Chapter 1

Let Me Introduce You to Brandi

The water of the ocean splashed lightly on my bare feet. The moonlight lit up my eyes. The stars were scattered everywhere. It was a beautiful night out, but what happened only an hour ago, wasn’t so beautiful. Riku died. I was still crying over it. Some people may have stopped crying over it, but I loved him a lot, and I couldn’t stop. It’s like losing one of your best friends that’s been with you for many years. I was sitting on the sand of Destiny Islands, trying to calm down. I wiped the few tears away and took a deep breath. The others were at Hollow Bastion. Maria was knocked out while trying to heal Yuffie, and swipe at a Heartless. Kristin broke her wrist when she was trying to fight a giant Heartless. The Elric brothers had minor injuries.

“Cheer up,” Brandi said. “Please?”

“I can’t!” I said. “I should’ve done something. I was too blind to see his misery…just like my mom said. I’m sorry, Riku…it’s all my fault.”

“Don’t say that!”

“But if it wasn’t for me liking him---”

“That has nothing to do with it. He loved you enough to die for you. It’s not your fault. You did the same. You went off with Axel that one time.”

“How did you know?”

“Celina told me. She told me how you went to get back Roxas and Kairi. Look, everyone is just as upset. I’m upset, and I barely knew him. So, don’t be too depressed.”

“It’s not everyday that someone you love dies.”

“It happens everyday to different people. But when someone dies, someone else is born. It’s like…” Brandi paused. “Well, it’s like your hands.”

“My hands?”

“Yeah. When you put something in your hands, like a butterfly or any small living thing, you think you killed it because it can’t breathe. But when you open your hands, it comes back to life because of air. When you close your hands, you cause death. When you open them, you bring life.”

“I like that comparison.”

“Or it can always be taking something and changing it to something else.”

“Brandi, that’s alchemy.”

“Hey! You’re right!”

“Vicki, we’re going to see the others at Hollow Bastion,” Celina called. “Come on!”

“I’ll be right there!” I called back. I wiped away more tears. I looked around me. If only Riku was sitting next to me, then this would be a perfect night. I frowned.

“You better get going. Maybe you’ll feel better when you’re with everyone,” Brandi said.

“Who knows? Brandi?”

“Yeah?”

A star shot by. I still wish on stars, even though it’s just a meteor. I can wish, can’t I?

“I wish you were here,” I said to her.

“I wish I was there too. Get going.”

I nodded and got up. I ran to Hollow Bastion and went into Merlin’s house. Maria was laying on the bed, and Aerith was at her side. Kristin was leaning against Ed, and was holding his hand; she had a bandage wrapped around her wrist. Al was sitting on the footboard of the bed. He smiled at me. I feigned a smile back. Yuffie came up to me and hugged me. I guess she heard what happened. I hugged her back. On the computer screen, there was Brandi. She must’ve told them what happened. Leon was sitting leaning against the wall. Cloud wasn’t here, and neither was Cid. Yuffie finally let go.

“Sorry to hear,” she said.

“Yeah, sorry to hear,” Kristin said. Ed and Al nodded. Leon came over to me, and patted my back. He then placed an arm around Yuffie’s shoulders.

Sora and Kairi came over to me.

“We miss him as much as you do,” Sora said.

“I know,” I said. Kairi hugged me, and Sora joined in. I could feel her crying. She was making me cry. Celina came over, and joined in. Soon, it was a group hug. We soon broke apart.

“Cheer up,” Brandi said. I looked at her. “Riku wouldn’t want you crying, now would he? No. He would want to see you happy!”

“She’s got a point,” Roxas said. “It’s better to smile than to frown. When you frown, you make other people sad, and that isn’t good. When you smile, you make other people happy, and you make them smile.” He smiled at me. “You have a pretty smile, anyways. I miss him a lot, too, because he was the one I always fought with. Smile for me, please?” Roxas’ words have touched my heart. I smiled at him. “There’s a true smile. Thank you. You made me feel a lot better.” He hugged me and kissed the side of my head. He’s the only one who can cheer me up.

“You’re not alone,” Ed said. “You got us. We’re here for you.”

“Yeah, we all love you a lot!” Al said, jumping up, but he slipped and fell. We laughed.

“Way to go,” Brandi said. Al looked at her smiled. He got up. Al gave me a hug. It’s a hug fest. “Hey, the TV went blue.”

“Leave it,” I said. “It’s a retard.”

“Now it’s---”

Silence.

“Brandi?” I said. The screen went black, and went back to the work Cid was doing on the computer. Maria finally woke up.

“Whoa…how much did I drink last night?” she asked. She looked at me. “I heard.” She came up to me and hugged me. I won’t be able to feel my body anymore. “Sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Maria said. She let go. “The one thing I’ll remember of him, is that he had such pretty eyes.”

“All the guys do. Even Al, even those his are silver.”

“With a tint of light blue!” he said. He really did have pretty eyes. I looked at all the boys’ eyes. Sora with his ice blue eyes; Roxas with his sapphire eyes; Ed with a rich gold color; Al with his silver eyes that has a tint of blue; Leon had a dark, blue stormy eyes. They all were pretty. And Riku…aquamarine. They were so gorgeous. It’s the one thing I couldn’t forget. The thought made me smile.

“At least yours are normal,” Celina said. “They were blue before.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “What happened to Brandi? Brandi!”

No answer. I raised my eyebrows.

“Maybe the computer shut off again,” Kristin said.

“Let’s go check the computer room,” I said.

“I’ll go with you guys,” Leon said. “One more…”

“I’ll go,” Al said. “I’m still ready for more.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Kristin, Leon, Al, and I set off. We went to the computer room. We looked at the monitor where Brandi was supposed to be. She wasn’t.

“That’s strange,” I said.

“Let’s go back,” Leon said. We went off. When we were at the Bailey, Heartless appeared. Al clapped his hands, and pressed them to the ground. Spikes came up, and destroyed all of them. “Impressive.”

“That’s the power of alchemy,” Al said. Kristin pushed him out of the way, drew out one sword, and killed off a Heartless. She sheathed her sword; then, she pulled up Al.

“Leon!” someone called. We turned around and saw Cloud.

“Where in God’s name have you been, Strife?” Leon asked. Cloud was holding a girl in his arms.

“Around,” Cloud said.

“Who’s that?”

“Some girl. She came flying out of a portal, and Heartless came. I kill them off, and took her here.”

I looked at the girl.

“Oh my God!” I said. “Brandi!” She opened her eyes, and Cloud set her down.

“Whoa,” she said, trying to balance on her feet. She looked around. “Sweet, I know everyone here. Vicki, Al, Kristin, Squall---er---Leon, and Cloud.”

I looked at her.

“How did you get here?” I asked.

“I have no damn clue,” she said. “I just fell through the TV, and came flying out of some portal. Then, blondie over here took me.”

I hugged her. She awkwardly hugged me back. I let go after a second.

“Celina is going to freak. Follow me.” I took her wrist and dragged her to Merlin’s house. When Celina saw Brandi she screamed. Both of them did. They hugged. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

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Forget the week thing. I had to post it now! This will be a funny story. Trust me (looks at Brandi and Celina). Review please! Happy Easter!
DivineRose2392