Kingdom Hearts III: The Heart's Greatest Weapon

Chapter 29: Kairi's Turmoil

Two days past after Sora ventured into Bolt's world and he was taking the time to practice using some of the skills he acquired by taking on Leon in a sort of sparring match.

"Okay Sora. Show me what you've got." Leon said. Sora nodded and he activated the power inside of Wulf's charm, changing him into a white furred wolf but wearing the same clothes and Keyblade.

"Hmm. This should be interesting." Leon said. Sora smirked and the two began clashing blades, exchanging blows back and forth. Soon, the two were locked in a stalemate until Sora broke away. He dashed around Leon before triggering Ven's charm, changing his attire to Ven's armor.

"Take this!" Sora shouted. Leon was surprised and brought his sword up in defense. As the two continued to battle, another was watching from afar. The figure was the Dark Knight himself.

"So, the boy has taken my advice and trains. I wouldn't expect anything more from the biggest annoyance of my plans." he said. Suddenly, the scene froze and Kuzco appeared once more.

"Hi there. Just checking up with all of you. I know I haven't been seen in a while, but this is actually a little congrats to....what has it been? Almost thirty chapters now? Well, that's something." Kuzco said. He spotted the knight and chuckled, plucking out his red marker.

"By the way, what's the deal with armor head over here? Heh heh. Watch this." Kuzco said. He quickly drew a big, cartoonish moustache on the knight's face and gave him a big afro.

"Heh heh! Ever see a knight looking like some fashion LOSER from the 70's?" Kuzco laughed. But just then, he felt the looming presence of something dark. He looked and saw the Dark Knight. Kuzco gulped.

"Oh. Hello there. Uhh....if you heard what I said before I...." Kuzco said. But suddenly, the knight grabbed his remote and crushed it in his palm. Kuzco screamed and ran away.

"Imbecile." the knight muttered before walking away. The scene started again and the knight left in a dark corridor. Down on the field, Sora was swinging both blades fast. But Leon was able to counter each of them. Sora jumped back and remembered Jumba's charm.

"Okay. Let's see what this does." Sora said. He activated the charm's summoning powers and something appeared in a poof of smoke. But what appeared was something shocking. He saw Angel, Experiment 624, sitting on the ground. Leon and Sora froze.

"Uhhh....okay. WHAT is that?" Sora asked. Inside, Kronk was busy in the kitchen as always. From afar, Emil watched by the door frame when Kronk saw him.

"Oh. Hi there Emil. What's shaking?" Kronk asked. Emil walked over as Kronk was fast at work.

"Well, I was just wondering what you've been doing Kronk. It's almost like we see you back here all the time now." Emil said. Kronk chuckled.

"Well, that's nothing new really. Now is it? To a chef, a kitchen always feels like their home." Kronk said. Emil chuckled.

"I see what you mean. But I've been thinking....how come you never ask any of us for help? You don't have to keep doing everything yourself." Emil asked. Kronk stopped and rested the spoon in the bowl.

"Really? Wow. Now that you mentioned it, I guess I have been doing a lot." Kronk said. Emil then asked if it would be all right if he helped out for this evening's dinner. Kronk laughed.

"Sure. I don't see why not. But we're gonna need a few things from the market. And....you can probably guess WHY." Kronk said, pointing to Stitch lying on the ground and scratching his belly.

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot." Emil said. Outside again, Sora and Leon were still sparring off. Angel's time wore off and Sora was back to wielding his one blade. From afar, Kairi watched.

"Wow. Sora, you're lucky. You have a lot of people to spar with. People who are all strong like you. But....look at me. I've hardly had anyone to spar with like that. Yuffie and most of the others are busy with committee matters and all Marta and Colette want to talk about is girl stuff half the time." Kairi thought. She sighed and looked at herself.

"And on top of it, you say we can training in as well. But you're always changing opponents, taking on guys like Leon and the others." Kairi thought. She sighed.

"What good am I if I never get any training? I'll never get to be like you or Riku at this rate." Kairi thought. She then walked away, not noticing Sora noticed her. Sora asked Leon if they could take a break for a moment. Leon saw Kairi walking off.

"Let me guess. Your friend?" Leon asked. Sora nodded, thanking Leon for the sparring time.

"Okay. No problem." Leon said. Sora followed after Kairi as Leon walked away himself. Down in town, later on that day, Emil and Kronk were out gathering food when they passed by Scrooge's new stand.

"Hey there Mr. Scrooge. How've you been?" Emil asked. Scrooge chuckled.

"Ah, Emil my boy. It's so good to see you again. Thank you again for the help you gave me yesterday with all those boxes." Scrooge said. Emil smiled.

"Well, it wasn't that bad. I mean..." Emil said. Suddenly, he felt like someone's big hand was on his shoulder.

"I see you've been busy, right Emil?" a voice said. Emil looked back and saw a tall man wearing a black tuxedo and he had long blue hair. Emil gasped, recognizing the face as none other than Regal Bryant.

"Regal! It's....It's really you!" Emil exclamied. Regal smiled.

"Good to see you too Emil." Regal said. Regal took a glance at Kronk, both surprised to see they were nearly equal in height.

"Howdy there. Just who might you be big fella?" Kronk asked. Regal chuckled and shook Kronk's hand.

"My name is Regal Bryant, president of the Lezeareno Company. I'm also a good friend of Emil, given our time traveling together." Regal said. Emil asked Regal how he managed to escape their world and Regal remarked that he was lucky to escape. He found his way here, through sheer will to see his friends again.

"Wow. You...You really made it all the way here? All by yourself?!" Emil gasped. Regal paused for a moment.

"Well, not entirely. Lloyd was able to help me out part of the way. I guess some thanks can be given to him for helping me escape." Regal said. Emil gasped.

"Wait a second. Lloyd? He's alive?" Emil asked.

"I hope so. The last time I saw him was after he let me continue off by myself, leaving him against a lot of those evil black creatures." Regal said. Emil figured Regal should be caught up to speed about what's been happening and began to tell him everything.

"I see. So these strange creatures are really Heartless, people that have lost their hearts to darkness. Hmm. And also, you say that you've found Marta, Colette, Tenebrae, Zelos, Raine and Genis so far? That's good." Regal said. Emil nodded in agreement.

"So, that leaves us worrying about Lloyd, Sheena and Presea. But that's only if they managed to escape." Regal said. Emil was sure they survived. Regal hoped so as well before asking Emil what he was doing.

"Oh. Us? We were just doing a little grocery hunting. Say, would you like to come back to where our home is and join us?" Kronk asked. Regal chuckled.

"I would be honored. In fact, I'm a bit of a chef myself. I wouldn't mind at all if you need my help." Regal said. Emil thanked Regal as he joined them. Meanwhile, Kairi sat alone on a wall towards the outskirts of the city. She was having one of Scrooge's ice cream bars when Sora approached.

"Kairi?" Sora asked. Kairi glanced back at Sora as he climbed up beside her.

"Oh. Hi Sora. Sorry I wasn't around much today. I've been thinking lately." Kairi said. Sora looked out at the sun as it was starting to set.

"Well, I saw you walking off by yourself earlier. And I wanted to know what was wrong. You seemed sad." Sora said. Kairi sniffled a bit.

"Sora? Tell me the truth. Do you think I'm weak?" Kairi asked. Sora stuttered, asking why she even thought that. Kairi sighed.

"In the adventures we've had together, where I fought alongside you and the others, all I've been doing is getting in the way or making a fool of myself." Kairi said. Sora rested his hand on her shoulder.

"No one thinks that Kairi. Everyone in this team is of equal importance and we all strive to help each other, make each other stronger when we need it most." Sora said. Kairi looked away.

"But....you've had more time. You've practiced more than me. I've asked the others for chances to train, I really have. But they're either busy or they just don't want to." Kairi said. Sora asked for some examples and Kairi mentioned Rinoa and Paine being busy at the committee center and Marta wanting to talk more about their love lives than training.

"Oh. Well...." Sora said, searching for the right words. Kairi glanced at Sora.

"And when I want to ask you, you say you will. But then, I find you sparring with someone else." Kairi said. Sora was speechless as Kairi looked ready to cry.

"I mean, if I'm really not much help, you can tell me to my face." Kairi said. She started to cry a little until Sora moved closer to her.

"Kairi, I am telling you this right now. And this is the honest truth. Ever since Michael asked us to form a team, I thought only of everyone's safety and feelings. We're all in this together and it's going to take all of our strength if we want to defeat the Dark Knight. And....for that, I need you...." Sora said. Kairi gasped.

"Yeah. To tell the truth, I'm...I'm a little scared when you're not with me. You saved me after I became a Heartless, you brought me back....you make me glad that....I'm your friend." Sora said. Kairi couldn't believe what she heard. But hearing it made her want to cry more.

"So, don't ever think that you're a nuisance to anyone. You understand Kairi? You're important, no more important than anyone else on the team. Not Donald, Goofy, Riku....or me." Sora said. Kairi started to shed tears as she leaned against Sora.

"Thank you....Sora." she whispered. Sora smiled and rested his arm around her shoulders. They watched as the sun began to set. But on a rooftop from far away, the Dark Knight spied them.

"He is right girl. Do not think of yourself as a nuisance. You're more VALUABLE than you might realize." he sneered. Without a sound, he vanished once again. Sora and Kairi returned to the base, amazed alongside the others to see Regal.

"Regal! Hey! I didn't know you were here." Genis said. Regal smiled.

"Well, I had a feeling we would see each other again Genis. I never stopped believing." Regal said. Raine smiled.

"And it looks like you were right. Now we have to make sure our other friends are all right as well." Raine added. Zelos chuckled.

"If you ask me, I betcha Lloyd is doing JUST fine. I mean, come on. He's my best bud. No way would he let a bunch of Heartless slow him down." Zelos said. Genis chuckled.

"Yeah. You're right. Just wonder what he's gonna say when we tell him you almost got your arms broken off by Tifa! A girl!" Genis laughed. Zelos groaned.

"Hey! That woman was one of the most psychotic nut cases I ever met. All I did was try and get to know her a little bit and she goes totally crazy." Zelos complained. Raine sighed.

"Wait. Does that mean Tifa has nuts for brains?" Colette asked. Emil nervously chuckled and so did Marta.

"She does NOT realize how irrelevant that sounds, does she?" Tenebrae asked. Sora chuckled, probably thinking the same thing.

"Well, come on folks. Time to eat." Kronk said as he rang the dinner bell. Everyone gathered at the table and saw the work Emil, Kronk and Regal put in.

"Wow Emil. I've got to say. Your food looks great." Kairi said. Emil chuckled while blushing.

"You...You think so? It's....nothing special." Emil said. Lilo scoffed.

"Are you kidding?! Look at this pumpkin. You made it into a turtle!" Lilo shouted. Raine also commented that he made a smiling face in the spaghetti and meatball platter.

"Well, I like to have fun when I do stuff like that. It's just who I am." Emil said. Goofy chuckled.

"Gawrsh Emil, this really looks delicious." Goofy said. Donald agreed, with the others seeing that he was drooling a bit also. Bolt, Dug and Pluto sat close to the table and were ready to eat as well.

"Okay then! Let's eat!" Sora shouted. Just then, Stitch leaped for the table and eyed everything. But just before he could sink his teeth into anything, Kronk rushed over and grabbed Stitch.

"Oh no! You are NOT ruining anything this time! Now sit!" Kronk shouted. He forced Stitch into a seat next to Lilo. Stitch groaned and crossed his arms. Lilo chuckled.

"Don't worry Stitch. Here. I'll feed you." Lilo said. Stitch looked away.

"Naga bo chifa." Stitch muttered. Everyone glanced at each other and were soon laughing, even Stitch who joined in later.

TO BE CONTINUED...