Of Promises and Paopu
By The Ambitious Blank
Disclaimer- KH = not mine. For like the fiftieth time.. x_X;
Comments- La la la.. skipped ahead a little bit again. ^^; This be the second to last chapter.. the epilogue comes next.
..aww, that kinda makes me sad. ^^;
Oh, and apologies for the last chapter. It sucked. O_o;
~*~Chapter 9
"Is this.. is this my island..?" Sora's eyes searched around him as he studied the familiar beach. There was no mistaking it.. this was Destiny Island. Sora stared in disbelief around the painfully familiar setting, his heart thumping in his chest.
Am I.. home? No, I can't be.. this place is gone. Ansem still exists.. so how can this even be here..?
His gaze shifted around, until he caught a familiar figure standing down by the ocean. There was no mistaking him. Again and again he'd seen that figure, staring longingly out into the water.
Riku..?! His heart again thumped hard against his ribcage as he ran forward. As he got closer to the lone figure, everything around him began to change. Blinking, he froze, a voice echoing over the island scene.
"This world has been connected."
Sora glanced around. Trees split apart, huge violet and green spiky leaves exploding from them. The Shore Shack and the bridge leading to the raised island where the Paopu tree was vanished into nothingness. The beach under Riku's feet shattered, seemed to dry out, cracking like a parched desert. The water turned into a poisoned shade of violet. Sora's eyes widened as his entire island warped itself into a strange and digusting mix of paradise and horror. Riku slowly began to turn to face him, but just before Sora caught sight of his face, his image vanished, and before them stood a tall, tanned man, his long silver hair flowing over his back like a gossamer waterfall.
"Riku!" Sora shouted, reaching out, as though he could have grabbed the hologram's hand and pulled him into reality. The man standing before them only chuckled darkly.
"Don't worry. Your voice can no longer reach him where he is."
[ A/N: Yeah, it's sad, I've memorized the beginning, end, and a few choice parts in KH. ]
"What have you done with him?!" Sora cried, leaping back and drawing the Keyblade in a flash of gold light. Ansem only chuckled again, and Sora felt the anger rising in his chest, which he tried to calm. Somehow, he could feel it.. he couldn't feel Riku's presence in his heart anymore. It had simply.. vanished, a few days ago. He didn't understand it.
"I've locked him away where he won't cause any more trouble for me." Ansem answered simply, making Sora's anger grow. His fist tightened on his Keyblade. The man noticed this and laughed.
"What makes you so angry about losing him, boy? His heart was consumed by darkness.[1] He couldn't possibly have been any help to you. His heart was weak.. it gave into the darkness."
"That's not true!" Sora interrupted, falling into his fighting stance. "The heart may be weak, and sometimes, it may even give in. But I've learned that deep down, there's a light that never goes out! Riku will be alright.. I just know he'll be alright!" He cried, putting a hand over his heart.
Riku, I don't know if you can hear me..
Ansem's eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest, a huge monster appearing behind him.
..but I promise you, I'll save you.
Sora gripped his Keyblade tightly and charged into the fight.
~*~
Somewhere in the depths of a dark world, a silver-haired boy looked up, listening to the voice echoing in his mind.
You promise, Sora?
A small smile broke over his face as he slumped against the huge white door and waited, knowing the promise would never be broken.
~*~
"Behold the endless abyss! Within it lies the heart of all worlds.. Kingdom Hearts!"
Sora gaped at the huge monster that sat before him.. that huge monster that had once been Ansem. He, Donald, and Goofy could see the man's form, somewhere high up on the monster's body. He took a step, cautiously, when Donald and Goofy suddenly were sucked into strange portals. Sora had enough time to blink before he too fell downwards, down into the endless dark depths.
"Whoa!" He cried out, trying to fly. It didn't work.. he was losing hope, and was utterly out of happy thoughts to think about.
I can't.. this can't be the end..
"Giving up already?"[2]
Sora jerked in surprise, feeling his body slow. That voice. It was so familiar.
Riku?
"Come on, Sora.. I thought you were stronger than that."
Sora felt his heart pound in his chest. It was Riku. He was sure of it. He forced himself upright, the magic of Peter Pan's fairy dust beginning to take effect. He flew upward, Keyblade appearing back in his hands.
I'll fight to protect everyone. I can't lose. Not with all my friends behind me like this.
Sora flew high up into the air, taking a fighting stance. He would fight to the end. To lose now would mean the destruction of everything, and with his friends, his family, and Riku standing behind him, he knew he couldn't lose.
After what seemed like hours, Sora and his recovered partners watched as the huge colossus that Ansem had become exploded. Ansem was left, shaking as his power left him. He whirled to face the huge white door, floating on a platform in mid-air.
"Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness!"
The doors gave a great shudder and began to crack open. Sora's heart pounded in his chest.
No! He thought, watching as tendrils of black smoke began to seep out from the small opening in the door.
This can't be right. Hearts aren't born in darkness.
Sora put a hand to his heart, glancing down. Riku's face flashed briefly in his mind, a kind smile on the boy's face. Sora nodded to himself.
That's right. Hearts can't be born from darkness. If they were..
..you wouldn't be able to love.
"You're wrong!" He shouted, glaring towards Ansem. "I know now, without a doubt.. Kingdom Hearts is light!"
As if Sora had spoken some great, commanding word as an almighty god might, the doors flew open and rays of bright light, piercing through the dark shadows of the endless abyss, shot through. Ansem gave a choked cry and vanished in a shower of golden sparkles.
It was over.
Sora smiled to himself, the hand still resting over his heart. His eyes shifted back to the giant white doorway. Somehow, he knew that door couldn't stay open. Landing on the soft ground, he rushed toward the door and slammed his weight against it, trying to push it closed.
I wish.. I wish I could at least see Riku again.. just one more time.
"Stop staring and keep pushing!" Donald scolded Goofy, who was staring into the doorway. Overwhelmed quickly by curiosity, he peeked inside, as did Sora. Three pairs of eyes widened. Inside, swarming pools of black lay inside crater-like structures, hundreds upon thousands of golden eyes peering at them.
"The Heartless!" Goofy and Donald cried simultaneously as the three began to push against the door again.
"I.. I can't..!" Sora panted, beginning to lose strength.
"Don't give up!" A familiar voice shouted. Sora looked up into a pair of familiar green eyes. Riku stared back at him solemnly.
"Hey, Sora." He said, a little awkwardly. Donald and Goofy paused to watch them. Sora bit his lip, then threw his arms around the other boy.
"Riku! I.." He began, intending on telling the boy how much he missed him. Riku pushed him back.
"I can't pass through the door, Sora. I already gave my heart to darkness.. it's too late." He frowned. "I can't come with you."
Sora's eyes widened, and he shook his head furiously.
"That.. that can't be true! You have to come with me!!"
I love you.
Riku only smiled sadly. Sora's heart felt like it was tearing in two. Riku sighed, glancing behind him.
"We don't have much time. You'll just have to come and find me.. and I'll try and look for a way to get out of here, alright? But until then.." Riku fished around in a pocket, somehow producing a Paopu fruit. Sora knew where he was going with this. Riku took a bite from it, offering it to Sora, who took it and bit into it as well. Almost immediately he felt something jerk in his heart. The fruit was delicious, incredibly sweet, almost like a mango. To put it simply, it tasted like heaven, and it strangely lifted Sora's heart.
Riku reached out and pulled Sora close, their lips meeting. Sora almost pulled back in surprise as Riku's tongue pushed forward, the taste of the fruit mingled with the taste of each other mixing in a strange and yet extremely pleasing at the same time. Riku bit off another piece and liplocked with Sora again. Finally, he pulled away, and smiled.
"Now you'll always know where I am." He murmured softly, and then stepped back, gripping the side of the door. "We don't have much time, come on." He began to pull the door closed, but Sora froze.
"Riku, behind you!"
Riku whirled around, narrowly missed by a claw from a Darkside Heartless that had appeared. Three had risen from the shadows and were advancing. Sora's Keyblade was out in an instant.. but could he handle them all? He didn't know. Just when he was staring to lose hope again, the Darkside Heartless vanished in a flurry of gold. A shadow figure leapt up onto a ridge, a Keyblade, colored opposite from Sora's, held high in the air. Donald and Goofy stared, slack-jawed.
"Your Majesty!" They cried. Sora blinked. This was King Mickey? The mouse turned around, smiling at the group clustered around the doorway.
"Donald, Goofy, thank you." He turned to the two boys. "Don't worry, Sora, Riku. There will always be a door to the light."
Strangely reassured by these words, Sora got a new burst of strength and slammed his weight against the door.
"Now! They're coming!" Riku cried, pulling hard. Donald and Goofy threw themselves against the door, and eventually the doors gained enough momentum to begin to close themselves. Riku smiled sadly as the door began to swing shut, murmuring to Sora.
"I love you."
The huge door slammed closed and Sora leapt back, raising his Keyblade high in the air. Sparkles flew from both his Keyblade and from under the door. The entry to Kingdom Hearts began to vanish before their very eyes, and Sora fell to his knees, his first tears in a long time spilling from his cheeks.
~*~To Be Continued...
Okay, epilogue comes next. ^^ And I can finally finish this thing. Huzzah!
[1] Yeah. I like making fun of Ansem. He says darkness. A lot. What was it, The Carpet Shampoo? We counted like 14 times during the final battle.. something like that.
[2] The line "Giving up already? Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that." is one of my most favorite lines EVER in this game. Don't ask me why. ^_^ ::Stupidly happy grin.::