Cosmic Hearts

Chapter Twenty-Six

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts

We started out early the next morning- earlier than I expected. Aerith poked and prodded and nagged and pulled at me for what seemed like forever until I finally gave in and got up. That was the best night's sleep I'd had all week, and I would forever hold a grudge against her for ruining it.

Or at least until I fully woke up.

The walk all the way back to Merlin's house was utterly torturous. I couldn't take two steps without my eyes falling shut, in which case I would stumble forward, saving myself at the last moment, and snapping back awake for the next couple seconds.

When we arrived and found that the rest of the group was already there, and had been for a while, I was dumbfounded. It should have been a crime to be up that early.

Merlin was sitting at his little table drinking tea, trying to pretend that his house hadn't been invaded by eight other people.

Aerith informed me that she and the others were going to go ahead and start working on the Starlite some more. They had to leave it here overnight so they wouldn't disrupt the process or something like that. Nothing they had done thus far could be saved- I took that to mean that there was something worth saving- so I just went with it.

The next thing I knew, Yuffie was pushing us back out the house, waving goodbye over her shoulder and slamming the front door behind her. "Okay guys, welcome to Radiant Garden! The castle's up that way, so let's get going," she said, pointing up one of the stone roads.

We started forwards in the general direction of the fortress that stood up at least a couple hundred feet above everything else. Yuffie explained again what the objective was. We'd start at the bottom and work our way up to the top, examining every room for anything that might be of worth or importance. Someone would have to keep a list of what we found. And since there was bound to be Heartless, anyone who could fight should help out. It sounded simple enough, but I knew it would probably take half the day to finish. I was hoping that by the time we got back, Cid would be done with the Starlite.

Tomorrow was the last day I'd have to find Ciro. The thought was nauseating, but I couldn't let it get to me. I was stronger than that.

Or at least I hoped I was.

We continued marching through the streets of huge city. Now that I could actually see where I was going, I was able to take in just how badly in shape the town was. Sure, the Restoration Committee was making progress, and everyone was currently living comfortable lives, but compared to how it was before…

Wait, why am I talking? I tried blinking away the thoughts, but that apparently wasn't good enough this time. I don't really have any right to be sad, do I? I don't live here. No, but I still wanted to help. There wasn't anything wrong with that.

I rolled my eyes at myself. Why am I over thinking this?

"Hey, earth to Luna," Sora teased, waving a hand in my distracted face.

"Huh? What?" was my startled answer.

"You were zoning out again. Just thought I'd help out before you walked straight into a wall."

"Oh, my hero," I said sarcastically back at him.

"Come on, I could pass for a knight in shining armor."

Riku scoffed lightheartedly. "Good luck trying to fit a helmet over that head of yours."

"You're one to talk! When's the last time you got a haircut?"

"Hey! No bickering!" Kairi lectured. She sounded as tired as I was, even though she didn't look it. Speaking of tired, I yawned again.

"Why are you so grumpy?" Sora asked with an amused tone.

She looked confused before she answered, "Oh, sorry. I guess I just didn't get much sleep last night. Yuffie sort of kept me up." She smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, don't be like that," Yuffie interjected. "You had fun and you know it."

They went back forth like that for a while. When it ended, I wasn't sure. If we talked about anything else after that, I had no memory of it. I was pretty sure I started sleepwalking a few times, but somehow or other I managed to keep up with the rest of the group. The only thing that kept my consciousness in check was the semi-freezing early morning air. We walked for what seemed like forever (I thought I heard Yuffie say that she was taking the scenic route), which I couldn't say was my favorite activity, but it was better than spending the whole day inside Merlin's house.

Eventually I got tired of trying so hard to stay awake, so we unintentionally split up into two subgroups. Kairi stayed behind with me to make sure I didn't get lost, since she could actually keep her eyes open. Riku and Sora were up ahead with Yuffie, who was talking, as best as I could tell, about how she became a ninja.

"You'd think her mouth would get tired of moving," I commented without really thinking.

Kairi, who had been giggling, suddenly stopped in the middle of the street. I noticed a couple steps later and turned to see that she wasn't even paying attention anymore. Her eyes were wide open and she appeared to be focusing on something. The smile had all but disappeared from her face, so of course I wondered if something was wrong. I attempted to follow her line of sight and ending up looking at a row of old houses with the path in front of them cracked and broken. Other than that, there wasn't anything particularly fascinating or unusual. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I looked back to where she had been standing, but she wasn't there anymore. She had already started walking towards the houses. I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to interrupt her investigation, but the distance between us and the others was growing rapidly. I called to Yuffie to wait a second. It didn't take them long to figure out why.

Sora jogged back towards me, asking if I knew what Kairi was doing. I shook my head. She was standing in front of one of the houses, running a hand over the dusty door until she found the knob. She twisted it and stepped inside.

"Should we go after her?" Riku asked, walking up to our little group with Yuffie.

I shook my head. "Not yet," I said. No, I didn't know what she was doing, but I had seen that vague look in her eyes before. I had that look to thank for finding this world. The least I could do was let her go look through some random house for a while.

After a maybe five, ten minutes time in which nobody really said anything, Kairi reemerged from the old, two-story building. She walked slowly with her head hung down, and she was carrying something in her hands. After a few more moments of looking at the object, she pulled her gaze upwards. Nothing had changed in her face exactly, but she looked sort of…scared. Sora must have noticed it too, as he said, "Kairi, are you okay?"

She blinked and returned to reality from wherever her mind had been before. "Yeah… I'm fine. I just…" She turned the item in her hands around so that we could see it. It was a wooden-framed picture. I had to squint, but it was a close-up of a woman holding a baby with short, red hair. The woman was leaning back against a tree while the child was sleeping soundly in her arms.

I narrowed my eyes a little more. Wait a minute, I've seen this before.

"Kairi, isn't that your picture?" I asked. It was that day I met Selphie. We talked about Kairi's hometown and then she pulled out that picture. However, the girl in front of me shook her head, reached into her black bag, and recovered an identical version of what her other hand held. She put them side by side to prove her point.

"You found the same thing in that house?" Yuffie asked.

Kairi nodded once. "There are a lot of pictures," was all she said.

"Do you think it could be a coincidence?" Riku ventured next.

"I don't think so," she answered.

"So…?" Sora started.

She opened her mouth but seemed to be struggling to form the actual words. "I think this was my home," she finally managed to say.

There were plenty of things I could have said in response to the breaking news. I ended up going with, "Really?" but it was so inaudible I had to wonder if I had only thought it.

"Wow, Kairi. Are you sure?" Yuffie asked sympathetically after a moment of complete silence. I couldn't tell if she meant it to be serious or not. And it sort of surprised me that Sora and Riku hadn't said anything about it yet. Maybe they were stuck in the same position I was.

"Actually… Yeah, I am. Something just tells me that I've been here before. A long time ago," Kairi said quietly. "I can't quite place what it is, but…"

"Hey, no need to explain. We're you're friends; we understand," Sora assured, attempting to lighten the situation.

She turned to Sora for a moment, a smile appearing on her face, then looked over her shoulder at the house. "Right. Guys, I'd like to stay here a while, if that's okay."

"Really? But you were so excited about seeing the city," Yuffie said. Kairi turned and met her gaze.

"I still am, but I just really need to sit down right now. But you guys go. Don't let me ruin it. You still have work to do, right? Go, I'll be fine," she ended with a smile.

"You sure?" Riku asked. "We might not be back for a while." She nodded. Something in me didn't want to leave her here by herself. I didn't know if her theory was right- I wasn't even sure Kairi completely believed what she said either. But she really looked like she could use someone to talk to. And hey, that's what friends were for.

"I'm staying with you," I said before walking up to her side.

She looked a little surprised. "No, really, you don't have to-"

"Too bad. I want to." I linked her arm with mine. "Besides, I'd probably just be in the way up at the castle." I waited for someone to object to my statement, but they didn't. "Hey now, I was just kidding," I whined, feigning hurt.

Sora laughed. "So were we. But I think it's a good idea for someone to stay with Kairi. You'd be of more help to her than to us."

My smile was short-lived. "Thanks… I think."

Yuffie, Riku, and Sora left after that. We wished them good luck on their mission, and I trailed after my friend as she once again walked into the house.

We spent the next hour just sitting on the floor of the empty house. At one point it was probably clean and bright with all the windows open, and filled with a warmth that came from more than just the sun. Now it was just a bunch of dusted over, upturned, broken furniture surrounded by dim, faded walls. Even so, Kairi seemed to feel at home here. She gathered as many pictures as she could find in the two-story building, lay them out on the floor, and tried sorting them by the age of the people in them. A couple we assumed to be her parents were in most of them- I couldn't help but notice that she looked so much like them-, sometimes accompanied by a grandmotherly figure, and while she repeated over and over that they looked so familiar, she couldn't recall any solid memory of them. Looking at her trying so desperately hard to remember was saddening, and I found myself reaching out and hugging her from time to time. I never said much; just let her talk herself through everything. It was all I could do.

I never doubted her for a moment after she told us she was born here. I had no reason to. Kairi had felt from the very beginning that there was something special pulling her here. It made sense that she showed up on Destiny Islands soon after the Heartless had emerged all those years ago. And then there was the identical photograph of her and her mother that couldn't be explained any other way than that she had lived at here before.

"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we clean this place up?" I suggested, pushing myself to my feet. "It doesn't look like it's been touched in…a long time."

Kairi looked around at the shadow-filled room a moment before nodding slowly. I smiled and helped her up. Without much more than a broom we found in a closet and a couple towels to work with, it wasn't the easiest job. But the important thing was that it gave Kairi something else to think about for a while. I hadn't ever seen her this sad before. True, I also hadn't known her that long, but I certainly knew her well enough to see that she was in distress. And she had a perfectly good excuse to be, too. Though she never mentioned it aloud, I knew that had to be wondering what she was going to do now that she had found her real home. Maybe her parents were still alive somewhere in the city. Maybe she could ask Leon and the others about it. Maybe-

I was getting a headache. I shook off all the unnecessary thoughts and attempted to concentrate on sweeping the floor. I'd just have to ask Kairi what she thought later.

Another hour later I was ready to drop dead from exhaustion. Housework was not my thing. Note to self: get Ciro to teach you how to clean without breaking a sweat. But that would be after I found him, of course.

Luckily, I didn't have to be the one to volunteer break time. "Hey, you look tired. Want to stop?" Kairi asked.

"I'd love to, thanks. But if you're really enjoying yourself, feel free to continue," I replied. She finished straightening up a set of chairs, then dropped her arms to sides in finality.

"Nah. It was nice of you to help, but…" She furrowed her eyebrows as she thought of something. "Hey, how long have the others been gone?"

I shrugged. "A couple hours, I guess. Why?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, really. I just worry whenever they go off to fight. I know they'll be okay, but I'd feel better knowing how things are going."

"Well, we could go find out. The castle shouldn't be that hard to get to."

Her eyes lit up at the offer. "Okay."

"Ugh, I take back what I said. Do you have any idea where we're going?" I groaned as I finally admitted that we were lost. I took my chances and also decided to say, "You should know your way around here, shouldn't you?" I was afraid that I would hit a sore spot if I said the wrong thing.

We both stopped walking for a moment while Kairi looked up at the looming fortress that appeared to be closer than it actually was. Stupid depth perception.

"No." She sounded apologetic. That only made me feel worse for her. It was time for a new subject…

"So how did you know that was your home?" I asked. Truth was that I was curious.

She was silent so long I didn't think she was ever going to answer. Oh no, I shouldn't have said anything.

"I don't really know. We just walking by it and I suddenly felt like a little kid again." She laughed. "I almost walked into the house without even thinking about it. Kind of crazy, huh?"

The question surprised me. "What? No, it's great that you found it. I'm really happy for you." I bit my lip and realized that this was a good time to ask her my other question. "Have you thought about staying here?" Now she looked surprised. "I mean, I know it's only been a few hours, but I was just wondering," I added in quickly before I started sounding nosey.

"…Yeah, I guess I have thought about it. But…my home is back on the islands with Sora and Riku, and you, too."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that so I just smiled.

The conversation lulled for a while as we wove our way up street after street, inching closer and closer to our destination. All the normal people who didn't wake up so early were starting to fill the space outside. It eventually occurred to us to ask one of them if we were even going in the right direction. We were pointed up a deserted side road that was supposed to lead to the base of the castle, where Yuffie said they'd be heading. The hike up the hill of a road took at least ten minutes, and yes, I was tired by the time we reached the top. We came out on a platform that overlooked the part of town we had just been walking through. It was definitely where we wanted to be. We were standing directly under the castle, which was even bigger than I thought it was. Now we just needed to find a way in.

"Hey, what's over there?" I heard Kairi ask quietly, but I doubted she was talking to me. I answered anyway.

"Um, I don't think we're supposed to go over there," I insisted, referring to the yellow tape falling across the path entrance. She ignored me, as well as the tape, climbing over it and continuing down the increasingly dark course. What choice did I have but to follow her? She disappeared into the shadows before I could catch up, however. I took a couple more steps before calling for her. She didn't answer. Panic threatened to take hold of me. I tried again with her name, but with the same results. How could she have vanished so quickly?

I nearly screamed when I felt something like a grip tighten around my wrist. I whipped around, ready to fight my way out of a battle, when I saw that it was Kairi who had grabbed me.

"Come on, Luna. I found a door," she urged excitedly and began to pull me down the path whether I wanted to go or not. It was only then that I realized that I didn't have my sword, or the Starlite, to fight anyway.

"Geez, Kairi, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" I cried, still feeling a little lightheaded from the surprise. She led me through an opening, down a set of stairs, and into an eerie hallway. We exchanged a look before walking to the end of it and turning the corner to find…more hallways. My mouth fell open. The next thing I knew, the girl had taken off, leaving me behind to do a double-take. It took a conscious thought to force my legs to follow her. "Do you know where we're going?" I shouted after her.

"Nope!" she called back. The word echoed off the walls, and we continued to run down the empty corridors until we came upon a large room where I guessed that all the halls connected to at one point or another. Kairi slowed to a stop to look around, which caused me to almost run her over. I stopped before that could happen, of course. But only just barely. She didn't seem to notice, though. She wandered off to look at something, but I couldn't tell what exactly it was. I sighed and started off in the opposite direction through yet another hall, since I was sure she'd get bored soon and want to start running again. What I saw at the end of it, however, caught me off guard.

"Hey, come over here," I told Kairi. She turned and jogged over to where I was. "I found a door, too," I said proudly, pointing at the important-looking postern. She laughed and we started towards it. Why I was expecting someone to be inside, I had no clue. But no, the room was empty. Messy, but empty. Seriously, it looked like a tornado intent on knocking as much stuff on the floor as possible had swept through there. That or somebody needed to work on their organizational skills.

"Whoa, this place is trashed," Kairi emphasized.

"No kidding." I found myself walking up to one of the many chalkboards hanging on the walls. This one was covered in notes and drawings. I couldn't understand any of it. What is this? Some kind of lab? I bent down to grab a book off the floor while I made a mental note to ask Yuffie what she knew about this place. I flipped idly through the pages of the old thing, not really paying attention to anything I was reading. When I got to the end I closed it back up and set it on top of the bookshelf in front of me.

"Hey, Luna, I think you'd better come see this," Kairi requested. Curious, I made my way over to the other side of the room where she was standing, holding another book. It was as ordinary looking as anything else in the room, but the moment I saw it, I knew what she was talking about. On the front of the leather-bound journal were inscribed the words Project: Starlite. She handed it over to me. "I found it on the shelf. Do you think it means your necklace?" Without answering her question, I turned it open to the first page.

Day 1

Today officially begins our research with Project: Starlite. A month ago to the day, the most peculiar piece of mineral was brought in with the story that it fell from space. After multiple tests and evaluations, we have formed the hypothesis that this falling star, which has been named Novarine for the time being, has the unusual ability to react to human thoughts and emotions. When we spoke with anger or joy in its presence, it began to glow radiantly. What this means we are not sure yet. The goal of Project: Starlite is to decipher this power, and extend the potential of it.

"I think it's something else," I said nonchalantly. However, I turned a few more pages and read the next entry. Kairi leaned over this time to see.

Day 15

For the last two weeks we have been charting the sort of reactions the Novarine has towards certain situations. When the environment is under normal conditions, it remains stationary. When there is tension, it glows, brighter with deeper concentration. But the most fascinating reaction comes when there is fear; the piece of rock suspends itself in midair and floats. While this is all intriguing, the question still remains as to where it came from. Nothing is certain except that there is more work to be done. The next step seeing just how far we can push the Novarine's limits.

"What's a Novarine?" Kairi asked.

"Some rock they found." I had to admit that this was kind of interesting. I wanted to see what else they learned about this thing, so I continued to flip the pages of the journal.

Day 41

Now that we have the structure for the Starlite designed, we will need to gather the materials for which to build it. Something sturdy that won't break open easily, yet compact to hold the piece of Novarine in place. It also needs to be able to stay attached to the person who uses it. It has been decided that the simplest object would be a necklace. We will ask Ansem as soon as possible for the permission and materials. The sooner we finish constructing it, the sooner we can start on determining what qualities will be required of a test subject.

I saw Kairi look up at me out of the corner of my eye, but I was concentrating on the word 'necklace' too hard to care. This… This couldn't possibly be the same thing, could it? If all this happened here in Radiant Garden, how would Ciro have gotten the Starlite in the first place? Maybe there would be a logical answer on another page.

Day 60

… Due to circumstances beyond our control, fate has chosen our test subject for us. This was not foreseen as a possibility, and even now, we hesitate to proceed with the project. But to stop now when we have come so far is out of the question as well. Too much time and effort has gone into this endeavor, and now we are on the brink of developing a new way of life. No, we will continue the tests with caution and hope that all goes as planned.

There was a footnote at the bottom of the page that told who the 'test subject' was, which the actual entry had been annoyingly vague about. I went to read it, and my fingers went numb, causing the book to fall to the floor. My head started spinning with too many questions to count. This time my legs moved on their own. I pulled open the door and ran blindly back through the hallways. I had no idea where I was going, or when I'd stop running. All I knew was that I had to get away from that room- away from that book. All of a sudden, nothing made sense. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes, and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I tried to blink the image of those last words I read away, all the while knowing even now that they would be forever ingrained in my mind.

Our daughter, Luna, is to be the first test subject for Project: Starlite.

Chapter Twenty-Six complete. Please review, and I'll try to have the next chapter out as soon as possible. Thank you for reading :)