Let's get rid of the annoying italics in the disclaimer shall we, only to put them as the opening of this chapter. Great job Aura -_-. I like having just bold much better anyway. So I'm sure you're all excited to know what will happen to Sora so without further ado let's jump right in. Thanks for reading, feel free to subscribe and provide any feedback!

Chapter 26

An Unwanted Wish

Astra kneeled by her bedside and wept into the sheets. Its softness, like a mother she had never had, was the only comfort in a time of grieving for the raven haired girl. Outside her window, the sound of pigeons cooing their sorrowful tune disappeared as they took off into the sky. Well, Astra thought it was sorrowful anyway. Maybe they were laughing at her instead.

On her bed in a shoebox lay her dead tabby cat. She supposed it had been inevitable given his slightly overweight appearance, but it had still served as a shock especially considering the cause. When she and her grandmother had gone to the animal shelter downtown for her fourth birthday, this cat had immediately captured her attention and she had named it Sky in reference to its unusual clear blue eyes in comparison to the other tabby cats. That had been the start of a great relationship between the two although her father did not personally approve of an animal being in the house and had even voiced his denunciation many times to that effect. Even then, it seemed that they were inseparable and that not even a hurricane could split them apart.

It had been yesterday, the day of the great chocobo parade when her feline friend had met his end. The chocobos danced and made their way across the street with street performers and dancers following in tow. The heavy beat of drums and woodwind instruments filled the air, and a massive crowd lined itself up and down the street clapping, cheering and dancing along too. Astra was among this crowd, Sky in her arms to keep her from being trampled on. She tapped her foot rhythmically to the beat and waved about Sky's paw wondering if he knew anything about what was happening.

Her eyes shifted from left to right and back and she took in the wondrous sight and they eventually settled on a young girl who looked to be about the same age as her. She, like many other children (except Astra of course) had come along with their parents to see the show.

"Mom, can I touch them? Pleaaaaseee!" The young girl exclaimed jumping up and down.

"Now you know we'd get in trouble if you did Luna. Shouldn't looking be enough?" her father said with a loving smile on his face. Loving… that was something Astra wished her father would show her once in a while.

"Aw but I want to touch them dad. I promise I won't do anything bad," Luna pleaded but her mother shook her head.

"You might get lost like last time hon. We wouldn't want that to happen now would we?" she reminded her.

"Well I did find my own way back home…" Luna huffed and folded her arms puffing up her cheeks. "Could we at least get some Sea Salt Ice Cream on our way back?"

"Aren't you tired of that flavor by now?" her mom asked.

Luna shook her head defiantly. "Nuh-uh. Never."

Astra couldn't help but let out a laugh and her grip loosened on Sky. When Luna heard the laughter she took in Astra and smiled before giving her a wave. Astra's grip loosened even more and that was when it happened. The cat, which she hadn't been paying attention to in her state of daydreaming, slipped out of her hands and he really did confirm his fascination with the parade, by walking (lazily might Astra add—he always took after her) right into the middle of the road.

It need not be said what happened next. The world had seemed to flip on its side for Astra yesterday and she hadn't gotten even been able to get sleep. The worst part had been when she had told her father the news after returning from the parade.

"Good riddance," he replied. Oh how she hated that man. She eventually wiped the remaining tears from her face and clutched the box to her chest before heading downwards. Maybe Sky had been too good for this world, too good for her. She made her way downstairs and out into the back garden. In the shed were an assortment of tools, many of which Astra would not have known about if she didn't tend to the garden as she usually did. If the neighbours saw her they would say it was all too much for a nine year old girl.

She grabbed the shovel and started digging into the earth. When the hole was deep enough she gave one final look at the shoebox.

"You were too good for this world Sky. I guess I'm just not good enough to follow you," she said and with that placed the box in the ground and began covering it up. After finishing, she re-entered the house to come across the last person she wanted to meet at the moment.

"What do you want?" she asked coldly.

"Don't speak to me in that type of tone… I just wanted to know how it went," he said. He was doing a great job of pretending to care, Astra had to admit.

"Like you give a crap-" Astra said before re-treading on these words. She had no energy to be angry at the moment. "I was wondering if I could have another pet. Maybe next year, when I think I'm ready to get over Sky. I don't think he'd want me grieving over him forever."

"You've got to be kidding me. Another one of those runts running about the house? I don't think so, not while this is still my house," he answered.

"Don't call him that. He's more decent a creature than you ever were or ever will be!" Astra spat. That was when her father moved forward and backhanded her in the face. The blow was so instantaneous and surprising that she became dizzy and fell backwards. Instinctively she grabbed at the kitchen chair will also fell over. She stayed on the floor in shock and placed her hand on her stinging cheek. She slowly looked up at her father in disgust.

He had just confirmed it. He had thrown verbal abuse her way and had even ignored her, at least then she had felt invisible but that was a good thing because she went about her own life and he his. Never before had he hit her though. He had never outright come out and stated that he hated her but she was sure of it now.

The anger on his face did not stay however, and a look of remorse soon took over. "Astra… I'm sorry, but I'm trying my darn best to look after you, all by myself. I can't do that if you keep pushing me over the edge."

"I've just realized something. You've never once asked me if I wanted Ice Cream…" Astra said.

"What the hell are you on about?"

"I'm saying that you fell off the edge a long time ago," Astra muttered never taking her eyes of him. He could look sorry all he wanted but it didn't mean a thing if he never truly meant it. Her father appeared stiff for a moment as if wanting to say something else but instead turned around and left.

A flock of birds taking off rather aberrantly brought Luna to a full stop at the request of Astra. Her friend pointed in their direction of origin but Luna seemed at a loss to what Astra was on about.

"Well I'm no… ornithologist, was it? But usually when you see birds act erratically like that it usually means that something's disturbed them," Astra explained. "It looks like it's coming from the forest."
"Oh, I didn't think of that. Looking for a career in studying birds then?" Luna asked with a grin.

"Hardly the time to be cracking jokes, wouldn't you say? Let's hurry up and save your friend." Astra's encouragement, though it was clear she still did not regard Sora as a friend, was a good enough motivator for Luna. The two friends turned back down the street and passed the street they had just come from keeping straight until they reached the park.

There only source of light was to be the moonlight as a great number of dots pasted themselves across the navy blue sky. Unfortunately, they gave little comfort to the two as Shadows emerged from the ground to attack them.

Luna and Astra summoned their Keyblades and both paused briefly to glance at the other's having never seen the opposing weapon before. A Shadow lunging forward to attack Luna forced Astra to look away, moving quickly to take it out with a Fire projectile. Likewise, Luna noticed two Shadows crawling up behind Astra and used a Circle Raid to defeat them.

"We have to keep moving," Luna told Astra waiting for a nod before taking off again for the back of the park. The Heartless seemed to pop up everywhere they went and were shortly taken care off by the two wielders. They soon reached the end of the park, jumped over the fence and headed into the trees.

"It's a bit dark in here. I hope we're not too late," Luna said holding Dream Seeker in front of her to light the blade up. "Or that we've found the right place…"

She started her jog through the dense woods while calling Sora's name hoping to get some response. The unpleasant sounds of little twigs breaking underneath her feet perhaps added to the disturbing atmosphere of the dark setting. They did not have to go far into the forest before she heard the first signs of a possible conflict. The unmistakable sound of thunder, frost blasts and flames soon grabbed their attention and they hurried quickly in the direction of the sounds. When Luna did eventually find Sora, she had stumbled across a horrific sight.

Sora was on the ground lying against the tree and breathing heavily. His clothes were torn and he himself was, to faithfully put it, a bloody mess. His face was completely bruised and streaks of crimson covered his hands and dripped like raindrops onto the soil underneath. Watching him from only a few inches was a woman strangely dressed in a maid's outfit and with a look of the utmost boredom on her face. Luna quickly ran in between them and pointed her Keyblade at the woman.

"Luna… don't… just run… leave… me."

"Sora, shush," Luna said to him while staring daggers at the woman. "You're Moira's Crescent?"

"Who is to say? Actually, why don't you tell her who I am Astra? Don't be shy now, that's not like you." She gestured towards the girl who was looking like the uncomfortable third wheel in the situation.

"Desiree. That's her name, and yes, she's a part of Moira's Crescent," Astra confirmed. "What the hell are you doing here Desiree? Wait, did you follow me here?"

"Well how else was I going to get to Sora silly? I already failed once and I was going to make sure I didn't fail this time," she replied.

"Was?" Astra repeated.

"I've had a change of heart, if you want to call it that. I am simply not satisfied with this. If this is all he has under his sleeve then killing him now would be incredibly dishonorable to my own beliefs. Congratulations, Luna, was it? Your friend gets to cherish life just a little longer," Desiree said before summoning her armor.

"Don't you dare think you can get away with this!" Luna yelled running forward to attack only to be stopped in her tracks by Astra getting in the way. "Astra, what are you doing?"

"She's too strong Sea Salt. She had much more experience than you when it comes to fighting. You can't beat her," Astra told her.

"You don't get to decide that!" Luna yelled trying to push past Astra even though she knew that doing such a thing was equivalent to trying to go through a brick wall. Astra's height and strength was enough to overpower the fidgety Luna, and yet she still persisted.

"Luna, calm down and think! This is only going to end up much worse if you get yourself involved… you have to help Sora, remember? Going after Desiree is not going to help," Astra reasoned.

"Or is it because you're all buddy-buddy with her that you want me to let her go?" Luna shouted before finally stepping back upon seeing Astra's pained expression. Though she was still angry at Astra's need to play both sides, she was right that going after Desiree now wouldn't help Sora.

"You're very lucky to have a friend like Astra, or else you'd be in much the same position as him by now," Desiree said through her helmet before opening up a corridor of light and walking through. Luna clenched her fists tightly and watched reluctantly as the white light closed behind Desiree signalling that she was gone. Luna had to close her eyes to quell her anger before turning to Sora to find that he had passed out.

"Help me get him back to the house," Luna said. She tried to pick him up and immediately felt something sticky and slippery as she held his waist to support him.

"Don't strain yourself. I'll carry him on my back," Astra offered.

"Are you sure?" Luna asked.

"After tons of garden work, I wouldn't underestimate my strength if I were you. Besides, it'll be much faster like this," Astra said. Luna nodded before slowly shifting Sora over to Astra who pulled him in closer and held up his legs to allow him to lie on her back. Sora's head leaned on her shoulder and she gave a nod to Luna that she had secured him properly before following Luna out of the forest.

Kairi surreptitiously glanced at Namine every now and then in pity for the poor girl. The final confirmation had been received from Yen Sid who had told them all that Namine was in fact a seer. The room had been shocked into silence though none dared to directly look into Namine's eyes for the sake of making her not feel awkward and alienated. Riku looked down at the ground and avoided eye contact making it impossible to judge what he was thinking, but it was probably the same as everyone else's thoughts. Neuge was leaning against the wall and shaking her head in disgust while Mickey looked all too saddened by this revelation.

Eventually Donald and Goofy, who were sharing a look of dismay with one another, were the first to comfort Namine.

"We're sorry Namine," Goofy told her.

"It will be okay Goofy. To be honest, ever since I started having the dreams, I've felt more alone than ever so I'm kind of glad someone found out," Namine said.

"But you still don't deserve this Namine," Donald said. "Do you remember when you first started having the dreams?"

"It was after Yeul died, I think. You don't think there's some type of connection between her and me, do you?" Namine turned uneasily to Yen Sid for his opinion.

"The only ones who know the power of a Seer are the Seers themselves. What brief knowledge of the old World we have has told us that they secluded themselves from the rest of society to the point where no one outside their circle understood their customs or powers. I suppose it's possible that they may also carry the ability to transfer their powers to others though I cannot be entirely sure," Yen Sid said.

"But why would Yeul do that though?" Goofy asked digging at his head in confusion.

"An accident, maybe? Or maybe she wanted the line to continue?" Riku spoke for the first time in a while.

"I wonder… in any case what we must think about now is the contents of the prophecy you heard Riku. Could you tell me again?" Yen Sid asked. Riku nodded and repeated it again to the best his memory would allow him. Once he had finished, he inwardly congratulated himself on his accurate word to word recitation. Then again, it was one of those things that never really left you even if you tried to forget it.

The sorcerer hummed profusely before replying. "It's clear that the prophecy refers to Sora then," he said slowly.

"Then… Sora will…" Kairi couldn't go through with the rest of the words. Yen Sid was quite unwilling either it seemed.

"I think it best we do not divulge this information to Sora at the moment. He has enough worries on his mind as it is. What we should be doing is trying our best to deter this threat," he said before turning to Namine. "I'm sorry but it also means that he can't be near you. We can't risk him finding out about your powers. I'm sure you understand why."

Namine bored her eyes downwards at the floor and seemed to be considering objecting to this. Kairi moved to speak for her but Namine eventually nodded. "I understand."

"We'll work on tracking down Moira's Crescent then, and Kefka and the others. The sooner we get rid of both, the safer it'll be for Sora," Riku proposed. "And it's not like the future is set in stone, right? It can be changed… right?"

No one wanted to answer this question however, save Neuge who rubbed at the bridge of her nose while speaking. "I don't think you want the answer to that question, but are you sure you don't want to tell him? Wouldn't it be best for him to be prepared in the worst case scenario?"

"If you knew Sora you would know why I'm suggesting this," Yen Sid told her before turning suddenly as if something had caught his attention. Kairi soon felt all eyes on her for some reason.

"Kairi, your pocket…" Riku pointed out. She looked down to see a bright glow coming from her skirt. She took out her Wayfarer and stared at it as if possessed. "Kairi? What's happening?"

The glow in her hand soon faded and Kairi looked back at Riku with fear in her eyes. "Sora's in danger!"

Three days passed with little to no activity as Kairi sat in the hospital room never taking her eyes off the unconscious Sora. He seemed to be sleeping like a log, although Luna who had stayed with him for far longer (and had gotten very little sleep as a result), had mentioned the moments when he had drifted in and out of consciousness at night, having panics in between before falling unconscious again.

He had no idea that he had been brought back to Radiant Garden, or that he had been confined within the same ward within the same hospital he had been in only weeks ago. When he woke up, Kairi doubted it would be with a smile like it had been last time. There was only so much one could take before they reached the boiling point, so she would be here for him when he did.

Opposite her was Luna, beside his bed and massaging his hands delicately. In a way, she was jealous. Jealous that Luna had spent so much time with him, jealous that she had seen his happiness, his sadness, and his anger, jealous that Kairi's and his time together was usually so short, and jealous of the way he had carried himself out of his way to rescue her from the Realm of Darkness. Kairi didn't doubt that Sora had felt the same for her when she had been in trouble, but it took being in his presence to really understand him, and she had spent that time all too little.

"He'll be with us soon. He's always there for us when we need him," Kairi promised Luna from the other side of the bed. She saw Luna give her a smile before looking back down at Sora. "But if I know Sora well, he wouldn't want us moping over him right now. You need sleep Luna. We both do I think."

Luna hummed an affirmative before looking back up at Kairi. "When he told me about Moira's Crescent, he seemed so nonchalant about it that it even managed to calm me down. I just… I didn't expect this to happen!" Tears began to roll down Luna's cheeks and landed on the white sheets of Sora's bed. Kairi got up from her chair and walked over to Luna's side to pull her into a hug.

"None of us did. I think he just didn't want to make you worry after you'd just come back. He's right though. We can't be scared because the moment we are, they win. We'll figure something out," Kairi soothed in a gentle whisper.

Two more days had passed before Sora had fully woken again. The feeling of déjà vu would have made him laugh if it didn't hurt so much. He was about to question why he was back here but then flashes of Desiree Elegia Skye flooded his mind all too quickly at once. He clenched his right hand before driving it into his bed repeatedly.

Noticing a mirror next on the table next to his bed, he picked it up and saw a pale and strange kid staring back at him with a brown bruise on his cheek and a cut lip. He put the mirror down in disgust and sank his head back onto the pillow. He wanted to think about something other than that evening in the forest, but his seething anger made that impossible.

The door opened and Kairi, Riku and Luna stepped in to see their friend awake. Though he appreciated their being with him, he couldn't force a smile no matter how hard he tried.

"You look like crap… again," Kairi said after being the first to hug him.

Sora scoffed. "Yeah, that's been a trend lately, hasn't it?" He caught the bitterness in his own voice and tried to tone it down from there on out. It wasn't like it was their fault for what had happened anyway. "How long has it been this time?" he asked calmly.

"Five days, a personal best for you. We're not sure how it happened, but Kairi's wayfarer glowed and it told us you were in danger. Luna mentioned that the wayfarer Kairi gave you also had a similar effect back in Alexander," Riku explained. "Luck is on your side."

"If I'm lucky while do I feel like I just fell out of the wrong side of the bed?" Sora groggily buried his head into his hands and ran his fingertips through the front of his hair.

"Better than what could have happened," Kairi replied. "I'm glad I made the right call about putting the same magic that was used on the wayfinders on my lucky charm, otherwise it would have been disasterific as the three pixies would say."

"Thanks Kairi, you really were there for me even if you weren't actually there. And Luna, I'm glad you weren't hurt. I know that you think you could have done something different, but Astra kept you safe and I'm grateful. Where is she anyway?" Sora asked.

Luna blushed. "I'm not sure actually. I was so worried about you that I stayed here most of the time watching over you."

Sora and Luna were to find out the answer to this question sooner than they'd thought when Colette came into the room and announced her delight upon seeing Sora's recovery. She had explained how she had asked to be transferred over to his ward after hearing about his injuries. Seeing as how he had no broken bones or anything of a serious nature, he was able to be let go by her, though he felt it also partly had to do with her knowing that lying around was not his thing as illustrated by his previous breakout.

Finding out his clothes had been damaged so badly that the magic on them had dissipated served as another crushing blow to Sora. Having received them from the three fairies, it had basically become his trademark outfit when in battle so to learn that the clothes were beyond repair was saddening. Sora resorted instead to wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt that Riku had brought with him to the hospital.

After this Riku had asked him, Luna and Kairi to follow him where he took them all the way to the castle. Previous to what the weather had been when he had last been here, the sun was out in its full splendor and a cloudless blue encompassed the entire sky signalling that the end of winter was on its way. But even that could not do to cure Sora's moodiness at the moment.

"Do not tell that is the extent of your full power. What have you learned these past three years?" Desiree had said as she knocked down Sora again for the third time. He could not keep up with her no matter how hard she tried. Her Keyblade was fast and unusual, being able to become malleable at will. It cut sharp inflicting several wounds across Sora's skin. The pain was unbearable. Tears wanted to fall from his eyes not just at that pain, but how fruitless his efforts seemed, how useless she had made him feel. He spat out another round of blood that had formed in his mouth and leaned against the tree.

"Just… ki… me…" He breathed heavily.

"Sorry, can't hear you I'm afraid," Desiree said bending down and looking at him with a facetious expression.

"Kill… me… DAMN IT JUST KILL ME!" He yelled into the heavens as loudly as he could. He may as well since he'd be going there soon anyway.

"You'd gladly just wait for death to come for you? You would have me kill you right now? I wonder, are you really the one the prophecy speaks of? If I am to believe I must kill an innocent do I not at least deserve to look him in the eye as an equal?" Desiree pondered before looking up at the sound of Sora's name being spoken.

A moment of weakness, of surrender. That was what it had been on Sora's part, and he couldn't let it go. She had made him wish he were dead and he hated her for it.

They had arrived at the castle postern to find it swarming with tourists. That's what the castle had become, a public building where the citizens could give their respects to their late leader. They entered the study and from there travelled deep down into the castle's depths where they knew Xehanort to have performed his experiments in secret.

"Riku, don't tell me you…" Sora was about to say but her appearance there all but made it clear. In one of the cells and sitting in the one chair in the back of the room was Astra. Her eyes were cast downward and her hair was crazily dishevelled.

"What? Riku, you can't-"

"Hold up Luna, let me explain first-"

"No. There is no explanation. There's no explanation in the world that can possible justify this. As far as I know, you locked her up," Sora said with a rising temper.

"You may not like it, but Master Yen Sid and I agree it's necessary. She was with Moira's Crescent and they've attacked you not once, but twice now and she still refuses to give out any information on them. What does that tell you?"

"But it still isn't right Riku. Let her go, we'll figure things out," Kairi urged. Sora was thankful that she at least had no part in it.

"Figure things out and what? Wait for another attempt on Sora's life?" Riku replied before looking at Sora. "I can't help but think at night that I'm about to lose you. I feel like I have to check up on you but then I tell myself that I'm worrying over nothing, that he'll be alright, that everything will be alright. But it won't. The moment they attacked you they declared war, not just on you but on all of us. They're moving forward, we're a reactionary force. It shouldn't be that way. I won't allow her to just wander off again, who knows what she's already told them about us. You see now why I can't let her go?"

"No, Sora and Kairi don't, and neither do I," Luna said. She looked into Astra's cell once more before turning to Riku. "Astra may not be perfect, but neither are you. She's my best friend so don't expect me not to stand by her side. You aren't some beacon of justice that was chosen to speak on behalf of everyone and even if you were this is anything but justice. You must hate hearing this but when you fight fire with fire there's no doubt someone is going to get caught in the crossfire eventually."

Throughout her speech, Astra looked up at her friend and smiled. A dangerous glare from Riku quickly saw her returning to looking at the ground.

"And you have a better idea at how we handle this?" Riku asked impatiently.

"Er no, not exactly but whatever it is, this isn't it," Luna replied.

"Besides that, you also did this without asking us first for our opinions. Unless you're saying yours mean more-"

"And have you thought about what would happen if she left before you woke up? Look, we're not going to hurt her. We're just holding her here so we can interrogate and get more information from her. Until she gives me a satisfactory answer, she's not leaving," Riku said. "Don't you want to find out about the people who want you dead too?"

Sora looked away from Riku and started taking interest in the wall next to him. He did want to know, probably even more than Riku. But was it worth taking away another person's freedom in the process? But surely Astra had no reason to hide anything if she wanted to be let out so why wasn't she saying anything? Why was she protecting them? The image of Desiree, burned long into his mind, flashed once more and a sudden anger overtook him.

"Sora? Sora, are you listening?" Riku asked.

"Of course he isn't. You've thrown all of this on him just as he's come out of hospital. And I can't stand to listen to another second of this either," Luna snapped before turning and briskly walking back down the hallway they had just come from.

"Luna, wait up!" Kairi called and ran to catch up with her. This left just Sora, Riku and a despondent Astra. Though cold, the air still seemed stuffy and choking.

"I don't know what I'm doing right now Sora. I'm trying to listen to my heart as best I can but sometimes not even that's enough, so if I'm making a big mistake right now I'd like to hear it from you. Maybe it'll set me on the right path, whatever that is," Riku said.

Sora looked at Riku for a good few seconds before following after Kairi and Luna.