Sorrow's Promise Chapter 11, a kingdom hearts fanfic

Neven98: Thanks for reading, and for the encouragement! I'm glad you're liking the story so far.

Also, hello and thank you to my new follower, and to all my other readers!

SLIGHT TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER. SEE CENSORED VERSION BELOW DOUBLE LINES.

Taking one last glance back at where Sora slept, I followed Riku and Naminé out of the room and back through the basement, my mind and emotions swirling. I was going to find out what was going on here at last, but after what I had just seen, part of me was now rather scared to know. We traipsed in silence up the stairs to the library, then down the hall to Naminé's room, each of us taking seats at the long, white table.

Then Riku began to tell their story, starting at the very beginning. A beginning that I knew well, with three happy kids who spent their days playing on the beach. But then he told of a restlessness, a lust for more. Of strange creatures appearing, and worlds collapsing into darkness. False promises whispered in the ear of an already troubled boy, and manipulative lies turning one best friend against another. A friend in trouble. Arguments over how to bring her back. Heroic acts by a boy with a Keyblade, fighting to defeat the Heartless and bring the worlds out of darkness. A hunger for even more power, not knowing that requesting it would lead to being possessed by the Heartless of a man named Ansem. A battle between two friends, a door to the Realm of Darkness, an ending, or so it seemed.

Then he began to tell me about the Nobodies, a group of people with no hearts and therefore no emotions or morals. The story continued at a strange castle, full of conjured memories and an Organization of Nobodies who wanted both friends dead. Naminé entered the tale for the first time, forced by those in charge to tamper with the memories of the hero until he couldn't remember the most important person in his life. In the end, the Organization was forced to turn tail and run, and a stranger wrapped in red took charge instead. Two choices were made. One, by Sora, to sleep until his memories could be put back together. The other, by Riku, to stand watch over his friend and make sure that nothing happened to him while he slept.

"Organization XIII is still out there," Riku concluded. "They may have been weakened by Castle Oblivion, but not much. We don't know for sure what their plans are...or at least, if DiZ knows, he's not saying. But we have to keep Sora safe from them, no matter what." He looked straight at me for the first time since we had sat down. "That's why you can't ever tell anybody about his location. Not anyone. You never know what side someone might be on."

I nodded vigorously. "I won't. I swear." Twiddling my fingers on the table, I tried to sort out my racing thoughts and decide what questions I wanted to ask the most. "So, when you're up here in this room working all the time, you're working on putting Sora's memories back together?" I questioned, looking to Naminé.

"Yes. The process has taken much longer than we originally thought it would." She glanced at Riku as if for permission to continue, and he nodded. "Some of his memories ended up inside of his Nobody, and others are escaping through the Nobody into a third person." She paused before finishing, "It's proving difficult to get them all back."

"Wait, Sora has a Nobody?" I exclaimed. "But...he's alive, and has his heart. How does that work?"

"Sora briefly became a Heartless when he sacrificed himself to give Kairi back her heart," Riku elaborated. "That's apparently when his Nobody was born. Somehow Kairi was able to bring Sora back, though, so his case is unique."

I had a sudden thought and turned back to Naminé. "So, are you Kairi's Nobody, then? That would explain why you look like her, right?" Riku had hinted at her being a Nobody during the story, but no one had mentioned it outright.

She smiled. "Yes, I am."

"But you're..." I hesitated, trying to think of the right words. "Nice. You don't seem like you don't have a heart."

"I guess not all Nobodies are necessarily bad," Riku shrugged. "Just most of them."

"Meli," Naminé spoke up. "When you first saw Sora, you said another name. Did you think that you recognized him?"

"Oh, yeah." After everything that I had just heard, I had nearly forgotten about that detail. "He, uh...he looks just like my friend, Zephyr. I think he might be his doppelganger."

"Someone you know well?" Riku inquired.

"Used to. We went to school together, back before I moved into the group home. We were best friends for awhile. I think he always had a bit of a crush on me, but nothing ever came of it." I smiled, remembering. "Anyway, we kept in touch even after I moved, and would hang out whenever we could. Until..."

"Until what?" Riku prompted.

"Well, Aiden really doesn't like me hanging around other guys," I shrugged. "Which is understandable. So we haven't seen each other in a while. I still wear this bracelet that he gave me when we were kids, though. Aiden doesn't know it's from him, so I can get away with it," I laughed.

Riku frowned. "Meli, that's really not understandable at all. You should be able to be friends with whoever you want to."

I looked down at my hands and spun the bracelet around my wrist. "Well, Aiden's a bit older than me, so he's been in relationships before. He knows how these things work. He's just trying to do what's best for us."

"So then should I assume that you have female friends? It's just guys that are off-limits?" Riku prodded.

"I'm...not the greatest at making friends. I did have one, last year." I fiddled with the snap on the bracelet, not taking my eyes off of it. "She was kind of annoying, though."

"To you, or to him?"

I pressed my lips together, getting aggravated with his interrogation. Why did he think it was any of his business, anyway? "Me," I stated simply. Aiden had trained me well to answer all of his questions whether I wanted to or not, but that didn't mean I had to tell the truth.

"Yeah. I'm sure." Riku's reply was undeniably sarcastic. He didn't understand, and I didn't expect him to. But I knew Aiden cared about me and our relationship, whether Riku did or not.

Awkward silence hung over the table for a moment before Riku spoke again, his tone much lighter than it had just been. "Well, that's pretty interesting that you two were friends, even in another universe. Don't guess you knew anybody that looked like me, huh?" He laughed, but it sounded fake, like he really was hoping that I had.

Twisting my lips in thought, I tried to remember. "I don't think so...oh, wait!" A memory flashed through my mind. "Actually, there was a guy...Kaj. I didn't think about it before, because he was so much younger when I knew him. But there was definitely a resemblance between him and the younger you that I've seen in my dreams." I tapped my chin with my index finger. "Yeah, Zeph and I were friends with him in elementary school. I lost touch with him when I moved, though. Last I heard, Zephyr told me that he had gotten in with a bad crowd and dropped out of school. He didn't really know what happened to him after that."

Riku smirked, but didn't say anything. It took me a second to realize that what I had said was scarily close to his own story that he had just told me. "I'm sure he's fine, though," I added quickly, wincing inwardly at the lameness of my own words. Now I was going to be left to wonder what would have happened if Zeph and I had been the kind of friends to Kaj that Sora and Kairi had been to Riku.

"So, do you have any more questions?" Riku asked, changing the subject back.

"Lots, I'm sure," I replied. "But right now I think I just need to process everything."

"I understand. I can walk you into town now, if you want."

My mind was full the rest of the day. Rather than roam around town, I sat in a corner of the cafe and sipped my coffee, replaying the story that Riku had told me over again in my mind. Even when Roxas arrived for his daily ice cream, I couldn't get my thoughts on the present. I kept having to apologize to him for zoning out and making him repeat himself because my brain was so preoccupied.

On the way back to the mansion and during dinner, I asked Riku several questions that I had come up with during the day, mostly just clarifying details about how and when certain things had occurred. He seemed more than happy to discuss everything with me, and I wondered if being able to finally share the secret with someone was a burden lifted off his shoulders.

That night, after I had taken a bath and was ready for bed, I followed my usual routine of trying to make a portal, placing my hands on the mirror and shutting my eyes. This time, though, something happened. I felt the glass melting away underneath my hands, and my eyes flew open in surprise. A purple, smoky ring surrounded the mirror, and the glass was wavy and rippling, like an upright pool of water.

Stepping back, I stared at what I had just created with my mouth hanging open. I had actually done it. My powers were real. I could go home. But...did I want to? Yes, most of what I had heard and seen today was weird enough to be the plot of some sci-fi movie, or maybe a video game. At the same time, though, I felt like it gave me some kind of understanding of this place for the first time. I felt a connection to the people here, and to this story that I had been thrust into the middle of.

I ran my fingers through my hair, beginning to stress over the decision before me. Could I really just stay here? Abandon my life, and my boyfriend, for some wild fairy tale? I didn't have a purpose here. There was not really a good reason at this point for me to stay. They needed heroes, fighters, people who could conquer an evil organization while watching over the innocent. I was none of those things.

But...maybe I could still help in some way. Looking down at my hand, I remembered the feeling of the Keyblade in my grasp. I didn't know if I had what it took to be a true Keyblade wielder, but the least I could do was try, right? I had been gifted with a rare opportunity, and it would be foolish of me to just throw it away. Besides, if I had gotten the portal to work tonight, I could probably make one again another night if I changed my mind. On the other hand, if I went through the portal now and for whatever reason couldn't make another one, I would never be able to come back.

My mind was made up. I watched the portal sputter and falter, then vanish from sight, leaving only a normal mirror in its place. Spinning on my heel, I threw open the bedroom door, marched next door, and knocked sharply.

Only a few seconds later, the door opened and Riku stood in front of me with a puzzled look on his face. "Meli? Is everything okay?"

"I want you to train me," I announced. "I want to learn to use the Keyblade."

Riku smiled broadly, possibly the first time I had seen him look genuinely happy. "We'll start first thing in the morning."

CENSORED VERSION

There's no violence in this chapter, but there are references to Aiden's controlling tendencies.