The Lost Princess
Chapter Nine – Destiny Islands
The small fleet of lifeboats had (luckily) been found by another large ship that had received their S.O.S but had been too far away to get to them in time. Still, Kari couldn't help but feel horrible because she knew these creatures had been after her.
She had thought about it while they were floating on the boats. Sora and Roxas had been asleep on either side of her, and Goofy was on her lap, so she had been snug and warm while everyone else was cold. Still, she hadn't gone to sleep. Those monsters had appeared only after she had first woke up from the dream. She knew for a fact that, if Sora hadn't called her name and if she hadn't woke up, she would have jumped over the side of the ship. Then, after that didn't work, those white creatures had tried to drag her in. They had left quickly enough though, and Kari wondered if it was because of the same reason the monsters left. She had destroyed the thing with her bare hands, and she didn't know how.
She knew why she had done it. The creature was going to yank Sora into the violent water, and she knew if he got pulled in he would never be found again.
Still, these creatures were following her, and she knew it. She knew she was the reason that so many people had died. No one accused her of such, of course, but then again, only Sora knew that the creatures themselves had come after her.
Kari felt tears building up in her eyes as she rested her head on Sora's shoulder. She didn't want to be the reason anyone got her.
When the other boat had picked them up, they had been assigned to a much smaller cabin, but they wouldn't complain. Roxas had practically stumbled up to the top of the small bunk, and Sora had been ready to fall sleep on the floor, but Kari had pulled on his arm and dragged him into her tiny bed. She didn't want to be alone, especially if something tried to trick her again. With Sora there, she wouldn't be able to get up to stumble blinding about this ship.
For his part, he had simply blinked at her oddly before yawning and pulling her close. Goofy curled up around the feet, and in the warmth of his arms, Kari had quickly fallen asleep.
The next morning, Roxas couldn't help but watch his brother and Kari ("Kairi," he reminded himself. They needed to make it seem like that's what they always called her.) with scrutiny that lasted for the rest of their trip. Ever since he woke up one morning to them curled up together, he had been more than a little suspicious.
If he had voiced this to one of the men that had been in the lifeboat with them, they would have asked him why he was suspicious about anything. They had all seen his brother and Kari ("Kairi", he said again.) kiss, and they could all see the chemistry between them.
For his part though, Roxas knew his brother better than everyone, and he was very familiar with Kairi ("Ha! I got it right!") now as well. He had noticed that, at first, they seemed terribly awkward around each other, but as soon as Kairi had seen that the wounds on Sora's arm (completely disregarding the fact that she had the a similar one on her hand) were swollen and in pain, she had stopped caring about being awkward. Instead, she stayed close to him to make sure he didn't have any more reactions and went about cleaning his arm every day (Which Sora only allowed once he was sure her hands were alright.).
Roxas saw how they slowly seemed to get more comfortable with each other, but despite what had occurred between them on the lifeboat, neither one seemed to push the other to do it again. It was true, they didn't seem to have a problem with crossing over what would be considered personal space to see what the other was doing, and they were always touching each other. It wasn't in a bad, or inappropriate way, just touching of hands, or, for example, how Sora would play with her hair when they were sitting together. Just small things.
He could still feel the physical and emotional tension between the two now, but he knew why Sora wasn't pushing to kiss her again. They all knew that this could only turn out bad for the brunet in the end. If the former Queen believed that Kari was really Kairi then—
"Roxas!"
He jumped slightly and looked around at Sora and Kairi, who were staring at him oddly. He hadn't even notice that the boat had already docked, much to his surprise.
"Probably thinking about Naminé," Sora whispered to the girl, who giggled and followed him down the ramp that was set up. Roxas grumbled at his brother and followed behind them after hoisting Goofy into his arms.
"Where do we go from here?" Sora asked his brother as he looked around the busy port they had entered.
"We grab a taxi," Roxas said. "Because I'm not walking all that way. Naminé lives in the center of town, but the former Queen lives in a private residence outside the city, by the beach."
"How do you know all this?" Kairi asked him as Sora hailed a taxi.
"I came here a few years ago, you know, to scope out the lay and of the land and such. Even then we were planning on finding the Princess. I got to know Naminé and well—"
Kairi giggled at bit at him and turned her attention to Sora, who held open the back door of the taxi for her after putting their pages in the trunk. She grinned at the brunet widely before slipping inside the car.
"You get front with the creepy cabbie," Sora said to his brother quickly before grabbing Goofy from Roxas and rushing around to the other side of the taxi (After closing Kairi's door for her, of course.).
Roxas sighed and got in the front, wincing at bit when he saw the driver had an eye-patch and his hair was tied back in a ponytail.
"Name's Xigbar. Where are you kiddos heading?"
"Memori Manor," Roxas answered quickly. This was sure to be an interesting drive. Still, a car couldn't be as bad as the train and the boat, right?
VVVVVVVVVVVV
Sora whistled and Kari ("Oops, Kairi. Kairi, Kairi, Kairi," Sora said, causing her to giggle.) couldn't help but stare in awe. The house was beautiful, and was bigger than even the orphanage had been.
"Does she really live here alone?" Kairi asked Roxas.
He nodded his head and said, "Her father passed away when she was seventeen and left her everything. For that year she was in the former Queen's care, and then she came back here."
"And her mother?" she asked curiously.
"Died," Roxas said sadly. When he saw her expression he quickly shook his head and said. "No, no, not during the Revolution. Her mother and younger sister by a year, Xion, died in a car accident a few years after that while retrieving a few things from Radiant Garden. Poor Naminé never really got over any of that though. So she's a little, reclusive. Shy, unless she has people to interview. Then she appears confident like people expect her to be. She prefers to just stay up in her room and paint or draw though."
Kairi nodded and gulped nervously before turning away from the door and saying, "I can't do this."
Sora quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back. He turned her around so that she was staring directly at him and said, "You can do this. You are Princess Kairi as far as we know. I'm confident that you're really her, er, or she's you. Either way."
She searched his eyes before slowly nodding. Roxas sighed with relief and rang the doorbell. As they waited, Kairi quickly leaned up and kissed Sora gently on his cheek again before saying, "Thank you, again."
He blushed lightly but didn't get the chance to reply at the door flew open. A woman dressed as a maid eyed them all for a moment before saying, "Yes?"
"Hi. We're looking for—" Roxas was cut off as the maid waved her hand.
"Ms. Naminé, I know," she said with a nod of her head. "I remember you. You're that boy she always talks about. Roxas."
He blushed a bit and nodded his head slightly as the maid led them in. They all took off their shoes by the door and followed the blonde maid up the stairs.
"This house is beautiful," Kairi whispered to Sora.
"I know," he agreed. "The Palace was more impressive, but that's a bit of a given."
She giggled a bit but stopped as the maid halted at a door. She knocked and said, "Ms. Naminé, you have visitors."
"Let them in Rikku," a quiet, rather serene sounding voice called out. The maid, Rikku, smiled at them as she opened the door and motioned for them to go inside.
The room itself was completely white, even the furniture, but in contrast to that, there were colorful paintings strewn everywhere. Kairi looked at them in awe, and Roxas took a few steps towards the middle of the room. There, sitting on a high stool in front of an easel was a young woman painting away.
She pulled her bright blue eyes away from the work in front of her, and they landed on Roxas. Her mouth opened in a surprised O, her eyes widened, and she dropped her pallet to the ground, the paint splattering on the floor.
Roxas, and who Sora and Kairi assumed was Naminé, stared at each other for a tense moment. Then, as Roxas opened his mouth to say something, she suddenly moved forward and wrapping her arms around his neck tightly.
"You said you'd come back, but I was starting to doubt you."
"I promised you Nami," Roxas replied as he hugged her tightly.
She glanced up from his shoulder before quickly letting him go, a bashful look replacing the joy on her face as she suddenly seemed to shrink in size, or blend in with the white of the walls behind her. "Oh, hello. I'm Naminé Memori."
"This is my twin brother, Sora," Roxas said with a quick jester, and Sora smiled at her. She shook his hand politely before turning and looking at the only female of their small group.
Her skin, if possible, went visibly paler and her eyes widened slightly. She eyed Kairi down for a moment, giving Goofy (who sat obediently at their feet) and odd look before looking back into her indigo eyes. "And who might you be?"
"We came with a surprise this time," Roxas said with a grin. "May I present to you, her Imperial Highness, Princess Kairi Hart."
Kairi blushed lightly before saying, "Hello Naminé."
Naminé stared at her for a moment before suddenly moving to another part of the room. She picked up one of her finished paintings and looked at it, before glancing at Kairi and back again. She sighed and turned it around so that they could see it, "You certainly do look like my cousin. There have been others who managed to look almost exactly like what we thought she'd look like now, but there was always something off about them. You—wow—you look so much like her."
Kairi felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked at the painting of her as a child, and only remembered to breathe again when Sora placed his hand on her shoulder.
Naminé tilted her head slightly as she stared at them before a knowing grin appeared on her face. She quickly moved passed the group, motioning for them to follow her. "We should have a seat. I have to ask you a few questions." She nodded to Kairi when she was saying this.
They followed her out of the room, through the hall and back down the stairs. As they walked, Roxas nudged Sora and whispered, "She believes us."
"Really?" Sora asked doubtfully.
"I can tell," Roxas said with a nod.
They followed the young blonde woman out to the patio in the backyard. She called for Rikku to bring them out some lemonade and motioned for them to sit down at an elegant glass table. She didn't say a thing as Rikku set down four glasses of lemonade on the table, but she didn't touch anything yet, she just kept looking at Kairi with an expectant look.
Kairi didn't notice this though, instead, her eyes were focused on the glasses in front of her with a rather disdained look.
"You should take a drink," Naminé said after a moment. "You look thirsty."
Kairi grimaced and said, "I don't like lemonade. It's too sour."
Sora and Roxas both groaned and smacked their heads on the table at her blunt and rather disgusted voice.
Naminé laughed and said, "No, Kairi never did like lemonade. She always preferred—"
"Orange juice," Kairi said thoughtfully. "Or apple juice."
"I always used to drink hot chocolate with her," Naminé said thoughtfully. "Because of how cold Radiant Garden was in winter. She was a little weird though, because—"
"I always mixed honey with pretty much every hot drink I had. Hot chocolate, warm milk, even just hot water," Kairi said with a laugh. She looked back at Sora and said, "I was a weird child."
Sora snorted and said, "You just enjoyed excessive amount of sweet things."
"So," Naminé said, leaning forward on her elbows. "You were born—"
"In our vacation home in Atlantica. Ariel was born there as well. It's also where she found Sebastian and Flounder."
The blonde girl seemed thoughtful for a second before saying, "You know what, I'm already getting the strong impression that you are Kairi, but I have to ask a few questions first, you understand."
"Yeah," she replied with a nod. "It's okay."
Naminé asked her a few questions about her life, some of which Roxas and Sora had prepared her for, some of which they hadn't. Kairi admitted to living in an orphanage for ten years with only tiny snippets of her past, but Naminé didn't question that.
As they talked, Rikku brought out a light lunch for them. Roxas and Sora stayed silent the entire time as the girls chatted, and the talk was becoming less and less formal.
"Well," Naminé said after they finished eating their lunch. "I guess I'm out of questions."
"So, is she a Hart?" Roxas question Naminé while playing with her hair.
She smiled awkwardly at this, with a faint blush on her face before saying, "Well, I just have one more questions. You may find it a little…redundant, but you know—I'm curious."
Kairi nodded curiously and Naminé asked, "How is it, that you escaped the siege on the palace?"
Sora sighed and leaned back. He knew very well how she had escaped, but he had never even thought to tell her that. Roxas shot him a panicked look before turning to Kairi to see what she would say.
She sat in thought before fingering her necklace and saying, slowly, "There was a boy. About my age. I can't remember—well—he opened a wall…"
Sora turned towards Kairi, a look of awe passing over his features as his eyes widened with shock, and this was not lost on Roxas.
Kairi suddenly laughed and said, "What am I talking about. Opening walls. I'm sorry."
Naminé laughed and said, "It's alright. I didn't really expect you to know. You did say you're memories were still a bit fuzzy."
"Does that mean we get to see the Queen?" Roxas asked Naminé after tearing his suspicious glance from his brother. Sora had looked away from Kairi quickly and Roxas couldn't help but notice it.
"I really wish I could," Naminé said sadly. "Because I really think you are Kairi. She doesn't want to see anyone anymore though."
This threw both of the twins for a loop before Roxas looped his arm across her shoulder and said, "Come now, there must be some way we can see her, if even for a moment."
Naminé shot him a searching look before sighing and leaning back a bit in her chair to think. Roxas and Kairi watched her curiously, but Sora focused on his hands.
"Do you like the Radiant Garden Ballet?" Naminé asked suddenly, sitting up straighter.
Kairi scrunched her face up and was about to shake her head but Roxas swiftly kicked her under the table. She jumped, glared at him and said, "Yes. I'd love to go actually."
Naminé laughed and said, "Great. We have never missed a show."
Roxas and Kairi both grinned broadly at her words. It looked like things were turning out their way for once.
Only Sora knew exactly how much that was true.
VVVVVVVVVVVV
Sighing, Sora slumped down onto the lush green grass of Naminé's back yard away from the table. He leaned his head back, purposely smashing the back of it on the tree behind him. Naminé and Kairi were so interested in their conversation that they didn't even notice.
Roxas did, however, walked over to his brother while saying, "We did it bro. We really did! Why are you beating yourself up about it?"
"We did it more then you know," Sora replied while looking up at the sky he was named after.
Roxas shot him a confused look before saying, "So there is something I don't know. That look on you're face back there, I just knew it."
"That little boy," Sora said as he pulled the charm out of his pocket. "The one who opened the wall. That was me. She's the real deal, Rox."
Roxas' mouth fell open and he said, "You're sure? A hundred percent? Wait, that's how you knew, isn't it? That's why you were always so persistent that she survived. You helped her escape the palace."
Sora nodded and said, "Then the rumors started that she may have died anyway. I just—I had to know. I got her out of the palace, and I just felt like it was my duty, because I was the only person who knew that truly did get out. I—it's really her."
Roxas sighed and sat beside his brother. "You have to tell her."
"Everything," Sora agreed. "I know I have to. I have to tell her everything. About the scheme, the lies…and the truth. She deserves to know." He sighed and looked at his hands sadly. "She's going to hate me."
"She won't hate you," Roxas insisted. "So why don't you just—"
"Kitchen boys," Sora interrupted. "Don't marry Princesses."
"I'm involved with Naminé, or so you can say," Roxas pointed out.
"She's not a Princess," Sora replied. Seeing that his brother was about to protest he said, "It'll be better for her this way. She'll get the family she's been searching for, without any false ideas, and, well, I'll never see her again. It's for the best."
Roxas eyed his brother and said, "I think you're making a mistake. Can't you see that she loves you?"
The brunet stared at the ground for a moment before saying, "That's why I have to let her go Roxas. A Princess deserves something more than a person who can't even afford to feed himself."
Before the blond could say anything else both girls stood up. Naminé walked inside of the house and Kairi moved towards them, looking rather glum. "Naminé's going to take us shopping for the ballet."
"Look a little more depressed about shopping Kairi," Sora said with a laugh as he flung his arm over her shoulder.
She looked up at him before saying, "Well, I guess if you're coming, it won't be so bad." She smiled a bit. "Who else will carry all my bags?"
Sora smirked and said, "You really do want to go shopping, don't you?"
"Only if you're there," she said with a flutter of her eyelashes.
Roxas watched them both interact. He couldn't help but smile at the way Kairi was flirting heavily with his brother, but he also couldn't help but frown as well. He knew his twin well enough to see that his heart was slowly breaking with every moment he spent with her. And he knew Sora was making a huge mistake.
VVVVVVVVVVVV
"Master?" Riku asked slowly, as Xemnas paced back and forth in front of him. It was the first sign of any frustration that the man had shown in all Riku's time (imprisonment) there.
"All my attempts have failed," Xemnas said. "So now comes my last option. I'll have to kill her myself. You'll be helping me, of course."
Riku's eyes widened a bit before he asked, "Can you actually, leave here?"
"I've been waiting for all the dark Keyblade's strength to be renewed, and it has. Now it's time to make my move."
He held out the blade, and a large shadowy portal opened. He motioned for Riku to follow before saying, "Come, we have much work to do."
Riku hesitated before following him. As much as he didn't agree with Xemnas' antics, he knew he should go along. It would get him out of that place, and maybe, just maybe, he would be able to find out the man's plan and warn Kairi beforehand.
Because Riku knew that she didn't deserve to die.
VVVVVVVVVVVV
Author's Note
Fun fact: that first part about the lifeboats being found by another ship that was too far away from them to get there in time is actually what happened to the Titanic.
So again, similar plot line, but I tried to make this one a bit different. I did my first of four exams today. Took me 20 minutes to write and we had 3 hours. I like those odds. Lol
Also I'm completely distracted by watching vast amounts of Supernatural. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! If I didn't get a reply back to you, it's not that I don't appreciate your review, I've just been super busy!
So thank you to catharsis25, DAN88, Shire Folk, Solarian Princess, SlashFox14, Narwe, Topaz Tsubasa, chasingfireflies and Trainalf. You guys are great!
Krystal Lily Potter