A Trip Down Memory Lane
( summary; What a horrible feeling that had been, not being able to tell the difference between dream, and the real thing. )
( disclaimer; The worlds and characters of Kingdom Hearts belongs to Squeenix and/or Disney. Story is mine. )
Chapter Two;
W LC ME TO DOWNTO N
"You should've told us."
Kairi's subconscious awareness processed the voice and cross-referenced it in her own personal voice data bank. Bingo; It belonged to the kidnapper, that Sora guy.
"Like I said, you started the party without me. I would've warned you, if only you'd been a little more patient. S'not my fault."
She instantly recognized this voice as the one of Aaron Parker. He ranked a little higher on her list of importance, so she switched into half-consciousness.
A pathetic, "…Aaron Parker…" was all she managed to say.
Her eyelids fluttered open only to find Aaron's face very close to her own. "Oh, look! She remembered me!" he exclaimed with a smile.
He was much too loud and much too close. Kairi responded with a slap to his pale, tattooed face.
Before she passed out again, Kairi pegged the last voice she heard to the man with silver hair by default.
"Well, at least we know it's still Kairi."
•••
The next time she regained consciousness, she was determined to keep it. She concentrated on the quite murmurs of conversation around her.
"How did she hit her head like that?"
"I told you, I think she fell."
"From the fourth story?"
"The second story ladder was broken- she probably only fell one."
She groaned and opened her eyes. After they adjusted to the brightness, she was able to discern another pair of eyes staring back at her.
Kairi, learning from past experiences, sat up slowly. The person the blue eyes belonged to put a tentative hand on her arm as if to help her, but she flinched away. With a sweeping glance she took in the room around her.
It was small and round, with soft grey walls and bright fluorescent lighting. One single bench wrapped around the walls, divided by space for doors that let either in or out. She'd been resting with her head in his lap- Sora's, that is. If anything, he looked a little embarrassed about it. Across from them the other kidnapper spoke.
"Careful, your head isn't too right," She reached up and adjusted the loosely wrapped bandage. Underneath, dry blood cracked but she couldn't detect any sign from her injury. She ignored this defiance of practicality, for in her mind she was already framing all the questions she had for these people.
But now that he had established conversation, the second kidnapper jumped in first. "What's your name?"
She gave him a shrewd look. "Don't you know?" she shot back while trying to inconspicuously scoot away from Sora.
He just laughed wryly, green eyes flashing under a curtain of silver hair. "Alright then, let me rephrase that. What do you think your name is?"
The question caught her off guard, but she hid her unease behind a mask of indifference. She didn't see the harm in answering, however, seeing as Sora already knew it. "Kairi."
He nodded like she had answered the question correctly and she bristled inwardly. "Do you know who I am?" he asked next.
Kairi was through with cooperation and decided instead she didn't appreciate being interrogated. She crossed her arms and glared openly at him. "I don't normally associate with kidnappers," she spat.
Sora finally spoke up, his voice quite and contemplative. "Technically we're not kidnapping you, we're rescuing you."
Indignant, Kairi shifted her glare to the burnet. "Rescue me from what, exactly?"
"Well, Zexion, and whoever else kidnapped you…"
"You kidnapped me," she pointed out.
"Okay, well whoever kidnapped you in the first place-"
"No one kidnapped me!" she said exasperatedly. "I was living in my apartment with my husband minding my own business before you people, obviously deluded, broke in-"
"Wait," the other guy cut in. "You got married? When?"
She scowled at him briefly before refocusing on Sora. "Three weeks ago," she answered tartly.
He look relieved. "Oh, so you aren't actually married," he said, leaning back in his seat.
She turned to face him, her expression completely blank despite the growing anger burning up inside her. "Yes I am."
"Nah, you've only been gone two weeks."
She thrust out her hand at arms length, clearly brandishing the silver wedding ring at him. "Then what do you call this?"
"I call it a ring they stuck on your finger and told you was a wedding ring."
Kairi snapped. She stood up angrily and glared down at still unidentified kidnapper, her gaze hot and blazing. "Look, I don't know who you think you are-"
"I think I'm Riku," he interjected mockingly.
"-but I'll have you know Ienzo and I love each other very much, and you have no right-"
Riku (supposedly) stood up too, towering a good eight inches over her. "You don't love him. And I'm absolutely positive he doesn't love you."
Not caring what the percussions would be, Kairi pulled back her arm and slapped him as hard as she could. He didn't even flinch.
The floor gave a violent lurch, and then proceeded to leap and dive in a kind of jerky movement, depositing Kairi back onto the bench she'd previously occupied. She held on to the seat beneath her for dear life.
Finally the room rightened itself. Astonishingly, Riku was still standing. Silver hair hid his eyes from view, but the rest of his face had regained inexpressiveness. He grumbled something like, "I have to go talk to Axel about his 'driving'," before disappearing through one of the doors.
There was silence for a few moments. Kairi folded her arms again and pulled them closer to her body, pointedly facing the direction opposite of Sora.
"… I'm sorry about Riku. It's just- this is really weird for us." He said after a while.
Kairi pretended not to hear. "Are we on a ship?" she asked quietly.
He nodded, then realizing she couldn't see him, said aloud, "Yes. It's a gummiship. Mine, actually, but Axel's piloting it. We don't normally let him, for obvious reasons." One of those obvious reasons presented itself in the form of yet another shaky dive. "But we wanted to… um…" he trailed off.
He stopped rambling and Kairi seized the opportunity to turn around and ask another question. "So, we're in a ship. Where is this ship going?"
"Lovely Downtown Xedez," He said with a hesitant smile. "The heaviest place in all the worlds."
She knew what he meant. More than 99 of Xedez's core was made up of lead, whether solid or molten, with just a thin layer of rock making up the crust. Kairi was lucky; she lived in one of the nicer parts, where grass and tees and other plant life flourished, if somewhat difficultly. Downtown referred to most of the world that was less fortunate in that aspect. She'd heard it was a dark place, with tall crowded buildings and bright neon lights. Nonetheless, it was teeming with its own kind of life, and Kairi knew it would be quite an adventure.
Adventure? What was she thinking? This wasn't an adventure, it was a nightmare. She was being abducted by a couple of crazy guys and a paperman. The enormity of the situation just made the redhead bury her face into her knees with a heavy groan.
"Is it that bad…?" Sora muttered to himself. Kairi didn't reply.
Minutes passed by in uncomfortable silence, interrupted by the occasional shake and jerk. Though she could feel his eyes on her, Kairi ignored Sora with all her willpower.
That is, until she remembered something important.
She lifted her head and looked over at him tentatively. "What-" she stopped abruptly, unable to finish her sentence. Sora gave her a peculiar look.
"Yes?" he asked, trying to prompt her on.
"What- did you- did you kill him?" she whispered feverishly.
He leaned closer, unconsciously dropping into a whisper too. "Who?"
"Ienzo."
"You mean Zexion?"
"No."
He frowned but shook his head. Kairi sighed with relief and scooted a little closer to him. "Can I… can I see him?"
Sora looked at her uncertainly. "I'd rather you didn't…"
"Please," she pleaded, making sure to use her biggest and most despairing puppy eyes.
"…Alright." He scratched at the back of his head nervously. "As long as Riku doesn't find out…"
Kairi leaped to her feat with surprising quickness. She held her coat close around her as she waited for Sora to show her where to go, but he seemed to be stalling for any time at all. He shot a discreet glance at her and made for one of the doors. It slid open automatically, allowing them further into the ship. Only slightly surprised he hadn't tried to restrain her, Kairi followed Sora down a small hallway so cramped they were forced to walk in single file. He kept throwing glances over his shoulder at her, probably to make sure she hadn't run off. They reached another door at the end of the hall. This one, however, didn't slide open by itself. Instead there was a heavy lock, to which Sora did something she didn't quite catch. It swung inward.
Kairi shoved passed him and into a room only slightly larger than a broom closet. Ienzo's lifeless body lay crumpled in a corner. She dropped to her knees beside him and took hold of his shoulders.
"Ienzo?! Ienzo, please wake up."
His eyes snapped open immediately but it was a moment before he really took her in. "Kairi?" he struggled to sit up, wincing and putting a hand to his side.
Kairi placed her own hand over his, gently pulling it away. Blood stood out rather stunningly on the white of his labcoat, and, all the while holding her breath, she pulled away the shirt underneath to reveal a small bullet wound.
She gasped, her head swiveling around to glare at Sora reproachfully. "You shot him!"
"He shot at us first. We just blocked it, and it ricocheted…" he shifted uneasily under her accusing stare. When she made to stand, Ienzo put a hand on her arm.
"I'm fine. Really," he added under her doubtful stare. He touched the bandage slipping over her eyes and adjusted it. "At least they had the decency to fix you up."
To her embarrassment, Kairi's eyes began to swell with tears. "I- I'm sorry." She mumbled, head bowed. Ienzo rested a hand against her cheek and gently lifted her eyes to meet his.
"It's not your fault,"
Suddenly Kairi threw her arms around him. "They're crazy." she said into his shirt. He just hugged her back and shook his head.
"…We've gotta go now, Kairi." Sora said from behind her.
"Oh, don't leave on account of me," Riku's voice remarked sardonically.
Reluctantly, Kairi let go of Ienzo. Riku pulled to her feet smoothly and stepped in between them almost protectively. "I don't care whether you're Ienzo or Zexion," he said coldly. "Touch her again and you're dead." And he dragged Kairi out of the room. Sora followed behind, locking the door again. The three of them moved back down the hall, Kairi trapped in the middle. Riku let go of her arm and said to Sora, "We're landing. Axel's going to grab us a cab and then we're splitting up." The burnet just nodded in response.
With his little speech done, Riku made his way down the corridor and out of sight, leaving a glowering Kairi staring after him. "I would never have been friends with someone who's such a jerk," she grumbled.
Sora appeared to be immensely shocked by her statement. "You don't mean that," he said, sounding nearly stunned.
"Yes I do."
For some reason, this seemed to trouble Sora greatly. "Kairi," he said. She turned around so she could see him, and he went on. "How would you feel if a friend you've know almost your whole life gets kidnapped and when you see them only two weeks later, they don't even remember you? And they don't remember all the good times you had, or the bad ones that brought you closer together, and… and everything?"
I'd feel terrible, Kairi thought. But she didn't say it out loud. She had a feeling this was one of the most profound things he'd ever said, and her blue eyes met his questioningly. So far he hadn't presented himself to be capable of any deep thought, and she realized that for all he knew about her, she knew almost nothing about him.
And, as silly as it was, her heart swelled for him. Don't be ridiculous, she told it sternly, but it took no heed of her and continued to beat furiously as her and Sora's gazes remained locked.
The floor beneath them dropped suddenly and they were sent crashing against the white walls. The ship slammed into something below it with a tremendous THUD.
Kairi's head spun dizzily and for a moment she was afraid she'd throw up. When she was sure she wouldn't spill out her stomach if she opened her mouth, she said, "I think we crashed."
"Actually, I think we landed." Sora replied from somewhere to her right.
Kairi mentally rolled her eyes and muttered, "Same thing," before looking up. Sora's hand was held out her, silently offering her assistance in standing. But despite the intense moment only seconds earlier, she ignored it and picked herself up off the floor unsteadily.
Noiselessly, they departed the ship.
•••
Solid earth had never felt so good beneath Kairi's feet. The "gummy ship" (or whatever it was called) was parked in what appeared to be a large expanse of asphalt surrounded by dark, steep buildings. Their yellow windows stood out like millions of lights sparkling amidst a black forest, and the crowding made it feel as though they were standing in a sort of dead meadow.
A broken neon sign hung from the nearest building. In green blinking letters, it read, "W LC ME TO DOWNTO N".
Their little group moved onto a densely populated street. Aaron Parker stepped forward and with some remarkable talent, instantly summoned a dirty yellow cab. The vehicle was old, and rusted in some parts. Kairi distrusted it immediately.
Riku and Sora herded Ienzo into the back and scrambled in after him while Aaron held the door open for her. "Coming, Princess?" he asked with suave smile.
She frowned at her newly acquired nickname, but nodded in the direction of the car. "There's no way that thing is going to get us anywhere," she said.
He remained unfazed. "Well, it got here, didn't it?" But Kairi refused to budge, and he gave an exasperated sigh. "Look, just get in, okay?"
She shook her head.
"Is something wrong?" Sora called from inside the cab.
"I'm not getting in." she called back.
Aaron grabbed her arm. "Yes you are."
Then he proceeded to unceremoniously shove her into the car. Kairi yelped and braced herself against the doorway. They struggled like that for a minute before Aaron won the upper hand and slammed the door shut behind her. He smiled smugly through the window.
Kairi leaned in. "If you think you've kidnapped a defenseless little girl, you are sadly mistaken," she snarled viciously through the glass. Aaron appeared to be taken aback.
"Kairi," Ienzo cautioned from Sora's other side. She subsided, and Aaron climbed into the passenger's seat.
"The cheapest hotel this side of the Capital," he told the driver. Then he leaned back in his seat and watched her from the safety of the front. "The name's Axel, by the way." he said. "That's A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"
She nearly laughed at his lame catchphrase, but was silenced by the extraordinary tension that formed in the tight space when Axel shifted his gaze to Ienzo. "And how are you, Zexion? Still up to your scheming, manipulative ways? I s'pose this is your newest diabolical plan to destroy the keybearer and what-not?"
There was no answer.
"Suit yourself, Zexy," he returned his gaze to the dashboard and seemed to loose himself in thought. "But I don't think you're going to get out of this one, in the end."
Silence settled uncomfortably. Kairi shifted so she could catch a glimpse of Ienzo, only to find his face completely expressionless.
The rest of the car ride passed quickly and quietly, and suddenly Kairi was being shepherded onto the sidewalk alongside her husband. Riku stood in between them, of course.
"Be quick," he told the two men remaining in the vehicle. Sora nodded and shut the door. They drove off down the street.
The building they'd been dropped off at was quite a sight to behold. The skyscraper scraped the sky at maybe eighty-something stories, and only a few lights shone from windows fenced in with ancient wrought iron. The whole thing looked very dark and very decrepit it the twilight.
Riku secured a firm grip onto Ienzo's arm and they headed into the dingy lobby. The scruffy lady behind the reception desk booked them a one bedroom on the sixty-third floor.
"That's quite a ways up," Kairi observed in a faltering voice. She kind of had a thing for heights. But Riku gave her a reassuring smile, and, strangely, Kairi felt herself relax.
A high speed elevator awaited them, and happily lifted them up to their room in one single bound. Though it had only lasted a moment, Kairi thought she'd be permanently traumatized by the gut-wrenching experience. She was relieved to get into their room and collapse on the bed. Ienzo made to sit next to her, but with a death glare from Riku, swerved off and settled into a faded armchair.
Riku played with the light switch, but the lamp above them refused to shed its light. After a few moments of sitting in the darkness, he turned to the candle set on the bedside table. He placed his hand over it, and with just a mumbled, "Fire," it flickered into life.
Kairi studied the strange phenomenon. "Is that how you fixed me?" she asked. "With your… magic?"
He nodded. "A different spell, but the same thing, really."
She glanced at Ienzo and said, "Can't you heal him?"
Ienzo looked a little uneasy at the suggestion, as if he didn't quite trust this 'magic', but Kairi was steadfast. She stared unrelenting at Riku, who seemed unperturbed by her silent determination. Minutes ticked away slowly.
Eventually, Kairi dropped her gaze, and sung one syllable of defeat. "Please,"
Riku acknowledged her with a nod and turned to Ienzo. "It would be better off if you were dead," he began, then hesitated. "But I won't stoop to your level."
Even with his pacifying words, Riku advanced on Ienzo like a man with the intent to kill. The young scientist shrank into his chair.
"I'd really rather not-" he stammered, but Riku silenced him with a sharp glare. He placed a hand over Ienzo's chest, then seemed to think better of it and moved the hand to the scientists head. Ienzo flinched as Riku mumbled, "Cure,". A green light passed from Riku's outstretched palm into Ienzo's body, and the man fell limp in his chair.
Kairi gasped and Riku took a step back. "He's lost too much blood. And I was never much good at healing anyways. It's the best I can do," he added when she looked at Ienzo doubtfully.
He pulled up another armchair and set it in front of Kairi's seat on the bed. Once he had arranged himself comfortably on the green upholstery, she spoke up. "Where did the others go? Sora and Aaro- Axel?"
Riku had regained his usual expressionless, emotions hidden behind those bright green eyes. "They went to take care of the Organization members stationed here. Convince them to give your memory back, and things."
"Organization? What kind of organization?"
He continued to examine her impassively. "I think I should explain," he said at last.
"Yes, give me a general idea of what the hell is going on here," she snapped, slightly irritated that an explanation hadn't occurred to him earlier.
A low grumble rumbled through out the room.
"But could we maybe get something to eat, first?" she added lamely.
a/n; I'm not really sure how many chapters this will go, but I'm thinking around seven or eight. Maybe longer, seeing as I didn't even get as far as I wanted in this chapter. I apologize if it's starting out to slow or something.
Review, plz. Any sort of comments, critique, ect. is much love. ♥
