Time to Rise Again

Leon was stood near her bike as she finished off the gravestones. He then climbed onto the back of her bike and prepared for the travelling he was still new to again.

 

"All done," Luna replied, doing the finishing touches on hte bandage. "I say we should start looking for the others again, unless you guys have any better ideas."

"I was actually going to suggest the same thing," Crimson answered smuggly. "We can't just stay hear and there is strength in numbers." He smiled as he stood up, sommoning his Decisive Pumpkin. The couragous fire in his soul was burning brightly; feeling like he was wearing a suit of armor. "Ladies first."

 

"Awww, how sweet..."
She said it in a sarcastic and playful tone and walked ahead. She could feel that the darkness had disappeared but she thought that they should still go look for Asuka.
"So, where do you guys think we should go first?"

 

Asuka knew Leon could probably see what she had carved in the stone, but she hoped he didn't ask about the third name, at least not yet. She heard another peal of thunder and felt rain falling steadily now. Glancing over her shoulder as Fenrir roared to life, she said, "Given the weather conditions, it's going to be a rough ride back. Especially because it's getting closer to dusk, the monsters love this time of day, so hang on."
Without giving him much time to respond, Asuka revved the engine, then started down the cliff the way they had come up, but felt her control slip slightly under the wet dirt. "Hope you don't get airsick," she called out, and without further warning, she directed Fenrir off the path, causing them to be airborne. She lowered her body against the bike, keeping her center of gravity stable so the landing would be smoother.

 

Leon held onto Asuka again, he definitely wasn't one for motorbikes, especially in rain cover mountains and in mid-air. His heart beat ridiculously fast from the sheer rush of speed and fear that struck him even though he knew he was safe. Next time, I'll walk, he thought to himself.

 

Try as she might, Asuka couldn't fight down the smile that crossed her face when she felt Leon hold on for dear life. They were still falling, and the ground was starting to come closer, so she leaned back to make sure the back wheel would hit the ground first. This put her closer to Leon however, and she felt a very faint blush on her cheeks. "The hell is wrong with me?"
She shook her head slightly to regain her focus, allowing her to land the bike without problems aside from a few necessary bounces. As soon as the bike was stable on the ground, Asuka made sure Leon was still on the bike, then took off at a faster speed than before towards her home in Midgar.

 

Leon was still on the bike, somehow. For a short amount of bike riding experience he seemed to have gotten the hang of it, yet on the inside he was trembling with fear from how foreign the machine and the experience is. It was completely different from Gummi technology and it confused him. It was a common trouble with adventurers from another world.

 

Asuka could feel Leon's uneasiness, so she tried her best to keep her aura calm. She could feel the light from him blanketing her inner darkness, and while it made her slightly uncomfortable she didn't dislike the feeling. "Sorry Leon, we'll be back in Edge soon," she said to him. Fenrir sped across the wasteland, and as the sun started to set Asuka could feel the presence of monsters appearing. Not wanting to deal with them now, she leaned forward and pushed Fenrir's speed ability to the limit. Within a few minutes, they were back safely in front of Seventh Heaven. She dismounted the bike with Leon following, then guided it into the garage and pulled down the door.
Fishing the keys out of her pocket, Asuka unlocked the door and entered her home.

 

Leon waited at the door of Asuka's home after she entered, "Do you have a spare room I could borrow for tonight?", he asked not having found anywhere to stay for a while having been busy with the events of today ever since arriving. "Besides, in the morning, anyone with a keyblade should be trying to figure out what needs doing in this world", he continued to think out loud.

 

Asuka closed the door behind them. "Yeah, you can stay in my brother's room. It's...it's right next to mine," she said to him. "There's a bathroom and shower down the hall upstairs if you want to clean up."
She went behind the bar counter, digging around until she pulled out a sign that read 'CLOSED' in big letters, then put it on the inside of the door's window and locked the door. She checked the back door as well, making sure everything was closed up, before walking back to the main area of the bar and looking around, remembering her childhood.

 

"Thanks", Leon replied as he went upstairs to check out her brother's room that she would be borrowing. It was the first time she mentioned her brother, he didn't feel it was his place to ask and kept it quiet. He didn't want to upset her further on the day her family died.

 

Asuka watched Leon go upstairs. She hadn't want to offer her brother's room, but there was no way she was going to ask him to stay in her grandparents' room, and she knew he would decline to share a room with her. Sighing, she picked up the phone and recorded a new answering message stating that the Seventh Heaven bar would be closed indefinitely, and that Strife Delivery would be off duty as well. She hadn't wanted to leave the bar and delivery service closed, but she couldn't manage both, and she knew she had to continue this journey with Cat and the others.
"...Dammit," she said, remembering that it was getting dark and the others had no idea where they were. Closing her eyes, Asuka softly said, "Tifa, Cloud, everyone...if you can hear me, please use the Lifestream and lead those kids here. Kuragari's...still out there."
After she said this, narrow lines of the Lifestream appeared in the sky above the bar, reaching out to the Keyblade users scattered in Midgar.

 

Cat was walking when she looked up and saw bright streaks of green in the sky. There were about five of them and they were all connected at one point.
"C'mon guys! I think we should go to where those things lead..."
She ran off and thought about what was possibly going on.

 

"Right," Crimson said, nodding at Luna to follow. As they ran, he noticed Luna was cruising along-side them on her Oathkeeper Board. She smiled rather smugly, to which Crimson returned "I hope your ready for anything."

 

Shinji turned around as he saw something green. "What's that?" He asked himself but he figured that he should follow it, after all, it did seem to come for him from his perspective as he walked in the direction it came from. until eh noticed other ones going in different directiosn but it all seemed to lead back to one place, a bar with the sign of closed hung from a window.

"A bar?" He asked himself but he did notice something familar as he approached the door, it was Asuka as he reached for the door handle and turned it to open the door, he somehow knew it would be open if Asuka was already inside.

 

Cat heard Crimson's reply and just stared up at the sky.
"I don't think we're gonna have to fight. I just feel... like someone's trying to help us."
She looked straight ahead and saw that they were approaching Asuka's place.
"Hey... you guys think we should go inside?"

 

Asuka glanced at the door, hearing the handle move. She strode over to it, unlocking it and stood in the doorway. She recognized Shinji, then stood to the side so he could enter. "Stay put," she said, not wanting the others to disturb Leon. Asuka could sense the others not far away, so she simply leaned in the doorway to wait for them as she stared out into the approaching darkness.

 

Leon entered Asuka's brother's room. It was a regular room, like any other in the house but he still felt bad taking a room which wasn't his while no one could return to claim it. He looked at the metal slung around his neck on a chain once more before putting it under his shirt again and heading back downstairs.

 

Shinji heard Asuka's words and walked in as he glanced around, the place certainly looked worse for wear but it was till Asuka's home as he went to a chair that fell over and he picke dit up before standing it correctly in order to sit down on it until he heard footsteps and looked at where it came from only to see leon. "Oh it's just him." Shinji thought to himself.

 

"Still, it's always good to be on your guard. We must remeber to maintain constant vigilance," Crimson replied as he saw that ehy were getting much closer to the green light.