*

            Does this mean that everything I've been told is a lie?

            How do I know who is being honest, and who is not?

            How do I know who you really are?

*

            I didn't go home straight after that.  I didn't know what I would do—rather, what I would say to my mother.  She loved me, but that didn't mean she would take automatically take my side on everything.

            So…  Riku, my loyal and loving boyfriend of several months now, had first bought me expensive candy and then had given me a silver bracelet for Christmas.  I had proceeded to take out a dagger, spit on it to make it shine, stab it into his heart and…twist.  As hard as I could.

            I felt like the worst person in the world.  The look in Riku's eyes…the mixture of anger, confusion, and sadness…  It haunted me as I walked down the darkening streets, the snow melting in my hair and dribbling down my neck to give me a chill.  I could only hug myself, the box of truffles sandwiched safely between my arms and chest.

            It began to snow harder.  I was getting very cold and very wet.  I decided to take shelter as soon as the next opportunity arose.  Trouble was, I had stumbled upon a residential area.  I was lost, and there were no public buildings in sight.

            How did I always manage to get myself into such situations?

            Sighing, I pulled the hood of my coat over my head and tied the strings together to keep it snug.  The damage had been done, though; goose bumps were already sprouting on my neck and shoulders.  The wind was starting up, too.

            Great.  Just great.

            I paused under a streetlight and looked around.  I saw something that definitely wasn't a house.  There was a tall bell tower sticking up above the tiled rooftops, a giant cross affixed to one of the two solid walls.  Spotlights were positioned on the sloping roof to illuminate the cross, and the bronze bells caught some of this light and reflected it into the snowy night.  Curious, I changed my path and started for the building.

            A church, I somehow knew.

            Its great wooden doors were open and I gladly pushed through them, my footsteps echoing in the hallowed place.  It was quite dim inside, but there were a few large candles in the front that kept the large room from being consumed by the darkness.  Instead, the shadows lingered around the edges, hiding behind support beams and pillars.

            I stopped in the middle of the aisle and gazed up at the stained glass wall behind the candles.  It depicted a lovely scene of clouds and haloed angels gathering around a small baby.  I admired the art, and appreciated the feelings it stirred within me.  I had found sanctuary from the snow—and in such a beautiful place, too.

            I was lucky.

            I continued on my way after a moment and took a seat on the aisle in the second row.  I set down the box of truffles, which I had managed to protect for the most part, next to me, leaned back, and took a deep breath.  I was warming up a little, but still shivered now and then.

            "Come here often?"

            I practically jumped from my seat.  I was surprised someone else was there and I hadn't noticed.  I turned around and saw a hooded figure at the back of the church.  As he approached the candles' pool of light, his footsteps heavy and paced, I realized that the coat he wore was very similar to my own.

            He proceeded past me to the table in front, where all the candles were, becoming a very dark silhouette.  He looked not so much like a person, but more, I thought, like a person-shaped hole cut out from the holy backdrop.

            Slowly, I came to my feet.

            He picked something up from the table, and then the figure pulled the hood from his head as he turned around to face me.  Brown hair, now free, sprung up into a ridiculous style quite familiar to me.

            "Sora!"

            The item he had just acquired was in his hand.  He held it up.  I realized he was grasping a thick book with the word "Bible" emblazoned in gold across the cover.

            "Did you know," he began quite casually, opening the book, "that there are people in this world that believe in an almighty God, one with absolute power over the entire world?"

            My friend wasn't himself.  Something happened to me at that moment, something I never would have predicted:  I became frightened around Sora.  Just a little, but the anxiety was indeed there, right there inside of me, and it was thriving.

            Sora slammed the Bible shut.  He raised his head and I realized his eyes were narrowed to the point of becoming thin slits in his face, a sure sign of bitterness.

            Bitterness…  How in the world could my Sora be feeling any bitterness?

            "Where was this almighty and all-merciful God when I needed Him, I wonder?"

            I would have asked what he was talking about, but my lips refused to work.  I was paralyzed, too confused to move.  What had happened to Sora?

            "God," he called out, looking around at the stained glass artwork.  "Where were you when I died?"  Sora looked back toward me, and, as he did so, his lips curved into a thin, cynical smirk.  "Is this Heaven, I wonder?  It's not how I would've imagined it."

            My lips finally decided to get their act together.

            "Sora…?  Sora, what are you talking about?  You…you're scaring me..."

            He threw the Bible to the floor.  I cried out at the sudden crash.  The book skidded down the aisle until flying open.  Then it landed on its spine and the pages came down to either side in a rush, as if a wind was blowing straight down on them.  I could only retreat farther down the pew, tripping a little.

            "This isn't Heaven.  It's…"  His maniacal grin widened.  "Yeah, that's it.  This place is more like Hell."

            I kept walking backwards down the row, my gloved hands gripping desperately to the top of the pew.  "Sora…"

            I retreated so far and so fast that, before I was fully aware, I was almost up against the wall and a support beam whose long, dancing shadow was about to consume my form.

            A cold hand wrapped itself around my neck.  So cold I could feel it through the heavy material of my hood.

            Heartless!

            "Wherever I go," Sora growled, his back again facing me as he stood halfway across the church.  He turned around and raised something high—the Keyblade.  "Wherever I go, you're right behind me!"  This was a battle cry, delivered in the form of a scream as he charged.

            I could hear squeak after squeak, the suction sounds of dozens of Heartless feet as they gathered around me.  Their hands were grabbing me and pushing me down.  I cried out and fought back, kicking and flailing.  "Sora!"

            By some miracle I managed to get on my feet and pull myself from the main fray.  I was on the edge of them now—there must have been at least ten—those little Shadows, two-feet tall creatures of darkness with glowing eyes of evil.

            I had already been consumed by Darkness more than once.  I wouldn't let it happen again.

            "Let—go—of—me!"

            Something was shining brilliantly in front of my face.  Before my brain could catch up with current events, my hand reached up to grab it.  It was then I realized that I was holding the ornate handle of twisting metal…

            I was holding the Oathkeeper.

            "What the Hell is this?" Sora screamed from somewhere; I could not see him since the Heartless were busily multiplying around me.  "Where did it go?  Where's the Keyblade!"

            I…I don't want it, I thought suddenly.  It's Sora's, not mine…

            The Oathkeeper pulsed in my hand and dissolved into a cloud of white-silver sparks.  It was gone.

            "Dammit!"  Sora shouted.

            I couldn't be concerned for him just then, however; I had my own worries.

            The hands of the Heartless were squeezing around my throat.

*

            I was lying on something hard when I awoke.  I raised my hand up to wipe the tiredness from my eyes.  The glove was gone and my pale fingers were being bathed in light of many different colors.

            I bolted up.

            "Calm down, Kairi," coaxed a female voice I recognized.

            "Aerith!"

            I was sitting on a church pew in the front row.  The candles had burned themselves to stumps and the room was now illuminated solely by the sunlight streaming in through the stained-glass display.  My coat and gloves were folded and stacked neatly next to me.  Aerith was standing in front of me now, her arms crossed and her great green eyes narrowed just slightly.

            "No wonder you were the Final Princess," she said distantly.

            "Wh-What do you mean?"

            "Those Heartless were all over you, but you managed to stay alive.  Your heart is very strong."

            "Aerith…you remember…"

            She smiled a sad smile and sat next to me, cradling one of my hands between her own.  "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you earlier."

            "Does…does everyone remember?"

            "We've been remembering at different times.  For Riku, it was just last night.  He came to me right away to warn me that you were going to see Sora."

            Sora.  Where was he now?

            "It's a good thing, too, or else I wouldn't have known to come looking for you."

            "So you saved me?  Thank you."

            Aerith smiled and was that much more beautiful.  "Of course, Kairi.  You are quite welcome."

            "Oh!  Mom!" I remembered suddenly.  "She must be worried about me…"

            "It's all right.  I called her last night after I found you and said you would stay with me.  I couldn't tell her everything, though."

            I nodded.

            "I would have taken you to my house, but I wanted to let the elixir heal your injuries before moving you.  I'm afraid my magic hasn't been working very well in this world."

            I nodded again.

            "Where's Sora?"

            "Sora was here?"  She seemed mildly alarmed.  "Well…  He's not around now.  Do you want to go have breakfast?"

            "Mmm."

            She helped me to stand and we left the church.  Once outside, as I donned my coat, she reached into her purse and withdrew a slim silver cell phone.  She pressed a few buttons with her thumb and then held the thing to her head.

            As we walked, I overhead her conversation—well, half of it.

            "Hey, Squall?  It's Aerith.  Yes.  I have Kairi with me.  Yes, she's all right.  Uh-huh.  Sorry, what was that?  Oh.  Well, I'm going to make breakfast at my house.  Would you come?  Yes, you can bring her.  All right.  See you soon then."  She folded up the phone and slipped it back into her purse.  By that time we had passed through her gate and were starting up the walk to her house.

            "I was worried," said a deep voice from the front door.

            Kairi led me indoors and we took our shoes and coats off.  Aerith looked at the speaker:  a somber man with spiked blond hair (the style reminded me of Sora).  He was wearing black pants and his muscles bulged visibly beneath a short-sleeved gray shirt.  He looked vaguely familiar…  I might have seen him at the Coliseum once or twice when I had watched Sora train.

            "I did call you, Cloud," Aerith reminded him.  "And I told you I would be late."

            "You didn't say all night," he replied, crossing his arms.  Seeming to shake it off, he looked at me, and I could not help but recoil a little on the inside.  "But I'm glad the girl is fine."

            Aerith laid one hand gently on the man's shoulder.  "Kairi, have you met my husband?"

            "Not formally," I said, bowing to him.  "Nice to meet you, sir."

            Cloud gave a short chuckle.  "You too."

            "I invited Squall," the woman said.  "We'll all have breakfast together."

            "Would you like me to help?" I volunteered.

            Aerith shook her head.  "No, no, I'd prefer it if you rested.  You two can watch the news, all right?"

            News…  That meant television.  Both of us moved awkwardly as I followed Cloud into the living room.  We sat down on a checkered sofa, enough space for about three more people left between the two of us.  Cloud picked up the remote from the coffee table, pressed a button, and the black box in front of the room sputtered on.

            During the news report, we became informed on such topics as wars in other countries (there were a lot of them), some controversy in the government, Christmas celebrations around the world…  It went on like that for a good twenty minutes.

            Then, there was one report that interested me.  Cloud, too, I guess, for he leaned forward.

            "And now, what we mentioned at the beginning of the broadcast," the anchor began.  "In the Tokyo area, sightings of strange black creatures were reported again last night—"

            "Aerith!" Cloud called.

            She appeared from the kitchen, a pair of long cooking chopsticks still in hand.

            "A Heartless," she gasped when a blurred photo of one appeared on the screen.  "My goodness…"

            "The authorities have been dismissing the sightings, but more and more reports are being made every night.  Now the police will be launching a full investigation…"

            Cloud and his wife exchanged looks.

            "I didn't know it was this bad," she said.

            The doorbell rang.  Aerith went and soon returned, Squall and a young woman I didn't recognize in tow.  The woman had shoulder-length black hair with auburn highlights near the front.  Her eyes were dark and enchanting.  She was clinging to Squall's arm, so I reasoned her to be the girlfriend he mentioned the day of the typhoon—either that or Squall was more of a lady's man than he let on…

            "Is this the girl?" the black-haired woman wanted to know, indicating me.

            "Yes, this is Kairi," Aerith replied.  I shifted a little in my seat, since I had four adults' eyes fixed on me.

            Cloud spoke darkly.  "Did you hear about the sightings?"

            Squall withdrew a newspaper from his coat and waved it.  I saw that there was a big sketch of a Heartless on the front page.  "Bought this at the station."

            "It's really bad," said the woman he had brought, who had taken a seat on the couch and was now hugging her knees and rocking back and forth.  I thought her behavior a little childish, since she had to be at least twenty.

            "No one's been killed yet, but it's only a matter of time," was Squall's way of consoling her.

            Employing no effort to restrain her sarcasm, she looked up at him and shot back, "You always know the right thing to say."

            "This is no time to be fighting amongst ourselves," Aerith insisted.  "Rinoa, Squall, settle down.  We need to discuss the situation thoroughly and calmly."

            Rinoa looked over at me.  "Is it okay for her to hear?"

            I was tired of being talked about in the third person.  I stood up.  "You guys are going to explain everything to me right now.  You're going to tell me exactly what happened to Sora."

            They were silent for a while after that.  I guess they knew I meant business.

***

Author's Notes:  New chapter, new name for the author.  But the same ol' Firefly is here.  I just couldn't stand being number three.  *sigh*

Lesson Eight - Bowing:  I'm not going to do a big lesson on this, since I think most people know it's customary to bow in Japan.  If you play any video games or watch anime you will probably notice Japanese people, well, move a little differently.  I started replaying FFX recently and I really notice how the English voices don't fit with the Japanese mannerisms…but I've seen a few clips (like the ending…*choked sobs*) in Japanese and everything fits perfectly (voices and movements).  Adding new voices, no matter how good the acting (and I think they could've done better for FFX, but…) can't change it into an American game.  But it's no one's fault I guess…

Anyway, yes, bowing.  The person with less seniority bows the deepest.  Bows are at the waist, with hands at your sides (men) or on your thighs with fingers touching (women).  The most common is a 15 degree bow.  In casual situations, you just nod your head.  For your elder (like someone's grandparents) just give it your all, like 45 degrees.  Bowing is a convenient way to say the following things and more:  hello, good night, thank you, forgive me, excuse me…  Phew!  And it's more sanitary than hand shaking…even though Japanese people know to shake hands with Westerners.  So, if you ever go to Japan, bow away, even just a nod.  And it is very impolite not to bow back to someone who bowed to you!