First update of 2012!! :D I have a Summer Days update I couldve uploaded this morning BUT i wanted my first update to be Winter Days lol. So anyways I hope you enjoy and Im super sorry if Im making anybody a bit out of character...I always worry about that...
Also! If you havent given my contest a thought you should! I just think it'd be really fun to read something from you guys based on my storyline.
Anyways Happy New Year!
COMMENT & VOTE
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You gave yourself one more look over in the mirror before coming out if the bedroom you shared with Xion. Each of the rooms they rented were like large suites. The one all the girls were staying in had two separate bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a small loft, and an amazing view over the city. It was cozy and comfortable for the six girls to stay in. You were rooming with Xion, Tifa was rooming with Yuffie, and Kairi and Namine were sleeping out on the pull out couch together. You couldn't imagine how uncomfortable the guys must be though.
"Come on!" Kairi chirped at you. You stepped out into the hotel's hallway and followed Kairi towards the elevator. "Some of them already went down."
As the two of you rounded the corner you saw Zexion, Demyx, Riku, and Sora waiting for an elevator.
"Where's Namine, Gabe, and Xion?" Kairi asked.
"They caught the elevator before us." Zexion explained. Everyone had learned to take the elevators in small groups now. When the elevator came everyone stepped into it comfortably. It smoothly went down to the lobby floor where your small group of six met up with almost everyone else.
"We're just waiting on Ven, Axel, and Reno." Auron said as he looked over the crowd to see who was missing.
"Of course it's those three." Cid mumbled.
You looked around the lobby again, but this time there was no women dressed strangely. Or anyone out of the ordinary actually. As you turned to join Kairi's conversation with Namine, Gabe, and Demyx you noticed Leon lean towards Auron and whisper something. Auron nodded and Leon began to leave. Curiously you chose to follow Leon out. On your way out the door behind Leon someone grabbed your arm.
"You leaving with Scarface?" Snow asked. You looked up to make sure you could still see Leon then nodded. "Alrighty then." He let go of your arm.
You quickly ran out the front door and jogged to catch up with Leon. A freezing breeze nipped at you and you wished you had worn a thicker coat. "Leon!" You called out as you pushed your way through the crowded street.
People were walking in every direction. The buildings were tall and blocked out most of the sky, unless you looked straight up. There were no streets for cars so it was all paved over in cement like a big sidewalk. High above your head though were sets of thin floating metal bars that were all connected. As you began to wonder what they could he for someone yanked your arm.
"[Name]!" Leon scolded. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was-" You stopped and raised your voice so Leon could hear you over the buzz of the crowd, "I wanted to go with you!"
Leon sighed and held your hand pulling you along. He kept you close to your side, "You have to be careful here [Name]. This isn't Hollow Bastion."
You nodded and stuck close to Leon without complaint. He led you further into the crowd of people. It reminded you a lot of New York City. You noticed subway entrances in certain spots that only added to the reminder of the Big Apple. A whistling noise filled your ears. You looked up to see a monorail traveling on the metal tracks in the air. It stopped at one of the buildings, where the metal met the side of the building, and watched in amazement as the monorail doors made a bridge that connected with the building letting people inside. Leon notices your amazed look and lightly tugged on your arm to keep you moving.
Eventually you got to a part of the city where a large garden was planted. There was no actual grass on the ground or dirt paths or anything like that. But it seemed like the tall trees and strange looking plants seemed to be growing out of the concrete itself. Leon led you through the small paths that were surrounded by the strange shrubbery.
"Leon! Oh how I've missed my dear old friend!" A deep voice called out. You followed Leon's line of sight to an older gentleman sitting on a bench. He had completely white hair, but he couldn't be older than 35. His skin was an unnatural tan and his eyes were neon purple like the lady's from earlier. You tried not to stare at his strange facial features.
"It's nice to see you again Manley." Leon nodded his head, but kept his grip firm on your hand.
"How long has it been?" Manley asked Leon. He had a strange accent and it was hard to understand his words. Manley answered his own question, "Like 3 years right?"
Leon nodded his head but didn't reply. Manley's purple eyes caught sight of you and he smirked. "Well now Leon, this isn't Tallie."
Leon stiffened at the mention of the name but still didn't reply to the man. Manley glanced back up at Leon and began to make a 'tsk'ing noise. "It's a shame that your face scarred. The doctors did always say there wasn't much of a chance for it to heal."
You looked up at Leon to see he had his jaw locked. Manley smiled a tight smile and patted Leon on the shoulder.
"It was nice to see you again. Maybe next time we won't wait three years." Manley began to walk away without another word. You remained silent a moment as Leon stood frozen in his spot.
"Leon?" You whispered. Slowly you lifted your freehand to rub his shoulder. "Leon are you ok?"
He didn't reply for a few minutes and the two of you just stood in silence. Finally Leon nodded his head and murmured, "I'm fine."
You shuffled your feet curiously. You so badly wanted to know what that guy meant when he said you weren't Tallie, and how exactly he got the scar. When you went to save Axel, Reno, Zack, and Terra you remembered seeing Leon without his scar. So what happened?
"Can you-" You stopped mid sentence and closed your mouth. You couldn't ask him to just flat out tell you. It might bring up more bad memories. "What did you come out here for?" You changed your question.
"I'm meeting a family member." Leon answered. Your eyes squinted in confusion as you looked in the direction of where Manley left. Leon shook his head, "That's not him."
You nodded in relief. Manley didn't exactly seem like a very good guy. "So then who was he?" You asked.
Leon remained quiet again and didn't reply. You panicked and quickly shook your head, "Never mind."
He chuckled and gave you a small smile. Leon realized that you were attempting to avoid any conversation that would make him feel uncomfortable, and you could tell by the smile on his face that he appreciated it.
"Well what's this? You pick up another stray Leon? You think you would've learned from the first time."
Both yours and Leon's head snapped towards the direction of the voice. You only recognized it because it was the voice of a character.
Vanitas walked towards the two of you with a smug look on his face. He wore a black jacket and scarf, with a white t-shirt and jeans. Around his neck was a chain, and on the end of that chain was a charm that resembled his keyblade.
"Vanitas." Leon greeted. "How was your trip here?"
Vanitas scoffed, "What do you think? Same as it is every year."
You frowned at Vanitas's tone. All Leon was doing was being polite and he just continued with his rude behavior. Vanitas glanced over at you and chuckled. "What? Don't care for me already?" Vanitas asked you.
"Well I think you're being kinda rude." You admitted. Leon chuckled and gave your hand a light squeeze. You hadn't even realized you were still holding until now.
"This is our cousin Vanitas, [Name]. Vanitas, this is [Name]. She's a friend from Hollow Bastion." Leon introduced. Vanitas nodded and didn't offer his hand to shake. You wouldn't have shook it anyways though on the account of his rude behavior.
"So where's the little twerp?" Vanitas asked glancing around. You narrowed your eyes at him. Although you weren't sure who he was calling a twerp you knew it had to be one of your friends.
"Sora's with everyone else. [Name] just tagged along with me to come meet you. We should start heading back." Leon said. He led you out the way you came and Vanitas walked on the other side of you.
"So are you telling me this stray followed you all the way from HB?" Vanitas asked Leon as if you weren't there.
"I told you she's not a stray." Leon replied firmly, "Quit calling her that."
Leon's phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his jacket pocket and held it up to his ear, "Hello?" As Leon began to talk to whoever was on the phone Vanitas leaned towards you.
"So stray, are you and Leon dating?" He asked you.
You glared at him and shook your head, "No, and quit calling me stray."
Vanitas chuckled, "I don't think I will. You're pretty cute when you get angry."
A blush involuntarily crossed your face. Vanitas laughed and you turned away from him. Leon hung up his phone and put it back in his pocket.
"We're gonna meet them at the candy shop." Leon announced. He took right at the end of the garden rather than going straight towards the hotel.
"Hey Leon?" You asked glancing up at him. He looked down at you letting you know he had your full attention. "What person was Cloud and Ven talking about earlier? The one Ven doesn't want to see?"
Leon cracked a smile and looked over your head at Vanitas. You spun your head around to look at him as well. Vanitas had a smug look on his face. He laughed at Leon's comment.
"He's such an idiot." Vanitas commented about Ven.
You shook your head and gave him a glare. "No he's not."
The rest of the way to the candy shop was silent. You purposely ignored Vanitas's presence. Soon you began to make out your friends’ figures in the distance. They were standing in front of a large building. It was between two other buildings, but this one, unlike the other two, was bright and colorful. The outside was a bright yellow with polka dots of every color splattered on the wall. The sign is what really caught your attention. It was lit up in neon lights and displayed proudly above the second story's huge window. It read, 'Trenzappolettoran's Candy Emporium'.
"[Name]!" Sora cried when he saw you. He began to wave his arms excitingly. Vanitas scoffed. Leon let go of your hand and you jogged forward to stand with everyone.
"Aw not him! Why ruin the vacation with his presence!?" Ven yelled. Vanitas raised his eyebrow and chuckled.
"I could say the same about you idiot."
"Hi Vanitas!" Yuffie greeted with enthusiasm. It seemed nothing could damper her energetic mood. Not even a grumpy Vanitas.
"Come on let's go inside!" Sora yelled grabbing your hand and pulpit you inside. It was just as crowded inside as it was outside. The walls were white with splatter paint everywhere. There were candy dishes and bowls of every sort.
"This is Sora's favorite store." Terra said as he stepped up beside you. Sora had run off into the mass of people. "The thing is if you can say the name right they give you a special item, but if you can't then you don't get the item. Everyone in our group has gotten it except Sora."
You laughed along with Terra. "How do you say it?" You asked curiously.
"You try it first!" Demyx said walking up to the two of you. You took a breath and looked around until you could fins the name somewhere. Reno, Yuffie, Gabe, Tifa, Roxas, and Cloud walked up to you as well to hear you say it. Reno handed you a small bag that had the name on it.
"Um is it..." You began to sound it out, "Trenz-app-o-lett-o-ran?"
Everyone around you chuckled lightly.
"She was closer than Sora." Roxas joked.
"It's Trenzappolettoran." Cloud said quickly, "The Z is silent."
You shook your head, "Wait I couldn't catch that! Say it again but slower!"
This time Gabe sounded it out, it ended up sound like, "Trin-apple-letter-rain."
"You've been here before?" Tifa asked Gabe. He nodded nonchalantly.
"Of course. Who hasn't been here before?" Everyone glanced at you. You waved them off and continued trying to say it.
"You are the most aggravating person in all the worlds!" Ven yelled.
"Well congratulations, you're the biggest idiot I've ever met." Vanitas calmly replied. They continued to argue with each other loudly.
"Those morons are gonna get thrown out." Cloud shook his head.
You excused yourself from the group you stood with and walked over to Ven. While he was arguing you stuck your arm through his and dragged him away leaving Vanitas alone. Ven let you drag him along, but he remained quiet. You dragged him all the way to the staircase in the other side of the room.
"Better?" You questioned.
He nodded, "Yeah thanks." Ven sighed then chuckled, "You're always keeping me from doing stupid things. Thanks [Name]."
"Of course!" You smiled happily at him. Your smile quickly fell though and was replaced with a look of confusion. "What is up with him?"
Ven groaned, "Don't get me started. He's such a pain. He thinks he's better than everyone else, especially me."
You frowned, "He called me a stray."
Ven shook his head, "What? Why?"
You shrugged, "I don't know. When he first came up to me and Leon he said, 'You pick up another stray Leon?'"
Ven's eyes widened. He glanced away and nodded before changing the subject, "So what candy do you like?"
You narrowed your eyes at him, "You know why he called me that don't you?"
He shook his head nervously, "What? Of course not why would I-"
"Hey!" Hope called out as he jogged towards the two of you. Ven let out a sigh of relief. You rolled your eyes and glanced at Hope.
"Yeah?"
"We're gonna head to the register to buy stuff then let Sora try to get the special item again." Hope explained.
You nodded and followed Hope with Ven. You were eager to try it too. "So Hope, where did Snow go? I didn't see him."
Hope nodded, "He left earlier to meet Serah, his fiancé. Good riddance I say. He can be such a pain."
Ven smirked, "I know how you feel man."
The three of you reached the register where everyone was. Some bought a few things while Yuffie and Sora bought nearly two bags full of random candy.
"Would any of you like to try to say the store's name for today's special item?" The lady at the register asked.
"Yeah me!" Sora cheered.
"Me too!" You spoke up. Sora gave you a wide smile. She nodded for you to go first.
"You get three tries." She announced.
After two failed, but close attempts, you finally got it on the third. She congratulated you and turned Sora. "Your turn sir."
"Trinz-opple-letta-ran!"
"No."
"Trenz-eppel-letter-ren?"
"No."
"...Tranz-apple-letter-rain?!"
The woman sadly shook her head, "I'm sorry sir but you're out attempts. Maybe next time."
She pulled something out from under the counter and handed it to you. It was a small black box.
"Have a nice day!"
You and everyone walked outside where it had grown dark. You paused outside the store and everyone stood around you. Slowly you opened the black box to look inside.
Inside was a small green marble. You lifted it up and frowned. "I got a marble?"
"Aw man! This isn't fair! I could've got a healing stone!" Sora complained.
"A healing stone?" You questioned looking at the small marble again. Vanitas rolled his eyes at your lack of knowledge and you resisted the urge to punch him.
"A healing stone can be used to heal someone. It's a clear ball that someone cast a cure spell on." Tifa explained kindly.
You smiled and carefully set it back into the black box. You weren't sure what you were going to do with it but who knows? It never hurt to have a little healing magic tucked away in your pocket.
YOU ARE READING
Winter Days
FanfictionThe third book in the Seasons Series begins. Things seem to cool down as Christmas approaches, and what better way to spend the holidays then with your Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy friends. Unfortunately for YOU though, drama seems to follow you...