A/N: Oheylook! It's chapter 4! Anyway, thanks for the comment, Axelyssa, and the positive feedback phantom-people-that-I-know-IRL-who-shall-remain-nameless. *cough*John*coughcough* Anyway, I'm pretty excited about getting to the real story. Again, thanks goes out to Chibi for putting up with all my nonsense, as per normal-love you, sis! XD
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts aside from the copies of the games and manga I bought, nor do I own dragonblade3325's game script-just my ideas and a good few OCs (one of which I'm thinking might actually drop in to say hi a few chapters from now...).
Chapter 4- To Pieces
She had to wait for him, and every moment of it was torment. She watched the other, fake memory her as she waited for him as well, waiting to trap him, seal his fate as Marluxia's pawn… No. No, she wouldn't let that happen. She couldn't let that happen.
So she sat, invisible among the illusion of his homeworld created by his altered memories and waited for her should-have-been hero to appear so she could shatter her could-have-been perfect illusion and free herself from everything related to the lies. He made her remember how to feel guilty, she was tearing apart the true memories he really cherished so she could replace them with fake ones where she was the one he really cared about. In a way, she thought as she waited, that really made his emotions towards her just as fake as her own emotions in spite the fact he could truly feel rather than just halfway feel through memories (and, for her, another person's heart).
She wasn't sure what she would say, but the moment she saw him, heard him talk to the fake memory her, she knew exactly what to say. "No, it's okay. I promised I'd protect you. That's why I came." She heard him say, and she knew then that her time was up.
"Thank you. Oh, Sora, forgive me... I'm not supposed to be in this picture." She forced the fake her to say, and then she stood and stepped forward, shaking off the illusion that kept her invisible.
"She's right." She admitted with a painful, twisted-up little smile. He reacted with shock, calling her name in surprise, as if it were reflex. "That's not me. I'm not in your heart. I'm not in anyone's heart. I never have been." He backed away from her, closer to the fake her.
"What... What are you saying, Namine? What's gotten into you? We were inseparable! But then I lost you... I came here so I'd never lose you again!" He protested in denial, she flinched at the words. This was what she had wanted, him wanting her, thinking of her as somebody, coming to rescue her…and yet here she was, tearing everything about her perfect little dream to pieces. We nobodies can never hope to become somebodies… That was what Axel had told her earlier, and yet she had tried not to believe him then; now she understood full well what he had meant.
"Was it really me you came for?" The question was painful beyond belief for her, because she knew the real answer, yet she also knew the answer he would present her with.
"Of course it was! I may have forgotten things in this castle, but not you! Look! You gave me this, didn't you?" He produced the morphed charm that his real light had given him, the charm whose shape and background inspiration came from that out-of-place memory about stargazing with two other boys older than him that made her laugh. She shook her head slowly, closing her eyes and picturing the memory as she summoned up more words, more of the painful, painful truth.
"You still have it! My good luck charm…" The fake, who had been quiet until then, spoke up, sounding cheerful.
"No, Sora! Don't believe me!" She sputtered, cursing her luck and that stupid copy of her.
"What am I supposed to do...?" He was so confused, she could see it, and she knew if she was ever going to break the spell she had over him, it had to be done now.
"Think, Sora. Think of the person who's most special to you. See that faint glimmer way in the back of your heart? That's a piece of your memory, Sora. Call out to it! No matter how far away the light gets, your heart's voice will always reach it." Call out to her, turn away from me and go back to her, the one who casts the shadow that is me… She had told Larxene that no matter what, he would grow closer to the other one-her original—rather than her. Back then she had been told that should be her incentive not to screw up, but now she could see that that was impossible. She couldn't not screw up because she wasn't supposed to keep him. She was supposed to lead him astray and then show him the right way back, like a good little shadow. She wanted to cry in frustration, would her "life" ever be her own?
"But I already know who's most special to me. It's you, Na—" She watched as his eyes seemed to glaze over and he froze. That's it; don't say it because it's not me. Remember that it's not me, remember that it's her and stop trying to lie to me and yourself. She turned and stepped out of the illusion, disappearing from his sight and heading for the door to the hall. However, she couldn't get out the door before she heard him say "Who... Who was that? I can't remember her, but she feels so...familiar..." and then the door shut softly behind her and she heard no more. Her shot at perfection lay in pieces, and she had been the one to shatter it.
The replica had been right about one thing after all and she really wished it hadn't been.
A/N: So, yeah, this chapter was cut in half from it's original length when I realized it was about twice the length of the other chapters... Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, I really love to see feedback/comments/feedback from you readers! See you all again next week!