When Darkness Turns to Light

Capture

Recappy From the Last Chappy: His eyes were bitter and cold as a corridor of darkness sprang into existence behind him. "The two of us-we're done." He pointed at his chest with his thumb, where a tiny, almost insignificant sparkle of light manifested. "I'll hold onto this, though. Something to remember you by. You don't need more emotions to overwhelm you, do you?"

". . . !" She stepped off the rock and into the water, forgetting to employ chakra so she would walk along the surface. She probably would have covered more ground in that fashion. Instead, she splashed a lot of the water as she tried running toward him, but he slipped away into the dark corridor too quickly. It closed behind him.

"Riku!" She yelled in vain, stopping where he had stood previously. "Riku!" Her fists clenched, she shut her eyes, she grit her teeth, and kicked the water, letting herself fall afterwards onto her butt. Most of her body below her waist was under the surface, but her knees poked through since she had them bent up. Her elbows were partially submerged, too.

She grabbed onto a section of her hair and pulled it back. Some tears were gathering in the corners of her eyes, dews full of sadness and frustration; her shoulders felt tense, as well. But the tears were not shed.

Funny. . . she was managing her emotions easier already, in spite of it all.

Chapter Thirty-two: Capture

The sky to which Hikari was opening her eyes was saturated with warm hues beginning to give way to the looming dusk. She laid flat on her back atop one of the stones with her legs hanging over the edge, eyesdrowsy and squinting. Her lips pursed, for the colors of the sky and the feel of water around her calves reminded her of Destiny Islands-as if she needed another reason to think back and reminisce.

It was hard to swallow that the boy from the Islands, whose strength and style allowed him to capture her heart figuratively, was now the rapscallion who withheld the final shard of her heart literally.

How had her heart become so fragile, she wondered. She supposed her childhood might have left it bruised and battered, but did the saying not go "that which does not kill me only makes me stronger"? Or was it "the straw that broke the camel's back" that came into play?

I have a hazy memory of someone when I was very young. . . . I can't remember his name, and his face is hard to picture. I think he was brunette and had long bangs on the sides of his face. His soothing voice, though, spoke clearly to me, the only thing I rememberhim saying: "You have to stay strong. Strength of heart will carry you through the toughest of trials."

Oh . . . does that mean I let someone down, too?

She lifted the hand whose backside rested on her forehead and gazed at her wrist, which was decorated with the three summon gems she had obtained thus far. One was Neji Hyuuga, a lavender-white gem just like the color of his byakugan eyes. He had fought Naruto during part three of the Chuunin Exams and lost.

The second was Rock Lee, a green gem colored the very same as the garish green jumpsuit he typically sported. He had apparently fought Gaara in part two of the Chuunin Exams, a kind of preliminary for part three, and left it with a severely damaged arm and leg; since she had not been there, it was Naruto who had told her.

The last gem, Kimimarou, she had intended to get rid of a while ago, and drew a furrow in her brow. Also green yet of a vivid shade, it looked much like his eyes. He had been a kid like her, maybe a few years older, when Orochimaru decided he was his shiny new toy. Eventually it resulted in him giving Hikari a "parting gift" and leaving her quite possibly for dead. It had been in using his bloodline that she ended up poisoned . . . but it was also what saved her from dying during battle with Sasori.