Destroyed
~
~ Chapter Nine: Departures
~
"The lengths that I will go to,
The distance in your eyes.
Oh no I've said too much,
I've set it up.
That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight,
Losing my Religion."
~R.E.M
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The girl ran faster than Aeris had ever thought possible, the months of long hard honing of her skills had lent her a speed akin to that of a frightened rabbit as she pelted her crazy way down the stairs to the first district, her gloved hand tight about Aeris' wrist.
Her own cinnamon braid felt as though it were coming loose, her breath kept catching in pained lungs as she stumbled to keep up with Yuffie. The ninja seemed to not care if her charge stumbled or not. What was a grazed knee or stubbed toe in comparison to the overall safety of the ancient, the overall well being of the one she had been sent here to protect?
Putting one foot before the other, stumbling her harsh pathways to the door, Aeris tried glancing backwards at the hotel and the sudden explosion of the double doors outward, the frightening apperance of several dark shadows from it. As one, they all slowly turned their heads and looked at her, with shallow, unblinking golden eyes.
"Yuffie!" she yelped, and the girl glanced over her shoulder.
"Dammit!"
Shoving Aeris to one side with a mumbled apology beyond her gasped breathing, Yuffie turned her attention to the doors. Both hands went on one of the panels, and she threw her back into pushing.
As her friend struggled to open it, Aeris found her eyes drawn immediately to those heartless as they..conversed without words between themselves, strange attanae twitching in the place of words and their semi intelligent eyes all not moving from her.
Inching her hand along the wall she had been thrown against in Yuffie's need for speed, she felt re-assured by the bricks, by the solid feel of something real.
Leon was back there, fighting for her. She could feel his strength and feel him as he beat down the Heartless that kept coming in the hotel. Had they been drawn there by the Keyblade?
But, if that was so then why did they all, as one, turn their faces towards her and watch her instead of running back into the hotel where she knew the boy who wielded it was. Why did they study her like some kind of creature put up for inspection.
The cold rush of blood through her veins and the pounding of her heart made her vaguely aware that she had felt this scrutinised once before, this small and insignificant.
Hojo.
Experimented, tortured, hated.. quivering inside as well as out, she felt her own strength of will fail her a moment. And with that minscule laspe, the Heartless began shambling towards her, sliding into the shadows of the floor, jumping over garbage and bannisters.
"They're coming," she said soundlessly, little more than an intaken breath.
It was enough to reach Yuffie's trained ears though, and with a mild look of consternation, she looked over her shoulder where the yellow scarf flapped and at the advancing horde of demons and shadows.
"Aeris, help me push the door..!"
Frozen. She was little more than a frozen object to the wall, to the floor. Held in place, unmoving and unfeeling.
She glanced at the door, at Yuffie straining.. then at the creatures.
~ Magic.. ~
Where had that thought come from?
She hadn't used her powers since that day with the tray and flowers.. she hadn't had time yet to fully explore their limits again, to understand their nature. She wasn't even sure if she could call up magic between herself the aether.. she was-
A hand of one of the heartless snagged in her dress line, as absorbed as she was in her thinking, she hadn't even realised how close they had become. A scream rang from her mouth, and as Yuffie moved her hand down to her shuriken, time slowed again.
It slowed to a trickle of seconds past her pained reality, jangled on her nerve endings and across the very fibres of her pleasure senses. She wasn't too aware of the fire spitting from her fingers, or the painful buildup behind her eyes. Her chest felt tight and the air too heavy for her to breathe. Tilting her head back, her arms came up in defense, leaving trails of peach over intensified sight, and the air turned a vicious yellow.
Sharp pain, sharp pain..pain.
Just as quick as it had started, it stopped.
Nothing but silence and the faint, distant taste of a metallic tang in her mouth.. and slowly she opened eyes she had screwed shut at the last moment. The street was buckled up slightly, but the impression she received was that of the floor having been struck down as if by some great fist, renting it with mindless fury. The air stank of burnt flesh, roasted hair. Lifting her hands slowly, she looked at her fingers which twitched lightly, as if to remember what she had just done, then with a crackle, electricity spun itself from one hand to the next.
"I..I.."
Carefully, Aeris looked to her left and where Yuffie was still holding her shuriken in a hand. Apparantly the magic blast had come off quicker than Yuffie's hand and eye co-ordination had been given time to react. The girl looked shaken visibly, mouth hanging slightly open and then she slid violet eyes across to meet Aeris' green ones.
"I didn't know you could still do that."
"Neither d-did I."
She was quivering, from excitement or horror Aeris remained unsure. Seeing the shaking of Aeris' shoulders, Yuffie leaned over and placed her hand comfortingly on one. The weight anchored her to this reality, the weight reminded her that she was real, the weight kept her stable.
~ Magic, have you returned to me? ~
"Give me a hand, and we'll go get a hot drink at Cid's."
A hand? Seeing eventually what Yuffie meant, Aeris' scrambled across to help by putting all of her weight behind moving the door to the first district, and as her soft brown bangs covered her face, she never once let her eyes be removed from the spot where she had just destroyed the Heartless.
Something had changed, and perhaps she was one step closer to understanding her "key".
The door swung, and together, they ran into the first district...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He slammed his way out onto the balcony of the room, followed close behind by Sora, the kids footsteps a harsh clip-clap on the flooring as he fought his way out. Just about to jump, Leon turned his head aside and looked at the tray he'd bought for Aeris, where she had created the miracle of life. Lying next to the workgloves she often used, was her diary in purple fabric. Without a second consideration, he picked it up and shoved it into the inner pocket of his half jacket.
"Sora, come on!" he yelled, and with a harsh shove off landed pretty well in the water of the sewer which ran round the back of the hotel.
From the ground came a gathering of darkness as Sora crashed down behind him with a spray of soil. Leon turned so he could see the kid and the Keyblade he waved about with apparant ease and skill. Did the blade confer on the bearer natural talents or did the boy really have some skill lying dormant for swords?
Pondering this in his mind, her looked back at the shadow which had become a Heartless Soldier. It bounced on the spot then stopped and pulled back it's leg. Moving quicker than the shadow creature, Leon let it spin furiously past him and slam into a wall, dizzying it.
"Leon?"
At his name he gave Sora an appraising look as screams were heard.
~ Aeris... ~
"Don't bother with the small fry, go after their leader."
"I.."
Those blue eyes stared at him helplessly. Like countless eyes did on the day he had been chosen to stand against the Sorceress.. as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders alone, as if only he could drive back the shadows, as if.. he managed the ghost of a smile for the kid. Today he could die, Sora or himself. It chilled his blood. The thought of dying before.. before getting to tell Aeris.
He would tell her. After this was over, after the madness and chaos.
"Good luck," were his last words, as he turned and made for the small alleyway that connected the back street to the main plaza of the second district. Moving into the open, he could see no indication of Yuffie or Aeris, and no Heartless. Taking it as a good sign, Leon turned on his heel and jumped.
Catching a hold of the lip from the upper streets, the warrior carefully pulled himself over the edge and then stopped.
The ground of the street by the door, just before the fountain, was damaged beyond any normal means, the floor buckled and burnt as if to almost cinders. The air stank and left flapping in a rent of the buckled flagstones was a scrap of pink material. Gasping, horror refusing to wind down, refusing this reality he moved across and picked up the shred tenderly.
There was no blood on it, but then again, there was no sign of Aeris.
Grasping it hard, he moved quickly to the double doors and pushed them open, turning his head so he could look about.
Another scream as a girl ran round the corner in her green skirt with a Soldier chasing her. Unloosing his Gunblade, he pushed her aside, enough so she would move and neatly speared the creature on his blade. An explosion of green energy was about all that happened.
"I..I.." the girl stuttured.
"Get into Cid's shop, now.. have you seen Aeris?"
The girl nodded and pointed mutely down past Cid's and the Triplets house, towards the wide open foyer. Letting the girl stay behind him, hands clenched in the viridian of her skirt, he moved down towards the drop into the alleyway, then jumped down. His hair felt on end and his nerves acutely aware of something moving.
Primal forces, maybe.
Rounding the corner, he stopped at the sight he had never imagined.
Cid and Yuffie were stood either side of Aeris, before the accessory shop in which the townspeople had barricaded themselves, as done so many times before in test runs.. should such a situation arise. That wasn't so odd, but what was happening.. was.
Cid handled what appeared to be a pole with a long curved blade on the end of it, Yuffie on the other side of Aeris was muttering words of encouragement, her right hand clamped over a potions bottle. Aeris stood in the centre of them, hands outstretched before her but with the fingers interconnected. Her face was sheened with light perspiration.. and she fired off lightning bolts easily, each with the detonation of a small bomb as they packed their power into the last Heartless possibly left standing.
Amazed, he let the gunblade drop.
Yuffie saw him first, her own eyes meeting his with a kind of wonder.. and a kind of sadness.
He felt it too. The burning admiration for a creature out of their touch, like Rin' had been. Another world, she belonged to. But he didn't want this one to slip through his fingers, he didn't want this time to be the last time he saw a sweet smile on those lips.
Clenching his hand that held the scrap of pink material, her moved over to her, now seeing the tear in her dress.
She was crying, eyes fixed on the stars with her hands still outstretched. Were they tears of happiness or horror?
Leon flickered a glance at Yuffie and Cid, both who said nothing but also moved back.. to see to the townspeople. As they did, Leon removed his attention so he could focus wholly on the girl who stared wide eyed at the sky. Beautiful green eyes, amazing grace painted on her cheeks and the tears that stained her, tears he wished he could stop.
"Aeris.." he said softly.
"Did you see it?"
Her voice was little more than breathing, but even though she wasn't watching him, he nodded. "Yes, I did."
"Have I become a monster?"
"No."
"It returned to me, when I called it subconciously. All this time, I had dreamt so much lost, only to find it was hidden in me all along." Her eyes trailed down from the heavens to fall on his face, curtailed by dark hair, watching her intently. He brought one gloved hand up, and worked his fingers into hers with wordless comfort. He didn't know what to say, all the words he had promised to say stuck in the back of his throat.
"I'm... scared."
"You don't have to be. I'll be right by your side, always."
Did those eyes blanch in pain? Did they remember words spoken like that so long ago in her distant past? Knowing soon her thoughts would turn to ghosts of a man she used to call her love, and handed her young heart to, he drew her in closer, sliding his other arm about her, under the starry eyed sky.
"I promise."
~ And I never break promises. ~
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It lay in pieces of armour, whole chunks of it scattered over the pavement and in the fountain. They key in his hand hummed, and shaking his head.. he looked at the strange people before him.
One a dog that seemed to walk upright.
One a duck with a mouth on him, that Kairi would say needed soap.
"So, you were looking for me, right?"
They both nodded, comical characters in their own right, with intent expressions that only made them more comic. In their accents, one a terrible drawl and the other a quick, high squealing, they said together, "Uh-huh!"
"They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade."
Sora blinked and looked up at where Leon was coming closer, his hands swinging loosely at his sides and perhaps one of his cheeks glistening with dampness, most likely water. His gunblade was slung at his hip, on one of those many belts he seemed to fancy wearing.
Opening his mouth to ask why, Goofy, the tall dog with a drawl that preffered to beat his victims to death rather than simply pick up a sword and expend much elss energy, said: "Hey, why doncha come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel."
Other worlds, other chances. Perhaps see those with keys and chances too. Perhaps find Riku and Kairi.
But even with those happy thoughts, he found it hard to keep the humour in his voice and even stop the brows from lowering in self defeat. "I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi."
The duck nodded, "Of course!"
Followed in short detail by Goofy's murmured aside to the duck which was followed up with another murmur.
It was a great offer. It offered him so much, opportunity to see the world, to see the landscapes beyond here. His hands tightened in something close to consternation. ~Riku, he would go in a heartbeat. Kairi would call it an adventure. I call it.. a slim chance of finding them again.~
"Sora," at the soft but deep voice he looked over at Leon who held his forehead, "Go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends."
"Yeah, I guess."
As he stared back at his shoes, the squeal spoke up and he looked up at the comical duck who planted hands on his hips and stared right back at Sora, "But you can't come along looking like that. Understand? No frowning. No sad face. Okay?"
The dog laughed and flapped closer to them, his limbs a danger to themselves as well as others, "Yeah, you gotta look funny, like us!"
Donald gave him a shove away, "This boat runs on happy faces!"
"Happy?"
Grudgingly, jumping not for the first time or the last with his leap of faith, Sora ground out a smile at them, a large one that looked more pained than anything. Everyone, even Leon blinked, then the two strange creatures burst into laughter helplessly, pointing and laughing at him.
~Laughter.~
He then smiled for real, and knew he was set on his path.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
She nodded to Yuffie, then tilted her head as she pointed out the boy who was coming down the steps and headed to the end gates of the world, where his companions awaited him. Leon moved first, across to the boy and without a second choice, she too followed the pack.
He had stopped and was looking up at them.
Her fingers tried digging into Yuffie's arm, and for a moment the ninja looked at her strangely.
~ His eyes. Cloud's eyes. So blue.. ~
She was torn between rushing to him and getting on her knees, begging anything for him to find Cloud.. and taking Leon's hand and running away from memories that continued to haunt her. No matter what she did, where she went, she felt like she was always losing, always falling down and missing out on something else.
"Sora," began Leon, "Make sure you're prepared for the journey ahead of you. We don't know how far the Heartless have spread."
Yuffie disentangled herself from Aeris, and cocked her head at him, offering up her usual chirpy grin. "Check out the shops here, they've got some pretty neat stuff!"
Aeris picked up the 100 note she had been holding onto, and offered it to Sora who slowly took it from her, avoiding any kind of contact with her. Mildly, she guessed he had seen the wonderment in her eyes, the pain and panic. "This is from all of us, spend it as you see fit. And this," she handed over a precious elixir of life, the strangely sweet scented liquid a pale blue colour in the vial. "Is from Leon."
He turned to go and walked away some paces, as she too moved away with that uncertain feeling in her stomach. She had seen him in dreams, heard his voice.. had she?
~ Keys. Calling. Keys. ~
Then she felt a light touch on her shoulder and turned, coming face to face with Sora, with the Keyblade master. In soft tones she smiled and said with all the goodwill she sincerely felt in her heart, "I hope you find your friends."
"So do I."
~ It's him. ~
Those blue eyes screwed up slightly, then he tilted his head.
How he reminded her of Cloud.
Of home.
"I know we've never met before, but it feels like I have been waiting to meet you," he murmured.
"I understand.. I feel the same."
"There is a Key in you. Not like this... but, you already know that, right?"
Aeris nodded, hands clenched tightly about her necklace as she still clung to childhood habits.
~ Is this for real? ~
"I.." he moved the Key up and tapped her once, on the forehead with it.. then smiled. "It's unlocked now."
"I'm afraid, of what it hides."
"Hey, no one should ever be afraid, so long as there's light in your heart."
He turned to go, glancing over his shoulder as she said suddenly, "Cloud.. once said something similar."
"Cloud?"
"I.. never mind."
Shrugging, he walked off and shutting her eyes against pain, found herself sliding into one of the tables at the open air cafe. Her hands were shaking and she felt as though she had just run a hundred miles in a minute. Something did feel different. And hardly seeing her friends, she looked up towards the night sky for the first time, with Hope..
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Swallowing, her rubbed his good hand over his eyes.
Hot, too hot.
He had forgotten the force of those feelings, forgotten about how he would have given up the world for her if only she had asked it. Two people in his life whom he had cared for, one he had loved so badly.. he had fought through all these shadows for.
~ What you pursue will be yours.. but you will lose something dear.. ~
He had, he lost his heart along the way.
Only she, his childhood friend was right there next to him through the pain, forcing him onwards with the drive and determination he had always envied.
~ as long as you're by my side, I won't give up, even if I'm scared. ~
He felt lost and alone, no love for him to carry on for, no childhood friend pushing him on. He was.. alone.
"..... Cloud....?"
His head snapped up, eyes widening in disbelief.
Had he heard only another lie?
It seemed sometimes he was going mad, and twisting, he stared up at the night sky and the stars there. Once he had gladly watched the stars with her, and laughed as she had tried to make strange animal shapes from them, then claimed the sky was wonky, that's why they didn't look the way they should.
"Aeris?!"
~ Cloud... I'm searching for you.. ~
Gritting his teeth against tears, he lifted his hands to the sky in supplication.. "Aeris, hold on.. please."
~ Cloud's star and Aeris' star.. they show a great future.. ~
Ignoring the shadows, he wept softly, consumed by confused memories...
~
~ Chapter Nine: Departures
~
"The lengths that I will go to,
The distance in your eyes.
Oh no I've said too much,
I've set it up.
That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight,
Losing my Religion."
~R.E.M
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The girl ran faster than Aeris had ever thought possible, the months of long hard honing of her skills had lent her a speed akin to that of a frightened rabbit as she pelted her crazy way down the stairs to the first district, her gloved hand tight about Aeris' wrist.
Her own cinnamon braid felt as though it were coming loose, her breath kept catching in pained lungs as she stumbled to keep up with Yuffie. The ninja seemed to not care if her charge stumbled or not. What was a grazed knee or stubbed toe in comparison to the overall safety of the ancient, the overall well being of the one she had been sent here to protect?
Putting one foot before the other, stumbling her harsh pathways to the door, Aeris tried glancing backwards at the hotel and the sudden explosion of the double doors outward, the frightening apperance of several dark shadows from it. As one, they all slowly turned their heads and looked at her, with shallow, unblinking golden eyes.
"Yuffie!" she yelped, and the girl glanced over her shoulder.
"Dammit!"
Shoving Aeris to one side with a mumbled apology beyond her gasped breathing, Yuffie turned her attention to the doors. Both hands went on one of the panels, and she threw her back into pushing.
As her friend struggled to open it, Aeris found her eyes drawn immediately to those heartless as they..conversed without words between themselves, strange attanae twitching in the place of words and their semi intelligent eyes all not moving from her.
Inching her hand along the wall she had been thrown against in Yuffie's need for speed, she felt re-assured by the bricks, by the solid feel of something real.
Leon was back there, fighting for her. She could feel his strength and feel him as he beat down the Heartless that kept coming in the hotel. Had they been drawn there by the Keyblade?
But, if that was so then why did they all, as one, turn their faces towards her and watch her instead of running back into the hotel where she knew the boy who wielded it was. Why did they study her like some kind of creature put up for inspection.
The cold rush of blood through her veins and the pounding of her heart made her vaguely aware that she had felt this scrutinised once before, this small and insignificant.
Hojo.
Experimented, tortured, hated.. quivering inside as well as out, she felt her own strength of will fail her a moment. And with that minscule laspe, the Heartless began shambling towards her, sliding into the shadows of the floor, jumping over garbage and bannisters.
"They're coming," she said soundlessly, little more than an intaken breath.
It was enough to reach Yuffie's trained ears though, and with a mild look of consternation, she looked over her shoulder where the yellow scarf flapped and at the advancing horde of demons and shadows.
"Aeris, help me push the door..!"
Frozen. She was little more than a frozen object to the wall, to the floor. Held in place, unmoving and unfeeling.
She glanced at the door, at Yuffie straining.. then at the creatures.
~ Magic.. ~
Where had that thought come from?
She hadn't used her powers since that day with the tray and flowers.. she hadn't had time yet to fully explore their limits again, to understand their nature. She wasn't even sure if she could call up magic between herself the aether.. she was-
A hand of one of the heartless snagged in her dress line, as absorbed as she was in her thinking, she hadn't even realised how close they had become. A scream rang from her mouth, and as Yuffie moved her hand down to her shuriken, time slowed again.
It slowed to a trickle of seconds past her pained reality, jangled on her nerve endings and across the very fibres of her pleasure senses. She wasn't too aware of the fire spitting from her fingers, or the painful buildup behind her eyes. Her chest felt tight and the air too heavy for her to breathe. Tilting her head back, her arms came up in defense, leaving trails of peach over intensified sight, and the air turned a vicious yellow.
Sharp pain, sharp pain..pain.
Just as quick as it had started, it stopped.
Nothing but silence and the faint, distant taste of a metallic tang in her mouth.. and slowly she opened eyes she had screwed shut at the last moment. The street was buckled up slightly, but the impression she received was that of the floor having been struck down as if by some great fist, renting it with mindless fury. The air stank of burnt flesh, roasted hair. Lifting her hands slowly, she looked at her fingers which twitched lightly, as if to remember what she had just done, then with a crackle, electricity spun itself from one hand to the next.
"I..I.."
Carefully, Aeris looked to her left and where Yuffie was still holding her shuriken in a hand. Apparantly the magic blast had come off quicker than Yuffie's hand and eye co-ordination had been given time to react. The girl looked shaken visibly, mouth hanging slightly open and then she slid violet eyes across to meet Aeris' green ones.
"I didn't know you could still do that."
"Neither d-did I."
She was quivering, from excitement or horror Aeris remained unsure. Seeing the shaking of Aeris' shoulders, Yuffie leaned over and placed her hand comfortingly on one. The weight anchored her to this reality, the weight reminded her that she was real, the weight kept her stable.
~ Magic, have you returned to me? ~
"Give me a hand, and we'll go get a hot drink at Cid's."
A hand? Seeing eventually what Yuffie meant, Aeris' scrambled across to help by putting all of her weight behind moving the door to the first district, and as her soft brown bangs covered her face, she never once let her eyes be removed from the spot where she had just destroyed the Heartless.
Something had changed, and perhaps she was one step closer to understanding her "key".
The door swung, and together, they ran into the first district...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He slammed his way out onto the balcony of the room, followed close behind by Sora, the kids footsteps a harsh clip-clap on the flooring as he fought his way out. Just about to jump, Leon turned his head aside and looked at the tray he'd bought for Aeris, where she had created the miracle of life. Lying next to the workgloves she often used, was her diary in purple fabric. Without a second consideration, he picked it up and shoved it into the inner pocket of his half jacket.
"Sora, come on!" he yelled, and with a harsh shove off landed pretty well in the water of the sewer which ran round the back of the hotel.
From the ground came a gathering of darkness as Sora crashed down behind him with a spray of soil. Leon turned so he could see the kid and the Keyblade he waved about with apparant ease and skill. Did the blade confer on the bearer natural talents or did the boy really have some skill lying dormant for swords?
Pondering this in his mind, her looked back at the shadow which had become a Heartless Soldier. It bounced on the spot then stopped and pulled back it's leg. Moving quicker than the shadow creature, Leon let it spin furiously past him and slam into a wall, dizzying it.
"Leon?"
At his name he gave Sora an appraising look as screams were heard.
~ Aeris... ~
"Don't bother with the small fry, go after their leader."
"I.."
Those blue eyes stared at him helplessly. Like countless eyes did on the day he had been chosen to stand against the Sorceress.. as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders alone, as if only he could drive back the shadows, as if.. he managed the ghost of a smile for the kid. Today he could die, Sora or himself. It chilled his blood. The thought of dying before.. before getting to tell Aeris.
He would tell her. After this was over, after the madness and chaos.
"Good luck," were his last words, as he turned and made for the small alleyway that connected the back street to the main plaza of the second district. Moving into the open, he could see no indication of Yuffie or Aeris, and no Heartless. Taking it as a good sign, Leon turned on his heel and jumped.
Catching a hold of the lip from the upper streets, the warrior carefully pulled himself over the edge and then stopped.
The ground of the street by the door, just before the fountain, was damaged beyond any normal means, the floor buckled and burnt as if to almost cinders. The air stank and left flapping in a rent of the buckled flagstones was a scrap of pink material. Gasping, horror refusing to wind down, refusing this reality he moved across and picked up the shred tenderly.
There was no blood on it, but then again, there was no sign of Aeris.
Grasping it hard, he moved quickly to the double doors and pushed them open, turning his head so he could look about.
Another scream as a girl ran round the corner in her green skirt with a Soldier chasing her. Unloosing his Gunblade, he pushed her aside, enough so she would move and neatly speared the creature on his blade. An explosion of green energy was about all that happened.
"I..I.." the girl stuttured.
"Get into Cid's shop, now.. have you seen Aeris?"
The girl nodded and pointed mutely down past Cid's and the Triplets house, towards the wide open foyer. Letting the girl stay behind him, hands clenched in the viridian of her skirt, he moved down towards the drop into the alleyway, then jumped down. His hair felt on end and his nerves acutely aware of something moving.
Primal forces, maybe.
Rounding the corner, he stopped at the sight he had never imagined.
Cid and Yuffie were stood either side of Aeris, before the accessory shop in which the townspeople had barricaded themselves, as done so many times before in test runs.. should such a situation arise. That wasn't so odd, but what was happening.. was.
Cid handled what appeared to be a pole with a long curved blade on the end of it, Yuffie on the other side of Aeris was muttering words of encouragement, her right hand clamped over a potions bottle. Aeris stood in the centre of them, hands outstretched before her but with the fingers interconnected. Her face was sheened with light perspiration.. and she fired off lightning bolts easily, each with the detonation of a small bomb as they packed their power into the last Heartless possibly left standing.
Amazed, he let the gunblade drop.
Yuffie saw him first, her own eyes meeting his with a kind of wonder.. and a kind of sadness.
He felt it too. The burning admiration for a creature out of their touch, like Rin' had been. Another world, she belonged to. But he didn't want this one to slip through his fingers, he didn't want this time to be the last time he saw a sweet smile on those lips.
Clenching his hand that held the scrap of pink material, her moved over to her, now seeing the tear in her dress.
She was crying, eyes fixed on the stars with her hands still outstretched. Were they tears of happiness or horror?
Leon flickered a glance at Yuffie and Cid, both who said nothing but also moved back.. to see to the townspeople. As they did, Leon removed his attention so he could focus wholly on the girl who stared wide eyed at the sky. Beautiful green eyes, amazing grace painted on her cheeks and the tears that stained her, tears he wished he could stop.
"Aeris.." he said softly.
"Did you see it?"
Her voice was little more than breathing, but even though she wasn't watching him, he nodded. "Yes, I did."
"Have I become a monster?"
"No."
"It returned to me, when I called it subconciously. All this time, I had dreamt so much lost, only to find it was hidden in me all along." Her eyes trailed down from the heavens to fall on his face, curtailed by dark hair, watching her intently. He brought one gloved hand up, and worked his fingers into hers with wordless comfort. He didn't know what to say, all the words he had promised to say stuck in the back of his throat.
"I'm... scared."
"You don't have to be. I'll be right by your side, always."
Did those eyes blanch in pain? Did they remember words spoken like that so long ago in her distant past? Knowing soon her thoughts would turn to ghosts of a man she used to call her love, and handed her young heart to, he drew her in closer, sliding his other arm about her, under the starry eyed sky.
"I promise."
~ And I never break promises. ~
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It lay in pieces of armour, whole chunks of it scattered over the pavement and in the fountain. They key in his hand hummed, and shaking his head.. he looked at the strange people before him.
One a dog that seemed to walk upright.
One a duck with a mouth on him, that Kairi would say needed soap.
"So, you were looking for me, right?"
They both nodded, comical characters in their own right, with intent expressions that only made them more comic. In their accents, one a terrible drawl and the other a quick, high squealing, they said together, "Uh-huh!"
"They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade."
Sora blinked and looked up at where Leon was coming closer, his hands swinging loosely at his sides and perhaps one of his cheeks glistening with dampness, most likely water. His gunblade was slung at his hip, on one of those many belts he seemed to fancy wearing.
Opening his mouth to ask why, Goofy, the tall dog with a drawl that preffered to beat his victims to death rather than simply pick up a sword and expend much elss energy, said: "Hey, why doncha come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel."
Other worlds, other chances. Perhaps see those with keys and chances too. Perhaps find Riku and Kairi.
But even with those happy thoughts, he found it hard to keep the humour in his voice and even stop the brows from lowering in self defeat. "I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi."
The duck nodded, "Of course!"
Followed in short detail by Goofy's murmured aside to the duck which was followed up with another murmur.
It was a great offer. It offered him so much, opportunity to see the world, to see the landscapes beyond here. His hands tightened in something close to consternation. ~Riku, he would go in a heartbeat. Kairi would call it an adventure. I call it.. a slim chance of finding them again.~
"Sora," at the soft but deep voice he looked over at Leon who held his forehead, "Go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends."
"Yeah, I guess."
As he stared back at his shoes, the squeal spoke up and he looked up at the comical duck who planted hands on his hips and stared right back at Sora, "But you can't come along looking like that. Understand? No frowning. No sad face. Okay?"
The dog laughed and flapped closer to them, his limbs a danger to themselves as well as others, "Yeah, you gotta look funny, like us!"
Donald gave him a shove away, "This boat runs on happy faces!"
"Happy?"
Grudgingly, jumping not for the first time or the last with his leap of faith, Sora ground out a smile at them, a large one that looked more pained than anything. Everyone, even Leon blinked, then the two strange creatures burst into laughter helplessly, pointing and laughing at him.
~Laughter.~
He then smiled for real, and knew he was set on his path.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
She nodded to Yuffie, then tilted her head as she pointed out the boy who was coming down the steps and headed to the end gates of the world, where his companions awaited him. Leon moved first, across to the boy and without a second choice, she too followed the pack.
He had stopped and was looking up at them.
Her fingers tried digging into Yuffie's arm, and for a moment the ninja looked at her strangely.
~ His eyes. Cloud's eyes. So blue.. ~
She was torn between rushing to him and getting on her knees, begging anything for him to find Cloud.. and taking Leon's hand and running away from memories that continued to haunt her. No matter what she did, where she went, she felt like she was always losing, always falling down and missing out on something else.
"Sora," began Leon, "Make sure you're prepared for the journey ahead of you. We don't know how far the Heartless have spread."
Yuffie disentangled herself from Aeris, and cocked her head at him, offering up her usual chirpy grin. "Check out the shops here, they've got some pretty neat stuff!"
Aeris picked up the 100 note she had been holding onto, and offered it to Sora who slowly took it from her, avoiding any kind of contact with her. Mildly, she guessed he had seen the wonderment in her eyes, the pain and panic. "This is from all of us, spend it as you see fit. And this," she handed over a precious elixir of life, the strangely sweet scented liquid a pale blue colour in the vial. "Is from Leon."
He turned to go and walked away some paces, as she too moved away with that uncertain feeling in her stomach. She had seen him in dreams, heard his voice.. had she?
~ Keys. Calling. Keys. ~
Then she felt a light touch on her shoulder and turned, coming face to face with Sora, with the Keyblade master. In soft tones she smiled and said with all the goodwill she sincerely felt in her heart, "I hope you find your friends."
"So do I."
~ It's him. ~
Those blue eyes screwed up slightly, then he tilted his head.
How he reminded her of Cloud.
Of home.
"I know we've never met before, but it feels like I have been waiting to meet you," he murmured.
"I understand.. I feel the same."
"There is a Key in you. Not like this... but, you already know that, right?"
Aeris nodded, hands clenched tightly about her necklace as she still clung to childhood habits.
~ Is this for real? ~
"I.." he moved the Key up and tapped her once, on the forehead with it.. then smiled. "It's unlocked now."
"I'm afraid, of what it hides."
"Hey, no one should ever be afraid, so long as there's light in your heart."
He turned to go, glancing over his shoulder as she said suddenly, "Cloud.. once said something similar."
"Cloud?"
"I.. never mind."
Shrugging, he walked off and shutting her eyes against pain, found herself sliding into one of the tables at the open air cafe. Her hands were shaking and she felt as though she had just run a hundred miles in a minute. Something did feel different. And hardly seeing her friends, she looked up towards the night sky for the first time, with Hope..
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Swallowing, her rubbed his good hand over his eyes.
Hot, too hot.
He had forgotten the force of those feelings, forgotten about how he would have given up the world for her if only she had asked it. Two people in his life whom he had cared for, one he had loved so badly.. he had fought through all these shadows for.
~ What you pursue will be yours.. but you will lose something dear.. ~
He had, he lost his heart along the way.
Only she, his childhood friend was right there next to him through the pain, forcing him onwards with the drive and determination he had always envied.
~ as long as you're by my side, I won't give up, even if I'm scared. ~
He felt lost and alone, no love for him to carry on for, no childhood friend pushing him on. He was.. alone.
"..... Cloud....?"
His head snapped up, eyes widening in disbelief.
Had he heard only another lie?
It seemed sometimes he was going mad, and twisting, he stared up at the night sky and the stars there. Once he had gladly watched the stars with her, and laughed as she had tried to make strange animal shapes from them, then claimed the sky was wonky, that's why they didn't look the way they should.
"Aeris?!"
~ Cloud... I'm searching for you.. ~
Gritting his teeth against tears, he lifted his hands to the sky in supplication.. "Aeris, hold on.. please."
~ Cloud's star and Aeris' star.. they show a great future.. ~
Ignoring the shadows, he wept softly, consumed by confused memories...