A/N: Sorry for the small gap in between updates! But I did say that I would go off of reviews, and I've also got band camp now to juggle on top of it :P
I'll edit this sometime tomorrow hopefully— band camp has been prominent in my life, so I apologize for any typos, I barely got this chapter out to begin with :P
By the way, do not misunderstand me; I love the Bachelor. And the Bachelorette— I'm watching them right now actually. So don't think anything else ;)
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Sora's breathing pattern came in the form of an uneven in-and-out gasp. His eyes were bright and raw with pain, and his forehead was creased over in a harsh show of effort. Every step was painful— he felt like the sidewalk was suddenly comprised of small slivers of glass. His arms were shaking with the effort to hold himself up, and his knees threatened to buckle inward, his legs screaming for him to stop. Despite everything, though, the teenager refused to let himself stop or give up. Instead, he fixed his gaze forward to the other side of the path, which seemed suddenly very far away, and forced himself to keep pacing.
Pacing was a very loose way of speaking, though. It was more like he was hobbling…or using baby hops to get where he needed to go. He couldn't put much pressure on his leg at all before he quickly went to the other; at the most he could only support himself with his bad one for a second or maybe too, if he was being generous. He couldn't take in large, sprinting strides like he used to. He could only shuffle an inch or so forward. He was trying to get from the base of Merlin's house across to the brick wall that was out in front. He had been walking for three minutes now, and he was barely halfway.
"Do you want to maybe take a break?" Kairi was anxious, her hands clasped together in front of her as she watched him with a nervous expression. She shifted her weight from foot to foot every so often, and every time that Sora stumbled or tripped or gave out the smallest whine of pain, she jerked forward, as if she was just barely holding herself back from rushing to his side. Sora was using his keyblade as if it was some kind of crutch, leaning severely on his weapon as he staggered and stumbled. It wasn't made to be a crutch, and that was making itself very clear the longer Sora dragged himself on. "You've been trying for a while…" The longer he went, the more exhausted he grew. Sooner or later he would give out on himself entirely.
Sora was too pinched to reply. But thankfully Axel did it for him. The Nobody was standing on the other side of the door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He was watching Sora just as closely as Kairi seemed to be, yet his voice was cool and collected as he replied: "Aw, he's fine, Kairi. He's almost there, anyway." Kairi was obviously unsure, giving out a small huff through her nose as she glanced from Axel to Sora. Her features were marked with a sense of strong skepticism. However she kept her mouth closed, not trying to object further.
Merlin was bound to realize that they weren't out just pushing Sora around near the house, though. The old wizard was going to decide to check on them sooner or later; or he would happen to glance over to look out the window and catch sight of Sora trying to walk on his own. Then the ball would drop, everyone else was more than sure. But once most everyone had left – the normal party, excluding Axel, of course, had gone to circle the town, Yuffie and Cid had left to shop for groceries, and Aerith had gone to purchase more medical supplies – and it had been impossible to ignore the pained look that had rested over Sora's face.
When Sora had asked – quietly, to make sure that Merlin couldn't hear where he had gone upstairs – if they could go outside, both Kairi and Axel had been unable to turn him down. So that led to them, eventually, ending up here. Sora was trying to get from one end of the sidewalk to the other, and though it was taking quite a long time, it was clear that he wasn't about to stop. The brunet was as stubborn as he ever was, really. It was one of the few character traits that he had managed to at least somewhat retain through all of this. Axel smiled and added on teasingly: "Besides; it'll be funny when he falls."
This earned an irritable huff from where Sora was hobbling. The teenager's blue eyes flashed, and he turned back slightly to glance over his shoulder. "Shut up," he quipped, shaking his head and looking back front. "I'm gonna get this." There was a sense of dull finality to the words, and Axel's small grin fell away. Sora's face was written over darkly with not only pain, but irritation as well. Kairi was well aware of this as well, her face clouding over with sorrow at the sight of her friend struggling to do this one simple action.
Kairi still seemed dubious. But she forced herself to brighten nevertheless, pasting a smile across her lips as she offered Sora an assured nod. "Of course you can! You're doing really great." She glanced over to his wheelchair, which had been left beside her once he had declared that he wanted to try and walk again. It was only a few feet behind him, and she was poised and ready to push it over to him, or try and catch him if he fell. "Maybe you could ask Merlin to help you get some real crutches though. Of course…you could only use one…but it'd probably work much better than your keyblade."
Using any kind of support was awkward and painful. After all, he could only use his left arm to help him walk, which left him much more uncoordinated than he could be. His right one was still splinted across his chest, completely immobile, so he could only hang onto his keyblade with one hand. His knuckles were white with the hard amount of effort he was putting in, and there was a light sheen of sweat across his forehead. He felt ill, but he just moved one foot in front of the other. He probably should have switched out keyblades before starting this— the one he was using at the moment was too thin on its end. Something flatter would probably be much better by this point.
"No, we can't," Sora mumbled out of the corner of his mouth. His voice was tinged ever so slightly with irritation at the thought. "If Merlin had his way, he would bubble wrap me into a ball and keep me fenced into a corner." He stumbled slightly, cringing as his bad leg twitched and went into a spasm of pain. He stopped for a moment and concentrated on breathing, waiting it out as it gradually ebbed away. And when it did, he took in a deep breath, steeling himself and starting to inch forward once again. "No; if I asked for anything like that the first thing he would do explode. Then he'd come back and blame me for it or something."
Kairi winced slightly. "You know he's just worried about you." She kept her tone gentle, not trying to be accusing or harsh.
Sora didn't reply at first, but after a moment he gave out a noise somewhere in between a laugh and a huff of impatience. "Yeah." His voice was somewhat flat. Though Kairi's face flickered over into a frown, she tried not to overthink the tart sort of reply. "No; believe me, I am well aware of that fact." Kairi blinked and turned back to glance at Axel. The Nobody turned, and when he locked eyes with her, he gave a slow shake of the head. It was as good of a silencer as any as the redhead picked up the silent message. So instead of prying further she gave a small nod and looked down at the ground, glancing up apprehensively every so often to look at Sora with a heavy gaze.
It was clear that the keybearer was started to grow tired, in many more ways than one. Kairi could tell that the longer he stayed inside of Merlin's house, the tenser he got. And, though she felt guilty that some of it was her fault, Kairi knew that all of this extra attention on him was getting under his skin. He didn't sleep well; it was easy to tell by the bags that were underneath his eyes. And he was still just skin and bones. He always refused to eat; whenever Merlin forced to him to try and get something down, it always came out in a choked manner, as if it physically harmed him to put anything in his stomach. He'd refused breakfast again today.
She knew that it just made things worse, but she was really beginning to worry about him.
He was so different…and it was all because of…
The girl stiffened, jerking as she realized that her eyes were stinging. Excess water had rushed forward to burn and prick her, and she quickly went to attention. The girl reached up and scrubbed at her face quickly, feeling the tips of her ears burn red. From where he stood, Axel had caught wind of the girl's sudden change in mood, and he turned just in time to see the young girl wiping her eyes on the back of her hand, her lips pulled back into a taut expression as she grimaced. The Nobody's own eyes flashed. He looked over to where Sora was, but the boy had his back to them; he was too busy trying to keep himself from collapsing to glance over his shoulder.
Axel cleared his throat and pushed himself off the wall. He edged over to the girl, and in a low voice he started to mumble: "Kairi, you…" He sounded solemn, as if he was about to say something of great importance. However, before he could get too far, the man suddenly trailed off. At first Kairi thought that it was something she had done, and she turned, tilting her head to the side. When Axel didn't make a move to try and pick up his speech, only turning and starting to step off to the side, the girl's puzzled expression was replaced by a much more concerned one.
"Axel?" she asked, her voice hesitant.
From where he was, much nearer to the wall now, Sora seemed to pick up on Kairi's concern. He blinked, turning as his expression sharpened into befuddlement. His blue eyes fell onto the two behind him, the boy tensing slightly as he saw the look on Axel's face as the Nobody was looking towards the Bailey. Kairi was looking from Sora to Axel, slowly growing alarmed. Taking up after Kairi, Sora wobbled in the effort of balancing himself. "Axel?" The man didn't reply at first, and Sora's heart began to pick up slightly. It didn't take much to unnerve anymore, and this was certainly starting to do the trick. "Axel, what are you doing? Stop it."
"Do you hear that?" Axel asked, not reacting in the slightest when Kairi turned and threw him a harsh glare. It was clear that he was making Sora nervous. She started forward, opening her mouth and preparing to admonish him audibly since he was still looking up rather than at her. But before she could get a single syllable out from her mouth, she suddenly straightened, jerking oddly as if she had been slapped. She turned and followed the man's gaze, suddenly becoming aware of what had caught Axel's attention in the first place: footsteps. Coming this way.
From the gates near the entrance to the Bailey, Kairi stiffened as Riku suddenly burst into view. The teenager was sprinting— even in the smallest gap of time that Kairi caught sight of him, she could already tell that tension and even a certain degree of panic was prominent in his movements. And as soon as Riku's eyes flashed over the group that was standing in front of Merlin's house, they immediately flew open wide and round in a sense of rigid fright.
But the initial sense of worry was only escalated as he skidded to an uneven stop, Riku jerking backwards as he caught sight of Sora. "Sora!? What are you—!?" He didn't have time to finish, though his voice was enough to get the message across. The other members of the typical search party had apparently lagged behind, and now they scrambled out behind the leader. Donald's feathers were fluffed up every which way, and Goofy was rushing so much that he nearly tripped over himself.
Kairi was fully on-edge now, the girl already skidding backwards. Riku jarred himself over out whatever mental reverie he had fallen into upon seeing the small group and snapped back into motion. He turned and jumped off of the ledge, hitting the ground with a hard thud. Axel started to say something, but before he could, Riku straightened, alarm flaring over his features. "Look out!" Kairi jumped at the shout, her first thought immediately being for Sora. As soon as she turned however, the girl finally understood what had started this new spark of fear.
A shadow pooled itself off to the side, a Heartless clawing its way out of the ground and across the pavement. Kairi let out a yelp of shock, watching as more and more pools of black began to spring up into view. Heartless were beginning to swarm, slowly sparking to attention as their beady eyes drilled over towards the weapon that Sora was currently substituting as a crutch. The boy jerked, stumbling as his eyes immediately flew wide. One of the heartless flew at him, and clumsily, the teenager used his only arm to swing his keyblade weakly at the being, stumbling and letting out a harsh screech as he was forced to hold himself up instead.
"Sora!" Riku's voice was an octave higher than it normally was. By now the party was each following Riku's lead and storming down. Kairi tensed and dashed for Sora as soon as he collapsed. The boy let out a yelp on his collision with the ground, and though he recovered quickly to turn onto his back, Kairi was acutely aware of the fact that his eyes were raw and bitten with agony. He flailed with his less-dominant arm, landing a blow on one advancing Heartless. But to everyone's shock and alarm, there was suddenly a small horde building itself to surround them.
Axel hissed, his arms sweeping forward to conjure up a wave of fire to incinerate the enemies nearest to Sora. The boy grimaced, flinching away from the heat that washed over him in effect. Kairi skidded to a stop and stooped down, reaching out and grabbing Sora's good arm and starting to loop it over her neck to try and get him up. Wincing under the weight, the girl tensed, a sharp squeak coming out from her as she realized that from around the corner even more Heartless were clawing their way across the stone.
Axel pushed another wave of fire through the wall, but only more seemed to come to replace them. "There are too many!" Kairi gasped, absolutely reeling. A wave of relief swamped her as Riku and the others barged forward to stand protectively in between them and the enemies. As the stance was taken up, Axel dropped his arms back down to his sides, doubling back instead to hunch over Sora and take him from Kairi. It was much easier for the taller man to handle the teenager, yet Kairi's touch still lingered worriedly on the boy as he was taken.
Surprisingly, Sora had a hesitance of his own. The boy had been sidetracked before— he was almost transfixed as he had taken to staring almost blankly at the Heartless clambering his way. But as Axel took him from Kairi's grasp, the boy snapped back to attention, alarm and almost a hint of anger flickering over his features. "Stop! What are you doing!? You've got to get rid of those before they spread through the town!" Axel didn't listen in the slightest, ignoring the boy rudely as he only continued to haul the child towards Merlin's house again. He tried to struggle, but there wasn't much room for him to do anything of the sort in his condition. "Axel! Axel, stop! I can—"
Riku whirled around, Donald dashing in to swipe aside a Heartless before it could land a blow on him. "Axel, get Sora inside! Now!" Sora's face creased over in a sense of not only fury but a touch of shame as well. But before he could get anything out – he didn't even know if he would be able to in the first place – Axel was already snapping into motion again. The Heartless had come from seemingly nowhere, yet as it was, the source of the enemies were not the focus at hand at the moment. The numbers were growing rapidly; they just needed to staunch the sudden flow.
That and they needed to protect Sora.
Kairi rushed over to the magician's cottage and opened the door. The others inside were already more than alerted by this point. Yuffie was already at the door, her arm outstretched as if she had been reaching for the knob right at the moment Kairi beat her to it. Her hands were clenched tightly around her throwing stars, her eyes sharp and blazing with concern. Axel had resorted to having his own weapons vanishing so that he could pick Sora up almost bridal-style. It was faster this way, and he could ensure the boy's safety quicker as he broke into a sprint instead.
Yuffie stepped back quickly, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head completely with the sight of how many Heartless were now converging into a square that, shortly before, had been empty. Axel rushed through the gap that was left by her, and Kairi immediately shot in behind. Yuffie turned, her eyes trained on the three as they rushed inside. "What's happening!? What's going on!?" She glanced over her shoulder, looking something barely short of terrified. "Where did all of these come from!?"
"I don't know!" Kairi yelped, her hands shaking slightly as she shifted her weight from foot to foot. Though really, her attention was more focused on Sora rather than the hulk of Heartless on the other side of the door. "We were just outside and— and they just appeared out of nowhere! You've got to go out and help them!" Yuffie hesitated for a moment, looking over at Sora with a sense of apprehension. Axel stooped down and let go of him, the boy furious in every single possible light. But at the same time he could not disguise the wave of pain that was still pulsing through him from his fall. When Yuffie did not budge for a second, Kairi just repeated the order. "Go out and help them!"
She jerked, shaking her head to clear it. "Right, right!" She turned, beckoning Merlin with one of her arms. The wizard was reluctant— it was obvious that he was more partial to remaining with Sora in case the teenager needed him.
Aerith came out from the corner, her green eyes holding a sense of gravity to them. "I've got him."
He nodded, relived. The sounds of fighting outside were slowly winning him over regardless, and with another glance at the boy, he turned and rushed outside with Yuffie. The pair dashed into the fray, and once Sora was situated – more or less that he was just positioned so he wouldn't keel over – Axel drew back slightly, his forehead creased. He looked from the boy to the door, his hands working at his sides as if he was nervous. Kairi weaved around the taller man and stooped low to the floor, crouching beside Sora and reaching out to touch his shoulder gently and help him remain upright. "I'll stay with him, Axel, you go and help them!"
"But—" Axel hesitated. His eyes were weighted down as he looked down at the brunet. Sora had looked away, one eye closed in pain as his good arm wrapped around his stomach. It was like he was holding himself together. Sora glanced over and caught the man's stare drilling down into him. But, in contrast to what his normal reaction would be, he only soured, scowling as he turned away with a scowl. The sounds of fighting and yelling were only growing outside. How many Heartless were there? Where had they come from? Why now? Before this very moment it was akin to a ghost town out there and now suddenly it was absolutely crawling with the things.
Eventually Axel ducked his head down into a nod. "You've got him?" Aerith went to Sora's other side, and replied with an assured look. Sora refused to look back up at the redhead, and after a second Axel relented. He turned on his heel and ran out the door, this time making sure that the door was closed shut behind him. This muted some of the noise that had been coming through the doorway previously; but the trio that had been left abandoned inside of the home remained just as on-edge and just as tense.
Kairi's eyes were clouded as her gaze lingered on the door. After a moment she tore away and turned instead to hover anxiously over Sora. His posture was slowly drooping lower and lower— his arm was still wrapped over his stomach and his face was dulling over in pain and irritation. She shifted, a frown weighing her features down as she leaned a little bit closer, making sure that he wouldn't fall over. "Sora? Sora are you okay?" She turned and looked anxiously Aerith's way. "He fell earlier, he was trying to walk and one of the Heartless tried to—"
"I'm fine, Kairi, it's fine," Sora mumbled, grimacing. "Don't worry about it."
"Don't say that if it isn't true!" she snapped. "Aerith, could you get him some more pain medication?"
Aerith stood quickly; she seemed obviously crossed over the idea of Sora walking on his own, yet if she truly did harbor such a repulsion, she did not say it aloud. Instead she got up and went for the medicine, mentally tracking down what kind would be the most helpful. They certainly had enough to choose from. Kairi folded her legs underneath herself, propping herself up a bit more as she looked over Sora. "Are you okay? Did you hit anything bad? Your leg, or your arm, or…?"
Sora didn't look up at her. His eyes were trained on the ground, flickering over every so often to his bad leg, which was left to splay out awkwardly. The way it always did now whenever he sat down. It was the only way that he could sit that wouldn't force excess pain to life. He didn't reply at first, and when he replied, his voice was low and heavy with sadness. "I should be out there." Kairi blinked, starting to open her mouth to reply. But her mind blanked on what she was supposed to say. It wasn't too hard to realize that anything she could say would not suffice.
Sora closed his eyes and winced. He shook his head a little weakly. Silence congested itself in between them, and though Kairi wanted nothing more than for Sora to look up so that she could offer him a small smile, but he kept his head down low at first. Aerith was busy rifling through the shelves to pay attention to what they were doing— that, or she was just making sure that they had a gap for conversation. Kairi glanced down at the ground, reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. The sounds of fighting from outside were still going on. Suddenly they seemed too loud.
"It's not…you shouldn't…" She grimaced. "You're hurt, Sora. You're hurt and you just need some time to get better, you know? We know that you could fight off any one of those Heartless— you just can't right now, you know?" She looked back up at him anxiously, her blue eyes almost desperate now. It was almost like she was silently pleading with him to look up at her. "It takes patience and time. I know it's hard but…it'll just get harder if you don't take the time to rest."
Silence again. The sounds of battle were still achingly prominent.
Sora finally took the time to look up at her. Kairi brightened significantly at the change, feeling a touch of relief as well. But it quickly dissipated when she saw just how despondent her friend seemed to be. How hollow his eyes seemed to be and how different he looked from the bubbly boy she used to spend hours on the beach with. Quietly, he asked: "What good am I now?"
She stuttered— too surprised and shocked to answer. And before she could, Aerith had come back, holding a pill bottle in her hand that she had apparently deemed the most worthy of use. She knelt down and with a cheery line of conversation, began to talk to Sora, trying to distract him as she opened the top and spilled out a couple capsules. Sora's gaze lingered with Kairi's own before he turned and looked over at Aerith instead. Kairi saw that he offered the girl a smile— one that didn't reach his eyes. Aerith didn't notice; she seemed more than pleased with Sora's reaction, only delving further into conversation. Sora actually joined in, however half-heartedly.
Kairi wasn't tracking the exchange though; every spoken word went right over her head. She drew away from Sora as if his mere touch burned her. Her eyes went round with her friend's question and the implication it brought with it. She opened her mouth and tried to speak— to just scream at him and knock him upside the head to get that thought out of his mind. But she didn't. She bit down on her lower lip, unsure as she looked down at her hands instead, which rested limply in her lap. She didn't say anything more— she would wait when Aerith wasn't there. When they could be alone.
But the question still rang in her ears.
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The others only filed back into the house once they were entirely finished, once they had gotten rid of the wave of Heartless, and once they had ensured that the town was clear. Their faces were drawn with not only exhaustion from the fight, but also concern and worry. Sora had transitioned over to the bed with help from Aerith and Kairi; he was now positioned so that his back was to the wall, propping himself up so that he wouldn't have to exert energy to keep upright.
Kairi was sitting beside him, her legs tucked underneath her neatly. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap, and she immediately snapped to attention as the door opened and the others came back in. It wasn't like there was much else to go off of— after Aerith had administered him another dosage of medicine, and after his façade of interest in regards to her conversation had ebbed off, silence had hung itself out thickly in between the trio.
Riku was first to come back in, and Sora was very well aware of the fact that immediately his eyes drilled over to him. He ducked away before he could meet the other's eyes— he had no idea what the other's reaction was in response. No sooner had he done that did Kairi speak up, catching Riku's attention and fishing it over to her instead. "What happened?" Her eyes flickered over the bedraggled group. Axel's hands were on his hips, and his eyes glittered with tiredness. Merlin was stopped over slightly, yet as always, the magician's focus flickered directly to Sora. Again, he tried not to notice this. "Where did all those Heartless come from? I thought we finished Maleficent off— who sent them?"
"We don't know whether or not anyone sent them," Axel sighed in a gusty manner. "Those things are annoying; they might just have sprung up out of nowhere and dashed in, you know?"
"All at once like that?" Kairi asked, sounding dubious. "Are you sure? It doesn't really sound right…"
"Well do you know who could have sent them then?" he asked.
Kairi snapped her jaw closed once more and blinked, a small frown crossing her features as she drew back a little bit. Sora glanced at her but he didn't speak up.
Merlin cleared his throat and all eyes in the room went over to him. The older man seemed resolute, and his voice was even more so when he spoke. "We're worrying ourselves over the 'who' when something like that should not be at the forefront of our minds. We should be thinking instead about the 'what' more, in my opinion. Whoever sent the creatures can be handled with at a later date. Right now we need to realize that the Heartless seemed to come out from nowhere, and they came in a great mass of quantity. They could very well do that again, and until that problem is handled, then we should be worrying more about the town. And those in danger inside of it." Though he tried to keep himself from doing the very thing, his eyes flickered over to Sora as he said this.
Again. The boy struggled not to notice.
Axel was skeptical. He raised his eyebrows, his hands going up to plant on his hips. "Are you sure? If we just focus on the Heartless then they'll never stop coming. We've got to get to the source of it, right? If we find the source and cut it off then we can stop the problem before it…you know, becomes an actual problem. Right?"
Sora looked from one person to the other, his mouth halfway open as if he was trying to say something. But he couldn't get anything out before someone else picked up the conversation. Frustration bordered on the edge of his expression, but he kept controlled regardless, biting down on his lower lip. Yuffie spoke up from where she stood. "I think we should take it step by step— we can't be too careful. And who knows; maybe this is all that will happen. Like…it's a freak thing or something like that, right? But we should look over the town and handle any Heartless that we come across. Then we can go out and start trying to find a source. If there even is one in the first place, I mean."
Cid coined in his own contribution. "She's right. We shouldn't rush into things. But we shouldn't brush it under the rug, either."
"If there is a source, then it shouldn't be too hard to find," Riku reasoned.
"And the sooner it's found, the better," Donald grumbled.
Goofy looked over at Sora and gave a singular, resolute nod.
The boy started to reply, but before he could, Riku beat him to it. The teenager paced forward, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Then we need to keep up the searches. Increase them, even. And we need to make sure that we've got the numbers to go out and go square with anything that we could meet in the process. We don't want to get caught off-guard anymore, either." He hesitated after a second, blinking as he turned and glanced over at Sora. The boy perked, looking up and tearing his gaze away from the bed's blanket. "And Sora…you probably shouldn't go outside again. Not until we figure out what's going on."
Sora blinked rapidly, caught off-guard. And, against himself, he felt a small swell of anger stir in his chest. Do you know how stuffy it is in here? How awful it is to stay here in this one room all day long? How annoying? You try staying in here for this long just to do it all over again the next day. He swallowed back the complaint thickly, trying not to wince from the effort. Instead he sobered and gave a small nod— the only thing that he could manage at the moment.
Riku blinked. The exchange between them, in contrast to what it would have been before, was awkward and tense. Kairi's eyes flickered in between them with a stroke of concern, yet she did not comment. Neither did anybody else in the room, much to everyone's slight relief. They had just gone through fending off the hoard of Heartless— one confrontation a day was enough. Yet Riku's eyes noticeably flashed with a small amount of hurt as she turned back to the other group. "Then it's decided then? We can start tomorrow— it's getting kind of late."
The group nodded immediately— consent was unanimous. What else could they do?
As soon as the reply was given, Merlin was snapping into motion. He scurried over to where Sora was resting, the teenager immediately holding back a sigh as the magician marched his way. "How are you doing, Sora?" he asked, fretting like some kind of mother hen. "You really shouldn't have been outside— you know what I've told you about trying to do too much too soon. My stars, you think you're invincible don't you?"
Sora leaned back, his neck bending as he touched the back of his head to the wall. "Yeah, Merlin, I know. I'm sorry, I just wanted to—"
Merlin turned and looked at Kairi a tad reproachfully. "I would assume that you would know better, my dear," he added, Kairi deflating a little at the chastisement. "Just because Sora thinks that he could try walking by himself, doesn't mean that he should. He needs his rest, otherwise he's never going to get any better; do you understand? It's pure logic."
"Yeah, I know," Kairi murmured, grimacing a little bit. "I think he just wanted to get a little fresh air into his lungs. You know…he's been awake for just a few days and ever since he has, he's been inside. It isn't all that easy to just sit around, you know…"
"I know there is difficulty in it, but there's even more difficulty in recovering when you do not rest." Merlin turned and looked meaningfully at Sora. "You might not appreciate it now, but your body needs to relax if it is to be expected to get any better. Now— Aerith tells me that you fell outside? Where was it? We need to make sure that you didn't reopen any wounds."
"It wasn't that bad of a—"
"While we're at it, we might as well change your bandages altogether. We haven't yet and we don't want to run the risk of any more infection."
"Could I just—?"
"Kairi, if you could help me quickly…"
Sora closed his eyes tightly, his forehead creasing as he ducked his head slightly. He gave up trying to speak, deciding that regardless of what he tried, it just wouldn't turn out the way that he wanted. Which, if he was thinking about it, shouldn't be that surprising considering his last…well, few months, really. Maybe the worst part was that he was getting used to it.
He swallowed back whatever objections he was harboring and just took to silence. He watched Merlin hunch over and begin to unwrap the gauze on his leg so that he could reset the splint that was stationed there. The boy bit down on his lower lip and just focused instead on trying not to cry out in pain or let out any surplus noises of discomfort. If he let any of them spill, then the fussing would just start all over again.
Sora stifled a sigh and decided that looking away would be better. Especially since the sight of his own wounds might cause the pain to escalate even more. He turned his head away limply, letting it rest against the wall lamely as he adopted the feat of staring off into space— a talent he was perfecting and slowly getting much better at. In the back of his mind he realized that he could feel several stares boring holes though his skin. Once again, that stupid atmosphere of tension and fear returned to hang over them.
For the umpteenth time, he struggled to ignore it.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
"Who do you like, Sora?"
…
"Sora?"
…
"Sora!"
"What!? What? What's— what?"
"I asked you who you liked."
Sora blinked rapidly, his mind scrambling as he wondered what they had been talking about beforehand. No wait— they hadn't been talking; they had been…that show! They had been watching the show before he had accidentally zoned out. He turned back to the screen, slightly alarmed after being jarred out of his mental reverie. He gave a small sigh as he realized that even after he had been staring off for – at the very least – five or ten minutes, nothing had real changed. There was still that one guy and those other thirteen-odd women as he 'struggled to find his future wife.' So, more specifically, there was still a girl on the screen that was crying.
"Oh." Sora's forehead creased. All today he had been having a 'marathon' of The Bachelor with Aerith, as per the girl's offer. Well…offer was putting it lightly. When Sora had woken up, despite how early it was, he and Aerith were the only ones left in the house. Everyone else had already left to either scan the town or battle Heartless. So Aerith had asked whether or not he wanted to watch television with her. He had agreed— what else could he do, really? But now he was starting to wish he hadn't. Three whole episodes and instead of enjoying what he was watching, he was probably just losing brain cells.
But quickly he tried to scrounge up a good enough reply. "I like the blonde girl."
Aerith immediately perked, beaming at the thought of Sora actually having fun watching the series with her. It almost made him feel guilty. "Oh! Do you mean Katy? Or maybe you like Brittney? Or Catherine?" She blinked, frowning slightly as she turned and looked over at the television. "There are a lot of blondes…"
Sora was hunched over on the other side of the couch from where Aerith was perched. He was laying down, a little awkward to alleviate pressure off of him. A blanket had been placed over him and it was now tucked tightly underneath his chin. He had to admit, that with his head cushioned onto a pillow, it wasn't all that uncomfortable. He just had to shift every so often— other than that, he was actually kind of content. And thankfully enough, he actually knew one of the names that Aerith listed. Mainly because he had just started to zone out right when they were introducing Kathy onto the show. "Yeah, Kathy. I like her. She's my favorite."
"Really?" Aerith asked, her head tilting to the side as she looked at the show with a kind of scrutiny. "But on the last episode wasn't she the one that had that nervous breakdown and almost make the entire house of girls leave?"
Silence festered for a moment. Before Sora, struggling to maintain a cool front, narrowed his eyes and said defensively: "I like her attitude."
Aerith paused. Then shrugged. "Fair enough, I guess."
The door behind them opened. Aerith immediately got up from her seat and turned, her hands clasping tightly in front of her as her attention was immediately snatched away from the dramatic reality show. Axel was standing on the other side of the threshold, looking slightly alarmed at first. However he significantly relaxed as his gaze, which had been roving over the room, managed to snag itself on Sora, who was still curled up on the other end of the couch. The brunet blinked, perking a little bit as he twisted back to look as well. His face pinched in pain at the small movement, but he tried not to let it show.
"Axel!" Aerith chirped, a smile, albeit nervous, crossing her face.
The redhead grinned. "I see you two are having the time of your lives over here."
Sora forced himself to push up into a sitting position, ignoring the ways that his sides ripped from the effort. "Axel?" The other immediately turned at his name, already armed with a smile as he looked over at Sora, who was barely peering over the back of the couch. "What's going on— where is everyone?" Usually there was only a certain amount of people that went out. Yuffie and Merlin and the others used to stay, but today it seemed like even they had decided to leave. But…why? Was there was a reason?
Aerith looked worriedly over at Sora but managed to collect herself so that she could turn back to Axel. "Did you find any more Heartless? Or are they all gone?"
There was a pause before he replied. It was a slight one nonetheless, but Sora was all that attuned to noticing the fact. "Uh…yeah, yeah we found some. There was a pretty big cluster down by the gully that were starting their way over here, so it was a good thing that we spotted them when we did. They sent me back up here after a while to scan the rest of the place. But I decided to stop off here instead— if there's anything else around, then they'll find it eventually, right?"
Inwardly, Sora bristled. The meaning was as clear as day; it couldn't be more obvious. I got sent back here to make sure that you two were okay and now I'm going to stay here and watch out for you. He offered the man a smile. "Oh. Okay. That's probably right." But after a second of hesitation, he backtracked and suddenly had a realization. His eyes flickered around the room, and his features were drawn down into a sharp form of concern. "Wait a second!" Axel stepped in at once and shut the door, seeming surprised. "Where's Kairi!?"
Axel seemed confused at first, Sora's chest constricting slightly with panic at the idea. Where could Kairi be if she wasn't with them? And why would she even be with them in the first place? But then Axel seemed to remember himself, his face clearing as Sora let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Kairi's fine— she went out with us early this morning, actually."
Sora's relief ebbed to be replaced by confusion instead. "But how—?"
Axel apparently wasn't listening. His nose scrunched up, his eyes narrowing slightly as he started walking towards the couch. "Oh, yuck. What are you guys watching?" He turned and sat down nearer to Sora, leaning back against the pillows of the couch and looking skeptically at the screen of the television. Right about now the 'bachelor' was in the middle of yet another date. And there was yet another girl crying off to the side. "This stuff is garbage— have you been watching this all day?"
Aerith flared, looking a little offended. "We have some series recorded."
"Series!? As in you've got more than one?" Axel demanded. "Aerith, don't you realize how much pain Sora's in already? Don't make him watch this on top of it." He turned and offered a grin to the boy as he said this. And, Sora, unable to possibly do anything else, immediately smiled in reply. This time it was a genuine one— one that actually reached all the way up to his eyes. Axel's eyes softened and he turned his attention fully away from the TV now. "You okay?" he asked, his voice a tad lower as he asked this.
Sora's smile wavered slightly. He glanced back over to the television. But there still wasn't much to take his mind away from what was happening. "M'fine," he mumbled, barely audible over the soft hum of the reality show. He blinked slowly, a frown pulling his features down. His chest hurt all of a sudden and before he could be dragged down into the pit that he knew he wouldn't be able to crawl out of, he quickly tried to transition. "So…what did you meet out there? What do you think's going to happen?"
Axel stared at him for a few moments, his expression…odd. Awkward, almost. As if he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. Sora blinked, turning and looking at him as his worry spiked. But Axel kept quiet. His green eyes flickered over the brunet as he retained that weird expression. He looked at the boy's right eye, which was still slightly swelled and blackened. He looked at his arm and leg, which were both wrapped tightly with gaze and splinted into place. Underneath the boy's shirt was another wrapping of gauze, which stretched from the top of his waistline all the way up to underneath his arms. And underneath the bandages was a mess of scars and red, irritated skin.
He knew why the injuries were there. He knew who put them there and why and how and when. He knew everything. And he knew that despite all of Sora's efforts to make it seem like the opposite was occurring, his injuries were still an absolute agony to handle. He saw it in the twitch of his eyes or the grimace that marred his face every so often. He could breathe wrong and find himself doubling over in pain. And why was that? What was the reason?
Axel offered him a smile. It was slightly weighted down and sad— he couldn't disguise that part well enough. But he tried to give him some kind of reassurance regardless. Quietly, he shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. It wasn't a good enough reply, and he was perfectly aware of that. But suddenly the thought of talking to Sora squarely, to tell him exactly what was happening out there when he wasn't able to spring to his feet and charge into it, was more heartless than just lying to him. So he lied. "It'll be fine," he assured quickly. "There's nothing to worry about."
Sora blinked slowly, not replying as he just held Axel's stare levelly. There was a small flash in the back of his eyes, and for a heartbeat, Axel wondered whether or not Sora would object to the reply. But after a moment the teenager let it go. He turned and looked away from Axel, sinking back down to lay on the couch as he just reverted back to staring at the screen blankly. Axel felt a twitch of disappointment as Sora turned away. He opened his mouth to try and say something, but he couldn't find anything that would probably suffice.
So he just turned back front too, and tried to forget everything else that was going on. An impossible feat in it of itself.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
Hours passed before the group filed back inside. And even when they did come back in, it was clear that they would not stay for long before going back out. The air was thrumming with nervousness and tension the second the door opened. Aerith, Axel, and Sora were now on episode ten, and the drama was still dragging by with the speed of molasses. As soon as the hinges creaked open and signaled that someone was coming inside, all heads snapped back to see what was happening, Sora's a little bit slower than the others', of course.
Riku stepped in first, followed closely by Kairi. Yuffie and Leon were walking closely together behind Cid and Merlin. Which left Goofy and Donald to bring up the rear together, throwing a few glances over their shoulders as they walked. Riku immediately checked to see that Axel had followed orders and come back to look after the two that they had left behind, and a sense of relief came over him as the sight confirmed it. At the moment, Aerith was still perched on the other side of the couch like she had been. But Sora had shuffled over to lean limply against Axel, finding that the position was better as it didn't leave him feeling stiff and sore. Lying down, oddly enough, just made him more uncomfortable after a while. "Hey," Riku greeted, his voice noticeably warm.
Sora looked back at him but didn't reply audibly.
Riku ducked his head and gave a small cough. When he righted himself and looked up again, he gave a small nod. He turned over to Axel. "Axel, in a few minutes we're going to need you to come with us if you can." It was clear by the way that he looked at the two of them that he was fully aware of the fact that Sora was still leaning on the Nobody. It almost just accentuated the fact that the boy wasn't replying to him. In the back of his mind he wondered dismally if Sora had forgotten all the memories they had shared together in this whole mess. And whether or not he could possibly remember. "There's one trouble spot we need to investigate. But I think that's it for now."
Aerith looked torn between being nervous and being assured. "So…you cleared out even more?"
Goofy gave a jerk of a nod. "Yup!"
She looked slightly deflated. "So there were even more, then?"
Donald stomped a heavy foot down on the ground. "And we still haven't found out where they're comin' from!"
Silence followed the admission, but Merlin was quick not to let it stretch on. "But we managed to fend them off today. The town is clear for the moment— we accomplished that much. So we should take pride in it." It was clear by the looks on everyone's faces that such an order wasn't easily followed. But nobody spoke out against him, and the wizard moved on after a pause. "Now, Yuffie, I would appreciate you going out and maybe getting some food together." The ninja looked frustrated for a second, glancing over at Riku, but Merlin beat her to it. "I'm sure they could get by without you, Yuffie."
She blew out her cheeks but gave a small nod.
Sora opened his mouth to say something, hopefully trying to see whether or not there was a way he could coin himself into the conversation, but Riku was speaking before he could. "I say that Leon, Donald, Goofy, Axel, and Kairi, come back with me to check down around the gully one last time. Then we can be done. But until then, we need to keep alert— those Heartless seem the most prominent around the gully, and that isn't too far from the town."
Kairi gave a stoic nod. And surprisingly, she offered an idea of her own. "Tomorrow we should check around inside that castle down there; the Heartless could be coming from somewhere in there. Or at least something from inside there, right? It's better than what we've been trying, anyway."
Sora blinked, a small frown coming over his face. But Riku was the opposite, giving the girl a smile. "Good thinking."
Axel glanced over to Sora and realized that the boy was looking in between Riku and Kairi with confusion, his eyebrows slightly knitted together. The Nobody frowned a little bit, looking saddened. But he couldn't find anything that he could say to try and make him feel better. Reaching up and patting Sora's shoulder gently, and making sure that he wouldn't fall over, the man stood up from the couch and started to round back over to the group. He noticed that Goofy and Donald were looking anxiously over at Sora, waiting for him to notice them and look their way. But when he looked back, he realized that the efforts were wasted. Sora was too preoccupied with Riku and Kairi to notice that anyone else was waiting for his attention.
Realizing that their being there wasn't all that good for Sora, Axel cleared his throat pointedly. "Should we go out then? We don't want to lose track of anything because we were standing around gossiping, right?"
Riku gave a nod of agreement. "Axel's right, we should go. The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back." He turned and glanced over the rest of the people that he had signaled would come along with him. "Are you all ready, then?" Leon crossed his arms over his chest, and Goofy and Donald took a few steps forward. Kairi grinned and nodded, clenching her fists and bringing them up eagerly. "Then let's go down to the gully and—"
"Wait a second!" The others were cut off and immediately turned as Sora spoke out. The brunet looked concerned, his face painted over in worry as he looked at Kairi. Immediately the girl sobered, drawing back slightly as her arms dropped back down to her sides. All eyes were on him, and, self-consciously, the boy's voice dropped in volume as he went on a little slower. "Y-You should stay, Kairi." He looked at her anxiously, and the teenager quickly bit down on her lower lip. When she didn't reply, he pressed on: "It's dangerous out there— you shouldn't go…"
Kairi's forehead creased slightly. "Oh…Sora, I'm— I'll be okay…"
Sora was still unsure. "But you could get hurt."
She offered him a smile. "No I won't! I'll be just fine."
The boy turned and looked over at Riku, slightly accusing. Riku responded by turning back to Kairi and giving her a small nod. She seemed unsure about something— reluctant as she just looked down at the ground and continued to wring her hands together. "Go on, Kairi. It's nothing bad— it'll just reassure him that you'll be fine." She still seemed dubious. But after a moment she nodded, perking up and giving Sora a small smile. Her arm extended at her side, the boy looking down in confusion as she reached out. At first he thought she was trying to beckon him closer and he was starting to wonder how he could get up properly without hurting himself. But before he could ask whether or not that was what she meant, he immediately snapped his mouth shut.
In her right hand, a large gleam suddenly came out from nowhere. It lit up the room for the briefest of moments, and Sora cringed away with a grimace. When the glare passed, something else was left in the girl's grip— something much solid and something that, against Sora's outlook, caused his stomach to drop down to his feet. It was a keyblade. A long weapon that fit Kairi perfectly; flowers and swirls adorned the pink and yellow blade, and going by the way she held it in her hand, it looked like she had had it for quite some time now. Or at least for a few hours— it definitely wasn't new to her.
Sora didn't say anything at first. Kairi blinked, staring at the blade for a moment or two before she lowered it down to her side. She offered him the smallest of smiles. The expression came out awkward and fragile though. She glanced over at Riku. "Riku gave it to me. And I mean…the more fighters we have, the better off we'll be, though, right? It's just more protection." Sora's expression still remained the same, and she tried to put more enthusiasm into her voice. "I wanted to help protect you. And everyone else," she added quickly. "So I asked if I could be of help. And now I can fight too. I can fight for you."
The way she was looking anxiously at him, it was very plain that she was waiting for him to brighten up or at the very least reply. But at first, Sora just couldn't figure out what to get out. His mouth was halfway open, but nothing would get out. He was silent and mute. He knew it wasn't how it should be— any other time and he would have been happy for her. He would have been excited even at the prospect of being able to see her fight and be active in what they were trying to do. But…this wasn't any other time. And suddenly it felt like someone had delivered a swift kick to his stomach, knocking out all of his air entirely.
He felt…sad. He felt like…like he was being tossed under the rug. Forgotten.
He couldn't fight anymore and suddenly here Kairi was to replace him. The word stung. Replace.
Was that what was happening? Or was he looking too far into it? Could he even tell at the moment? He tried to focus on keeping his breathing steady and not blinking as he realized that his eyes were beginning to prick and burn. He looked from the girl's keyblade, to Kairi, to Riku, then back to Kairi's keyblade. His hands shook slightly where they were concealed from the others in his lap. Aerith noticed the small tremor, but she did not bring it to everyone's attention. She just glanced over at Sora, and, frowning, managed to tear her gaze away and back to the group in front of her.
Kairi was growing more and more apprehensive by Sora's silence. "Sora?" she asked softly. She tilted her head to the side. "…Are you okay?"
He cringed mentally and swallowed back whatever emotions were bubbling at the back of his throat. Instead he choked them down, regardless of whatever else he might think. And, pasting it on like someone would yank a mask down over their head, Sora forced the corners of his lips to pull back into the form of smile. His throat was hot and swelled; he cleared it so that his voice would not come out rejected and hurt. And, feeling the weight of all the stares on him, and also beginning to struggle underneath the weight of what was now being forced onto his shoulders. Kairi's keyblade was burning a hole through his eyes, and he could feel his chest slowly constricting in on itself.
But he smiled anyway. And, feeling the words like poison on his tongue, he said what he had to.
"I'm fine," he assured.
The words felt empty and hollow. But it was nothing compared to the feeling in his chest.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
A/N: Once again, sorry for the wait! Hopefully I'll be able to hear feedback from everyone soon and the update can be more recent. :)
On the other hand, the story will pick up next chapter! The plot kinda started to be put together in this one, so it'll get further into it throughout the next few chapters! I hope you're looking forward to it!
I can't wait to hear from you all! Hopefully I get some feedback!