A/N: Hi, it's me again. Sorry I took so long, but my inspiration has been prematurely transferred into the two volumes I have planned after this story. It took me a while to get back on track, and I still don't know how well this chapter turned out.
If you will notice, the lines indicating scene transition look a bit different. That is because I am having trouble with FF's usual line function, so I'm making my lines like this. Okay? Good. Read on, if you please.
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Chapter 10: The Inquisition
Chewbacca was in anguish.
The Wookiee was, like all of his friends who had been captured by the Empire, in an Imperial prison cell. Chewbacca's cell, however, was equipped with something made especially for him: a sonic emitter that issued forth a continuous, high-pitched noise. The din was too much for Chewbacca's sensitive ears to handle, and the Wookiee covered his ears in a vain attempt to stop the pain that assaulted his eardrums. He paced about in his cell, howling and flailing, but still the siren wailed on. He growled louder, grabbing the bars and tugging on them for all he was worth. But still the siren blared, on and on, until the poor Wookiee thought that he would go either deaf or mad—whichever came first. Chewbacca growled in protest as the wails screeched on.
Suddenly, the noise ceased.
Chewbacca shook his head and a low moan issued from his downtrodden mouth. Weary from the pain, unable to think clearly after such long exposure to such dreadful clamor, he sat upon the lone bench inside the cell. However, Chewbacca noticed something very odd here, something that he had not noticed with the sirens blaring.
The box containing C-3PO's parts now sat at one end of the bench, not at all where the Wookiee remembered leaving it. Who had taken it from Han and Leia's living quarters to this particular cell? It didn't make any sense—the Stormtroopers should have melted C-3PO down immediately upon discovering him.
Chewbacca didn't care at the moment. He was just glad to have something to occupy his time with that didn't involve enduring the torment of the siren. He reached for C-3PO's head and looked it over for a moment, resolving to do what he could for the protocol droid (which was not much at the time, without any tools with which to work). Still, Chewbacca decided, every little bit would help.
Chewbacca next reached for C-3PO's torso, which he proceeded to place upon his hairy lap. Chewbacca considered C-3PO's head again, and was pleased to discover that the droid's neck ring was not broken. This allowed Chewbacca to reattach the head to the shoulders, after which he began to tinker with the wires and circuits.
Chewbacca fiddled with C-3PO's internal apparatus for a few moments, occasionally prompting the droid's eyes to light up and then shut off again. At last, Chewbacca managed to get C-3PO's eyes working properly again, which also began to get his mouth going. C-3PO's voice still fluctuated between various tones and pitches, making it difficult to understand him, though Chewbacca could make out small bits—C-3PO must have been replaying his last words before getting shot. Then C-3PO's eyes went out, and the droid fell into silence.
Chewbacca jostled another wire. C-3PO's eyes illuminated once more, and this time the droid spoke quite coherently. "Stormtroopers?" he questioned, as though to himself. "Here? We're in danger! I must tell the others!" C-3PO tried to move, but it was then that he became aware of the gravity of the situation. "Oh no! I've been shot!"
Chewbacca heaved a mental sigh. This was going to take a while.
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Sora's situation was a good deal different than Chewbacca's, but that did not make it more bearable.
Sora had been locked inside a private cell, away from all the other Imperial hostages. That had been the first part of the tortures the Empire would bestow upon him: separation from all his allies. From his family. Sora remembered the look on Kairi's face as the Stormtroopers had forcefully torn her from his arms. He had to remember—it would be etched into his brain for the rest of his life. He hated the Empire for that. He wanted revenge, but at the moment, he was powerless to act on this impulse.
Sora stood inside his rather spacious cell, his hands bound behind his back. Upon entering this cell, one of the Stormtroopers had injected him with some sort of chemical, but Sora hadn't the slightest idea of what the chemical's purpose could be—he felt no ill effects thus far. His body was still strong and his mind was still sharp, and the function of the mysterious chemical remained unknown.
The second apsect of Sora's torture was to make him completely powerless to save himself. He could have summoned his keyblade to free himself from his bonds, were it not for the two Stormtroopers who stood in the room with him, their blaster rifles aimed directly at the Keyblade Master's head. But these were not just any Stormtroopers: these were two soldiers of the 501st Legion, the personal guard of Darth Vader himself. Even in the split second it would have taken Sora to call his blade to his hand and free himself, it would have given these well-trained Stormtroopers ample time to squeeze the triggers of their blasters and bring Sora's life to a messy end. Sora had many reasons for not taking that risk, and thus allowed himself to remain a captive… for now.
As Sora looked around, surveying his surroundings, he noticed something rather peculiar: there were no instruments of torture in this room. Surely Darth Vader didn't intend to just have him sit there, doing absolutely nothing. While having the barrels of two large blaster rifles was enough to keep Sora from escaping, it would not be enough to break the Keyblade Master's spirit in the way that Darth Vader surely wanted.
Suddenly, the door to Sora's cell swooshed open. Sora looked to see who might be emerging from beyond the door, but he immediately wished that he hadn't. It was in that one moment of curiosity that Sora came to a sick realization. The Empire didn't need torture devices. It didn't need any tools of pain and death in order to break the minds and bodies of its victims. The Empire needed none of these things, because the Empire had... him. He strode into Sora's cell with slow, heavy steps, which echoed throughout the chamber along with his ever-present breathing.
He was Darth Vader, and he was the most effective engine of destruction that the Empire could ever employ.
Darth Vader wasted no breath on formality or etiquette as he strode to the center of the holding cell. The two Stormtroopers flanking Sora now parted for their lord to pass between them, but their aim never strayed from Sora's head. Darth Vader continued walking until he was a mere two feet in front of Sora, his imposing stature causing him to look down upon his captive.
Sora's cerulean eyes, usually sparkling with warmth and emotion, now grew cold and hard as they stared up into the black lenses of Darth Vader's helmet. "Sora," the Dark Lord of the Sith stated with his usual frigidity, "I had once thought you to be a powerful warrior. Your apparent weakness now disappoints me."
"Well, you're no prize yourself, Buckethead." Sora mocked. His words were bold, but his voice maintained an edge that betrayed his inner fear of the Sith Lord.
Darth Vader did not acknowledge the insult. He looked to both of his Stormtrooper guards in turn and said, "You are now dismissed."
The Stormtroopers saluted, then filed silently out of the holding cell. As the door sealed and locked behind them, Darth Vader and Sora were left alone, staring each other down with naught but contempt in their eyes (or so Sora presumed, since there was no way of knowing what expression the face behind Darth Vader's mask might be twisted into).
Sora's mind raced as he processed all that this new development would mean. Darth Vader had made a fatal mistake: he had removed from the room the only things preventing Sora from summoning his keyblade. Now, the Keyblade Master would have no trouble escaping from his bonds and defeating the Sith Lord. Sora's mouth twisted into a wry grin as he said, "That was a big mistake."
Darth Vader seemed unperturbed by this statement. "Was it?"
In the next instant, Sora's keyblade came to his hands in a flash of light and disintegrated his bonds. Darth Vader's response was just as fast, and a distinctive humming noise was heard as a bar of red plasma erupted from his hand and pierced Sora's right shoulder, running cleanly into one side and out of the other. Sora cried out in agony and his keyblade vanished. The bar of red plasma retreated into Darth Vader's hand, and Sora's right arm went completely limp as he began to collapse. He was caught by Darth Vader, whose black-gloved hand now seized the Keyblade Master by the throat.
These events had all taken place in only a half a second, and it took Sora's mind the remainder of the second to register what was going on. Darth Vader clipped his lightsaber to his belt with his free hand, and it was only upon seeing this that Sora realized that Darth Vader had been too fast for him, that the Sith Lord's crimson lightsaber had left a surgically precise hole in Sora's shoulder. The wound had been cauterized instantly by the heat of the lightsaber, and the cut was so deep and so neat that Darth Vader could easily see through it.
Sora was now powerless in Darth Vader's gasp. The lightsaber wound had rendered him incapable of moving his right arm, and Darth Vader's grasp on his windpipe prevented him from even screaming. He could only gasp and choke as Darth Vader lifted him high into the air, then threw him backward. Before Sora could crash into anything, however, he felt himself being choked again—this time by Darth Vader's mastery of the Force.
Sora now dangled in midair, barely able to breathe. He did not remain this way for long, however, before Darth Vader rapidly thrust his hand downward. The Force responded to this gesture and slammed Sora hard upon the naked steel floor of the holding cell.
"You underestimate the power of the dark side." Darth Vader chided, moving his hand up and to the right. Sora found himself being flung into a wall, also made of unadorned metal. He fell to the floor again, this time under his own power. He felt a searing pain coursing through his shoulder, and being slammed into walls of solid steel had created many nasty bruises on his skin.
Despite his pain, Sora rose shakily to his feet and stood in defiance before the Sith Lord. "I'm not giving up." he said with fierce determination. "I won't let you hurt Kairi, or anyone else."
"Kairi?" Darth Vader repeated with audible interest. "You need not worry about her. Neither she nor the child she carries are to be harmed, and the Emperor wishes the rest of your allies to be kept alive." With this, Darth Vader again lifted his hand, suspending Sora in midair. "Only your death is inconsequential." he concluded.
Sora had no time to question how Darth Vader had learned about the child, or why Kairi was to be left unharmed, or why he was the only prisoner who was not to be spared. When Darth Vader concluded something, it was concluded; the conversation between them was over. Before Sora could even open his mouth to raise any more questions, Darth Vader thrust his arm upward. Sora was thrown against the metal grates that formed the ceiling of the holding cell, which racked the Keyblade Master's body with newfound pain. This time, he did scream, a roar of anguish so loud that its echoes still filled the prison cell for several seconds after the actual scream had ended.
Darth Vader held Sora there for a moment, allowing the Force to press Sora's body as close to the ceiling as possible. After a moment, the Sith Lord thrust his arm forward, and Sora was flung backwards, careening toward the back of the holding cell…
Directly into an electrical panel.
Usually, electrical panels in prison cells served the sole purpose of powering the usual assortment of torture devices that would be brought in when interrogating captives. However, in this particular case, the electrical panel became a torture device as Sora's body crashed into it at such remarkable speed. More howls of pain issued from the Keyblade Master's mouth as vast amounts of electricity coursed through his body, singing his clothes and creating wisps of foul-smelling smoke. The wound in his shoulder stung most of all, and the bruises he had accumulated were now throbbing. As Darth Vader kept Sora pinned firmly to the electrical panel, the Keyblade Master let out another cry of pure anguish.
Though this continuous sensation of excruciating pain would have rendered an ordinary man unconscious, Sora remained fully alert. That had been the purpose of the chemical he'd been injected with: to keep him in a state of consciousness through even the greatest of torment.
At last, when the electrical panel seemed to be losing its potency, Darth Vader jerked his hand toward the front of the cell. Sora was sent sprawling to the floor, the side of his face striking the floor with an audible clang. That last impact had broken three of Sora's already battered ribs, and his body still jerked with the last of the electricity as it coursed through his veins. The white-hot burning in his shoulder wound now grew cold, as though it were wreathed in some sort of frozen flame. The rest of his body was sore beyond description, and he felt as though a monstrous creature were inside his head, trying to claw its way through his skull in order to reach the outside world. Sora had never endured so much pain before, even at the hands of the Horned King. Right here, right now, as he lay prostrate upon the bare metal of the prison cell floor, Sora finally learned the true meaning of suffering.
A wave of cold dread washed over the Keyblade Master as he felt the power of the Force seize him by the back of the neck and haul him to his feet. Sora was held upright not by his own strength, which had long since faded, but by Darth Vader's crushing grip on his throat. Darth Vader only stared down at Sora for a moment, his hand extended to maintain the grip that the Force exerted on Sora's windpipe. For the duration of that moment, there was no sound but that of Sora's audible choking and of Darth Vader's continuous breathing.
At last, Darth Vader broke the silence. "You are beaten, Sora, but the time has not yet come for you to die. It is the Emperor's wish that you first witness what is to become of your allies."
Sora's thoughts instantly turned to Kairi. What was to become of her? What did Emperor Palpatine have in mind for her… and for the baby? Sora could not imagine what the Emperor might be planning for them, nor did he want to. He tried to call out her name—he wanted to scream it at the top of his voice—but Darth Vader's grasp on his throat reduced that shout to a defeated whimper. "N-no…" he gasped. "K-Kairi…"
"Her fate shall be no worse than your own." Darth Vader retorted. He released his hold on Sora's windpipe, instead channeling the Force into a single unseen blast. This blast struck Sora full in the chest, causing the Keyblade Master to fall backward and go skidding into the far wall of the holding cell. Despite the sickening crack that followed as Sora's skull made impact with the wall, Sora still retained full consciousness, and an involuntary cry of unbearable pain erupted from his mouth, which was twisted into a snarl of bitter anguish. That final scream, this one much louder than the last, seemed to satisfy Darth Vader; the Sith Lord finally turned to exit the cell, his cape billowing in his wake.
Sora was left alone. He was in such pain… he should have been thinking of medical attention. However, his mind was instead fixed on a single word, the name that was now the only comfort he had left—and even that comfort was rapidly fading.
Kairi… he thought sorrowfully, Kairi, I'm so sorry…
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The volume of Sora's many cries had been more than sufficient to penetrate the door of his holding cell, filling the ears of those who stood outside. The two Stormtroopers who had once guarded Sora were now stationed just outside the door, and they defended their new posts no less diligently than they had their old.
Also standing near the door were Lando Calrissian and Lobot, along with the bounty hunter Boba Fett. As another of Sora's piercing screams pervaded the air, Lando and Boba happened to glance at each other. Lando only hoped that his face looked half as unfeeling as Boba Fett's helmet did.
At last, after one last heart-wrenching scream from Sora's cell, the door finally opened. Darth Vader emerged from it a moment later, looking none the worse from his brief visit with the captive Keyblade Master.
Lando Calrissian was the first to try to address the Dark Lord of the Sith. "Lord Vader." he declared, trying to sound assertive without being overly aggressive. It was a thin line to walk, but a crucial one when trying to get Darth Vader's attention.
Despite Lando's tact, Darth Vader ignored him at first, pushing past him in order to speak to Boba Fett. "I am now moving on to oversee the inquisition of Captain Solo." he said to the bounty hunter. "You may take him to Jabba the Hutt after I have Skywalker."
"He's no good to me dead." Boba Fett reminded the Sith Lord.
"He will not be permanently damaged." Darth Vader reassured him, putting enough emphasis on the word permanent to get his point across: he still planned to inflict a good deal of damage on Han Solo before turning him over to Jabba.
"Lord Vader," Lando tried again, this time a bit more sharply, "what about Kairi? Or Leia and the Wookiee?"
"Kairi is no longer your concern." Darth Vader stated harshly as he entered an elevator shaft. "Leia and the Wookiee must never again leave this city."
Lando could hardly believe it. What? Why could Leia and Chewbacca never leave Cloud City again? And just what in the galaxy did Darth Vader plan to do with Kairi? Lando's outrage reflected in his voice as he shouted, "That was never a condition of our agreement, nor was giving Han to this bounty hunter!"
Lando froze as he remembered to whom he was speaking. Beneath the cold, black lenses of Vader's helmet, Lando swore he could see the anger flashing in the Sith Lord's eyes, daring him to utter just one more syllable. "Perhaps you think you are being treated unfairly?" Darth Vader questioned.
The Sith Lord had never raised his voice, nor did he have to. His message was quite clear, and Lando knew that there was only one answer he could ever give. "No."
"Good." Darth Vader replied. "It would be unfortunate if I had to leave a garrison here."
The conversation was over. The elevator door sealed shut, and Darth Vader was already zooming toward the floor where Han Solo was also being brutally tortured.
Lando watched in horror as the two Stormtroopers stationed outside Sora's prison cell now went inside, shutting the door behind them. Lando was almost afraid to see what Sora would look like when he came out of that cell—if he came out of that cell. Lando had no idea what Sora had done to earn such enmity with the Empire, but he was sure that nothing would have made him deserving of such cruel torment.
Ultimately, there was nothing for Lando to do but hold his head and growl, "This deal is getting worse all the time."
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Queen Kairi and Princess Leia were in yet another prison cell not far away from where Sora was being tortured. They had been forced to share a prison cell, one which one of the Stormtroopers had snidely referred to as "the royal suite"—which, they knew, was a blunt degradation of their royal statuses.
Of all the prisoners kept by the Empire, Kairi and Leia seemed to be the most fortunate. They had not been physically harmed as of yet (actually, Kairi reflected, the Stormtroopers had actually handled her quite delicately, as though they were afraid to harm her), and their greatest discomfort was caused by their worry for their friends.
This, of course, was far worse for Kairi than it was for Leia. Her connection with Sora's heart caused her to feel his suffering. She did not sense his physical pain, but she knew exactly what his heart was feeling: anguish, anger, sadness… and love.
That hurt Kairi more than anything else. Despite everything he was going through, despite the tortures Darth Vader was inflicting upon him, Sora was thinking of her. Their special bond allowed Kairi to perceive with perfect clarity the intensity with which Sora loved her. That simple knowledge made her own heart ache for him all the more, and she suffered most for the want of him. She needed him to be with her, to keep his promise to protect her and the baby.
The baby.
Kairi sat upon a hard, metal bench and put a hand to her stomach. Her worst fears had been realized. Somehow, some way, Darth Vader knew about her child. That was how Lando Calrissian had found out. And this probably meant that Emperor Palpatine was aware as well.
It was almost funny. Before she had come to this galaxy, her biggest concern had been whether she was ready to be a mother or not—now, she would be thankful if her baby would even survive.
Kairi's thoughts were interrupted by Princess Leia's voice. "I hear Stormtroopers coming this way."
Kairi nodded and stood up, trying to be strong. It was very difficult to do so, however, for it was at that moment that an earsplitting scream issued from a prison cell not far away. Kairi recognized the screaming voice as Sora's, and it suddenly felt as though her heart had shattered into a thousand irredeemable pieces. She realized then that she had never heard him scream before. Yes, he had grunted and howled in pain before—it was a part of being a Keybearer—but he had never screamed, had never made such a broken, defeated noise that laid bare the entirety of his suffering.
The sound of her husband's agony left Kairi in tears, but she quickly wiped them away as the prison door swooshed open and four Imperial Stormtroopers emerged from it. "All right," one said harshly (this one was clearly not a clone of Jango Fett, for his voice was significantly less menacing), "Lord Vader wants all of you in one cell. You're coming with us."
Neither Kairi nor Princess Leia offered any resistance as the Stormtroopers led them away. If Darth Vader wanted them all in the same cell, they would not complain. Perhaps it would mean that Kairi would get to see Sora again… though a part of her did not want to see what he must have looked like after enduring such torture. But then she felt a powerful tugging sensation on her heart, telling her that Sora needed her as much as she needed him.
As the Stormtroopers led them down the hall, Kairi and Leia began to hear shouting from one of the cells; obviously, C-3PO was at least partially functioning again. "What have you done?" the droid exclaimed. "I'm backward, you flea-bitten furball! Only an overgrown mophead like you would be stupid enough—"
Suddenly, C-3PO's voice cut off. Kairi had to smile as she realized that Chewbacca (who, judging from C-3PO's insults, was already in the cell) had finally had enough of the protocol droid's complaining.
Now, the sound of heavy, booted footsteps could be heard approaching C-3PO and Chewbacca's cell from the opposite end of the corridor. Both Leia and Kairi looked shocked as two Imperial Stormtroopers came into view, hauling a broken-down Han Solo along the hallway. Han's arms were slung over the Stormtroopers' shoulders, and the toes of his boots scraped the floor as the troopers dragged him on. His eyes were open, but his eyes were glazed over and his jaw was completely slack. The two Stormtroopers dragging Han soon entered the cell, and Kairi and Leia followed soon after. The Stormtroopers departed after that, leaving the five companions alone for now.
Kairi looked around and took note of her surroundings. Chewbacca had indeed been in the cell with C-3PO, and was now hugging Han in an effort to help him stand. Nearby, C-3PO was placed upon a bench. His lower torso, legs, and left arm were still detached, and wires jutted from where the missing appendages should have been.
Despite this, Han Solo looked even worse. There were no blemishes upon his body, but Kairi could instantly tell just how much pain he had been through at the hands of the Empire. "I feel terrible." he muttered weakly as Chewbacca helped him get to a bare metal slab—a convenient, retractable (albeit very uncomfortable) place for prisoners to rest or sleep.
Han lay down upon this steel slab, and Princess Leia instantly moved to kneel beside him; their eyes instantly locked as Leia ran her finger's through Han's thick brown hair. "Why are they doing this?" she asked. it was a rhetorical question—she knew why they were doing it. They were doing it because they could, because the Empire ruled through the power of fear. A galaxy of broken, frightened people was much easier to control than a galaxy of brave, spirited ones.
"They never even asked me any questions." Han informed Leia. Leia responded by giving Han a chaste kiss on the forehead, one which was intended to comfort and to express…
Love?
Despite this interesting development, Kairi was only half paying attention, and she scarcely acknowledged how painfully obvious it was that Han and Leia truly cared for one another. Her gaze was fixed upon the door to the prison cell, her heart pounding like a drum inside her chest as she awaited Sora to be brought into the cell.
She did not wait for long. After only a moment or two, a pair of Stormtroopers entered, bringing Sora with them. Unlike Han Solo, Sora was not dragged into the holding cell—rather, he was being forced at gunpoint to walk under his own power. "In you go, Keybearer scum." one Stormtrooper (this one a Jango Fett clone and a member of the 501st Legion) barked. Obviously, the Empire had already spread very negative Keybearer propaganda, at least within its own ranks.
The Stormtrooper pushed Sora inside, and his legs were so shaky that he would have fallen had Kairi not been right there to catch him. But catch him she did, and she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist in an attempt to keep him steady… and because she had been waiting to hold him again ever since they had been separated.
Sora winced in pain. "Ah! Ah! Broken ribs! Broken ribs!" he exclaimed, and Kairi instantly loosened her grip. She finally looked up at him, though as soon as she saw his face, she almost wished she hadn't. The anxious drumbeat of her heart became the melancholy beat of the wolds' saddest metronome.
Sora's torment, unlike Han Solo's, was clearly evidenced all over his body. Kairi saw many bruises on his face and arms, and could only imagine how many more were hidden beneath his clothes. His ribs were broken and he was gasping for breath, as though all the air had been wrested from his lungs. But worst of all was his right shoulder: a hole, a centimeter in diameter, had been burned into it, so deeply and so precisely that Kairi could just make out the cell door by peering through the wound. Kairi gingerly fingered the edges of this hole, and her eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Sora…" she whispered, though the tears now choked her and prevented her from raising her voice. "Oh, Sora… what did they do to you?"
Sora shook his head weakly, his own voice stifled by the agony that still racked his entire body. "You… you don't wanna know. And I really don't wanna talk about it."
Kairi tried to smile, but it was difficult to maintain with tears stinging her eyes and the very sight of her husband now breaking her heart. "Come on." she managed to say. "You need to rest."
Chewbacca slid another metal slab out from the wall as Kairi helped Sora walk to it. She assisted him as he lay down upon the slab before sitting down upon it herself, allowing him to use her lap as a pillow. She began to absent-mindedly play with his hair as she stared into his bright cerulean eyes. Sora's eyes had not lost any of their sparkle, despite the rest of his battered and bruised body. Kairi was sure that those eyes would never dim, and it was one of the only reassuring thoughts she had left in her.
"Well…" Sora murmured, though his voice sounded as broken as his body looked, "at least one of us is all right. I was so worried…"
"Shhh." Kairi said gently, placing a delicate finger over his lips. Her tears had finally dried, and she could now flash him an honest, loving smile. "Save your strength. You're gonna be all right."
Before Sora could issue a response of any kind, Kairi began to reach for something hidden on her person. She had been wise enough to leave her purse (which contained several potions and ethers, just in case) aboard the Millennium Falcon, but she had also been prudent enough to conceal one small item: an elixir, one of the most powerful healing agents in the worlds. "Here. Drink this." Kairi instructed Sora as she carefully popped off the lid of the ornate golden bottle and tilted Sora's head up so that he might drink. Elixir tasted quite differently than potions—in fact, Sora had said they tasted something like honey—and thus Sora had little trouble in draining the bottle. Instantly, his bruises began to clear up and his shoulder wound began to seal, though it still looked quite nasty. Even his ribs were beginning to mend.
Fortunately, the elixir had a second effect: the ability to restore the drinker's reserve of magical energy. Sora used this energy to cast a quick Curaga spell upon himself, but the mental exertion that such a spell required now threatened to exhaust him. Even as his bruises disappeared and his shoulder wound finally sealed completely (though still leaving behind a crescent-shaped scar), Sora closed his eyes and relaxed.
Kairi shook her head and continued to mess with Sora's hair. "Lazy bum." she whispered, her smile beginning to brighten and her broken heart beginning to mend.
Without warning, the cell door swooshed open. This time, it was not another prisoner who entered the cell, but the jailer himself. Lando Calrissian strode into the prison chamber, preceded by two of his blue-uniformed guards. Chewbacca roared at the sight of him; Leia, who knew that Han and Sora were still having trouble lifting their heads, was compelled to say, "Lando."
She had said it both to inform the two wounded prisoners of Lando's presence and to express her disdain for the Cloud City administrator. For once, Lando's all-too-charming smile was not present—in fact, the man looked utterly grave. Still, as Kairi found herself thinking, he probably deserved it after he'd so shamelessly turned them over to the Empire.
Sora's eyes slowly opened as Lando strode to the center of the room, and he sat up. Kairi placed her hands on Sora's shoulders to prevent him from teetering, since he was still quite shaky after all he'd been through. "L-Lando…" Sora snarled, the weakness of his voice doing nothing to hinder the hatred with which he said the name. "If you think I can't kick your butt… just because I'm hurt… then you're even dumber than you look."
"Get outta here, Lando." Han Solo agreed, also attempting to rise. His own untreated wounds, however, made it more difficult for him to move.
"Shut up and listen." Lando shot back, effectively shutting the two of them up. "Now," he began again, sounding subdued to the point of resignation, "Vader has agreed to turn Leia and Chewie over to me. Kairi is to be placed under Darth Vader's direct supervision, effective immediately."
"Over my dead body." Sora growled.
Lando lowered his gaze. "That's the idea." he murmured.
Had Kairi not been trying to support Sora with her hands, she would have shot up right then. "What?" she demanded.
"Vader's gonna kill you, Sora." Lando reiterated. "What he put you through already is nothing compared to what he's eventually planning for you. The Stormtroopers are all talking about how he'll be shipping you to the emperor one piece at a time."
Sora, against all his better judgment, leaped to his feet. His balance was still shaky and his head was swimming, but his anger was sufficient enough to keep him upright. "Let him try!" he barked.
"Sora, don't say things like that." Kairi cautioned him, now rising to stand behind him and wrapping her arms gingerly around his waist. She rested her head between his shoulder blades and reminded him, "You're still hurt a lot more than you'll admit. I don't want to see you suffer any more than you already have."
Sora nodded in compliance, but his fists were clenched and his gaze was still fixed angrily upon Lando.
While Sora and Kairi had been speaking, Princess Leia had been thinking. She noticed that Lando had neglected to mention a rather important member of their party, and she now asked, "What about Han?"
Lando looked up to meet Leia's eyes. "Vader's giving him to the bounty hunter."
"Vader wants us all dead!" Leia exclaimed.
"He doesn't want you at all!" Lando countered, "He's after Sora and somebody called, uhh… Skywalker."
"Luke?" Han asked, now able to sit up under his own power. He, unlike Sora, was still not yet strong enough to stand.
The name was familiar, even to Sora and Kairi. Though the couple had not met Luke Skywalker in person, they still felt as though they identified with him, even if it was only because Luke was Anakin Skywalker's son.
"Lord Vader has set up a trap for him." Lando confessed. To Sora, he added, "I don't know how he plans to deal with you, but I don't think Luke Skywalker is the first victim he has in mind for that trap."
"So the rest of us are bait?" Kairi surmised, releasing her hold on Sora and stomping to where Lando Calrissian stood. Sora nearly smiled. Kairi hated being bait, and ever since her brief stay in the Horned King's palace, she became angry when she caught even the slightest implication of the word. Even so, Kairi was not as angry now as she would have been, since this was the first time that she had been used to bait a trap for anyone other than Sora.
"Yeah, well, he's on his way." Lando answered, artfully dodging the question.
"Perfect." Han muttered, rising to his feet. His legs were still as shaky as Sora's had been (indeed, Sora's strength was rapidly returning to him, though his shoulder still burned terribly), but Solo did not falter as he approached Lando. "You fixed us all real good, didn't you? My friend!"
With remarkable reflexes for a man who'd undergone so much pain so recently, Han Solo landed a solid punch on Lando Calrissian's jaw. Lando stumbled backward into one of the guards, but Han's condition was still affecting his performance—he stumbled forward, and tried to grab Lando in order to right himself. However, he only barely managed to touch Lando's cape before he fell to the floor.
Lando Calrissian's guards were quick to react. Han Solo tried to rise from his fall, but one of the guards slammed the butt of his blaster into Han's back. Before anyone else could move, the other guard quickly pointed his blaster toward Sora. Sora's finger twitched, but he did not have time to summon his keyblade before Lando shouted, "Stop!"
For a fraction of a second, everyone froze. Leia was the first to move again, rushing to Han Solo's side. Kairi moved closer to Sora and hugged his neck, hoping both to comfort him and, by doing so, to comfort herself. She was relieved that the majority of Sora's bruises were now gone and his ribs were mostly healed, and she could now squeeze him as tightly as she wanted without fear of causing him pain.
Lando Calrissian rose to his full height and adjusted his cape, hoping to maintain some semblance of dignity. "I've done all I can. I'm sorry I couldn't do better, but I got my own problems."
"Oh, I feel so much better now." Sora jeered, snaking his arm around Kairi's shoulders and holding her as close to him as he could. "Sorry I doubted you."
"Yeah, you're a real hero." Han agreed, his own voice also filled with sarcasm and open resentment even as he lay sprawling upon the metal floor.
Lando could not issue a response, but his face twisted into a dour expression. He stormed out of the cell with a flourish of his cape, his two guards falling into step beside him. The door slid shut behind them, and there was a collective sigh of relief throughout the prison chamber, everyone just glad to be rid of him.
Chewbacca knelt down beside Han, who was still struggling to catch his breath. Princess Leia shook her head. "You certainly have a way with people."
Han tried to smile, but it visibly pained him to do so, and the smile altogether looked more like a grimace. He had been through a lot, and everyone in the cell regretted that no more elixirs were available and that Sora was not yet in a condition for casting a Curaga spell.
Kairi looked up at her husband and squeezed him even more tightly than before. Yes, his bruises were gone, but she could tell that his body still ached, and that scar on his shoulder would be burning for quite some time. He was in no condition to fight, and fighting was about the only way he could hope to survive his stay on this planet. "Sora," Kairi whispered in a voice so low that only he could hear, "what's gonna happen to you? To us?"
Sora smiled grimly. "Well, you don't have anything to worry about. Darth Vader doesn't want you to get hurt. You and the baby are safe."
Kairi realized that Sora was dodging the first question. "But what about you?" she repeated. "Will you be all right?"
Sora shook his head. "I don't know. I kinda doubt it. I'm getting the same feeling I got right before we fought the Horned King… and you remember how that turned out."
Kairi shut her eyes and buried her face in Sora' chest. She did remember. It was one of her most painful memories. She could still picture it quite clearly in her mind's eye: the way he had leaped into the Black Cauldron, the way she had called out his name, the way that Riku had been forced to drag her out of the Horned King's palace by force because she had absolutely refused to leave her love behind…
"No, Sora, please." Kairi begged. "I can't lose you again."
"I don't wanna lose you either, Kai." Sora replied, beginning to stroke her soft auburn hair. "But if something does happen to me…stay with Leia and Chewbacca. They might find a way to contact King Mickey and Riku. They might be able to get you out of here. You with me, Kairi?"
Kairi only nodded. "I understand. But it doesn't matter if I do or not, because you're gonna be all right."
The words didn't sound true, even to Kairi. She hugged Sora until she thought she would crush him, and she buried her face so deeply into his chest that she could no longer see anything but the black fabric of Sora's shirt. She hugged him as though it were the last hug she would ever give him, knowing in her heart that it just might be. Still, even though she was as close to her husband as physically possible, she still couldn't escape the feeling of being alone.
So very alone.
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A/N: Another chapter off my chest and on the internet. Hope you liked it.
A GENTLE REMINDER: PLEASE REVIEW! We're slipping into a pretty steady pattern of eleven reviews per chapter, which I think is FANTASTIC! We are only FOURTEEN REVIEWS AWAY from reaching 100 reviews, so if we're REALLY lucky, we can pull it off this chapter. If not, then our goal is still well within our grasp.
Until next time, Lord Moldybutt signing off.