Author's Comments: Hi. So Locked Away, the post-KS fanfic I had before, is deleted and replaced with THIS fanfic to better fit my RECENTLY NEWLY-REVISED Kismet Scribe. I personally like this better. There's much less repeating of Set in Motion. Let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I own Imani and Aden.
The thumping in my chest increases when I find myself standing in front of the door to Master Yen Sid's study. The countless spiraling stairs never seemed so short before. My thoughts whirl around like dead leaves in a fierce wind storm that shows no signs of slowing down. I can't grasp my thoughts and keep them in order.
"Come in."
I jump at the voice from the other side of the door. I didn't even knock and he knows I'm here.
Taking one last deep breath, I grasp the knob and open the door. He sits at his desk, his elbows resting on the armrests of his chair and his fingers intertwined before his face. Those glaring eyes leer at me over his fingers.
"Imani," he rumbles as the door shuts behind me. "To what do I owe the honor?"
My stomach twists uncomfortably and I ball my fists to keep from flinching under his stare. "It's about Aden."
His hands part and he waves one carelessly. Glittering light sparkles between us and a wooden chair appears, beckoning me to sit down. "What do you wish to know?"
The invitation is all that's needed for the storm of questions to spill from my mouth. "How is he?" I ask, hurriedly sitting before him. "Does he remember me? Is he the same person he was when I was with him? How did you fit me so seamlessly into that life I had with him? Was I erased from his memory when I came here? Does he even really exist?"
Master Yen Sid raises a hand to silence me. "Tell me this: Do you think he exists?"
While my brow knits together at the way he ignores the other questions I asked, warmth seeps into my chest, spreading to my heart and through my limbs when I think about the older boy's smile. There's no question about it.
I straighten up as my heart speeds up with hope. "Is there a way I can…?"
"I cannot show him to you."
The hope pops like a balloon stabbed by an arrow. I deflate in my seat and my eyes travel to the floor, slumping my shoulders and hearing the loud thud of my heart dropping to my stomach.
"I can, however, pass on a message to him."
I glance up to see Master Yen Sid twirling a finger. A fluffy feather pen, an inkwell, a sheet of parchment, and a thin book float over to me, alighting on my lap just as I move my hands from my knees. "The parchment will only retain one message," he tells me. "Choose your words carefully."
Just as my heart was rising back up to my chest, it falls back to my stomach. Only one message? But there's so much I want to say…
With a sigh I pick up the pen. The inkwell rises and uncaps itself readily as I take hold of the parchment and the book in my other hand, resting it on my forearm and propping it up against my stomach. For several minutes I stare at the blank sheet, furrowing my brow and frowning. What do I say to him?
The inkwell nudges my hand impatiently. Hurry up, it seems to chide.
I sigh again, dipping the tip of the pen into the inkwell and writing the words my heart has been screaming ever since that morning I woke up in Riku's bed:
I miss you.
Once I dot the period, the inkwell's cap clinks on and the pen and book hurry back to their places on Master Yen Sid's desk. This message will have to do.
"Roll up the parchment and place your seal," Master Yen Sid instructs.
"My seal?" I repeat uncertainly as I roll sheet into a thin tube.
"The sign by which you wish to be recognized."
I frown in thought. My initials won't work; there were some students with the initials "IB" (for Imani Brisce) at our school. Master Yen Sid hasn't told me whether Aden remembers me or not, either.
His lips twist as he scrutinizes me. "You remind me of a wolf—lonely, misunderstood, and empathetic."
A wolf…
I snatch the feather pen and do my best to draw a wolf's face in the middle of the tube. "There," I murmur with a slight grimace at the stray lines and at how lopsided the snout turned out.
Master Yen Sid gets up and moves around his desk. "If you're satisfied, follow me," he says as he walks out of the study.
He leads me to a window in the hallway outside and takes the tube of paper from me, running his finger along the length. My eyes widen and my jaw drops as the paper stretches long and thin without tearing into an arrow longer than my arm. He carefully hands it to me. "Point and shoot."
"What?"
"Point and shoot."
My protest dies on my tongue under his stern glare. I curl my left-hand fingers as if they were gripping a bow and pinch the tail of the arrow with my right-hand fingers. Strangely, the sounds of creaking wood and trembling horsehair tickle my ears as I pull the arrow back further and further, aiming the head towards the starry sky.
Aden, please get this.
I release the arrow with a sharp twang and it rockets through the window into the night, a stream of glitter trailing in its wake.
"Why the long face?"
I sluggishly glance at the redheaded bartender on the other side of the counter. "It's nothing."
He arches a thin eyebrow. "It's something if it's bothering you this much."
A quiet groan erupts in my throat. He just had to use that line.
"How long has it been?"
"Today makes a week."
He picks up a dirty glass and begins to wipe the rim with a cloth. "And…the wizard just told you to wait?"
I take a swig of water and nod. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be waiting for, though…"
"Perhaps I can solve that mystery for you."
A pale hand slides a crumpled tube of lined paper towards me on the counter. I shoot Zexion a strange glance before picking it up. "What's this?"
"I found it wedged underneath the door to your apartment on my way here." He takes a seat on the stool next to me, loosening his dark tie. "I don't recognize the seal, but that appears to be a message to you."
Hope swells up within me as I study the seal: the face of a floppy-eared dog.
"Then you remind me of a dog—dependable, loyal, and protective," I answer with a smile.
My shaking fingers work to uncurl the paper and I read the contents. I smooth the paper against the countertop and read it again. And again. And again. And again.
Axel's soft spikes brush my forehead as he peers at the contents upside-down for a moment. "Well, whaddya know…"
"May I?"
My hand slides the paper to Zexion and I look up to Axel, the smile on my face growing bigger and bigger. My heart soars and my body itches to jump up and down in the middle of the restaurant or whirl around in circles until I collapse from dizziness.
Axel shakes his head with his own disbelieving smile, his green eyes twinkling. "Whaddya know."
"What does this mean?" Zexion wonders aloud. "Does he remember you? Does he know what you really are? How was he able to transport this message directly to you? Who is he, really? What relation does he have with Master Yen Sid—"
"Later," Axel cuts him off. "Order whatever you want, Imani—it's on me."
I order the first thing that comes to mind: "Waffles."
I miss you, too.
Author's Afterthought: Leave a review, please! If you haven't already, please check out the newly-revised Kismet Scribe. I know there are over fifty chapters, but they're all shorter than 3,000 words and they're nowhere nearly as sappy as they were before. Thanks for reading!