Hello, everyone! Thanks so much for your wait time- life really got me down the last couple months, but I'm back! Now let's try to finish this up, shall we? :D
The next few days were probably the most suspenseful of Sora's life.
He and the mayor were referred to the Kumamoto University Transplantation center. After Sora had to convince the mayor he was sure of his decision.
"Sora, you don't have to do this. You're friends, but this is a big thing. Kairi will understand-"
"I know. But this might be our only chance to save her." he pointed out. "I have to try."
At the consultation Sora was given a run down of all possible complications, both short term and long term, to be sure he understood what he was getting into.
"It's ok," he said as the mayor started to worry. "I mean, I survived this much!" He joked, flexing an arm. "What's one more thing headed my way?"
It was at that point the mayor suddenly wondered if instead of his romantic feelings for her, like she suspected, this decision was fueled by the youthful illusion of invincibility. But at sixteen years old, he was legally allowed to make this decision- she couldn't very well stop him.
(And the truth was, she didn't truly want to. How could she, when there was a ray of hope for her baby girl?)
"We won't have to take half," The specialist assured as she went over the charts with them. "We just need enough to get over the threshold. That will still leave you with more than half and lessen the chance of complications on his end."
Sora couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Just because he wanted to do this didn't mean he wanted his life to be hard.
"If the tests clear, we'd like to monitor her here from now on," the specialist went on to the mayor. "If there's any chance of her waking up soon, we'd like to wait until she can get some strength back before performing the surgery. And risks are significantly higher in her case even after the surgery, so she will need people checking on her constantly."
The mayor nodded. "I understand."
It was hard to be patient as they went through each of the tests needed to check their compatibility. There were blood tests, x-rays, and even a psychological evaluation. He almost didn't pass it, the evaluator too worried that his experience in the disaster, and teenage hormones were making him act too rashly. But given that he clearly understood the consequences, and comprehended the information given to him, there was no other means by which he could say no.
As each test cleared and confirmed their hopes, the final stretch became all the more nerve wracking. Yet with each "pass" his resolve strengthened. Finally, after the few tense days of waiting, he was cleared.
"The results of the final blood test are in. Her antigens haven't rejected you."
It was almost too good to be true.
"Kairi, guess what! We're a match!" He squeezed her hand, flooded with relief as they went to see her again. "You're gonna be ok!"
"Sora," The mayor cut in, tears in her eyes as she squeezed his arm. "I can't thank you enough."
"Don't worry about it." He assured, and offered a smile. "I'd do anything for her."
Kairi remained silent.
"Ok guys!" Sora plucked his trusty little cut outs from Kairi's bedside table. "This is it! If anything happens to me, I'm counting on you to look after Kairi!"
"Don't say that, Sora!" Goofy dramatically pleaded.
"Yeah, you'll make it out alright!" Donald "agreed". "You gotta!"
"Donald!" Sora gasped in faux shock. "Does this mean you care about me? Will you help heal me when I get out of surgery?"
"Nah!" He quacked. "You're on your own."
"Hmph, thanks a lot!"
Unfortunately, Yuffie had only been allowed a couple days, and the army was strict about time off. Leon fudged the paper work given the circumstances, but they couldn't stretch it forever. She was able to stay with him during the tests and give him encouragement through each one, but that was about it.
"Hey, Sora," Yuffie spoke to him, holding out her cell to him. "We wanted to talk to you before I left."
He took the phone curiously and held it up to his ear. Then smiled when he heard a chorus of hellos from the other end.
"Hey there." Leon greeted.
"Hi Sora!" Aerith chirped.
"You goin' into surgery, kid?" Cid asked.
He laughed a little, the tension in his chest easing a bit. "Yep! I'm all cleared!"
"That's a pretty big thing you're doing," Leon said, and Sora realized that was probably the closest the man would ever get to complimenting him.
"Hang in there, alright?" Aerith encouraged.
"You best be lookin' out for yourself!" Cid warned. "That surgery ain't no joke!"
"I will," he promised. "And when this is over, you'll all get to meet Kairi, too!"
"We look forward to it," Cloud humored.
"I might be coming up soon," Aerith assured. "I'll help look after you while you recover."
Sora's brows shot up. "You don't have to do that."
"We know," Leon cut in. "But we may as well check on you to make sure you make it out alive."
Yuffie smiled. "That's Leon speak for: we're worried about you!"
There was laughter from the other end (not, of course, from Leon), and Sora's eyes stung with tears. He was immensely grateful that none of the others could see him.
Yuffie gave the mayor her number, as well as Leon's, to help keep in touch while gone.
The surgery was scheduled a month out. Enough time to hope for Kairi to awaken, but not too long to risk her wasting away even more. The mayor was always busy making calls, and now that she was up in Kumamoto, she was finally able to go out and buy a laptop. Sora could see the stress her work brought first hand, and was surprised she was even being "allowed" away for this long. But being next to her daughter soothed the stress and ache the last few months had brought her, so she fought to stay nearby. While they were up, she also went ahead and bought Sora a flip phone.
"There. Now you can keep in touch with all your friends."
"Miss Mayor, I..." He looked at the phone in his hands with awe, and stared up wide-eyed at her. "Is this really okay? Don't you have to pay for it?"
She shook her head quickly, gently touching his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Your parents can take the plan once we find them."
He was immensely grateful, and used his free time not talking to Kairi to do just that. He switched between phone calls and emails to make it over country borders, and about two weeks later managed to rope in a visit from a couple of friends.
"Donald! Goofy!" He cried joyously as they walked into the room. He jumped up and rushed to hug them both. "You made it!"
"Goofy?" The mayor blinked.
Sora went red, releasing them both and backtracking from his friends as he sent the taller man a bashful smile. "I mean… Glover! Hi..."
Glover, for his part, laughed. "Hey there kid. Glad you're hangin' in there."
They really could only stay for a few hours, but Sora was grateful regardless. After being stuck in a room with a busy business woman and a comatose girl, he was thankful to have extra company.
"What are those?"
Sora followed Glover's eyes to Kairi's bedside table, where his little cut outs sat expectantly. Sora blushed and whipped back around. "Nothing!"
Donald leaned forward with a heavy squint. "Are those supposed to be Donald and Goofy?"
"No!"
"Lemme see!" Glover leaned over to reach them and Sora squawked with panic.
"No!" He cried desperately, reaching for them first. "No, it's nothing! They're just little things I made!"
Of course, Glover was taller so he was able to grab Sora's hands and lift them up and look at them. "Oh my gosh, they are!"
Sora's entire face, neck and ears burned beat red, and he buried his face in his fists.
"Oh come on, let me see! I promise I won't laugh."
Sora begrudgingly handed them over, letting his head fall forward in his shame. Glover looked them over with some amusement, before handing Donald the little Duck.
"Heya, Donald!" Goofy greeted in his signature drawl, hopping the little cut-out up and down. "How'dya like Japan so far?"
The human glared at his friend. "I am not doing this."
"Aw, come on, Donald!" Goofy pleaded, nudging the other little cut out with his own. "Let's spread some joy an' cheer!"
"I can't even do the voice!"
"Tha's alright! It's what's in your heart that counts!"
Donald groaned, Sora giggled hysterically, and the Mayor was just staring at the taller man in amazement.
"...Alright, fine!" he ground out, before starting to hop his little cut-out too. "Gee, Goofy, Japan's great! Sucks I have to pretend to be a piece of paper, though."
Sora laughed, still-red faced, but feeling a little better about the whole thing. Now that the other two were there, Sora's banter was about ten times more fun. They had lively conversations, and even sang a tune or two, just to keep each other on their toes.
"I'm glad to see you're doin' alright, Sora," Glover said, as they prepared to leave.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Once Kairi's awake, we'll finally be able to go back home."
They didn't say anything then, but nodded understandingly as he pat his shoulder.
It was an extremely tense surgery for Kairi's mother, who could only wait in the silence. She wrung her hands as she worried, sending a silent prayer of regret to Sora's parents. 'Please, forgive me for not stopping him!'
The surgery itself went well enough. Both patients lay in the recovery room closely monitored as they waited for Sora's anesthetic to wear off. Kairi was kept on oxygen to be safe, since they couldn't guarantee her breathing otherwise. When Sora finally petered his way into the waking world, he seemed disoriented.
"What's wrong with him?" The mayor asked, heart dropping as he mumbled out nonsense. "Is he alright?"
"He's reacting to the anesthesia," The nurse answered. "He's alright." She snapped at him raised her voice to get his attention. "Sora? Sora can you hear me? Please take a deep breath!"
He obeyed, but he frowned in confusion as he did so. "Ma…? Ma izzat you? Shouldn't I be at school by now? I should be at school… man I'm prob'ly gonna flunk..."
As Kairi began to stir, she was aware of voices. She vaguely recognized Sora's voice, though in her dazed state couldn't make sense of what he was saying. Her mother didn't notice her twitching, too focused on Sora and terrified she had inadvertently doomed him to a horrible state of permanent disorientation. But when she heard the sheets shifting as Kairi moved she whipped her head around again.
"Kairi!"
The girl finally grimaced her eyes open, as the pain in her abdomen awoke her. Her mother grabbed her hand, crying out with relief.
"Kairi, you're awake!"
"Ma..." she murmured, and took a pained, shaky breath before blinking her eyes for more lucidity. There was another woman hovering over her, taking her face and suddenly shining a tiny flashlight in it, making her wince and squeeze her eyes shut.
"Kairi, can you hear me?"
"Yes?" She answered hoarsely in confusion, then crossed her eyes at the oxygen mask on her face.
"You're in the hospital right now, Kairi." The woman answered, shutting the light off. She gently undid the oxygen mask from her head. "Do you remember what happened?"
"No. Why am I-" And then she stopped, the answers clicking into place. "The tsunami."
"That's right." She said gently. "You hit your head and went under water."
She winced. "I remember." She looked at her mother suddenly, voice still hoarse but gaining a little more strength. "Sora. Where's Sora? He tried to save me but we got separated, is he-?"
"Sora's fine, try not to get too excited," Her mother warned gently, firmly putting her hand on her shoulders. "You just got out of surgery. You got really hurt."
"Oh..."
"Kairi?"
"Sora!" She turned, instantly relieved once she saw him. "Sora, are you ok?"
"'M fine, Kairi," He slurred. "I's lookin' for you forever. M' glad you're finally… here… my stomach hurts..."
The beeping next to his bedside grew worse. The nurse, who had come to Kairi's bedside to help monitor her, rushed back over to his bedside to check his vitals. Sora gingerly reached up to hold his stomach, face tightening with pain. The nurse rushed to the door.
"He's hemorrhaging!" She exclaimed down the hall. "We have to get him back to surgery!"
"He's what?" Kairi asked, as the mayor's hand flew to her mouth. "What does that mean?"
"It means he's bleeding internally."
Kairi gasped, looking to Sora fearfully, even as a prepared stretcher wheeled into the room. "Sora?" Kairi gasped, her heart dropping as his head wobbled, and he slipped off from consciousness. "Sora, what's wrong? Please talk to me! Sora? Sora!"