Normally I like to be a chapter ahead before I put a new chapter up, but three is giving me such difficulty that I've actually finished more of four than I have of three. So chapter 2 was actually done when I published chapter 1, but I just didn't want to put it up. Oh well... I guess I'll just have to try harder.
Also, if one were to go back and read the first book, there are a lot of plot holes, or at least questions that weren't ever answered (there are some that are so glaringly obvious that I can't believe no one asked about them), and I would like to go on the record saying that when I wrote the first book, I sucked as an author and didn't really know where I wanted to go with the plot. I'm going to re-write the first book eventually, and I'll inform readers when and if I start.
Also, I've been struggling lately with plot troubles. While I have just about everything worked out, I suddenly realized that one concept was way to good to waist on FanFiction, and since I plan to become an author, I have decided to save it for later when what I write actually counts. Thus, I'm having to rework some bits of a the plot, but I don't think it should hinder the progression all that much.
Anyway, enough jab, on with the show!
Chapter 2: Icy Incongruity
Hoth
Outer Rim
11: 47 PM
Planetary Location: Echo Base
An hour since Han Solo and Sora departed
Princess Leia stood staring out at the dark, cold landscape beyond the hanger gate. C-3PO was standing by R2 as the little droid took sweeps of the area for life signatures. Since they hadn't come back in yet, it was safe to assume that they hadn't picked anything up.
She felt something large brush up next to her. She looked up to see Chewy gazing outside as well. He glanced down at her, let out a little whine, then looked back up.
"Princess," came the voice of an approaching officer. She met his gaze as he walked up, and felt anger boil up inside her as she heard the words she knew had been coming. "The temperature is dropping too rapidly. I'm sorry, but the shield doors must be closed."
She glanced back outside one more time, and then back to him, nodding. The massive doors began to slide shut, alerting the droids outside that it was probably time to come in out of the cold. Chewy's low whine got louder and louder the narrower the opening got, and when the doors closed he let out a roar that almost made Leia want to collapse and cry. Even with their specialized suits on, and even with Sora's magic, there was almost no way that they would survive...
"R2 couldn't pick up any traces of them," C-3PO reported. "Though he does admit that the weather is interfering with his scanners."
R2 bleeped and blooped sadly, his body tilting as though he was looking down at the ground.
"R2 says that the odds of their survival are 15,324,781 to one."
As Chewy slumped away and Leia tried to hold back her primal instincts to rip the golden man's head off, C-3PO said, "Though, R2 is known to make mistakes... from time to time."
Elsewhere...
"No! No!"
"But you've got to take a bath!"
"Don't wanna!"
"But you always love it once you get in!"
"No, I don't not! Don't not!"
Kairi, who was completely naked, was standing before a short-haired and shatter-less glasses Jacob. Jacob was sopping wet, and Kairi's hair looked like it might have gotten a bit wet, and her feet were leaving wet footprints wherever she ran in the massive royal bathroom.
"Kairi," Jacob said, squatting down and holding his arms in a position that suggested he was about to pounce and grab her. "If you don't take a bath, you're going to smell all icky."
"Not if I put on some'a mommy's pewume!"
"Perfume."
"Pewu-"
Suddenly, Kairi had been swept up into the air by Jacob. She was screaming, and he was laughing, and she was hovering over a large but shallow tub...
"Stop it!" Kairi ordered.
"Can't do that, Princess!" Jacob said, before he brought her down and dunked her into the water.
Present...
Kairi opened her eyes. Oddly enough, she was met with the same water she had dreamed she had just been thrust into. Only now she was upright, her hair was long, and instead of the warm hands of Jacob around her, there were cold metal objects, and tubes, and what might have been a futuristic diaper. She looked through the liquid, and she could barely make out what appeared to be medial droids. Was her vision impaired, or was it simply the glass wrapped around her?
She couldn't remember what had happened, though she did vaguely remember having an argument with Sora and then feeling all at once confused and wonderful and terrified and in pain...
Sora. The very thought of his name made her blood boil with anger, but at the same time... something she didn't recognize. She felt parts of her body change at the thought of him, changes she had never felt. The changes felt good, and they kept getting stronger as she thought of Sora's smile, and his eyes, and what he must look like when he takes his shirt off...
What?
"Private?" came a droid's voice through the water. There must have been special speakers on the inside of the tube. She nodded to imply that she could hear him. "You've been unconscious for several hours. We're going to remove you in just a moment."
She nodded again, and suddenly she felt something moving through one of the tubes and into her body. She cringed and squirmed at the feeling, but a voice came through that said "Just relax, private."
Kairi really didn't feel like relaxing, what with unknown liquids going into her body, and she wasn't feeling at all trusting... She reached for the tube and tried to pull it out of... where was it going?
Her arm. Okay, she was going to pull it out of her arm. She didn't care what anyone else told her, she was going to pull it out. She reached for it and started jerking.
"Private, you need to stop that," the voice came. "The treatment we are injecting is vital to your recovery."
Kairi didn't care. She didn't want them dumping weird unknown stuff into her body, and she was going to pull the tube out.
On the outside, the droids weren't quite sure exactly how the should reply to this behavior. "Her brain readings are jumping all over the place," a droid reported. "It seems that she is not in control of her actions, though she doesn't realize this."
"Sedate her," another droid suggested. The others agreed, and one hit a button.
Kairi could not find any way to remove the tube going into her arm, but she noticed that another tube, this one much thinner, was going stiff as though something was running through it. She looked for where it was going, but it was attached to her back, and her containment tube was too confining for her to reach it.
Had a mask not been over Kairi's mouth, she would have screamed out in anger. She continued to jerk on the tube going into her arm, when suddenly, she felt weak. But a moment later, she found that she liked the feeling, because a warm and fuzzy sensation came with it. A dopey grin formed under the mask, and she closed her eyes a bit as images of Sora pranced about before her eyes. Her mind filled with cobwebs and stopped running as her entire body shut down all at once. She peed in the diaper involuntarily, but she could have cared less. It actually felt good in combination with all the strange feelings that were coming back around her body as Sora confessed his undying love for her...
Kairi's eyes closed as her urine was sucked out through a tube, the vacuuming air tickling her slightly. The sedative stopped pumping into her, and the medicine going into her arm kept running for a few moments before it too stopped.
The droids ran several last checks on her before they hit a button, sending the liquid pumping upward, and launching her up through the tube and out of sight, all the tubes that had been attached to her body relinquishing their holds. On the floor above, her head surfaced in a small, dark room, where two droids pulled her out of the bacta, removed her bulky coverings, and dressed her in a soft robe before laying her down on a cot to rest.
Outside in the elements...
Sora rode behind Han, one hand clutching the back of the smuggler's jacket, the other holding his Keyblade. He'd no way of restoring his energy after casting spells, so he tried to be as conservative as he could. Every time their mount reared back or refused to go any further due to the cold, he cast a special bit of magic he had been working on that called three balls of fire into existence, which hovered around them for a minute or two before they vanished. Sora wasn't sure how many he would be able to cast before he passed out, but the thought of Luke stranded out in the weather forced him to keep going.
They couldn't see for more than a few yards around them due to a terrible blizzard that had kicked up only a few minutes after they had departed; they had almost ridden right off of a cliff a few minutes ago. Sora could never tell what direction they were going or what whey the base was, but at this point, he almost didn't expect them to find a way back.
Han stopped the tauntaun, handed the ropes to Sora, and dismounted, carrying a large scanner. He pulled the two antenna out as long as they would go, and started to walk off into the blizzard.
Sora struggled to keep the beast in place. Even natives of the planet weren't accustomed to the temperatures of Hoth's nights, and this must have been one of the coldest nights in all the time they had been here. He wanted to make some more fire to keep the creature in place, but he had just cast some a bit ago, and Han should have been back at any second.
And back he came. He stumbled a bit through the snow, emerging from the haze of the storm. He climbed up as Sora scooted back to give him room again.
"I picked up a reading in that direction," Han said, pointing.
"Then let's ride!"
Han jerked the ropes, and they turned in the direction Han had indicated, taking off.
Echo Base...
Princess Leia had come back to her room, taken a drink, and then, after a few minutes, felt so absolutely exhausted that, despite her concern, she needed to sleep. She collapsed onto her bed without even changing, and fell asleep instantly.
Cobb and two other men appeared out of no where. How they had hidden, how they had gotten in, and all those other impossible questions aren't to be answered. They pulled out a huge silver suitcase, placed it on the ground next to Leia's bed, and opened it. Inside was a machine dominated by a large button on the top. They removed thin wires from it, and stuck one into Leia's wrist. Cobb and another man gathered chairs and sat down, sticking the wires in themselves. They nodded to the third man, who hit the button.
Jacob's room...
Though Terra had been rested enough to stay awake up until, and past, midnight, she hadn't anything to do. Jacob had offered to escort her back to her room (a place where she spent very little time), but she turned him down, opting instead to stare at him while he paced up and down. He didn't mind her presence, or her constant fixated gaze on his face.
"So... I still don't understand," Terra said, the first time she had spoken since Jacob had explained the situation to her an hour and a half ago. "I thought that the whole point of being a Princess of Heart was that there was no Darkness in your Heart?"
"It is, it is," Jacob replied, continuing to pace. "But, if the conditions are right, they can lose their status. Darkness can enter their Hearts."
There was silence other than Jacob's feet hitting the ground.
"What is the... purpose of the Princesses?"
Jacob looked at her, but continued walking. "That's a good question. I've done a fair amount of research on the matter, as has King Mickey."
"You mean the mouse that I accidently hugged?"
"That's the one. We know that one of their functions is using Light abilities to combat the Darkness. However, Mickey and I believe that Princesses have been placed in situations where they are least likely to encounter heavy forces of Darkness. So, that can't be their primary function."
"We also know that they open Kingdom Hearts," Terra reminded him. He had given her some limited lectures on the nature of the universe.
"Correct. They open Kingdom Hearts. However, if their primary function is that of a key, why scatter them so? Why not keep them in one place where they can be easily accessed? Or, even better, why bother to make the keys human? It only complicates things."
Terra gave a pondering look, then said "... Because... they didn't want Kingdom Hearts opened?"
"Oh!" Jacob exclaimed, with an 'ah-ha' look on his face. He stopped his pacing, and took a few steps towards her. "Yes, that must be it, mustn't it? You're very clever, Terra, it took us much longer to think of that."
Terra smiled a tiny little, timid smile, her face flushing red.
"But, then, that begs the question of 'who made Kingdom Hearts?'. Or, 'who made the Princesses?'."
"You're forgetting a question," Terra said. She tried in vain to hold back a smile she didn't understand as she pointed out, " 'What is Kingdom Hearts?'."
"Now that," Jacob said. "I don't think we'll ever understand. Mickey spent a fair amount of time inside Kingdom Hearts, and he's only a bit closer to understanding it."
"Do you think there's a way to answer the other questions without knowing what Kingdom Hearts is?"
"I think this is the most talkative you've ever been."
Terra looked down, embarrassed. "I... I didn't... I'm sorry-"
"Sorry?" Jacob questioned. "No, no, you talking is one of the best things that's happened to me in a while."
She looked up at him. "What do you mean?"
"Every time I see you getting better, showing emotion, and acting human, I just..." he grinned. "I'm glad that I freed you."
Terra blushed even more, and looked down again. "I'm glad you freed me, too..."
In Kairi's mind...
She couldn't breathe. She had tried, and water had rushed into her lungs. She didn't dare to open her eyes. All she could do was scream internally, and thrash her arms and legs about randomly. Some great force was crushing down on her ears, and it hurt...
She felt something large brush up against her. She grabbed onto it, and wrapped herself around it, and felt two arms around her as well. She opened her eyes as much as she could for as long as she could, and barely got a flash of Rinoa's hair floating about in front of her, and a terrified expression on her sister's face.
She closed her eyes again, and she could feel Rinoa kicking at the water in a similar way Kairi had been moments ago, though it did nothing more than stop them from sinking quite as fast as they would have been.
Kairi felt two more hands reach out and grab her; she clung to Rinoa as though her life depended on it. However, Rinoa let go of her, and Kairi was pried away from her sister by the new hands. Kairi opened her eyes again to see Rinoa drifting away, her eyes closed, her body unmoving...
She surfaced. She coughed and hacked, trying to get air into her tiny lungs, which was difficult since her mouth and wind pipe were filled with water. She spat all of it up as fast as she could, then promptly remembered that her sister was drowning in the water.
"Sissy!" she screamed, thrashing about in her captor's arms. "Sissy!"
"Hold on!" Jacob said, swimming to the edge of the water. He put her on the side, where she shrank back from the water in terror. "Stay here!" Jacob ordered, his glasses gone from his face and water dripping off his hair and nose. He turned in the water, and dove back under.
Kairi whimpered, staring at the water, afraid that the two underneath may never come back up.
She waited, but there was no sign of them in the dark water. If she hadn't wanted to come here, maybe this wouldn't be happening... oh, it was her fault...
Jacob surfaced, gasping for air. His arm was around Rinoa, who was about his size, despite being four years older than him. Her wet hair fell over her face, and Kairi couldn't tell if she was moving.
"Sissy! Sissy!"
Jacob swam to the edge, pulling himself and the elder Princess up. He lay Rinoa flat on the ground, moved her hair away from her face, and Kairi was dismayed to see that she was asleep.
"Sissy!"
"Stay back!" Jacob ordered. She obeyed, trembling in her wet clothes, freezing as the air swept by. Jacob leaned down over Rinoa and kissed her, pulled back up, then kissed her again.
"Is she okay?"
Jacob didn't reply, but instead began to push down on Rinoa's stomach over and over again. He stopped, and then began kissing her again.
"Is she-"
"Quiet!" Jacob ordered, a look like panic on his face as he returned to Rinoa's stomach.
"Jacob! Rinoa!"
Kairi looked around to see three people running along the edge of the water towards them, Radiant Garden's castle towering above them in the back ground. Oh, why had she ever left?
"Oh my gosh!" one of the three yelled, though her voice was faint. They were still quite a ways away. "Oh my gosh! Jacob, is she okay?"
Kairi looked back to Jacob, who was kissing her sister again. He pulled back, and suddenly, Rinoa's eyes opened, and she coughed water out of her mouth, breathing heavily as though she had been holding her breath for hours.
Rinoa lay on the ground, her chest rising and falling heavily, and she glanced out the corner of her eye at Jacob, who was still kneeling next to her. She glanced at Kairi, and then at the three other kids who had just run up, and then back at Jacob.
Rinoa jumped up with energy that didn't seem to be hers, and threw her arms around Jacob. Jacob looked just about as surprised and shocked as anyone ever had for a few moments, but Rinoa let go of him rather quickly and swooped down on Kairi, hugging her as well.
"Wow, that was close," Tifa said.
"I told you guys coming up here was a bad idea," Cloud said, panting a little as though he had just run a very long way.
"Well, maybe now Rinoa and Kairi'll get some swimming lessons," Lea chuckled nervously.
Present...
Sora saw him. Luke was sprawled out in the snow, his face bleeding heavily from two large gashes across his face. His hand was outstretched towards them. He passed out just as they rode up, prompting Han and a rather weakened magic-caster to jump off their mount.
"Kid!" Han yelled as they trudged towards him. "Kid, you all right?"
Sora knelt down next to him and cast another fire spell, which felt like the last one he'd be able to pull out of his hat, as Han turned Luke over.
"... Ben..." Luke moaned, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. "... Ben... Dagobah system..."
"Hang on kid, we're gonna get you out of here..." Han muttered as Sora's fireballs faded. However, the smuggler may not have been correct with that statement, because with a loud, anguished cry, their tauntaun fell over in the snow, dead.
"It's subscribed to the cold!" Han yelled, as Luke continued to moan, "Ben... Ben... Yoda... Keyblades..."
Sora reeled back at the last word, though he didn't have any time to contemplate it. "Damn! Comlink's useless in this storm!" Han yelled, tossing the radio down next to the dead animal in anger. "We're going to have to camp out!"
"Here?" Sora asked.
"Nah, I was thinking we could wonder around for a bit until we found a beautiful rainbow valley!"
"Gotta keep'm... Ben... Darkness... Yoda..."
"Han, I think we should listen to-"
"He can tell us when he can speak lucid, kid!" Han said. "And, preferably, when we're not in hell!"
"Right, right," Sora muttered, though the words were lost in the storm.
"Grab his light-thingy!" Han said, glancing back at their dead mount.
"Why?"
"Just do what I say!"
Sora detached Luke's lightsaber from the man's belt, and handed it to Han. "Drag him over to the tauntaun!" Han ordered as he walked to the beast, igniting the sword and slicing the monster's chest open. "It may not smell like roses, but it'll keep em' warm!"
Sora dragged Luke to the snow next to the tauntaun, which was now covered with intestines and the like.
"Gah..." Han muttered as he removed equipment from the saddle. "And I thought they smelt bad... on the outside!"
Echo Base...
Kairi's eyes opened.
"Try to relax," came the voice of a medical droid. "You've got someone here to see you."
"... S-... S-Sora?" Kairi asked, sitting up slowly and shaking her head.
"Not exactly."
Jacob's voice cut through the haze. For some reason, she felt angry and scared all at once; both of the feelings felt foreign.
"How do you feel?" he asked, his black hair now distinguishable through the blurry mess her eyes were taking in.
"... Don't know..." she replied, rubbing her neck. "Feel kinda weird..."
"What kind of weird?" Jacob demanded.
"... What's that supposed to mean?" Kairi asked as his glasses came into view.
"Like, what's weird about it?"
"... Dunno... feels kinda... good weird, though..."
"I'm taking her back to my room," Jacob told the droid.
"We'd appreciate that, sir," the droid replied. "She's caused us nothing but trouble in her waking moments. You should know, sir, that she behaved somewhat erratically while in bacta treatment-"
"Hey!" Kairi yelled, jumping up, though it was obvious that this had taken a great burst of energy, and she would probably collapse any second. "Wazzzup with that stuffs-es that you up put into my arm when I was in that tubby thingy?" she demanded before collapsing forward. Jacob swooped in and caught her, and allowed the girl to put an arm around his shoulder.
"Thank you, doctor," Jacob said as he escorted Kairi out of the room, her feet dragging slightly on the ground.
"Kairi, listen to me," his voice came as they entered a white hallway.
"Yeah?"
"I need you to tell me exactly what feels weird."
"Oh, nothen's weird..." she said. "I feel dandy!"
"That may be so," Jacob said. "But Sora's very worried about you, and he wants to know what happened-"
"Sora!" she breathed, nearly falling. Jacob had to duck down and grab her with both arms to stop her from hitting the ground. She giggled, and looked down at herself, then at Jacob. "There's one of the weird things!"
"What weird thing?"
"Well, my shirt's kinda pinching down on my breasts, you know?"
"... Right." He lifted her back up, and continued walking. "Listen Kairi, I'm going to need you to drink something when we get back to the room-"
"Drink something?" Kairi asked. "Does it come out of a tube?"
"No. It comes out of a glass."
"Oh. That's better."
They walked back to Jacob's room with occasional comments from Kairi ("Have you ever noticed that it's really cold here?" "How's Terra doing?" "Hey, where's Sora?" "Sora!" "Hey, when did it get so hot in here?"), but absolute silence from Jacob. They walked in to find Terra making something with Jacob's brewing machine. He had hidden the love potions while she worked on something else.
"Is it almost ready?" Jacob asked as Kairi giggled something about a memorable Valentines Day on Destiny Islands, which had something to do with Sora accidentally shoving her off a dock and then diving in to pull her out even though she could swim.
"Just about," Terra answered. "I read the instructions five times before I started, and I looked at them between every step."
"Good. How much longer?"
"Not much." She glanced back at the two of them as sat Kairi down on the cot. "Is she as bad as you thought she would be?"
"No. Much better, actually. It could be the sedative they gave her, though."
She removed a beaker from the brewer; one that glimmered with Light. She handed it to Jacob, who looked to Kairi. "Need you to drink this, Kairi."
"That kinda looks like a tube. What is it that I'm gonna drink?"
"Special stuff."
"Hrm. Well, I don't think I should..."
"Don't worry. I'm your bodyguard, remember? I'd never try and hurt you."
"I guess that's true..."
"So will you drink it?"
"... Uhhhh..."
But Jacob didn't have the time for 'uhhh', so he walked up to her and put the beaker to her open mouth, forcing her to drink the concoction down.
When she was done, Kairi's eyes and mouth closed, and she cringed. Her whole body went ridged, and she opened her eyes.
Light blared out of them, and what might have been smoke made of Light came out of her eyes and mouth.
Jacob stepped back, and Terra stood behind him, trembling a bit. Kairi sat up, and she spoke with many voices that were not hers. "State your names."
"I am Jacob, and this is Terra."
"Full names."
"We do not know hers; I do not use mine."
"Fitting. Is she to see the following events?"
"Yes."
Kairi's body nodded, then stood. "Why do you seek to confabulate with Isamahii, formerly the Light of Kairi the Princess of Heart?"
"Several reasons," Jacob answered.
"And you expect me to remain in this fallen form long enough to answer them?"
"I seek the Temple of the Princesses of Heart."
"What gives you authority to approach such a holy place?" the voices asked, their tones escalating slightly.
"I've questions you cannot answer."
"And you think," the voices started. "That you can find something there that we, the very essence of Light past, cannot divulge?"
"Jacob..." Terra murmured, shrinking back even more.
"I cannot tell you my reasons for seeking this place," Jacob replied, gazing into the glowing eyes, fearing nothing.
"You think that your petty secrets can't be trusted to one of the most honest and pure existence in the universe?"
"Another question, then," said Jacob, changing the subject. "What is the largest threat to the balance of the universe?"
"Darkness, of course."
"Indeed," Jacob responded, though his tone suggested he did not agree. "One more question for now, though you may hear from me again in the future."
"Do not expect an answer this question or any future callings," the voices responded.
"Who has inherited the Light Isamahii, exalted ones?"
There was a long pause. Then, the voices answered, "Someone... very close to your Heart."
Jacob raised an eyebrow under his hair. "What?"
"I have no interest in answering any more questions," the voices said. "Perhaps, Mr. Jacob," they said, Kairi's eyes narrowing at Jacob, "Darkness is not the biggest threat to the universe. Perhaps it is men like you, who meddle into things that they ought not involve themselves."
The Light vanished from Kairi's mouth and eyes, and she collapsed forward into Jacob's arms again, causing Terra to jump in surprise. She was conscious, but barely.
"Are you okay, Kairi?" Terra asked, coming out from behind Jacob, but still keeping her distance from the red-head.
"Don't... dunno..." she replied, her voice muffled in Jacob's shirt. "Feel... ugh..."
"Get her some water," Jacob ordered Terra. She nodded and walked out, with Kairi muttering, "... Thanks..."
"Yeah," Jacob said. He moved her over to his cot, sitting her down. "I need you to hold still."
"Not... a problem," Kairi replied. Jacob moved to his computer and opened it up, the reading on Kairi already waiting for him.
The computer was offering a time-lapse, indicating that there had been a lot of activity since she had walked in. He played it.
The scan started the moment they entered, the visuals showing the activity around Kairi's Heart. Darkness had been flowing in freely, and had taken almost a third of her Heart over, with the Light inside offering very little resistance. He waited until he had given her the drink, at which point the Light surged forward, forcing all the Darkness out of her Heart and even fighting some of hovering outside her Heart. It stopped, and Darkness came back in, though only a small amount. It didn't look like it was flowing freely anymore, and her Heart was fighting back, though he had seen the resistance before: It was the resistance that a Heart defaultly put up.
Kairi had been invaded, and it was going to keep coming until something was done about it.
The next morning...
A loan orange and white vehicle sped through the sky above Hoth, the new white snow and crisp sunny morning one of the best they had seen their entire stay.
"Echo Base, this is Rouge Two," the pilot said. "I'm picking up something on my scanner; it's small, but it could be a life form."
It swung low over a hill, switching it's frequency to smaller, local signals. "This is Rouge Two. Captain Solo, do you copy... Lieutenant Sora, do you copy?"
Lower... the signal was getting stronger. He gazed down at the landscape intently, looking for any signs of the Rebels.
"Commander Skywalker... Do you copy? This is Rouge Two. Captain Solo, do-"
The radio cackled. "Rouge Two, nice of you to drop by! Hope we didn't get you up to early!"
The pilot laughed at Captain Solo's usual sarcasm. "Echo Base, this is Rouge Two. I've found them. Repeat: I've found them."
He could see Han emerging from what he now recognized as a tent, completely covered by snow. The man waved up at him as he few over, preparing to land.
Echo Base...
Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora. Sora.
The name had been pounding in her head ever since she had been told of his heroic dive into the cold of Hoth. She hadn't slept, despite Jacob's insistence that she did. She didn't know why he had suggested such; she had already spent a lot of time out of it recently.
She didn't know what was wrong with her, or why she had the attack in the hall outside of Jacob's room. The man claimed that he didn't know, but she was sure he was lying. She had resorted to asking Terra, who, after a few moments of stupefied silence and confusion, had started humming and avoiding eye contact.
She didn't feel all that wrong, just... well, a bit different. She couldn't pinpoint anything specific, but she knew it was there, and she knew that some of it felt good. But she also felt invaded. And confused. Some of the changes felt physical, but others were all in her head. She was thinking about things that she didn't think she had ever thought about, and she was feeling things she couldn't describe. Images of Sora kept running through her mind, and even though she was doing her best to ignore them, when she did think about him, she felt angry and lightheaded and flustered and confused and hot and embarrassed and so many other things. She couldn't explain half of them, or even distinguish them from other emotions. She tried to single out and count the new emotions she was feeling (or at least, that's what she thought they were), but she discovered that this was just as difficult as figuring out why and how someone had decided to invent art one day. It was spontaneous, and it made her feel as though she had been missing something her whole life.
She didn't like it. It made her feel insecure. Like... instead of something bad had just happened to her, something bad had been happening to her the last fifteen and a half years of her life.
Sora... Oh, he had to be okay, he had to be! The last time she had talked to him, she had yelled at him, and then she had almost died, or whatever it was she had done, and then he left without knowing if she would be okay...
She didn't want Sora to worry about her. No, she wanted him to be happy, and she wanted to be happy, and she wanted all the weird feelings in her head and around her body to just explain themselves, damn it!
"Kairi?"
She looked up. It was seven in the morning. She had spent the entire night pacing her room, screaming in frustration, pounding her fists against random stuff, and... well, she didn't really know what she had been doing. It had been an out of body experience.
"Yeah, Terra?" she asked, looking at the blond.
"Search party just called in. They've found them."
She moved for the door, suddenly feeling feverish. "Where are they?" she asked.
"On their way in. They should be here any minute."
Kairi the two went for the hanger, with Kairi running and Terra doing a bit of a light jog behind.
Shortly...
The speeder was flying in just as they arrived. A crowd was already assembled to great the rescued. They moved towards it as fast as they could, ducking under and through electrical equipment scattered around the area. The ship's hatch was opening, and Kairi could see Han climbing out, supporting Luke, who looked rather spaced out. Several personnel rushed forward to take Luke, and then escorted him away, presumably to the medical ward.
After the pilot, Sora emerged, but Kairi only got a fleeting glimpse of him before he dismounted into the crowd. "I hope he's looking for me..."
He emerged from the swarm of people after a few moments to be greeted by Kairi, who threw herself around him.
"Oh, Sora! I'm so sorry I yelled at you... if that had been the last thing I had ever said to you-"
"Kairi, I-"
"-I would have never forgiven myself! Oh, you're so brave, Sora! Going out in the cold with Han to save Luke! I can't believe-!"
"Kairi!"
She stopped, and, realizing just how ridiculous she was being, let go of him. She timidly avoided his eyes, instead trying to burn a hole in his boots with her gaze. "Sorry..."
"Hey, it's fine," Sora said. She looked up at him again. "Just... Look, I'm fine, okay? Are you okay? How do you feel?"
"... Well, I've been feeling kind of weird ever since I woke up," she replied. She glanced at the crowd, then back at Terra, who was idling a few feet to their rear, then she whispered to Sora. "I think Jacob knows what's wrong with me, but he won't tell."
Sora opened his mouth to tell her about the very brief exchange he had with Jacob before setting out last night, be he decided not to. He'd go to Jacob first. It would probably turn out to be dangerous to tell her or something, what with the way Jacob worked.
Instead, he said, "Well, Jacob knows lots of stuff. I'll got talk with him later." He, too, glanced around. "Listen, let's go to the medical ward and check on Luke, then... do you want to go to the Wood?"
"The two of us?"
"The two of us." He looked over her shoulder. "We can bring Terra if you want. Or Zidane."
"Zidane? Ick."
"He helped save you."
"... He did?"
"Yeah."
"... Well, he'd still be a sexist pig. Let's just the two of us go, okay?"
"Not Terra?"
"... No, not Terra."
Sora smiled, though it wasn't the warm, amazing smile that Kairi hadn't been able to stop thinking about. It was shallow, and concerned. She could hear something coming from his Heart... but it was even harder to make out than before. Both his and Terra's Hearts seemed much quieter than usual. Jacob's echoing emptiness had felt distant as well.
"Alright," Sora said at last. "Just us."
They walked out of the hanger, Terra again bringing up the rear. Sora noticed that Jacob was following them too, but despite his distance, he wasn't making any effort to conceal his pursuit. When they arrived at the medical ward, Sora asked why Jacob had been following them, to which Jacob replied, "I wasn't following. Just going to the same place as you."
Sora was skeptical, but didn't press.
They were informed that Commander Skywalker was probably going to make a full recovery. Once they warmed him back up, treated the wounds across his face, and managed to stop him from mumbling ("Ben... Yoda... Keyblades... Ben..."), he would probably be fine.
Han and Leia both stayed, as did Jacob. Terra wondered off, probably for Jacob's room or the mess hall. Sora and Kairi slipped out after a while, and headed off for Cid's ship.
Sora couldn't help but notice that Kairi had been very quiet since the hanger, despite smiling most of the time. He wanted to think that it was because she was going to the Hundred Acer Wood again, but he doubted it. She kept throwing him sideways glances, and whenever he caught her doing it, she looked away and a bit of color flushed to her cheeks.
They got out into the warm morning air (and warm was relative, as it was about fifteen below freezing), and walked to the Shera, the wind whipping their hair about. They were about to board when Kairi suddenly asked, "Sora... do you think I'm... pretty?"
Sora stopped in his tracks. Kairi stopped too. Sora turned to face her slowly. "... W... what did you ask?"
"... Never mind."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"I just couldn't hear you over the wind. Are you sure you don't want to ask again?"
She shook her head, her hair flapping about before her eyes. "I'm sure. Sorry, forget I said anything."
They boarded the ship, and were greeted by Cid half way to Sora's room, where he kept the book. "You two back again?"
"What, don't you get lonely in here?" Kairi asked with a subtle smirk. Sora knew there wasn't any real humor backing it; she was trying to get him to forget about the question he had heard very clearly.
"Me? Lonely? Hell no. All I need is my booze and some cigars." He bit his lip. "If I ever do get bored, I go inside. Plus, I've got the video chat, you know? Them chipmunks from Disney Castle always got something interesting and technical to talk about."
"Right," Sora replied. "Well, we're going to the book, so..."
"Yeah. Right. I'll get you out if something comes up." He lifted an eyebrow. "Anyone else know you're here?"
"No," Kairi answered. "And they don't need to."
Cid frowned deeper. "I see..." He walked off, muttering about teenagers and alcohol.
Echo Base...
Han Solo and Princess Leia were among a small group of people gathered around a computer console in the command center.
"It's moving fast. Too fast to be one of those snow creatures," said the woman opperating the computer.
"One of ours?" Han asked.
"No," the commanding officer answered. "We don't have anyone in that sector."
"It's reading like a droid," the woman offered as she finished a scan of the unknown object.
"Imperial probe droid?" Leia questioned nervously.
"I doubt it, Princess," said the general. "They couldn't have found us."
"Well maybe they're looking for us, huh?" Hun suggested sarcastically. "Me' n Chewy 'll go have a look at it. There any speeders available?"
Elsewhere...
Maleficent cursed. The reading was inconclusive, but her erratic behavior... this would complicate things.
"Why would she lose her status now?" she pondered silently, the gloom of her castle drifting about her. "Perhaps Jacob triggered it intentionally... no, he has no way of knowing what we are planning... no matter. We will begin sweeping all star systems that could produce Princesses of Heart, and soon, we'll have the new one." She smiled. "Curious. I wonder what other strange events will fall upon us soon?"
She turned away from the single glowing orb that floated in the middle of the gloomy room, and walked out. She entered a dark hallway, filled with dark green mist, and massive, spiky thorns. She walked for a few moments before she reached another door, which she entered to find the cockpit of the massive castle/ship. Pete was at the controls, as he always was. Now that she had gathered some decent villains up, and had gained their trust, she could start being nasty to him again and not be concerned with losing a pawn.
"Good day, your evilness!" Pete said happily. He liked flying the ship. It must have reminded him of his days back on the steamboat, cruising about Timeless River. "What can I do for you today?"
"Pete, a complication has arisen," she said. "I need you to begin a sweep of the galaxy for Princess of Heart locations.
He looked back at her. "The galaxy, ma'am? Shouldn't we just check each of the worlds they're from?"
"There is a new Princess somewhere. She was born within the last twenty-four hours. That means that the signal will still be strong for at least a week."
"But, your evilness... we can barely pick up on the Princesses when we know where they are!"
"That's why it is imperative that we scan now, you buffoon!" she exclaimed. "Now hurry up!"
"A full sweep could take days, Maleficent," Pete said, turning back to the controls. "But it should be done within the week. I'll tell you right away when I find something."
The witch gave him a curt nod, though he did not see it. She turned and walked out, her cloak flowing about behind her in the mist.
In the Hundred Acer Wood...
An hour in the real world. That was about three in Pooh's book. Sora and Kairi both had a great time, though it was apparent that Kairi was distracted. Though none of the animals other than Rabbit (who was a very practical person) voiced concern, everyone seemed to know that something was up. She and Sora frequently found themselves in situations where she brushed up against him, or even held him for a few moments, or just... gazed at him.
It was quite unsettling for the Keybearer. From the way that she acted, and the way that she moved, and the way that she just seemed to be concealing something, he knew: this girl wasn't the Kairi he grew up with.
She had, of course, changed as she got older. Everyone does. But ever since started this quest against the Empire, she had started changing even more. He didn't really notice it for a long time, but he shrugged it off when he finally did. He had just assumed that the whole ordeal and being gone from home for so long was the meaning of it.
A lot of the changes seemed to have been brought on by the memories of Radiant Garden, or at least Jacob. Perhaps it was a coincidence, he thought. Jacob, while a bit odd and always mysterious, had never done anything to hurt Kairi in the long run, and he doubted that he ever would. Jacb loved Kairi, and Sora knew that.
Or, at least, it was as close to love as Jacob could get. Something about him felt... broken.
But now Kairi was broken. Rather, she was as broken as everyone else was. She had been pristine before. A perfect, shining jewel, set apart from the rest of the universe. But now she had been brought down to his level, and it just didn't set well. He could see the changes in her right now, plain as day. Was it because it had come on so suddenly, that she couldn't cope? That would make sense. Perhaps, with time, she would start acting more like the Kairi he used to know.
Sora was brought out of his thoughts by Kairi's voice. "Sora? You okay?" He shook his head and glanced at her. "You were all spaced out."
She was standing just a bit too close to him for it to be accidental. They were on a small bridge near the outskirts of the Wood, and thus, the book. The woods around there were quiet, as none of the animals lived this wide spread. Tigger and Roo often went exploring in this 'vast' unknown area, and everyone gathered on the bridge every now and then to play 'Pooh Sticks', a game where everyone tossed a stick into the water and waited to see which one would come out on the other side of the bridge first.
They had been playing the game just a few minutes ago before someone, possibly Piglet, suggested that they go back to his house for some tea. While Sora knew that 'tea' just meant a meal, the word never really set well with him. Besides, he wasn't very hungry anyway. He had decided to stay behind for a bit, and apparently, Kairi had doubled back to retrieve him.
"Yeah, I guess I was spaced out," Sora replied, not looking at her, opting instead to gaze down at the river as it flowed by. "I was just thinking."
"About what?" Kairi more demanded than asked.
"You," he answered truthfully, though he regretted it moments later, realizing what that might entail.
"Really?"
"Well, not just you. Other stuff too."
Kairi's voice sounded a bit disappointed. "Oh. Like what?"
"Jacob. The Empire and the Rebellion. All kinds of stuff."
There was a long pause. "You know," Kairi said. "I'm not all that hungry."
"Neither am I." He glanced at her. He was again met with a sight that felt unfamiliar: Kairi had appeared in the book wearing not her usual pink and white attire, but instead a shoulder less tube top, a bit like Terra's, and skinny jeans. The tube top was orange, like autumn, and had a sort of floral design along it's side. Though instead of flowers, there were dead leaves.
She noticed him looking at her outfit again. "... Why do you think it changed?"
"I don't know."
She looked all the more awkward. After a moment of silence, she timidly asked, "So... how do I look?"
"Very pretty," Sora answered without thinking. "It looks good on you."
She smiled a smile that was much smaller than it was supposed to be. The strain to hold it back was apparent on her face. "Thank you," she said, the corner of her lip quivering and jumping.
They turned and walked off down a dirt path through the woods, a slight spring in Kairi's step. Sora thought he had never felt heavier.
After they had been walking for a few minutes, the only sound the crunch of leaves and the tweeting of birds, Sora said "Kairi?"
He instantly regretted it. She twisted, as though in slow motion, towards him. The orange light of twilight shone through the breaks in the trees, down on her figure. As she turned, a gust of wind blew by, tossing leaves up into the air around her, and her hair flowed in their direction.
"Yes?"
Sora couldn't speak for a few moments, but soon the leaves had gone, and the wind had blown the branches in the way of her light, and he got the words out. "I-I was thinking, maybe we should just leave. They may be wanting us back at Echo Base."
"Cid said he would come and get us..." she turned away from him again and kept walking. Sora caught himself looking at her ass, which she seemed to be showing off a bit more than was natural. "Besides, we've only been gone about an hour, right?"
"I kinda wanted to check in on Luke, though."
She turned back. "Oh... right. I suppose we could go back."
"We could come back right after, Kairi," he offered. "Let's just go and tell everyone that we're leaving for now, but should be back in..."
He looked up at the trees again, the orange light still shining down on certain patches of the ground.
"On second thought, it'll be night here soon. Maybe we should just come back some other time."
Kairi looked disappointed, but she nodded in agreement.
Out in the elements of Hoth...
A large black droid of some sort hovered about over the icy landscape. It had many shapes covering its body, suggesting cameras of some sort. Below its main body were large claws and many other such receptacles, giving it the look of something hellish.
The droid turned. It had detected some movement off to the side. Something brown and furry, clearly not indigenous to the harsh climate of Hoth, had just ducked behind a snowbank.
It moved to attack the creature, but failed to notice one small detail: the creature was a decoy.
Han popped up from behind another snow bank opposite of Chewy, his blaster at the ready. He sent two shots the droid's way, then drew back as it exploded, much to easily to have been caused by his shots.
Echo Base...
"Not much left to identify it by," Han reported, gesturing to the pile of now scrap metal on the table before them. "I didn't hit it that hard; must have had some sort of self destruct mechanism."
"It's an Imperial probe droid, alright," Leia said, picking up one of the pieces and turning it over in her hand. "That probably means they know we're here. And that they're coming."
An hour or so later...
The base had been thrown into what Jacob had called an 'Orderly Panic'. Wiping the computers would take time, as would evacuating personnel. They had no idea how close the Empire was; they could arrive at any given moment, ready to strike. As long as their shields held, they would be safe from a bombardment, but everyone knew that holding off an Imperial ground strike with their limited resources would be next to impossible.
Things had only gotten worse, especially with respect to Sora's nerves. Luke had been removed from medial treatment, and one of the first things he had to say was that the Keybearer and his group should stay as close as they could to the Rebellion.
"Kid, you were hallucinating out there," Han insisted.
"No, I swear, I saw Ben, and he said that they needed to stay close."
Sora felt all the more awkward. He hated the feeling of responsibility, even if he didn't really understand what he was responsible for.
Leia didn't help, with her hastened entrance to the conversation, which instantly became an argument. "I don't know what you saw, Luke, but the safest thing to do now is for Sora to get as far away from us as possible. He's more important than the entire Rebellion, and we can't risk him going down if we do."
"Then can I ask why he was even here in the first place?" Jacob questioned.
"I've just got a feeling. Like something big is going to happen."
"So do I," Luke said. "I feel like something bad is going to happen if they leave."
"Well, it's a good thing my decision outweighs yours, isn't it?" Leia said, a bit snidely. A bit out of character, actually. "Besides, the General agrees with me."
"You know," Jacob came in again, propping his feet up on a convenient table and putting his hands behind his head. "If Sora is so damn important, maybe it should be his decision."
Everyone (Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, C-3PO, R2, and Jacob) looked at the Keybearer. He shrunk back ever so slightly, a look on his face that clearly said 'I'm not brave enough to make decisions for myself'.
"Er..." Sora glanced at Leia, then at Luke, as though sizing up both of the arguments. "Well, I suppose we could leave for a while, then regroup with you if it's safe. Or if we aren't busy. But, to be honest, I haven't exactly had a real quest for about a year now."
"Sounds like a compromise to me," Han said. "That good enough, your worship?"
Leia scrunched her nose, expressing a slight feeling of defeat. "Sure. I suppose."
"I'll tell Cid to get the Shera ready, then," Jacob said, swinging his legs down from the table and standing.
"No, wait," Sora suddenly said, moving to cut him off from the door. "I... I want to stay and help. Help hold the Imperials off."
There was a pause, but Jacob eventually looked to Leia. "Is that okay?"
She shook her head. "I... I dunno..."
"We'll still make it out. And I'd rather help make sure other people are safe than just run off before the danger even gets here."
"Don't try and be too much of a hero, Sora," Luke said.
"No, that's my job," Jacob replied before he and Sora departed.
Shortly...
"Action? Wait, the kind with guns or the kind with females?"
"Shut up, you sexist pig!"
"What? I'm trying to lighten the mood!"
Kairi growled at him. "Look, they're coming, so you need to get ready to leave. Can you do that or can't you?"
"Can't? I don't know the meaning of that word."
She turned and left Zidane to his... whatever he does when no one's looking. She had felt the urge to go and yell at him a bit after she spent a few minutes yelling at herself for being so useless in a fight. What everyone must think of her! What Sora must think of her...
WHY COULDN'T SHE STOP THINKING ABOUT HIM?
She went back to her room and angrily packed her her few belongings. She was so blinded by rage that she didn't even notice when she tossed an orange tube top and skinny jeans she hadn't owned before into her bag.
She picked up the two bags that held what she had brought from the ship, then started walking through the base towards the Shera. She didn't notice anyone else in the base, or hear any of the voices that came in over the intercom. All she heard was her thoughts, her wishes.
"Oh, I hope Sora doesn't try and stay behind and fight... What if he does something stupid and gets hurt? What if he dies? I've got to convince him to leave as quickly as we can..."
She was trudging through the snow to the Shera. She hadn't even noticed she had left the base; she was so deep in thought that she was actually surprised that when she looked up, she was standing in her room on the Shera. Her legs had ghosted her all the way there.
Had Cid noticed her come in? She didn't remember him trying to talk with her. Then again, she didn't remember walking out here.
"Ugh... I hate this... Why won't it all just explain its self, at least?"
She dumped her bags, and walked back off to the base, again not remembering the transit from the Shera to the door of Sora's room.
She hadn't wanted to come here; she had wanted her room again. But she was here, and she didn't get the chance to correct her ghost walking mistake. The door opened, and she was met with Sora, who heaved a great, long sigh at the sight of her.
"Sora? No, I wasn't here to see you, I'm just in the wrong place!"
"... Right. It's okay, Kairi."
She turned and walked off again, a bit faster than she normally would have.
Just a bit later...
Imperial ships had entered the area above Hoth. They had only gotten three transports of the seven away, and that wasn't counting the Shera. The hanger was filled with Rebel pilots going to their ships, be they speeders to hold off the ground assault, or space fighters to defend the fleeing transports. Another prominent activity to be observed was Han and Chewy's frantic repairs to the Millennium Falcon.
"What? No! NO! That one goes there, and that one goes there! Right? Right!"
Some soldiers were departing through the hanger door as well, heading for the trenches. Already, troops were posted up at the trenches and turrets a fair distance away from the base, though only a few men had been brave enough to volunteer for such a dangerous position. Oddly, Zidane and Stitch had been among those brave souls. Sora had found himself in one of the trenches closer to the base, and holding a heavy rifle he had no idea how to use efficiently.
Jacob had considered joining them, but he opted instead to assist with the wiping of the computers. Terra was standing at his side, looking as flustered as she usually did. Leia was also there, supervising the evacuation and just about everything else by running to and from each computer console. They were prepping something called an 'Ion Cannon', a weapon that would incapacitate a Star Destroyer long enough for a few ships to slip past. They managed to get two transports and a few fighters out before the ground assault started, which was far below the quota Leia had wanted to reach.
Sora felt very out of place standing next to men a good deal older than he was, but soon forgot about than when a much worse feeling set in. He wasn't sure exactly what the feeling was, but he came on when suddenly, the ground started to vibrate.
"Imperial walkers!" the radio crackled, the sound coming from one of the advance positions. "They're approaching, and preparing to fire! Look out!"
Sora could barely see the walkers in the distance, their massive hulking bodies looking like gray lumps on the white horizon. However, they gained quite a bit more attention when six massive red lasers flew in their direction, impacting the snow surrounding him.
Everything twenty feet to his left was obliterated, the white bodies of Rebel soldiers tossed into the air. The blast knocked him to the ground of the trench, though the man next to him reached down and pulled him up, yelling "What good are you, huh, kid?"
Everyone else had started firing, though Sora doubted that their shots would get anywhere near close enough to hit the vehicles. The large turrets behind him began to fire, though one of them was destroyed by another volley of laser fire, metal chunks of machinery flying in every direction.
Sora wasn't sure what good it would do, but he took as good aim as he could and pulled the trigger of his gun, lasers flying forth. It felt wrong to be holding such a weapon, after welding a sword for so long. However, he didn't have much more time to contemplate this, as another blast threw several tons of snow up into the air and brought them crashing down on top of his section of trench.
The forward trenches...
"This is the shit, huh?"
"Define shit, kid!"
Zidane pressed up harder against the side of the trench which faced the metal monsters. Another blast when off, though it was apparent that the walkers weren't aiming for them. Only a few shots had come their way, and they had sustained minimal casualties. Zidane and Stitch wound up staying low next to another man with a scruffy black beard and beady eyes. The man had a rocket launcher strapped to his back, though he had told them such a weapon would do little good.
"They're too heavily armored. If they deploy any of the smaller ones, I'll have a chance, but we don't even have to worry about those anyway."
Turned out, they had deployed a smaller walker; it stood on two legs instead of four, and had a small cockpit that looked to hold two or three people. It, unlike it's larger brothers, focused it's firepower on the small, seemingly unimportant trenches Zidane had signed up for.
"You gonna take shot at that thing?" the thief asked as a shower of show came down on them.
"I'm waiting for a closer target," the man replied. "See if you can't get a round off at the pilot first, though."
Zidane peaked over the top of the trench ever so slightly to see two small windows on the two-legged walker, and one had a head visible behind it. He aimed and pulled down the trigger, issuing the rapid fire of laser beams. Most of them splattered over the front of the vehicle harmlessly, but one managed to strike the pilot on the shoulder, knocking him away from the controls.
"Take your shot now!" Zidane yelled, ducking back down. The man popped up and fired two rockets out of the double-barrelled weapon, each one hitting home and causing the vehicle to burst into flames, tipping over and falling into the snow.
"We are so bad ass," Zidane said, looking at Stitch. "What do you think we should do now, buddy?"
"Squish stinky heads! Imperials gonna die!"
The man looked up again. "Well, we're screwed now. One of the larger ones is deploying Stormtroopers to take care of us."
"Crap," Zidane muttered. "Stitch, reload him, and I'll hold these guys off." He looked up again, and pointed his gun at the ropes the troopers were zipping down. Taking the time to line up a perfect shot, he let a few shots fly, slicing the very top of one of the ropes. It fell, as did the men riding it. While the lower ones landed in the snow without too much injury, others had a too far of a drop, and died on impact.
Zidane began to aim for another rope, but the men already on the ground decided that he was a problem and began firing at him. A close shot burned through a bit of his hair, alerting him to the fact that he should probably duck. In his wake, the other man popped up, his rocket launcher pointed at the advancing infantry. He let both of his rockets fly just as two lasers hit him in the shoulder.
"Gah-!" He fell backwards as the barrage of lasers stopped, the sound of screaming Stormtroopers filling the air. Zidane ducked down over him to have a better look at the wound just as a few of the troops who had been clear of the explosion began firing again.
"You okay, man?" the thief asked, looking at the burn holes in his clothes.
"I-I'll be fine. J-just my sh-shoulder, after all..."
"This is a lost freaking cause," Zidane muttered, grabbing the launcher. "Stitch, load me."
"Ih!" the blue creature said, quickly loading two shells into the launcher. Zidane nodded curtly at him before popping up and firing the two missiles at the group of soldiers again. He tossed the launcher to the side the second the missiles were gone, grabbing his rifle again. He unloaded the rest of the clip in the general direction of the Stormtroopers before tossing it to the side, ducking down again.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" he said. The man got up clumsily, but stayed low enough to be concealed by the trench. The three of them started moving towards a larger snowbank that would get them out of sight of the battle, so they could sneak back towards the air field.
Rear trenches...
A massive ball of fire penetrated the surface of the snow, and a lone teenager climbed out. He panted for air for only a moment before he fired off another ball of fire down what used to be a trench, melting a good deal of snow and lightening the weight upon his comrades, hopefully giving them the ability to escape.
He looked back out that the battle field: the walkers were more visible now, their gray bodies and red lasers clear against the white backdrop. They were still firing, and he could see smaller red blasts being exchanged down at the trenches below them.
"Hopeless," he thought. He clambered out of the hole he had made for himself just as other soldiers began to emerge from their otherwise graves. He took off towards the mouth of the base, snow being thrown into the air all around him. He felt a tiny boost of confidence as a squadron of speeders flew out of the base and shot off towards their enemies, but he knew it wasn't going to be enough.
Several minutes later...
The computers were done, and it was a good thing, too: the shield generator had been destroyed, and the air bombardment had begun. Everything around the base was being shaken up, and knocked about. The command center looked like a poorly put together garage sale, with the remains of computers and technology scattered about everywhere.
Almost all the transports were away. The troops had been called back in, all the pilots had gotten to their fighters. All that was left was the Shera, and one last ship for the soldiers and Princess Leia.
Princess Leia, Jacob, Terra, and C-3PO were still in the command room. They were working franticly, trying to squeeze the last bit of energy out of the computers. They were interrupted not only by a massive explosion, but also by Han Solo's abrupt entrence.
"They sent me to get you on your transport." he yelled. "They're inside the base, you morons! We've got to go!"
Leia shot him a glance of slight curiosity, perhaps wondering why he hadn't left yet, then turned back to the computer, saying, "Hold on Han, we've got to-"
But Jacob cut her off. "He's right, we've got to get out of here." He looked to Terra. "Seal up that entrance!"
"Right," she said, looking towards one of the two doors. "Blizzaga!"
Ice crystals flew from her hands, and formed in front of the door, sealing the room off.
"That'll slow them down," Jacob said, grabbing Terra's hand. "We've got to go, Leia!"
"Right, right," she muttered, standing up, though she was still typing. Han grabbed her shoulder and yanked her away, leading her out the door behind Jacob and Terra, with C-3PO bringing up the rear.
"Sir! Do wait for me! I'm not built for speed, you know!"
They ran through the crumbling halls, with Jacob and Terra keeping a good ten feet ahead of the other two humans. However, the distance was increased a bit when the ceiling caved in, Han suddenly whirling around and pushing Leia back, barely keeping her from the heavy rocks and ice.
Jacob turned and ran back to the barrier. A tiny crack gave him enough room to talk to those on the other side.
"We can't clear all of this away!"
"I know, kid, I know!" Han replied. "I'll just take Leia to the Falcon." He reached for his comlink. "I'll tell her ship to take off. You get moving!"
"Right! See you soon!"
"Keep away for a while, though!" Leia's voice came as he jumped down, grabbed Terra's hand again, and took off down the hall.
The Shera...
The ramp lowered as Jacob and Terra moved as fast as they could through the snow. Sora was waiting for them, and it was apparent that Cid was already at the controls. The engines were revving, and the propellers atop the ship were twirling. There were still imprints in the snow where the other transports had been sitting.
"Are we everyone?" Jacob called.
"Barely," Sora replied. "Zidane just beat you."
"There won't be any Ion support, so Cid better have a few tricks up his sleeve!" Jacob yelled as they boarded, the ramp closing and the ship lifting off before they were even properly aboard.
"He's already getting the warp drive ready," Sora replied. "May not travel as fast as light speed, but it doesn't take half as much time to warm up."
They were moving faster than Cid had flow for a long time. They could feel it, even though there weren't any windows. They jerked several times as they passed through the atmosphere, and they suddenly felt a longer, harder series of jerks as laser blasts went off all around them. They waited for a few moments before the ship gave the mightiest jerk yet, and then there was nothing else.
Elsewhere...
Tex shook her head slightly, and clutched the armor over her Heart. The soldier next to her, who's call sign was 'Scarecrow', looked at her. "You okay?" his voice projected through his helmet.
"... Shit..." she jerked slightly, then stood up. "I... I'm okay. But someone else isn't..." she staggered off in the direction of their ship's cockpit, where Sienex was on call with Vader. She walked in unannounced, and didn't wait for them to stop talking before she butted in.
"Isamahii has left Kairi," she said. Sienex turned, clearly glaring at her under his helment, though Vader was interested.
"Indeed?" he asked. "So the connection is still working?"
"I think so. But it's not getting us any closer to finding the new Princess."
Whoops, I didn't think of this disclaimer last time! The Winnie-the-Pooh characters aren't mine, nor is the Hundred Acer Wood. Boy, how much I would pay for a book that could send me there... You think I'm joking, don't you? I can watch Red Vs. Blue and Winnie-the-Pooh too, you know!
Oh, and one of the men Cobb was working with was Arthur. Duh. Did I forget anything else? Lea from the flashback. The walkers, I guess... Remind me if I missed anything.
Well, there's chapter two. Longer, like the ones from the end of last book. Chapter length will be a lot more varied this time around.