A/N: ... I forgot what I was gonna say.
Teek: Again?
Me: Yeah.
Mizu: Not at all surprising, you know.
Me: Yeah, I know. Anyway, here's the new chapter, folks!
"I'm sure they made it, Sora," Kage said patiently. "I mean, if we managed to get away, I'm sure they did, too." Her eyes lost focus for a second, and she said, almost to herself, "I know Riku got away alright..."
"But what if they didn't?" Sora asked in a panic. "What if the islands were destroyed while they were still on them? What if--"
Kage stood and smacked Sora across the face.
"Listen to me, Sora," she said, grabbing him firmly by the shoulder and staring straight into his eyes. "Everyone is all right. Panicing's not gonna help any one, got it? Settle down and think things through already!"
That sounds like something Mizu would say, Leon thought absently
"Leon," Yuffie said quietly from beside him, also watching the two kids, "are you gonna do anything about this?"
Leon looked over at Kage and Sora again, and saw that Sora was noticably calmer.
"No," he said shortly. "Kage has things under control."
"She reminds me more and more of Mi-chan everytime I look at her," Yuffie admitted. Leon tore his eyes away from the kids to stare at Yuffie.
"You too?" he asked. "I thought it was just my imagination. But--" Another slap rang across the room.
"Dammit, Sora, calm down!" Kage snapped.
"But--"
"Butt me no 'buts,' Sora," Kage said. "Now just shut up and listen. You and I both made it off, and Riku was with me until I passed out, so I know he made it off, too. And Kairi was already missing by the time Riku and I were sucked off the islands, so she must have made it off, too. The only problem is that we don't know where they landed, so all we gotta do is find them! Right?"
"I guess," Sora said, still a little dazed from the slaps.
"Well, that's an improvement," Kage sighed. "Don't fall apart on me like that again, okay?"
"I'll try to remember that," Sora said.
"Good boy," Kage said, lightly patting the same cheek she had slapped. She then turned to look at Leon and Yuffie. "Sorry you had to see that."
"Don't worry about it," Yuffie said.
"Well, now that I got my explanations, I should go," Kage said, moving towards the door. "I gotta find somewhere that sells weapons. Catcha latta, guys!"
"Kage, wait a minute," Leon said, then turned to Yuffie. "Do you still have some of the munchkin's old knives?"
"Yeah," Yuffie said, "why?"
"Get them out."
"Leon, what are you up to?"
"Just do it."
Yuffie sighed and pulled a pair of daggers out from somewhere. "These are the only two I have. I think Cloud has the rest. Why?"
"I want Kage to use them," Leon said.
"What?" Kage and Yuffie asked.
"Mi-chan used materia, right?" Leon asked.
"Yes..." Yuffie said, not quite following.
"You haven't moved any of it, have you?"
"No, but what does that--? Oh." Dawning comprehension lit Yuffie's face as she got what Leon was trying to say.
"She could at least try a Fire spell," Leon said.
"Not indoors!" Yuffie yelped. "The whole place could go up if she messed up!"
"I have some water spells I could use to put out the fire," Leon said patiently. "Just let her try one spell."
"Leon, this is a mistake," Yuffie said. "I know what you're up to, okay? Kage is not Mizu! I miss the kid as much as you do, I'll admit that, but..."
"You and I both know that she could have made it," Leon said.
"Squall, this is just wishful thinking," Yuffie said. "She was only six, there's no way she could have survived for nine years on her own!"
"Yuffie..."
"Squall, please, you know I'm rig--"
"Just try it, Yuffie," Squall snapped. "If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, but this is the only way I know of to see if I am or not."
"What about the pendant? The scar?"
"Blue metal, heart-shaped, gold crown, set with a rose quartz, and hung on a matching chain?" Kage asked, her eyes wide.
"Yes," Yuffie said. "How did you...?"
Kage touched the pendant she was wearing, which was exactly how she'd described it.
"Maybe there's more than one," Yuffie said hastily.
"The scar?" Leon asked. "It's long, thin, and just barely above her kidney on the left."
Kage lifted her shirt enough for everyone to see the scar, her eyes widening even further and threatening to fall out of her head.
"C-c-coincidence," Yuffie said, her eyes almost as wide as Kage's.
"Three's conspiracy," Leon said, plucking one of the knives out of Yuffie's nerve-less fingers and tossing it to Kage. "Here, Kage, try a fire spell. Aim it... at the lamp on the table."
"Okay," Kage said, a little dazed, then turned her concentration to the lamp Leon had mentioned. Her eyes lost focus again and she raised her right hand, drawing a rune in the air with two stiffened fingers while absently slipping the knife into her belt with her left hand. After the rune was completed, she raised her hand high above her head and brought it down hard in a karate-chop. The lamp flared for a second, then burned brightly as though it had been turned on manually rather than magically. Kage's eyes snapped back into focus and she stared at the lamp, mouth working like a landed fish for a brief second before she managed to choke out two words. "Holy fuck!"
Leon and Yuffie looked at each other, Leon with a smug look on his face, Yuffie looking like she got smacked in the head with a board.
"It's Mizu," Leon said.
A/N: Blah... That's all I have to say. Blah. Leon thought absently.
Mizu: ((glares at me)) Ta-witch.
Mismatch: Yo, Midget, that is SO my line!