Chapter XXX; Weaver of Hearts
Returning to Hollow Bastion once again, they were quickly surrounded by Heartless of various varieties, but none that X had seen before. He glared around him after getting rid of the first wave. Sora looked around in confusion, taking note of where more Heartless were appearing and vanishing off to terrorize the town.
"Wait a sec, I thought everything was supposed to be under control here!" Sora said. As they looked around the Town's Defense system started up. It didn't seem to be much help.
"Hey, look!" Donald said, pointing toward even more Heartless.
"Must be Organization XIII again. We better go see Leon," Sora said, turning to the group who all nodded in agreement.
They went to the Borough, meeting with Yuffie there. It looked like she had been tasked with taking out the Heartless in town. She looked tired, though still somehow full of energy at the same time.
"Come on in!" Yuffie said, leading the way toward Merlin's house. The gathering place they usually had.
"Wait just a second," Sora said as they followed Yuffie. "What happened to this place?" he asked.
"Didn't that Heartless look like the ones from Tron's world?" Goofy asked. That would explain why X had no idea what they were. He hadn't seen that world before.
"C'mon, just get inside!" Yuffie said, ushering them into the house. Cid was at the computer, typing something on his computer quickly. "Hurry up, Cid!" Yuffie complained as she bounded over to the computer.
"Give me a second!" Cid snapped back, continuing his work on the computer. X watched lines of code scroll across the screen. He didn't catch enough of it to know what was going on, but he was sure Y could have figured it out in a second.
"Confound it! Hurry!" Merlin said, echoing Yuffie's plea. Whatever this was it didn't seem they could get it done fast enough.
"Why, you-!" Cid complained.
"What's going on?" Sora asked. Cid spun his chair around facing the group.
"Talk about yer good timin'!" he said.
"The MCP is wreaking havoc inside the computer," Yuffie explained briefly. X frowned, he could remember the ominous voice that had spoken before taking Sora, Donald, and Goofy into the computer. He guessed they hadn't really handled the problem.
"Not again!" Donald complained.
"Accordin' to Leon, anyway," Cid explained, turning back around to his computer to continue his work on whatever was so important. "He went on over to Ansem's study to find out what all the ruckus was about. Turns out the MCP is using the data in that computer to crank out Heartless. The MCP's been messin' around with the town's control system, too."
"That MCP sure doesn't know when to quit, does it?" Yuffie said, placing her hands on her hips.
"That's a computer program for ya," Cid said.
"How's Tron doing?" Sora asked.
"We can't reach him. We figure he must have been forced onto the game grid," Yuffie explained.
"And it don't sound like a particularly fun game, either," Cid added calmly.
"Awww," Donald said, slumping forward.
"We'll go check on Tron," Sora said with a nod. X wasn't surprised that was his decision.
"Thanks, kid. We're puttin' together an MCP Eradication program. I got a hunch it's almost finished, too," Cid said.
"Well, I hope your hunch is right for once!" Merlin said. Cid glared at the wizard over his shoulder before looking back at his computer.
"Listen, we're gonna need Tron's help when that Eradicator's completed," Yuffie began.
"Don't sweat it. We'll make sure to tell Tron!" Sora said quickly, without a thought.
"Remember, boys- we're counting on you," Merlin said.
"Roger!" Sora said, saluting along with Donald and Goofy. X stood casually and rolled his eyes at their actions.
They made their way through the town heading into Ansems study without much getting in their way. Entering the computer room behind the study they were greeted by Leon holding his gunblade and Yuki, holding both of her keyblades at the ready. X blinked a few times in confusion, but brush it away. Yuki did manage to get around rather quickly.
"Gawrsh, it's only us!" Goofy said quickly. Yuki and Leon lowered their weapons, though they didn't seem very calm.
"You can't talk to Tron if this room gets taken over," Aerith said, stepping away from the computer. She had been behind the two who were armed.
"Did you check in with Cid?" Leon asked, crossing his arms. Sora nodded. "And the Eradicator?" he asked.
"It's almost done," Donald said.
"Great! Say, Leon, why don't you go work with Cid? Yuki and I have this place under control," Aerith suggested turning toward Leon. Leon looked at her warily.
"Are you sure? All by yourselves?" Leon asked. Yuki and Aerith both looked at him with narrowed eyes. X held back a chuckle as Leon stepped back from them. "Er, sorry. It's all yours."
"How's Tron?" Sora asked.
"We still can't get in touch with him. Maybe you guys should give it a shot," Leon suggested.
"No, we'll go talk to him in person," Sora said simply.
"Then I have a favor to ask. When you find Tron, could you tell him to come to the I/O tower? That's where we'll upload the MCP Eradication program," Leon said. X suspected Sora had no idea what that even meant. But he didn't show it, only nodded as if he understood.
"The I/O tower. Got it!" Goofy said.
"Thanks. And watch your backs," Leon said as he left the room to go help Cid. Sora approached the computer, slowly looking at the screen.
"You guys ready?" he asked looking over his shoulder.
"Um, I'm sitting this out. Computers are not my thing. I'll stay back and help Yuki. Or clear out the town," X said, rubbing the back of his head. He glanced at Yuki who nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, I could use the help. These ones are stubborn," Yuki said.
"Oh, ok," Sora said. "We'll see you both when we get out then."
"Yeah, see ya," Yuki agreed, smiling. Sora tilted his head in a bit of confusion, seeming to realize something he hadn't before.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Sora asked.
"Helping?" Yuki answered, rubbing the back of her head. Although her answer had sounded like a question. "I'll explain after you fix this all ok? We got things to do."
Sora nodded before going into the computer with Donald and Goofy leaving Yuki and X with Aerith. Yuki turned to the brunette woman, an easy smile on her face. It was strange she was so relaxed.
"We're going to get rid of as many as we can. Can you hold down the fort?" Yuki asked. Aerith nodded.
"Of course. Be careful," Aerith said with a nod.
"I always am," Yuki said turning away from her.
"Since when?" X asked. Yuki shot him a glare. The corner of her mouth turned up into a slight smile. She didn't say another word as they went into town taking out Heartless as they went. X was impressed with Yuki's new abilities. She was easily forcing the Heartless to bend to her will, freezing small groups at a time before cutting them down. Her keyblades moved fluidly, like an extension of her arms. "You've gotten better," he said.
"Had some practice," Yuki said. She froze another group with her eyes, seeming more like ice than X had ever seen. He shot forward and cut down the Heartless.
"So it seems, your majesty," X said sarcastically. Queen or not, he still had to tease her. That's what friends were for, right. Yuki stopped and glared at him. X stopped as well, tilting his head the side. "What did I say this time?"
"You knew?" Yuki asked.
"Knew what?" X asked.
"That I was the queen. And you never said anything," Yuki said crossing her arms and looking down on X. X blinked a few times in shock. He didn't know what it was about Yuki that made her come off as so powerful. She just was.
"To be fair, I thought you knew. You're supposed to know on instinct where you fall, and who's above you," X said.
"When have I ever done what I'm supposed to?" Yuki asked. X snorted looking away.
"Fair point."
The pair continued their work through the town. They were in the area that X thought was once the outer gardens when they saw quite the unexpected sight.
A group of people was grouped behind a girl that for a moment X almost thought was Yuki. Until he remembered she was still beside him, and this girl only had one keyblade. She had long black hair and icy blue eyes, that after a thorough look X realized were a shade or so lighter than Yuki's but only just. She wore something like a school uniform, a black jacket with white lines tracing around it and a red bow around her neck. Her skirt was black and she had grey thigh high socks as well.
Her keyblade was blue with darker blue designs inlaid. The guard around her hand looked like angel wings. The teeth were heart-shaped with a crown where the two arms met. It was vaguely familiar to X like he had seen it somewhere before. But he brushed it off as Yuki joined the girl in her fight against the Heartless. X sighed before he too joined them. With the three of them, it only took moments to get rid of the Heartless. The people the girl had been protecting scattered, leaving her alone with X and Yuki.
"That was pretty impressive," Yuki said. She was smiling at the girl, clearly impressed by what she had seen. The girl gave a sheepish smile in return.
"Thanks, you two weren't so bad yourselves. I didn't know anyone else had one of these things," the girl replied, lifting up her keyblade as she spoke. Yuki nodded with a chuckle looking at her own keyblades.
"Honestly, there are way more than you think," X said. He looked between the two wielders, trying to keep his face in a neutral expression. It was hard when he was actually thinking about what keyblades were.
"Really?" the girl asked.
"Really," C replied. Too many in his opinion.
"What's your name?" Yuki asked.
"I'm Sakura, Sakura Andrews. What are your names?" the girl replied.
"Yuki, no last name included." Yuki looked confused for a moment like she was thinking about why she had no last name. X suppressed another snicker.
"X, don't ask. Long story," he said before even giving the strangeness to set in. Sakura nodded, her face seeming confused, but she didn't ask.
"Ok then," She decided. "Are you guys new here? I don't think I remember you." She looked between them as if trying to place them.
"Not exactly a resident, but we've been around," Yuki said rubbing the back of her head as she looked at X. He nodded in agreement. They had been here off and on. "What about you?"
"I've lived here most my life, after I found my way back," Sakura answered. X was at first concerned by what that meant but realized that this world had disappeared. That had to be what she meant. "I stayed in Traverse Town while this place was in the darkness, but we always find our way home."
"Much training with that key?" X asked, nodding towards it. He couldn't shake the feeling he knew that key. It was important for something.
"Not really. Just, does what it wants to for the most part," Sakura said. She looked down at the and X followed her gaze. Self-trained type seemed to be popping up more and more often. Though he doubted she hadn't had a succession ceremony. He was sure even Yuki had to have one of those.
"You know, we could use an extra hand clearing the Heartless out. You want to come with us?" Yuki offered. Sakura brightened up quickly. X had a feeling she didn't spend a lot of time around people her age.
"Sure," Sakura agreed.
The group continued their rounds through the city. Having Sakura was helpful. Unlike Yuki and X she had at least a basic grasp of magic and could use it without tiring herself out too quickly. They made a surprisingly good team and managed to clear out the town. At least the Heartless numbers were returning to normal when they met Yuffie. She exchanged a nod with Sakura, which Yuki guessed meant they knew each other.
"What's going on?" Yuki asked.
"I don't know, things are calming down though. I'm heading to the computer room. You three wanna tag along?" Yuffie asked.
"Sure," Yuki said, glancing to her two companions. Bith X and Sakura nodded.
They returned to the computer room where Aerith and Leon were by the computer. They looked at the group curiously.
"Things are settling down in town! The only Heartless left anywhere are the local variety. And it looks like there are fewer than before," Yuffie said.
"Now if we can just get those three back in one piece," Aerith said looking back at the computer. Sakura tilted her head to the side in confusion looking at Yuki and X.
"They'll be fine," X said simply. No sooner did he speak when Sora, Donald, and Goofy reappeared. They looked a little letdown, Sora staring at the ground sadly.
"You're here!" Aerith said happily.
"Welcome back!" Yuffie greeted. Sora nodded slowly.
"How's the town?" Sora asked.
"A-ok!" Yuffie confirmed.
"Not a single trace of the MCP, either. Everything's back to normal. We made it," Aerith said, explaining Yuffies point further. Yuki frowned stepping forward, even with only good news Sora looked upset.
"Something wrong Sora?" Yuki asked.
"Tron just disappeared," Donald answered for Sora.
"And he promised we'd see him again," Sora added. An alarm blared making the entire room go on edge.
"What's happening!?" Aerith asked. The alarm ceased quickly, a tense silence filling the room.
"Greetings, friends. System is up, and ready for User input," a friendly voice said. Yuki couldn't pinpoint the sound, so she turned to the computer.
"Tron!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy said together.
"Stay in touch," Tron said.
"Yeah!" Sora said, his frown already gone. Donald ran to the computer looking at the keys hopefully.
"Oh boy, oh boy!" Donald said as he began to type.
"Hey stop that! It tickles!" Tron complained, holding back laughter.
"Tron is ticklish?" Goofy asked. Sora walked toward the computer a grin on his face as he stopped in front of the keyboard. Yuki grinned and chuckled, Sora was clearly up to something.
"Sora," Yuki said in warning. Sora ignored her.
"How 'bout this!" Sora said, beginning to type nonsense. Tron burst into laughter, unable to control himself.
"Please stop that!" Tron pleaded. Sora and Donald laughed and Sora continued his typing.
"I think Tron's been hanging around those guys too much," Yuffie said with a chuckle. X nodded in agreement.
"Looks like."
"He seems like a lot of fun," Sakura said with a chuckle, looking at Sora with something near admiration. Yuki couldn't blame her, he had that effect on people.
"He definitely is," Yuki agreed.
"W-wait, wait just a moment. I want to show you something I dug up from the system archives," Tron said through his laughter. Sora stopped and looked at the screen in interest. "You can see the town back when it was first built."
An image popped onto the screen of a garden filled with flowers surrounded by brick. Yuki gasped taking a step toward it. She knew that place. The group walked outside of the building to the postern, looking out over the city. Yuki could almost see what it used to be when it wasn't destroyed. The gardens and the homes Kiu had been fond of. It was all overlayed over the town in her mind.
"You know, this town had another name once," Aerith said, smiling softly as she looked over the town. Yuki suspected she could see what it used to be too.
"Hm?" Sora asked.
"Oh, yeah. Almost forgot this was the same place," X said, slightly smirking.
"Radiant Gardens," Aerith said.
"Home," Yuki said softly.
"Yeah," Sakura agreed.
After the town seemed to calm down the group that had two more than usual walked around, looking up and down streets that seemed to have new hope.
"So Yuki, who's your new friend?" Sora asked, looking around Yuki to Sakura.
"Sora, meet Sakura Andrews. Native of Radiant Gardens and a keyblade wielder," Yuki said, motioning to where Sakura was on her other side. Sora's eyes brightened in excitement.
"Really! That's so cool!" Sora said excitedly.
"Thanks. It's nice meeting you," Sakura said.
"Yeah!" Sora agreed. "Does your family live around here?"
"Used to," Sakura answered putting her hands behind her back as she looked forward. "Now it's just me. My parents died when I was a baby. And well, after that I was in a different world for a while. When I came back Masako, a really nice older woman took care of me with her two granddaughters. But, after the world fell and came back I was alone," she explained sadly. Yuki frowned looking at her. She had seen another world beside Traverse Town. She had said something about that before, but Yuki hadn't thought of the reason.
"That's awful. So, you don't have anyone?" Yuki asked.
"It's not so bad," Sakura said with a shrug. Yuki felt a wave of sadness from her heart, so she guessed she was lying. "Leon helps me out a lot, and all the rest of the HBRC too."
"Well, I suppose," Yuki said. "But count yourself a little less lonely now."
"Yeah! You have five new friends!" Sora said looking to all of the group. Donald and Goffy nodded and Yuki smiled at her. X frowned.
"I didn't agree to this," he said. Yuki rolled her eyes and playfully pushed him. He shouldn't joke like that around people who didn't know him. They might take him seriously.
"What, some kind of edge lord who has no friends?" Sakura asked crossing her arms and looking at X in challenge. Yuki burst out laughing, quickly covering her mouth to try and stifle her laugh. X grinned looking at Sakura.
"Says a girl who looks like she just walked out of school," X said sarcastically.
"X, you can't fault her for being right," Yuki said.
"Sure I can," X replied.
"Well, then looks like I'm going to have to fault you for being right too," Sakura said looking down at her clothes. Their eyes met and they all laughed once again. When their laughs faded silence returned. But only for a moment.
"Hey, Yuki. Why were you here anyway?" Sora asked, suddenly remembering Yuki's promise to explain.
"Just making a stop before going to Twilight Town. There ended up being trouble so I stayed," Yuki explained.
"Why are you going to Twilight Town?" Sora asked.
"Promised someone a favor," Yuki replied. She frowned as she remembered what her promise had been. She didn't like standing down and letting these sort of things happen. Not to the people she wanted to protect.
"Who?" Sora asked.
"A friend," Yuki said.
"What friend?" Sora asked. Yuki sighed and looked away.
"One we share," she said, trying not to break her promise.
"You've seen Riku!" Sora said happily. Yuki looked at him in shock. They had to have more friends in common than him. But she supposed he was the first place her mind would have gone as well.
"Wow, you jumped to Riku quick," she said. She sighed again and smiled softly. "Listen, strictly speaking. I'm not supposed to tell you I've seen him. But, yeah."
"He's ok!" Sora said happily.
"Of course he is," Yuki said crossing her arms.
"That means when this is all over we can go back to the island together," Sora said. Yuki's smile dropped and she looked away from him.
She wasn't sure she would ever return to the islands. Not with everything as different as it was. She didn't belong in such a normal place. Not with all she had done.
"Yuki?" Sakura said, lightly touching her shoulder. Yuki looked up at the sudden contact, her eyes wide.
"Munny for your thoughts?" Sora asked.
Yuki tried her best not to flinch, but the words sounded so foreign coming from Sora. She hoped he hadn't noticed but his concerned expression only seemed to deepen.
"Uh, nothing. Just been a long time since I've been to the islands. It's weird to think about going back right now," Yuki answered quickly. Sora nodded and silence returned to the group. Sakura hadn't moved her hand from where she had tapped Yuki, a gentle reminder.
"Oh! I just remembered!" Sora said coming to a stop. "Pooh's storybook! We need to go help him!"
"Gawrsh, you're right Sora," Goofy said.
"We'll see you guys later!" Sora said with a wave before he ran off with Donald and Goofy. X sighed watching them go but didn't move to follow them.
"He's like an energetic puppy," Sakura said, a light laugh following.
"That's, one way to put it," X said.
"No, she's right," Yuki said with a nod. "But Sora will be Sora." That was right. He couldn't be anyone else. It just wasn't possible anymore.
"Yuki, since you're a keyblade wielder I have a question," Sakura said. Yuki turned to her with her head tilted to the side.
"Sure. I don't promise an answer, because I really don't know a lot about them," Yuki said. Her knowledge was limited. Most she had learned from others and she wouldn't say they were always reliable sources.
"Have you ever seen a big weaving while using your keyblade?" Sakura asked. Yuki frowned, her eyebrows furrowing. She had never seen anything while using her keyblade. Nothing like that anyway. Only what was normal to see. Her enemies in front of her and where hearts were around her.
"No, never," Yuki said.
"Huh," Sakura said looking down.
"That's actually an old story," X said. Yuki and Sakura both looked at him with interest. He was smirking slightly, and Yuki was beginning to think she knew why X had been so fascinated by her earlier. "The Weaver of Hearts. Someone who can weave and unweave light and darkness from hearts, and even some say Kingdom Hearts itself. That's a rare gift you have."
"Not sure if I should say thank you, or if I should pretend I never heard any of that," Sakura said, blinking a few times in shock.
"Sounds like a big job. But, I have a feeling you can handle it," Yuki said.
"Just stay out of trouble, and you should be fine," X said, waving off her concern. Yuki was sure he knew more and just wasn't saying anything, as was the usual for him.
"But if you do find yourself in trouble, we'll help you out," Yuki offered.
"Thanks," Sakura said. "So, I take it you two have to leave?" She looked almost disappointed.
"I have to be sure Sora doesn't get too sidetracked," X said, glancing in the direction Sora had run off in.
"And I have to go help Riku's plan fall into place," Yuki said.
"This Riku sounds like an interesting guy. Sora really cares about him," Sakura noted. Yuki nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, him and Sora have been friends since they could walk. They always lived on the islands. Maybe we'll get a chance to introduce you guys someday," she said, grinning slightly. She didn't know why, but she got the feeling Riku would like Sakura.
"I think I'd like that," Sakura said.
X saluted to the group before walking off. Yuki was used to his no touching policy, unless Y was there. She had free rights to break that rule whenever she so chose to. Yuki gave Sakura a quick hug, glad for the short moment of comfort.
"Oh, I just had a thought. The two girls with Masako along with you, what were their names?" Yuki asked as she pulled back. Sakura tipped her head to the side in confusion.
"Why?" Sakura asked.
"Well, if we see them we can send them your way," Yuki offered. Sakura smiled.
"Kairi and Kiu. They were sisters," Sakura said. Yuki did her best to keep her jaw from dropping. "See you around." Sakura waved once more before turning and walking away.
"Yeah, see ya," Yuki said quietly. She wasn't even sure Sakura had heard her.
They would definitely have to come back here when everything was over.
~~~~~***~~~~~
A/N: So, if you didn't happen to notice there is a cameo of khgirl678's oc Sakura Andrews. Her stories are all over on Wattpad where I usually publish my stuff first. I absolutely love her work and had a lot of fun writing Yuki and X with Sakura. If you have not read her work, you really should. She writes for a lot of other series as well and does a great job with all her stories. Recently she has been doing a lot of edits and they're all making her stories even better. Seriously, check her out if you haven't.
Gry23- Always great to hear from you! I honestly haven't decided a lot for KH3 yet, or any sort of adventure like that that might take place. But that is an awesome idea. I may not use it exactly but it has given me some inspiration for scenes I might do. Thanks for taking the time to tell me your ideas! I really love hearing them! :D
