Anyway, this chapter was quite a challenge to write. Exposition, character conflict, exposition, with a side of exposition. I hope you guys enjoy. Also, I couldn't go much longer without a dash of fluff. I mean, come on. It's been seven chapters already.
More to come soon! I've got my college schedule and it's actually quite light, so I'm going to continue the story even if I don't finish before the school year starts. I hope you guys will stay tuned in! We're getting toward the big finish now…I'm thinking the story will wrap up in 12 chapters or less. And then…onward to the sequel!
Btw, for those who were concerned about my last author's note, the jaw surgery went brilliantly and I'm recovering very nicely. You start missing solid food real fast, though…
Without further ado, enjoy!
………………………
Chapter 25: Win the Battle, Lose the War
Saix did not like moments where he felt close to losing his composure. He was always sure that keeping a firm façade of cool disinterest was the quickest way to disarm an opponent.
He had to admit, however, that he now felt something very close to surprise, something he did not often allow himself to show in his expression. But the situation was fragile…yet worthy of his almost-reaction.
"Interesting," he murmured to Demyx. "Very interesting."
"Oh, what are you talkin' about, boss?" his sandy-haired partner griped. "Why are we standing here? The freaks are right above us!"
"Quiet," he snapped. "Open your eyes, you idiot. The tables have turned."
"That's crap and you know it, Axel is just--"
"Axel…" Saix cut in. "…may require a second glance after all."
Demyx's expression changed then, his eyebrows raising. "…a second glance? Y-you mean…you think he's still with us?"
Saix turned to slowly pace away from number IX, crossing his arms tightly. The Bastion sun was uncomfortably hot on his head and shoulders, glaring with the determined brightness of early afternoon and casting a dry and pallid feeling to the air. He breathed in deeply through his nostrils, deep in thought.
"No," he answered finally. "But I'd be curious to see what he does from here on out."
"You're just going to let him go?" Demyx asked incredulously, looking first at his elder and then glaring up at the rapidly disappearing shapes of two gummi ships into the outer atmosphere.
"Don't put words into my mouth. I'm merely saying his actions may deserve a second look," Saix said, the snappish tone returning as he thought furiously. "There's something wrong here, can't you see it?"
Demyx gave a petulant look of boredom as he fidgeted with the top of his zipper, seeking a way to loosen the sudden unbearably hot vice his jacket had become. "I'm not going to pretend to know what you're talking about. What it looks like to me is that Axel's finally lost his friggin' mind and kidnapped the Princess in the most roundabout way possible. What else is there to see?"
Saix turned at his words. "The Princess…yes. But one thing remains. He's leaving with her and Roxas in tow…but where is he headed?"
"Probably—"
"No," said Saix suddenly. "We won't know until he lands. Perhaps he does intend to bring her to Twilight Town as ordered. Perhaps his methods are just…unorthodox."
Demyx stopped fidgeting, staring pointedly at apparently nothing on the ground before him. He slowly looked back up.
Saix met his eyes after a moment, frowning.
"Well, that's all fine and good, but how are we supposed to tail them now?" Demyx said. "You told me the Superior wanted me waiting on the…you know, the other side."
"The Superior's demands are few and far between," Saix retorted. "Until we reestablish our connection with him, we concentrate on one thing—find out where Axel is taking the girl, if not to the base."
"That could take ages! You know we have to track them by foot once they go out from under the radar!"
But then he was several inches above the ground, held up by Saix's black leather grip by the collar of his coat. His knuckles pressed against his throat, causing him to splutter.
"You will recall the other members and ascertain their successes on the other Princesses thus far. And if Axel does not come to the base as expected, then you will track down the damn girl and bring her to the mansion, and so help me, if she even so much as glimpses the other side--"
"And—A-Axel?" Demyx managed, his voice fearful, suddenly afraid to antagonize the elder Nobody.
"I'm sure Xigbar will take care to sniff him out—and I will inform him that it's no longer search-and-destroy. If you hear anything on Axel or even see him, do not lay one finger on him. I want an immediate report. Who he's with, what he's doing."
He let him down roughly, shrugging the young man away with a flick of his wrist as he opened a portal and let himself through.
"Damn," Demyx swore, rubbing his neck. "Damn it all."
……………..
"Would you hold still?"
A sickening crunch.
"Ouch! Dammit, Kairi, my foot!"
With that, Riku conceded to let Kairi's mouth free, the gloved hand immediately going to his sneaker, the white laces stark under the shadow of his black leather coat. She sprang up from his lap, so furious she could barely convey anything other than angered squeaks and huffs.
Riku winced a little, more so at Kairi than at the throbbing pain in his toes where her boot had stomped down.
"Riku, WHAT are we doing here?" she shrieked, leaning down into his shocked face. "And what did you do with Cloud and Aerith? You said they were coming too!"
"Calm down, calm down," he said in a slightly raised voice, trying to regain his look of nonchalance. "They followed a slightly different path out of the dark portal. They're down the hatch, in the lower level of the ship."
Before he'd even finished speaking, she'd turned on her heel and marched to the hatch, struggling to get it open with, Riku had to admit, an amusing amount of fury on her heart-shaped face.
"Kairi…."
"Who's flying this thing, anyway? And where are we going?" she asked, the edge disappearing from her voice as she worked to assure the safety of her friends below.
"Er…"
She stopped pulling at the heavy lever as she heard what was unmistakably Cloud's voice below, assuaged for the moment. She flipped her dark red hair out of her eyes, looking to Riku to answer her question.
"Well?"
Riku looked at her with an unreadable expression. "I take the fifth?"
She stood up then, looking genuinely worried now. She stalked past him, not looking away from him until she came to a semitransparent wall that separated the cabin from the pilots' coup. She leaned up to the frosted glass, squinting at the fuzzy figures that were flying the ship through what looked like a black void, from her perspective.
She'd only seen someone with hair that violently red once before…
"Hold on," she breathed against the glass, her insides clenching as two and two united in her mind, suddenly sick with the realization.
She turned uncertainly back to look at Riku, who met her gaze with a level stare. His lips were set in a firm line, his shockingly bright eyes cold and almost frightening, contrasting with his pale skin and the dark fringe of eyelashes.
Kairi had known Riku all her conscious life, just as long as she'd known Sora. There hadn't been a day where the three of them had been together in some way, whether it had been at school, on their island, or just sitting in one of their living rooms, whiling away their childhood like they had all the time in the world. They'd shared everything—thoughts, fears, every little worry any of them had confided in the others. They were all the others had when nothing else made sense; they were the closest three could be.
Kairi had never felt more estranged from Riku than she did at this moment.
He made no attempt to speak, no attempt to explain why he'd brought her here, no attempt to defend himself. He simply met her gaze as long as she stood there holding his, looking free of guilt, emotionless. A stranger.
Her heart fluttered when she saw a glint of amber gold amongst the bright green, then it gave an unpleasant jolt. His brow was furrowed, his face suddenly angry…older, lined in places, his hairline receding into a widow's peak. A twisted grin lit up the unfamiliar face…
Ansem…
Kairi only realized she'd cried out when reality snapped back into place, Riku's silver hair falling over his eyes and his flat expression shattering. He looked mildly surprised now, wondering what had caused the outburst.
"Y-you're…you're with them, aren't you?"
It made her sick to her stomach. It was as if someone had upended her world out of a cardboard box, everything that made sense scattering away and out of reach. She couldn't believe she was saying it, couldn't believe she felt the need to doubt him like this…he was her very best friend, the brother she never had.
Her lip trembled as he regarded her without so much as a bat of his eyes.
She jumped slightly as he opened his mouth then, his voice hoarse and a little remorseful.
"If I told you I wasn't, would you believe me?" he asked.
Kairi quailed inside. Could he honestly look her in the eye and lie to her…?
He sighed as she looked at him with the same pathetic expression, begging him silently to tell her what she wanted to hear, what she wanted to believe.
"No," he said finally, looking away from her and instead at apparently nothing on the floor in front of him. "My allegiance is not with the Organization."
It was an interesting choice of words, but Kairi was grasping at straws now, willing to believe anything he said as long as she could do away with the sinking feeling that she may have to think her own best friend a traitor.
"Your 'allegiance'?" she repeated in a small voice, then with a touch of levity, "I swear, you and Sora surprise me every day with the new words you--"
"Oh, shut it," he said, slightly irritated, but she could hear the amusement on the edge of his grudging voice.
She pursed her lips then. "…well, then, what is that…man doing in the front of the ship?"
"Axel," he reminded her, looking wary. "Like I said, my allegiance isn't with the Organization. But I didn't say I wasn't…well…"
Her eyes widened as she realized what he was about to say.
"…in the Organization."
"But Riku, how does that work?" she began, despite the cold wave that had washed over her as he'd confessed. "How can you be in the Organization and still with--"
"Riku!"
Kairi squeaked and hopped away from the door to the pilot's coup in one smooth motion, her heart skipping a beat as a voice rang out from the other side of the pane. A young man's voice. She shook her head, not willing to believe…
Riku stood up quickly, sweeping over to the pane and pushing down on the handle, sliding the pane out of the way and stepping into the coup. Despite her better judgment, Kairi tentatively padded over, staying in the cabin but leaning low to see the pilots more clearly…
"Yeah?"
"Do you have any idea what this light in the dashboard means?"
Another voice then, what she remembered as a menacing and sardonic one in the Beast's castle, now at a casually sarcastic tone.
"Kid, you're putting us to shame here. I told you, we're not hopeless, we'll figure it out eventually."
Riku reached up to rest a hand on the low ceiling, giving Kairi a better view of the co-pilot, who was sitting back and slumped in the seat as if he'd been doing this forever.
"It's next to the weight gauge, if you'd use your eyes," Riku answered him, gesturing carelessly toward Axel's side. "It probably just means we're under capacity, in case we were carrying a load of stuff in the back and needed to cram in as much as it could fit."
"Would you listen to him, Ro--"
"Roxas?!"
Kairi burst in under Riku's arm so fast, both Axel and Roxas shouted and jumped back in their seats so the gummi ship bucked, nearly sideswiping something floating ahead of them as they fought to regain control.
"Geez, Kairi, give a guy a warning!" Axel griped, but turned to Kairi with a cunningly amiable expression, his green eyes amused.
Kairi stuck her lower lip out in what she meant as a huff, but then turned to Roxas, whose shoulders were tense and slightly hunched as he stared determinedly out the front window.
There was a very long and awkward silence—or so it felt. After a moment, the blonde chanced a glance toward Kairi and Riku, standing slightly behind the two pilot seats.
"Er…hi?"
Kairi looked at him incredulously, shaking her head once or twice before turning and disappearing back into the cabin.
Roxas swallowed hard, his face pink, but then looked up at Riku. "Did the others come without a fight?"
Riku avoided his eyes. "Not exactly."
"Well, nothing we can do about that," Axel commented, inspecting the radar and seeing the Highwind still a comforting few dot-lengths away. "Better not to blow our cover just yet."
"What are you talking about?" Riku said through gritted teeth. "Kairi's my best friend, you know. I can't let her think I've let her down. What would she tell Sora?"
"In other words, you already told her," Axel said flatly, a sudden bitter edge on his voice. "Didn't you?"
Riku was silent.
"Well, we'll see if we need to call Namine in on that one. DiZ wasn't expecting you to blow it so quickly, man," Axel said in a resigned tone. "Whatever. If she thinks, at least, that Roxas and I are still in with those jerkoffs, then we don't have to worry over what she knows about you."
Roxas exhaled loudly, controlling his side of the ship mechanically, his face sour.
"When we get to Traverse Town, don't dawdle," Axel continued, removing his eyes from the dashboard and locking with Riku's stern gaze. "Drop them off, and don't look back. Got it memorized?"
Riku nodded his assent. Turning quickly, he paced back into the cabin to find the hatch open and Kairi gone, the three friends softly talking on the lower level.
He stepped around the hatch and into the back end of the cabin, leaning up to peer out through one back window above the rockets. Just barely, he could see the battered Highwind struggling to keep up the chase.
"That's it," he muttered. "Keep going, Sora. I'm giving her back to you…and you'd better take care of her, okay?"
He grinned, but knew his best friend would never see it.
……………
It wasn't until this exact moment that his Majesty, King Mickey, realized how truly difficult it was to explain the concept of multiple worlds to a group of people sheltered from this knowledge their entire lives.
Not to mention, how difficult it was to get it through the skulls of three incredulous teenagers.
"I don't believe it," Hayner said, for the sixth time since the four of them had seated themselves around their Usual Spot to hear Mickey's story. "I just don't get it…this deal with the worlds. I mean, I always thought Sora came from five hundred miles in another direction, or something."
Olette sighed, but didn't miss a beat as she lightly biffed Hayner over the top of the head. "Then you weren't listening!"
"I guess I can believe that," Pence said thoughtfully, folding his arms. "It would explain why Sora went through so fast, plus it would explain why we'd never seen people like King Mickey or Donald and Goofy before."
"Yeah, I mean, 's not every day you see a huge mouse, dog, and duck go walking through Twilight Town."
Olette's hand was still hovering above Hayner's.
"Oww…"
Mickey chuckled. "It's all right, fellas. I know we look a little unusual. To tell you the truth, up until nine years ago when I first realized the world barriers had fallen, I'd never seen anyone outside my own world. It, uh, was a little bit of a shock when I met people like you."
"Wow," Olette said, a touch of awe in her voice. "Really makes you think, doesn't it? How many different people could be out there…"
"Aw, Olette, don't go all philosophical on us," Hayner griped.
"Yeah, that's my job," Pence said with a grin.
"So you said something about this…Organization XIII," Olette continued, ignoring the interjection. "What are they actually trying to do?"
Mickey sighed, his gloved hand flexing restlessly on the arm of the big battered couch where he sat.
"That's where things get complicated."
"We've got time!" Pence said, leaning back into his bean bag chair.
"Well," Mickey began, hesitating. "I guess it couldn't hurt. This affects you just as much as it does the rest of us."
…………..
There is a legend, so they say, of the worlds and of the balance between light and dark. Eternally at war are these two polar opposites, existing in harmony only to avoid the disastrous effects that would come about were they ever to fight for dominance.
Only the Old Magic, an ancient sorcery that exists only in the hearts of a select few, is capable of controlling these two mediums…of affecting the balance between these two volatile forces.
These select few have presented themselves in odd circumstances, but always in similar instances: in the hearts of those few who were untainted by one of the warring forces, whether it be dark or light. Only these, whose hearts are either entirely light or entirely dark, hold the power to place a check on the opposing element.
The Princesses of Heart, those whose hearts are pure and entirely free of the taint of darkness, serve as a channel by which to manipulate the darkness—to open the fabled Door to Darkness, Kingdom Hearts. They also are entrusted with protecting the light, rather than wielding it with any significant power—aside from the seventh, the Guardian, charged with protecting the Door to Light.
The Chasers, those whose hearts are of the purest darkness, were originally meant to combat the threat of overriding, blinding, all-encompassing light…to fight the imbalance. The darkness in their own hearts, at great cost, slowly consumed them all until none were left. However, these warriors had no power over the Door to Light—for the fate of its first opening since the worlds' creation was instead entrusted to prophecy.
The fabled, long-awaited young Keyblade master, and the final descendant of the Muse.
"Beware. The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes. But do not be afraid. Don't stop walking…"
Remember, Sora…you are the one who will open the door to the light.
But the Old Magic and those who studied it also knew of the disastrous consequences that would ravage the worlds, should the balance of light and dark be disturbed.
For while the Door to Darkness, Kingdom Hearts, is open, the Heartless and creatures of darkness roam free and wide, consuming the hearts of the innocent and the powerful alike. Before this one-sided war is won, a heart on both sides of the door must unite their power to close the door and shut off a source of troops…the shadows themselves.
But those who studied the Old Magic discovered something as they explored the depths of its knowledge…a secret.
While it has always been common fact that darkness and light must constantly exist together, that complete dominance by either would be disastrous, they knew innately…that the Light must always prevail. For the only source of light within darkness must be a force of light in itself. However, shadows within the light can only be cast by those who stand in the light, who are bathed in it—and these shadows will never be strong enough to dominate the light.
The opening of the Door to Light must occur when the darkness has been appropriately subdued, with Kingdom Hearts closed and the creatures of darkness poised on the edge of destruction.
For if both the Doors were to be open simultaneously, they would progressively destroy the other until nothing of either would be left…
The world between.
Nothingness. The absence of light, and the absence of darkness.
And it is for this reason that those who are allied with neither…the Nobodies…seek not to ally themselves with any one side, but rather to see both sides to their destruction…
…and at last live in the world between, where they can be nobody in the midst of nothingness.
The world between. Paradise.
…………………
"The world between," Pence said, sounding more than a little worried. "That's what they're looking for, isn't it?"
"If what DiZ was telling me is true, yep," Mickey said sullenly, looking downcast. "They're looking for the Princesses to open Kingdom Hearts, and if they time it right, then it's going to get real difficult if it turns out we gotta have a heart on both sides of Kingdom Hearts. Ya see, if they open it, Sora can't open the Door to Light until it's closed."
Hayner was uncharacteristically quiet. He stared at the dirty rug on the concrete, apparently unseeing.
"Roxas…is a Nobody, isn't he?" he said quietly.
Olette and Pence gasped at once, in what would have been an almost comically synchronized way had the conversation not turned dark so suddenly.
Mickey had tensed when Hayner spoke, his hand curling into a fist on the arm of the couch. He wasn't sure whether answering would set their uncertainties to rest or frighten them.
"Yep…Roxas is a Nobody."
Hayner made no indication he'd heard, save that he closed his mouth, his lips set in a firm line.
"…'kay."
Olette looked at Hayner with concern, but he was already looking up and grinning halfway.
"Heart or no heart, he's still Roxas, right?"
Pence laughed, almost too loudly. "Sure. I mean, it's not like he's ever had one."
"Pence!"
Mickey relaxed, smiling at the three of them. "Well, now that we got that outta the way…I should really get goin'."
He jumped lightly down from the couch, putting up his dark hood once more.
"One thing, Mick—your Majesty," Hayner said suddenly, stopping the King with one large hand. "Just because Roxas is a Nobody…doesn't mean that he's trying for this 'world between' stuff, right?"
Mickey said nothing for a moment, then sighed.
"Because you're his friends…I'll tell you that no, he isn't," Mickey said, quite seriously. "Far from it, to tell ya the truth. But you can't let anyone know. Blowing his cover at this point could…"
He stopped.
"…it's okay, your Majesty. We get it," Olette offered, and the King gave her a grateful smile before nodding to the boys and hurrying out of the Usual Spot.
Pence flopped over from his spot perched on a barrel, letting himself fall heavily onto the couch cushions on his back. He looked at the other two upside-down, his dark hair sticking out in all directions beneath him.
"Heavy stuff," he commented lightly. Olette and Hayner looked at each other, then back at him, and the three burst into relieved laughter.
They'd worry about this when they needed to. Knowing Roxas was all right was really all any of them cared about.
…………………..
The huge gummi hangar outside Traverse Town was bustling with life, with comings and goings and mismatched crowds of people talking, yelling, and bustling into the world gate with the urgency of a group of fugitives.
Fugitives was perhaps too accurate a word, Kairi reasoned, as Riku opened the hatch of the gummi ship to let her and a reasonably calm Cloud and Aerith out onto the loading dock.
Aerith immediately put an arm about Kairi's shoulder, and as they turned, Kairi was sure she felt Cloud's warm hand come to rest on her back, his face sour as they turned to look back at Riku.
He looked poised to say something, but Kairi felt a little stab of guilt in her gut when he suddenly frowned and whipped around, stepping back toward the ship and putting his hood up.
Before she knew she'd moved, her hand had closed around Riku's wrist.
He half-glanced back at her.
"I was never here," he said in a grim monotone. "I'm still an unknown quantity at this point, Kairi. Don't let me fool you."
Didn't he know that he was killing her inside, trying to convince her she should still distrust him after all she'd seen and heard?
"Riku!"
But he'd pulled out of her grasp, her fingers closing around air as he stalked away and back to the ship. The silhouettes of Axel and Roxas were ducking down, avoiding the glance of any passersby…
She stumbled on a foot or two, reaching after the disappearing figure when a shout rang out across the garage—
"KAIRI!"
She whipped around, afraid her heart would leap out of her chest as she saw the most wonderful sight she'd ever seen…
Sora, Donald, Goofy, Cid, and Leon with Yuffie in an awkward sort of half-piggyback were pelting full-speed toward them, a mixed cacophony of shouts and screams deafening all who stood nearby. Groups scattered away from them, some staring and some with amused looks on their faces. Kairi suddenly became aware of Cloud between Aerith and herself, one of his hands on each their shoulders. She chanced a glance. He was grinning.
Before she knew it, the group had crashed into them, converging into a loud and tearful tangle of arms and fabric. Kairi felt Cid's fatherly hug around her thin frame first, but her hands were feeling frantically for another—
A hand caught hers as Yuffie's voice lifted above the din in an earsplitting shriek as she found Aerith.
The hand pulled firmly, and Kairi immediately felt her eyes well up with tears as she recognized the gentle grip. With another pull, she was out from between Cloud and Leon and into seemingly fresh air.
Sora wasted no time, pulling Kairi into a spinning embrace as Kairi choked out his name, clinging to his warm body as desperately as she could find the strength to muster.
She'd never wanted to see someone so badly in her life…as he let her down gently, she pulled back from his shoulder, wanting only to see his face.
He was smiling, his face shining with perspiration and relief. His clear blue eyes, wonderfully familiar after being so long without them, the wispy tufts of pale brunette hair falling across his forehead…his lean but muscled arms still encircling her as the shouts around them fell on deaf ears.
"Hi," he said at last, exhaling suddenly. Kairi found herself giggling at how anticlimactic, yet wonderful, it was to hear that voice.
"Hi."
She could see the relieved expression suddenly break, and both of them broke into hysterical and nervous laughter, Kairi throwing her arms around Sora's neck and rocking them both back and forth.
She barely noticed the next few minutes, as Sora suddenly relinquished her and she was pushed into several pairs of waiting arms—Leon, Yuffie, and the joyous greetings of both Donald and Goofy. The words they spoke made no sense, it was as if she'd been stunned into a muted and fast-moving world. It was unreal.
She was back. He was back. They were all together now.
And it wasn't until the group was moving with the crowds toward the world gate, and she felt Sora's hand tentatively brush against hers, that reality again snapped back into place. Noise rushed into her ears, and the world was moving at a less-than-dizzying pace.
Kairi glanced over, seeing Yuffie on her feet, Aerith having made quick work of the cut on her leg—as was her specialty—and Yuffie had one arm slung over Aerith's shoulder and one around Leon's waist, as she could not reach his height. Kairi smiled a little as she noticed the deep red blush on the apples of Leon's cheeks, his hand resting on Yuffie's shoulder as she talked animatedly to the flower girl. Cloud held Aerith's free hand, and Cid was some distance ahead with Donald and Goofy.
The brush against her hand drew her attention, and she felt Sora's fingers gently lace between her own. She felt the blood rush to her face, and awkwardly looked up to meet his eyes. He swallowed hard, apparently just as flustered as she, but smiled at her and the uncertainty melted away.
"I missed you," she said suddenly, but the words seemed inadequate. She leaned into him before he could react, resting her head against him. His hand slid from hers and came to rest instead curled around her shoulders, and they followed the group at a small distance.
She felt him plant a soft kiss in her hair, his mouth shaping the words against her forehead.
"Missed you more."
And while neither had possibly conveyed what they felt in their heart during those long hours of separation…it would have to do for now.
………………….
Ahh, fluff. :-D If you were hoping for more, I apologize, but all in good time, kiddos! I hope you understand a bit more about Organization XIII's plans now, as that was the purpose of the legend Mickey described.
More to come very soon! Keep an eye out! I love reviews, please leave them, thanks!