A/N:Sorry for updating this late, we went for a vacation where, sadly, there is no access to any computer of any kind gasps in horror . Don't worry I'll make it up to you guys. This lil' fanfic of mine might turn out to be not so little after all. Enjoy reading, buddies, and please review and let me know whether you like it or hate it to death.
Summary: It's the little things that hurt the most. Between love and duty is a decision he will regret for the rest of his existence.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts doesn't belong to me. Do you see my name in the credits? I think not.
II: Fare YouWell
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"You have reached the Gummi Ship Network communications division. If you know the local number, press it now. To reach the operator, press 0."
beep.
"Good morning, this is operator Fallah, how may I be of assis--"
"Get me King Mickey."
"I'm sorry sir, but the Gummi Network does not accept calls for Disney Ca--"
"It will."
"But sir--"
"Get me the King now!"
"I'm sorry sir, but this line will be disconnected, we cannot tolerate such rude prank--"
"The hell with it! I AM NOT JOKING! Put the King on the line now or I will personally make sure His Majesty knows that you are the reason why the stars are going out one by fading one."
"I'm sorry sir, I don't understand what you are saying."
"Just patch me through, darn it! Patch Sora Hikari through! Please, lady."
"...!"
"Hello!"
"Hello!"
"Hello!"
"You have reached Disney Castle, overseer of the Worlds. To reach the Treasury, press 1. To reach the Court of Magic, press 2. To reach the Captain of the Guards, press 3. To reach His Majesty's Hall, press 4. To reach--"
beep.
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"Hikari! Pay attention!"
Riku glanced at his best friend as he got reprimanded by their professor in Advanced Sword Handling and Maneuvering for the fourth time in the subject. "Hikari, I don't care if you're the youngest student in my class, it would do you well to listen!" Some of the other students smirked at the professor's warning. True, Sora was the youngest in this class, by three years at most.
Sora looked up at the professor and shrugged. Apparently satisfied, he went back to teaching ( -enemies always have a weak spot--it would be in your best interest to find--) and the Wielder resumed staring off into space, something that Riku knew Sora would never do (c'mon, he was always the ball of excited nerves). Advanced SHM was kind of boring sometimes, but not this particular topic. What's bothering him? Riku thought. What could bother him, anyway? Both of them were home, Door to Darkness sealed, Organization XIII pushing up daisies...
He caught the boy staring out of the window, his eyes glazed over. Maybe he really was a psychotic Keyblade Master. He smiled at the thought and returned his attention to the professor (-of course, if you can't find the weak spot long enough before you die, there's-). He never noticed that the glazed look in his friend's eyes held sadness. A lot of it.
(-there's only one thing to do.-)
(-Run away.-)
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Of course he couldn't run away. Not if you were stuck inside someone else's head, living someone else's life, when you had your own memories of your own damn existence. He couldn't just get fed up and get up and leave his Other in the dust. Hearts never worked that way. (Roxas was again, fuming, nobody ever told him that he would still be Roxas after returning to Sora.) Sure, Kingdom Hearts was locked, Heartless gone (only their pathetic excuses for Emblems still crawled around), all their worlds back and connected, that was fine and dandy, but what about them? The Organization got out lucky, they just faded back where all dark, dank and gloomy things came from, but he, he was stuck with a life he doesn't even own! He wanted to scream, to yell to the world on about how unfair it all was. Sadly, Sora still had control over him.
The bell had rung, and his Other was walking the halls of Destiny Islands Academy aimlessly, much like a zombie looking for sweet sweet release from existence (which was what Roxas was exactly wishing for now). Yeah, Sora was stuck in a rut. No, make that a canyon that opens all the way down, even past the Underdrome and Hades' Office for the Dead and the Dying. Basically, it came down to two things: love and duty. (He could hear Sora mentally agreeing with his Other Side.) And it was hard as hell making a choice. Why not just... run away?
"Sora! Hey, Sora!" a voice trilled behind Roxas (No, no, NO, behind SORA! he snarled).
Kairi. Sora's Princess of Heart. Not that Roxas cared, he didn't dabble in his Other's love life, he had his own (he felt he had to emphasize that) to deal with.
He felt his Other's -- no, their heart crack. -Do not endanger a princess of heart.- If he had a body, he would've bit his lip. Sora stared into Kairi's purple eyes. Roxas stared into Naminé's cerulean eyes, which were alight with happiness. How he wished he could just take over and be somebody for once. Did Naminé feel the same about living a half-life? (How would he know then--he couldn't even just go and ask, he couldn't do something as trivial as that, and that irritated him even more)
"What's up with you?" she asked, concern painting her face (-Naminé loved painting- Roxas sighed) as she glanced upwards at Sora. "You look... a little down. I mean, you're not your hyper, bouncy, kinda irritating but adorable self." (That was the first time she said that without blushing.) "Something wrong?"
"Just..." Sora's mind worked furiously, "...thinking about my parents." He grinned (it took a whole lot of effort to do that, given the situation he's currently in) and took Kairi's hand in his own, squeezing tightly. "Sorry about spacing out." She squeezed back, her touch comforting yet saddening at the same time.
Roxas looked down at Sora's hand. He could almost feel Naminé's hand. The crack was slowly spreading. Sooner or later, they would both have to let go. Love or duty?
"I'll walk you home." Naminé smiled at him. He was glad that both girls couldn't read what was running through their minds. For the last time.
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Riku watched through a window as Sora and Kairi stopped at the latter's front door. As much as he would like to watch, he turned away and was confronted by a literal swarm of Shadows, all bearing the Heartless seal (guaranteeing that yes, after milk and cookies they will have a go at your heart, and no, they will not do your book report, thank you very much). A single Firaga took care of that, though. He heard the door swing open as more of them Shadows popped up.
"Hey--"
"LIGHT!" Sora yelled, swinging his Keyblade up, blinding him temporarily. The light still hurts, he admitted to himself. As soon as regained his vision he noticed the swarm was nowhere to be seen. Riku stared at the other Wielder in disbelief. The ward was up and running hard on Sora's energy. "What did you just do?"
"I got tired of running into Heartless everytime I open a door, Riku. So I figured, what the hell, and---"
"You know, I got tired of that a long time before you did." he cut him off, irritated at how long it took Sora to notice that it was a bit dangerous to have hungry, heart-ripping things everywhere you turn. Well, he was irritated at how...shallow Sora was in general.
"Sorry," the other boy apologized quietly as he let his Keyblade dissipate into tiny dancing specks of light. Without another word he walked (shuffled, more like) past up the stairs, most probably, to his room.
What was up with him? Riku thought as he followed suit, reveling in the fact that no Icy Cube would ever try and kill him by making him slip on the steps. He pushed Sora's door slightly open as he passed, and caught him, his back turned, directing his Keyblade at a piece of parchment.
Okay, something's definitely up.
"And what do you think you're doing?" he asked, clearing his throat. Sora jumped a little before letting his Keyblade go, the parchment fluttering to the floor.
"I can't do this," he said even more quietly than before (dangerously quiet, if you ask him), his back still resolutely turned.
"I don't think I've ever heard you use sentences only one at a time, Sora," Riku grinned, thinking the other Wielder was joking. He picked up the pale parchment, recognizing the King's seal on the back. "Oh c'mon Sora, you still hung up on the knighting thing?" He didn't think Sora would be that shallow.
He sighed tiredly. "Riku, read the note again. I can't take it anymore."
"What? It's just the same---" he almost choked as he saw what the King had written. He trained his eyes on the note and read it again and again (never mind that it's almost falling apart due to Sora's insistent folding, and never mind the horrible blood stain on one ragged corner), his mind working furiously for a few minutes, in which Sora kept blessedly silent.
"I can tell you one thing," he finally said, rolling up the parchment, peering into Sora's face. "I'd hate to be you right now."
The Wielder's face fell as he dropped down sitting on the edge of his bed, putting his head in his hands, looking the very image of defeat. Riku crossed his arms and leaned against the door. The silence was unusual and irritatingly deafening.
"I called His Majesty days ago, Riku. He explained to me everything. If I don't seal the remaining hearts, well..." he trailed off, his voice muffled by his gloves.
"Why won't the King do it himself? I mean, he did go out and seek Ansem the Wise, and left the throne to Queen Minnie--"
"He's got a kingdom to run and worlds to watch over, darn it!" Sora cut him off, snapping his head up, clearly angry. With whom, well, that was a different matter. "He has duties and responsibilities on a major scale! On the other hand, I'm just a kid living on an island in the middle of the damn blue ocean, with absolutely no major duty to anyone, with no one to need me or damn care!"
"Who told you that?" Riku carefully asked, now a bit afraid of Sora's (he didn't go and just yell like that) reaction.
"Who else, Riku. King Mickey." he huffed angrily. "This is so unfair. Why, of all the damn Keyblade Wielders out there, why does he have to choose me!"
Now he was scaring Riku. Who thought Mr. Happy-go-Lucky could harbor such anger (and spew it out too, just like that)? But like the rational and straight-to-the point person that he was, Riku reread the letter again and asked the question that kept bugging him. "Well, it comes down to two choices, buddy: love or duty?"
"I...what? Love or duty! Now I know why you got Advanced Philosophy." Sora grinned before frowning again (that grin kept popping up in the most unusual places). "If I don't go, more Heartless will appear, and you guys will be... you know..." he looked up pleadingly. "Listen, Riku, I don't have any choice! It's a lose-lose situation for me."
"Listen to me. I'll admit, I don't want you to go (Sora made a little spluttering noise at this point) but you have to do what your heart tells you. Sounds cheesy, but hey, that heart saved us all a couple of times before." Riku smiled slightly. "Don't let the King push you into this. But if you go, Kairi will be mad as hell for breaking that promise we made. Can't we all go together on this trip?"
"You know we can't." Sora gazed at him balefully. "Should I tell Kai? Should I ask her whether I should---"
"You're hopeless, Sora. Yeah, I meant that."
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Kairi was sitting on the docks again, reliving a particular moment of her life that she just knew she'd cherish forever. (And so that was the signal for Naminé to start giggling again.)
"Uh... Kai?"
Her head whipped around to see her prince that she was daydreaming about, coming up on the dock she had her feet dangling from.
"Kairi... I have to tell you something."
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That was a particularly long chapter right there. How will Kairi take the news? Wait for my next chapter. Reviews please. Flames are accepted. :D
