- Chapter 27 -

Tales of Kikyo


The Lanes Between

The gang was mostly silent as they made their way to Traverse Town, Mickey at the helm. As they went, Aqua turned to Riku.

"If it's not too much trouble, could you tell us some more about your sister?" she asked. "I'm curious."

"I'm curious myself," said West. "I've never heard you mention her at all."

Riku nodded, a small smile on his face. "Sure," he said. "I planned to do that after we dealt with Ratigan anyway."

They all sat down around Riku as he began his tale.

"Kikyo is three years younger than me, but you wouldn't know it by looking at her," Riku said. "She's like my mom; small for her age."

"She also has their mom's hair color," Sora added. "Pure white."

"She's super-smart. Always has been," said Kairi. "She studies the sharks around our islands in detail."

Ven raised an eyebrow. "Sharks?"

"Yeah," Riku said. "She loves them. Especially the great white sharks."

"Aren't they man-eating monsters?" Max asked.

Riku chuckled slightly. "If she was here, she'd give a long-winded speech about how they're not."

"You mentioned her to me before," Mickey said. "Back in Castle Oblivion."

Riku nodded. "Yeah. During the year Sora was asleep, I'd visit her once a week. After everything I did before, I was too afraid to face anyone else, and knew that out of everyone there, she wouldn't think of me as a monster."

"You must be really special to her," Hikari said.

"Yeah," Riku said. "When we were kids, she would follow me everywhere."

"And list random shark facts as well," Sora added, chuckling.

"The first day I went to school, she screamed and cried all day until I got back home," Riku continued. "And whenever she was at the school, she'd search the building for me."

Aqua smiled. "How adorable."

"And she still likes to stick close to him whenever she can." Kairi said.

"You said you visited her while Sora was sleeping?" Max asked.

Riku nodded. "Yeah. Every Wednesday..."


Flashback

Riku sat casually on the Paopu tree, taking the time to relax. He sensed something, and lifted up his blindfold to see a young girl of around thirteen row in; the girl had long white hair and aqua-colored eyes like his, and was carrying a large backpack as she got off the boat.

"Kiki..." Riku said to himself, smiling slightly. "Still doing shark research, as usual."

Kikyo sat her backpack down, but looked up to see Riku in the distance. Riku stiffened, wondering what to do, then shrugged.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to talk." he said, jumping down from the tree and making his way over to her. Kikyo tensed up, lifting up her back as she saw the mysterious black-coated figure come to her; his hood was up, shrouding his face in darkness.

"Stay back!" she shouted, trying to sound brave. "I-if you come any closer, I'll hit you with this bag!"

"Kiki, relax," Riku said. Kikyo stiffened, recognizing the voice. "It's me." With that, he dropped his hood.

Kikyo gaped for several seconds, before tearing up. "Big brother!" She ran over and hugged him; with only a slight hesitation, he smiled and hugged back.

"I missed you so much," Kikyo said, sniffling. "Where've you been?"

"Long story." Riku replied. Kikyo pulled back slightly, and took a good look at her brother's face, noticing the blindfold.

"Why are you wearing that thing?" she asked, reaching up to take it off, only to be startled when Riku, quicker than quick, grabbed her wrist.

"Don't touch it!" he exclaimed. "That blindfold keeps it back!" Kikyo recoiled.

"Riku, what's wrong?" she asked. "Y-you're scaring me. What's 'it'?"

Riku took a deep breath to calm himself. "Just... don't touch it. It's safer for you and everyone else."

Kikyo tilted her head quizzically. "Riku, what's going on? Where have you and Sora been all year? Kairi won't tell me anything."

Riku sighed. "Sit down. We have a lot to talk about."

Kikyo nodded and sat, and Riku proceeded to explain everything. How the islands had been consumed by darkness, how he had fallen in with Maleficent and turned against Sora, how he had been trapped in the Realm of Darkness, and the Castle Oblivion incident. By the end, Kikyo had tears in her eyes.

"Riku..."

"I know," Riku said, looking away. "I... I'm a monster."

Kikyo shook her head and hugged him. "No! You're not. You did bad things, but you're trying to make up for them. If you were really a monster, you wouldn't care. And I'm just happy to see you."

After a few minutes, Riku smiled. "Thank you."

"Please, come home," Kikyo pleaded. "Mom and Dad miss you."

Sadly, Riku shook his head. "I can't... I can't face them, Kiki. Not like this. You're the only one who'll understand. And Sora needs my help."

"Can I at least tell Mom and Dad you're alright?" Kikyo asked.

Again, Riku shook his head. "No. It'll just make them worry more. I have a job to do... but I'll come back and visit you. Every Wednesday, come and meet me in the Secret Place."

Kikyo nodded eagerly. "I will! I promise!" She hugged her brother. "Stay safe, Riku."

After a few minutes, she pulled away. "Please, don't go."

Riku sighed, fighting back tears. "Kiki, I have to. I wish I could stay or that you could come with me. But I can't. Where I'm going, what I'm doing... it's not safe for you."

Kikyo nodded. "I know. Just take care of yourself." She kissed Riku on the cheek, and he returned with a kiss on the forehead.

"See you around, Kiki," he said, ruffling her hair before opening a dark corridor and entering. As the corridor closed behind him, Kikyo smiled.

"See you soon... big bro."

Flashback Over


As Riku ended the story, West smiled.

"She sounds sweet," said the perky thief.

Riku nodded. "She is. And that's just what I did. I visited her every Wednesday... until the day the real Ansem had me capture Roxas."

"The day you took on Xehanort's Heartless' form." Sora said.

"Yeah," Riku said. "After that, I stopped going. I couldn't face Kiki after that. Not while wearing that monster's face. I knew she'd be worried... but I just couldn't."

Kairi giggled. "I remember when we got back. Kiki was furious that you vanished again without so much as a note. She ripped you a new one."

Riku chuckled. "Yeah. I kinda deserved it."

Everyone chuckled as well.

"You'll have to introduce us when all this is over," Sï'Lea said.

"So, tell me," West continued. "What are your parents like? Nice? Funny?"

"Nice," said Riku. "My mom is... my dad uses the word, delicate. She gets worried and panicky easy. My dad is tall, and while he looks intimidating, he's more of a gentle giant."

"I'd love to meet them someday." West said.

"I'll introduce you guys when it's all over." Riku said.

The conversation moved on, and Riku leaned back, closing his eyes, remembering the day he and Sora left for the Mark of Mastery exam...


Flashback

Sora and Riku stood on the play island, waiting for the Highwind to appear. Kikyo walked up to them.

"Do you really have to go again?" she asked. Riku nodded, and she hugged him. "I don't want you to go."

"I don't wanna go either, Kiki," Riku said, hugging her back. "But I have to."

Kikyo began crying. "I-I..."

Riku wiped her tears away. "Hey, I need you to be strong. Take care of Mom. You know how she worries."

Kikyo nodded. "I will. Here." She reached for the hair clip clipped onto the right side of her hair; a red heart with angel wings. Riku had given it to her for a fifth birthday present, and she had hardly taken it off since.

Riku held up a hand to stop her. "Keep it. It'll remind you that I'll come home. I've got you right here." He placed a hand on his heart.

Kikyo nodded and hugged him again. "I love you..."

"I love you too." Riku said as they pulled away. Kikyo turned to Sora.

"You come back safe too," Kikyo said. "And be careful."

Sora playfully ruffled her hair. "Hey, it's me, remember?"

Kikyo smiled. "That's why I'm worried."

The three all shared a good laugh at that.

Flashback Over


Riku sighed, and piped up at that. "I forgot to mention one thing. Kiki was bitten by a shark back when we were kids. It took a little piece out of her leg, but it let her go," The others turned to him in alarm. "It's because of that that I fell to the darkness two years ago."

West looked at him. "Really?"

"I wasn't the one who saved her life," Riku explained. "Sure, I got her to shore, but it was the paramedics who did it. I felt so helpless. I promised that I would never be that weak again. I wanted power to protect those I loved." He sighed. "When the Heartless came to the islands, I saw the darkness as an opportunity... but I bit off more than I could chew."

The others looked on sympathetically as he continued.

"Later, Kiki found out, and blamed herself for everything," Riku said. "At that point, I knew I'd made a mistake, but she felt horrible and ran off one day. Mom panicked and had half the island searching for her. I found her up the mountain, crying. She felt guilty... blaming herself for what happened to me, and by extension, she blamed herself for everything: Ansem and the fall of the worlds."

"Poor kid," said Nixe.

"Yeah," Riku said. "It took a lot of convincing to talk her out of that mindset. I told her that if I wasn't allowed to blame myself, neither was she."

"Yep," Sora nodded. Goofy turned to face the others from his seat next to Mickey.

"I hate to interrupt," he said, "but we're almost at Traverse Town."

Riku nodded. "Okay." He leaned back, thinking of his sister.

I'll be home before you know it, sis, he thought, smiling.


Traverse Town

A Large Body Heartless lifted up a figure and threw it into the fountain. The figure sputtered and climbed out, revealing it to be a pretty young woman in her early twenties. She had dark brown hair that draped over both eyes, and wore a red dress with black trim, black tights, and black flats. She frantically stumbled away, hugging the wall as she went, as Heartless and mysterious blue creatures swarmed after her.

As she went, the girl felt a warm presence and ran to it, coming to a door. Feeling it, she noticed the flame pattern, and quickly realized what to do.

"Fire..." she whispered. Her hand lit up with fire, and the door slid open. She ran in, hearing water dripping, and the door slid shut behind her.

"I-I think I'm safe here," she said to herself. She leaned against the wall and slid down until she was sitting, allowing herself a brief relaxation.

"How will I ever get home?"


Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait. Had other stories to work on, and kept getting sidetracked from this one. I'd say it's fairly obvious who that girl in the stinger was, but I won't say anything yet.

As usual, thanks for RP'ing this chapter with me, Kristen Verne.

Next chapter, the gang goes to find Sera Rose, and meet some familiar faces; some friendly, some not.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Kikyo - Luci Christian (Izumi Curtis from Fullmetal Alchemist, Lenalee Lee from -man, Ushio Okazaki & Nagisa Furukawa from Clannad; look up clips of Ushio's English voice online- that's Kiki's voice.)

Please R&R. Until next time!