AN: I have been writing nonstop all day today. I am so tired! This was supposed to be the final chapter, but I wasn't finished with the chapter and it was already 13 pages long. So, I decided to break the final chapter up into two chapters. Plus, a lot was going on in the chapter and I didn't want to bombard you guys with so much. Writing it all was making my head hurt. Yah, so I thought it best to do it this way. So, after this chapter is the final chapter, then the epilogue. I don't know when I'll have the final chapter up, but it should be soon, seeing as I already have 6 pages of it already written. Anyways, enough blabbing. On with the chappie!
Aliasfan: Mr. Moogle is sick today, so I have the honors of saying that I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Never have, never will. Thanks everyone for the uber nice reviews! Yes, I did write the requiem. I had part of it already written and then the rest just came to me. Anyways, thanks again (and now Riku of Darkness is a DDR elite fan! w00t!) Oh yah, and Happy 4th of July!
Chapter 22: The Final Reunion
Evelsone lead the group back to the fork in the road and down the left path. Sora and Riku followed after him, with Vern walking alone, and Mickey and Jahu bringing up the rear. The tunnel was a little bit bigger than the right tunnel was, and Evelsone surveyed the area as they walked. "Yep, I'm sure, this is it."
"Your Majesty?" Jahu asked quietly. "I'm very nervous, and I don't know why. I-I'm scared…"
The king put his paw on Jahu's arm. "Maybe it was because of the requiem we heard. It freaked me out too." He said reassuringly.
"No..." Jahu said, furrowing her brows and shaking her head. "It's…something else. I don't know…"
"Well, maybe this is the reason you're here. You're sensing something that we all aren't. Hmm…we should tell this to Sora." Mickey said, running into Sora. "Oops, sorry. I didn't know you guys stopped."
"What? Oh no, don't tell me it's another mass grave?" Jahu moaned.
"No, it's not." Sora said. "But if we don't do something, it will be…"
Jahu brought her mystique eyes up see the scene in front of her. There stood a bunch of defenders, around twenty or so from what Jahu could see. "Heartless…"
Evelsone cocked an eyebrow. What are these Heartless doing here? I did not summon them yet!
"C'mon," Riku said, his keyblade materializing in his hands. "Let's slice and dice these guys…"
"Wait!" Vern pulled Riku's arm down. "They're humans! Innocent humans!"
"But if we don't do something they'll kill us!" Riku yelled.
"They're not even moving…" Jahu said quietly. "Why aren't they moving?" Everyone studied the defenders and noticed that indeed, they were all standing perfectly still.
Vern smirked. "Oh yah, they're ready to kill us alright."
Riku scoffed. "I can't believe you guys don't want to destroy the Heartless. C'mon Sora, Mickey, we can do this without them."
"Umm.." Mickey said, kicking the dusty ground.
"Riku…hearing the song of the dead has shed a whole new light onto this matter. I can't just go out there and attack people just because they happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time!" Sora exclaimed.
"Yah." Jahu agreed. "What good would it do killing them? All it would do is make the dead sing the requiem again, and there's no good in that."
Why are they here? Evelsone thought to himself. It's not time for me to kill everyone yet…
"These defenders are…different…and I don't know why…" Vern said.
"Defenders? Defenders…" Sora pondered. "Why is there something special about defenders?"
"What did you say?" Vern asked, turning to Sora.
Sora studied Vern's face. Her scars…she used to be a wyvern…and…and…Wakka was a…a…defender… "Wakka! I think Wakka is one of the defenders here. I don't know for sure, I just have this feeling…"
"Really? Wakka?" Riku asked. "I nearly forgot about the big guy!"
"I know! But, how can we tell which one it is?" Sora responded.
"I came back by getting hurt…" Vern said. "But we don't want to hurt Wakka, or any other human-"
"Heartless." Riku corrected her.
"Human out there."
"Hmm…what can we do?" Sora walked back and forth as the defenders continued to remain motionless.
"Maybe…Jahu can help." The king suggested.
"W-what? M-me?" Jahu stammered. "How can I help?"
"Well, defenders have eyes, don't they?" Mickey asked.
"You…you mean…?"
"Yes. Use your powers as the Mystique Heart to find Wakka."
Jahu back away. "I-I don't think I can do that. I'll be inches away from them. What if they decide to kill me? They could-"
"Jahu, you'll be fine. We're right here in case anything happens." Sora said reassuringly.
"I…I…" Jahu twirled her hair with her finger then let out a sigh. "Alright, I'll do it."
"Thank you!" Mickey said, giving Jahu a hug. "You don't know what this means for everyone."
After describing what Wakka looked like, talked like, and acted like, Jahu had enough knowledge to be able to recognize Wakka if she found him.
"You can do this." Sora said.
Jahu nodded, slowly walking up to one of the defenders. She rubbed her hands and closed her eyes.
"Show them your magic, girl!" Vern said, trying to brighten the mood.
Evelsone was very interested in what Jahu was about to do. He had never seen Jahu use her powers before.
Jahu opened her eyes and stared into the empty eyes of the defender. Is this thing even alive? Okay, concentrate…Jahu began to shake slightly, and her eyes turned to white as usual.
"Is…is Jahu okay?" Evelsone asked, concerned. He knew he couldn't love Jahu because of who he was, but deep down he still wanted to, no matter what Ansem said about her.
"She's fine." Mickey said. "This is natural."
Everyone continued to watch as Jahu continued to use her powers. Jahu saw a lot of darkness in the defender. No light at all, obviously because it was a Heartless. Then the voices started to appear.
"What did mommy say about playing outside in the rain? You'll catch your death out there! Come inside now!"
"Oh, honey, why do you have to be at work so long? I know we need money but the kids and I miss you so much!"
Immediately Jahu stopped using her powers. She shook her head. "Nope, it wasn't him."
Sora lowered his head. "Keep looking!"
Jahu stayed in the same place, and everyone could hear her crying.
"Jahu, what's wrong?" Vern asked.
"She was a wife…and a mother..." Jahu cried. "Who knows if she left her family behind…or if her family suffered the same fate she did…"
"Well, then aren't we doing a good thing by not attacking them?" Mickey said. He lowered his eyes. "We can't give them their lives back, but we can try to make this one better for them."
"I guess so…" She turned around to face everyone. "I'm sorry guys." Jahu wiped her eyes and headed to the next defender. She felt a little more confident since the first defender didn't pulverize her. Jahu worked her magic on the defender, but when she came to she said it wasn't Wakka and quickly moved on to the next one. Jahu had stared her mystique eyes into about ten defenders and still no Wakka.
Evelsone scoffed. "What if Sora's wrong? What if this Wakka isn't even here?"
"I know he is." Sora replied. "Jahu isn't doing this for nothing."
Jahu continued to search for Wakka, using her powers on five more of them. As she moved to the next defender, she began to feel dizzy and she stumbled when she walked, nearly falling to the ground.
"Jahu!" Sora exclaimed.
"I'll…be…okay…" Jahu said weakly. "Must…find…your friend…" She grabbed onto the next defender to help hold herself up then stared into its eyes. Her eyes turned milky and she zoned out everything around her. Let it be him this time…Jahu hoped. She listened to the voices, and when she was done, she turned to her friends, out of breath. "It's…not him…" Jahu said sadly, falling to the ground.
Evelsone was the first to run to her. "Jahu! Are you okay?" We picked her up in his arms. She opened her eyes, which looked extremely red and worn out.
"I have to…keep looking…" Jahu said weakly.
"No!" Evelsone yelled.
"You can't risk your health like that!" Sora said.
Evelsone shook his head. All Jahu's doing is hurting herself, plus she's wasting our time. I could have had these fools eliminated by now if we hadn't stopped…
Alright…Evelsone said to himself. I should've gotten rid of these defenders a long time ago. I call upon you Heartless, you defenders who stand before me. You shall obey your master, and your master is telling you to leave!
In an instant all of the defenders vanished. That is, all….but one.
"What? What just happened?" Sora asked, rubbing his eyes.
Vern stared in disbelief. "They just…disappeared…"
"Wakka!" Riku exclaimed. "That defender must be Wakka!"
What? What is that defender still doing there? Leave! Evelsone commanded angrily, yet the defender did not move.
"He has to be hurt to gain his body back…but…I don't want to hurt him…" Sora said sadly.
"Maybe just a little scratch or something?" Mickey suggested, though he wasn't sure that would do the trick.
Evelsone's veins pulsed with anger. All of the Heartless are supposed to obey me! "I'll do it!" he shouted, pulling the gun Jahu had on her.
Evelsone laid Jahu down gently, stood up, and took aim.
"What!" Vern exclaimed.
"Mesna, stop!" Sora said, running to him, but he was too late. The bullet hit the defender in the chest. Sora grabbed the gun from Evelsone. "What do you think you're doing! That's our friend you just shot at!"
"But he's not going to get hurt. You just have to do that so he can change back right?" Evelsone asked innocently, though he knew exactly what he had just done.
"No!" Sora yelled. "He's gonna come back with a bullet wound in his chest!" Sure enough, Wakka was surrounded by a white light, and when he returned to his normal self, he was bleeding pretty badly. Sora hoped that he could have seen Iqui, but for some reason she did not show up.
"Wakka!" Riku and Sora said as the rushed to his side. "Can you hear us?" Wakka just lay there, barely breathing. The wound was bleeding really badly.
"Someone needs to take Wakka back to the gummi ship! He can't stay here or he'll die!" Sora exclaimed.
Vern glanced around. No one seemed up for leaving. "I'll go."
"You will?" Mickey said.
"Yes, I'm not needed here, but everyone else is. I can find my way back." Vern responded. She walked up to Wakka. "Now, this is a time where I can use a little bit of my sorcery…" Vern raised her hands over Wakka's body, and it began to rise, blood dripping down to the ground. "I'll have to run. I don't know how long I can hold this."
"Go quickly." Sora said. "And be safe."
Vern smiled. She was glad she was on good terms with Sora. Vern gave one quick nod, and with that she was gone.
"I hope Wakka's going to be okay." Evelsone said. "I'm awfully sorry about everything. I…I didn't know it would affect him…and…"
"It's okay." Sora sighed. "You didn't know…"
They heard some moaning and saw Jahu trying to stand up.
"Jahu!" Evelsone said, running back to her. "Here, let me help you up." Evelsone propped himself under Jahu and lifted her up.
"Are you alright?" Sora asked with concern.
Jahu put her hand up to her head. "I guess…I used so much of my power that it started to drain me."
Mickey agreed. "You've never used your magic on so many people-er…defenders…before. That's why you collapsed."
"I'm okay now." Jahu said, standing up on her own, though she still looked really beat.
"Are you sure?" Evelsone asked.
"Yes, I'm sure." Jahu said laughing. "Everything's fine. Now c'mon, we want to find that door to the light, right?"
Sora nodded. "Right. We have to keep going." He turned to Evelsone. "Lead the way."
Evelsone continued walking out of the cavern and into another winding tunnel, occasionally looking back to make sure Jahu was okay. I can sense it now…the door to darkness is getting closer and closer. I can feel it in my bones…
-----
The door to the light is going to be sealed for good. No darkness can creep in and the worlds will be back to normal. This is a very exciting time for everyone, but the journey has been long and hard. Still…
"I can't believe everyone fell asleep…" Tidus mumbled to himself. He lay on the couch on his back, thinking about the events that would soon come to pass. "I understand why everyone's tired. I am too…but who can sleep at a time like this?"
Tidus could hear muffled sounds outside of the gummi ship. Tidus jumped up off the couch. "They're back? Already?" Tidus ran to the door and flung it open to find Vern dragging Wakka.
"Vern!" Tidus shouted, running to her.
Vern fell to the ground, exhausted from the trip back. She had run out of power about halfway along and had to end up dragging Wakka the rest of the way.
"What happened? What's going on?" Tidus shouted, panicking. He saw the blood on Wakka and Vern and didn't know whom it was coming from. "Are you alright!"
Vern sat up but still stayed on the ground. "Wakka…was in there…as a defender. Mesna shot him…to change him back, not knowing that Wakka would come back…with the wound. I decided to bring him back…"
Tidus was in disbelief. "Lemme get Wakka inside then I'll come get you." Tidus lifted Wakka up as best he could and brought him into the gummi ship. He woke Donald up, hoping he could use some of his magic to cure him. Then he ran back outside for Vern.
"Tidus?" Vern asked as he carried her back into the ship.
"Yes?" he responded.
"I told you, didn't I? I knew fate would give us another chance to see each other." Vern smiled.
"You were right…" Tidus said, smiling back. "I guess before wasn't goodbye…"
The wrap Vern had put around Wakka's wound helped stop the bleeding a little bit, but it was still pretty bad. "Curaga!" Donald cast on Wakka, the magic swirling around the bullet wound. The blood seemed to stop flowing a little bit more, but not much could be done. "I've done all I could." Donald said. "What he needs is a doctor."
"Do you think we should leave this world and go to another one?" Tidus asked.
"I don't know…" Donald said, torn. "I want to stay in case anything happens, but if we don't get Wakka some help…he'll die!"
Vern sat slouched on the couch. "You have to go. It's the only way."
Donald thought for a moment. "You're right. And I'm sure we can get back in time before the others even know we're gone."
Tidus nodded. "We have to do this." He knelt down beside Wakka. "Hold on…Wakka…you're gonna make it…"
Donald hopped into the cockpit seat and started the engine. "Alright…does anyone know what the closest world is?"
"I don't even know where we are, let alone where a world would be…" Tidus said.
"Well," Donald said. "Anyone have an idea which direction we should go? North, east, south, or west? Anyone?"
Tidus and Vern shook their heads. Donald sighed. "Well, there's only one thing we can do. Eenie, meenie, minie, moe…"