Title: Reflections: Kairi ( 2 / ? )
Author name: Ari Powwel
Author email: eight_muses@hotmail.com
Spoilers: . . . a lot . . .
Summary: Heh, here we learn what happened to Kairi, and guess what?! It's a heck of a lot different than what the game makes you think . . . ^^;;
DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by various publishers including but not limited to Disney Interactive and Square Co., Ltd. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: . . . this chapter is a little confusing near the end . . . if you don't understand, just let me know, I'll elaborate a bit more next chapter anyways.
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I opened my eyes slowly, a headache pounding at the base of my skull—and nearly screamed. Somehow, I was floating above my body . . . but how could that be? I hadn't—I swallowed hard at the thought—died, had I? No! I tried to move back to my body, but whenever I settled into it, I wouldn't be able to become myself again. I took a deep breath and said to myself, 'Kairi, either you're dead, or you learned astro-projection without knowing it. Which is it?'

'Why won't she awaken?' a voice asked, its owner stepping from the shadows. She wore a black headpiece that curved upwards, making it look as though she had horns. A black robe-like garment trailed over the ground behind her. Held in her left hand was a bronze rod, topped off by a green-jewelled orb.

'She is without a heart,' a deeper voice said. Without my heart? What did he mean? I tried to get a better look at the figure, but he remained hidden in the shadows. 'It has been taken, lost to the darkness. She is but a mere shell of her former self.'

'Without her heart, she will never be able to release her power,' the woman said.

The man chuckled. 'It is a simple err to fix, Maleficent.' He instructed, 'You must simply inculcate the Heartless to find it.'

'Of course,' breathed the woman, whom I'd learned to be Maleficent. 'I'll get them on it at once.'

'And what of the boy?'

'All went according to plan,' Maleficent confirmed. 'You were correct about everything. When the darkness came, he remembered and followed your instruction precisely. There is no reason to believe this should be any different.'

'Remember, though. The boy will not remember his meetings, nor his instructions. I would advise not to reveal this to him, as it could prove invaluable later.'

'Of course.'

Before I'd had any time to wonder about what they meant, the door on the far side creaked and began to open. The man in the shadows disappeared, either drawing further back into the shadows or disappearing entirely, I couldn't tell. Maleficent stepped in front of my body (I shuddered; it was so weird to see myself lying on the ground . . .), turning towards the door.

At the other end of the hall, Riku was pushed through the door; it closed sharply behind him.

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~ We now bring you a Muse!Interruption.~
Ari: **waves** Sorry, I HAD to pull that half-cliffy there, it was too good an opportunity to miss.
Tom: Sadist.
Ari: ^^; Nah, that's Yami no Baka-ch—
Y.B.: **appears** You were saying?
Ari: **meeps** I MEAN, Yami no Baku-sama! ^^;;;
Artemis: You mess up like that far too often . . .
Ari: -_-" Not my fault . . . it's funny! ^^;
Tom: ¬_¬ It's not wise to tempt fate . . .
Artemis: Really, Ari, you must have a death wish.
Ari: First, I've tempted fate since before I was born—
Tom: **scoffs**
Ari: And secondly, Y.B. wouldn't kill me . . .
Y.B. **under his breath** Don't be so sure about that . . .
Artemis: **sighs** Just do the Author replies . . .

Thanks to the following reviewers!

~ TennyoAngel711 ~
RIGHT! How would he have known if Maleficent or Ansem hadn't gotten to him already?
**laughs** Well, this is Kairi's view of what happened during Kingdom Hearts, so hopefully it's the right pov . . . ^^;; I couldn't stand in the game how they made it look as though Kairi loved Sora and didn't give a [censored] monkey's [censored] [censored] about Riku. I didn't think it was right how Riku did all that for her and lost her heart, and what does Kairi do?! [edited because of spoiler content. Having to do with the drawing on the cave wall.]
~ Ari started to answer the question about the scene between Riku and Kairi, but was stopped by Artemis. 'My client will not answer that question at this moment. She won't answer any questions pertaining to the future of this fic, for fear of spoilers.'
Ari rolled her eyes. 'What he means is, although I've finished planning the story, I'm not sure about that scene yet. It may be put in, but it may not be.' ~
Heh. School sucks. I hate it. I think it'll make this chapter a day late . . .
I'm updating!!

~ Mizutaka ~
Yeah! **parties** Yeah, that's what I thought of it: weird . . . but it's got a good last sentence, (hopefully) makes you want to read more . . .
Heh, I worked on Riku's part . .  . well, not much ^^; because he's a muse and he doesn't mind telling me what happened ((mostly because I do embarrassing things all the time so I can't blackmail him **coughhack**)) And I've always thought that something had happened to him already on Destiny Islands, because how would he know how that the darkness would help them get off the island if he hadn't been instructed or something?
Glad to hear I'm keeping Kairi IC, cos I don't really like her—so why am I doing her Reflections? I don't know . . . -_-"

~ YamiMarita ~
Heh, so this is worthwhile? . . . . . . . . COOL! ^_^;;;
I hate school . . . I really do. Luckily, I've dropped all honours classes ((except the one which would involve repeating Biology, which I don't wanna do . . . O.O)) and so I don't have that much work ((Which would mean more writing time if I didn't have dance crap . . . )) but with three study halls a week, I'll be working as much as possible to get these out to you on time!

~ stoneliger ~
**is attempting to keep holding it up but drops it** Aack! That's HEAVY!! **sweatdrops**
All right, all right, all bad puns aside ((^^;;;)) thanks for the comment. Every review makes me kick my bum into gear and start working ((even though I should have this finished already!)) So anyways, I hope this chapter was up to the standards set by the last one!!

Artemis: Ari, you do realise this isn't the end of the chapter?
Ari: . . . no?
Artemis: I'd suggest finishing the chapter, now. ((voice tone means 'No arguing.'))
Ari: Fiiiiiiine . . .
~ We now end this Muse!Interruption, and apologise for the intrusion. ~

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Riku looked around the room; his eyes fixed on me a moment.

Something snapped. It was almost as if something yanked me, and I saw the world from a different point of view. I could've sworn I saw Kairi . . . a voice echoed through my head, eerily familiar.

'Ahh, I see you received your wish,' Maleficent said to me. I blinked. What wish?

'What are you talking about?' Riku's voice sounded, but where was he? I looked around, hearing the voice float through my mind once more. I didn't make a wish—wait. Oh, of course . . .

'Did you not make it off of your island?'

'I suppose . . .' Riku answered slowly. Silence reigned the room for a short period of time before he voiced another question. 'Then . . . where am I?'

Maleficent chuckled. 'Why, my dear boy, this is known as Hollow Bastion.'

What about Kairi? And Sora? These thoughts passed through my mind almost exactly as Riku spoke them aloud.

Maleficent shook her head, seemingly in pity. 'As for the girl, I know not.' I protested loudly against this; of course she knew where I was! 'But as for the boy . . .' Maleficent raised her staff slightly, the green orb on the end glowing. I watched, oddly fascinated and slightly confused, as what seemed to be Sora appeared in the space between her and myself. It's only an image, the voice said.

Sora was holding a large key; a silver shaft with prongs at the end served as a sword, and the golden hilt was surrounded by a box-like protector-thing of gold. So that if someone struck at your hand to try and make you drop your sword, it wouldn't get to your hand, the voice explained. It's a nice sword, no doubt about that. Sora was fighting a large, black dog, which was currently trying to catch him in its giant jaws. Two other figures fought beside him: one, a duck-like figure that summoned lightning from the skies to strike the beast, and what seemed to be a dog, standing on two legs and attacking with a shield. As I watched, the dog used a spinning move to close the distance between himself and the beast, then struck it on the snout, the duck summoned another round of lightning, and Sora's hey came down on the dog with an overhead swing. The dog roared soundlessly and stepped forward. Get out of the way! said the voice. I watched in horror as Sora merely readied his sword again.

The beast stepped forward again, swaying a bit this time. Another step, more swaying. A final step, and the dog toppled over on its side.

Suddenly, a burst of sound filled the room. 'Wow, Sora!' the dog chuckled. 'You're gettin' really good with that Keyblade!'

Sora nodded, holding the Keyblade before himself. 'Yeah. Not even Riku would stand a chance against me now!' An odd, smirk-like grin crossed his face.

What?! The thought shot through my head so loudly I clamped my hands over my ears, hoping to stifle it. That 'Keyblade's' gone to his head!

The image of Sora walked up to a satyr. 'Hey, Phil, is there anyone else to fight?' That smirk-like grin crossed his face again. 'I wanna be sure Riku can't beat me when we meet up again!'

Abruptly, the image disappeared, leaving us in half-darkness. 'You see, that wretched boy has no longing to see you again—at least, not until he can defeat you.'

'I—I don't believe you!' Riku said. His voice sounded just a bit shocked, unnoticeable to anyone who didn't know him like I did. Sora wouldn't do that . . . would he? He wouldn't . . . I can't believe her.

'Would you like to see it for yourself?' Maleficent gestured to the wall between us and a pulsing, roiling mass of darkness appeared.

'I would,' Riku replied, and all at once, the darkness began to grow closer to me. Hey, wait a moment! I thought, trying to stop myself. I'm not moving . . . Somehow, my subconscious had already come to the answer, but it had taken a couple minutes for me to accept it. Somehow . . . I had become a part of Riku! I also realised that this must have been where the voice had come from—I was hearing his thoughts!

Riku reached the portal, and we stepped through it together.