Challenge [302]: The Scars We Keep

[rikushair.livejournal.com]

Challenge: [302] Unasked Questions
Title: The Scars We Keep
Word Count: 604
Notes: I was two seconds away from writing about the moogle in the trench coat, but I woke up with this idea in my head and thought “Eh. What the heck.” I like the way it came out, and I’m glad I kicked the moogle to the wayside! (sorry moogle!)

The Scars We Keep

Sora comes to terms with Riku’s not-so-merry adventure and the battle scars it left behind.

The first time he sees Riku take his shirt off after they finally make it back home, Sora doesn’t know what to think, doesn’t know what to say, if he should say anything at all. Riku’s chest, his whole torso, really, is riddled with scars, and one in particular screams out at Sora: the gash that runs along his left shoulder and ends at his side. Sora remembers very clearly the moment he gave it to him, remembers the seething look he received in return, and even though he knows Riku wasn’t himself back then that glare still haunts him vividly in his nightmares. Something he can’t identify washes over him, and it leaves his heart feeling cold.

None of this gets past Riku, and as soon as he can he slips his shirt back on over the memories, but it doesn’t wipe that look from Sora’s eyes.

“Why do you keep them?” he doesn’t ask.

“So that I remember,” Riku doesn’t say.

Sora has to be satisfied with this, but he isn’t.

A week later he and Riku are sitting shoulder to shoulder in the sand beneath the paopu tree, and it’s just like old times. The sunset’s light falls gently on his face, and something suddenly begins to ache inside Sora. Maybe finally being back is just now sinking in or maybe he’s thinking too hard about Riku’s scars, but whatever the reason Sora suddenly finds that there are tears on his face. He doesn’t make a sound, doesn’t lift a hand to wipe them away and does everything he can to keep Riku from noticing, but he notices all the same. Without even looking Riku knows to uncross his arms and lay a gentle hand on Sora’s back to comfort him.

“It’s okay to cry,” he says softly, and Sora’s breath hitches in his throat. He opens his mouth to give some apology but Riku cuts him off before he even begins and says again, “It’s okay.”

It’s not okay. It hasn’t been okay since the day he saw Riku without his shirt, without anything to hide the horrors he’s had to face, and he wonders if Riku knows this. Sora looks at him now and notices that he’s wearing the same shirt from that day, and decides that he’s crying for Riku, crying for the mistakes he made and the price he had to pay and the scars he has to keep.

But really, the scars don’t need to stay. With all the magic they know and the potions they have, it would be a simple matter for Riku to cure himself and be done with them.

“Why do you keep them?” Sora suddenly wants to scream. “Why do you have to make me remember, too?”

“Riku,” he says quietly, fully intending to ask these questions, but Riku, all knowing Riku, anticipates what he’s about to ask, and Sora sees him tense up. He switches questions at the last second. “How come you don’t cry?”

It surprises both of them to hear this come out of his mouth, and Sora decides that he really does want to know the answer.

After a moment Riku sighs and says, “I said it’s okay to cry. It doesn’t mean you have to. Besides,” he adds with a gentle smile, “you cry enough for the both of us.”

Sora thinks over these words and realizes that Riku is right, in many ways, and he finally feels at peace. He lets his tears run their course on their own, and when they finally stop the stars are just starting to poke through the dimming sky.

The End

Comments

[eternal-moonie.livejournal.com]

AWESOME DRABBLE!!!!

[rikushair.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[spoke.livejournal.com]

This is too sweet! I want to hug them both. :)

[rikushair.livejournal.com]

Me too! To apologize for putting them through so much angst... :p Thanks!

[synchroshatter.livejournal.com]

Oh, these two. D: You just about broke my heart with this (and then sort of mended it a little at the end, because things might get easier).

“Why do you keep them?” Sora suddenly wants to scream. “Why do you have to make me remember, too?”

I really liked this line- Sora's so selfless a lot of the time, and even comes out with a more selfless response here, which is really in character, but still, it's interesting to see him be just a little selfish too. It seems to come across as a more understandable response, or at least part of a response. Good work!

[wishingdreamer5.livejournal.com]

Aw, poor thing. I think this is one of the saddest (and best) drabbles I've read about Riku T-T The words he doesn't say...
I love how you incorporated the theme!