First Kingdom Hearts fanfic!
"You're going the wrong way…"
Sora had, for a moment, thought it was Donald speaking. The duck was shouting and grumbling, as per usual, about their current lost state in the willowing, spiraling forest.
But the voice he heard was too soft and feminine to be the temperamental mage. It always left Sora feeling disorientated and breathless, like his feet had been pulled out from under him, whenever she spoke.
He could just see her, out of the corner of his eye. He knew after time and time again if he turned fully she would disappear. Pretty and petite, and just how he remembered her. With her hands clasped behind her back and a gentle smile on her lips standing before a path leading further into the woods.
Sora understood why she was there, their hearts being connected as they were, even though he was still somewhat baffled on the how. Whenever he thought about the fact that she had, quite literally, given her heart to him he could feel his face and his chest flush in an ecstatic glow.
And her speaking to him like this always made sure he remembered that. Her whispered words of advice and warning, lightly drawing him in or out of that direction or away from danger.
He never doubted her.
"Donald, Goofy, let's go this way!"
888
"Come on Sora, is that the best you can do?"
Sora let out a battle cry, Heartless and Nobodies falling in the wake of his fiercely swinging keyblade and explosive magic.
Riku's voice was always snarky and sarcastic, always driving him further and pushing him in battle to move faster and hit harder. It held not maliciousness, just friendly ribbing.
It was different than with Kairi.
It made sense in a strange way to him. The bond between him and Kairi compared to him and Riku was not the same. Hers was a deep, under the skin connection, having had her heart sheltered right next to his own like it was. Riku's, on the other hand, was a kinship, a brotherly bond that, while it had been attenuated by intrusive forces, it never truly had been shattered.
At first, Sora believed it was the same as with Kairi, but realized it was his own mind projecting Riku as his conscious and self-encouragement. He never saw Riku, only would imagine him behind his eyelids, grinning and egging him on, while still showing his unending support.
Sora pictured Riku even when he looked at some of the people and friends he has met and made.
The scarred ones.
The damaged and broken ones.
The ones who had or are being pulled and prodded by the lure of Darkness.
The ones who have escaped from it and the ones who've saved others from it.
It made Sora fight even harder for those who were suffering.
888
"…Sora…"
It was a small call. One that he almost missed as his and everyone else's pounding steps echoed off the empty streets, sights set on the glowing heart-shaped moon in the dark sky.
It was an odd sound in his ear and mind, almost like the dead air trying to turn itself into a breeze.
"…Sora…"
The smell of sweat on his skin made him think of the sea and his deep breathing of the rolling waves.
"…Sora…"
This voice was never fully there to Sora.
It wasn't one he knew, but he remembered as if it was a recent dream or an old memory.
It was almost like there were two voices trying to call him. Incongruous, yet harmonic in their individuality.
"…Sora…"
One sounded young and brash and angry. It would pop up loudly in his head and demand his attention, make his mind and heart swell and squeeze with feelings that weren't his own.
It would be like a searing presence in his brain whenever someone from the Organization XIII called out to him. Or it would be a lingering loneliness when he went to Twilight Town.
It had only begun to sound with boldness and stubborn resolve when he had awoken in that empty white space.
"…Sora…"
The other sounded like it was still the same voice, but soft and scared and warm and old and just felt like it had been with him all his life. Like the other one, full of passionate fury and hurt, had grown and matured and wanted to keep Sora safe rather than make him spring into emotional action.
It washed his soul in a cooling pool and a loving touch when Kairi embraced him. A strange, but soothing firmness, the smell of dirt penetrating his nostrils, as his eyes and throat burned when he found Riku finally. A burst of lights and the sounds of whistling winds as he clashed with the hooded figure that yielded dual keyblades.
It reminded him of falling stars and the sparkles of Pixie Dust and the freedom of flying.
"…Sora…"
Sora paused a second to listen. For the first time since he heard this two folded voice, it was as one.
It was both strong and soft in its tone, the two overlapping into a whole person.
It reminded him of when he opened the Door.
"…Sora…"
"…Don't worry…"
"You're doing just fine."
This was one of those it-practically-wrote-itself oneshots.