Chapter 1
Summary: Living in a perfect world isn't always easy. Eventual Sora/Roxas & other pairings
Sora was falling in darkness. There was only enough light to illuminate his body in the void, coming from no apparent source. He'd done this so many times now that there was no shock, only the thrill of weightlessness and what was to come. Below him, a stage colored like stained glass began to glow, gaining form out of nothingness.
The other dancers twirled and flipped into the stage, as other-worldly techno music began to play. He landed in the center with a flip, and then flew back into the air on his bungee cord, spiraling with the beat. Other acrobats appeared beside him in mid-air, and they began to bend their bodies into shapes that would awe the audience.
Sora was alive with the sound of music.
It had taken over six years to do it, but they had finally reached the Door to Light. The battles had been harsh, and the casualties along the way hadn't always left a body count. He and his friends had done it, opened the door from Kingdom Hearts the right way, not forcing it and ruining everything. The voice that made no sound had told him, and finally he'd understood just how wrong everything Xehanort tried to do was.
You are the one who will open the Door.
Don't be afraid.
Your heart is strong.
You must let your heart be the pathway to Light.
Well, actually, he hadn't understood then. Riku and King Mickey had to explain it to him, but he understood now, and Riku didn't have to call him stupid like he did. Cryptic messages from the worlds aren't supposed to be easy to understand. Sora would have preferred simpler ones.
Step One: Point Keyblade at shiny door.
Step Two: Make sure your heart is filled with good emotions, because we're getting ready to shoot a giant laser beam through your chest and you might get it dirty.
Step Three: Unlock door.
Step Four: ?? (Sora didn't remember this part very well. He'd passed out from the laser beam.)
Step Five: Be happy as all of the worlds are re-united and people you care about (and some you killed) are brought back to life. Don't get too confused if you wake up in some place called Duckburg with Roxas in his own body and have to figure out how to call Collect to find your friends. (Also, don't ask if they give out free snacks when that creepy dude asks you to join the Mile High Club on the flight home.)
They'd arrived at Destiny Islands, and everyone had been there. The Riku, Kairi, Naminé, King Mickey, Jiminy, Donald, and Goofy everyone, that is. Lots of other friends, Roxas's friends, weren't there.
Roxas was okay, though. The force that had always been pulling him toward Sora when he'd been in the Organization was gone now. A connection remained, but it wasn't manic, razor-sharp, tearing at numbness. The tie felt human, not like some monster from the darkness. Sora knew Roxas was okay, and he knew Roxas's friends were okay. Somewhere, Axel was okay. He didn't know where exactly, but he was sure his logic was better than Riku's (or even Roxas's), who would point out some gap in his argument.
Roxas is part of me.
Roxas wants Axel to be okay.
That laser beam went through my heart, so everything became like what I wanted it to be, mostly.
Axel is okay somewhere.
Sora wasn't too worried about where, and Roxas trusted him. He was sure they'd find him somehow, or he'd find them. The worlds were merging together really well. Roxas was the only one on their flight who was bothered to find out that Chip and Dale were the pilots. He'd hit Sora over the head with a server's tray and dragged him back to their seats when Chip had offered to let Sora take the controls.
After telling them that they should try to let their lives return to normal, King Mickey took Donald and Goofy and Jiminy in search of Disney Castle. They promised to visit again soon. Everything was going to be okay for the first time since he was 14.
His parents were a little weird. He'd forgotten he had them, and he hadn't stayed long enough the last time to meet them. Naminé had apologized for the memory part. "DiZ had me on a tight schedule. I may have forgotten to put some things back."
She'd told them all not to worry, and she'd gotten Kairi to take her to the library to check out some self-help books. It only took her a few days to straighten everyone and their parents out, and she was happy about her new box of over one-hundred crayons.
"It's simple, really. It's like I'm giving you instant therapy sessions as I put your memories back."
Riku had objected to having his mind tampered with again. Roxas had made it clear that he didn't want Sora's parents to think that he was their other son. Kairi smiled and said, "I know you'll do your best." Sora was grateful that he hadn't had to read any of the self-help books himself. After the first few evil plots to re-arrange your memories, you learn not to stress about having your brain scrambled—especially when it's by a friend.
After a few weeks, they'd all stopped saying things like, "Share your feelings with me," and, "I am here for you in your time of emotional crisis," in response to everything. This was almost, sort-of normalcy, and it was the best they could hope for after all of their weird journeys.
There were three things to do.
The first was to rest. He did that by spending time with Riku, Kairi, Naminé, and Roxas on the beach and on their play island. Roxas learned how to play blitz ball.
The second was to check on their friends. They called airports and eventually found Chip and Dale, who flew them around in one of Scrooge's new jets. Everyone was starting to see the impact of the worlds being together as one world again. Riku said complicated things about relations between different cultures. Roxas found Axel, called him an idiot, hit him with a keyblade, and spent a few hours being happy without reservation for the first time in his new life, which was something he'd never done in his not-life.
The third was to adjust to life on the islands again.
There were problems with starting high school when you're 20. One was that they don't let 20-year-olds enroll. Riku was taking a test so that he could get his diploma and go on to study at an university, because even now he wanted off the islands, but Sora didn't think he could do the same. He'd looked at the practice questions and realized that he didn't remember what algebra was, let alone what to do with the little x's. He didn't think casting spells to create bolts of lightning and whacking things with your keyblade were part of the curriculum.
His dad had suggested he try getting a job while he figured out what he wanted to do. His mom had told to check the internet, when the newspaper hadn't turned up anything. He didn't get far on the computer without Tron's help, until Roxas showed him what he knew from hanging out with Pence.
The website told him he could fill out a survey, and they'd match him with employers.
It matched him with some kind of circus.
Backstage, Sora maneuvered through the crowd, high on endorphins. He chatted with the other performers as he removed his make-up, and he was wiping off his lips when Axel came in, carrying a white cardboard box.
"You're the worst stage-hand ever," Sora said cheerfully. "Aren't you supposed to be working?"
"Is that any way to talk to the man who brought you a jelly doughnut?" Axel opened the box, holding it forward like a courtier presenting a gift to his unattainable love.
If Sora had been a fair maiden, then his maidenhood would have been won. Wearing a look a wide-eyed ecstasy, he reached out, lovingly selected one of the dozen jelly-filled treats, and brought it to his mouth for the first bite. He would thank Axel after he'd eaten the first six.
"Sora, no!"
Something flew through the air, impacting with his doughnut and knocking it out of his hand. Sora dove for it, his mouth forming a silent, "No!" but in an instant, both he and his tasty treat were face-down on the floor. The raspberry jelly had squirted out onto Axel's boot.
Sora raised his head and found himself eye-to-eye with an irate cricket who was standing beside his ruined doughnut.
"You can't ruin your diet. What will the producer say if he walks in and sees you eating that?"
"I was only going to have a taste." He tried to look innocent in the face of Jiminy's displeasure.
"Am I going to have to become your conscience, too?" Jiminy was his agent, and he always had to make sure he got to places on time and followed directions. Sora pushed himself up off the floor and decided he shouldn't bother asking about the five second rule.
Axel had set down the box of doughnuts and grabbed a feathery headdress to wipe off his shoe. He sounded cranky when he said, "I could step on him for you, if you want." He directed an irritated look at Jiminy. "Roxas told me to take care of you while he's off doing his skateboarding gig. It's my duty to protect you from flying bugs."
Jiminy hopped off the floor onto Sora's shoulder and shook his fist at Axel. "I'm looking out for Sora's best interests. He likes this job, and I'm making sure he keeps it."
Sora didn't have to work, exactly. Jiminy had published the journals of their adventures, and he, Donald, and Goofy got some of the royalties. He wasn't rich like Donald's uncle, but the journals were bestsellers. There wasn't much need for a keyblade master while the world was at peace, but everyone liked to know how it happened and to meet the people who did it. Jiminy kept track of Sora's money, arranged book signings, scheduled his appearances, and he still had time to run a talent agency and a charity foundation for the promotion of consciences.
Axel had gotten a job at WPD Circus three months ago, right after Roxas left to go on his professional skateboarding tour. Before that he'd done… things. He never gave anyone a straight answer about that. He might have given Roxas one, but they'd had an argument over something last year, and Roxas didn't like to talk about it. Axel had started spending as much time as he could around Sora since then, and that was probably why he'd applied for the stage-hand job. He'd been annoyed when he found out he'd be helping with Dumbo's act, not working with the acrobats.
"It's okay, Axel. Jiminy's right. I have to be able to fit into these costumes," Sora said, his voice becoming mournful as his eyes rested on the half-opened box.
Axel took a moment to appreciate the form-fitting lycra bodysuit, and he smirked when he saw that Sora was still lusting after his doughnuts. He decided to press his luck. "So, where to now, dance-boy? Tomorrow's your day off. Feel like a night out on the town?"
Jiminy had hopped over to the make-up table, and Sora was in the process of peeling off the bodysuit. Changing clothes while people moved around you was part of the job, and Sora wasn't self-conscious. Everyone here was a professional; they wouldn't be paying attention to him while he was naked.
"I can't. I'm supposed to hang out with Kairi tomorrow, and she told me she'd kill me if I didn't get up before noon."
He finished the contortions that allowed him to quickly remove his costume while standing and started looking around for his underwear.
"Too bad. I could still walk you home."
Sora was now wearing boxers and bent over, scattering clothes from in search of what he wanted. He twisted into an unlikely position to look at Axel while replying.
"Sure. We can't stay up late watching movies or anything, though. Kairi really will kill me."
Axel's expression changed for a split-second, too fast to read, and then he recovered his grin. "Hey, don't assume that just because you don't have big plans for tonight, I haven't got any."
Sora's only reply was, "Right," along with a smile without pretext. He dressed quickly, while Axel examined a costume that could best be described as what you'd get if you mated a cat with a peacock and dipped the baby in glitter, or maybe what you'd get if you mated Marluxia with a water buffalo. Axel couldn't decide.
Sora was ready to go, so Axel moved to pick up the box. Before he could get to it, Jiminy, who had been mumbling into what had to be the world's tiniest cell phone, jumped onto the lid and said sternly, "You can leave here with Sora or with the doughnuts, but one stays."
Axel was ready to flick him off the cricket off and take what was going to be his dinner, but the look on Sora's face suggested that his pastry lust wouldn't cause him to overlook assault on one of his friends, so he settled for saying, "Man, have you ever got a twig up your ass." He put his arm around Sora's shoulders and guided him to the back exit, speaking just loud enough that he knew everyone could hear him. "We've really got to talk about getting you a new agent."
Sora was sitting at the kitchen table in his apartment, picking at a salad with fat free dressing. He'd hoped that Axel would stay for a little while, even though he said he had plans, but he'd run off somewhere as soon as Sora had opened the door. It felt empty with Roxas having been gone for so long. This was the longest they'd been separated since the first time they'd been separated, and Sora had slept through most of that. It had made sense for them to be roommates.
Everyone was busy now, including him, and he'd gotten used to always having someone with him.
He got up, dumped his salad in the garbage, and dropped the bowl and silverware in the sink. He went over to the refrigerator and opened the freezer door. What Jiminy didn't know wouldn't hurt him, so he pulled out the package of sea-salt ice cream, grinning at the picture of Roxas on his skateboard on the outside, and pulled out a bar. He put the package back in the freezer and headed to the living room.
Kicking clothes, magazines, armor, and empty potion bottles out of the way, he made his way to the couch and sat down. He pulled off wrapper and put the ice cream bar in his mouth, tossing the paper aside, and grabbed his laptop from the coffee table, moving it to his lap. A bit of melted ice cream was starting to run past his lips, so he twisted his face as he opened raised the monitor and hit the power button.
A bunch of text that he'd never bothered to understand ran across the screen, and in a few seconds it was all wiped away and replaced with, "Friends OS." That too faded to be replaced with a familiar figure.
"Hello, Sora."
"Hey, Tron." Sora shifted so that he was lying across the couch, the computer positioned in his lap so that he was looking directly at the screen. He slurped on the ice cream, enjoying every forbidden calorie. "How was your day?"
"My day was good. I have processed approximately 789.6 terabytes of data on the 6,482,532 systems that currently run my software." Sora knew that was a little more than yesterday, even thought he didn't know exactly what it meant.
"That's great. I did three shows tonight, and the choreographer complimented my mid-air flips again."
Tron smiled more brightly. "Do you want me to check your e-mail?" he asked, pointing to an envelope-shaped icon that appeared beside him.
"Let's do it," Sora replied, hopeful.
Text scrolled by behind Tron quickly, and he was done an instant after he started. "You have 841 New Messages. I've run the usual filters and taken appropriate action. 54 have been identified as unwanted advertisements, and their subdomains have been blocked. I don't think you'll be needing any 100 fairy magic penis enhancements."
That elicited a chuckle from Sora, who was almost finished with his sea-salt ice cream. It had been cures for erectile dysfunction from Mount Olympus yesterday.
"78 are appearance or publicity requests, and they have been forwarded to Jiminy. 706 are from fans who have found your personal e-mail address. I've run a more detailed analysis to categorize them. 592 of them have been sent the appropriate standard response, with appropriate modifications made. One has been forwarded to the police as a formality."
"Tron…" This wasn't the first e-mail like that, and Sora didn't like sending them to someone else to deal with. He could take care of himself.
"I included the reminder that you aren't requesting an investigation, but they need to have these on record. I've had them analyzed by psychological profiling software, and the results are disturbing. A crazed fan needs to be arrested, not taken down with a keyblade."
Sora could have argued with that, but he wouldn't get anywhere. He hadn't found a way to alter Tron's programming so that he wouldn't get so hung up on logic. He'd figure it out eventually, but for now he had to move on. He wasn't irritated when he asked, "What else is there?"
"113 meet your criteria for a personal reply; I've saved those for later. Most importantly, you have three new personal e-mails in your personal e-mail account." That last was said with a touch of humor that Sora appreciated.
"Who are they from?"
"Kairi, Leon, and Riku."
Sora was disappointed for a moment, because he'd been hoping for an e-mail from one of his friends outside of Radiant Garden. He liked it best when they e-mailed him first, because then he knew they were thinking about him. He tried to e-mail all of them first too, because if he liked it when they e-mailed him first, then they'd probably like it if he e-mailed them first, and he wanted them to know that he was thinking about them. He was still waiting for a few replies.
He pushed his disappointment away and tossed the ice cream bar stick into the floor. He liked getting e-mail from Kairi and Riku, and Leon never used his e-mail, so getting an e-mail from him was really good. "Let's read Kairi's first. She's going to be reminding me about tomorrow, because she always thinks I'll forget."
Sora,
Don't forget, we're spending the day together tomorrow! No excuses!
There's one party in the morning, but I'll be done by ten. I'll come by your apartment, and you better be awake!
Love,
Kairi
"See, I knew it." She still worried if they were separated for too long. Toward the end, it seemed like she could run harder than he and Riku. She said, "I never want to lose sight of either of you again," so often that Sora thought she believed that if she repeated it enough, she wouldn't. If a few days passed when they didn't see each other, she'd show up somewhere she knew Sora would be just long enough to make sure she hadn't lost him.
She'd moved on with her life, too—in a way. After tying to find volunteer work somewhere, she discovered that the kind of help she wanted to give wasn't the kind anyone needed anymore; the Door to Light had fixed that. She ran into an ex-Nobody Sora supposedly defeated (Axel said so, and so did Naminé), and they teamed up somehow, and then an ex-Nobody Sora did remember got involved, and they had the most popular fast food restaurant in Radiant Garden. That was saying something, since Radiant Garden was the largest city anywhere now.
She was the princess at Princess Burgers, and she did children's birthday parties. She party games and decorated cakes, and when she put on her fake tiara, it really felt like she was some special kind of royalty, even if it was plastic.
He typed a reply.
Kairi I didn't forget :P
-Sora
"Should I send it?" Tron asked. He'd learned not to try to run a grammar check, because Sora always changed it back.
"It's ready. I'll see her tomorrow, so she won't mind if it's short."
"Confirmed. Message is sent."
Leon's message opened next.
There's a party at Merlin's two weeks from today. You should come. 9 p.m.
That reply was simple.
I wouldn't miss it.
You should e-mail more often.
-Sora
That was sent, and then it was Riku's e-mail.
Sora,
You loser. I don't say I win our arguments because I use bigger words than you do. I win them because I'm right.
If you're going to whine about being bored, then you should do something other than dance in the circus and watch Roxas's skateboarding competitions on tv. Try paying attention to the news. These stories are actually interesting.
Without lots of syllables this time,
Riku
He'd included some links at the bottom of the message.
"Do you want me to open the articles?" Tron asked.
"What are they about?" Sora made a face. Riku was studying philosophy, and he always tried to make Sora read things that might be interesting if you translated them into a language other than Saying Things So That People Know I've Read The Dictionary Backward Three Times.
"The first two are editorials on consumerism and monoculturalism in a post-unification society. They take a critical position on the pan-governmental movement and express skepticism in regard to their recent regional identity preservation mandate."
Sora paused for several seconds to consider this. He then said, with great profundity, "What?"
Tron chuckled and asked, "Do you really want me to explain it?"
Realizing that he'd be better off knowing as little as possible so that Riku couldn't try to discuss it with him, he let it pass. "What are the other articles about?"
"Most of them are short, detailing minor crimes. The last one, however, is about several kidnappings that have occurred within the past month. No ransom demands have been made, but the police have issued a statement saying that they have reason to believe that the victims are alive and being treated reasonably well. It also says that they believe they have the situation under control and will locate the kidnapper and his hostages any day now."
Evil wasn't supposed to happen anymore, and kidnapping lots of people sounded a lot like evil. Sora started to tell Tron to open the kidnapping article, but he stopped himself and began writing a reply instead.
Riku
Don't send me articles about bad things happening if you only want to talk about them but not DO anything. You and King Mickey gave me enough lectures about keyblade bearers not getting involved in stuff that doesn't involve the safety of the worlds. I got too many bruises when you all chased me down because I started trying to find a purse-snatcher. I don't want to hear "It's not for you to meddle in Sora" right after you tell me how important it is.
You do too try to win by using words that are so long that anyone who isn't majoring in BORING will fall asleep before you can pronounce them all.
Are we still on for the blitz ball game?
-Sora
He didn't like it when he had to think about things he didn't like but which were still right. The keyblade really does bring a lot of chaos with it, or maybe it always picks people who bring chaos with them. Either way, he'd learned that he could do more harm than good the hard way. Keyblade bearers only get involved when any chaos they cause can't possibly be worse than what's already going on.
"He uses MicroSark," Tron commiserated. Sora didn't understand a lot about computers, but he understood what Sark's operating system was like. It was more popular than Friends OS, and Tron sometimes complained about it. Sora knew the comment meant, "He means well, even if he is a complete doofus."
"Send it. Let's go to the others."
The others were the e-mails from "fans" that he wanted to answer himself, with a real answer. They were the ones from kids who wanted to be heroes or from people who had lost loved ones to the Heartless.
When they'd first started coming in, as real letters, he'd answered them out of guilt and filled his replies with apologies. He'd been so exhausted when they finally got to the Door, because healing spells and potions can take care of your body but not your mind, that he hadn't been able to remember everything that he needed to feel. It had been his one chance to set it all right, given to him by the worlds the one time they could do it, and he hadn't remembered the innocent victims. The members of the Organization were back, made into real people, and so many others—but none of them had been the helpless ones. They were the ones influenced by the Heartless, mostly the ones that Sora and his friends had defeated. Riku thought that maybe the worlds couldn't do anything for the victims because they weren't part of it, just "collateral damage."
The apologies were selfish. He'd stopped them after a few months. They needed to say something to the person they thought was their hero, and he owed it to them to try to act like the person they thought he was. Guilt got in the way of things he needed to do, so he got rid of it.
The kids were important because there was no guarantee that something else wouldn't happen in the future, and he could maybe tell things he wished he'd known to some of the ones who would end up dealing with it. Writing to them made him happy. He could still make a difference because they would make a difference.
Sometimes it took a week or two for one of these e-mails to get a reply, because he got so many of them. A lot of them kept writing back for a while. The computer screen said he had 582 that he hadn't read. He'd try to get a hundred or so done tonight.
Sora awoke to the banging and yelling, too dazed to determine the source. He was on his couch, covered in sea salt ice cream bar wrappers. He'd set the laptop back on the table at some point. He hadn't set his alarm clock, because his alarm clock was in his bedroom.
He looked at the digital clock above the tv, saw that it read 2:34 PM, and immediately entered his, "Oh shit I am late and something bad is going to happen," mode. He launched himself from the sofa, jostling the table as he stood, and finally processed the noise that was being made. It was Kairi at his door.
"SORA, OPEN UP RIGHT NOW! CAN YOU HEAR ME? ALL OF YOUR NEIGHBORS CAN BECAUSE THEY'RE STANDING OUT IN THE HALL LOOKING AT ME, AND I FORGOT MY PURSE, SO I DON'T HAVE MY KEY, AND HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY SLEEP THIS LATE? YOU'VE GOT TO OPEN UP NOW!"
Her monologue was accompanied by lots of banging that would probably break down his door soon. He tried to run to the door as he pulled a wrapper off his face, but he nearly tripped over household debris after a few steps. Only his acrobatic balance saved him, allowing him to turn his near-fall into a teetering mad dash for the entrance. Behind him, Tron was saying, "Sorry, Sora. I idled."
He slammed into the door and grasped for the deadbolt, releasing it, and then twisted at the lock on the knob. He started to yell out an apology as he slung open the door, but Kairi didn't notice in time to avoid slamming a surprisingly sturdy toy scepter into his chest with more force than someone her size should have been able to produce. It knocked him back into the apartment, as he let out something between a squawk and an unmanly howl. He landed on his ass, and it felt like she'd cracked a few of his ribs.
He looked up at her through his grimace; she was standing in the doorway, apparently frozen in shock from actually getting in. She was wearing her full princess ensemble, tacky dress and all. Quite a few strands of hair had come loose from where she'd pulled it back under the plastic tiara, and her make-up was smudged. He didn't want to focus on the psychotic look in her eyes, and frazzled didn't even come close to describing her overall appearance. She looked like the Queen of Hearts when she was angry, only more attractive and a lot scarier.
It only took her a second to recover, and Sora had to stop himself from reflexively casting a barrier spell for protection. She was through the entrance and had kicked the door shut in an instant, possibly to prevent his neighbors from witnessing the imminent homicide. Then she was on top of him, smacking his chest, which really hurt, and it sounded like she was almost ready to cry.
He didn't think being late for their day to hang out merited all of this.
She pulled back and cast a healing spell on him before he could do anything other than spit out random words that might have been part of an apology if you re-arranged them and removed all of the sounds of pain.
"You had me worried! I was only a few minutes away from blasting down your door." Her voice was reproachful, and she was just barely sniffling.
Sora cringed, remembering the last time she'd used her magic to blast open a pathway and how big the hole had been. He didn't think his renter's deposit would have covered that. He needed to start apologizing before she decided to stop healing him and blast him apart instead.
"Gee Kairi I really didn't mean to be late. See I was working on these… I got distracted… and those e-mails, you know, and I was late and I'm really really sorry and I didn't mean to make you cry or mess up your hair and…" He said all of that in one breath, too fast for anyone who didn't know him to understand.
"No, no, no, stupid," she said, smacking him on the side of the head lightly this time. She paused for a moment and bit her lower lip. Everything about her was screaming really upset, the kind of upset that only happens when the world's getting ready to end, and he'd just woken up and been assaulted and couldn't understand all of this.
"What's going on?"
"It's Demyx and Marluxia. They're missing."
He didn't like Kairi's co-worker or her boss very much, but apparently she liked them a lot more than he realized, to be this upset. "Did they not show up for work or something? Maybe they just overslept." He tried to put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her, but she pushed them away and looked directly at his eyes.
"You don't understand. Marluxia and Demyx were both attacked in their apartments. They're both a mess; you can tell there was a fight. Marluxia is strong, and they're saying that the only one who could have subdued him before anyone realized what was going on is you. The police think you're their prime suspect for all of the recent kidnappings. I came here to warn you."
Sora's face took on a vacant expression as he tried to process more bad news than anyone should have to deal with five minutes after waking up.
He hated it when he overslept.