Hand in Hand

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts doesn't belong to me. Baaaaah….

Pre-story note: Don't work under the influence of Nerds. (you know… the candy.)

Chapter VII: Traverse Town

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For what seemed like an eternity, Sora found himself swimming in the darkness. He thought that he was in whatever far plane that Riku was, where he had disappeared to when he invited the darkness…

I'm gonna wake up soon… there's nothing to worry about…

But for now… I'll rest here a while. I'm tired from fighting Darkside.

Once again, Sora proved himself a 'semi-psychic'. A few more moments, and he felt himself land violently on pavement, and a warm lick on his cheek…

A blur of colors appeared before his vision as he opened his eyes. After blinking a few times, he realized that he was in some sort of alleyway, sitting there like a homeless person… and that a dog was the one who woke him up from his previous state.

Where… am I? Hey, I know this place… he tried to remember, but his head just hurt badly, like it was split in 3 ways. Okay, Sora… just rest yourself a few more moments…

The peculiar orange dog looked up at him curiously, but put a paw on his lap, as if it were trying to comfort him.

When Sora had taken enough time to sort his mind, he then recognized where he was in.

"Traverse Town…" When he stood up, he felt that he was holding something heavy. "And the Keyblade's still with me…"

He turned to the dog. "Uh… Pluto, right?" Pluto wagged its tail in response. "Where are… your companions?" he asked awkwardly, asking himself why he was resorted to talking to a dog. (The kind that didn't talk, that is.)

Pluto responded by running out onto the streets. Sora was surprised by the sudden motion, but he tried to keep up with the dog.

He lost him, anyway. Sora, breathless, stopped in front of a building.

"Aw… dammit!" Sora muttered, kicking a random rock towards a random direction. He huffed and turned around, when he heard the rock hit something solid. Something solid that cussed.

"F***! What the $#@%'s your problem, kid?!"

He froze. He knew that eventually, he'd meet this person, but he had *hoped* that it wasn't in that manner.

"Uh… sorry, sir…" he mumbled sheepishly, turning to a very angered Cid.

"Ya better be. Lucky you hit me. If it was something else, ya coulda provoked it and it mighta just kill ya now! Get it?!" Cid said, walking towards Sora. He examined the boy for a few seconds. "Hm. You look kinda lost…" The man trailed off and screamed another curse when he saw something forming behind Sora.

"H-huh?!" Sora managed to stammer, but Cid dragged him behind him.

"Stand back kid, this is bound to get violent," the man said, taking a canon that he was hiding behind his back. Aiming it at the Heartless, he frowned with disgust. "GET OUTTA HERE, DAMN SCUM!" He mercilessly shot at the Heartless. Within seconds, they had vanished, leaving a few candy and munny.

Cid rubbed his nose (a habit he can't seem to break, much like the cigar clamped within his teeth) and turned to Sora. "Take the munny and eat the candy. Then follow me to my shop. I'll help ya out," he instructed, then went ahead into the building labeled "Accessory Shop".

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"So, kid, you're bound to have a name. Mine's Cid. What's yours?" Cid asked with a gruff tone.

Sora liked the looks of this accessory shop better than the artificial one on the set. This one was more welcoming. On the couches sprawled a tired looking Moogle, taking a nap, and there was a fire crackling in the fireplace. "Uh… Sora, sir…" He replied awkwardly. To think, a man he had considered he had known for his whole life was asking him his name.

"So, Sora, if that is your real name," Cid said, throwing the already finished cigar from his mouth, "seems that you're not a local in this town—don't worry, no need to hide that you're from another world, Traverse Town's the place where the 'worldless' people go—You have any plans as of now?"

Sora scratched his head. He considered telling him, "Well, seems I have no other place to go, so I'm planning to save the other worlds from falling in the hands of the Heartless, and in the process, restore my world and rescue my friends. All I have to do is look for a duck and a dog to help me, have you seen them walking around here?" but then that was really stupid, even though that was the point of Riku's story. "Uh… M-maybe I'll wander around town… check out if I could recognize anybody I know. You know? That's possible right?" Sora finally said.

Cid rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmm. Nice plan, but you wouldn't wanna be decapitated by the Heartless roaming around town… Here's my farewell gift to ya," he said, throwing a piece of bread at Sora. "Eat it, ya still look weak."

"Thanks," he mumbled, walking out the door, trying to prepare himself to what he expected would happen next.

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Sora walked out of the accessory shop, feeling a bit grateful that Cid gave him that bit of bread after all. He felt a bit of his strength back. And he knew that he needed strength for what was going to happen next.

"They'll come at you out of nowhere." Oh no, here we go, Sora thought to himself.

"And they'll keep coming at you. As long as you wield the Keyblade…" It was him. Leon.

"But why… why would it choose a kid like you?" Leon said exasperatedly, touching his forehead.

Sora frowned, trying to hide his nervousness. I'm gonna be beaten up now…

"Hmph. Well, let's see that Keyblade…" Leon said, approaching Sora slowly.

"Back off! You're not taking this from me…" Sora said, a hint of challenging in his voice.

"Very well…" This is it.

The next line threw Sora off-guard. "I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to ask you to take a nap."

Wha? Where did that come from?!

Before Sora could do anything, Leon had already hit him at the back of his head. As he fell, he felt Leon catching him, and carrying him on his shoulder to somewhere beyond that district…

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Ow… my head…

If it was split 3 ways before, now it split at 6…

I didn't wanna open my eyes then. I was having a dream that I was back in my island, and me, Riku, Kairi, Tidus, Wakka and Selphie were playing with puppies, and that Dad and Leon were harassed by more puppies, and basically, we were having fun…

Then, another voice went into my mind. The moment I heard her, the island just faded away…

"Come on, lazy bum. Wake up."

… Kairi?

I don't know where I was seeing her, but there she was. "You okay?"

"I… I guess…"

"Dude… dude, wake up! Hey! Hmm… you hit him too hard, Squall."

Huh? Kairi, what the heck are you saying?

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Sora awoke for the second time that night. Trying to ignore the throbbing in his brain, he found himself staring at the ceiling of a room.

"That's Leon," he heard an annoyed voice from one end of the room.

"Naw, I think I'd still call you Squall… Oh, you're awake!" The girl beside Sora faced him and smiled. "So, how ya feelin'? Great Ninja Yuffie, at your service!" she said, offering a hand.

Sora shook it. "Uh… okay… How'd I get here?"

Yuffie smiled again. "Oh! Squall here saw you walk out of the Accessory Shop carrying that," she pointed to Sora's Keyblade, which was leaning against the wall, "and then he instantly knew that we should protect you. You know, cuz you're helpless fighting off the Heartless alone."

Leon nodded. "It was the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won't work for long. Still hard to believe that you, of all people, are the chosen one," he said, demonstrating Sora's 'chosen one-ness' by swinging the Keyblade. As expected, it disappeared from Leon's grasp and formed again in Sora's.

Cool, Sora thought.

"I guess beggars can't be choosers."

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Leon and Yuffie explained everything I needed to know about the Heartless.

"Those without hearts. The darkness in peoples' hearts—that's what attracts them. And there is darkness within every heart." Leon's definition of the Heartless. It's clear that I'd have a hard time avoiding them. My insides are definitely all dark from what I've been through…

A few more moments of pondering, they appeared again. Crashed through the hotel window. They had sensed that the Keyblade was there. Yuffie freaked out, and Leon got his gunblade, ready to fight. "Yuffie, go!"

Once Yuffie ran out of the room, a very painful quack was heard from behind the door. And then, I saw her.

Brown hair. Green Eyes. Pink dress.

Mom…?

She didn't even notice me. She ran after Yuffie.

"Sora, let's go," Leon called out after I shook my head, trying to be alert. We jumped out the window and attacked.

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Whew. Longer than expected, definitely. How'd I dooooo?

You may have noticed that I modified a lot of the lines from the original KH game script. That's cause I just based it on the manga I found on www.ansemreport.com.

Don't worry, I won't go through all the worlds in this kind of detail. Maybe the Coliseum, Traverse Town and Hollow Bastion only… I'll die if I do that.

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