Title: Reflections: Kairi ( 8 / 8 )
Author name: Ari Powwel
Author email: eight[underscore]muses[at symbol]hotmail.com
Spoilers: . . . a lot . . . and spoilers for Reflections: Riku if you haven't read that.
Summary: In Sora's absence and the final scenes
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. The song lyrics used in this chapter are from the song Half Pain, from Witch Hunter Robin. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Ha, lookee here, starting this before ten days have passed! ::dances::
[After a long time, Ari walks back in and glares at the chapter. 'Okay, you are going to work for me, and I am going to write you, got it?' She looks up. 'Sorry for taking so very long on this; after I finished the first scene between Kairi and Aeris, I was attacked by writer's block.' She points to the writer's block that sits in front of a door, labelled Reflections: Kairi (um, the door, not the block.). 'Damn thing blocked off any ideas I could have gotten!']
Statistics:
Day began: 26 January, 2004
Day completed: 28 May, 2004
Words: 4, 219
Pages (script/total): 1/9
I winced as a blast of cold Blizzard magic hit me, freezing the little hairs on my arms. My Aero shield rose a moment too late, but saved me from the flare of Fire that followed. 'Good, Kairi,' Aeris commented, but a moment later my shield gave out, and she discharged a round of lightning, which I managed to dodge.
'Fire!' I cried, pointing my wand at her. I was delighted to see a small fireball blossom from the end, flying toward Aeris, who countered with a more powerful Blizzara spell. I let out a slight yelp as the ice magic enveloped the fire and continued toward me. I scampered from its path quickly, around behind Aeris. 'Stop!'
Aeris laughed as I walked to her and plucked her own staff from her hand, unable to prevent it from the Stop spell. 'Nice job.'
I grinned, doing a little dance of joy. It had been a few days since Sora had left, and although, yes, I was worried about him, I was doing my best to keep myself occupied so that I didn't worry myself sick. Besides, now, when he and Riku returned, I would be able to use some magic, and I could protect myself, at least a little.
'Kairi, I think you're ready to start using some of the higher-level spells,' Aeris said, sitting down next to me on a bench.
'Really?' I ask, excited. The ideal situation would be to be able to use all the third-level spells by the time they returned, and although it didn't seem probable, I was determined to try. This was a step in the right direction.
'Yes. All you need to do is to concentrate on the spell more. The higher-level spells require you to be in tune with the element. You need to be able to make it bend to your will, to protect you.' Aeris produced a long piece of straw from her pocket, expertly lighting it. She held her hand a couple inches above the flame, palm open. She slowly drew her hand up, and as she did so, the flame lengthened itself, becoming so thin it resembled a rope. A rope of flame. As I watched, she bent her hand to the side, the rope following it, curving. She made a complete loop with it, and the fire never stopped. It remained in the O shape, though I would have expected the flame to fall in.
Aeris handed the straw to me with a smile. 'Your turn.'
Uh-oh . . .
I took the lighter hesitantly, staring at it for a moment. I wondered if the flame would work, or if it would come back and burn me.
'Go on,' said Aeris, and I cautiously lit the straw with a fire spell. I placed my own hand over the flame, not surprised to see a bit of a tremble, and raised it, all the while imagining that the fire was a thread, and that I was pulling it upward. I concentrated on the colours of the flame. Green, blue, yellow, orange, red, green being the hottest, in the centre, while the red was relatively cool, on the outside. I could almost feel the wind drifting by the flame, trying to extinguish it, and closed everything out but the flame, which was steadily thinning, becoming a thread of flame. When it was about eye level (I held the straw at my chest), I began to twist it, imagining the thread to have become hooked on a nail, slowly bending it around the circle. When the thread began to unravel, I would replace it, stopping and building up the thread again before continuing.
'Good, Kairi,' Aeris approved, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had completed the circle. 'I saw the look on your face. You could easily learn the higher spells if you can keep that concentration with all of them.'
'Really?' I asked, looking at the blazing circle. The words ran through my mind again—you could easily learn the higher spells—and I lost concentration, the string of fire drawing back into the straw with a pop. I looked at the straw, surprised to see that not even a blackened ash remained of the flame.
Aeris nodded, smiling. 'Really.'
- - -
I stared out the window, staring into the neon lights, contemplating everything. There was no movement beyond the closed door, no break in my thoughts, as jumbled as they were. I looked above the lights, into the clear, eternally-night sky, trying to see where Riku and Sora were. As much as I looked, I couldn't.
Aeris knocked on the door, then opened it, walking into my room. 'Kairi, we've got to leave.'
'What do you mean?'
'We have to leave. We've got to go to Hollow Bastion.'
'But isn't that where Sora is?'
Aeris nodded. 'Yes, it is.'
I jumped up, grabbing a small cloth bag. In it I threw a change of clothing and my staff, zipping it up and proclaiming myself ready. Aeris smiled slightly at my eagerness to leave, but didn't comment, and for that, I was thankful. She led me down to the main room of the small house, where Leon, Cid, and Yuffie waited for us. 'Okay, let's go!' I said.
Yuffie laughed. 'In a hurry?'
I grinned. 'I might be.'
'Well, there's no reason to be,' stated Cid. 'We ain't gonna be leaving for a bit. I've still gotta install that Warp gummi.' He chewed on the piece of straw in his mouth, seemingly contemplating the installation. I could hear him murmuring to himself, about whether or not he should move that Shield gummi, and would the Ultima gummi do better on the right or the left side?
I sighed, sitting down to wait.
- - -
Several hours later, we were finally onboard the ship, Cid swearing about how his ship was being treated like shit, and couldn't Leon drive the Goddamned thing any faster? No, he couldn't. The Heartless had increased in power and strength, as if there had been a sudden outflow of dark energy. It was barely enough that Cid had installed the Warp-G, did he really want us to be all killed because of foolishness?
Yuffie was sitting behind the two men, laughing openly at their petty argument. It was something that kept us occupied, I supposed; the trip to Hollow Bastion was going to be a bit longer than I had anticipated. Aeris was writing, though I didn't know what. I reached into the bag I'd brought, pulling out a small red journal. I'd been in town for a couple days, long enough to need stuff of my own, and on one excursion to buy things, I'd picked it up on a whim. There were three others, and like many things in Traverse Town, they were magical. I planned to give two of them to Sora and Riku; the third, I didn't know what I was going to do with it.
I opened to the first page, wetting my pen tip with the tip of my tongue, and placed it to the journal, beginning to write slowly at first, then continuing, quicker.
.
Riku, Sora, I want you to know that no matter what happens to all of us, we can't let that tear us apart. We've faced too much together to allow ourselves to part.
Yes, I know that you'll probably say that no, we didn't face it together, but the truth is that we did. Even if we were separated through a lot of it, there were many times where our thoughts were focused on the same goal, the same end. I know that you, Riku, were questioning Maleficent many times, and I know that you, Sora, disbelieved that Riku would trust her. There were times that at least one of our number would have surely died if not for the other.
Sora, you had a chance to kill Riku, yet you didn't take it. You had a chance to kill Ansem, who was using Riku's body, yet you still didn't take it. Why was this? Because you still care. You did not want to see Riku's death, am I right?
Riku, you, also, had a chance to kill Sora. When you acquired the Keyblade, you could have easily finished him. Yet you hesitated, and instead provided him with at least some means to protect himself. And you and I both know about your second encounter in Hollow Bastion, when Donald and Goofy rejoined him. Yes, I know about that. You withdrew the energy. Of course, it also reflected off of Goofy's shield, but I am confident that you would have completely withdrawn it before it struck Sora.
It was with both of your efforts, combined, that I was able to leave Hollow Bastion. Sora sacrificed his heart, Riku his soul. Neither, I feel, can be called 'the greater sacrifice', as both are very precious to us, and both very important. As you cannot live without a heart, life without a soul is meaningless. There is no littler sacrifice, and I thank you both. Neither of you know how much it means to me.
However, I didn't exactly mean for this to turn into a novel! (Assuming you both receive these) These are enchanted pages. The merchant told me the knowledge of how to create these was all he could save from his world, so neither of you lose these, you hear me?
Anyways, whatever you write on the pages of your own journal will appear on the other pages. I thought that it would be a good way for us to be able to communicate. After all, we're all going to be back on Destiny Islands, soon (I hope). Back to boring life and boring classes. Perhaps these will create some diversion from boredom? One can only hope. And this way, we'll always be connected, in more ways than one. You know what I mean.
Oh, well. I'd best stop writing; otherwise I'll be making no sense whatsoever.
Love, Kairi
.
The pen was placed into my journal, the pages folding carefully over it. I looked up from it to see a solid wall of Heartless ships, headed straight for us.
It took all my will not to scream out loud, but I clenched my fists in my lap so hard they turned white. 'Oh . . . by the Paopu . . .'
Aeris turned around in her seat to look at me. 'Don't worry, Kairi,' she said reassuringly. 'Cid is a wonder with technology. We'll be fine.'
'I'm not . . . scared,' I replied hesitantly. 'I just have never fel—seen so much darkness at once. It's a bit startling.'
Of course I was scared, though! So many Heartless . . . but none of the others seemed afraid, so I couldn't show my own fear.
'Run out the Ultima-G,' said Leon grimly.
Beside him, Cid manipulated a few levers, pulling one down and two up, pushing in a button and flicking switches that lined the top and bottom. 'Shields running fully,' he reported. 'The Ultima is out and working already. Let 'em have it, Squall.'
'It's Leon,' the stoic man said in near-exasperation, suddenly pushing a switch next to steering up to the max.
The acceleration was incredible, I felt myself pushed back into the interior of the ship's seat. The Baltimura ploughed forward, Heartless ships streaking by either side. The ones before us were being destroyed by a beam of destructing light, as wide as the ship, stretching out in front of us for as long as the eye could see. The Heartless ships around the light tried to move into where their comrades had once blocked, trying to fence us in, but the light just disintegrated their ships like there was nothing there, gummi blocks peeling from the hull of the ship, fragile hulls breaking completely away.
'Ultima-G rapidly losing power,' Cid warned. 'They're made for short bursts, not long shooting. If we don't cut the power soon, it could wear out altogether, and where would that get us?'
'Get that second Ultima in position,' ordered Leon. 'We won't make it through without it.'
'Increase the speed, Squall. The second isn't even going to be enough. We need out before this first one goes out.'
Leon gritted his teeth, but let the name slide. This in itself worried me; I'd never heard someone call him Squall without his standardised reply, 'It's Leon'. 'Get working on the Ultima,' he snapped. 'I'll try and get us out of here, but it'll be tight. I want that gummi working as soon as possible.' He reached down, fingers trailing over a switch. He depressed the silver button, and the gummi ship changed slightly, becoming thinner, more streamlined. A second running switch melded out of the gummi next to the first, and without hesitation, Leon pushed this one forward as fast as possible as well, increasing our speed.
We rocketed through hordes of Heartless, the beam from the Ultima-G thinning as we went. I wasn't sure if we were going to make it. The end of the solid block of ships was in sight, but the light was failing us. It was uncertain which would end first, the ships or the light.
The light winked once and went out completely, Heartless ships filling the hole completely.
The darkness was overwhelming me. I couldn't breathe, my throat had tightened too much. I was scared.
The last thing I saw were the Heartless ships bearing down upon us.
- - -
I'm beginning to learn the designs of sorrow
The loss of your warm presence
Makes me fear the overflowing darkness
- - -
I awoke slowly, becoming aware of books around me. . . . books? Why were there books? The last thing I remembered was the darkness around us, engulfing us . . . there had been no light. What had happened?
I climbed to my feet, looking around. Where was I? It was a large, green room, shelves filled with books all around. Directly ahead was a balcony, overlooking another floor, with still more books, more books than I'd ever seen in one place. Leaning over the balcony, I looked both ways. There was nothing of importance to my left, but to my right was a gigantic stained glass window, orange light pouring through it. An ornate staircase flowed across it, dividing it into a large and a small part.
It's all so familiar, and I don't know why.
I turned to my left, finally noticing a note lying there. I picked it up and unfolded it, a part of me already knowing what it was.
.
I'm sorry that we left you here, but the library seems to be the only place completely devoid of Heartless, and I doubt you'd enjoy being awakened by the Heartless.
Feel free to look around the library if you wish, but please remain there; we will be back shortly.
Ah, well. It would be best to listen to Aeris. I laid the paper back on the desk and looked around, finally deciding to walk to the bottom of the stairs. There was a table there, with two chairs standing at either end. It was there that it struck me. A memory.
.
A little redhead, a girl by the looks of her clothing (a halter-dress), ran up to the gentle old woman, a smile curving across the woman's face.
As the child stopped before her, she asked, 'Do you want to hear a story, child?'
The girl nodded fervently, and the woman smiled again, beginning to speak. 'Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared.
'But small fragments of light survived . . . in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now.
'But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return.
'So listen, child. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away. Do you understand, Kairi?'
.
Kairi? Then that meant that the little girl was . . .
Was this place my home?
As a door opened, I whirled around, darting for a little crevice I somehow knew was there. It was tough to squeeze in, but once I was there, I could see what was happening.
Ansem stumbled past my hiding place, murmuring to himself. 'Troublesome boy . . . I should have disposed of his soul long ago.'
I felt my eyes widen. He was talking about Riku. He had to be. But . . . what was Ansem talking about now? What had happened to Riku? Was he okay? There was nothing I wanted more than to leap out and throttle him until he told me everything, but I restrained myself, every muscle in my body tensed.
'It is time,' Ansem said, sweeping up the stairs. 'The darkness has been opened.'
And then he was gone.
I remained still for several long minutes, pondering what this could mean. What did he mean, the darkness had been opened? The darkness he'd been searching for . . . the ultimate darkness.
But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness.
That meant that Sora had to be there, fighting to free the true light, didn't it? And Ansem was going to try and stop him?
He couldn't! Not alone! I wouldn't let him; I'd follow him and then—
'Kairi?'
Hmm? Who was it? What did they want? I looked out to see Aeris and Leon in the doorway to the library. Oh, good! I slipped out of my hiding place, dashing across to the door to stand in front of them. 'We have to leave!' I told them quickly, the words tumbling out of my mouth. 'Ansem, he's going somewhere—the darkness, he said! He—'
'Calm down, Kairi,' said Aeris. 'Then explain.'
I took a deep breath and shut my eyes for a moment. When I spoke again, it was still frenzied, but at least understandable. 'While-you-were-all-gone-Ansem-came-in-and-I-hid-and-I-heard-him-talking-about-the-darkness-being-opened-and-it-must-mean-the-ultimate-darkness-is-within-his-reach-and-Sora's-in-the-middle-of-it-all-and-we-have-to-go-and-help-him!'
I doubted that they would understand this, even, but Leon's attention seemed piqued. 'You say Ansem said that the door to the darkness has been opened?'
I nodded.
'I suppose it's time,' suggested Aeris, looking at Leon.
'Yes,' he agreed. 'Go tell Cid to get the ship running.' Aeris nodded, rushing out of the room, and he looked at me. 'Kairi, I'm going to tell you this now. We are not going to be able to come with you into the darkness.'
'What?'
'There are only some people that can enter darkness that pure. I am not one of those people. Nor are Aeris, Yuffie, or Cid.'
'Then . . . who is?'
'You, Kairi. You, the other Princesses of Heart, and the Keyblade Master.
'When you enter the darkness, you will be alone. You will be scared. But you can find Sora. You, of all people, should be able to do that.'
Yes. I would, wouldn't I? Our hearts were connected. 'Thanks, Leon.'
He snorted. 'Whatever.' He left the library as well, shaking his head.
I grinned to myself, knowing that Leon wasn't as cold as he pretended to be, and followed, running past the few Heartless that popped up (though I did pause to shoot a flame at a Blue Rhapsody, pleased when it burst on contact).
- - -
I was running through the darkness. 'Sora? Where are you? Riku? Please answer me!' I shouted, plunging further in.
There was no-one there.
Where were they?
I wasn't going to find them, was I? No . . .
But you can find Sora. You, of all people, should be able to do that.
I stopped short, closing my eyes. I can do it. I can find Sora. I concentrated hard, looking for his heart in the darkness.
Then I saw it. A pure, pulsing light, not far away. Sora.
I ran toward the light, unaware that my eyes were actually still closed. I wasn't aware of anything but the light.
A moment later, the light exploded, blinding me. I raised a hand to my eyes, but continued on. Sora was close.
And then I was there.
Standing on a small island of sand, barely bigger than my feet. As I looked down at it, it slowly began to grow, as though pulling grains of sand from the area around it. As it grew, I moved back, sliding my feet closer to the centre of the sand. But wait . . . what was that, over there? A giant pair of doors . . . an explosion of brown hair . . . Sora! But what was that past him . . . it was Riku.
I nearly screamed when I saw him; instead, I gasped. Riku . . . his eyes locked with mine, and although there was a large distance between us, I could understand him perfectly.
I'll remember, Kairi. I promised.
I nodded slowly, sadly, knowing what he was about to do, but wishing he didn't feel like he had to. No-one deserved that.
As the doors shut, I turned away, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. I looked down at my feet, watching the sand gather underneath them. I slid them back again, sliding back from the edge of the island. I began to look up again, knowing that my eyes were oddly bright with tears—
'Kairi!' Sora ran up to the edge of his own land, a strange, silvery-white area.
'Sora!' I began to move forward, to talk, but the sand shifted away from his dais, and I couldn't help falling forward a bit, crying out as I did so. Sora's hand grasped mine, helping me upright. 'Sora. Take these.' I pulled out the two red journals, passing them to him. 'Give one to Riku when you see him, and don't you dare open yours before you give him his!'
'Kairi. Remember what you said before?' Sora asked with a nod, still holding my hand, like it was the only thing linking us (which it probably was). The island was moving quicker now, and we were both being pulled apart. The winds behind him whisked white dust around him, almost like the sand dunes. 'I'm always with you, too. I'll come back to you. I promise!'
Now I was leaning forward, nearly falling from the bit of island that supported me. One last word . . . 'I know you will!' I cried as our grip broke.
As the island drifted backward, I watched Sora, who kept reaching toward me. I absentmindedly joined my hands before me, staring back to him, only noticing when I felt something inside of them, warm, and at the same time, distant. I looked into them to see a golden sparkle, and looked up, wondering if it was a sign.
In the sky, thousands of these sparkles were falling, a sort of golden snow, surrounding both myself and Sora, who finally stepped back, looking in wonder at the sparks. I let go of the one that was held tightly in my palms, letting it drift back to the rest of them, and watched.
A bright flash of light from behind made me turn around in surprise. From the ground spouted trees, growing in moments to four times my height, as though they'd never been gone. The bridge to Riku's Paopu surfaced, white sand falling off in a fine, see-through sheet. The half-boat that Tidus always practised duelling on came out of the earth with a rumble, water flowing off it in waves.
Water?
I turned back as the ocean began to wash up along the beach, white foam marking where it struck the sand harshly. I looked up into the sky once more to see Sora, surrounded by the glow from the newly-created Islands. He shouted something to me, but the words were lost to me.
I watched the glow as it continued over the water, on its way to recreate the other worlds. It created a sort of blue 'sunset', one of the most beautiful I'd ever seen. It's almost as though the setting 'sun' gives life, I thought. I lowered my head in thought, but almost immediately, my attention was brought back to the glow, as hundreds, thousands, millions of stars began to shoot into the sky from it, soaring back into their rightful places.
As they flew, I heard my name being called. I turned to my right to see Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus running along the beach. 'Kairi, what's going on?!' called Selphie.
'Why are all the stars falling, ya?' asked Wakka.
'They're not falling!' argued Tidus. 'They're flying up!'
I smiled. 'Yep. Sora and Riku just restored all the worlds.'
Their reactions were priceless.
Okay, all Ari-bashing . . . will kindly be directed to that dummy over there. ::hides::
Really, now, I apologise for the length of time this one took. I've . . . been slacking. ::insert embarrassed laugh:: And then ff.n destroyed my writing style ::sobs:: I've been forced to go back to my colons-for-actions . . . and they don't let me use the tilde mark ::sniffles:: So any :: are supposed to be stars. ::grins::
Oh, and ignore all the random little periods. They're there so that there's actual SPACING between the notes and the normal story . . . and Kairi's little flashback . . . ::stabbu of the spacing problem . . . with a stabbing spork.::
Anyways, there's really not that much left—just the epilogue! =D and then R:K is complete. ::dance:: After this, I'm going to start the re-write of Crossed Trails, because Ari is lazy and Crossed Trails is basically Reflections: Sora, except that it has a couple new characters . . .
In addition, I've got a new ficcu that I'm working on, Behind the Looking Glass. So far I'm at three chapters ::dance:: Why has none of this been posted yet? Because I don't want to end up pulling THIS on you again! XD where I say I'm going to update, and then I don't . . .
Thanks to the following reviewers!
[ daea ]
Previously known as VixettaremIx, previously known as RainWarriorPrincess. XD
Yeah, I am an avid Rikairu fan ::grins:: and so I love writing those type of scenes . . . that was my favourite scene, as well!
MOU . . . where did your Rikairu story go? ::whines and pokes you manymanymany times:: It was GOOD! And I luffed it! ::pokes you more::
Mou . . . if you deleted it, that's your choice. But that doesn't mean I can't be upset.
And really, in the game? It only seems like she's favouring Sora cos it's from his POV! You don't get to see much of Riku at all, just a couple scenes here and there. For all we know, Riku and Kairi could've been making out like whoa in that time period. ::snerksnerksnerk::
[ FlikFreak ]
Well, I'm glad that I got such a reaction out of you! XD However, can you elaborate on the Spell/Grammar check? I don't know where exactly you meant :heh: sometimes, I leave mistakes (on grammar) in, just because it works better.
[ YamiMarita ]
::cheers:: Yay for lightning!!
Mou . . . this is peachy. ::buried by awards:: And where am I supposed to put them all? Honestly . . . mou . . .
[ Zoshi the Confused ]
Mou . . . poor Riku . . . ::snuggles him but gets smacked:: x.x;;
And I loved your latest chapter! ::squee!:: I'm sorry that I can't review, but something is blocking every single popup I can get, even if I hold down 'Ctrl' -.-;;
[ Mizu-chan ]
::grins:: The sophomore party lasted the entire year! ::has one exam left on Tuesday:: ::dance:: Dance dance dance dancin' dancin' dance dance dance dance dance dance dancin' dancin' dancin' dancin' dance dance . . .
Dramatic lines are fun! ::victory pose::
::grins:: As to how I'm going to finish this . . . well, it should be interesting. And everyone's going to go 'you IDIOT!' at Kairi . . . poor Kairi.
My dvds are indeed lovely ::happyari:: But! One of my things (that I recently ordered) was backordered . . . it's been over a month and they still haven't been shipped! ::sobs::
You're going to Japan AND the British Isles?! That's not fair!! ::hides in your suitcase:: heeeeeeeee . . .
You know, it's sad that this was finished . . . during final exams . . . -.-;
Anyway! Good news: Ari ish completely done with school. And this means that she won't take as long on the epilogue of this! Yay!
And! Just to let you all know, I'm moving all my ficcus to fictionised.net. I like writing here so that I get feedback, but I hate that I can't put my spacing into a chapter. I hate that I can't use my stars to signify my actions OUT OF THE CHAPTER. It's sodding irritating, and I'm sick of it.
http:www.fictionised.net
See you there hopefully ::grins::