Recap: After Sora, Donald, and Goofy leave with "Ping" as recruits for an army in the Land of Dragons, Reina decides to go out and try to find Roxas on her own. She finds him…but not in a way she'd expected.
"I hope she'll be okay…" Sora said, looking up into the sky. Mulan and the trio resting at a checkpoint on the trail, the snowy terrain made alive with an olive tent sprung up on one side while the rest was littered with resting soldiers huddled together for warmth. Even though she excelled at defeating Heartless on the up to the checkpoint, the Captain had still not acknowledged her.
"You've said that a million times already!" Donald exclaimed, irritated.
"Is she your girlfriend or something?" Mulan asked interestedly.
Sora snorted. "No. She's just so new to this thing; she might get herself into some trouble…"
"Oh…" Mulan muttered, looking over at where Shang was standing. The captain was leaning over a map and discussing plans with other soldiers. She sighed heavily. What would it take for her to earn that approval by the captain? When she entered the army, her main focus was to just to keep her head down and stay afloat. But now…after meeting Shang, she made it her priority to prove to him that she wasn't a weakling that stumbled into the army.
"When are we gonna kick some Hun butt, I am freezing over here!" Mushu complained, climbing out of Mulan's pocket.
"Mushu, be quiet! Someone might hear you!" She told him, pushing him back down.
Mushu's voice would not have been heard anyway because at that moment, a rotund soldier stormed onto the checkpoint, panting heavily.
"He- he's here!" he announced.
"What are you talking about, soldier?" Shang asked.
The soldier replied with only one name, sending a chill up Mulan's spine. "Shan Yu!"
Right then, several Shadow Heartless materialized and chaos reigned. "Attack!" Shang commanded, unsheathing his own sword. Mulan stood up and drew her weapon, determined to prove herself.
*I'll show you this time, Shang*
"Okay. Tell me everything…"
Reina took a breath and calmed herself, but couldn't help but frown at Axel and Roxas' Organization uniforms. She knew there had to be good reason; she had never seen her best friend so scared and hesitant before, and had never known him to hide anything from her.
"Just don't get scared or anything okay…?" Roxas said. He glanced at Axel, who gave him an encouraging nod.
Taking a deep breath, he told her "I'mpartaorganization."
"What?"
He took another deep breath and looked down. "I'm part of Organization XIII."
A pause.
"You're kidding right? You're joking!" Reina laughed as if Roxas was teasing her, but it faded when she saw both Roxas' and Axel's expressions. She was completely numb with shock when she tried to reassure herself. "You can't be! That's...impossible. You'd have to be a—"
"Nobody." Roxas nodded, still not looking up. "Yeah, I'm a Nobody…"
It felt like someone punched Reina in the gut. "What?"
"You knew!" Roxas told her, looking flustered. "But then you forgot, er, someone made you forget, um, and then they made me forget too so I couldn't tell you, not that I didn't want to not tell you because I did, but I couldn't because I forgot…see?"
Axel shook his head as Reina stared at him, wondering if he lost his mind.
"He means to say is that both of your memories were modified." He told Reina as Roxas nodded vigorously. "That's why you don't remember anything from before."
"Before?" Reina repeated, even more confused.
"Yeah, when we were a team and we used to go on all sorts of missions!" Roxas said. "Back when you were in the Organization…"
It took a second for his words to fully impact Reina. "Waaaaaait…Me?"
"Donald, look out!" Mulan shouted, swinging her sword behind the wizard, effectively eliminating a Shadow Heartless.
"Thanks!" Donald said, impressed. The Captain was nearby and he nodded toward Mulan, whose heart soared with pride.
"Mulaaaaan!" Mushu yelled, speeding toward her like a red blur. Shang became confused. What was that thing….and why was it calling Ping by a girl's name? He shook his head. That was preposterous, Ping could not be a girl.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed, crouching down so no one would see him.
"I just saw Shan Yu! He's going up the summit, I just saw him!" Mushu jumped.
"You did…?" Mulan thought. *Then this must be a distraction! Shan Yu is actually planning something else!*
She quickly rose but Mushu hopped on her shoulder and told her, "You can't tell him that! You need to get him yourself, girl! How else will you impress Captain Musclehead?"
"But I'm not supposed to…" she trailed off.
Nearby, Sora overheard. "It's your decision, Ping. We're gonna stick with you on this one."
"Well…fine, let's go." She decided, scanning the preoccupied soldiers in case anyone was watching. Sora nodded then rounded up Donald and Goofy, and the four trudged up the mountain, letting the commotion of the battle hide their exit.
Shang saw them.
"But doesn't that mean I'm a…?" Reina muttered hesitantly, unable to finish the question.
Axel shook his head. "You were the only one out of us that had a heart."
"But why would the Organization keep me for so long? They're trying to steal my heart! Couldn't they have just taken it before?"
"What, you wanted them to do that?" Axel asked half incredulous, half amused.
"No! Of course not!" Reina said. "But, it just doesn't seem to fit with their standards..."
"We don't know why either…"Axel told her, brushing off the subject. "But, you believe us right?"
"About Roxas being a Nobody and then us being in the Organization at some point and then having our memories erased? It's kinda hard to take in." Reina told them. She thought carefully and then added, "But I feel like I should trust you."
"Really?" Axel said, surprised.
She nodded. *Everything feels connected, like scattered peices of the same puzzle. The Organization, this Heartseeker, and now my memories...* A flame lit inside Reina, burning with the fuel of unanswered questions. She knew that it might change her outlook on things, but she needed to know, whatever the cost was. She began looking back at any clues that would explain the connection between her and the Organization and gasped when she remembered.
"What happened?" Roxas asked.
"This is what that Organization guy in Hallow Bastion was talking about!" she exclaimed, talking more to herself than the others. "And then…I had this dream!" She turned to Axel. "You were in it!"
"Me?" Axel pointed to himself, looking surprised but happy.
"Yeah…I was in this room…and then you asked me how was doing and I asked what happened…"
"I think that must've been your room back at headquarters!" Axel told her excitedly.
"It must've been after one of those times you got yourself hurt." Roxas said.
"One of those times?" Reina repeated, and the other two laughed. She felt a smile creep onto her face effortlessly as a warm feeling of familiarity filled her up. She was still digesting what they had told her, but now she was more at ease knowing that they would be there for her, to guide her.
"You still have a lot to remember." Axel smiled.
"It'll be no time when you…" Roxas trailed off, looking up as if he sensed something. "We should go now." He mumbled to Axel, who nodded understandingly and created a dark portal with his palm.
"Wha? You're leaving?" Reina asked, looking back and forth from the redhead and blond in alarm. "You can't leave now!"
Axel sighed. "We have to. There's still a lot of work to be done."
Reina bit her lip in disappointment. "Oh…"
"But we'll find a way to meet you as soon as possible!" Roxas amended.
"You better!" Reina raised a threatening finger towards Roxas. "You don't know what I went through to get here!"
"Aw, are the big bad Heartless too much for the Struggle Queen?" Roxas teased as he crossed his arms. He put aside his grin and looked a little more serious. He took a step back and quickly told her, "Whatever you do, make sure you don't forget me."
Reina was taken aback at this. "Like I'd ever. Why would you say that?"
Roxas shrugged and smiled. "Just wait for me! I'll be back in no time!" He waved and quickly disappeared into the door, followed by Axel. She waved back to both of them with a smile until they vanished, leaving her alone in the balmy, snowy summit.
"Yeah, later..." Reina sighed, staring at where the portal was disappointedly. She wasn't left to dwell on it however, as she heard someone approaching her.
A tall brute with glazed amber eyes and trudged up the summit toward her in a robot-like fashion. The first thing Reina sensed about him was the darkness that surrounded him; it repulsed her. She expected him to attack her, but decided not to take out the Heartseeker when he didn't even turn his head toward her. He continued to ascend the summit just as a zombie would, and Reina took that as an opportunity to get away and tell the others about him. She was almost toward the bottom near the exit before a chilling laugh filled the air. She turned around and gasped.
Behind the man was an army of bee-like hovering Heartless, ready to attack on his command. As Reina looked more closely, wisps of darkness were more visible on him as he looked triumphantly in the distance. She turned around and saw he was looking at a city below and her eyes widened.
*He's going to attack the city…he's going to fill this world with darkness!* She took out the Heartseeker and for the first time, he acknowledged her. He laughed again before raising a hand, causing a few of the same hovering Heartless to appear in front of her.
*Ah, crap…I should have just left.* She thought, taking a swing and missing because the Heartless were made to be quick and agile. They took advantage of her moment of imbalance and struck her, causing her to fall. She turned around and swung before the Heartless could strike her again, and then effectively released a captured heart into the air.
The man started his descent down, leisurely walking as if already savoring his victory. Reina stood up again to face the Heartless, and heard her name being called behind her.
"Reina!"
Sora and the others joined her in defeating the Heartless, but once they were finished with the few in front of them, their mouths gaped open at the sight of the Heartless army.
"Shan Yu…" Mulan growled.
"We'll never be able to take them!" Sora said desperately, looking at the thousands of Heartless.
"What is that…?"
"Captain!" Goofy exclaimed, shocked that he followed the group. Shang came with a few soldiers, but even combined they were no match for the Heartless at all. Then, something caught Mulan's eye.
"Retreat, men!" Shang commanded, but was stopped by Mulan.
"Wait, Captain!" She announced, running toward one of the soldiers. She took ared, dragon shaped missile from him and pulled Mushu from her pocket.
"What are you doin, girl! Let me go!" Mushu struggled as Mulan righted the weapon and aimed it at a cliff of ice above the Hun. Without taking her eye away from the target, she used Mushu as a lighter to activate the rocket and ran away from it as quickly as possible. Mushu's scream was heard all the way until the rocket met its target, which was then followed by an echoing blast and tons of ice falling down onto the slope. The Hun looked back and his amber eyes widened as he broke into a dash to escape the monstrous avalanche.
Reina felt being tugged away from the ice storm as everyone took refuge behind the rock ledge by the entrance of the summit. She saw Shan Yu break into a mad dash to escape but, along with his Heartless, he was swallowed by the roaring avalanche. Reina hoped Mushu was alright.
As the rumbling noise subsided, a cheer rang out the group. She looked down and saw it was Sora's hand that tugged her and she pulled down. He turned and let go immediately and covered his embarassment by cheering with the others.
"Ping! Ping! Ping!" soldiers cheered and Shang looked at her proudly.
"I should have never doubted you." Shang smiled, and Mulan hardly dared believe her ears. She finally earned the respect and honor she always wanted. "From now on, you have my trust."
"Thank you, captain." Mulan said gruffly, hardly concealing the excitement in her voice. Unfortunately, it was short lived as Mushu decided to open his big mouth then.
"First she uses me as a lighter, then as a cannon ball! The head ancestor's gonna hear about this!" Mushu fumed, "Y'know, that's it! I give up! I can't take this anymore! C'mon, Mulan. Let's quit the charade and go home, girl."
"Mushu…!" Mulan hissed as she jerked her head slightly to Shang. Mushu gasped and covered his mouth with his tiny hands and looked from Mulan to Shang.
"Ping…a woman? It can't be!" Shang glared at the guilty Mulan in disgust and betrayal.
"Captain…" Sora started, trying to ease the situation, but Shang's steely glare was then directed at him.
"You all knew didn't you? You all knew Ping was really a woman!" Shang accused, his tone reverting back the coldness when Sora first met him. He turned to Mulan and shouted, "I can't believe you lied to me."
Mulan held her head down in shame and didn't reply and you felt pity on her. This had to happen right after she gained the Captain's trust, too. After a long pause he added, "The punishment for high treason and dishonoring the Imperial Army is…"
"This dishonorable woman " Reina spoke up, her voice full of forced calm though he eyes expressed her outrage "Just saved your life. She just saved your world!"
Shang glared sharp daggers at Reina, who didn't back down. Finally, he said, "Get out of my face! You're all dismissed!"
"A life for a life..." Shang glared at Ping before turning to his army. "What are you all looking at? Send a message to the Emperor at once! Move out!"
The army quietly obeyed, though some of them threw sympathetic looks over the defeated Ping. The ex-soldier sunk the ground, hollowness in her eyes.
"He can't do that!" Reina growled, taking a glance at Mulan's expression and digging her foot in the snow. "It's not fair!"
Mulan slowly trembled up and keeping her head down, she muttered, "I guess I won't be needing this armor anymore…" She quietly shuffled off to find a place to change, Mushu guiltily behind her. Donald and Goofy made camp with a magic fire and some food they had brought.
Reina started pacing in the snow, chewing her lip all the while. There just had to be some way to make that idiot Captain to come back here, apologize, and take Mulan back to the city with highest honors. In the middle of pacing, Sora blocked her with concern in his eyes.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, it's just that captain!" she fumed.
"No, are you hurt or anything?" Sora's expression changed into curiosity. "How did you get to where Shan Yu was in the first place?"
Reina stiffened, not expecting the question at all. "Nope I'm perfectly fine." She gave a reassuring smile, but Sora wasn't going to budge. Her avoidance of the second question made him suspicious.
"But how did you end up here?" Sora asked, crossing his arms.
"Uh...well, I was going for a walk and then..." Reina struggled, trying not to lie. "...Shan Yu! He just kinda came outta nowhere and then he summoned Heartless so I was just stuck there for a while."
Reina became nervous when Sora's expression turned to one of annoyance. "I thought you were going to stay at the clearing! What if something happened to you?"
"Well, I didn't wanna sit around! That would've have been boring." Reina said, relieved that Sora hadn't asked more about how she got there. "Plus, I am Twilight Town's Struggle Queen for a reason, y'know. No pesky Heartless is gonna bother me!"
"Chyeah, sure." Sora rolled his eyes though his lips curved into a smile. "Like they're going to run away from fear from the so called Struggle Queen." He then turned serious. "But don't do that again okay? The Organization could be anywhere and who knows what they're planning. We need to stick together."
"Yeah you're right..." was all Reina said as she nodded. Organization XIII...Axel, Roxas...and herself. They were all connected and she desperately wanted to know how, but she now realized that connection might change everyone else's view on her. Too scared to face their reaction if they found out she was connected to the enemy, she decided to keep this to herself.
A secret.
Author's Note!
Yes. I am still alive;; OTL
I had waaaay too much schoolwork and I didn't have a break…until now! I think I'll be able to update more frequently ^^
Hm…what are your thoughts on this chapter? And what are your thoughts Reina's past?
Any comments or questions, please let me know! ^^
~narcotic lullaby
