Thinking of You
Wherever You Are...
"Sora, dinner's ready! Come on down!"
Those were the last words she'd spoken to her son the night of the storm, and that was the last time she'd seen Sora since then. "Sora…?" She felt as disoriented as she looked—hands in the soapy dishwater while her aged blue eyes stared vaguely out the kitchen window towards the direction of the public school Sora used to attend.
Not minding the bubbles in her frightened state, she reached up and touched the side of her head, and she uncaringly felt the suds soaking her grayish-brown hair. "Sora," she murmured again. "I have a son... named Sora…?" She nodded to herself, turning around to lean her back against the sink while she gripped the counter.
She scanned over the brown room, noticing Sora's measurement marks on the beige frame. They'd been there since he was two… and she'd stopped measuring him at age eleven. She couldn't remember what day it was, but the time of day on the black, analog mouse clock resting against the wall read 2:30.
In a terrified whisper, she said, "I've forgotten my own son…?" For how long? she thought. For how long...?!
"What kind of mother am I…?!" she whispered to herself.
She felt as if she'd forgotten her own existence by forgetting Sora's.
How... how is it possible?
"S-Sora," she called in a hoarse, frightened voice. She had to see him. She felt as if her memory had been gone for years, and she was visibly shaking in discomfort. As she cleared her throat, she pulled her pink apron off her yellow sundress and hurried out of the kitchen. "Sora!" The name was left to echo off the wooden hallway, along with the sound of her blue house slippers that shakily carried her over the red runner, towards the stairs.
She was in a motherly state of panic, wanting nothing more than to know the whereabouts of her child, and why'd she'd suddenly forgotten him in the first place. It didn't seem justified. "Sora, honey!" she shouted as she climbed the stairs.
No reply.
Not a sound, just like that night…
What happened that night?! she asked herself, tripping halfway on a loose board. She caught herself before she could face-plant against the treader by extending her arms, and she peered up at the second floor in ragged breaths."Sora!" she called again, pushing herself up. Why don't I remember that night?!
With frantic steps, she finally reached the top and hurried down the hall to Sora's room on the right. The brown door was closed, and after twisting the knob, she pushed it open with great force, nearly falling inside. "Sora, I—!"
Her shoulders sank, just like her newly broken heart.
The room was empty.
She covered her mouth to hold in her small, shocked whimper, and she took a deep breath.
I can't panic like this, she thought. Sora's alright. He has to be… She sank to her knees as she took in the amount of dust that had collected in the room—on the bed, on his nightstand, on his clothes that were still scattered on the floor—the same clothes she'd told him to throw in the hamper that night before she called him for dinner.
The room had been uninhabited for at least a year or so… Even his pictures were hard to distinguish with the amount of dust on them.
I haven't been in here since that day, she thought, hugging herself. What kind of mother am I?!
How long ago was that night...?!
Thinking quickly, she gazed at the white calendar hanging on the left wall of her son's room before running to her own room across the hall.
Her brown walls weren't what she expected, though. The room was well polished, and her blue sheets were carefully made on her queen-sized bed. However, ever picture she owned of Sora was gone, including the picture of her late husband, who died when Sora was only three. She ignored this in favor of snatching her calendar off the wall and hurrying back to Sora's room.
"July fifteenth," she murmured to herself as she read over the date on her calendar, taking careful strides towards the wall. "Two-thousand, sixteen…" Blue eyes darted up towards Sora's calendar, and she used her right hand to brush off the header to see the year…
Her vision became clouded by the fresh tears forming in her eyes. "Two-thousand, fourteen… almost two years…?" She dropped her calendar, feeling droplets streaming down her face. "Two years?!" It didn't seem true.
She wasn't going to accept it.
She was a good mother; really, she was.
Amidst her crying, her shoulders trembled as she stepped away from the wall and peered over at Sora's empty bed. She didn't know which was worse: not knowing where Sora was and if he was alive or dead, or knowing that in the past two years, she'd forgotten his existence completely.
"No one in town told me…?" She gasped as she sprinted to her room and grabbed the white phone on her dresser. "I can call the police…!"
All too quickly, she paused.
And tell them what? That you haven't been able to remember your own child in the two years that he's been missing?
She'd end up in prison, and she'd never know what happened to her son. She'd never see Sora again, and that was all she cared about.
"I'll find you," she told herself. She'd do everything in her power to do so… just to see those blue eyes light up as much as his smile upon greeting her—just to hear his voice once more—to know the truth...
As she lowered the phone, she sighed and wiped some water from her cheeks. The attempt was in vain, because more began to trickle. "But where could you be, Sora…?" With a vague expression, she glanced across the hall, over to Sora's room. The window was open, and slightly broken on the metal hinges…
Maybe he ran away, she thought. Maybe he hated me so much he ran away… She shook her head. "No," she whispered defiantly. "Sora's a sweetheart. He'd never do something that drastic on purpose." She touched her chin. "Maybe… maybe he was trying to help someone." Sora lived to help others; it was a trait he'd gotten from his father, after all.
Her eyes drifted to the island, the same island Sora used to visit with Riku and Kairi… "I should check the island first," she said, nodding to herself. "And then I'll visit Riku and Kairi's house if he isn't there." Wherever Riku and Kairi were, Sora was there, too.
With more confidence, she quickly wiped at her eyes and smiled. "Sora, don't worry. I'll see you again soon."
There was no greater love than a mother's love.
...
A/N: Amidst my inability to update, and after thinking of a childhood friend that I hadn't spoken to in well over ten years until today, I wrote another what-if fanfic. I originally wanted to write two more chapters so Sora's mother could have an ending, but I've got other stuff to finish so it'll just be this one. If someone already wrote an ending for Sora and his mother I'd love to read it. I don't understand why Square Enix hadn't addressed that little issue. It's bugged me since KH 2 came out.
You're welcome to leave a review if you have time. I don't mind, and thanks for reading this. :)