XIII
Each step was another swing of her arms, vanquishing another foe visible only to her. To Kairi, fighting was like a dance. The compilation of techniques used in the mock battle flowed in a perfect rhythm. Of course, if Master Riku were there, he'd get onto Kairi for assuming there was any sort of rhythm in battle, and try to explain to her that a battlefield was simply a source of chaos and that practicing it as a series of specific moves would just throw her off when it came time for the real thing. She'd heard the speech twice already from him, thrice from Sora, and one time each from Lea and Goofy. That didn't stop her from doing it every once in a while, though.
She was so delved into this rhythm, the make believe world she'd created around her, that when the sound of another soul breached through, it took Kairi several minutes to actually identify it. It sounded almost like laughing, but then she heard what sounded like someone choking. To her knowledge, nobody had ever cried in the tower. Every heart she fought alongside was very strong, and for these people, crying only meant the bitterest of fates. If someone was crying, it was the equivalent of death.
Kairi followed the sound. Her heavy breathing, result from the "fierce" battle she'd been participating in, temporarily drowned out the cry of the person who now held her highest interest. All the same, she soon found herself standing at the head of a hallway that held the rooms Yen Sid was allowing her, Sora, and Riku to sleep in while they stayed at The Mysterious Tower. All the other bedrooms were in an adjoining hallway, but Kairi didn't have to go that far to find the source of the noise.
"Sora?" She leaned close to his door, trying to raise her voice enough so that he could hear her on the other side. "Why are you crying? Are you OK?" Her only response was her best friend's continued cries. Assuming he hadn't heard her, Kairi rapped on the door with her knuckles. "Sora? What's wrong?"
When he still didn't respond, Kairi grabbed the door handle and gave it a sharp twist. It didn't move under her hand. He had locked it. "Why is your door locked? What's going on?!" She tried to twist the handle a few more times, then summoned her Keyblade and took a step back, aiming it at the keyhole.
"The Kingdom Key is allot stronger than Destiny's Embrace." Sora's raspy voice made her jump, and she was instantly up at the door again. "Sorry. Only I can unlock it."
"Sora! Why is it locked? Why won't you let me in?! Why are you- what's-?"
"I'm really sorry. I tried, Kairi, but I just..."
"You what?" Her mind started clouding over as her breath became more ragged. Just open the door, just open the door...
He was crying again. Kairi heard his footsteps as he approached the door on the other side. "I can't control it."
"Can't control what?!"
"You know..." His voice was only inches away, now. He was stopped right on the other side of the door, but if she couldn't actually see him, and touch him, he might as well have been worlds away. "You've seen it this whole time!"
"Seen what, Sora?" Tears stung her eyes as she leaned against the door, because, despite her asking, she knew fully well what he was talking about.
"Loose, Kairi, loose!" Riku had been spending the last five minutes emphasizing that word. "If you get all tense, you're not going to be able to move around. Also, bend your knees more. If your legs get locked up, it's going to add extra precious seconds to all of your movements. Not to mention it's horrible for your balance. Observe." He turned to Sora, who was staring idly into space, bored with the lecture. He gestured to the fact that Sora was standing completely straight, then gave him a hard shove to the shoulder.
"Wha!" Sora flailed his arms as he stumbled back, barely retaining his balance and avoiding falling over. "What the-?"
He calmed when his two friends started laughing, showing that it was no real threat. He knitted his eyebrows together, questioning.
"Riku was giving me a lesson on balance."
"That's Master Riku to you." The silver-haired boy teasingly pointed his Keyblade at her. "Your mistake has earned you another hour of training."
"Were you going to let me go before then?"
"Probably not." Seeing that Sora was already starting to tune them out again, Riku waved his Keyblade in front of his friend's face, then pointed it to the steps leading up to the door to The Mysterious Tower. "Would you like to see what we have so far?"
"Sure!" Sora flashed them his cheeky grin, then plopped down onto the steps. "Don't go easy on him, Kairi."
"Ha." Riku exclaimed mirthlessly. "Alright, Kairi. I'm going to attack you three times. Always be ready to move, and look for a chance to counter. Got it?"
She nodded, raising Destiny's Embrace defensively. Against her best efforts, the Princess of Light could in no way look threatening, but they could work on that another day. Riku quickly swung the Way to the Dawn at Kairi, once in a downward strike, then twice towards her chest. She blocked all three respectively.
"Not bad, but you forgot to counter. Comments, Sora?"
"If you keep just moving back, he's going to get you into a corner. Try sidestepping some of the attacks. That can also give you a chance to counter."
"Again, then!" Riku leveled Way to the Dawn at Kairi, and she brought Destiny's Embrace up to guard her face. He did a low strike first, which she jumped away from. She blocked the next strike, and he pulled his arm back to get momentum on the third. She took the chance to dive in and swing at his exposed side, but her speed was still hardly a match for his own and she ended up catching the hilt of his Keyblade on the top of her head.
Her rear hit the ground and she gave a brief yell, more from surprise than pain. But still, Sora was instantly at her side, one hand half-attempting to pull her up while the other lingered dangerously close to her wound. "Kairi! Are you alright?!"
"Fine." She groaned through gritted teeth. "Nothing a little cure spell won't fix, right?"
"Yeah, you're alright." Riku grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Sorry about that. I assumed you were going to counter after I finished my combo."
"Didn't you say to never assume in battle?"
"Do as I say, not as I do."
"You sound like Lea."
"What in Kingdom Hearts was that about, Riku?!" Sora asked his friend as the Master lifted his Keyblade above Kairi and cast a cure spell to heal the small cut. "She could have gotten seriously hurt!"
"But she didn't."
"You have to be more careful!"
"Look, Sora, if you want more training time with her instead of me doing most of it, all you have to do is ask." Kairi couldn't help but grin at their playful fighting over her. It reminded her of their time on Destiny Islands, back before any of the mess with darkness, light, Keyblades, and the worlds had happened.
Unfortunately, that wasn't what Sora was thinking about. "If you had just been swinging a little harder, you could have killed her on contact!"
"It was just a small cut, Sora. I'm fine." Suddenly, it felt more like babying than playfighting.
"But what about next time, when he's going just a 'little' harder?! That inconsiderate jerk never slows down to think about who else could get hurt, like when he unlocked the-"
"Sora!" Kairi interrupted, jumping in front of him and raising her hands to block him from approaching Riku. Sora locked eyes with her, then stepped back, looked down at his hand. He'd summoned his Keyblade. "We really don't need to go there."
"Sorry." He quickly dismissed it, then turned away from them. Kairi swore she saw his eyes fading from green. "I'm just tired. Can I be dismissed for the day?"
Riku didn't respond, so Kairi gave Sora the OK in his stead. When he was gone, Kairi glanced over her shoulder to a stone-still Riku. After she got his attention, he quickly excused himself, then wandered off from her, in a different direction than Sora had gone. Her fist clenched around her Keyblade. Deep wounds weren't hard to reopen.
"It was always there, but it was never much of a fight to keep it under control." She heard Sora's back hit the door, and the sound of him sliding down it to sit. She did the same, sure by the placement of his voice that they were back-to-back. "That's why I never really paid attention to it, until the nightmare. Now..."
His voice drifted off, and Kairi felt their hearts suddenly growing further apart as his became wrapped in darkness. He moaned on the other side of the door. Kairi quickly shifted to her knees, screaming at the door, "Sora, fight it! Please, don't let it win!"
"Sora! Master Yen Sid has summoned everybody!" Kairi yelled to the open world as she threw open the door to The Mysterious Tower and ran down the steps. "I think you're about to go to the R-of-D to find Master Aqua!"
Her feet hit the grass and she quickly surveyed the small world around her. She could see the world's edge in any direction - except for just behind her, where the tower rested, but she knew it was along the edge. The Mysterious Tower didn't need to be that big, since only Master Yen Sid lived there traditionally. There were a few trees scattered here and there, but nothing that would do much good for hiding, which was why she was unpleasantly surprised by the fact that Sora was nowhere in sight. "Sora? You out here?"
Didn't he say he was coming out here to train? Maybe he's trying out his new glider. She wandered over to the edge of the land and looked around, but could see him nowhere in the endless sky. Maybe he finished early and is in his room, and I came all the way down here for nothing. I hate those stairs...
Kairi turned to go back inside, but a shift in the shadow of the trees caught her eye. Light formed into Destiny's Embrace in her hand as she lifted it to block the attack from the Heartless. She did a back handspring to put distance between them. Straightening, she was able to get a decent look at the monster that had attacked her. Tall, but it was bent over so that it was close to the ground, its clawed hands at the ready to strike. Wisps of darkness trailed off from its black skin, and two yellow eyes glowed at her, half-concealed by the bangs of messy dark hair.
It was Sora.
The creature lunged at her, far faster than her friend could ever have hoped to move. Kairi blocked the attack and kicked the monster away from her. Her leg burned from the dark wisps against her skin ."Sora! Change out of Antiform!"
It didn't listen. The creature attacked her again, and its speed against her inexperience soon had Kairi disarmed. It hissed from pain when it threw her Keyblade away from her, but its attacks were still as vicious as before, soon having her at the edge of the small world. When it swung again, Kairi grabbed its wrist before its claw could grab at her face. Pain shot up her arm as it leaned all of its weight towards her, skidding her back until she felt her heels skidding over the edge. Now she was also hanging onto the monster so that she didn't fall off the edge. "Sora!" Her teeth were gritted together from the strain of holding onto the anti while also holding it away from her. "Revert! Revert!"
The pressure lightened, so that Kairi's arms didn't feel liked they were about to snap from trying to hold it back. The Antiform blinked its yellow eyes at her several times before the dark wisps retracted into it, the clothes and skin fading back to their regular colors as Sora's eyes turned back to blue, human eyes. He quickly grabbed her and yanked her from the edge. "I'm so sorry, Kairi!"
"It's fine." No, it wasn't fine, his darkness had almost thrown her over the edge of the world. But that wasn't something you tell someone when they looked like they're about to go hysterical.
"It, uh, happens sometimes when I abuse my drive forms. I told you about that, right?" He gave her a hopeful grin. She smiled sheepishly at him, and nodded. "I hope I didn't scare you too bad. What did you need?"
"Master Yen Sid wants us. I think he's about to send you and Riku to go find Master Aqua."
"Oh, alright. Let's go!" Then he gave her his Sora grin, and ran into the building. Kairi smiled back at him, but only until he had gotten out of sight. While she did know the Antiform appeared when he used his drive forms too often, she also knew that he hadn't been using them since he left the Realm of Sleep.
His moaning changed to panting for air, and their connection was strengthened again. Kairi fell back against the door, gasping herself, her heart- the organ- pounding from the sudden scare. He's alright. He's alright. "Sora, please, you have to let me in there. I don't like... I can't just talk with you like this."
She heard scuffling at the base of the door, and saw the ends of his fingers coming out from under the door a few inches to her left. His fingers were barely able to fit under. Hesitantly, Kairi slid her hand under the door, putting her fingers in the spaces between his. "Better?"
It wasn't proper hand-holding, and she still couldn't see him, but it would have to do. She held back a sniffle and said, "Sora, you know you don't have to... to... we're going to be OK. Your light's always been strong enough."
He sounded on the verge of tears again when he muttered, "My light's never been my own. We all know that now!"
As the light faded from the room, everyone anxiously looked to the throne where Ventus sat, his body still aside from his gentle breathing. Aqua nervously knelt in front of him, and gently shook his shoulder. "Ven?"
"Did it not work?" Kairi whispered to Riku. He opened his mouth to answer, but never got the chance. Ventus's eyes fluttered open, and Aqua's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped with delight.
"You're awake!"
"Aqua?" He was confused, dazed, but as the fog cleared from his mind, his startled frown was replaced with a wide grin. He leaped forward out of his chair and threw his arms around the blue-haired girl, who gladly hugged him back.
Riku sighed contentedly. "Two down, one to go."
Kairi nodded, then turned around to face Sora. "See, Master Yen Sid said it wouldn't- Sora!" She dove forward and caught the boy's shoulders before he could hit the floor. Riku immediately came and easily lifted Sora back up. "Are you OK?"
It took him a few minutes for him to focus on her. "I think so. I just feel kind of... empty."
Riku chuckled. "I'd imagine that would happen after losing a heart that's been connected to yours for, what, twelve years now?"
"Maybe. I don't really remember." Kairi and Riku both raised their eyebrows at him, and he waved it off. "I'm just tired. Can we go back to The Mysterious Tower?"
"You don't even want to meet Ventus first?"
"Hm? Oh, right."
"When did you get so tall?" Ventus was gawking up at Lea, who was smirking down at him.
"I dunno. When did you get so short?"
"Ventus," Aqua interrupted when the other trio approached. "This is Sora, Riku, and Kairi."
Riku and Kairi gave small waves, but Sora only stared. Ventus stepped towards the group and held his hand out to Sora. "Nice to physically meet you!"
"You look just like him..." Sora whispered. Ventus quirked an eyebrow.
"Like who?"
"Nobody." Sora shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He still didn't take Ventus's hand. "I don't mean to sound rude, but do you mind if we go back to Yen Sid's tower?"
"It's fine." Aqua assured him, starting the walk from the Chamber of Awakening. Everyone followed her. They'd probably get lost in the castle if they didn't. "Now to find Terra."
They had only just stepped out of the room when a swarm of Neoshadows came up around them. Lea swore and summoned his Keyblade. "I keep forgetting we left some of these guys in here way back when."
Both Sora and Kairi flinched, though they didn't know why. Everybody summoned their Keyblades and chased after Aqua, who was leading them down to the lower floors of the castle. They took out whatever Heartless appeared as they ran, not wanting to waste a minute in the castle that they could spend looking for the other Light.
Knowing he was probably still weak from having Ven's heart stripped from him, Kairi tried to stay close to Sora to help him ward off any of the attackers, but it was soon proved unnecessary. He was fighting just as well, if not better, as before.
It wasn't until they were just stepping outside of the castle that she noticed the dark wisps coming off of his body.
"Didn't you say I was your light?"
His fingers tightened around hers. "That's why I... if things continue the way they have been with this oncoming war... we both know how Xehanort's going to play it."
Despite everyone's telling her that a battlefield was nothing but chaos and that it had no form of pattern, Kairi couldn't help but try to find one anyway. Two hours in, though, and there was clearly no form of repeating. Always a different kind of Heartless, or a different kind of Nobody, that would have to be defeated a different way. Sometimes she'd come too close to one of the others fighting alongside her in Radiant Garden, and have to run away from them so that she didn't accidentally hit them thinking they were an enemy. She'd almost decapitated Leon twice already.
Something clapped her on the back of her head and her upper back, sending her tumbling to the wall of the The Great Maw. Kairi picked herself up and cartwheeled away from the beam of a Watcher. She landed, kicked off the stone wall, and grabbed onto the Watcher. She aimed it at the Large Body that had hit her, and the beam of the Watcher sliced straight through it. Kairi drove Destiny's Embrace into the Watcher, and fell to the ground when it faded into darkness.
She rubbed the back of her sore head, hardly feeling up to healing it. It hopefully wouldn't affect her fighting too much. She gripped her Keyblade in her sweaty hand and looked over the fight. Fortunately, it seemed like the number of Heartless were lessening, meaning they might actually finish soon.
She was about to run back into the fray, when a beam of darkness appeared in the corner of her eye. Kairi whirled towards it in time to see it fading into Sora, who was on his knees. Master Xehanort was ten feet away from him, Keyblade pointed at the hero.
As the old man lowered his weapon and strode towards Sora, Kairi dashed to get between them and aimed the tip of her Keyblade at Xehanort's face. "He's not yours! Now back off!" She was panting from the fight with the Heartless, but she found just enough strength to glare at Xehanort and- "Firaga!"
Xehanort sidestepped the attack and smiled - smirked - at the clearly frustrated Kairi. "This journey will soon come to an end. All truths will then be revealed." Darkness swirled up around him, and he disappeared into the corridor.
Once she was sure he was gone, Kairi turned back to Sora, who was still on his knees. She knelt down and grabbed his shoulders before he could fall over, and somewhat-gently pat his face. "Stay with me, Sora! You can sleep later! Open your eyes!"
He weakly obeyed her, allowing her to see his irises fading from yellow.
"What authority does he have to decide?!" Tears were falling freely from Kairi's eyes now. "Please, Sora. You've always been able to fight it off before, and you can do it again. Your friends are going to help you! Just unlock your door!"
"I can't be helped, Kairi!" His snapping at her caused Kairi to jump, disconnecting their fingers. "I'm past the point of no return! You know that more than anyone! Nothing's like before!"
She had been thinking for quite some time on something that could cheer him up. Something that could bring back the old Sora in him. The Sora that could convince someone from death with just a grin, and whose light could take on even the fiercest darkness. With a little help from the Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, she believed she had finally found the answer.
"Sora! Look at this!" She called to him before he could exit the Star Chamber. He turned around, and his face instantly lit up when his eyes fell on her. Kairi smiled at him and put a hand on her hip. "Tada! Behold my Wisdom Form!"
"That's so cool, Kairi! When did you...?"
"About three minutes ago at the top of the tower." She smoothly slid across the floor, making a circle around him. It almost looked like she was skating. "The fairies said my magic was strong enough to sustain this. Only a Wisdom Form, though. I can't do Valor or anything like that."
"Have you tried fighting in it yet?"
"I was actually hoping you could help me out with that, since you're the only other one who has a Wisdom Form." She finally stopped in front of him, bouncing on her toes to try and bring herself to his level. "We don't have to spar yet, if you don't want. I think it's pretty fun to just skate around. Transform and join me?"
His face suddenly paled, and a frown came upon him as he turned away from her. "Sorry, Kairi, but I... I can't access my drive forms anymore."
"What?!" She skated around him, bringing herself to face him again. She threw her hands to his shoulders, the jolt forcing him to look at her. "Since when?"
"I've just noticed it over the past few days." He nervously pried her hands off of him and took a step back. Kairi mentally chanted to herself to not show any hurt at the movement. "Sorry I haven't told anyone yet. I thought maybe I could figure out what was wrong."
"Can you at least try for me?"
"No!" He froze after his outburst. He quickly continued, voice more composed, but his right hand was shaking. "It's not going to work. Sorry... I need to go do something."
It was the first time he had ever truly blown her off, which is why it came as no surprise to Kairi when she looked out the window later and saw him standing at the edge of the world in his Antiform.
Kairi placed her forehead against the door, her shoulders shaking from the hardly concealed sobs. "You're never too far gone. You're always going to be Sora. Not some piece of a X-Blade. You're my Sora. You're... you're my light, too!" If he'd just open his door...
His voice was so close, she imagined his forehead to be leaning against the door in the same fashion as hers, their only separation being an inch of wood. "You don't need me to be one of the Guardians of Light, anymore. As soon as you find Terra-"
"Don't say that, Sora! We'll always need you! You saved all the worlds from darkness, you opened the Door to the Light, you defeated the original Organization XIII, and you can do it again!"
"Not if I'm one of them!"
When Kairi had asked Master Yen Sid to let her go to Twilight Town, she had only been planning to grab a Sea-Salt ice-cream and maybe a new Lucky Ring from the accessory shop. What she hadn't been planning was to see Sora walking after someone into one of the back alleys, and to see the edge of an all too familiar cloak on the one he was following.
The ice-cream was dropped as Kairi summoned Destiny's Embrace and raced after the two, for the moment not caring who saw the weapon. When she hit the front of the alley, she saw the two facing each other about halfway in, Master Xehanort with his hands clasped behind his back, and Sora with his hands held limply at his sides.
She didn't hesitate placing herself between them, aiming her Keyblade at Master Xehanort much like she had at Radiant Garden. "I told you to leave him alone!"
Xehanort made no move to defend himself from her inevitable attacks. He simply gave her what she felt to be the smile of the devil. Before she could react, an unknown force hit her hand so hard that she heard it crack! A hand locked around her throat and yanked her back against the owner's body, and the tip of a Keyblade pressed to her temple.
"It was only a matter of time, young Light, before he finally gave in. You should know by now that none can withstand the power of darkness."
Kairi struggled against Sora's grip on her throat, her good hand trying in vain to pry his off. It wasn't tight enough to completely cut off her breathing, but instead was forcing her through a very slow suffocation. Her lungs were already burning from the strangle, and she started coughing whenever she tried to speak.
"I now have my XIII, and once your friends find the other keybearer, the seven Guardians of Light will also be in place." He held his hand out to the side, and a Corridor of Darkness appeared. "I'm sure they'll work much faster when they realize that I have taken one of their Princesses of Heart."
Sora tried to force her to the portal, but Kairi brought her heel back into his shin. He tensed from the hit, loosening just enough for her to pry his hand off her throat and choke out, "Curaga!" Sora screamed and reared back. Kairi summoned Destiny's Embrace, her hand healed from the magic, and aimed it at Master Xehanort. "You're never taking the Protector of the Light! Find yourself another XIII!"
It was as if nothing could ever change his superior demeanor. "As I said before, it is only a matter of time." Then he stepped into the Corridor of Darkness.
Sora's shouts of pain were the only thing that kept her from chasing after him. She turned back to Sora, letting Destiny's Embrace fade away as she stepped up to him. His hands were gripping his head, and his shoulder was leaning against the wall to support himself."Sora?" His eyes snapped open, and Kairi started at the war in his eyes, the yellow and blue fighting for control, the light and darkness fighting over his heart. Bracing herself, Kairi stepped closer to him, and he took a startled step back.
"Kairi! It hurts! Go away!"
She only stepped closer, and she put her arms on the sides of his head so that he couldn't get any farther from her. He continued shaking his head from the pain, his hands tightening as if they were going to rip his hair out. He continued to struggle to get away from her, but the battle in his heart left him too weak to do much but stand there. Judging by the shaking in his knees, even that was a chore. "Kairi, I'm so tired..."
Kairi slid her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead to his. His conflicted eyes widened. "I won't let you go."
"Even in the deepest darkness, there is always a light..." Kairi whispered the words her grandmother had told her so long before. She lifted her hand and placed her palm against the door, lining her fingers up with where she imagined Sora's to be. If he'd just open the door, I can stop him. Her eyes were squeezed shut in a vain attempt to hold back her tears. Her body was shaking uncontrollably. She could hardly keep her voice in check as she begged him. "Please, Sora, come back to the light."
She heard sniffling on the other side of the door, but it was otherwise silent. The world - the universe - was waiting for his answer.
"I love you, Kairi. And I couldn't bear to exist if I hurt you." He shuffled from the door.
"Sora!" She screamed through the door, banging her fists furiously against it. "Don't-!"
The sound of severed flesh. A crack, a gasp. A body thumping against the floor. Their connection shattered.
Kairi's body slumped against the door as she continued to weakly pound against it. "No! You can't leave me!" Both sides of her heart cried out for the boy in the other room, Kairi for Sora, and Naminé for Roxas. "You can't have just... you are the light, Sora! You can't just leave us!"
Her eyes stung so badly from the tears that she was unable to keep them open. She was still calling his name when she felt the warm, sticky liquid touch her face. She hadn't realized she'd laid down. She opened her eyes, at first terrified that his blood had seeped under the door and gotten hold on her. She started breathing rapidly, her sore throat the only thing concealing her screams. Her brain was too tired to try and move from her position, and could only add more tears to mix with the blood.
She managed to see under the door, and she started gagging at what little she could see of her pale friend. His white arm and the spikes of his brunette hair were both tainted by his blood. Clutched in his fingers, the only thing not touched by blood, was her Wayfinder.
A/N Characters and universe belong to Square Enix and Disney. I own nothing.
I've seen allot of people who have the thought that Master Xehanort might still try to use Sora as one of the thirteen, so here's my spin on it. I hope you enjoyed. Oh, and I understand that the Drive Forms weren't used for DDD, but since Sora got his pretty magic clothing back at the end, it's reasonable to believe he recovered those. Except in this version he didn't...
To anyone who might be considering reviewing or not reviewing because this is the only story I have up, please know it's not my first story on this site. I've actually been writing on here for about a year, so I'm not going to freak out if you say you don't like it or something like that. Just tell me why when you do so, as well as how I can make it better.
For those who celebrate it, Happy SoKai Day!