"We're going to Midgar, aren't we?", Kairi asked, looking at Yuyami.
"Yes.",he answered. "We have to find the other keyblade masters, and fast."
Kairi began to think about Sora and Riku, wondering how they were doing. They might not even be alive, she thought. And pretty soon, her and Yuyami might not be either.
"Stop." Yuyami looked at her.
"What?", Kairi asked.
Yuyami answered, "Stop thinking negative thoughts, we're going to be okay and your friends too."
She didn't know how he knew what she was thinking, but she was grateful for the reassurance.
"So…Yuyami." Kairi looked at him.
"Yes?", he asked.
"You haven't told me about yourself. Where are you from? What was your childhood like? How did you get the keyblade?"
Yuyami sighed and chuckled without mirth. "Well…I was a happy kid, I guess. My mother and father, they loved me a lot." Yuyami smiled as his eyes took on a distant look. "They used to take me everywhere with them. To operas, parades, even their personal attack classes. Those were the days when heartless were just appearing in our world and everyone was warned to be prepared for the worst. I don't think all of the personal attack classes in the world could have saved them form the heartless."
Kairi closed her eyes. "You mean…?"
"Yes", he answered. "One night when I was ten, the heartless attacked our city. Everyone ran to the gumni ships to leave but there was limited room. We were unprepared for the attack."
Yuyami looked at Kairi with such a deep expression of pure agony, that she turned her head. "The last gumni ship was leaving and they only had room for one more. My parents put me on the ship even though I tried to stay. Other people held me while I struggled to get to them."
He sighed. "The last memory I have is them waving at me smiling. Smiling, while the heartless destroyed my home."
Kairi sobbed and put a hand on his shoulder. "I, I'm so sorry."
Yuyami shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it. It's ancient history, now. Ever since that day, however, I've devoted my life to destroying the darkness that plagues us."
Kairi shook her head and sighed. No one man can destroy the heartless or the darkness in people's hearts, she thought. Yuyami was on a fools mission to atone for what he couldn't do in the past, and he could pay the ultimate price.
"Yuyami, just remember, light and darkness go hand in hand. Without light, there is no darkness, and vice versa. Your quest will never end. You'll die of old age before you even begin to scratch the surface of darkness. It can't be done. The darkness can't be defeated…"
"That's where you're wrong, Kairi," he said vehemently. "I have to destroy the darkness, even if it means my life. If I don't, then my parents' sacrifice means nothing!"
Yuyami's voice softened. "I know my mission is forever, and I will walk that path for eternity if I have to."
Kairi stopped walking and clenched her fist.
"No…"
Yuyami stopped as well and turned to her. "No? No what?"
"You don't want to destroy the heartless, you want them to destroy you." she realized.
He turned his head, anything not to see those accusing eyes.
It all made sense to Kairi now. Yuyami didn't want to help the weak, or destroy a common enemy. He wanted to be destroyed by the very creatures that took his parents.
"Kairi, everyone who has their heart taken away is turned into a heartless. That means that my parents became heartless." Yuyami smiled, and it was as cold and as empty as the road they were walking on. "As many heartless as I've killed, I'm willing to bet that two of them were once my parents."
Kairi winced. "That doesn't mean you killed them."
He shrugged and continued, "But there's a possibility. I couldn't save my parents when I was young and they were turned into heartless. Now that I have all of this power, I could very well have destroyed my parents. Ironic isn't it?"
Yuyami held out both of his hands. "Look." One of his hands was engulfed in fire while the other was crackling with electricity. In the middle was ice and dark magic. "I have all of this power. I have magic that I don't even need to use because I am so strong. I can even use Ultima. Ultima for Heaven's sake! Do you know what that means?!"
Kairi nodded. She faintly remembered reading ancient books about magic in Hollow Bastion. One said how the magic Ultima was sealed off by a council of Archmages because it was too powerful. Only a select few knew the spell, but she didn't know that Yuyami was one of them.
Yuyami sighed and lowered his head. "This power means nothing. I didn't have it when I really needed it, so what's the point now."
Kairi grabbed his arm and shook it. "You can use this power to help people, to make their lives easier! You don't have to give in to the darkness, you're stronger than that!" Yuyami began walking again.
"I'm afraid the I gave into the darkness a long time ago. Come on, our mission is at hand."
Kairi turned away. "No, me being with you is just like helping you kill yourself and I won't do it, I won't!"
Yuyami reached out his hand. "Kairi…," he began.
Kairi began running in another directon. "Just leave me alone! Go find another keyblademaster to help you!"
Yuyami began running toward her and stopped. "Kairi, I need you…"
