Intelligence

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Intelligence is said to be a property of mind that encompasses many related mental abilities, such as the capacities to reasonplansolve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. Although intelligence is sometimes viewed quite broadly, psychologists typically regard the trait as distinct from creativitypersonalitycharacter, or wisdom.
Riku told me differently.
You might ask what I am talking about and who I am, so let's say that I am the one who watched them from a distance. Riku was a companion of the legendary key blade-wielder, whose name is known far and wide. However, the boy I am talking about was not wildly known, but was treasured within the hearts of his friends. He spoke highly of them when you caught him in a tender moment, but it always amused me to see what he saw in the little witch. The boy is too mature for one of his age, but it is only natural when you consider what he had been through. It was not the gentle thoughts or words that made him do what he did. He defied me, which is no lie. I acted like his superior, asked him to get rid of something that would've made his friend whole. Perhaps that was the reason why he took away the witch. A deceiving witch she was, there was no doubt about it. However, it is all a question about intelligence. They say nobodies have no hearts, but perhaps I have been wrong. The emotions they remember might have been stronger than I had imagined, because she had been able to preserve the memories of Sora within the mind of Riku's. What amazed me even more was that he was able to remember both the things that had occurred in Castle Oblivion and not having forgotten anything at all. It would only occur to me, much later, before I entered the dreadful World That Never Was, what intelligence really was.

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Chapter 1

Basic instinct

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The World That Never Was, was really a really a world that never was. The constant raining and ever lasting darkness illumined the city like a big fat blanket hiding it for the world outside, making it seem like it really didn't exist. The signs on the buildings were colored in the brightest colors, that shone with great magnitude and you could almost feel the electricity in your bones. It was in this world that darkness nobodies rained freely without being disturbed. A world where heartless would be defeated in a matter of seconds – a world fit for the thought of having a heart. There is lingering sensation, to those who do not possess a heart, to feel as if they have come to the right place. A feeling of nostalgia that consumed their body – perhaps this is why Roxas was currently walking through the rain, leaving it all behind to find a heart for himself – or rather, beat the one who did possess the very same heart he once had owned with all his might. His somebody.

The ever shinning portal to kingdom hearts was hidden behind the clouds that let the rain fall upon the ground with loud platters. The ground was covered in darkness and two persons ran through the streets, their footsteps echoing through the emptiness of the city. It was very unusual to hear someone running, especially since the people, if you can call them that, who resided there never were in a rush or felt the urge to run. There was nothing to escape or to reach. Yet, someone was running and they were running fast, as if they were searching for something – or someone. However, it was the wrong word to speak about this place, there was no one there, since they weren't somebodies, then they couldn't be called someone – right?

The girl ran in her white-blue sandals, trusting them into the piles of water spread along the roads of the world that never was. She ran with speed that couldn't be described and yet it seemed as if she wasn't running at all. Her white dress that clung to her form because of the rain, but she didn't stop, she knew what she had to do – she needed to return the favor of love she had received from the key bearer. She had achieved the love though, by deceiving him and making him believe she was something she wasn't, by rearranging his memories. His voice was still lingering in the back of her head and it was her job to retrieve that voice back, but not to please herself, but to please the world, the humans and last of all his friends and the girl waiting for him back at his islands.

She quickly bolted backwards when she saw a shadow in the far corner of her eye, walking towards the big plaza underneath the very castle the organization reigned in. When she jumped back she pressed herself against the wall and carefully turned her head, so she could see the approaching form better. However, she was not alone. Beside her stood the companion of the person she had brought into a blissful sleep. Riku. His eyes were covered with a black ribbon, hiding whatever it was he didn't want to be seen. She had long ago learned to not question other peoples' choices or motives and she wouldn't question his either.

"Is something wrong, Naminé?"

The blond girl didn't look at him, but she spoke softly, still watching the approaching figure. "There is someone there" her voice was small and fragile, but her eyes showed determination and wisdom far beyond her years as a Nobody. She narrowed them and dared to start to approach the plaza, when a black-gloved hand grabbed her arm hard, preventing her from going.

She looked at him and then back at the now visible nobody. It was without a doubt the one that belonged to Sora. She could feel his surprised and relieved breath when their search finally was over. It was just a matter of months and then Sora would return to normal – of course he would not remember her, but she wanted him to be happy – there was no question about that.

Despite her inner determination, she knew that she felt a certain connection towards the blond-haired nobody that raised his hand to feel the rain. Her eyes softened slightly, as she felt a certain longing for the boy before her. One of her hands slowly went to her chest, as if touching the spot where her heart should've been. Roxas, Sora's nobody, someone like her.

"Naminé" this time she turned to him. He was taller than her and it was necessary for him to bend down to take a look at her more clearly, even though his eyes were blinded by the black ribbon. "Be careful"

"I am going to get Roxas, you go straight back to the mansion. Don't go and do something stupid, I know what you can do. Don't worry about me, I am going to be fine." Her mouth was slightly parted and her blond hair sneaked down her neck, Riku's hand still holding her arm tightly. For a while she did not speak at all and Riku could without a doubt feel the tension and disappointment. However, before he could say anything else, her mouth curled into a smile, a beautiful one he would've admitted if it weren't for the fact he was unable to see, and her quiet voice spoke softly. "Don't worry – I'll be fine"

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"I'll be fine"

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Naminé stood in the room in the mansion. It was not just any room. It was a room, illuminated in white, as if copying the form from the very castle oblivion, which she had resided in just a few months earlier. Her front was facing the large window that was turned toward the town of twilight. A hand had carefully, with grace, pushed one of the curtains to the side slightly, making her able to see the garden below. A boy with blond hair was examining the mansion with his friends. She remembered their names clearly. Hayner, Pence and Olette. She wished for a short moment that she had been Sora's nobody and been able to have friends like this. However, she wasn't alone in the room, Riku sat behind her on one of the white chairs.

"Riku…" She started slowly, and she could almost feel him, look up in question, wondering what she would say. "I have always wondered what it is like…" his eyes widened slightly as they way she spoke seemed familiar. An old memory appeared in front of him and Naminé gained red fiery hair and shrunk several inches. The room itself turned into a beach, the evening sun slowly disappearing behind the horizon, the voice no longer belonging to the girl with blond hair, but one with red. "…to have a mom and dad?"

As if he had stepped backwards in time, he lowered his wooden sword and looked thoughtful. "A mom and dad?" he looked to the side and narrowed one eye as if he tried to find any word he could use. When finding none he shrugged and once again claimed the features of a carefree person. "Like a mom and dad I guess" he slowly muttered as he prepared to find Sora so he could use him for battle practice. The red-haired girl, also known as Kairi, laughed and looked at the sea. "Oh! Okay!"

Riku closed his eyes and felt the white room return – he hated the color white. It surely didn't fit the darkness he held inside of himself. "I told you, it is Ansem – and what is this matter with parents to you anyway?"

He opened his eyes and saw her stiffen, before she allowed herself to look at Roxas and his friends running outside, admiring his freedom. Her eyebrows bend upwards slightly in deep sadness. "Sorry…" Riku could see how the sun was setting and her back was dark, while her front was engulfed with the light of the sun. "Yesterday, when I was in the lap, I saw one of Sora's memories…" she started.

"It must've been a childhood memory, I tried to fix it and then I saw two persons standing before him. They were all smiling and the male person gave Sora a wooden sword. He called them mom and dad. I guessed that they were his parents" she bent her head forward in sadness, one hand grabbing the hem of her dress tightly. "Because I am a nobody, I do not know how my somebody's parents look like… it makes me feel…sad"

Riku narrowed his eyes in a slight anger, but she continued. "as a nobody I shouldn't even feel these things. I question everything, every move I take. Why do I exist? What is my purpose?" a tiny tear made its way down her cheek. "In Castle Oblivion, it was like I was in darkness. Pitch black. Forced to do something against my will – because…I was alone"

"Every drawing. Every day. I dreamt of not being alone. Is that what a nobody should fear? However, I realized what I was missing. I wanted to know my somebody, I wanted to remember my somebody's life – I wanted to be…someone" the tears now streamed freely down her cheek, yet her voice never managed to crack at any time. She turned her head and Riku glared at her slightly. "heh"

"It is foolish. I am sorry for asking such a stupid question…"

The chair Riku sat on was pushed backwards and he stood up, hidden inside that dark cloak of his, his face unable to be seen. "You ask why you exist? That is something a somebody would ask too. Look at yourself. You're even crying. If you can cry then you must know a heart or posses a heart, because only a heart can feel hurt."

There was a slight sigh from him, before he stood up fully. "I do not see a nobody standing – I see someone standing. You exist for a purpose… as do I…"

Naminé turned around fully, her eyes wide, but the tears had stopped. As he turned around and walked towards the door, he said on thing. "Sora needs you. So get your act together!" her mouth which was slightly opened snapped shut as she watched him exit the room rather angrily, and slammed the door shut.

Riku…

The white room, which she now stood in alone, was not sad or angry. Her mouth slowly curled into a broad smile that illuminated her face in the uttermost happiness.

"I do not see a nobody standing – I see someone standing. You exist for a purpose… as do I…"

The smile widened even more at the memory.

…thank you very much!

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Thank you

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