she was a normal lady in waiting, naïve of all that around her.

"Now, we find the royal family and several of the King's military men at a dinner, enjoying some relaxation before a long battle ahead of them. Many nights have passed and the war was to come to a conclusion. Who would win the war? No one knew or bothered with the matter for they wanted to forget the issue for the night.

"Dinner is going well into the night and several gypsies and entertainers keep the men entertained. But... while they are distracted by women in fancy costumes, Prince Richard is distracted by only one maiden who sat across from him as they sat by his mother."

Riku kept glancing up and sneaking looks at Sora who seemed oblivious of his stare. Colors off the women's costumes were blurs in his vision as he only turned his attention toward the brunette who kept his head slightly lowered as he picked at his food.

"As the night droned on," came Kairi's voice as she continued, "Prince Richard invited Saurah outside for a stroll around the courtyard."

Riku stood up and excused himself, whispering into Bell's ear before taking Sora by the hand and leading him off stage where they reentered in the sand. Sora wore the grand dress with the petticoat and corset, a fan he was holding gripped tightly as he waved it in front of his chest.

"The walk was silent and peaceful, almost as if the courtyard was frozen in time, flowers paused in blooming under a clear sky. All seemed to be like a fairytale..."

Riku stopped some ways across the sand, near enough to the stage wing, yet far enough to be nearly smack dab in the front of the audience. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt with a stripe of faded green at the hem of his sleeves, and white pants that fell over his black boots. Again, he wore a king of sleeve-less robe that fell over his white attire, only that bottom of it tended at his knees instead of at his ankles, the cut at the sides slightly wider and making a small point in the front and back. The robe was a solid shade of green, but not bold so that it was distracting. The robe was lined with a thin line of silver, the collar of the robe (which was clasped close like before, as well as as high as before) also lined with silver. The robe closed off to his left, but instead of there being a long piece of cloth that served as belt and sash, there was a strip of stiff cloth that fastened to his cloth belt, the cords attached to the stiff shoulder piece hooked onto his pants, over his tucked-in shirt. White gloves covered his hands, ending at his wrist. His hair, like before, was down, but he did not have a band around his forehead. Around his neck was the same gem he wore with his earlier outfit, the piece serving as an heirloom.

Riku sighed and looked off to the side, away from Sora and the audience. The brunette had his back facing him, fanning himself. After a moment, he turned toward silver-haired teen that pretended he was preoccupied. Lightly, he reached out with his left hand that had the sapphire bracelet around the wrist, touching Riku's arm. The boy jerked slightly and turned to face him. As he turned, the turquoise gem around his neck glittered, catching his attention. Carefully, he touched it, not at all looking at the silver-haired teen himself.

Riku blinked several times before laying a hand over the younger one's. The brunette looked up to meet his gaze and they stayed silent for a moment. Riku was the first to look away, clearing his throat.

"S- Saurah?"

Sora smiled lightly at being addressed, answering in the best feminine voice he could muster (which happened to be very good), "Yes, Lord Richard?"

Riku turned his gaze back at the boy and looked him up and down. Then, without a word, he reached behind his neck and unclasped the necklace, bringing it forth for the other to see better. The gem glistened as the light hit it, the gem twisting slightly on the string. "Did you know that my mother gave me this necklace?"

Sora shook his head as he stared at the necklace. "No, Lord."

A smiled graced the silver-haired teen's lips and Sora couldn't help but look up to witness it. He stepped forward slightly as the other silently called him forward. Riku put his hands around the other's neck, brushing under the hair that was now pulled down, half put up with a clip. The girls had had trouble with the boy's hair, but eventually, they made it fall around his shoulders as if it were natural. Riku clasped the necklace again so that the gem fell between the brunette's collar bones, the blue of his eyes almost magically transforming the gem to aqua, the shade more blue than green when it was around Riku's neck.

The older teen's hands strayed around the younger one's neck, slipping to cup his face. A blush crept onto the brunette's face. Silence stretched between them, and eventually, Riku let go, his hands falling to his sides as he stepped around the brunette so that their backs faced each other.

Sora looked down and fingered the gem around his neck. Just as he turned around to speak to the older, he was cut off when the other spoke up first.

"I- I would like you to wear it. Perhaps it holds no significance, but consider it a treasure, a gift from me. I will be going into battle tomorrow and if I do not come back, I hope that you will have something to remember me by."

"Not come back? But if you weren't coming back, I would not need a necklace give you by your mother to remember you by. It is gorgeous, yes, but what would be more likely to let me remember you by is the generosity that you've given me. You have taken me in and took care of me. I do not need anything else."

Riku was silent as she spoke this, face frozen in shock. When Sora finished, he waited a moment before turning around, just in time to see the boy being swept off his feet and taken away from him, a scream filling the air. Riku ran after Sora and his masked captor, purposely slow as the two disappeared off stage. Riku stopped to a halt and fell to his knees, pounding the ground, muttering curses to himself. His body shook in rage and when his head snapped up to glare into a distance, his eyes were narrowed.

Quickly, she scrambled to his feet and ran off the stage as well, appearing again where dinner was being held, stopping to a halt by Bell and the mage as they danced with the others. He was panting and his hair was slightly disheveled, eyes wide as gripped the mage's arm.

Bell looked down at Riku, a frown evident on her face. "What is it, son? What causes you to run in here in such a mess as if you've been running all around the castle all day?"

The mage frowned as well. "Yes, what ails you?"

Riku gulped and squared his jaw, composing himself slightly as he relayed the news. "Saurah has been kidnapped, and I think it's by the enemy."

~*~*~*~*~

AN: YES! The play has started and things are up and running! I hope you all enjoyed what I've given you in a remarkably short amount of time considering how I usually type! But anyway, I hope you all like what I've done and hopefully, since I've put off my original project (Sky's Eyes, my baby T__T) for this, more updates will come more frequently. But again, no one can be sure. Hopefully, though. ^^;; Yes, Sora's has to go in drag! Heehee. I'm evil, ne? Well, I hope you all enjoyed what I've given and will give gracious reviews for me, and oh... I dunno, possibly spread the word of my story? ^^;; Well, you don't have to do that, just please review for me. Thank you!

Sora: -__- Please review, or else she'll do something terrible to me.

Riku: <smirks>

Kairi: <pointedly ignores the both of them> Yes! Review! Please! My play must be a big success!! T__T I worked so hard on it too!

Selphie: Hey! I should get credit as well!

<lifts brow> Well, what about me? I'm the one who thought of ALL of this!

Sora: <glares> I know!

Selphie and Kairi: So?

…. -___- <sighs> Well, please review for me.

Sora: <waves hands frantically> Wait!

What?

Riku: You forgot to tell your readers one thing.

...Really? ... Oh! Oh yeah! One more thing, guys! I have run into a problem already in my updating and have come up with a half-cracked solution. From now until I can find a way around this, I will update once every two weeks with (hopefully) two chapters each time. So, instead of it being one chapter a week (as I'd planned), I will go with two chapters every two weeks. Is that okay?

Kairi: I don't think they'll mind.

Sora: <nods> Yeah! I'm sure you can do this! Hey, it's two chapters at once, right? I don't think they'll mind at all!

^^;; I suppose. Please review while I fix up another story of mine...