Song of the chapter: A Bitter Song- Butterfly Boucher
A/N: Well, are you surprised? I am...this update is pretty fast, and it's a longer chapter to boot, yay! Although, I am sad and worried that I may have lost some viewers. I received some "hate mail" messages when I wasn't updating for a while, so I'm worried. Tell me, are you losing interest? I don't want to continue the story if people aren't enjoying it like they used to. Tell me. Thanks! And now, in regards to this chapter, I won't spoil before you read, but there is drama. It may seem random and/ or unnecessary, but I felt like there hasn't been much action lately. The only reason there is in this chapter, is to help the plot, include Maleficent, and help with Kairi's involvement!
BoxAuthor88: I didn't receive a review, I'm hoping you still like the story, and I hope you're well! xox
Guest: Thanks hun!
xxNeverEndingTwilightxx: Wow, thank you soooo much! :D I hope this update was quick enough for ya~!
BA88: Don't hate...don't stab me ._. I'm sorry I left... T-T And I feel special that I'm your KH writer! (HAHA the notebook moment ;3) I'm so glad that you don't want to kill me! And I hope this update was quick enough!
The V-Blade: Thank you so much for your kind words! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Guest (aka Skyy): Well, there may be some light Rokushi in this chapter ;) And some SoKai fluff will be coming super soon! Stay tuned. As for Terra, time will tell!
SetoshiArenhariKai: The reason the audience knows of Xehanort's plans (it won't be like that for much longer) is because there are all smaller plans, that aren't his major plot plan for the X-Blade. I'm glad you're enjoying, and I hope all your questions will be answered in up coming chapters!
Ready, set GO!
As per usual in Sora's character, he was fidgety. And when he was fidgety, Riku knew that meant he was nervous. No doubt it was related to Kairi; no longer in the hospital, and now about to fight along side everyone. Seeing the stress in Sora's face worried Riku. Sora was always one to keep calm, and wear a grin, but now he was pacing back and forth, practically burning a hole in the floor.
"Sora," Riku muttered, "Stop pacing."
"I can't."
"Well, then why don't you take a walk; clear your head."
Sora stopped pacing for a second, and looks at Riku.
"Kairi probably won't be awake for a while, you have some time," Riku explained.
"Alright. But I won't be any longer than an hour," Sora assured, heading for the door.
"If you're any longer than 60 minutes exactly, do I have permission to call you a dead man?" Riku teased.
"Yep," Sora waved as he closed the door behind him, smiling.
Noticing Sora gone, and everyone else being occupied with mundane activities, Yuffie took the opportunity to sit next to Riku.
"Hey, can we talk now?" She asked hopefully.
"I don't really understand what we need to talk about," Riku groaned, staring at his hands that sat in his lap, "I mean, didn't we cover everything after the fact already?"
Yuffie stood abruptly, and huffed in annoyance. Riku looked up to her face, tensing up at the angered expression his gaze found.
"Come with me. Now," Yuffie grabbed Riku by the wrist and took him into the other room, unnoticed by the others.
Riku let her drag him away willingly, although completely uncomfortable by the anger he could feel within her grasp. They stopped at the den area, that was completely empty of any other people.
"Look," Riku began, "I already told you I'm sorry. And about you kissing me back, I won't hold it to you. I started this and-"
Riku suddenly felt the familiar lips pressed against his. Although he didn't expect it, somewhere in the back of his mind, he was ready for her. So without any hesitation, he kissed her back, cupping her face with both hands.
Back in the living area of the HBRC's headquarters, everyone was becoming restless. While waiting for Xion and Kairi, Mickey was just about the send Lea, Isa and Roxas, until there was a stirring from the couch. Roxas immediately stood upright, knowing very well that it was Xion.
"Ugh…" Xion groaned, holding her head with one hand, while the other slowly forced her into a sitting position.
"Xion, you're…okay…" Roxas whispered while laughing.
"Roxas…" Xion muttered, "Axel…"
"Welcome back," Lea grinned.
"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have yelled at-"
"No. Don't be sorry," Roxas hugged Xion, not caring that everyone was watching, "I'm just glad you're back again."
"Me too…" Xion hugged Roxas back, "I missed you…" She whispered so quietly that he barely heard her.
"Any hey, guess what? We have hearts now!" Roxas beamed, "Me, and Axel, and Saix too!"
"Saix?!" Xion stood quickly, immediately needing to be caught by Lea as her head started spinning.
"Easy there, kiddo," Lea sighed.
"Saix is our friend now, Xion," Roxas assured.
Xion looked passed his friends to the blue hair man, knowing it was Saix. Sure, something was different about him to her, but she couldn't help but frown, remembering all that he did to her.
"I promise, he was Axel's friend before the Organization, and now he's my friend too," Roxas assured, "You can trust him."
Xion's frown faded into a half smile.
"So, if you guys have hearts, do I have one too?" Xion wondered in hope.
"Well, we're not certain, but we'll assume so, seeing as everyone else does," Isa grinned, trying to help her warm up to him.
"Wow…" Xion couldn't believe that she could possibly have a heart.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when Lea and Roxas began to explain their knowledge of the situation.
"So, in short, we'd like to send you four to the castle here in Radiant Garden, to see if any of your past colleagues have any new information that could be of some use to us," Mickey explained.
"Alright, sounds good to me. Better than just sitting here twilttling our thumbs," Lea said, heading for the door.
"Do you know the way?" Isa asked.
"Umm, A, we've walked the grounds of this world so many times I know it like the back of my hand, and B, this is where I woke up, along with Ienzo, Aeleus, Dilan and Even. I'm pretty sure I can figure this out," Lea smirked, crossing his arms.
"Yeesh, I was just asking. No need to e a hot- head."
"Ha. Ha. Never heard that one before," Lea shook his head with a half grin, "We'll report back here after we've finished."
"Okay, thank you, Lea. We may already be gone. If that's the case, there will be a gummi ship for you to go to Master Yen Sid's tower," Mickey instructed, "And thank you guys."
"See you soon," Roxas smiled, as the four left the headquarters.
"So Axel," Xion had a questioning grin on her face as she closed the door behind them, "What kind of name is Lea?"
The four friends began to spin in a fit of laughter, making their way to the castle to meet some familiar faces.
Although it wasn't the nicest day outside, Sora found the cool breeze familiar, and comforting. The sky was cloudy, as though it were going to rain. Though the wind was colder than the air of the islands, it was still just as relaxing and soothing. Taking a deep breath in, he closed his eyes, thinking back to when he got back home again with Riku- right after defeating Xemnas. How there was no more stress. The walk was definitely helping his stress levels. Not that he liked being lone, but the quietness gave him some time to clear his head, just as Riku had suggested he do. Sighing, Sora looked up to see that the path he was on would soon lead him to a high up look out point with a view of the world's large ocean beneath it. Sora didn't remember seeing the large structure the last time he was here, so he assumed that it must have been a new addition to the world. Although he knew he didn't have too much time left, Sora wanted to get a look at the view. Sure, he said he'd only be an hour, but Riku wouldn't freak if he was a couple minutes over. It had only been around forty minutes at that point anyways.
A couple minutes was all it took for Sora to get to the top of the look out, and it was worth it to him. The view of Radiant Garden was absolutely incredible. It seemed as though the ocean went on forever, just like on the islands back home. Sora could hear the waves crashing into the stone walls below. His finger tips brushed the dark blue, gritty, stone architecture of the look out's pillars. When he looked down, Sora noticed just how high up he really was. From the ground, it didn't look very tall, but looking down to the water below, it looked to be about a thirty to forty foot drop. Looking up to the sky, tiny droplets of rain tickled his cheek. To his right he saw a set of stairs leading directly to the sandy beach, but he knew that he had to make his way back to the headquarters before the rain. Sora turned around, greeted by an unwanted, familiar face.
"Maleficent!" Sora immediately summoned his Keyblade, placing his body in his usual fighting stance, "What are you doing here?!" He demanded.
"Hmph," Maleficent snickered, flickering her neck, "I have no time for you at the moment…" She turned away, "However," She emphasized, turning around quickly.
"The Heartless sure do, Haha!" Pete appeared next to her, an army of Heartless Soldiers and Shadows at their side.
Rolling his eyes, Sora had no choice but to fight the Heartless, letting Maleficent and Pete get away. There was no way some simple Heartless could do ay harm to him. Slashing upwards, Sora cut though a group of Shadows and Soldiers. Immediately following, Neoshadows took their place. Sora detected a familiar patter almost instantly; every time a Heartless was eliminated, more took it's place. Knowing it would take too long to get rid of them all, Sora attempted to run. As he pushed through a now large group of Neoshadows, they grabbed onto him, pushing him backwards, and over the edge of the look out to the freezing waters below.
"Yuffie…" Riku breathed as their lips disconnected, "What does this mean?"
"Huh?" She asked breathlessly, not understanding.
"Where does this leave us?"
"What? Do you need a definition? You want to be that guy?"
"Uhh…"
"C'mon, let's get back to the others, now."
"But how to we go back without them…noticing?"
Yuffie just gave Riku a blank stare for a moment.
"Umm, I'm kind of a ninja…remember? You just go in causally, and say you were taking a nap or something. Leave the rest to me."
Riku simply smirked at how incredibly turned on he was by her. He definitely never saw this one coming- not in a million years.
"Hey, where're Lea and the others?" Riku returned to the living area, pretending his encounter with Yuffie hadn't happened.
"They left already…Where have you been?" Ven asked innocently.
"Napping…" Riku lied, "At least I tried."
"Why couldn't you sleep?" Aqua inquired, "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yep. I guess my mind just wouldn't shut down."
"Has anyone seen Yuffie?" Leon asked.
"I'm in the kitchen! I've been here to whole time, Leon."
Riku was slightly surprised, and completely curious as to how she got there completely unnoticed.
"Okay, I was just wondering."
"You're so quiet in there. Usually we can't get you to shut up," Cid teased.
"Hey!" Yuffie hollered from the kitchen.
"Simmer down! I'm kidding!"
Riku looked around the room, noticing Sora hadn't returned yet. It had been well over an hour since he'd left.
"Hey, has Sora come back yet?"
"Nope, why? Did he say he'd be back at a certain time?" Donald asked.
"Well, he just said he wouldn't have been any longer than an hour, and it's been…" Riku looked over at the clock hanging on a near by wall, "About an hour and half. Maybe we should go and look for him."
"I'm sure he's okay, Riku," Mickey assured with a smile.
"You know how distracted Sora can get," Donald winked.
"A'hyuck, yep!" Goofy agreed.
"Yeah…But it couldn't hurt to look," Riku looked to the window, "Besides, it's starting to rain."
"Oh, Kairi!" Aerith noticed Kairi walking down the stairs, "How are you feeling, hun?"
The group all redirected their attention to Kairi, who was slowly but surely making her way to the couch.
"I'm feeling fine," She smiled, keeping out the distress from the memories.
"Good," Aerith smiled, "Here, drink this," she handed Kairi a small glass of water.
"Thank you."
"So Kairi, we have a plan," Mickey began, and Kairi turned to him while drinking, "We'd like to send you with Aqua and Ventus to back to Yen Sid's tower. There, you can get in a bit more training, and join us soon."
"Okay," Kairi agreed, finishing the glass, "Hey, where's Sora?" She soon noticed how tense Riku looked, "Riku, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just, Sora went for a walk, and he's late."
"Do you think he's okay?"
"Well, I'm going to go out and find him," Riku said, heading back to the door.
"We'll come too!" Donald stood, followed by Goofy.
"If there are any Heartless, you'll have backup, Riku," Goofy grinned.
"Thanks," Riku smiled.
"We'll come too, it can't hurt to have some help. He could have possibly gotten lost. That last time he was here, the city was fairly broken up," Leon said, turning to Cid, "Are you ready?"
"Always," Cid stood.
"I guess we'll all go," Yuffie said, "I need to stretch my legs, anyways."
"I'll wait here, just in case he does turn up. I don't want the place to be empty if he comes back," Aqua suggested, "Ventus, you stay, too."
"Awe, okay…" Ven sighed.
"Ventus, while we wait, why don't I show you a magic spell or two?" Merlin suggested.
"Really? Thanks!" Ventus smiled widely.
"I'm coming with you guys," Kairi stood.
"Kairi, maybe you should just stay and-"
"I'm coming too, Riku," She repeated, more firmly.
"You know you're stubborn, right?" Riku sighed.
"Yeah? What else is new?" She smiled.
The group quickly exited the headquarters.
"So did he mention at all where he might be going?" Leon asked Riku.
"No. I just suggested that he go for a walk."
"Well then I guess we'll just follow the tourist track. It's the most scenic route, so it probably interested him," Cid suggested.
Soon, the group headed in the direction of much needed help.
The motion of his legs hitting the stone edge, and toppling over the edge happened too fast from him to even yell. His body crashed through the freezing water just as his mind caught up to what happened. The water was much deeper than he thought it would be. There was no way he'd be able to touch the bottom before running out of air. Staying calm, he simply kicked his arms and legs until he was vertical, pulling his body to the surface for much needed air. When he surfaced, it took a moment for him to realize why he was pulled back under the waves. Then it hit him- the Heartless were still attacking, and pulling him under. With the mix of the freezing water, and swift wind, Sora's body was going numb fast. As he summoned his Keyblade again, he attacked the now dozens of Heartless, to no avail. By the time he'd resurface, the Heartless would pull him under again. When he tried to swim away, there were Heartless in every direction of the crashing waves. Kicking profusely, Sora noticed that he soon lost all feeling in his legs. This is when he realized that he was in trouble. Neoshadows tugged at his arms and pulled him under once again. This time, he could not resurface fast enough, and he was force to take air into his lugs. His chest felt like it was on fire, and he braced himself for what he could not believe could be his demise.
"Hello? I'm back!" Lea announced, entering the computer room of Radiant Garden's Castle's study.
"Ahh, Lea," Ienzo had his face in a large black book, "I'm assuming you had no luck with- Isa? Roxas?…Xion?!"
"I told you- I always get stuck with the icky jobs. That doesn't mean I fail to do them," Lea smirked.
"Ienzo, what's all that noise-?" Even asked, entering the room, "…Unbelievable," He gasped, staring at the beings Lea had brought.
"So, are we gonna sit here and ask questions, or are you gonna let me tell you why we're here?" Lea groaned, crossing his arms.
"Well, you're here to say 'I told you so' are you not?" Ienzo smirked.
"No. Well, yes, but no."
"We'd like to know if there's anything you guys could help us with. Like with the Keyblade War, or with Xehanort," Roxas explained.
Even simply looked to Ienzo, before turning back the way he came.
"Let me get Ansem the Wise. He could be of assistance. And allow me to Aeleus and Dilan, I don't think they will believe this."
"Sora! Answer me!" Riku yelled, becoming increasingly frustrated and worried with every second.
"Sora!" Donald yelled, too.
"Sora? Where are you?" Goofy cupped his hands around his mouth to make his voice a bit louder.
"Sora?" Kairi yelled, her voice trailing as she noticed a tall tower- like structure, "Hey, what's that, Leon?"
Leon looked to wait Kairi was point at; a large stone architecture just up the road from the path they were following.
"That's a look out to the largest Ocean in this world, why do you ask?"
"Maybe Sora's up there," Kairi thought.
"I think he would have heard us," Cid said.
"But we might be able to see him from up there," Yuffie suggested.
"It couldn't hurt to check," Aerith agreed.
"Hey, look!" Goofy pointed to the top of the lookout.
"Look at all those Heartless!" Riku gasped, "Let's go!"
The group ran quickly up to the top of the large look out. There were many places Sora could be, but he they couldn't see anything amongst all the Heartless.
"C'mon, let's chop though them!" Riku charged at the Heartless with his Keyblade.
As the group, including Kairi, significantly cut though the Heartless, Riku was able to make it to one of the look out openings that overlooked the ocean. Riku looked out to see if he could see anything. His eyes began to squint as he looked out to the horizon. Suddenly, something caught his eye in the waters directly below him. Losing all color in his face immediately, Riku saw what he knew to be Sora, floating face down in the dark water. Shaking his head to process what was happening, he saw Kairi approaching him.
"Kairi, get away," Riku half yelled, "Don't look."
Kairi stopped dead in her tracks at the tone of Riku's voice. This also alerted everyone else.
"Riku…What's wrong?"
Before Kairi could fully finish her question Riku jumped off the look out's ledge into the water. The entire group was completely confused and mortified.
"Riku!" Kairi screamed as she ran to the ledge.
"Riku!" Yuffie and Mickey yelled, also running swiftly to the ledge.
Kairi was the first to make it to the ledge, and it was just as Riku was surfacing. Immediately she understood Riku's action as she saw a second body in the water.
"Sora!" Kairi's scream was blood curdling, "Oh, god! Help him Riku!"
The rest of the group made it to the ledge just as Riku swam to Sora's body.
"Oh my god…" Leon breathed.
"Sora…" Mickey gasped.
Cid, Donald and Goofy just sat there, wide- eyed in pure shock and fear. Riku grabbed Sora's pale, numb body, and quickly lifted his face form the water.
"Riku! Is he alive?!" Aerith demanded.
"I-I don't know!" Riku panicked, "C'mon, buddy…" He whispered.
"Bring him over here, quick!" Aerith pointed to the sandy beach area just down the stairs from the look out.
The group quickly sprinted down the stairs to aid Riku and Sora. Normally, the swim would take Riku a minute tops. Living on an island his whole life, Riku would consider himself better than average at swimming. However, with the mixture of now heavy winds and light rain, the water was a lot tougher to cut through. That and not having any arms due to supporting Sora, this was going to be difficult. Holding Sora tightly, Riku kicked as hard and as fast as he could, approaching his friends as fast as the waves would allow him to. As soon as the group got to the beach, Cid and Leon were in the water waist deep to meet up with Riku, who stood and let them take Sora. Leon grabbed Sora and ran him to shore, Cid and Riku right behind him. As the land finally came close, Riku collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily.
"Put him down here, Leon," Aerith instructed, immediately starting CPR by pressing her fists into his cold ribs, "Sora! Sora, can you hear me?" She placed her head to his chest, not hearing anything.
"Oh god…Sora, please…" Kairi cried.
"Sora, wake up!" Donald begged, still in a state of shock.
Aerith continued to press her fists harshly into his chest, occasionally feeling his neck for a pulse.
"C'mon, Sora," Aerith pleaded before looking up to the sky, "I swear, you'd better give him back right now."
About eight minutes of constant CPR left Aerith feeling helpless. Kairi was now crying hysterically, Mickey, Donald and Goofy were staring in complete shock, Cid was yelling while swearing and kicking rocks occasionally; Leon attempted to keep him calm, and Riku still sat on his knees, staring at Sora. Never, in his entire life, had Riku seen a person so white and purple in color. If death were personified, it would be Sora right now.
Mentally, Aerith knew now that there was little hope. As she pulled her fists away for Sora's chest, everyone began to panic more, understanding without any words needed. Closing her eyes, she pounded her fists one more time. All of a sudden Sora began to cough up water, limbs flailing as he tried for dear life to get air into his lungs.
"Okay, it's okay," Aerith cried as she sat Sora upright so no more water would travel back into his lungs, "Shh…"
"Sora!" Everyone gasped at once, completely relieved and stunned.
"Oh thank god…" Riku breathed, briefly looking up to the sky.
Riku and Kairi quickly held out their hands and grabbed onto Sora for support.
Sora held onto Kairi and Riku's hands with one of his own, completely scared as to what just happened. He was coughing up what seemed to be an endless supply of water from his burning lungs. After a fair majority of water had been flushed from his air way, Sora was now hiccupping, and shivering. He still had little color in his face, but now Aerith knew he wasn't going to die.
"Okay, Leon, I need you to run and get me a large blanket. Bring back the van with you, too. I don't want him walking," Aerith instructed.
"I'm on it!" Leon got to his feet and ran.
As Sora continued to hiccup, his eyes locked with Donald and Goofy's and he held out his free hand for them to take.
Trying his best to stop hiccupping and couching, Aerith noticed Sora struggling to form a complete sentence.
"C-c-cold…" He whispered, blue lips twitching and teeth chattering.
"Sora, don't try to speak now, okay? The water's still working it's way out of your lungs," Aerith explained calmly and clearly, rubbing smoothing circles into the teen's icy back.
"We're going to get you home, now. You won't be cold for long, okay?" Riku smiled, assuring the scared teen.
Sora continued at shiver profusely as he sat on the sandy beach. He kept his eyes closed for most of the time to try and block out the fact that half of his body was numb, and the other half was in pain. Leon showed up only five minutes later with a large shuttle van with medical supplies. Soon, Sora was wearing an oxygen mask and a heated blanket before he and the others loaded into the van, heading back to headquarters.
Well, drama...is good. :) I hope you liked this chapter, stay tuned for the next one coming soon! xo
