Blaaaaaaaaargh, so busy. Add Shikamaru's Block (combination of Writer's Block and SHEER LAZINESS), and getting into one of the toughest schools in my country, I've got nothing else to say here.
So... Since this is , I don't feel like adding discalimers, but will do so anyway for teh LULZ.
DISCALIMER: I Don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything else that is referenced and crossed over with here. I take liberties in kidna- uh... 'borrowing'... the characters for my little shenanigans~ 3
~Chapter 2: How do I explain THIS?~
We all share the same dream...
Yeah...
_!
No! _ would never do that!
Wake up...
Morning came too early for Sora. That letter left them sleepless, thinking of what happened 10 years ago, what COULD have happened to them. He stayed still for a few minutes, not wanting to move and deal with what the day would bring, but eventually he realized he had to move, he really had to go to the bathroom...
*THWUMP*
… and falling out of the bed provided a nice distraction from his thoughts.
Muttering several curse words under his breath and rubbing the sore spot on his head, Sora reluctantly got up and looked out the window. Sun shining, sky blue, birds singling, the tangy salt smell of the ocean carried by the wind drifting through the window. It looked like another sunny day in the island paradise...
"Sora?" Came the familiar voice of a woman from downstairs.
Oh...
SHIT!
"I COMPLETELY FORGOT! HOW THE HECK AM I SUPOSSED TO TELL MOM ABOUT THIS?"
When you've traveled around without parental guidance saving the worlds, you tend to forget about them once you get home. Sure it was fun, not having to go to bed at a certain time, eating whatever he wanted, not having someone constantly worrying over what you were doing. But then he came back.
Which then leads to the dillema:
How do you tell them that you're leaving AGAIN?
"Kairi? Kairi... Are you awake? Breakfast is ready!" Came an older female voice through the door.
"Y-yeah, mom!"
Kairi faced a similar dilemma, only she'd been thinking about it since last night, seeing as she had the advantage, or disadvantage, of actually being around her parents the past year. Or past two years, if you counted the time Destiny Islands had disappeared. Which was something she'd rather not remember.
"What do I do now? How do I explain this to them?"
'How about telling the truth?' A soft voice whispered from her heart. Kairi frowned.
"If I told them the truth, they'd lock me up even tighter than they already are, Nami..."
She could almost see the shy Nobody blush in embarrassment as she apologized to her Other. Truth be told, ever since she came back from being kidnapped, her parents had enforced strict curfews and had almost banned her from going off with her friends to 'their' island. In fact, they seemed to think that it was all Sora and Riku's fault that she had disappeared in the first place, simply because she when returned she brought back the two missing boys. Naturally, since the three were best friends, they though their 'precious jewel' had run off looking for those 'good-for-nothing slackers'.
"Kairi!" Came her mother's persistent voice
"Coming, mom!" Kairi replied
Hopefully by this afternoon she'd have figured out what to tell them.
Hopefully.
So it was with a bit of guilt that Kairi dragged her feet down to breakfast. It was like usual, her father was sitting at the head of the table, a newspaper hiding his face from her, a plate of half-eaten food in front of him. Her mother just sitting down to her own plate of food, and both carefully watching her as she sat.
"So... Just what do you have planned for today?" her mother asked, casually raising her food to her mouth with her fork.
"Nothing much." Kairi responded.
"Spending time with those slackers?" her father asked, his voice laced with obvious contempt.
"They're not slackers." Kairi replied, her voice showing just how routine the conversation was.
"They go missing for a whole year, then drag you into whatever they were doing."
"They're not slackers, and they're not trouble." Kairi replied, standing up from her barely touched plate. She calmly left, slamming the door shut on her way out.
Maybe she didn't even have to tell them when she left?
The house was empty, save for one person. Just as it was the past three months. And Riku was as alone, just as he had been in the past three months. The three months when he found out that had Grandpa died a few days before they came back.
Three months of missing the only parent he's ever known.
To be fair, he never knew that he had been sick. That Grandpa never told him about the sickness that ate him inside out and that his time was running out. That Grandpa had tried to hang on every day for more than a year to see him come back safe and sound. To see his surrogate grandson just before he died.
Every day, every hour in this house was just as painful as the last for the past three months. And Riku spent as much time away from it as he could, just to stave off the empty feeling in his chest every time he comes home, the home where Grandpa's scent lingered; so much like the sweet tobacco he smoked almost religiously every night before they went to bed.
He had no one to talk to about his new found apprenticeship. No one to worry about their reaction to the news.
Somehow, he'd rather spend the whole day fretting and making excuses than be alone any longer in the house.
He looked at the empty living room one more time on his way out, a small gust of sweet-smoky air greeting his nose as it closed.
*SHA-TZ!*
"EEEEEEEEEEK!"
Selphie screamed as a small, white creature suddenly appeared in front of her, its weird little head turning this way and that, as if looking for something. Wakka just rolled his eyes while Tidus held back a snicker. No matter how many times they saw it, it was always amusing. No matter how often they were around, it always seemed to take Selphie by surprise when a Nobody showed up. They didn't know how, but her hair seemed to stand on end whenever she screamed in surprise.
"?" Sora gasped, trying to catch his breath from running as fast as he could towards the source of the scream.
Well, he could have used his Dash ability, but that would have scared more people than necessary. He didn't want a repeat of what happened when he used his Air Dodge to retrieve a balloon in stuck in a tree for a little girl... The succeeding panic wasn't worth it, though a new fanclub for him has been started by the same little girl, most of the members young kids. None of them can decide if it was endearing or creepy.
"I just can't get used to these things!" Selphie huffed, as the Creeper hopped away, apparently not finding what it was looking for in the area.
"Really? I sorta did after a short while..." mused Tidus, unfazed when a Sniper suddenly appeared behind Sora, who was similarly unfazed of its sudden appearance and simply thanked it for giving him his wallet that he left in his room. Selphie simply screamed again, and Wakka just stared.
"What?" Sora demanded, "I left my wallet! Mum probably asked him to take it to me!"
"Only you, Sora... Only you..." Riku muttered as he arrived, shaking his head at the absurdity of it all. Here he was, a Keyblade master, accepting his wallet from a creature that had been his enemy a scant few months before, and accepting it as though it happened every day. Though knowing Sora, it probably did. Leaving his stuff and having a Nobody bring it to him the past few months, that is. Then again, how could an enemy becoming an ally and friend have been much different? Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for him anymore.
"So anyway, what was with you guys yesterday? When you came back from the island, you were all acting emo! Well, Riku more than usual anyway..." Selphie trailed off, oblivious to the glare of the silver-haired youth when she called him emo.
Then, a second later, the two Keyblade Weilders had the same 'OH SHIT' look in their faces, causing Selphie to grin rather sinisterly.
"Ok, NOW I'm curious! SPILL IT! What happened?" She demanded, edging closer and closer to the boys in a direct violation of personal space kind of way...
Until she came face-to-face with an upside-down sniper.
"Three..." Wakka counted, bracing himself.
"Two..." Tidus added, covering his ears.
"One." Riku rounded off in a disinterested tone.
"!"
"She always did have a nice pair of lungs..." Riku deadpanned, rubbing his ears as he watched her figure fleeing from the scene. Then he turned to the Sora and the Nobody.
"What did you leave this time?" He asked.
Or he would have, if not for the Sniper handing him a small container with a few sandwiches in it before saluting and teleporting away. Riku stared at the box for a few seconds more before sending Sora an inquiring gaze.
"It's from mom. She thinks you're not getting enough to eat."
"Ah... Ok then..."
Kairi was in a bad mood. Scratch that, she's in a HORRIBLE mood. Mostly because of her parents.
It's not that they were bad people, on the contrary, they were very nice people. Her Dad, the Mayor of their town was accomodating, friendly, and is always ready to contribute to the society. Her mom was strict, but fair in her own way, and was quite a good singer.
If ONLY they weren't so GODDAMN TRADITIONAL.
In fact, the only reason they dislike her friends was the fact that they 'encourage' her to act 'improperly', as opposed to acting like the 'proper young lady' she 'should' be.
Which involved sewing, cooking, learning how to sing and play the piano, cleaning, and looking pretty.
All of which, while she doesn't hate and finds sort of useful, save for the last one, can be so ANNOYING when the nagging for it was taken too far. ESPECIALLY for the last one.
It was only because she promised to meet Mrs. Kajiura, better known as Sora's mom, and ask her for advice, that they agreed to let her go. They though that she'd be asking 'girly' questions.
Which was true, in a way.
Only she'd ask her stuff more along the lines of 'How do I make my parents see that I DON'T want to be a pampered princess and that I WANT to go on adventures?'
I still feel kinda guilty... Namine voiced out, the words barely more than a whisper.
I'm not. I want them to see the real me. I don't want to hide anymore. I'm not some pampered princess doll just waiting to be rescued again and again! Kairi hissed, causing the shy blonde girl to recede further in the red-head's mind. Immediately, Kairi regretted lashing out to her Nobody, as she was still sensitive to her time in Castle Oblivion, or so she surmised.
Nami? Oh, God, I'm sorry...
I-it's alright. You didn't mean to...
Before Kairi could apologise further to Namine, a piercing shriek cut through the air, and a moment later, Selphie came running past, almost running into Kairi in the process, and just went going and going and going until the Nobody and her Other could no longer see her. But her screams remain.
… I guess she saw another Nobody... Kairi observed, a hint of sarcasm underlining her thoughts.
… I hope she never sees me... She might freak out so much she'll get a heart attack... Namine whispered from her hiding place somewhere between Kairi's scant memories of her Grandma and the plentiful memories of her favorite teddy bear she ducked into for comfort.
… I think she already saw Rox... Kairi mused, as they made their way to the direction Selphie came from.
No she didn't... I think we would have heard her gossiping non-stop about it by now if she did... Namine argued in her soft, shy way.
Oh yeah...
And Namine, from her hiding place, suddenly spotted an interesting, half-forgotten memory from Kairi's childhood, and started prodding at it...
Fear, replaced by awe. A gentle voice reassuring her.
Kairi was startled at the sudden recollection. Inwardly, she sought out her Nobody and asked, Uh, Nami? What are you doing?
Nami blushed, and murmured back, It looks interesting..., while prying apart the fog clouding the memory.
Oh. OK, carry on. Maybe we'll both remember something good afterwards! And... I really am sorry about that.
It's fine, replied the shy blonde, smiling now as her curious new project seemed more and more interesting the more she observed. Somehow, working with people's memories always cheered her up. Might have something to do with the ethreal sketchpad and pastels that show up by her side when she does...
And for Kairi, the thought of rediscovering something from her childhood had significally brightened her mood. To find a lead to her origins... Maybe the memory they unearth would help her convince her parents!
She started walking with a slight skip in her steps and a small smile in her face.
Maybe she'll find out where she's from, and why her recent dreams involved a person with blue hair...
"... You get it?" Riku inquired, as the whole group sat gathered in the bigger treehouse of 'their' island. Selphie had finally rejoined them fifteen minutes after everyone had arrived in the island, fuming and upset over the fact they left her, conveniently forgetting that she had run off after three straight Nobody encounters.
"Soooooooo... Lemme get this straight..." Tidus sounds off, voicing the thoughts of the other two kids in their group that didn't have unusual abilities, " You want us to help you think of a good enough excuse to let your-" Tidus points at Kairi and Sora, "-parents let you run off to some tower with an old wizard guy and learn magic there for an indefinite period of time?"
"Pretty much!" Sora replies in his usual cheerful way. None of the others could ever decide if Sora's upbeat attitude was real, a false front, or just a product of his thick-headedness. Deep inside though, they think it's mostly the third one.
The 'normal' half of the gang looked at each other, then at the Keybade Weilders, then back at each other. And then identical grins spread across their faces.
The decision was unanimous.
"Count us in!"
"Alien abduction?"
"Nope." was Riku's reply.
"You're actually spies?"
"Uh..." Secretly, Sora liked it, but it's obvious that the other two didn't agree.
"I'll take that as a 'no'. How about kidnapping!"
"SELPHIE!" Kairi admonished, as she still has issues over the times she was captured.
"OK, fine! Bad idea!" Selphie pouted. So far her ideas... well... weren't appropriate. Or realistic. Or even slightly believable.
Wakka decided to just NOT tell them, which earned a glare from everyone. But when Tidus suggested the truth, Kairi really flipped out on the faux-blonde, telling him that the whole point of the meeting was to prevent the parents from finding out. When she reminded them what her mom did when she disapeared, the rest of the group shuddered. An angry Mrs. Noriyuki was a frightening sight.
No one wanted a repeat of what happened when the three returned home. But one thing's for certain, that woman had a rather remarkable set of pipes.
More arguments and suggestions were thrown about. From Mafia to giant robots to magic, ideas both colorful and outlandish were shared, pondedred on, and subsequently rejected. When Wakka suggested that they're trying to hide from the same guys that kidnapped them, or so their public story went, the rest seemed to agree, until Riku pointed out that it mght just encourage the Noriyuki couple to keep a tighter leash on their 'princess'.
During all the discussions, one person kept unusually quiet. He didn't share suggestions, and only half listened to the suggestions, all with a thoughtful look in his face.
When they decided to call it a day, still with no concrete plan, Sora still had that thoughtful look in his face.
And if you could see into his heart, you'll find that Roxas too had the same look.
'Just breath Sora, just breath." The boy told himself as he stood outside the doorway to the living room where his mom sat on the couch.
"Mom." Sora said cautiously, walking into the room.
"Yes Sora?" Corine looked up from the picture she had been sketching.
"Um…." Sora scratched the back of his head, "Do you remember when dad used to take those really long fishing trips?"
The sound of pencil scratching against paper stopped as Corine gave her son her full attention.
"Yes, I do."
"Well… I know you never liked him being away for so long. I didn't either." Suddenly, Sora found his feet to be very interesting, "But…. Something's happened. I really gotta do something, and I have to leave for a while to do it. I don't know when I'll be coming back either."
Corine looked at Sora carefully for a few seconds before setting her work down on the coffee table and standing up. She guided Sora to a chair and sat him down. She took the one opposite him and looked him straight in the eye.
"Sora." She spoke in a calm yet commanding voice, "What's going on?"
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuh..."
Crap, Sora thought. He finally lost his nerve under his mom's gentle, but stern stare. The kind that mothers make when they catch their kids trying to sneak a cookie out of the jar. The kind that makes you feel so guilty that you're willing to confess to anything and everything just to get it to stop.
Not trusting his voice, he thrust the letter addressed to the three of them into her hands. He'd rather not have her read the list of atrocities that Xehanort inflicted to the worlds. It might give her a heart attack.
And as her eyes progressed down the page, growing wider and wider, Sora's heart fell lower and lower until he could swear that it was sitting above his stomach.
And when his mom faced him with an unreadable expression oh her face, he asked Roxas, "Did I really do the right thing?"
Roxas' silence spoke for both of them at that moment.
Beams of sunlight fell through the window on Kairi's open eyes. Another restless night, and though it was past 8 in the morning, she still hasn't gotten up. As she feigned a stomachache last night, they let her sleep in, though it didn't to any good. At this point, Kairi's so nervous she thought she might throw up. Still no excuse, and even though their departure is still a week away, she felt sick at the thought of hiding the truth from them for that long. She HAD to find a way to tell them the truth without her parents panicking.
She sighed, and got ready for the day, all while thinking:
This might be my only chance to find more about myself, where I came from, and who I really am...
Somewhere in her heart, Namine was still busy reviving that half-forgotten memory... And though still vague, it was starting to form a semi-solid recollection... Which Kairi experienced as she looked into the mirror...
Fatigue from running, throat hoarse from screaming, total utter fear. The sound of metal meeting something solid, a kind face, a gentle voice reassuring her...
Blue hair...
Fear replaced by awe. And a warm feeling from her hand as it closed upon... ?
The rest was too blurred. But it was enough to spur the two onwards. Kairi to face her parents, and Namine to learn more.
Kairi took a deep breath, braced herself, and opened the door...
And came face to face with a grinning Sora.
Kairi jumped back with a startled "EEK!", and Namine nearly dropped her 'project' on the rose-colored, wave-patterned mosaic floor of their heartscape.
"W-What are you doi-" She started, but Sora cut her off, saying " No time! C'mon!" and half dragged her down the hall, towards the stairs that led into the living room...
Into the sight of Sora's mom talking to her parents.
Sora motioned her follow him quietly down the stairs, where he ducked down with a silly grin on his face, ooking at the adults and obviously listening in to the conversation. Kairi rolled her eyes and followed suit.
"-so from what my son says, it was enough to earn them a scholarship!" the strawberry-blonde beamed, obviously happy over the arrangement.
Kairi blinked, then looked at the boy beside her. Yep, still wearing that big, goofy grin. And Kairi was now sporting the same as she heard her parents gush about how their princess was so brave and strong and smart and-
Wait... brave? Strong?
She felt her smile slide off, replaced with a small frown.
"What did you tell your mom-?" she hissed at her friend.
"I- Just listen first, all right?" Sora hissed back, missing rest of the conversation.
"Kairi!"
Kair nearly fell down the rest of the stairs from shock when her mother called her.
"C-Coming!" She replied, hopping down the rest of the way with Sora following her, still with that silly grin on his face.
This... is just CRAZY... The white-haired teen thought, as he eavesdropped from the window outside the Mayor's house. When he saw Sora and his mom head there, he got curious. So he followed them while keeping out of sight so he wouldn't be invited along. He was curious, but not stupid enough to not see that the Noriyukis HATE him. And then he saw, or rather, heard it. Mrs. Kajiura, Sora's MOM, actually did it. And by 'it', he meant 'convinced Kairi's parents to let her go on the pretense that she got a scholarship for FENCING, of all things, along with Sora and himself'.
That woman was NOT NORMAL. In a GOOD way. And she made pretty damn good cookies. Can't forget that.
And to think he forgot why he used to want to be Sora's brother, if only to have Corine Kajiura as his mom.
This... is CRAZY... the red-haired Princess thought.
And the worst part? It actually WORKED!
And it had to be FENCING, of all things! She shot a glare at her brunette friend, who was looking out the window, as if the clouds were the most interesting thing to look at, instead of the weirdness of the situation here.
"Kairi?"
Said red-head gulped, and put on her best 'I'm a GOOD girl' face for her parents.
"Yes, mom?"
"Why didn't you tell us you were in a scholarship for your fencing skills?"
The same reason I would never tell you I'm a weilder of the most powerfully destructive and silly-looking weapons in the universe..., thought Kairi, but she simply settled for a simple statement that, along with her falsely serene smile, betrayed her feelings.
"I thought you considered such things... 'unbecoming'... of me..."
Riku winced at the statement. When Kairi wanted to, she could make some of the cruelest statements, even if she didn't mean it.
He snuck another look at the living room, and saw the shocked faces of her family. He they would take this piece of news easily, because even if they were overbearingly protective, he knew they cared for Kairi almost more than they care about themselves.
And he knew that Kairi loved them that much as well.
It would KILL them if things progressed in a downward spiral from here.
"Riku?"
The white-haired youth choked back a yelp as Tidus spotted him.
"What are y-" He was cut off by a hand on his mouth and a shushing noise by the Keyblade weilder, and motioned him to just shut up and listen to the discussion between the families, which had started up again in glorious pandemonium.
Later that afternoon, Kairi was in a considerably good mood. Even though her parents was appalled at her mannerisims, she found that she couldn't care less. With that simple statement, it was as if a dam had broken inside her. She ranted on and on, talking about how... dissatisfied she was about her upbringing, how she hated being so restricted. Her parents were understandably shocked, while Mrs. Kajiura's face remained impassive. Sora on the other had had gaped, apparently torn between cheering for her and trying to get her to cool down.
Let it be said that even those with the purest hearts can get fed up every now and then. And Kairi was.
When they met up later on with Riku and the others, Kairi was beaming, Sora was confused, and Riku and Tidus looked... kind of like they lost the winds on their sails or something.
With a smile and a cheerful tone in her voice, she said:
"We're good! And I got my curfew extended for my training!"
Everyone, save for Sora, seeing as Riku and Tidus didn't stick around to listen to Kairi blow up, was, undertandably, flabbergasted. Wakka summed their thoughts up with a simple:
"Unreal..."
"Hm?"
A letter had appeared on his desk in a small stream of sparkles. His partners jumped at the sight, not knowing if it was threatening or not. With a careless wave of the hand, he assured that it was safe to open.
It was a letter from his... new 'client', he supposed that was the proper way to refer to him.
His eyes scanned the letter briefly. It was simply a reminder of the date he would come by and do his job. He would have dumped the letter, envelope and all, in the trash can already until he spotted a picture sticking out. The last part of the letter DID say that he'd give him a picture of the three kids he was supposed to protect then.
And when he saw the faces of the trio, his eyes widened.
He then decided that he and King Mickey need to talk RIGHT NOW about the three. Most ESPECIALLY about one specific member of the trio.
~End~
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand done. I edited the previous chapters a bit to make it flow better and all that as well, so you might wanna check them out.
Here's a little extra, as a christmas present to you guys:
~Sora makes Riku eat his words~
Sora, as usual, was grinning like an idiot. No surprises there. But the unusual thing was that it was a smug smile, and that Riku was gaping at a pic his friend handed over to him.
" Bu-bu-but-!" Riku stammered.
"I tooooooooooo~old you, but you wouldn't LISTEN~" Sora sing-songed.
"BUT THAT MEANS-!"
"Yeah, you're on the Naughty List for the next few years, for all that crap you pulled. Not to mention you've been there ever since you accidentally lit Mr. Kojima's cat's tail on fire and didn't tell anyone."
Riku found that he couldn't come up with a single retort.
That incident with the cat, followed with a rather bland Christmas, was why he stopped believing in Santa. And it was all his fault.
Riku spent most of the afternoon sulking, and some people have said that they heard him saying something about a list.