FicWad

Disclaimer: I own Kingdom Hearts! ...No, literally. Do I own any of the characters in it? Chya, right. That's a big, fat no. But, while we're taking about owning things, I own Mizu and the three sprites (Shima, Kiri, and Yama).

Oh, don't let the shower stuff fool you. No pr0n, no romance, nuttin'...unless I'm asked nicely. :3 I only have two pairs set in stone; let the mix'n'matching commence!

- b - e - g - i - n - s -

Sentinel Trinity
Sekai

Worlds were literally everywhere; finding a specific one was like finding a needle (as well as an acorn-totting squirrel) in ten hundred acres of haystacks. And after three years of looking for the needle and squirrel, Sora was just about to fall over and died of straight-out misery.

The search was also affecting his companions, in a way Sora hadn't imagined. With their cartoon-ish appeal, the brunette had never once wondered about their age. But now, with Goofy sporting slivers of grey fur and Donald trying to hide his exhaustion behind his sharper multitudes of attitude, Sora was beginning to wonder if he should just send them back home and spare them the pain.

Home. Their beloved Disney World and the Magic Kingdom. It had been almost a year since their brief return and their discovery of King Mickey upon the throne. A blind King Mickey. So many questions, so few answers, but it was as evident as the existence of sunshine that the mage and the knight were overjoyed to be reunited with their lord.

Sora had convinced himself the pair would stay now, with Mickey safe and back on the throne, and was prepared to face his future alone. But when Goofy insisted on following him to the very end, Sora's burdened heart relieved itself of some sadness. Donald wasn't as easily moved to return to space, not with Daisy and the triplets at arms length, where he could see them. However, after a full barrage of biting remarks from the mallard's own uncle, Donald consented stubbornly with his trademark string of utterances and mumblings.

Scrooge McDuck ultimately had a way with words, seeing as they were just as vulgar as Donald's, if not more potent and direct.

It was sometime during the family reunions when Mickey had pulled Sora aside to talk privately and offered him a way to track Riku down... The young Keyblade Master had let the biggest smile stretch over his lips and pounced on it.

....And right now, it was said offer who called for his attention at the moment, rather insistently. Sora looked up, trying not to raise his hopes...trying not to squash them. "What is it, Yama?"

Yama, his red Compass floated inches away from his face, looking guilty as he always did when he couldn't sense Riku's energy on a world. "Sorry is Yama, Legend hero Sora. Here not Spira champion is."

Sora exhaled with a nod and dropped himself onto the bench behind him; the faerie sat delicately on his shoulder, hating when he had to deliver the bad news to his companion. All it seem to do was make Sora feel worse and worse.

And those who followed him also felt the effects. Donald and Goofy exchanged glances, having no more to say to the boy. Each world turned out the same and they personally took it upon themselves to keep Sora's hopes up about reuniting with both Kairi and Riku; if Sora lost his hope, there wasn't much left in the ways of universal redemption.

Donald padded over to him, looking up at the distraught boy with a scowl. "Sora, I know this is frustrating, but Riku's the type that knows how to keep one step ahead of us. We should concentrate more on finding the Destiny Islands and Kairi, then worry about Riku."

"I wish I could.." A slow, ghostly tear rolled down his cheek and lingered silently on his chin. "But I have the worst feeling something's wrong, somewhere. And Riku--... It's just hard, Donald. I'm tired and wish it could all end. But we're still out here for a reason and I can't just abandon it, even when I feel like quitting."

"Well, hey!" interjected the knight, sauntering over as well. "Why don't we, er, go back to Traverse Town and take a break! We've passed through eleven worlds in a row now and, uh, we could probably use a vacation day right about now."

"Goofy's right, Sora," stated the duck, pointing Save the Queen at Sora's nose. "We should probably take a break for now. We'll find your home and Riku when the time is right."

The park they were in remained still, as the two waited for Sora's answer and as Sora tried to make up his mind. It was then tiny fingers brushed his chin and the brunette looked up to find Yama hanging in the air in front of him, hands cupped together and holding the one tear in his red grasp. "No help to leak, Sky-borne. Joy is water salted meant for."

Sora blinked, as though the faerie's crazy speech structure made no sense in his muddled mind. But slowly, the boy smiled. A half, wistful smile that seemed just as fake as it was real. "I'll keep that in mind."

Suddenly, Sora was on his feet and for a shared moment, he became the child he abandoned long ago: sparking eyes and a jubilant, cocksure smile, true to form on a face alive with energy. He immediately started jogging back toward the Gummi ship, Yama continuously by his side, calling over his shoulder, "C'mon you guys. Let's go back!"

It was their old friend, back from hiatus. How long would he stay? Not long; he never stayed long. But for the time being, he was there...and Goofy and Donald couldn't help but smile and chase after him.

- c - e - n - t - e - r -

Floating.

Drifting away into nothing. His body was weightless, suspended in animation, like sleeping on water. Lazy, lethargic, he wanted... Where am I? ...wanted sight. His eyes rebelled, refusing to open any further than slits. And all he could see was grey.

Grey, blue, white, purple, green... Wet colors. The sort of scheme associated with water. Water... He could hear the subtle dripping from somewhere far away, the gentle sloshing of a pool being rippled across, and the faint smell of something pleasant, a scent he didn't find familiar. But he liked it, and there he remained. Quiet, passive, and dead.

The sands of time passed. It slipped by from the top of an hourglass to the bulb below, but he soon heard muffled thumps all around him. In his ears, against his body, he wanted to see more...!

A harsh sound, like that of a body plummeting into the ocean made him stir, feeling a pressure against his back lifting him upward. He groaned almost silently, an escaping noise, as he felt himself become heavier. Like he was leaving the water.

"...no..."

"Awake yet?"

Mizu's heart jumped, terrified, at the garble of words he couldn't yet understand. Awake? ..I was asleep? He groaned again, trying to move, to open his eyes, to fall back into the safe haven. "....back.....put...back.."

There came no reply; instead, he was suddenly enveloped in warmth on one side. Mizu clung to it instantly, wishing it would cover all of him, not even wondering where it came from. It was there and greedily, he wanted to steal it. Because it was there, with him. And he was alone. Alone with a voice who didn't listen and a pocket of warm space for him to have.






A plan that only backfires either leaves a greater opening or hell to pay. In this case, Riku's hopes of rousing the boy dampened, as Mizu was curled against him like a whimpering child, more asleep than not but thankfully with one foot in consciousness. Ultimately, what Riku needed was Mizu's attention, but time was running short and Mizu wasn't cooperating. At all.

Again, the boy stirred, mumbling something about 'jasshoppers', and Riku had a nasty feeling about just how long he'd sleep for if the white-haired boy didn't get him on his feet soon.

"Mizu!" he barked.

The shout must've jarred -something-, as the aforementioned jerked awake quite abruptly in his hold, confusion on his face and his mind still clouded. Mizu stared up at the pale vision above him, finding it as a semblance of order in his hazy view. "..uh?"

Riku felt his expression soften; the boy was adorable when he was being dumb, something he couldn't recall about his phantom partner. Something Sora perfected. "Hey, kid. You really need to get up. You overslept."

The darker boy blinked, unable to focus on anything but the masked face over him. "..Over...slept?" Clueless. Completely clueless. "But..Wha....Do I know you?"

Only in another lifetime. "No, but I have a bad story to tell you."

"Story?"

Riku nodded and Mizu grew quiet, as it finally dawned on him to look around. "...Where are we?"

"Don't worry about it; I'll tell you everything once we get you cleaned up, okay?" he replied, with all the casualness he could muster; anything to appear more human. "But."

Mizu looked up at him, eyes open and vulnerable; Riku had to close his own to keep from sensing them. "But," he said again, "you need to know this: you aren't home anymore and pretty soon, I'll explain why. But right now, you need a bath. Badly."

It was probably a word he'd only heard a few times in his life, judging by all the grime and the look of pure...wonder on Mizu's face, a face that dropkicked a thousand different frozen memories in his direction. Riku wanted to seethe in anger, in frustration. Damn you. Instead, the man's nose crinkled at the idiocy of it all and hefted Mizu again into his arms, this time carrying him away from the waterbed and to the bathroom.

Steam was already pouring from the shower and a faelite hovered shiftily around the taps, trying her hand at getting just the right temperature. When Riku set Mizu down on his feet, the latter could only stare at the living light of green, ignoring how his legs wobbled and buckled. So much ran through his mind...and he hadn't even touched the ones that concerned how he got to such an alien place. "What...?"

Riku didn't even have to follow the hand that was pointing, to know what -- who had caught Mizu's eye. "Her name's Shima, and right now, you owe her your life."

The boy shifted nervously, unable to think, unsure of what he'd find when he finally did. But a part of him, a sightless churning in his chest, trusted the blind-folded stranger with a second life. {/What's your name?/ Riku. How do you see? I don't. Is this place real? You're dreaming in death.}, he wanted to ask, but every question was answered with an echo of Riku's voice. Instead, something else bumped them all out of the way, like a bully to his knowledge; when he asked before, it was a simple reflex. However, this man's answer no longer satisfied him and now restated it with every intention of setting his mind at ease.

"...I swear I know you," he murmured softly. "Do I?"

The silence did not stay quite. With water streaming from an orifice in the wall and Shima humming merrily to herself, there was no lack of sound to be tense from. Finally...

"Once upon a time, you did," Rike spoke with the same quiet hush Mizu used, in a tone vaguely resembling romantic confessions of the once-loved-once-lost. But it wasn't sadness that coated the words of forlorn. It was the subtle confusion of someone used to knowing more than he let on, but dangled such information above another's head.

Together, they made the perfect pair of lost bodies.

Mizu bit his lip, scared and shy, frightened but enchanted. He hadn't gotten a good look at the previous room, but while Riku busied himself with other things, every secret this chamber bore on its sleeve was open for Mizu to take in.

Each piece of decoration, porcelain, and toiletry invoked a lost memory from his childhood, before the chaos and life was better. His mother-- a faceless shadow-- bathing him with her hands, massaging his scalp with soap, talking to make him smile. Joy. Unadulterated joy, from himself, from her, in a space like this, where white replaced the blue and smelt just the same.

"Mizu."

Jarred back to the present, Mizu shifted his vacant gaze back to Riku. The silver-haired teen was looking at him expectantly... -- The younger boy stared incredulously. Riku was a new inhabitant of his life, who hid himself away. So where did Mizu get off knowing the emotions of a reclusive stranger?

Mizu stepped forward, his gazed trained to the floor as he obeyed what was required of him. Shaking fingers reached down to undo the twine around his waist, stopping once he registered the tattered scraps that had previously covered his torso. When did that happen?

"Just get undressed."

Right. There wasn't much left of his 'clothing', and didn't dwell too long on the notion of getting more. The cloth and string fell to the tiled ground, leaving him as bare as a newly born child. Modesty wasn't an issue; Mizu had been surrounded by half-covered people for as long as he could remember, but even under the duress of a blinded stranger-- Yes, stranger, he officially decided, no matter what the 'whispers' said-- he felt more than naked.

The pale-haired man laid out his hand, palm up, for the younger to take. Mizu reached out for it and let it hover for the moment, hanging just over the other's. "....You know my name," he said, dashing his tongue out to lick his lips in the pause, "but I don't know yours."

We'll start anew. You're important to me, I feel this. But there's a door in front of my memories. You can unlock whatever that white light hid from me. I know you can.

"Liar," Riku soothed. "But if it'll make you more comfortable hearing it, I won't hold it from you. ...... I'm Riku."

"Pleasure to meet you." And he dropped his hand into Riku's waiting limb, letting himself be drawn closer to this...shower device and, ultimately, something more defining than a mere name.

- c - u - t -

"Here."

Mizu looked up from his chest, up at Riku who stood before him, holding out a neatly folded pile of....something. Apparently, it was for Mizu to take, so he did so in hesitance. "Um...what is it?"

"The outfit you left behind."

The darker boy let his jaw fall slack, his eyes going from the pile to Riku and back again. He didn't say a word, and Riku didn't react much either. In fact, all Riku did was roll his shoulders, popping out kinks and stretching worn muscles. "I've told you four times already, I will explain. But right now, figure out how to get yourself into those and stop picking at your scar."

His scar. Mizu tipped his chin down again, letting the clothes fall onto his lap to keep poking at the revolting thing on him. He had finally noticed it when the warm water-- warm water! He never imagined such a thing!-- washed away his lethargy and really -woke up-. A lot of temporarily forgotten images had returned to him then, but the one most heavy was when that blade slid into Mizu's chest.

The scar represented Shelique's mark from trying to remove his heart, the circle she cleaved into him above it...and a perfectly vertical line from top to bottom where the knife had plunged; they created two halves of a permanently tattooed sphere. It made Mizu feel as though it was inviting someone else to come and take his heart from him.

Despite having freaked out at the sight of it, Mizu was now calm enough to constantly inspect it, fascinated and disgusted simultaneously. All that really mattered, in the long run, was that his heart was still there, stirring and beating beneath it.

"You have all the time in the universe to study it Mizu," Riku stated sternly. "Get dressed."

Mizu complied with a light exhale, standing up and pulling out the various articles to size them up. They looked...a lot like what Riku wore, and that intimidated him. The most complex thing he ever saw somewhere was a pair of pants, for crying out loud. How was he supposed to get this right??

Once everything was laid out on the bed, Mizu studied it all carefully. Already, he recognized basic items, a black top that comfortably resembled his tunic, aforementioned pants, and a cloak, but that was it; everything else was alien to him. The raven-haired teen frowned in confusion and idly reached to scratch the back of his head, like the action could help him.

He shivered, suddenly, as he felt his own fingers run trough his hair. It was free of grease and grim and smelled wonderful, like the rest of him. Before he knew it, he was smiling, teeth showing and everything. God it hurt to smile, but it hurt good and Mizu wasn't going to stop if he could help it.

Riku had showered with him, but only after turning down the lights to the point where all Mizu saw was cool silhouettes of everything, traced by the faint light shining above them through the tiny windows, high on the wall. And he had watched as Riku pulled himself free of his blindfold, casting it aside with the rest of the laundry.

"I bathe in the dark," he whispered, "so I can See."

Two men, naked together? Mizu didn't bat an eye at the thought; having Riku help him with all those bottles and gels and whatnot was the biggest blessing he had in a long time. And it had been....fun. Warm water, a new acquaintance to share it with, and feeling extremely high-spirited coming out of it. There was even his introduction to a clever thing called a towel...

Now, to conquer -this-. "Can't you help me, Riku?"

"You learned once," he revealed from the table across the room; Shima was sitting boldly on his shoulder, giggling childishly behind her hands. "It's not that hard to piece together. Try to remember."

"I'm staring. I'm trying. I'm not remembering a thing here."

Riku sighed noisily, and waved his hands. "I'm gonna get you started then, but I want you to be able to do this yourself at one point. First off, start with the black tank."

Well, only a couple of pieces were black, and Mizu had to play the sorting game, trying to weed out whatever this 'tank' thing was. Finally, he settled on the too-short-tunic. "...This?"

The paler man confirmed his selection with a single nod. "Over the head, arms through the top holes. Make sure the white tag goes in the back."

Eventually, Mizu began to get the hang of it. The socks took a while to get on, the underwear was nothing complex, and the pants required a bit of explaining to insure they stayed on his hips, but Mizu was wholey satisfied with himself afterward. Inside, having so much on his back excited him and was envious of Riku, that he could take a rare pleasure for granted.

Now...it was time to tackle that big thing.

Mizu was positive the cloak-piece went last; on the other hand, he wasn't very sure about the remaining things. On the side, there were also-- what did Riku call them again?-- belts and buckles. Many of them and all different. And the monster in the center, the double padded.....-thing-, a blue-over-white deal. "Who picked this stuff out again??"

"You did. I just made suggestions."

"Choosing time took, is bet-sure Shima!" added Shima, who recently started flitting from the last articles on the waterbed. "Handsome Water-borne, in suited uniform half. Indeed handsome so."

The supposed Water-borne blushed at the sprite's compliments and he ducked his head to hide beneath his draping locks. "Thanks, I guess."

Shima gave a squealed giggle and buzzed around Mizu's head. "Is Shima upset so, is seen Legend hero Mizu before never."

He couldn't decipher her current babbles and, with a panicked expression, looked to Riku for help. Riku smirked, as if he was sharing a private joke with someone. "Shima hasn't met you before now, and she wishes she had. However..." Slowly, he got onto his feet, his energy shifting from 'vaguely amused' to unreadable. "She may not be in our company too much longer. With you found, her job is considered done. Putting aside her Compass abilities, she leaves very much to be desired."

Dead silence.

Mizu didn't speak, and stared intensely at Riku, his voice caught and emptied, unable to utter a sound. Shima appeared similar, floating in midair with eyes on her human, full of nothing describable....until anger once more got the better of her. "Is only rude man!" she screamed. "Is only rude, shameful, cold cold cold man! Is not Legend hero Riku!"

With that, convinced she finally cut him, Shima zipped out of the hotel room through the window facing the alley. In the wake of her departure, Mizu shifted uncomfortably. "You know," he whispered, unsure if it was his place to speak. "That was sort of blunt, Riku."

The older teen snorted and gave an emphasized shrug of one shoulder. "Don't worry 'bout it. She'll calm down in a while and come back later." As an afterthought, he added in way of explanation, "She upsets easily, but also has a quick conscience; she's forgiven-and-forgotten quite a bit in the past months."

Mizu tipped his head to the side, curious of the way Riku spoke. "That's odd. Do you know why?"

"Because I don't." Before Mizu could comment, he quickly continued. "Anyway, that was intentional. I needed to talk to you. Something I didn't need her around for, and I'd like you to be honest."

"....Okay," he said, treading with caution. "What is it?"

"From when you woke up, to /right now/, have you given any serious thought as to why and how you're here? Not on your world but a new one, with someone who knows you, and whom you barely remember....and all these other things. Have you?"

The darker boy appeared lost for a moment, then turned away to roll the question around in his mind. And the answer surprised him. "I...I haven't," he replied, looking back to Riku in confusion. "I didn't wonder. ...Too much anyway. At the start, I did, but afterward, I merely stopped. Like..." He teethed on his lip in concern. "...Like I felt as though everything is okay. ...Riku, it feels like I know things. A lot of things, in fact. I feel," he paused, "as if this is where I should be, no questions asked. Not many, anyway."

Riku seemed satisfied with his answer. "I guess I have two stories to tell you then. Finish getting dressed, and ignore the buckles for now; those get complicated. I'll be right back."

"Huh??" Mizu quarter-turned as Riku aimed for the door, panicking again. "Where are you going??"

"To see if I can get the café to make a delivery." With Mizu's panic came Riku's vague amusement, playing idly in the corners of his mouth. "I'll be gone for three minutes. ....By the way, the mail-cloth goes next."

Mizu gaped in disbelief, and snapped his jaw shut when the door closed. With only the sound of the wind hitting the blue curtains to keep him company, Mizu hugged himself nervously.

Alone.

He said he'll be back soon, darn it! Just put on the....mail-cloth, he said? Mizu looked down at the bed and eyed the double-padded thing. Mail. Mail was a type of armor; Jeromn once mentioned it in a conversation. Mizu lifted it up, this time getting a better feel for it since he laid it down for the first time.

Jeromn said mail was a metal armor made from tiny loops linked together and was very heavy for the bearer. The mail-cloth wasn't much heavier than a light, wooden chair. Hardly anything compared to a real weight, but it -was- heavier than the rest of his outfit. The white part was made from the same sort of fabric the pants were; it was the felt-like blue piece on the back and half the front, that felt burdening.

Here goes nothing. With an effort, Mizu managed to get it over his head, but got tangled in the arms. He fought the sleeves and struggled valiantly, but it was only a few seconds before Riku's return was he victorious over the mail-cloth.

His mental gloating, however, was dampened by a torrent of chortles from the rearrival as the door shut behind him. Mizu glared at him poutishly. "What?"

"It's on backwards."

Oh.

Oh.

"Oh." He looked down at himself in exhaustion. "Would you mind...?"

"Not at all."

So in actuality, the mail-cloth was half-posterior and full-breast. Common mistake; it could've happened to anyone.

When everything major was finally on, the overhead clock struck eleven o'clock in the evening. As Mizu took to looking himself over in the full-length mirror, Riku commented dryly, "That didn't take too long; only thirty-five minutes."

"Did I ever tell you in those missing years about what my home was like?" Mizu shot back.

"I'm sure you did, but seeing what you were wearing beforehand, you don't need to tell me again; the rags speak for themselves. Now come here and sit. We've got more to talk about."

- e - n - d - i - n - g -

A/N: That was a positively boring chapter. No action, hardly even a keyblade! .... It was actually a subtle in-depth look at both Riku and Mizu, how Mizu feels and...how inadequate he is at dressing himself. It also hints at the K.Master / Compass relationship; you can figure it out if you squint and read between a couple of lines. And I really wish I could draw Mizu's outfit, so I'm not stuck having to describe it. vein

Mmmm, naked older soaking-wet Riku. Hah, I totally bet them Isle boys've skinnydipped in the ocean before, when the girls weren't around or when the boys plain-out ditched them. busty grin Happy thoughts, happy thoughts!