Chapter 14 – Fixing the Future

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was a white ceiling with fluorescent light tubes shining down on me through a crinkled clear plastic board.

This isn't my room.

"So you're finally awake," said a tenor voice off to my right. I groaned as I sat up and looked at the person who sat with a smirk on his face.

Am I still in the altered world? "Do you know me?" I asked.

Riku raised an eyebrow at me. "Of course I know you. Did that coma do something to your brain?"

"Coma?"

"You have been asleep for three days," he said tactfully.

"What!?"

"Do you remember what happened right before you fell into your coma?"

The last thing I remembered was Zexion stabbing me…

My hand instinctively went to the site where I should have been stabbed. But, instead of finding bandages or a scabbing scar wound, there was no wound at all. The skin wasn't even broken.

"What happened?" I asked, my voice coarse from disuse.

"Your second fight on the afternoon three days ago was against a brute of a Struggler. He knocked you off the stage and you hit your head on the ground hard."

"That doesn't make sense. Wouldn't my headgear have stopped me getting a head injury?" I questioned with suspicion.

"That's what we thought too. But you just laid there unresponsive. The whole arena was in chaos when we found out what happened. We took you to this private hospital at my Agency's behest and you've been in a coma since. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with you."

My hand went to my head, but there were no bandages or protective netting.

"You didn't suffer any external or internal damage," explained Riku. "That's why the all the doctors were so baffled."

"So what happened before then? What happened with my first fight?"

The silver-haired teen raised an eyebrow at me. "You even forgot that? You fought very hard to win against, who was it? Ah yes, Brian Johnson."

No idea who that is. "How did everyone react to…" I pointed at my head.

"Well, your friend Yuffie looked like she was going to kill Thomas Wheatley, who was your second opponent that afternoon. Kairi started crying over your prone body and Sora looked like he'd seen a ghost. It was the first time I've seen him freeze up like that. I think he thought you were dead. Your brother had taken charge and made us make sure people weren't crowding over you. Naminé called an ambulance. The entire event had come to a screeching halt."

I looked around. "So where's everyone?"

"We've all taken turns looking after you. Kairi should be coming soon to relieve me. Of course, Sora believed it was only right for him to look after his subordinates. He's been here this entire time." He pointed to my left, where Sora had laid his head down on his arms that were on my hospital bed and was sleeping soundly.

He looked so cute that I had almost wanted to draw on his face. Almost.

"Don't you have to do something first?" suggested Riku as he gestured more to Sora. Goddamn it.

I laid a hand on Sora's shoulder and shook him lightly, which was enough to wake him up.

"Five more minutes…"

"Sora," I said. I guess that was enough to fully wake him up.

"Ah!?" he gasped before looking around him wildly. When he looked at me, his expression was one of anger.

"Damn you, Roxas!" he exclaimed. "Warn me next time before you wake me up! I wasn't ready to wake up yet!"

Now that's just asking for the impossible. But I'm glad to see you all worked up over this. It's more effective than any medicine out there for me.

"Sora."

"What," he muttered angrily.

"Wipe your drool off."

His left eye twitched slightly before he quickly rubbed at his mouth and then stared at me.

"Are you sure you didn't draw anything on my face?"

"No," I replied. He seemed suspicious.

"Sorry to make you worry."

"You better be!" Just the Sora I expected.

A soft knock at the door interrupted whatever Sora had been planning to say next. The door opened to admit Kairi who entered with a vase of Paopu flowers.

"Oh thank goodness," she said softly. I half expected her to break down and cry, but I guess Sora's presence is a No-no on crying in public.

As a result of my being in a coma for three days, I was given a punishment of having to treat everyone to the Seventh Heaven on New Years Day. I gladly accepted the punishment, even though it would be an expensive fare. More time to spend with the SOS Brigade means less time to think about what would have happened if everything was back to "normal".

Anyways, my family came and visited, so did Yuffie, Axel, Demyx, Hayner, and even the Gullwings. They were concerned about my health. Aww, I'm flattered guys.

On the other hand, having to spend the rest of the day undergoing tests after tests can take a lot of you: MRI, EEG, PET scan, CAT scan, you name it, I had to take it. Thankfully there was no need to look at my innards. That would've been painful as hell.

At the end of the day, my family left with the visitor's hour over and the lights turned off to signal bedtime. I lied in my bed thinking, thinking about what happened before I fell unconscious and the unknown man who spoke to me.

"I see now." I said aloud to myself. That unknown man was me; which meant that I would be going back in time to three days ago and say the same thing to myself, so as to not change the future. Great… Just wonderful.

And instead of me being stabbed by a dagger, I would be the one who pointed the needle-gun at Naminé and shoot her. I couldn't save myself because this had happened to me. If I saved myself before then, the future would've been changed.

With that revelation achieved, I waited for another visitor who I knew will show up once everyone was gone.

And as I expected, shortly after I came to my realization, the door quietly opened to admit the straight-faced Naminé. She immediately came over to the seat where Riku had been sitting in however many hours ago and sat down.

"I am responsible for everything that has happened," she said flatly. "My punishment is currently being assessed.

"Assessed by whom?"

"The Data Integration Thought Entity."

"Why didn't you tell me that you would go AWOL?"

"If I did, I would've erased your memories completely. Besides, no one can guarantee what hasn't happened will happen."

"You left an Escape Program for me! That's more than enough!" I was beginning to grow angry, not at Naminé, not at myself, but at the Data Integration Thought Entity.

"I cannot guarantee that I won't go AWOL again in the future. As long as I continue to exist, my internal errors will continue to accumulate."

"Is there no way to correct those errors?"

"Negative." She paused a bit, before starting again. "There is a very likely possibility that I will go astray and a very dangerous one."

"Fuck that!" First time I've ever used such strong language in front of anybody, ever. "Relay this message to your boss for me."

Naminé seemed taken aback by my swearing because she had blinked with surprise.

"Tell it, him, her, whatever gender your boss is. If your boss even thinks of letting you disappear, then I'm going to let all hell break loose. I'm not going to let you go without a fight. Even though I don't have any powers, I can provoke Sora pretty well. I'll join up with Sora and transform the world completely. We'll create a world similar to the one in those three days where you existed but the Data Integration Thought Entity. I'm pretty sure they will be even more disappointed if that happens."

And how will I achieve this? All I have to do is tell Sora that I'm John Smith and hammer it into that thick skull of his that he is all powerful, that Naminé's an alien, Riku's a psychic, Kairi's a time traveler. We'll go rescue Naminé from wherever it is that her boss hid her and throw the universe into chaos. I'm sure they'll love that!

Naminé simply looked at me and nodded.

"I will relay the message." She then gave me a smile.

"Thank you."

The following day, I was released and the first thing I thought to do was to gather Kairi and Naminé together. Unfortunately, since school was out already and my family having plans to leave the city for winter break, I didn't get a chance to fix everything. They all thought that my getting away from Radiant Garden for two weeks would be good for my health and my head. So, I just had to settle for the first day of class after we get back.

That first day after class resumed, I went straight to the clubroom after the lunch bell rang. Not to surprisingly, I found the two of them waiting for me in the SOS Brigade clubroom. Both of them seemed aware what I had planned to do.

"I'm pretty sure I don't have to tell this to you," I said as I looked at the two of them.

"I understand that we need to go back to December 17th at 3:43 in the morning," said Kairi with a knowing smile. "My superiors have notified me." She was slightly baffled though. "But why though?

"The world had been altered," stated Naminé simply. Kairi raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Really? Oh gosh, I didn't even feel it."

That's because it was Naminé who used Sora's power to change everything that you didn't feel a thing. But I really didn't feel like adding more salt to the wound.

"I want you to do something for me," Naminé suddenly said as the three of us held hands in a small circle. It feels like we were going to play Ring-Around-the-Rosie in the clubroom.

"What is it?"

"Don't say anything to the me in the time we are visiting."

"Oh, okay."

"Let's go then. Close your eyes, Roxas," said Kairi. I did as told and time moved in a swirl. I felt like I'm in a blender mixed with a cocktail shaker. Oh, I feel like puking.

As soon as it happened, it stopped and the feeling of gravity weighing me down was so comforting.

"We're here."

I opened my eyes and saw that we had landed right in the middle of everything that happened three days ago. The time when the world had been altered, I had come back to confront the AWOL Naminé, and got stabbed.

And by middle I mean, we stood just outside of the front gate behind which the older Kairi and I had been hiding just… two weeks ago? I guess it only seemed like a day ago when it happened, but it was technically more than two weeks ago.

I haven't hated Einstein more than ever at this current moment.

From where we stood, the older Kairi and I were only mere silhouettes underneath the bright streetlight, but it was still too close for comfort.

"Don't worry," Naminé said. "They can't see or hear us. A barrier has been set up."

Oh good.

Next to me, Kairi was awfully confused as she blinked at the silhouette that's supposed to be her older self.

"Uh, who is she?" she asked as she pointed at her future self. As much as I'd like to point it out to her that it's her future self, the older Kairi had made me promise I would never say a word to her younger self about the presence of her older self, since she never heard it when she was younger. Stupid future restrictions!

Then, the moment of truth came. Even though I had been expecting it, it still gave me goose bumps looking at the event. Suddenly, Zexion Walters appeared out of nowhere and ran past the invisible us. He charged straight at the past me.

"Roxas, watch out!" the older Kairi's voice rang out. I looked over to the younger Kairi briefly, noticing that she seemed rather oblivious to the familiar voice.

"Oh no, Roxas!" she exclaimed with a pair of wide eyes. She moaned miserably as she looked on to my "dying" helplessly.

From where I stood, the scene was rather grisly. I groaned and winced as the dagger went into my stomach. The feeling of déjà vu washed over me as Zexion snickered evilly and pulled the bloody dagger out of the old me forcefully.

"It's time," Naminé said and the barrier that had surrounded us disappeared. Immediately, Kairi went over to the injured me while Naminé intercepted Zexion.

The same shocking phrases came out of the psychotic teen and I looked down at my bleeding self with a grimace. With a sigh, I reached down to pick up the gun and held it in my hand firmly. I gave my past self a sardonic smile, knowing perfectly well that I didn't see it, and repeated what my future self had told me.

"Sorry about that. I have my reasons for not rescuing you right away; after all I had to endure it too. Anyways, we'll take care of the rest. I already know what to do now and you will know too. So just go get some sleep for now."

My bleeding self fell unconscious and soon after, so did the younger Kairi. The older Kairi lifted her hand from her younger self's shoulder and stood up with a smile.

"You came," she said.

"Sorry for being… late," I said, even though we were probably right on time.

"Why?" the timid Naminé asked. I turned to look at her still sitting on the ground looking very much like a frightened kitten while our Naminé was disintegrating Zexion. The dagger that he had used to stab me was reduced to dust and Zexion was disappearing as well. This entire time, Naminé had been intoning various "incantations" and spoke nothing but that.

"Why?" Zexion asked our Naminé. "Isn't this what you wanted? Today? Why?"

The questions remained unanswered and the teen disappeared completely, disintegrated once again by his superior.

"Why?" the timid Naminé asked again. I wanted to answer her, but I had promised the Naminé I know that I wouldn't say anything to her. Speaking of the Naminé I know, she had laid a hand on my wound and without fail, speaking in that scary language of hers, healed me. The complexion of my injured self had returned to a healthy fleshy color.

So that's why I didn't have a wound when I woke up.

Wordlessly, Naminé took the needle-gun from me and pointed it at her former self before pulling the trigger.

Instantly, I could see a change in the demeanor in the formerly astray Naminé. She stood up stiffly and pulled off the glasses. She looked exactly like the Naminé I know.

"Request synchronization," she said. I looked over to the Naminé who simply stared at her past self. To be quite honest, seeing two Naminés at the same time is a rather unsettling sight; especially since she's said that they were one and the same and never changed.

"Request synchronization," the past Naminé repeated again. The Naminé who came with us immediately replied this time:

"Request denied."

The Naminé who held the glasses in her hand blinked. I blinked as well with confusion.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I don't want to," the Naminé who still had the needle-gun in her hand replied.

What the hell? Did I just hear right? She denied the request because she didn't want to? That has got to be the most human thing I've ever heard her say.

The other Naminé frowned slightly, but seemed to understand.

"Understood."

Neither one of them said another word after that and for a couple of seconds, no one said anything. The older Kairi nudged me and gestured for me to say something.

Knowing what I had to do, I said gently to the Naminé from the past, "Go return the world back to its former state."

She nodded with an "Understood." However, before she even did anything, she gave a "Heh?" much like Kairi had done multiple times whenever Sora asked her to do rather dangerous things while we were filming our movie.

"Unable to sense the existence of the Data Integration Thought Entity."

"Oh right," I said. It was still the altered world after all.

"Let me do an adjustment," said the Naminé from the future/present. "I am still connected to the time and space I'm from."

"Understood."

"After the transformation, you can move according to your own wishes."

The Naminé from the past looked at her future self with slight confusion before turning to me with her head tilted, her eyes glimmered with interest.

At that moment, I understood who this Naminé was. This Naminé was the one who appeared at the hospital that night and relayed to me annoying things I'd rather not think about from her boss.

It was also then that I understood why Naminé had rejected synchronization. She didn't want to tell this her what she has to do. Why not? Who knows?

"Roxas?" said the older Kairi. "Please take care of me." I nodded silently before helping the sleeping girl up and onto my back for a piggy-back ride.

"A large scale timequake will be occurring soon," she said with anxiety. "But it is more complicated and significant. Trying to see what happened exactly will be extremely hard."

"I understand, but why do we need to make this change?"

"We need to correct the flow of time. Think about where you were when you woke up."

Oh right, I was in the hospital.

"Yes, so we need to turn this into that."

The older Kairi placed a hand on her younger self's shoulder and Naminé walked over to join us, giving her hand to the time traveler.

"It's up to you, Naminé."

Our Naminé nodded her head and then stared at herself. The other Naminé didn't say a word but gave a soft smile of understanding. The me that had fallen unconscious still lying there will wake up and say everything I had said. Don't forget to call your boss a "bastard" for me, Naminé.

"Close your eyes, Roxas. Don't get time sick."

I followed her advice and closed my eyes.

Even though I had traveled through time twice already, I was still disorientated by the experience. Not to mention, this time was much more nauseating. Noises blasted into my ears and light flashed in front of my closed eyes brightly. I couldn't resist opening my eyes and saw us standing in front of the Radiant Garden Arena where I was getting loaded onto an ambulance on a stretcher. Tidus followed in soon after. A crowd of spectators and competitors stood watching with worry and Sora had said a couple of words to the EMT before getting on as well. As the ambulance began to drive away, I saw Yuffie standing with the rest of the SOS Brigade Strugglers looking rather disconcerted while Kairi had hid her crying face behind her hands. Naminé was nowhere to be found, but I guess that's to be expected.

The feeling of gravity hadn't returned by the way.

The older Kairi breathed out a huge sigh. "Roxas, now we'll return to the original time."

The scene I was watching faded away and we continued on our way. I have to remind myself to take some motion sickness pills before I time travel next time.

"Aim at the time you came from. Follow that me. It'll take her awhile to wake up. Don't worry, you won't get lost." With that, I felt the older Kairi disappear.

I almost felt like panicking when Kairi disappeared, but I didn't need to. For the moment right after that, we landed back in the SOS Brigade clubroom and the feeling of dizziness faded away.

"Forty seconds had passed since we left," Naminé intoned softly. Then with a smile that reminded me of the altered Naminé, "We're back."

Back to our own time and own world.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I put the sleeping Kairi down in a chair and wondered when she would wake up.

"Oh man," I said before picking up my mug of coffee and taking several Sora-sized gulps. Did you know that Sora drinks coffee like he drinks water? Yeah, seriously. Maybe that's why he's always so energetic.

Tiredness seeped into my bones and the knowledge that I've fixed the future came into mind. That year was over, and as much as I look forward to next year, I can only cringe at what is going to happen. Will more world altering events occur that I would have to fix with Naminé and Kairi? Will Riku bring me into another Closed space to show me things?

Pushing those thoughts out of my mind, I yawned and pulled off my overcoat to put it on the sleeping girl.

"Naminé, before she wakes up, take care of her?"

"Of course."

"See you tomorrow." Naminé nodded and looked at me.

"Oh, thanks for your work today. Sorry I made you go through all that again."

"It all my fault," she replied.

I gave her a weak smile before I waved good-bye and left the clubroom feeling very much tired. I felt like I had done what ten people did in a month in these past few weeks. Having traveled back in time twice already to make sure the future stays on its course, I guess I had lived through many days within a minute. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to curl up in my bed and go to sleep until the sun shines on my face the next day.

I rode my bike home and crashed in my bed, sleeping a dreamless sleep.

The following day, I went to school with only one thing in mind. Did Kairi go back to December 17th after she woke up? She didn't do anything but sleep when we were back there because of the older Kairi's presence. Naturally, she would've gone back again to check up on me, right? But, since the older Kairi didn't warn me about the potential of her younger self going back in time to check up on the past me, I guess I didn't need to worry much about it. And since I didn't meet up with Kairi again until the first day of class resuming, I guess she didn't go back in time to check up on me. Maybe Naminé told her what happened without letting her know that her future self was there. I can only hope that's the case.

By the way, remember when I had wondered if more world altering events would happen? One happened within a week of classes resuming.

And I didn't even tell Sora that I'm John Smith or tell Kairi that the woman she saw on December 17th was her older self.

I hate it when I'm right.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya belongs to Tanigawa Nagaru. Yada yada yada.

A/N: Yay, short chapter! Haha. In my opinion, it's a welcomed relief compared to the previous chapters that are quite long. In any case, I'll let you guys try to figure out what's the next chapter about. Here's a hint, it's one of the episodes in the anime. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next one!