A/N: Thank you for your patience, I really appreciate it! School makes it harder to update, and it's even harder with four stories going on at the same time. I have to try and balance myself as much as I possibly can, though I hope you all will appreciate and notice that this is the one of the two stories I frequent more often in comparison to my others! It's because I'm so grateful for the feedback I get! I promised that as soon as I get at least ten reviews, I would strive to update as soon as possible, and I'm an author of my word. School makes it harder, but again, I trust that you all will be understanding!
Whew! Anyway! On with the story~!
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He paced back and forth. He had adopted the habit. Pacing wasn't really the best distraction he could come up with; even though he was still moving, he wasn't forced to concentrate solely on it. While his legs moved absently, his mind was anything but. Instead, it was going this way and that, flying from one end of anxiety to the other end of rage. He thought of doing more— he could go out and cut down more Heartless. It would take him from here, but it would at least give him something to do other than just let his mind rot from the inside.
And although the prospect of going out and taking down more Heartless would leave everything more…accomplished…Riku could not bring himself to do it. Because that was just the thing— doing so would take him away from here. He had been at Sora's bedside ever since the doctors had finished with him. Kairi had helped them through the ordeal, given the fact that her few days with Aerith supplied her with a little bit of useful knowledge. She wasn't a trained doctor by any means at all. But she had seen Aerith do and re-do Sora's bandages about a million times. She knew the ins and outs of the thing that would help him the most at that moment in time.
So now they were left to wait. It was all they could bring themselves to do at this point. Sora had put himself through far too much physical strain— at the moment, his body was completely ruined. He'd been bandaged up tightly once again, yet the wrappings were already soaking through a bright red. The keybearer was burning a hot fever, and an extreme amount of pain was twisting his expression, even in unconsciousness. Kairi was sitting at his bedside, her own expression fatigued and wrought with worry as she was leaned over to hold his hand tightly in her own.
That was how they passed the time. Riku paced, and Kairi acted as a fretful shadow to her friend, her blue eyes strained beyond capacity. The two of them hadn't spoken much since everything had died down. Those that attended the medical wing the Palace were standing at the door of the room, waiting attentively in case there was any change in the condition of the patient that had been brought to them. As soon as Sora had bene rushed into the Palace, the Emperor had ordered swift and utmost care to him. They were not about to let the man down. Of course, the team was also very well aware of the boy's part in ridding China of evil once before.
They had done all they could with patching up his injuries. Yet they could not properly stitch the wounds closed unless the bleeding stopped. Tensely, everyone was waiting for just that. The team of medical professionals claimed that it might be best that the new gauze over Sora's chest was becoming dark with blood. The added pressure could help to clot, and then once most of the gushing subsided, they would be able to discern where exactly new stitches were needed. They could pinch the ruined skin together and make sure that it could all be sewn back.
That was what they said about the bleeding, anyway.
Riku saw the bloody bandages and only felt a sense of fear so powerful he thought he might get sick.
Kairi seemed to share the same idea, going by the look on her face.
As if sensing the pair's growing discomfort, yet more likely just understanding that they were running out of loitering time, a few of the doctors paced forward in the effort to look over Sora once more, flashing Kairi a slightly uncomfortable look as they neared. Thankfully, she got the hint. The redhead cleared her throat, fighting a grimace as she took her fingers away from Sora's limp ones, which fell back emptily on the bed once they were released. Her gaze was heavy, and it lingered on her unmoving friend as she stumbled back to Riku.
Seeing her staggering, a sense of panic jarred the other out of his thoughts. He turned and reached out, steadying her before she could collapse. She took the help with a mumble of thanks, her lips hardly moving with the gratitude. Riku looked at her in concern. It was clear that she was more than shaken. Looking at her, Riku's mind was thrust back in time to that night that they had found Sora. She looked exactly like she did then, hunched over Sora's body and trying to shake him awake with desperate screams. Scared, wracked with panic, and her own type of agony.
He dragged his mind back to himself, before he could make the whole situation even worse. Instead he cleared his throat, turning over and looking over at his friend, struggling to jar himself back into controlled thinking. He cleared his throat, and when he spoke next, his voice was clipped and brisk. "I should…I should probably spread the news to the others," he said. Up until now, there had been so much going on, that he hadn't even thought of telling the rest of the group that they had found Sora. Now, even though the situation was still tense and high-strung, there was a moment to breathe.
The doctors were beginning to slowly unravel the bandages stretched across Sora's torso. They were going to begin the stitching apparently, though Riku's stomach felt nauseated at the realization that his friend was still losing blood. There was still a reason to hover and worry, but Riku knew that he couldn't put off calling the others back. He knew that if Leon and Yuffie had found Sora like this and they hadn't told Riku as soon as they possibly could, he would be beside himself with fury. He couldn't be a hypocrite and do the exact same thing to them.
Kairi frowned, looking unsure. She turned and looked over at him, her eyebrows knitting together in worry. "Are you…sure?" she asked, her voice unnaturally soft. When Riku just turned and met her gaze, she reverted back to gazing over at Sora. She seemed suddenly a million pounds heavier. Her lower lip shook a little bit, and she reached up to rub at her eyes, as if worried that there was a chance some stray tears might fall. Her next words came out in the form of a weary sigh. "…What if…what if he wakes up when you're gone?"
He was confused. Looking from Kairi, to Sora, he said slowly: "Well…I mean— hopefully he will." They were starting to stitch him closed once again. Sora's head was drooped to the side limply, the straying pain still prominent there in his features. He looked way too pale, and now Riku realized just how small he was. You didn't notice a fact like that when he was up and fighting and laughing and talking. But you did notice how fragile he was when he was like this— exhausted and on a bed with bloody wrappings being peeled off from a dark-red chest.
He was so tiny.
That was the problem, then, wasn't it? Thinking that he understood the reason for her apparent worry, Riku moved to reassure her as best he could. "He will wake up, Kairi," he said, his voice stressing the idea to try and drive it into her mind even quicker. She was still deflated, however; her expression was still clouded over and run-down. He took a step closer to her, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder in what he hoped would be a gesture of compassion. Or at least a gesture she would be able to clutch onto. "He'll pull out of this. The doctors aren't even that worried." That last part was a little bit of a lie, but he moved on anyway. "He'll wake up. Don't worry, Kairi."
"That's not what I was getting at," she said, her voice getting thicker and thicker. Her words were congested and hard to get out, and Riku felt a rising burst of frustration and sorrow at the fact that his friend was so upset, and he could do little to nothing to help. She wiped at her face again, her cheeks flushing a bright pink. It looked like she was having a hard time swallowing. "I meant...what do I do if he wakes up?" she amended.
Riku stared at her. His reply was delayed, and when it came, it was hushed. "He's…he's still the same old Sora, Kairi…" he tried weakly.
She immediately flared, turning to round on her friend. "Is he?" she demanded.
Riku was taken aback, his eyes widening out. His mouth hung halfway open as he became too stunned to get anything back. Kairi glared at him a moment more before her mind caught up to herself, and she realized how sharp her voice had grown, and how loud. Her hands had fisted at her sides, and she had to make a conscious effort to relax. Yet even when she did, she did so with difficulty. She turned back front to face Sora, her expression melting from harsh and enraged, to exhausted. With how beaten-down she looked, Riku had to restrain himself from realizing how similar she looked to their friend, who was still unresponsive.
Tears leaked down the sides of her face, and she cleared her throat, choking back a swallow and shaking her head. "I shouldn't have yelled. I'm not angry at you," she said, her voice broken and cracked. "I'm…I'm angry at myself." She sniffed, fighting a grimace. "I should have known that taking the keyblade was a bad idea. Going with you all was a bad idea. I should have stayed with him— I should have seen how upset he was! How upset I was making him!"
Riku was already shaking his head. "Kairi, you have no reason to think that you're to blame for—"
"But I am!" she protested in a sob. "I am the reason he's like this! He wasn't doing very well before, but he got even worse once I left Merlin's house! Can you believe that!? I left him! Him! How could I do that!? He's my…he's just…he's so important to—" She closed her eyes tightly, grimacing as she backtracked, unable to finish the thought herself. She sounded thoroughly ashamed of herself. "I helped cause this. Now he's anything but the same old Sora." She would know, too— she'd been at his side since they were little.
There was a small pause before Riku could bring himself to reply to her. "You didn't know that he would do this," he said. "None of us did." Kairi just shook her head again, but he turned so that he could put his hands on her shoulders. He raised his eyebrows and waited until she was forced to look up and meet his gaze. Though she did so very reluctantly. "We were doing what we had to, Kairi," he said slowly, ensuring that she would understand every syllable. Her lower lip trembled, and her eyes seemed much too shiny all of a sudden. But she didn't say anything, just listening.
So he continued, just as forcefully. "Without us going out the way we did, the worlds would be even worse than they already are. They might have even started to die out again like before. We were just doing our job. And you were just trying to help. We had no other choice— Mickey made that clear, didn't he?" Kairi was still far from being consoled. He sighed underneath his breath and tried again. "Sora is still the same old Sora," he reinstated. "He's just…he's been through too much. He's upset now, and he'll probably be upset tomorrow, and probably even the day after that. But he's still there. You don't have to worry about what to do with him. Because he's still here."
Kairi wilted. Her expression folded in on itself. "It doesn't seem like it," she whimpered piteously.
Riku tried to offer her a smile that he hoped looked better than it felt. "Then maybe you're just not looking hard enough."
He'd thought that it would be enough to finally light a grin on his friend's face.
But she only let out another sob. "I've been trying to look harder; but it still doesn't work," she said, ducking her head and pressing the heels of her hands hard into her eyes. She gave another sniff, and a cry that caused her shoulders to jerk unevenly. "I just…" In front of them, the doctors were talking in voices too low for them to hear, stitching Sora's wounds closed after putting the sopping bandages off to the side.
Kairi shook her head, completely wallowing in remorse. "I never had to look at him hard before all of this. To see him happy. He always just...was. What if…" She turned and looked over at Riku through wide, tearing eyes. "What if I never get to look at him the same ever again?"
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Yuffie gasped in and out, her breath scraping against her throat in wheezes. Her arms and legs were burning in exhaustion and pain, and every added movement just made it all the more worse. They had been fighting Heartless for what seemed like forever. They'd hardly had time to go out and look for Sora— every time that they moved to try and search for their friend, another barrage of enemies stood in their way. They couldn't possibly bring themselves to just ignore them. Not only would that be immoral, but it would be impossible at the same time. There were just too many of them.
She and Leon had gone to search in Halloween Town. According to Riku, Sora had tried to use this place as a refuge at least once; they figured it could be a prime candidate here as well. But if it was, they would be here having no idea at all. Currently, they were just trying to keep themselves from dying, dodging in and out of gravestones and cutting down the Heartless as efficiently and effectively as possible. Yet despite the efforts to go quickly, they'd been like this for hours. They had only searched the woods they'd landed in initially.
They weren't going to get anywhere like this.
Yuffie ducked down, narrowly avoiding a Heartless that launched itself at her. She hissed, grimacing hard as she lashed her arm out harshly, throwing out another one of her stars that turned to slice through the shadow. As it flew back to her, and she snatched it back into her hand, she couldn't even feel the slightest bit of triumph. Another Heartless down, and there was just a million more to go. The thought was hollow, but it was nothing short of the truth. She spun around and caught another one, her lungs aching from their efforts to just draw in air.
She whipped over to look at Leon. He was slicing down walls of the Heartless, his face a mix of deep anger and pain. And dealing out another few blows and kicks, she raised her voice up into another shout. "There are too many of them!" Her voce was laced with irritation. While they were stuck doing this, where could Sora be? If he was in danger or getting hurt somewhere, they were just wasting time! And what if he was actually here? They had all split up— that would mean that they were currently Sora's only hope. And here they were just focusing on the Heartless!
Leon turned back to look at her, seeming just a frustrated. He let out a yell as a Heartless sliced at his arm, but he did not leave it a gap to reconsider or regret its action. Once he recovered, he shouted back over to her: "Maybe we should split up!"
She considered it, not being able to reply instantly thanks to the fact that yet another stupid enemy tried to leap for her throat. She sliced it away with an angered swipe. Splitting up? She hadn't considered the idea. Surely there would be other Heartless wherever they went? It looked like the world was crawling with them. They'd been fighting for at least an hour if everything was compiled into one length of time. Everything in between, and they'd been searching in the forest. Wouldn't these bursts take place no matter where they went?
"You think that would work?" she asked in a yell. She was slightly dubious of the idea. Both because it might be pointless, and because she didn't feel comfortable leaving Leon behind, or letting Leon leave her behind. For all they knew, Sora had been taken again by someone. That meant that there was something else going on, and even that they could be in danger of being taken too. The thought was enough to instill in her a sharp lash of fear, which prevented her from giving up and taking off in pursuit of Sora.
But, as she continued to hammer and strike against those that were in front of her, a cold sense of realization settled over her to make her see that she was being awful. The fear with the thought of being taken…that could be a feeling that Sora had been living with every day. She remembered all the times that her friend had seemed distracted and lost, even when someone was talking to him. Or when he looked so tired and worn-out right after he'd woken up.
He had been suffering underneath that pressure for the longest time now. He might even be taken right now, reliving whatever torture he had been forced to undergo a second time over. If Yuffie let herself be deterred just by the fear that something would go wrong for her, then she would not just be an awful friend— she would be an awful person in general. She couldn't let it stop her. They came out here to find Sora. That meant they would find him. They had to.
She gave a nod of affirmation, her eyes narrowing into determined slits. "Right!" she shouted, slicing through two more shadows. These things were everywhere! "You go on ahead! I can handle these things! You go and try to find Sora!"
Leon, surprisingly, fought back. "No! You go!"
Yuffie glowered, irritated sparking to life in her expression. She turned and rushed closer to Leon, so that she wouldn't have to yell as much. She could hardly make her lungs work enough to breathe normally, much less shout. "I don't think this is the time to fight about this!" she snapped. "You go on ahead! You're faster than I am! And you're stronger! I'm already tired; you clearly aren't!" Leon turned and flashed a look in her direction, but she refused to let it stop her. Because she was right. "You'll find him quicker than I would! You're a more formidable opponent! So go on! I've got things handled over here! You go and find Sora!"
Leon hesitated. He continued to stare at her, his expression starting to change a little bit. Instead of peeved and off-put, he seemed to grow almost…worried. Concerned. He stopped fighting entirely, slowing down to resort to just staring at her. This caused Yuffie to stop as well. She perked, blinking as her own expression started to weaken. She started to open her mouth, trying to gather her scrambled thoughts together enough to say something.
Leon beat her to it, though. "How did everything get to this point?" he rasped, his voice empty and hollow.
She jerked back in surprise, as if she had been slapped. Still, her mouth stayed halfway hanging open. Her brain spluttered, as if an impossible math equation had been placed in front of her, rather than a single question. But just because it wasn't some equation didn't make it any less impossible, of course. She swallowed hard and tried to come up with something that would be good enough to suffice. "I…I don't…" Nothing worked.
Leon continued to stare at her, genuinely waiting for an answer that she didn't have.
Thank goodness they were interrupted.
Before she could stutter out a response, there was a sudden burst of magic. A dark black wave spread out from absolutely nowhere. At first, Yuffie was only driven even crazier at the sight of it. She couldn't stand these things around her; something that caused such a powerful spell like this would only be the final nail in the coffin. She couldn't put up with much more. Fumbling and watching the wave swirl all around them to make everything pitch black, Yuffie reached out blindly to take tight hold of Leon's hand. She felt a reassuring squeeze in return, and tried to hang onto that as much as she could. Because whatever the source of the power was, it couldn't be anything good.
When the wave subsided, Yuffie nearly jumped out of her skin. The place was empty. Well— not completely empty, no. There were a few Heartless straggling in the aftermath, spinning and wounded as they could only stagger limply, low on health. Yuffie wasted no time spinning her weapon out so that it cleared through the last few, causing them to disintegrate on spot. Only then did she look up to see the source of the magic, though by this point, she had her own hypothesis which, of course, turned out to be correct.
Riku was standing a few ways away, his arm dropping back as he started to slump, falling to the side. Immediately Leon took off, bolting to his friend's side and helping him before he could collapse. Riku's head was hung so that his chin was touching his chest; the attack had been strong, no doubt. But it seemed to have sapped him of his strength. "Riku?" Yuffie gasped, rushing after Leon as quickly as she could carry herself on her exhausted legs. "What are you doing here?" They'd all agreed to stay split up unless absolutely necessary. Sora was the top priority— they'd agreed on it. She felt a sense of concern. "Where's Kairi?" Had something happened?
"She's back…she's back at The Land of Dragons," the other rasped, his breathing labored as one eye stayed closed in a grimace. "I left her there with— with him." Him? Him!? Less than a second passed and Yuffie was completely at attention. "I had to come and tell you that…" He was heaving, sweat beading down his forehead as she reached up to try and mop it away. He cleared his throat and forced himself to stand, ignoring the fatigue. "You don't need to keep going."
Yuffie was so surprised that she didn't even react. Leon, however, was immediately over the moon. A beam split over his face, and he gave a bubble of laughter. "You…You found him!?" he demanded, relief seeming to come off of him in waves. Slowly, Yuffie began to react in the same way as her shock ebbed. Still helping Riku stand, Leon grinned from ear to ear. "T-That's great! Right? Is he okay? Is he safe? Was he in trouble!?" The questions were like water bursting out of a dam.
Riku swallowed. He was getting himself back under control, despite the tax it was putting on him. His voice was reverting back to normal, and his breathing was more regularized. "We found him," he confirmed. "He had some kind of stupid idea in his head. He had just gotten done fighting a whole hoard of Heartless with some others that were there." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "He'd ripped open all of his stitches. Every single one." The others' expressions fell at this, yet he kept going. "We had to rush him to get help. That's where he is right now. I figured you would want to know."
Yuffie's smile lost some of its momentum. "Just a little bit," she said, sarcasm lacing her tone. However she dropped the act quickly, her smile turning into a deep frown instead. "So…is he going to be okay?" she asked, her concern for her friend only doubling. He hadn't been taken, then. He was safe in that respect. But ripping open all of his stiches? And having such a headstrong idea to leave in the first place? What was he thinking!?
"We hope," Riku answered, his voice a low mutter. "I left Kairi to be with him. He hasn't woken up yet— he's getting new stitches as we speak." He shook his head. "You should have seen him. He was bleeding all over the place, completely in pain…and he was still trying to get away from us." Leon and Yuffie frowned in sync, Riku's voice softer as he said this last part. He seemed to grow a little bit more absent, staring off into a space for a few heartbeats before he rasped out anything more. "Kairi's…Kairi's worried." It didn't come out like he'd thought it would.
Yuffie's expression softened. She leaned over and tried to catch his gaze. "We all are," she said softly. Riku didn't reply, and, glancing over at Leon, Yuffie felt a strong desire to try and comfort him. The two of them weren't all that close of friends. Oddly enough, from the time Riku first got here to now, they didn't have a lot of time to pal and joke around. When you had something else so pressing on your mind, it was hard to focus on anything else. But she knew how much Sora meant to him, despite how hard it was to show it recently. After all, the two of them had paired up together to try and save Sora in the first place, before anyone else had. She'd seen how far he was willing to go for him.
"Hey," she said softly, waiting until he was brave enough to meet her gaze. "Don't worry. Alright? He's just scared from all of the Heartless. We all are. We still don't even know where Merlin went!" Her voice cracked a little bit at this, and she had to cough and clear her throat, to keep from being lost in translation. "He just did what, apparently, he thought was right. What he thought would help the most. That just means that when this all calms down, we need to talk to him. Make it clear that nothing's going to change from here on out. Because that's what he's worried about— he's worried about change. It'd be normal for someone like him."
"I know," Riku mumbled softly.
She blinked, frowning even more. There was a long pause, in which both she and Leon just stared at Riku, who seemed too preoccupied to say anything more than those two words. Eventually Yuffie cleared her throat, knowing that if they loitered any longer, they would be attacked all over again. And if they were ambushed, they wouldn't have Riku's powerful magic to back them up again. Though he'd recovered enough to stop gasping for air, he was still weak, and he was still holding onto Leon for leverage. Not to mention, of course, that they were wasting time just standing around here. "You said he was in The Land of Dragons?" she asked.
Riku nodded. Only then did he take his arm back and right himself.
Yuffie hesitated, gauging the look on his face. Then she offered him a small smile. "Look, why don't you go back to Sora?" she offered, ignoring the swift look that Leon shot her. She would rather rush to Sora's side too— none of his friends here wouldn't. But she could see how beaten-up Riku was, despite how hard he was trying to make him seem anything less. Throughout this whole thing, he had been trying to make himself seem calm and collected and unaffected by anything. She knew that wasn't true. "Leon and I will go and spread the word," she said. "You just get back to Sora."
Riku perked. He looked at her in a stroke of confusion. "You…you don't have to do that," he said.
"No, I know I don't," Yuffie returned gently. "We never really have to do anything. But you go on ahead. We've got it under enough control. Not to mention that you're already worn-out after you spent all your energy on that one attack." He seemed like he wanted to object, but they all knew he couldn't. "You go back. To him. We'll catch up."
Gratitude flooded his features, and Riku offered her a small smile. "Thank you…"
She grinned and gave a small nod. "Friends do whatever they can," she pledged.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
Kairi sat at Sora's bedside, her expression dreary and weighted. Her chest felt heavy, and her eyes felt like they were on fire, despite how many times she ran her hand against them. All of the doctors but one had left— that one was standing in the corner, keeping watch over the patient. He hadn't talked to Kairi once, but the girl was more than alright with that. She was sitting by the limp body of her oldest friend; she wasn't in the mood to try and make small talk about the weather.
Sora was still running a high fever. Kairi's hand was clasping his, and it was burning. He had been stitched closed, and cleaner bandages were wrapped over his torso again. Those too had started to spot over with blood. She had been intent on him one hundred percent ever since Riku had left. He hadn't gotten any better, though. He was still just as pale and weak. He looked like every single ounce of his blood had been drained out, leaving him white as a sheet. He was still in pain, and every so often, he gave an unconscious noise of agony that ripped Kairi's heart in two.
It was completely silent. The minutes dragged by like hours. Kairi tried to pass it, though it was more like she was withstanding it, or enduring it. She swallowed, leaning over and using her other hand to stroke Sora's forehead gently. She was struggling to offer any sort of reprieve from his pain, feeling his as sharply as if it were her own. It wasn't doing much; Sora was clearly hurting. He still gasped now and then, and he still gave out weak mewls of pain through limp lips. All that was accomplished from her efforts was the fact she focused on every injury that was on his head. The bruises and cuts and lacerations. It was enough to make her sick.
"How is he doing?"
The voice was quiet, but it made Kairi jump out of her skin. She jerked, her head snapping up at once and surprise flooding her gaze. She'd never seen the speaker before, but going by what he was wearing, it was clear on who he was. There wasn't much mistaking it. The Emperor was walking slowly into the room, his gaze zeroed in on Sora, despite the fact that the question was directed to her. Kairi was torn on what she should do— she didn't have experience in speaking to people from other worlds. It was still a little surreal, if she was being completely honest.
However, she got over it quickly. Her attention was still mostly reserved for her friend. She readjusted her grip on his hand and looked back down at him, clearing her throat. "He…he's not out of the woods," she said softly, her voice cracking a little bit. She tried to ignore the fact as best as she could. "He's hurt pretty bad. And…so I'm just waiting for…for him to wake up."
The Emperor walked forward until he was at Sora's bedside as well. Only then did he stop, still studying Sora closely. His gaze seemed thoughtful, and his voice turned out to be even more so. "A tragic state, for one so young." Kairi blinked, her shoulders shaking as she held a bit tighter to her friend's hand. The old man continued to survey the state of Sora, before he suddenly turned over to look at Kairi instead. She experienced a rush of heat at the unwanted attention, but it was forgotten when he went on, his voice just as thoughtful. "Yet the same may be said for you."
She wilted. Her expression flickered over in sorrow, and she moved to focus on her friend instead. She replied, but only in a small whisper. "I'm fine," she murmured. She sniffed and moved her thumb gently over the back of Sora's hand, as if trying to reassure him that everything would be fine. However, given the present situation, she was probably just trying to comfort herself.
The Emperor blinked slowly at her retort. "Such a reply is admirable," he relented. "However, no matter how tough the oak may seem, it still bends to the wind and the storm." The reply didn't help her much; she only deflated even further. The man didn't falter, though. He just offered her a small smile that seemed kind and tender. "This is natural," he went on gently. "Every human life is plagued with trouble. Heartbreak, and loneliness, and sorrow, and difficulty. And many more— too much to list. But if life was not this way, it would not be life. It would be nothing at all."
Kairi shook her head. "It would be much simpler," she mumbled.
The old man just nodded. "As I said. It would not be life."
She fell quiet for a moment or two. Eventually, she gave a small nod, relenting to the idea, albeit reluctantly.
The Emperor turned back to study Sora. He had not changed whatsoever. He was still rasping air slowly in and out, his breath hitching in pain every so often. He still looked agonized and tortured. So Kairi continued to just offer him as much solace as she could, hoping it might be able to leak through and reach him. She sniffed again, and after a hesitation, broke the silence surrounding the room. "But it used to be."
"Everything changes," he said, his response coming back so fast she could only assume it had been prepared. "Nothing ever remains the same. Even nature itself does not— it shifts from season to season. And even then, there is no pattern. No bud on a tree that is the same, no raindrop that lands in the exact same place, and no snowflake that resembles one before it." He sighed, turning to glance in her direction. "If you wish for things to stay the same, you are to be sorely mistaken."
She couldn't help but feel a flash of irritation, despite the caring efforts that the other was putting forward. The redhead swallowed hard. Her voice was spiking a little in anger by the time she got out a reply. "He's in pain," she rejected thinly. "He's in pain and he's suffering and we can't help him no matter how hard we try. He's my—" Again, she couldn't bring herself to finish the thought. And again, she doubled back to start over instead of facing this fact. It didn't make her voice any less congested, though. "It's not a good thing that this is happening. It's not a good thing that he's hurt and scared and that he feels alone."
"No, I did not say that it was," he replied with a small nod. "My original point remains; it is a tragic state for one so young. But it is the course of life. It is here, and no amount of wishful thinking may reverse the fact; just like you cannot will away a storm just because you are out with no umbrella." She blinked, her blue eyes flickering over to him as she frowned. "You cannot change the way a stream flows just because you want it to. That stream has been carved this way— it cannot be altered."
She hesitated, looking at Sora with a heavy heart. She looked at his bruises, at his broken arm and at his wrapped chest. Her expression crumbled a second time, and she struggled to keep her voice under control. "So…we just do nothing, then?" she asked weakly, disbelief and regret coloring her question. "We just…let him waste away, just because that's how he'll be from now on?" she demanded. "I don't— I don't want that! He doesn't want that!"
"You do not let him waste away, no," the man returned. He looked at Sora, and he gave a slow sigh. When he went on, his voice was stronger. "I do not claim to know of what is happening," he said. "But I do claim to know of many other things. Once a stream changes its course, you can do absolutely nothing to change it. It is permanent. The most you can do…is try and find a way to handle the new current as best you possibly can."
She roused, tearing her gaze away from Sora and back up to the Emperor. His wizened gaze seemed to shoot straight through her. Her expression seemed almost confused. But he only offered her a small nod again, as if trying to give her silent encouragement.
"What else is there to do?" he prompted.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
"Where?" Axel demanded in a huff, his breathing coming in irregular pants. He'd just cleared out the last of the Heartless— from this batch at least. The stupid things would be back within minutes, he was pretty sure. He dragged his hand through his messy hair, his green eyes narrowed as he looked over at Yuffie, who was standing across from him. She seemed just as strung-out, gasping openly like he was. She was drawing one of her throwing stars back to herself, and Axel pressed for an answer. "Where!?" Before she could even get a syllable out, he was sweeping on, his worry mounting. "How bad is he hurt? What was he doing? He's safe— isn't he?"
"He'll be okay." Even though she said this, it was clear that her words came a little hollow. "Riku said that he was trying to fight the Heartless— he spun out or got hit, but whatever happened, he ripped all of his stitches out. Riku said that there were doctors that were trying to help him…that's the last I heard of it." Leon was standing beside her, looking anxious to be off. Axel noticed that his weight kept getting shifted from one foot to the other. The only thing that was keeping him from racing off, probably, was Yuffie. "We're going around and telling everyone so they can go to him. You're the first person we've found so far— I imagine the other ones will be just as hard, if not harder."
Axel sighed. He seemed to look as though he wanted to say something more. But he curbed himself. He just ducked his head down to study the ground, his hands on his hips as he said slowly: "Well…then you'd better get a move on. I'll go and find them as soon as I do one last run-through here."
She straightened, looking confused. Confused and a little irritated. "Another run-through?" she asked, incredulous at the idea. When Axel didn't look at her, her cheeks flushed a little red. She took a small step forward. "Axel, forget about this place for a second! Sora almost died! He needs us there!" Axel didn't even glance at her, and she puffed out her cheeks angrily. "Are you listening?" she demanded. "You have to go to Sora, now! Can't you see this is exactly why he ran off in the first place?"
Axel rounded on her, shooting her a dagger-filled scowl. "Go," he snapped.
She jerked backwards, as if she'd been struck. Leon's eyes narrowed to shoot Axel a reserved glare. He reached over and put a hand on Yuffie's shoulder, pulling her back before she did anything she might have ended up regretting. Her jaw locked backwards, and she gave a short sigh. "Fine," she said, collecting herself enough so that she wouldn't spit out the words. But anger was still alive in her features, and she gave a short huff before shaking her head and drawing away. "You stay here and figure everything out. We're going to go round up the others."
Axel only gave a small nod. Yuffie lingered for a minute more, looking confused and concerned, as if she wasn't sure this was where their interaction should end. But even when she stared at him, he didn't change his mind or double back on what he said. He just stared right back at her, looking impatient. So she turned and took Leon's hand, pulling him back the way they'd come. Axel turned and watched them go, his expression blank. And it stayed just as unreadable until they reentered the large door of the Coliseum and disappeared from view.
The door slammed shut behind them— it wasn't a surprise, considering how huge it was. Once it did, Axel's entire demeanor drooped. He closed his eyes, and a trembling sigh tripped itself out of his lungs. He reached up and rubbed at his forehead. Crap. They'd found him, yes…that was good. That was insanely good. Axel had no idea what he would have done if they hadn't been able to track him down. But…crap. What were they going to do? How were they going to fix this? Sora had abandoned his friends. Such a thought shouldn't have even existed in the recesses of his mind! Axel knew that even before he'd seen the kid!
Crap!
He growled in the back of his throat, shaking his head and trying to clear his throat before it could swell shut. He just needed to calm down for a little bit, and clear his head. He couldn't go and see Sora; not before he could get himself orientated and rationalized. He had to figure out what to do from this point on. Something that could help Sora. Because that was all that was important to him right now. The rest of the worlds— he couldn't care less about them. They could blink out and die for all he minded. But he wasn't about to let Sora die. No. He'd die before him.
He let out another huff, forcing himself to straighten up. His eyes flickered over the now-empty training grounds of the Coliseum. Before, it had been crammed with Heartless. It wasn't as big of a surprise for him as his first time out was— he'd already known how bad this newfound outbreak of Heartless was. But it still didn't keep him from worrying about it. Because it was bad. It was an infestation. Which was what was making all of this so difficult. The others couldn't bring themselves to focus a hundred percent on Sora, when they were so worried over what was going to happen with the other worlds.
It was a crappy excuse in Axel's book. If they were really Sora's friends, then shouldn't they be able to know exactly which case was important? He shook his head, trying to get his thoughts elsewhere. There was no point in getting angrier, if the whole point of staying back for a minute was to calm himself down. He dragged his mind out of the pit that was swallowing him back, and instead focused on leaving. He had to get out of here. Maybe he could figure out what he was going to do on the way to Sora. Because if he was being honest, he knew that he couldn't keeping himself from rushing to Sora for too long.
He turned, reaching out with one arm and starting to summon up a portal. But before he could, a yell echoed its way over to him. "Hey!"
Axel considered ignoring it. But something made him stay. He sighed and dropped his arm again, turning around with a sinking feeling. It was that brawny guy that Demyx always used to rant about. What was his name again? It was…Hercules. That was it. That gladiator god that never lost anything. Axel watched him approach, recognizing the hurried way he walked and trying not to look as disinterested and as peeved as he really felt. "Hey, you!" Hercules puffed. His eyes were slightly narrowed, his jaw set back. "What are you doing here?"
Patience. Axel didn't have a lot of it a majority of the time. And this was certainly one of those times. "I just finished clean-up," he said, his voice dry and cutting. He rolled his eyes and looked around pointedly. "This place was crawling with Heartless when I got here. You're awfully bad at saying thanks, let me tell you." Hercules stopped short, looking confused. As to be expected. So Axel sighed and shook his head. "Just because I wear the cloak, doesn't mean I'm with them," he growled. "I'm with Sora, actually."
This got a reaction from him. The demigod jerked, shock flaring over his expression. "Sora!?" he asked, Axel perking a little bit at the surprise. Hercules staggered closer, his pace quickening. Axel had to force himself not to right the distance and scuttle backwards in reply. He just raised his eyebrows. "How is Sora?" Hercules pressed, more than alarmed. "We haven't heard from him in ages! With all the Heartless that are around now, I was starting to think…well I was starting to worry that..."
"He's not dead," Axel cut him off. Yet his expression flickered in unease, and Hercules noticed the shift at once. Regardless, Axel shook his head to add softly: "…Yet." He ignored the way the other stiffened. "It's…it's a long story. He's…out of commission. Barely there— in more ways than one, I guess."
Hercules' forehead creased. "…Sora?" he asked, needing clarification. "Are you sure we're talking about the same person?"
Axel tried to get angry. It would be easier, certainly. However, all he could muster was a sense of sorrow. He coughed and looked away, unable to hold his gaze. "…Unfortunately," he murmured. "There was a whole ordeal. He got…he got kidnapped. Tortured." And I was a part of it. He could feel Hercules' gaze burning a hole straight through him. He couldn't ignore it, no matter how much he wanted to. "He's just…on the brink." There was a burst of silence in between them, and eventually the whole situation dawned over Axel. He regained control of himself and jerked, hurriedly starting to turn away. "I've got to get back to him," he muttered. "Excuse me."
"W-Wait!" Hercules gasped. Axel jerked to a stop, but didn't turn around. Irritation itched underneath his skin. He had to get going. But again, something made him stop. He just waited for the demigod to go on, and thankfully he did. "Sora's a good friend," he said, his voice saddened now. Axel's own expression faltered; he was grateful that his back was to the hero. "He did anything and everything to help me before. He never gave up." There was a long stretch of hesitation before: "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Axel was already shaking his head. "Not unless you have some kind of miracle," he growled.
He started to walk again. His arm came up from his side.
Hercules watched him go, looking puzzled and torn. But after a second, the look on his face cleared. "I don't know about a miracle," he said, raising his voice to make sure that Axel heard.
He did. And he stopped, his arm halfway raised. He stopped and listened, his muscles growing a little stiff.
Hercules tilted his head to the side questioningly. "But…how about a god?"
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
"No."
"What!? What in the world do you mean no!?"
"We're not moving him. Not right now. He won't make it."
"That's a load of absolute crap and you know it!"
"Axel, stop it. Not right now."
"No, Riku, you stop it! How about you stop for a second and realize that you don't know everything when it comes to Sora!"
"And I suppose you do? Oh, wait, no! You're just thinking about Roxas! Guess what, Axel? He's not Roxas!"
"I know he isn't! I am thinking about Sora right now! And what's best for him!" The two of them were whispering furiously back and forth, silently screaming at the other in the far corner of the room. Axel's hands were clenched at his sides, and he felt hot fury burn at his fingers, threatening to come out. "Look, I know that there have been a lot of false hopes. But I think that this could actually work! And I think that it could help Sora! Not only physically, but mentally too! It would give him hope, if nothing else!"
"No. It wouldn't," Riku growled. "It would just be another thing that fails him. He's had enough, Axel. You really need to realize that he can't put up with much more." Riku's voice got a little gentler at this, his anger fading to be replaced with exhaustion. He looked at Axel imploringly. "He's sick and injured. Whatever progress we've made, its gone back about twenty-seven steps. He can't be toyed with anymore, and he certainly can't be moved."
Axel drew himself up a little bit more. "You didn't even ask what it was," he spat.
Riku stayed collected. He just shook his head again. "I don't want to know," he said, his voice flat. "I don't want you to tell me. Sora can't be moved right now— if he even breathes out of place, something could go wrong. Look at him."
Axel scowled, but turned to follow orders. Sora was still unconscious. He looked even paler and sicker than when Axel had got here, and that was only about five minutes ago. His breaths came in the form of weak rasps that could be heard from across the room— the redhead had to focus in order to see the rise and fall of his chest. He was sweating from the fever, which was only climbing. Kairi was sitting at his bedside, glued there permanently, it seemed. She was holding onto Sora's hand with her own death grip, tears leaking down the sides of her face as she suppressed little whimpers and sobs.
Riku reached over and touched his shoulder gently. "There's no point," he pushed. "Sora is already…" He grimaced, wincing away from whatever he was about to say. He started over, his voice faltering a bit. "Sora can't be moved from here. They've got blood getting through to him, and he's got doctors on call. It's just…you can't move him. At all. He's just…" He shook his head.
"What if—?"
Riku didn't even let him finish. "And what if not?" he demanded. Axel blinked, his face falling and his jaw shutting closed at the rebuke. He couldn't' bring himself to reply. Riku nodded slowly. He cleared his throat and looked away from the other. "I've hurt Sora before, in the past," he said, his voice low against his throat. "I've been reckless. I've let the 'what if's blind me. After all…what if he had managed to escape the Organization when he first tried?" Axel didn't reply, biting down on his lower lip. "I could have saved Sora earlier, had it not been for the 'what if's. So forgive me if I can't bring myself to hope for any more. I'm focusing on the now. And I suggest you do too, if you want Sora to live. Because right now, he's barely there."
Axel hesitated. After a pause, he hung his head.
His thoughts went back to what Hercules had pledged. 'I can get her to help. All you have to do is bring him to this stream…'
He gave up.
He was left no choice.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
Kairi hummed softly underneath her breath, trying to recall an old song that she and Sora used to sing together when they were little. How had it gone? For the life of her, she could not remember, and the girl felt absolutely wretched as she could come up with nothing. Absolutely nothing. The thought brought another wave of stinging tears, and she reached up to wipe at her eyes uselessly. She sniffed hard. Riku was over talking to one of the doctors, and Axel was standing off to the side, watching. The room was completely quiet. Yuffie and Leon had apparently been unable to find anyone else just yet.
For a while, that was how it went. Kairi wallowing in pain and sorrow, her hand still clasping Sora's much-too-hot one. Sora let out another gag of agony, and Kairi was prepared to try and ignore the unconscious sound, like she'd been struggling to do up until this point. However, glancing down at her friend, she realized with a stab of absolute surprise that it was not unconscious. Not this time.
He was barely awake. His head was still lolled to the side, and he was still entirely limp. But his eyelids flickered just the slightest, and Kairi could catch a glimpse of blue. She stiffened, leaning over at once as the others perked too. He was awake!? Just barely, but yes! "Sora?" she gasped, reeling at the faintest sign of life. It felt like it had been years upon years. Sora didn't react at first, and she pressed, feeling a wave of terror at the thought of Sora falling back unconscious before he could say anything. "Sora, are you alright?" she pressed, near frantic. "Sora? Sora, please say something!" Tears rushed forward, and her lower lip trembled as she tried to control herself.
Riku and Axel broke off, rushing over to be closer.
Axel's green eyes flickered from Kairi to Sora. His expression was unreadable.
Sora choked on a weak inhale, his body breaking into a spasm as he heaved out a rattling cough. Kairi flinched at the tinny sound. His lips were unmoving as he forced out hollow words that were clenched in absolute torment. It broke Kairi's heart to hear it, and a sob escaped her chest. "It…it hurts," Sora whispered, unable to get anything out stronger than that. He sounded like he would rather be screaming and crying and kicking out. Tears rushed down from his half-lidded stare. But his expression was still absolutely numb. "I…I can't…" He broke off, cringing.
Kairi was crying now. She shook her head. "You can," she pressed, spitting out the words as if they hurt to say. "You can, Sora; don't say you can't. You gotta stay strong. Okay? Please? Stay strong for me." She sniffed, shaking her head so fast, Axel was afraid she would get whiplash. "You can't give up, Sora, you've gotten so far now. Please don't give up. We're all going to be here for you. Please don't leave us, don't leave us, don't leave us…" She inhaled sharply, trembling from head to toe.
Sora's face creased in a sense of half-numb torture. "It hurts!" he cried in a gasp, the words sharp and punctured.
Riku started to take a step forward, opening his mouth to join in the effort of comfort.
But they were interrupted.
Mulan burst into the room, her eyes wide and horrified. "They're here!" she gasped, all three immediately whirling around to face her, panic slapping them across the face immediately. Mulan shook her head, reeling. "You've got to help!" she cried. "The Heartless! T-There are too many of them! They're trying to get into the Palace! They'll be in here any second, you've got to help!"
Riku immediately jerked away, drawing his keyblade to his side. He turned and looked over at Kairi, whose tear-streaked face was lax in terror. "We've got to go!" he snapped, his panic and fear for Sora's well-being snapping him into motion.
Axel drew his own weapons, fire spinning off the metal as his eyes narrowed. "You two go!" he yelled. "If they get back here or find another way around, you'll need a strong fighter to look after Sora!" Riku looked like he was about to object, so Axel raised his voice into a screech, rounding on him with a scowl. "Are you stupid!?" he yelled. "I'll keep Sora safe! I'll protect him with my own life, can you really doubt that!?"
Riku fumed, staring at him a moment longer. But he couldn't argue the logic. Kairi wasn't a good enough fighter to hold her own if she stayed back. She would be much more useful alongside someone as powerful as Riku. And if Riku went out with her, then they had a better chance of killing all of the Heartless before they could storm the Palace; he was unquestioningly the strongest person here, after all. He couldn't stay behind. And they weren't about to leave Sora alone.
Still, he had misgivings. He shook his head and let out a low growl. "He'd better be in the exact same spot when we come back," he warned, his voice dark. Axel just held his gave and gave a tense nod. Riku hesitated a heartbeat more but then he seemed to realize they were only losing time. He turned and beckoned Kairi, who was looking like a deer in headlights. She looked from Riku to Sora, who was now writhing in pain on the bed. Riku's voice rose into a scream. "Come on, Kairi! We've got to go!"
She jerked, and her own sound of pain rose to choke at her throat. But, throwing one last glance back at Sora, she finally tore herself away. At her side, her own flowered weapon sprung into her hands. She held it a little unsteadily, but she did break into a sprint after Riku and Mulan, who were already heading out into the hall and towards the entrance.
Axel watched them go, standing defensively with his weapons drawn at his sides. Yet a few moments after they had gone, he straightened. His expression reverted from stoic and determined, to slightly fearful. He looked from the doorway, to Sora, convulsing weakly where he lay. Already, his jerking movements were getting weaker. Axel hissed underneath his breath, reeling on what to do. He wasn't sure himself what he would do if the Heartless got in here. Would he be able to protect Sora? It looked like it would just take a single strike for Sora to be down for the count. Could he bet on that?
Or…was there a safer bet to take…?
He lingered, agonizing as he looked from one direction to the other. He didn't time. Time was something they never seemed to have enough of now. He rushed over to Sora, his green eyes panicked as he looked him over. He looked horrible. He was in so much pain, but he was already starting to fall unconscious again, going by the way he was fading into small twitches. Well, he was either falling unconscious, or worse. Hurriedly, Axel willed his weapons away, forgetting them. "Sora," he gasped. "Sora, look at me. Look at me!"
Sora didn't. His head was still drooped to the side. Axel let out a panicked breath, rounding the bed and moving so that he could lean down and meet his glazed stare. "Okay, look, we've got to go," he panted, finding that suddenly there was no better choice. It was either go somewhere on a hunch to get Sora better and he might die, or stay here and fight and Sora might die. Only one of the options held something good in them. They were both equally as risky. "Sora, we've got to go. I think I can get you better. You've just got to come with me."
Sora went into another spasm. This one was so feeble, Axel hardly noticed it. Sora gave a pathetic whine. "I…hurts…" The words were slurred— Axel could barely understand them. He didn't even know if he got them right. What he did know was that Sora looked terrible, and that he didn't have a lot of time. "Axel, I— can't—"
He needed to comfort him. Wearily, he tried to offer his friend a smile, realizing with a stab of horror that he was dying. That he was dying all over again. "Hey, hey, hey," he said gently. He leaned down to crouch on the floor, extending his hand towards Sora's face. "It's alright," he tried to soothe. In his hand, a small ball of fire sparked to life, soft and comforting in its glow, which was reflected inside of Sora's dull eyes. Axel remembered with a pang how Sora had reacted when he'd first seen such a flame. His eyes lit up, and a beam split across his face. Now, Sora just stared, his face completely wiped of expression. As if he was too weak to grin.
His pained twitches started to cease, though.
Axel smiled, his expression much tenderer than it typically was. "Do you trust me?" he asked.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
A/N: Next chapter is when the story actually kicks itself into high gear! Strap on your seatbelts kiddos, we're going for a ride. I'm super excited. Hopefully next update can come a little bit sooner than this one did! My other two stories that get half as many reviews had gone a couple months without an update, so I was forced to spend time on those. But now I'm back in the swing of it! So ten reviews later and I shall be right back here drafting up chapter eight! Been waiting for that chapter for a while! ;)
I'd love to hear your thoughts on where things are going! Please excuse any typos as I'm putting off studying to finish this up, and I have a test tomorrow. And please voice any questions you might have! I'd love to see if I could answer any!
As always, thank you so much for reading! And I'll see you in ten reviews!
