Author's note
Hey people, this is my first fanfic so be sure to pick up on anything that I can improve on for the future chapters, so heres my first disclaimer. Ven, d'ya wanna do it?
Ventus: *Pops out of nowhere* Hell yeah! Hrm... XxKeyOfHeartxX does not own kingdom hearts, only her OC, Kimiko.
Kimiko: Y'know it!
...Ooookaayy then. Ventus said it, so enjoy :D
A woman cloaked in a long black coat ran through the fields of Land of Departure, the hood of her coat shielding her head from the rain that quite literally bucketed down like a waterfall with thunder and lightning disrupting the calm sound of the falls. The woman clad in black did nothing but sprint, other than tighten the grip on the bundle of sky-blue blanket in her arms.
A sigh of relief escaped her lips when her shadowed eyes landed on a familiar castle off in the distance. If it wasn't for the lights that surrounded the building, she probably wouldn't have seen it because of the rain and darkness that loomed over her blurring her vision, and without a second thought, she made a bee-line for it.
With the non-stop running, it only took about ten or fifteen minutes for the woman to reach the courtyard, it looked exactly same, only veins were growing over the small walls and a great big crack was in the stone platform below her feet. 'Nothing's changed…' the woman thought to herself before a stray tear rolled down her cheek. Quickly wiping it away, she made her way up the grand steps, and to the oversized double doors that lead inside, and as strange as it seemed, the white and gold doors seemed bigger than the actual castle itself!
The cloaked woman stared the doors up and down with a sad smile, before taking a deep breath and raising a fist, only to let it rest gently against the one thing that stood between her…and her home. It was a small cry that came from the bundle in her arms that gave her the courage to punch the door as many times as she could, and as fast as she could, completely oblivious to the fresh tears that seemed to stream from her eyes.
The pitter-patter of footsteps came from inside and the woman subsided her knocking, her stomach was doing summersaults in her tummy and she could no longer her the rain and thunder, only the sound of her heart beating in her ears. The woman quickly swallowed the lump that'd formed in her throat when the door began to drag open…and her breathing went shallow.
In front of her stood a little girl, about eight or nine, with sky blue hair that reached her mid-back and equal blue eyes to match, and her fringe was pulled back in a clip with a crescent moon on it. "Um…" the small girl eyed the cloaked woman curiously before reaching her hooded gaze "Can I help you?" she asked in a cute, high-pitched voice.
'Was not expecting that.' The woman thought to herself as she looked down at the girl with wide eyes 'When did he start taking on new apprentices?' a long silence, other than the storm outside, past through them before the woman cleared her throat and knelt down to the girl's eye level, all the while keeping a firm grip on the blanket in her hands "Um, actually…You wouldn't happen to know if Master Eraqus is here, would you?" a silent gasp escaped the woman's throat when she heard her voice crack slightly.
At the sound of Master Eraqus' name, the girl's blue eyes sparkled with delight and nodded "Yeah, he's here…" she placed a small finger to her now pouted lips "Why d'ya need him? Are you okay?" the curiosity was dripping in the girl's innocent voice, and the woman nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But…I do need to see Master Eraqus quite urgently." The woman replied honestly with slight firmness in her tone. The girl in front of her nodded her head, a few of her clipped back bangs flying in her face with the motion, and stepped to the side to let the woman in. "Thanks…" she muttered and got to her feet before she walked out of the rain and into the warmth of the place she once called home.
The familiarity seemed to hit the woman like a brick and she could instantly hear the laughter that her and her best friends shared here, their spirits seemed to linger in the air like a curse that would follow her every step in the castle.
"Hey Kasai, looks like I beat ya again."
"Whatever Kimiko, you only won because I let you."
"Dude, stop making up excuses, you lost to Kimiko fair and square."
"Shut it, Blake!"
Her flashback was cut short when the sound of the front door dragging across the floor and closing reached her ears. She looked over shoulder to watch the girl as she skipped past her and over to the stairs that were a few metres in front of her. When the young girl noticed that she wasn't being followed, she turned to face the woman with a smile and waved her over.
"C'mon, y'won't get to Master Eraqus if you just stand there." Her small voice seemed so loud in the empty space, it bounced off the walls and echoed through the woman's ears. She looked at the girl and couldn't help but crack a small smile before following her up the stairs and through the corridors, leading them to Eraqus' study.
'Hm, she reminds me of what I was like when I was her age.'
"My name's Aqua." The blue haired, chibby-like girl introduced with a grin. The woman's eyes trailed down to her small form and smiled sadly. "That's a very nice name, Aqua…Tell me, is there anybody else here, besides you and Eraqus?" she asked in shear curiosity.
Aqua nodded and turned her attention back towards the halls in front of them "Mhmm, Terra." Aqua seemed to pull a face at the sound of his name "He's a poo-poo head." a light giggle slipped from the woman's lips, earning her the cutest glare ever "It's not funny, Terra's always mean to me, he says that because he's a 'big boy', he's allowed to do whatever he wants. And in training, he pulls out my pony tails and laughs when I chase him…"
A scowl formed on her innocent features at the memory, the boy's pure evil laughter ringing through her ears. The black clad woman could only stare at the girl with an arched brow, she really wanted tell her something teasing like 'maybe he likes you', or 'someone has a crush, better run from those cooties', and trust, if she was in a way better state, she would've. But all she could say was "Oh."
The rest of the walk was silent, but it was only a few more minutes before the two stopped in front of a brown door, one that brought a spark of familiarity to the older of the two 'Still the same place.' She felt a tear roll down her cheek and quickly wiped it away before pulling her bundle of blanket closer to her chest and turned to thank Aqua, who was staring at her oddly, but simply shrugged it off and skipped down the hall, probably to her room or something.
The woman turned her attention back to the door and instantly felt her heart strings being pulled, as if she were a puppet and her master was pulling at the string attached to her chest. It was so much more painful to stand in front of that door than the one outside, she hadn't been home for years, and one day she just comes home with the worst news ever and expects her old Master to take on such a responsibility? The thought brought more tears to her eyes and couldn't help but clutch the blanket tighter.
Upon hearing another small cry, the woman released a shaky breath and knocked on the door a few times. It took all of her will power not to just place the bundle on the floor in front of her and run, but what good would that do anybody? Her breath seemed to catch violently in her throat when the door opened, and in its place stood a man in his late thirties, with dark brown eyes and black hair, a thin grey streak running through some of the few bangs that came over his face.
The second his eyes landed on the woman in front of him, he almost fainted. "…K-Kimiko? I-Is that really you?" he brought himself to ask. The woman nodded her head and quickly slid past him, making her own way into the room and walked over to the desk that sat in the middle of the room and carefully set the bundle onto the varnished wood. Once she was sure that it wouldn't roll off, she raised her shaky hands up to her hood and pulled it off, pinkish-red bangs falling down her back.
Kimiko looked over her shoulder to the man she'd always looked up to with perfectly formed, emerald green eyes, but they were red and puffy with tears, and soon her body turned fully to face him. Kimiko didn't even have time to speak before she was caught in a bone crushing hug, which she hesitantly returned. A few moments later, Master Eraqus pulled from the hug and held her shoulders firmly "Where've you been?" he asked worriedly, checking her face for any traces of scares.
"Master Eraqus…Kasai…H-He…" it was as if her words where caught in her throat and refused to be spoken, she couldn't bare to look into her old Master's eyes. Eraqus waited patiently for her to speak, but was only caught in another hug "I'm so sorry for running away, Master Eraqus…I really am!" she choked into his shirt, sobbing quietly to herself. "B-But, Kasai didn't come back, and when I found him…" her eyes trailed over her shoulder to the blanket that was on the table.
A sudden movement from the material caused Eraqus to gasp and looked down at the girl before him, she was so broken, a mess, but he didn't care. He'd taken the poor girl in when she need him most, and he sure as hell wouldn't leave Kimiko like this, like a broken doll. "…I understand," he said in a soothing voice and gently rubbed her back "You can stay here as long as you need to, and-"
"But I can't stay. That's what ripping me apart!" she snapped and pushed herself away from him and brushed past him towards the exit, stopping inches away from the still open door, "There's something that I have to do. Something important, I just need you to watch her for a few months," Kimiko gazed over her shoulder and glanced at a shocked Eraqus with pleading eyes "Please."
Master Eraqus was frozen, he didn't know what to do, or say. She was leaving again? "P-Please don't make this any harder than it already is, Eraqus." She begged with a choked sob. Eraqus said nothing, only turned to the bundle on the desk and cautiously approached it, and with shaky fingers, pulled away at the blanket. There, laid what was possibly the most beautiful baby girl anyone could've ever possibly seen. She was wearing a white baby-grow with moons and stars on it, a few strands of chocolate brown hairs poked out of her tiny head, and her eyes…They were the exact replica of Kimiko's, perfectly formed with an amazing spark of emerald green.
Master Eraqus couldn't hold back the smile that was brought to his face as he looked at the baby, she was almost like a miniature clone of her mother, apart from the hair. Once the baby's jade eyes landed on him, she popped her index finger into her toothless mouth and began chewing on her finger and giggled up at him. Very carefully, Eraqus reached down and picked her up, placing her gently in his arms in a position she'd be comfortable with and rocked her back and forth.
"Kimiko," he sighed and brought his gaze up to meet his ex-pupil's "I understand that once your mind is made up, there's no changing it back. But couldn't I just take your place in whatever you have to do? You could take my place here if anything happened…and she wouldn't risk losing her mother." Eraqus said, gesturing to the baby that was now dozing off in his arms with a nod of his head.
Kimiko simply shook her head and left a few tears to fall from her chin that built up there. "I'm afraid not. You just have to watch her, keep her safe, I'll be home soon." With that she took another step closer to the exit, but Eraqus stopped her. "Kimiko!" he called, the woman turned fully to face him but kept her gaze to the floor. "What's her name?"
Her jade eyes rose, but landed on her baby and a smile reached her lips, but not her eyes, which were still clouded with tears and sadness. "Mai." She answered barely above a whisper before she hesitantly walked back over to them, and placed a soft kiss on her baby's forehead, who was now sleeping soundlessly "Her name is Mai."
Eraqus nodded with a smile before setting Mai back down onto her blanket and turned back to Kimiko. "Tell Kasai…I'm very happy for him, for you both…Promise you'll come home Kimiko, Mai can't lose you. You were an excellent apprentice, and I know that you'll be excellent in everything you do…I'm so proud of you."
Kimiko said nothing, simply nodded her head and turned on her heel before sprinting out of the room completely…
…But destiny can't be changed…