Sorry for the wait! A lot's happened... a trip to Florida, studying for the midterm, the midterm, the snowday that made the miderm get delayed... I doubt the next wait will be quite that long, althought I doubt I should make any promises... ^^;;
Nagem: Feel free to critique, I could use some advice! The only other way I could get it is... *shudder* show it to my english teacher! O.o Actually, I don't have all the details of the plot worked out, but it'd be a good idea if not for the whole "can't exist in two places at once" thing.
Kintora: Sorry, that probably didn't qualify as soon ^^;; As for the questions... wait and see!
Chapter 4
Back in the future, Riku returned back to the screen, only to find an empty chair. "Koko?" he asked. No response. Had something happen? Had she gotten the scanner to work? Or... he thought with a surge of dread... had his past self proven to be less trusting than he had hoped?
He rolled his chair over to another screen, one that was in contact with the king. "Mickey, are you there?" he asked.
The king's concerned face appeared on the screen. "Riku? What's wrong?"
"We have a problem. Several, actually."
Mickey frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Well, Koko crash landed, so something's been knocked loose in the engine room. I don't know the details, but she says she can fix it. But her scanner isn't picking up any Heartless, and the diagnostic says there's nothing wrong with the scanner. I went off-screen for a moment to try and get more information, and when I came back she was gone."
"Well, I wouldn't worry about the ship. If she says she can fix it then she probably can. And as far as her being gone, who knows. It could be anything. There's nothing on that island that would put her in danger, so I doubt she's in trouble. But the scanner... has she checked the range it's set to? Or the Heartless it's supposed to pick up? The settings could have been changed in the crash, and if that's the case the diagnostic wouldn't pick it up."
Riku sighed. "I'd think she's already checked it."
"Actually, I don't think she knows it can be adjusted. We had it preset so that she wouldn't have to mess with it."
"Lovely..." Riku muttered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
At that moment, Koko reappeared on the screen. Before Riku could say anything, she quickly said, "Can't talk, bye!" And with that, her screen was turned off.
"What the...?" Riku muttered.
"Riku? What happened?" asked Mickey.
"She shut off her screen!" he exclaimed.
"Maybe the others came to check up on her?" Mickey suggested.
Riku sighed. "This is probably my fault..."
"How would you know that they'd visit her?" Mickey asked, puzzled.
"No... Not me-me, past-me." He sighed again. "I shoulda warned her I'd raise hell once she got there..." He shook his head. "How's things on your end?" he asked.
Now Mickey sighed. "I'd rather you didn't ask."
"That bad?"
The king nodded. "Over and out," he said.
Riku leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I should be out there too," he said to himself. But he was needed here, being familiar with Destiny Island, he, Sora, and Goofy-who visited often- were best qualified to give advice.
Meanwhile, Donald and the king....
Mickey flipped down the lid on his communicator. He knew he left Riku with the impression things were going bad, but he'd rather not tell him just how bad.
"I'm not sure how long we can keep them back," Donald said to Mickey, watching the dark mass on the horizon. The Heartless.
"We just have to hold them back long enough for Koko to complete her mission. Another day or so. After that... this won't even have happened."
"What did you tell her?" asked Donald, who knew very little of the private briefing Mickey had given to Koko.
"Only what she needed to know," Mickey said. He was beginning to regret that decision... Maybe Koko had a right to know just how much rested on her mission.
"I assume this didn't fall under that category?" Donald asked.
Mickey shook his head. "I didn't want her to worry too much."
Donald turned his gaze back towards the horizon. "They'll be here by dawn."
Mickey considered. They couldn't hope to beat this many Heartless at once, even with all three Keyblades. But they didn't have to win. They just had to hold them back until sunrise tomorrow, to keep the base safe until then. Once Koko completed her mission, everything that had happened up until now would change. That was what he kept telling himself...
Koko ran through the shallow water ahead of Riku and Sora. She had to turn off that communicator before Riku and Sora got there without looking suspicious. It would be disastrous if they saw the future Riku. He hadn't changed much, so there was no doubt they'd recognize him. And she couldn't very well say, "Just a minute. I need to turn off the communicator so you don't see who I'm talking to." Yeah. Because that would go over SO well. Like everything else that's happened she thought bitterly.
Koko pulled the door open and lifted herself in, shoving herself through the door rather ungracefully. She really should see if she could move the ship onto dry land. She got up and scrambled to the control panel, and, seeing Riku had returned, said, "Can't talk, bye!" and quickly flipped the switch off. She'd have to explain later.
"What's the hurry?" asked Sora, climbing into the ship.
Think of something, think of something NOW! "Uh... Well, you see... I thought... the tide was coming in! And I wanted to make sure the ship wasn't getting flooded!" she said quickly. Oh yes, she was good.
Riku climbed into the GTM after Sora. Koko turned away at the look on his face. He still didn't like her. She flipped on the scanner. "This is the scanner," she told them.
"Scanning..." the automated voice said flatly.
"Maybe it'll pick something up this time around?" said Sora hopefully.
"There are no Heartless in this vicinity. Thank you."
"Or not," Riku muttered.
The three teens tried a few things, but Sora and Riku didn't know any more than Koko, and it all added up to very little.
"This is USELESS!" Riku growled, slamming his fist on the chair. "For all we know she's not having trouble with anything and she knows EXACTLY what she's doing!" he cried, glaring at Koko.
"Riku, calm down," Sora said. He smiled. "You can tell by looking at her she's a bad liar," he said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Or a good actor," Riku muttered.
Koko had had enough. "Look, Riku. I don't know what you have stuck up your anus but if not anyone else think of Kairi! I'm doing this to save her life! If I don't take care of this, she'll die! I don't know what you think I have to gain by tricking you!" she cried angrily.
Riku spun around to face her. "I have no idea what you have to gain. But I know one thing: Your story doesn't make sense. Why didn't you just tell us you needed to save Kairi? Why give us that bull about a lost memory? Huh?" he demanded. "How do you know she'll disappear? If that IS the truth, you're not telling us the whole story! Why not?!" he yelled. "I wanna know-"
"RIKU! That's enough!" Sora shouted. "Just because you don't completely understand what's going on doesn't mean she can't be trusted! Let's just giver her the benefit of the doubt for now."
"What? So she can just stab us in the back later?" Riku demanded. He snorted. "You've got to be joking."
"Hey, what's all da yellin'?" asked Wakka, appearing in the doorway. He pulled himself into the ship. "We can hear you all de way from da beach, ya?"
Riku shot a glare at Koko before jumping into the shallow water and walking towards the shore.
"What's his problem?" Wakka asked.
Sora shook his head. "I dunno," he muttered as he left the ship too.
Wakka sensed tension in the air even after they left. He laughed nervously. "So dey're mad dey can't fix da machine, ya?" he said in a vain effort to lighten the mood. He looked over at Koko who was slumped in the pilot's seat with her arms folding on the control panel and her head resting on top of them. "Koko? You alright?" he asked.
Her shoulders shook as she let out a muffled sob. Wakka walked up behind her and put a hand on her back. "What happened back dere?" he asked softly.
She lifted her head and wiped her eyes. Leaning back in the chair, she told him what Riku said. When she finished, Wakka said, "Look, Koko. I trust ya. And I tink Sora does too, ya?"
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"But... I still don' understand why ya had to make up the memory loss bit. It doesn't make sense, ya?" he said. "Riku does have that going for him. Why not just say what your intentions are instead of lying?"
Koko sniffled. "I'dve liked to, but... I was told... that I had to say my memory was gone..." She said, hiccupping.
"Ya mean you're not workin' alone? Someone else is callin' da shots? Who?" he asked, curious.
"I... they're... my friends. And they want to save Kairi," she mumbled. She wasn't sure what to say anymore. She was trying to be as honest as possible without telling what she wasn't supposed to.
Wakka sighed. "You're... what? Thirteen, fourteen?" he asked.
"Fifteen."
"Ah. Well, why send a fifteen-year-old on this sort of mission?" he asked. "I don' get it, ya?"
"They couldn't come. Don't ask why. They just couldn't," she muttered. She wiped at her eyes again.
Wakka leaned on the armrest and put a hand on her shoulder. "Koko... I've given you my trust. Give me yours. Please. Dis ting's no good bottled up inside. I promise I won' tell de others if you don' want me to. Why's Kairi so important to you?"
Koko hiccupped. "I... can't..." she shook her head.
"Koko, please. I promise it'll stay between us, ya?"
Koko remained silent for a moment before saying, "She's... my mother."
Well, of couse, it can't be as simple as just saving Kairi can it? Something more sinister is brewing behind this! What else hasn't King Mickey told us? Find out next chapter! (Maybe...)
Nagem: Feel free to critique, I could use some advice! The only other way I could get it is... *shudder* show it to my english teacher! O.o Actually, I don't have all the details of the plot worked out, but it'd be a good idea if not for the whole "can't exist in two places at once" thing.
Kintora: Sorry, that probably didn't qualify as soon ^^;; As for the questions... wait and see!
Chapter 4
Back in the future, Riku returned back to the screen, only to find an empty chair. "Koko?" he asked. No response. Had something happen? Had she gotten the scanner to work? Or... he thought with a surge of dread... had his past self proven to be less trusting than he had hoped?
He rolled his chair over to another screen, one that was in contact with the king. "Mickey, are you there?" he asked.
The king's concerned face appeared on the screen. "Riku? What's wrong?"
"We have a problem. Several, actually."
Mickey frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Well, Koko crash landed, so something's been knocked loose in the engine room. I don't know the details, but she says she can fix it. But her scanner isn't picking up any Heartless, and the diagnostic says there's nothing wrong with the scanner. I went off-screen for a moment to try and get more information, and when I came back she was gone."
"Well, I wouldn't worry about the ship. If she says she can fix it then she probably can. And as far as her being gone, who knows. It could be anything. There's nothing on that island that would put her in danger, so I doubt she's in trouble. But the scanner... has she checked the range it's set to? Or the Heartless it's supposed to pick up? The settings could have been changed in the crash, and if that's the case the diagnostic wouldn't pick it up."
Riku sighed. "I'd think she's already checked it."
"Actually, I don't think she knows it can be adjusted. We had it preset so that she wouldn't have to mess with it."
"Lovely..." Riku muttered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
At that moment, Koko reappeared on the screen. Before Riku could say anything, she quickly said, "Can't talk, bye!" And with that, her screen was turned off.
"What the...?" Riku muttered.
"Riku? What happened?" asked Mickey.
"She shut off her screen!" he exclaimed.
"Maybe the others came to check up on her?" Mickey suggested.
Riku sighed. "This is probably my fault..."
"How would you know that they'd visit her?" Mickey asked, puzzled.
"No... Not me-me, past-me." He sighed again. "I shoulda warned her I'd raise hell once she got there..." He shook his head. "How's things on your end?" he asked.
Now Mickey sighed. "I'd rather you didn't ask."
"That bad?"
The king nodded. "Over and out," he said.
Riku leaned back in his chair and sighed. "I should be out there too," he said to himself. But he was needed here, being familiar with Destiny Island, he, Sora, and Goofy-who visited often- were best qualified to give advice.
Meanwhile, Donald and the king....
Mickey flipped down the lid on his communicator. He knew he left Riku with the impression things were going bad, but he'd rather not tell him just how bad.
"I'm not sure how long we can keep them back," Donald said to Mickey, watching the dark mass on the horizon. The Heartless.
"We just have to hold them back long enough for Koko to complete her mission. Another day or so. After that... this won't even have happened."
"What did you tell her?" asked Donald, who knew very little of the private briefing Mickey had given to Koko.
"Only what she needed to know," Mickey said. He was beginning to regret that decision... Maybe Koko had a right to know just how much rested on her mission.
"I assume this didn't fall under that category?" Donald asked.
Mickey shook his head. "I didn't want her to worry too much."
Donald turned his gaze back towards the horizon. "They'll be here by dawn."
Mickey considered. They couldn't hope to beat this many Heartless at once, even with all three Keyblades. But they didn't have to win. They just had to hold them back until sunrise tomorrow, to keep the base safe until then. Once Koko completed her mission, everything that had happened up until now would change. That was what he kept telling himself...
Koko ran through the shallow water ahead of Riku and Sora. She had to turn off that communicator before Riku and Sora got there without looking suspicious. It would be disastrous if they saw the future Riku. He hadn't changed much, so there was no doubt they'd recognize him. And she couldn't very well say, "Just a minute. I need to turn off the communicator so you don't see who I'm talking to." Yeah. Because that would go over SO well. Like everything else that's happened she thought bitterly.
Koko pulled the door open and lifted herself in, shoving herself through the door rather ungracefully. She really should see if she could move the ship onto dry land. She got up and scrambled to the control panel, and, seeing Riku had returned, said, "Can't talk, bye!" and quickly flipped the switch off. She'd have to explain later.
"What's the hurry?" asked Sora, climbing into the ship.
Think of something, think of something NOW! "Uh... Well, you see... I thought... the tide was coming in! And I wanted to make sure the ship wasn't getting flooded!" she said quickly. Oh yes, she was good.
Riku climbed into the GTM after Sora. Koko turned away at the look on his face. He still didn't like her. She flipped on the scanner. "This is the scanner," she told them.
"Scanning..." the automated voice said flatly.
"Maybe it'll pick something up this time around?" said Sora hopefully.
"There are no Heartless in this vicinity. Thank you."
"Or not," Riku muttered.
The three teens tried a few things, but Sora and Riku didn't know any more than Koko, and it all added up to very little.
"This is USELESS!" Riku growled, slamming his fist on the chair. "For all we know she's not having trouble with anything and she knows EXACTLY what she's doing!" he cried, glaring at Koko.
"Riku, calm down," Sora said. He smiled. "You can tell by looking at her she's a bad liar," he said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Or a good actor," Riku muttered.
Koko had had enough. "Look, Riku. I don't know what you have stuck up your anus but if not anyone else think of Kairi! I'm doing this to save her life! If I don't take care of this, she'll die! I don't know what you think I have to gain by tricking you!" she cried angrily.
Riku spun around to face her. "I have no idea what you have to gain. But I know one thing: Your story doesn't make sense. Why didn't you just tell us you needed to save Kairi? Why give us that bull about a lost memory? Huh?" he demanded. "How do you know she'll disappear? If that IS the truth, you're not telling us the whole story! Why not?!" he yelled. "I wanna know-"
"RIKU! That's enough!" Sora shouted. "Just because you don't completely understand what's going on doesn't mean she can't be trusted! Let's just giver her the benefit of the doubt for now."
"What? So she can just stab us in the back later?" Riku demanded. He snorted. "You've got to be joking."
"Hey, what's all da yellin'?" asked Wakka, appearing in the doorway. He pulled himself into the ship. "We can hear you all de way from da beach, ya?"
Riku shot a glare at Koko before jumping into the shallow water and walking towards the shore.
"What's his problem?" Wakka asked.
Sora shook his head. "I dunno," he muttered as he left the ship too.
Wakka sensed tension in the air even after they left. He laughed nervously. "So dey're mad dey can't fix da machine, ya?" he said in a vain effort to lighten the mood. He looked over at Koko who was slumped in the pilot's seat with her arms folding on the control panel and her head resting on top of them. "Koko? You alright?" he asked.
Her shoulders shook as she let out a muffled sob. Wakka walked up behind her and put a hand on her back. "What happened back dere?" he asked softly.
She lifted her head and wiped her eyes. Leaning back in the chair, she told him what Riku said. When she finished, Wakka said, "Look, Koko. I trust ya. And I tink Sora does too, ya?"
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"But... I still don' understand why ya had to make up the memory loss bit. It doesn't make sense, ya?" he said. "Riku does have that going for him. Why not just say what your intentions are instead of lying?"
Koko sniffled. "I'dve liked to, but... I was told... that I had to say my memory was gone..." She said, hiccupping.
"Ya mean you're not workin' alone? Someone else is callin' da shots? Who?" he asked, curious.
"I... they're... my friends. And they want to save Kairi," she mumbled. She wasn't sure what to say anymore. She was trying to be as honest as possible without telling what she wasn't supposed to.
Wakka sighed. "You're... what? Thirteen, fourteen?" he asked.
"Fifteen."
"Ah. Well, why send a fifteen-year-old on this sort of mission?" he asked. "I don' get it, ya?"
"They couldn't come. Don't ask why. They just couldn't," she muttered. She wiped at her eyes again.
Wakka leaned on the armrest and put a hand on her shoulder. "Koko... I've given you my trust. Give me yours. Please. Dis ting's no good bottled up inside. I promise I won' tell de others if you don' want me to. Why's Kairi so important to you?"
Koko hiccupped. "I... can't..." she shook her head.
"Koko, please. I promise it'll stay between us, ya?"
Koko remained silent for a moment before saying, "She's... my mother."
Well, of couse, it can't be as simple as just saving Kairi can it? Something more sinister is brewing behind this! What else hasn't King Mickey told us? Find out next chapter! (Maybe...)