Chapter 9: My darling, Why?
A/N: I'm sure everyone is either looking forward or dreading this chapter. Poor Hikari is going to suffer heartache yet again, and she didn't do anything to deserve it. Will she break down or will she stay strong? You'll just have to read to find out.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, I simply own Hikari.
Enjoy!
/
Sora wouldn't let up as they ran through the castle. He was set on rescuing Namine.
Hikari was breathing heavily as they ran. Running up a set of stairs was no easy trick. Her chest was starting to cramp up.
"Man, I wish I practiced running more on the islands" she thought.
She looked at Donald and Goofy and saw that they weren't fairing well either. They were trying so hard to keep up with Sora, but they were failing horribly.
She looked at Sora and saw that he was running faster.
"Sora! Slow down!" she cried.
Sora skidded to a stop and looked at them.
"We can't slow down!" he cried.
"They've got Namine! We need to hurry!"
Hikari managed to catch up with him.
She leaned forward as she catches her breath.
"I know that" she wheezed.
"But let me remind you that not all of us are as fast as you are"
She gave him a tired glare.
I want to help this Namine girl too, but I don't want to die from a heart attack over it! I highly doubt that they'll do anything to her, so relax!"
Sora just looked at her.
He noticed that she looked really tired and was about to pass out any second.
He really didn't give the group a break after fighting Larxene. He was so set on rescuing Namine and making sure that she was alright, that he didn't even bother to check if his friend were alright.
He shamefully looked at them.
"I'm sorry guys" he said.
"I didn't mean to rush you like that. It's just that…I just want to save Namine. I feel guilty that I've suddenly remembered her and I want to be a good friend"
Hikari stood up properly when she regained her breath.
She smiled softly at him and patted his shoulder.
"Don't feel bad" she said.
"We want to help you rescue her too. But you can't rush us like that. We may be strong, but we're not as fast as you. Just take it easy. You're letting Larxene's words get the best of you"
Sora gave her a weak smile.
"Maybe you're right" he said.
He looked at Donald and Goofy to see them sitting on the ground. They looked like they were about to pass out from exhaustion.
Jiminy appeared on his shoulder.
"Why don't we take a five minute break?" he offered.
"I'm sure Namine isn't in any real danger"
Sora nodded.
"Ok, let's take a break"
Hikari sighed with relief and plopped down on the floor.
Her combat boots may have been good for fighting, but they were horrible to run in. She looked at her outfit as well in disgust. She never really did like it, but she dealt with it because it was easy to wear while she was fighting.
"I seriously need to get a new wardrobe when we get out of this castle" she thought.
"If we get out that is"
Since they were on break, she took this as an opportunity to think about this Namine chick.
She didn't understand why she could remember her.
Sora clearly knew her since he kept talking about her during their exploring. He even said that she knew her.
Even Larxene knew that they were best friends.
That's what puzzled her the most.
"Why would she know all about that when I don't?"
She found it rather odd that the enemy knew about her 'friend' when she knew nothing about her.
She thought that maybe this Namine wasn't real and Sora must've hit his head.
But that blurred image of that blond girl proved her otherwise.
"Maybe it's taking a lot longer to regain my true memories like it is for Sora" she thought.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was still trying to remember her past.
"I'm sure I'll remember it eventually. But in the mean time, I'll help Sora rescue Namine. He's helping me find Riku, so I'll help him"
As she thought about Riku, she couldn't help but miss him.
She was worried that she might forget about him as they progressed through the castle.
"Well…we're gotten pretty far up in this castle and I still remember him" she thought.
"Maybe it's because my most precious memories are tied with Riku. If I keep thinking about them, then I won't forget about him"
When their break was over, they continued through the castle.
While they were walking, Hikari touched the place where she kept her pendant.
"I also remember that Riku is holding my most precious treasure"
When she thought about her pendant, she suddenly had a hard time remembering who gave it to her.
"Wait…who gave me my necklace?"
/
Sora opened the doors to the next level.
As he looked around the area for Namine, he spotted someone he never thought he would see here.
Hikari looked at where he was staring and gasped.
Riku was walking towards them from the other side of the room.
Hikari never thought she would see him so quickly, but she was glad that she did. At least she knew that he was able to get out of the realm of darkness.
"Riku!"
She ran up to him and stopped when she was a foot away from him.
She was all grins as she looked at him.
He looked exactly the same as he did when she sealed Kingdom Hearts.
Sora was flabbergasted as he saw his best friend.
He ran up to him.
"What are YOU doing here?" he asked.
Riku wore an emotionless look on his face.
It reminded Hikari of when he was still under Maleficent's control
"Not happy to see me?" he asked.
Hikari's grin faltered.
Riku wasn't even looking at her, he was simply staring at Sora.
"Lemme know if I'm getting in the way- ya know, of something that's more important"
Sora looked confused. He didn't understand why he was acting this way.
"Huh? I didn't mean that…" he said.
Riku just scoffed.
"Hmph. Spare me the excuses" he said.
"I bet that you had all but forgotten about me"
Hikari panicked.
She didn't know why Riku was acting like this, but she didn't like it. What happened to the Riku that she saw at Kingdom Hearts? The one who told her that he loved her?
"Are you crazy?" she cried.
"I came all this way looking for YOU!"
Riku just scoffed at her without even looking at her.
"But you're not anymore, right?" he asked.
Hikari raised an eyebrow.
Riku looked back at Sora.
"Now it's only Namine that you're looking for"
Sora bit his lip.
"You don't care about me" Riku said.
"Just like you never cared…at all about her feelings"
Sora grew puzzled.
"Namine's…"
"Hmph. I knew it" Riku said.
"Never even gave it a thought, did you? Just cuz you want to see Namine-sorry- doesn't go both ways"
He jabbed a finger at Sora's direction.
"Tell you the truth, Namine doesn't even want to look at your face"
Sora panicked.
"Why not?" he asked.
Riku looked away.
"You should ask your memories…why Namine disappeared from the islands. Remember that, and you'd know"
Sora looked at the ground sadly.
"Did I…did I do something?" he asked.
"Is it my fault?"
Hikari looked at Sora sadly.
How could Riku say those things? Didn't he know how much rescuing Namine meant to Sora? Sure, she didn't remember her, but she still felt bad.
She looked at Riku.
She felt a shiver run down her spine as she looked into his aquamarine eyes.
They weren't filled with the light and happiness that she saw at Kingdom Hearts. They weren't filled with love and joy.
They were simply filled with anger and hatred.
These were the eyes she hoped that she would never see again.
"Riku…" she said in a shaky voice.
Darkness suddenly engulfed and changed his outfit to his dark mode suit.
He held up his soul eater and glared at Sora.
"Go home, Sora" he said.
"I'll care for Namine. Anyone who goes near her…goes through me!"
Hikari gasped.
He was acting a lot like when they were trying to rescue Kairi, the way he would be so obsessed with her that he didn't even care about how anyone else felt.
Tears pooled up in her eyes.
Was this Namine girl more important to him than she was?
He didn't even look or talk to her when they came into the room. It was as if she was invisible to him.
"Riku" she choked.
Sora blocked Riku's sword when he tried to attack him.
"What's-what's wrong with you?" he cried.
"We're supposed to be friends!"
"Please, Sora" Riku said.
"Since when have you ever cared about me? Namine's not the only one who's sick of looking at you. So am I!"
Hikari couldn't take this anymore.
This wasn't the Riku that she fell in love with.
She ran after them to help Sora with the fight.
"Riku, stop it!" she cried.
Sora held a hand up to stop her.
"Stay back, he's mine" he said.
"Go by Donald and Goofy"
Hikari was about to protest, but she knew that she would never win with him.
Goofy lead her away from the two and made sure they were at a safe distance from them.
Hikari couldn't help the tears that ran down her face as she looked at Riku.
She had gone on this journey to find him, only to find out that he was more concerned for this Namine girl.
It simply broke her heart.
"Riku"
She watched as Sora fought with Riku.
After years of sword fighting on the islands, it was obvious that they were evenly matched.
No one seemed to have the upper hand in the battle.
They were just battering each other back and forth.
Sora managed to get the upper hand and knock Riku's Soul Eater out of his hand.
He didn't say anything.
He just looked at Sora for a moment before running up the stairs to the next floor.
Hikari panicked.
"Riku! Please wait!" she cried.
She looked hurt when he didn't stop.
A tear ran down her eye.
"Why?"
She ran after him, not caring about the others.
"Hikari! Wait!" Sora cried.
They ran after her as she went up to the next level of the castle.
/
Hikari's mind was frantic as she ran up the stairs.
What in the world was wrong with Riku?
He was acting just like he did when he was consumed within the darkness.
She was scared that he was turning back into a mindless puppet.
Not only that, but he seemed to know about this Namine girl as well.
Why was everyone else remembering about this girl, but not her?
She bit her lip as she thought about how Riku acted when he talked about Namine. He acted as if he cared about her, like he really cared.
Didn't he remember when he kissed her at Kingdom Hearts and told her that he loved her?
She pushed her body farther and ran up the stairs.
"Riku, you have some explaining to do!"
/
She slammed the doors opened when she got to the next level.
She breathed heavily as she looked around the room for her crush.
"Riku! Where are you?"
She couldn't find anyone but herself in the room.
Feeling dejected, she hung her head sadly.
Sora and the others finally caught up to her.
Sora bit his lip sadly as he saw his friend.
He almost forgot how much Hikari cared about Riku.
Goofy slowly went up to her.
"Hikari, are you ok?" he asked.
Hikari just looked at the ground sadly.
"Don't worry about me" she said.
"Riku…what happened?"
Jiminy jumped on her shoulder.
"Hmm…sure was strange" he said.
"Almost like Ansem was back controlling Riku again"
Hikari looked at the little cricket.
She didn't want to remember when Riku was Ansem's puppet. It tore her up inside.
"Those are one of the memories that I wish I forgotten" she thought.
"But we got rid of Ansem for good" Sora said.
"Then I wonder what is wrong with Riku…" Goofy said.
Donald suddenly panicked.
"Hold on…the King!" he cried.
"If he's with Riku, he might be in danger!"
Hikari bit her lip.
Riku wasn't dangerous. He could have a temper, but he was a sweet person. They didn't know him like she did.
Jiminy looked at her.
"Hikari" he said.
He jumped off her shoulder and stood in front of her.
"I know…you're thinking Riku doesn't love you and that he isn't Sora's friend. But that's just not true"
Hikari looked at him sadly.
"You sure?" she asked.
"Well, I know he said some awful things back there…" Jiminy said.
"But you gotta remember- we are in Castle Oblivion. Why, folks lose their memory her a little bit at a time. Riku's probably forgotten that he was friends with Sora and that you were his sweetheart. That's all"
Hikari looked confused.
Could that be why he was acting so strange?
Did he lose parts of his memory?
"So he just forgot?" she asked.
Jiminy nodded.
"My guess is that's so" he said.
"But Hikari…instead of being sad, we have to figure out a way to help Riku get his memory back. If we all work together, why, we're sure to get you through this. No need to mope"
"Jiminy's right" Goofy said.
"You shouldn't push your friends away"
Hikari looked at them and gave them a sad smile.
"Yeah. Okay" she said.
"Hikari, do you remember our very first promise?" Donald asked.
Hikari looked at him.
"Huh?"
"Always smile!" Donald and Goofy said in unison.
"That was the promise we made to each other the first time we met!" Goofy said.
"We promised to never forget to keep smiling!"
Sora grinned.
"Oh yeah! I remember that!" he said.
Hikari grinned softly.
"You're right" she said.
They walked through the castle in search of Riku.
"Don't worry, Riku. I'll make you remember everything about us" she thought.
/
They caught up to Riku on the next floor.
He was still dressed in his dark mode outfit.
He stopped walking when he noticed they were behind him.
"Take the hint" he said without even looking at them.
"I told you to go home"
Hikari bit her lip.
She didn't like the way Riku was acting, but she reminded herself that his memories were probably messed up.
"Not until I rescue you and Namine" she said.
Riku looked over his shoulder slightly.
"I don't remember ever asking you to rescue me" he said.
Hikari just looked at him sadly.
"Did you forget?" She asked.
"Kairi's there- waiting for the three of us to come back home"
Sora nodded.
"That's right. She's waiting for us, remember?"
Riku scoffed and looked at him.
"You're the one who forgot" he said.
"I told you at Kingdom Hearts when we closed the door…'Take care of Kairi'"
Sora looked taken aback.
It seemed that he forgot that promise he made.
He hung his head in shame.
"Give it up" Riku said.
"I'm not going back to the islands-for anything"
Hikari stomped her foot.
She was really getting sick of Riku's attitude.
"It's not just for Kairi!" She cried.
"What about the rest?"
Riku just shrugged her off.
"You can have those losers" he said.
"Already forgot them"
Hikari glared at him.
"That's enough!" she said.
She pulled out her keyblade.
Riku just smirked darkly at her and pointed at her.
"What about you, Hikari?" he asked.
"Do you actually remember what they all look like?"
Hikari scoffed.
"Of course I rememb-"
As she said that, she realized that she didn't remember any of their faces. She couldn't recall her friends from the islands or what their names were.
Now that she thought about it, she couldn't remember the person who gave her lucky charm to her.
Riku laughed darkly.
"Don't feel bad" he said.
"That's what this castle does to you-after a while"
He walked away from them a little and had his back towards them.
"It's good" he said.
"You forget all the useless stuff and remember for the first time what really matters. I remembered it, you two. I now know the one thing that is most important to me"
He looked at them.
"Protecting Namine. Nothing else matters-not a thing"
Sora looked at him horrified.
How could he say that in front of Hikari?
He was glad that he wanted to save Namine too, but Hikari was his girl.
He looked at her to see her reaction to all of this.
Her bangs were covering her eyes, so he could see anything.
Hikari didn't say a word as she let all of this sink in.
She suddenly gripped her keyblade really tightly to the point that her knuckles were turning to the same shade as her key.
"Hey…Riku…" she said softly.
She snapped her head at his direction and got into a fighting stance.
Her green eyes were dark as she glared at him.
"I think I'll jog your memory"
Riku smirked darkly as he drew out his soul eater.
"Go ahead and try" he said.
They both stared at each other as they prepared to fight.
Sora slowly back away from them.
Donald looked at him.
"Should we help her?" he asked.
Sora shook his head.
"No. This is her fight" he said.
"She needs to make Riku realize that everything he said was wrong"
Goofy gulped slightly as he looked at his friend.
"I hope she'll be alright" he said.
"Don't worry, she will be" Sora said.
"She's always fought with us back on the island. She can handle whatever Riku can dish out"
They all watched as the two lovers faced each other.
/
Hikari never took her eyes off of Riku when he pulled out his soul eater.
Even thought she was forgetting when she fought with him, she still remembered how he fought.
She noticed that he wasn't looking directly at her in the eye.
She found that to be a little odd.
Riku smirked darkly.
"Don't think I'll go easy on you, just because you're a girl" he said.
Hikari glared at him.
"I wouldn't want you to" she said.
"Now let's see what you've got"
They both looked at each other for a second before they flew at each other.
Hikari blocked his soul eater when he brought it down to slam into his head.
She swung his sword out of the way while she cast a thunder spell at him using her hand.
Riku dodged the attack and flipped out of the way.
"Is that the best you can do?" he asked.
She growled.
"Please, I'm just getting warmed up" she said.
She charged at him and did a melee attack on him.
She managed to get a few hits on him, but it wasn't enough to knock him down.
As she was fighting him, she couldn't help but notice that he wasn't fighting like he normally did.
After years of fighting with him, she picked up that he fought a certain way and held a certain stance.
The stance was the same, but the skills he used were a bit sluggish and weak. It was like as if it wasn't him.
When he went to hit her in the side, she kicked his sword out of the way and punched him in the face.
As she did that, images ran though her head.
They weren't like the normal images she saw when she made any physical or eye contact.
These images looked a lot like drawings. They were all about Sora, Riku and that blond chick she saw before.
"What in the world is this?"
Riku jumped away and fell on one knee.
He held his face where she punched him.
He glared at her through his bangs and he used his soul eater to get him up.
Hikari held her keyblade up in case he wanted another round.
Riku just smirked darkly at her.
"Hmph. Too bad, Hikari" he said.
"You can fight me all you want, but I still won't remember a thing"
Hikari lowered her keyblade slightly.
She really didn't want to fight him.
Sure, she was mad that he thought about this Namine girl and not her, but she still loved him.
"Come on, Riku" she said.
"Let's quit fighting-let's go help Namine" she slowly walked to him.
Riku scoffed.
"Together-right?" he asked.
He lowered his soul eater.
"So like you…Hikari- you're always trying to worm your way into my heart!"
Hikari gasped a little.
"Hold on! When did I ever do that?" she asked.
She never thought she would hear that coming out of his mouth.
She never thought that she was trying to worm her way into his heart. Sure, she wanted him to see how much she loved him, but she kept her feelings to herself.
"Hmph. You forgot that too?" Riku asked.
"You never cared. It never mattered to you!"
He ran off to head to the upper level of the castle.
Hikari reached out for him, then slowly lowered her hand.
She thought she would be sad hearing that, but instead, she was mad.
How dare he think so poorly of her when she did nothing to him. He knew that she never tired to weasel her way into his heart.
She glared at where he ran off.
"You won't push me away" she said.
She looked at the others.
"Come on! Let's go!"
They all nodded and ran up to the next floor.
As they were running, Hikari made plans on how she was going to beat some sense into Riku's thick skull.
/
Namine sadly sat in a corner of the room she was in.
She knew what was going on between the three keyblade wielders and she knew there was nothing that she could do about it.
Axel appeared out of a portal and walked up to her.
The redhead looked at the blond.
He knew what was happening as well and how it was affecting the girl.
"Does it hurt, Namine?" he asked.
"Watching your three childhood friends fight all because of you?"
Namine didn't say anything. She didn't even look at him.
Axel smirked darkly.
"You have my sympathies. From the heart"
Namine glared up at him.
Axel chuckled a little.
"But don't waste your time" he said.
He looked off into the distance.
"We nobodies can never hope to be somebodies"
Namine looked at the ground sadly again.
/
Sora hung his head sadly as they walked.
He was feeling down about Riku.
Hikari on the other hand was furious.
He had a lot of nerve talking to her like that back there. She went on this journey because she was worried sick about him and when she found him, he was only concerned about Namine.
Did he forget about their kiss back at Kingdom Hearts? Did her feelings mean nothing to him?
Suddenly it was all 'Namine this' and 'Namine that'.
She knew she shouldn't feel jealous about this girl, but she couldn't help it.
What was so special about this girl that it made Sora and Riku gush over her?
They acted as if they knew her since they were kids, yet she couldn't.
She grabbed her head in frustration.
It had to be this stupid castle.
Instead of remembering her true memoires, she was forgetting them.
"Stupid castle! I wish it was burnt to the ground!"
Sora stopped walking and looked at the group.
"I don't get it" he said.
"Riku and I- we both want the same thing. Both of us want to help Namine out. How come we're fighting each other?"
He placed his hands behind his head.
"I mean, Riku and I have argued about stuff in the past, but…"
"Could be because you care what happens to each other" Goofy said.
Sora put his hands down.
"Hm…I thought so, too, but…maybe Riku doesn't…"
"Maybe he loves this Namine chick" Hikari spat.
Sora looked at her surprised.
He had never heard her talk this way before.
Hikari glared at the ground.
"You saw how he was acting back there" she said.
"It's obvious that he loves her. He said nothing else matters than protecting Namine"
A tear ran down her face.
"So all that stuff he said back at Kingdom Hearts was a lie. He was just toying with my emotions"
She sniffled a little.
"I even gave him the lucky charm that was made for me by…by…."
She couldn't think of the name that she was searching for.
It was all blank to her.
She just ground her teeth together as she wiped her eyes.
Sora went up to her.
"Don't feel like that" he said.
"I know Riku loves you and only you. He just sees Namine as a sister. Don't you remember?"
Hikari glared at him.
"No, Sora, I don't!" she snapped.
"I don't remember anyone named Namine, and I don't even remember who gave me my pendant. I've been losing my memories while you've been regaining yours. Can't you get that through your head?"
Sora stepped back so he wouldn't get his head chewed off.
He just looked at her while she had angry tears running down her face.
"And I'm not the only one whose forgetting. Riku may be remembering about Namine, but he's forgotten all about me. He doesn't remember that I turned into a heartless just to save him from Ansem and he doesn't remember me confessing my love for him. I'm nothing to him now"
Donald looked at her sadly.
He wasn't used to seeing her so broken like this.
"You can't give up" he said.
Sora nodded.
"That's right. It's like you always say 'I've come too far to quit now'. I know Riku loves you. He stayed on the other side of Kingdom Hearts just to keep you safe. He's only acting this way about Namine because he feels guilty that he forgot about her. I'm acting the same way too"
He placed his hands on her shoulders.
"We'll see him again. And when we do, we'll find out what's going through his head. He's really stubborn with expressing his feelings, so we'll just have to beat them out of him"
Hikari wiped her eyes.
Sora did have a point.
She shouldn't jump to conclusions just because of what Riku said. There had to be an explanation as to why he was acting this way.
She smile weakly at Sora.
"You're right" she said.
"Thanks, Sora. Sorry I snapped at you"
Sora hugged her.
"It's ok" he said.
"This castle is getting the best of us. We just need to remember that we're here for our friends"
Donald nodded
"You're friends-tied together" he said.
"Sora, Hikari, Riku and…and…"
He looked at Goofy.
"What was her name?"
Goofy shrugged.
Jiminy appeared on Sora's shoulder.
"Hm. It seems our memories are fading mighty fast" he said.
He looked at Sora and Hikari.
"We gotta hurry, you two. I bet Riku will come around if you just talk to him"
Sora nodded.
"You're right" he said.
"We four were never apart. Me, Riku, Hikari…and Namine"
/
A/N: Poor Hikari, at least she took it like a trooper.
She'll just have knock some sense into that thick skull of his.
I'm sure you all know which Organization member we'll meet next.
Please review and tell me what you think.
Ja ne