My Dark Heart: Ryan's tale (a Destinies Intertwined, Riku x Oc sequel)

Chapter twenty-eight: Ravenna's Doubts

Stay here.

Stay with Ventus. 

Stop getting ideas, Ravenna, you need him.

These were the things she'd been telling herself. She needed to stay. Going out there wouldn't help with anything.

But... can I really stay here?

Ever since I woke up on that fateful day, someone else seems be to calling out to me.

No. Better for her to stay in the safety of the Land of Departure then risk any unnecessary worry. Ravenna was certain they would notice her absence.

"Better to wait, and see what happens. But... Ugh, what would Ventus think if he heard all of this? I feel like I'm going crazy."

At the moment, it was too much to think about. She needed to find a way to calm down. 

Maybe he could help.

"Ventus... is pretty calming to be around."

Footsteps pulled her back into reality.

"Ventus, I, ah... I didn't... Did you, um... hear... all of that?"

Ven tilted his head. Ravenna felt her heart skip another beat, but tried to keep her expression neutral.

Her own hands, however, refused to ignore the call of her own hair, begging to be twirled around her fingers, to reveal just how nervous she really was around him.

Traitors.

Note to self: ask Aqua to put my hair up next time I see her.

"I came out to tell you that we might have to post-pone the trip to Disney Town. Terra won't be coming back for a while."

"Oh, so you didn't hear... Nevermind." said Ravenna. "Sorry about... the Terra thing. That sounds really... not good."

Have I... already said this before?

Ven continued talking, but Ravenna couldn't hear him. Her head was throbbing.

Another memory...?

"Hey, are you--"

"Hey, you're that girl I was talking to this morning." said Riku.

"You're the one with... the nightmares?" Oof. That had come out wrong. She fumbled to apologize, and fell out of the tree.

"I deserved that." The girl said, brushing off the leaves stuck to her shorts.

"No, it's fine." Riku laughed, "hey, I didn't catch your name." He helped her to her feet, and the girl extended her hand.

"Rachel."

"Riku." They shook hands.

"Sorry about... the nightmare thing. Those seem really..." Rachel trailed off. What could she say? Sucky? Horrible? Unfortunate?

"...Not good." Rachel decided.

Rachel.

Was that...?

"...Hey! Are you alright?"

"What...?"

Ravenna found herself lying on ground, her friend gazing down at her. He looked scared. Aqua was there now, too.

She couldn't quite find the strength to move yet, so she let Aqua do whatever she needed to.

"I... what was...?"

"You hit your head pretty hard," Ven explained. "I probably should have caught you and kept you from falling, but I didn't have time to react. Sorry..."

"Ven, go grab a potion and a wet cloth. I'll get Ravenna to someplace more comfortable. She's still in a daze."

But when Ravenna looked at the woman, there was a different kind of concern in her eyes. Like she knew exactly what was going on. You know I'm not in a daze, you know I have something on my mind.

Aqua scooped her up and carried her to bed.

"Ravenna," she said, "What happened?"

"I had this dream, only... it felt more like a memory. At first, I thought it was my past, but she's not me...!" Her voice broke, but she continued to speak. "I'm scared, Aqua. I don't know if I can stay here. I know this is a lot, but promise me you won't tell Ventus about this."

Aqua nodded solemnly, "Okay, but what was her name?"

"...Rachel."

Thanks to a rather effective potion remedy, she was out of bed the next day. Things had grown tense between her and Aqua since their talk, but she kept her word.

That night, Ravenna sat outside with Ventus to watch the stars. They didn't say much, but words weren't really needed. It was just the two of them.

I may have to leave soon, Ventus. But that doesn't matter right now.

Right now, I'm happy.

Right now... I'm with you.