Secrets of Memories Chapter 59: Courage in All Sizes
Nemo knew that he had less than two days to try and figure out how to escape from the tank. Less than 48 hours to get back to the sea outside. But what could be done? In his only attempt to escape, he had nearly been blended into pieces by the filter he tried to clog. Peach had implored a defeated Gill not to send Nemo on any more of Gill's missions and so far all he had been doing was learn to swim with his bad fin. That was…until Aozora came.
The tiny orca had been silent for the last three hours, barely uttering a word and in general staying in the safety of the colorful forest. Naminé had already gone; while the other fish watched with an obsessed interest, discussing dentist tools and what was better, the dentist had checked up Naminé's teeth, declared her healthy dental-wise, and sent her on her way. Now they were left alone, to contemplate her words and the impending doom of the arrival of a child demon: Darla.
" Gill?" he asked solemnly to the gloomy idol fish. " What do we do?"
" I don't know, Shark Bait," he replied, using Nemo's nickname. " There's so much that has to be done…but look at us. We're fish. We're restricted to the waters of the world. And every single thing that will happen to us won't be in the sea. Ah, the sea…how I long to swim in the blue freedom again…"
Gill turned and began to swim away. Nemo followed him rather meekly, staring at the churning filter as he passed by it. Gill had gone straight to Aozora; Nemo pulled back when the bronze-eyed orca gave him a warning glare.
"Nemo!" a familiar voice exclaimed from the distance. " Where's Nemo? Nemo? Nemo!"
" Huh?" Nemo turned around and saw Nigel crash into the glass window next to the open gap that he was aiming for.
" What a doozy…" Nigel, the pelican and the friend of most fish, flapped to the open side and popped his head in. " Nemo! Where's Nemo?"
Gill popped out of the forest with Aozora at his tow; Nemo swam to the glass walls of the tank. " What is it?"
" Your father's been fighting the whole ocean looking for you!" Nigel exclaimed eagerly, shoving himself into the dentist's office. " His been fighting sharks, evil fishes of the deep, a whole forest of jellyfish, and he's been spotted with the turtles on his way here! He's coming, Nemo!"
" Oh my goodness!" Deb gasped. " A whole forest of jellyfish?"
" He fought sharks!" Bloat shouted. " Amazing!"
" Nemo, your dad's Superfish!" Gill was just as astonished as everyone else; how could anyone do that and survive?
" Were there others with him?" Aozora asked, his voice stern. All fell silent.
" Uh…ah…" Nigel didn't know what to make of this strange killer whale in the fish tank that could talk. What the heck was he? " Who are you? Or should I say, what are you?"
" That's a long story Nigel," Gill swam forward, his voice just as tense. " Was there anybody there with Superfish?"
" Well we've got Nemo's dad, some blue fish, a white octopus, a sea turtle, and a dolphin," Nigel ticked off on his flight feathers. " Any of them sound familiar?"
" A white octopus?" Aozora asked. " A white octopus? There's no such thing as a white octopus, is there?"
" Ah…no…"
Aozora and Gill looked at each other. " They're on their way. They're coming for the Keyhole."
" Which would be Nem – Nemo?" Gill turned around and found the little clownfish missing.
" Nemo, what are you doing?" Boat gasped in horror.
Nemo ignored their demands for explanation as he swept down, snatched up the biggest blue pebble he could find, and dragged it up to the surface.
" Nemo!" Deb shouted.
" I can't look, I can't look!" Gurgle whimpered, turning away. Jacques slammed open the cage to his hideaway to peek out; Bubbles forgot about his treasure chest and his precious bubbles flowed to the surface.
" Nemo, hold on a second!" Aozora swam forward but Nemo quickly tossed the pebble into the filter and leaped after it.
" No!" Gill popped his head up and saw nothing but the whirling filter wheel.
" Nemo!" Bloat called out as he, Deb, Gurgles, and Bubbles surrounded the filter. Peach leaned out from her position on the glass wall to see and Jacques milled his way forward. Nigel, who didn't get the whole story, looked on tensely, watching the filter.
" Nemo, get out of there!" Gill called out sternly. He was met with silence…total silence.
" Nemo?"
The others looked at each other fearfully. Aozora stared at the pipe, half-expecting to see blood leaking out –
" There's nothing to worry about!" Nemo grinned, plopping back into the waters behind them.
" Nemo!" Gill sighed in relief.
" You did it!" Bloat exclaimed and bloated.
" Flo, did you hear, did you hear?" Deb chatted busily with her reflection.
" Alright, gang," Gill looked at the others sternly. " We've less than 48 hours – two days – until Darla comes. We're going to be as filthy as possible. Be dirty, be very dirty. Jacques, no cleaning. Everyone, be very dirty."
Gurgle's teeth chattered and he looked around fearfully but the others were eagerly nodding. Aozora had a rather pained expression on his face but he nodded with them.
" All right," Gill said, his eyes gleaming with the opportunity. " No time to lose. We're gonna make this tank so dirty the dentist will be forced to clean it!"
Bloat burped. Gurgle just about fainted.
""
Darkness.
It was an endless night, stars flashing in the murky depths of a dark sea. Voices, voices in his head, speaking, murmuring, shouting, mocking, laughing, crying, circling him, all around him.
" …if there is one thing we cannot afford to do, it is to risk the life of the Keyblade Master."
" If you fail, this is where you'll go…and this is what everything will become…"
" You have my thanks…"
" Listen Sora. We've got more in common than you think…"
" I will not lose to a bunch of losers!"
" Boo."
" Ahead lies what you seek…you must lose something dear…"
" I'll come back, I promise!"
" Take care of her."
" Donald, Goofy, thank you."
" Come on, Sora. I thought you could do better than that."
" Kairi!"
Voices faded. Then other voices rose up, voices he could not recall.
" We'll never be far apart from each other, never!"
" There is promise in him. You can see it in his eyes."
" Wherever you go, never forget the ones you love."
" My son, some day you will answer the call of the sea. It is in your blood. Some day you will be faced with an impossible decision…and it will be the sea in your blood that will answer it. I only hope that when you grow up, you will make the choice best fit for not only you, but for everyone else. For we all may be different but we share the same sky, one sky…and one destiny."
I know that voice! I've heard it before, I've heard it so many times! If only I could remember…
" I was given a poem when I was young. It was written long ago but its words have echoed through the ages. Perhaps, one day, it will have some meaning to you."
What poem has been told to me?
Walking this road,
Without you,
To remake forgotten promises
And meet you at road's end.
Faded memories,
Reconstructed memories,
A dream – a dream of you,
In a world without you.
The dream I see in the world without you.
Torn dream, like a memory from the far past.
I'd like to put it together
With you…
And in the dark of the starry night, he saw, vaguely, someone, with brunet hair and eyes that flashed. Yellow? Bronze? Gold? He could not tell; it was all so hazy.
I've seen you before…
" If all else," another voice spoke, a voice like angels, " keep your memories close to you. Even if you've forgotten everything else, your memories will teach you to do everything again. Though humans have a gift, the gift of forgiveness and forgetfulness, it is memory that could never be forgotten. The loose links of the chain of memories may fall into the dark but you can find them again…put them together and remember what it was you've forgotten."
What have I forgotten? Tell me!
" To invade one's mind, if to search one's memory only, is the worst one can do to another," the soft voice continued, fading away. " Your mind is your last resort, your last hiding place. If the darkness reaches the mind, you will be lost forever. Protect your mind, find the loose links and rebuild what was lost, and remember, keep your memories besides you. For with memories come promises and you will meet your loved ones at the end of the long road."
And then, it clicked in his mind. The voice of angels seemed so vaguely familiar but a link had risen from the darkness and took its place somewhere in the beginning of the chain of memories in his mind.
The brown-haired man, with the bright eyes, I know who you are. They've called you Ronsend, I've called you -
" Wake up!"
Sora leaped up and smashed into Dory. " Ow! Dory!"
" Ow, well about time you got up," Dory sniffed, rubbing her chin. " We're almost at the exit; thought you should get up now."
" Huh?" Sora looked around. " Dory, why are we with all these sea turtles? And where are we?"
" Dude, you're on the E.A.C., dude," a green sea turtle swam over to where the two were, with Marlin, Donald, Goofy, and a huddle of baby sea turtles in tow. " Dude, you must've gotten crazy in that jellyfish forest. I'm pretty amazed you survived it, you know. I mean, with all those marks all over you, I'm surprised you even woke up at all!"
" What?" Sora demanded.
" Ah…Donald tried to heal you," Goofy began nervously.
" But some of the burns…didn't go away," Marlin added.
" What do you mean?" he whispered, his blue eyes wide with horror.
" It looks…" Donald looked away as he finished speaking, " like a star. Your back is marked with the imprint of a star…from the jellyfish tentacles. I couldn't get rid of them.
" My neck…my arm…my back…" Sora murmured. " No, this can't be…"
" Well, dude, there are some things in life that can't be changed," the turtle, who happened to be Crush, offered advice. " Be glad you're alive; not many survive the forest of the jellyfish. Move on with life; there's always food at the end of a smelt run."
Silence.
" Well, what do you know!" Crush spotted a swirling vortex that branched out of the East Australian Current. " There's your exit right there! Crush Junior will give you instructions for safely leaving the East Australian Current. Ready?"
" Alright, folks!" little Crush Junior leaped onto his father's shell. " Do you have your exit partner? Good…"
""
" Would you look at that?" Gill said with admiration and glee. " Filthy, absolutely filthy. And it's all thanks to you, kid."
Bloat burped and Gurgle shied away. Then the great bloat fish rubbed against the green-covered pebbles on the floor and snatched at the great green goo that rose up.
" Germs!" Gurgles hollered and rushed past Jacques, who was busy cleaning away the green slime on his little home. Gill gave him a stern eye, reminding him of the whole purpose of having a grimy tank.
" Hey, check this out!" Peach called out, leaning away. " I call it ' slime star '. Neat, huh?"
" Gross!" Nemo agreed with a vigorous nod.
" Bubbles!" Bubbles swung open his coated treasure chest and slimy bubbles began their ascent to the top of the tank. Bubbles tapped at one but was met with an explosion of green bits. " Blegh!"
Nemo hid a giggle, the spotted the dentist striding into the office. " Aozora, hide!"
The killer whale vanished in seconds into the rather disgusting forest of fake kelp.
Dr. Sherman strode straight to the tank and stared at it. Then he stuck a finger within and wiped out green slime from the glass wall. " Crikey! What a state! I better clean the fish tank before Darla gets here!"
He quickly strode off. Aozora reappeared as the other fish watched him leave the dentist office."
" Yes! We're getting out at last!" Bloat ballooned.
Peach gave a muffled cheer.
" Are you ready to see your dad, kid?" Gill asked Nemo, keeping an eye on the Guardian.
The little clownfish nodded eagerly. Gill then led him to the window overlooking the harbor.
" You know, I wouldn't be surprised if he's out there in the harbor, waiting for you right now."
Aozora followed them thoughtfully.
" Wait, Gill…" he looked at the idol fish. " How am I supposed to get out of here?"
""
Naminé watched the harbor, silently, as the sun fell and the moon rose. She knew that Marlin, Dory, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were nearly here, to Sydney. She knew that the Society was not aware of how fast Sora was approaching Nemo. They seemed preoccupied with something else, which would explain why only Domitan appeared to try and make a deal with Dr. Sherman.
She had agreed with members of the Order to get Aozora out of the tank and into the ocean. Once in there, he'd be changed back into his regular human form. Unexplainable magic, honestly. But that was how magic was applied to Aozora.
" Tomorrow, it will have to be tomorrow," she murmured to herself.
Naminé looked at the night sky. If she saw Sora, would he remember her?
""
" It's morning, everyone!" Peach yawned, stretched out her arms, and leaned back so everyone could hear her. " Today's the day. The sun is shining, the tank is clean, and we're getting out of – the tank is clean!"
The last remark, coupled with a gasp, got everyone up and, er, swimming. That is, swimming to the new filter that hummed faintly in its own merry way. It was huge, metallic, and intimidating.
" Boss must have installed it last night while we were sleeping," Gill could only conclude.
" The Aqua Scum 2003 is an all-purpose, self-cleaning, maintenance-free saltwater purifier," Peach read from the open booklet that lay on the counter nearby.
A red laser beam shot out and scanned the tank, from top to bottom. Everyone followed the red light as it passed over their bodies. " Temperature eighty-two degrees. Balance normal."
They stared at each other. This was crazy! Gurgle, the germ-a-phobic, shook his fin at it. " Curse you, Aqua Scum!"
Aozora, who had never slept better until just now, yawned and drifted into the scenario. " Why is the tank….not so….green?"
He yawned, then blinked, then stared. " The tank is clean."
" That's it for the escape plan!" Bloat ballooned in fury. " It's ruined!"
" What are we going to do about-" Nemo began to panic when the door to the dentist's office swung open.
" Darla!" Bubbles shrieked.
" Stay down, kid," Gill ordered Nemo. " You, too, Guardian."
Aozora vanished into the forest. But it was only a little boy and his mother. And Naminé.
" What is she doing here…?" Aozora wondered, until he spotted the plastic bag she held tightly in her hand. " No way…"
" False alarm," Bloat sighed, deflating.
The others sighed in relief. But only for a second. Suddenly, the water currents changed – a fishnet was coming towards him!
" Gill!" Nemo shrieked.
" Shark Bait!" Gill barked back as Dr. Sherman caught Nemo in the neck. " Hold on!"
He leaped into the net with Nemo. " Swim down! C'mon kid, swim down!"
The others looked at each other, then jumped in with him. For several minutes a tussle ensued between the Tank Gang, the Order member, the Keyhole, and the poor, ignorant Australian dentist. Of course, some things would soon change.
Aozora spotted a teenager – no, a nearly grown man, maybe around nineteen, enter the office. His blue-purple hair shrouded the right side of his face. He was wearing a grayish purple jacket over a black shirt and dark jeans; he was a cool, collected person, one you don't mess around with. Except for the fact he seemed rather familiar…
" Zexion?" Aozora muttered. " What is he doing here-"
Naminé suddenly rushed to the only restroom in the dentist's office. Zexion then turned to the door and watched, until someone else walked in. Someone with bright blue hair, an icy gaze, a calm demeanor, and decked out in total black.
" Domitan!" Aozora exclaimed. Then, right under his arms rushed in a little toddler with maddening braces, maddening pigtails, and psychopathic eyes. Really psychopathic eyes; she ran into a table and kept on running to the room they were in, ignoring the fallen table and the shattered lamp while Domitan and Zexion shot each other glares that promised more than death.
Aozora kept watching, mesmerized by this strange meeting between siblings who clearly hated each other. He noted that Naminé was continuously peeking out of the public bathroom, then quickly shutting the door; it was plain Zexion and Naminé didn't want Domitan knowing she was there.
He was the one who made the deal with the dentist to keep Gill! Aozora thought. That's where the others got the idea of Gothic clothes!
Hushed words flew between the older and younger brothers. They seemed to take care not to have others listen in on their conversation but, he noticed, Zexion was slowly maneuvering Domitan so that his back would be to where Naminé was hiding.
Clever, Aozora thought, until he heard a squawk, followed by a succession of squawks, Dr. Sherman shouting, Darla screaming, and an unfamiliar voice crying out, " Nemo!"
Marlin!
Aozora whirled around and saw a nightmare spectacle like nothing he had ever seen before.
Nigel, his throat pouch bulging full to bursting, was thrown out of the office by Dr. Sherman, who slammed the window shut and turned to Darla's mad screaming. Gill slapped her on the head madly, while Nemo struggled to breathe on the tray next to the chair the toddler sat on. She screamed at the top of her lungs, attracting the attention of just about everyone in the waiting room. Aozora turned to see Domitan and Zexion so deep in their hushed exchange that they had failed to respond to the screaming.
Is that Buzz Lightyear I'm seeing? Aozora wondered, spotting a huge action figure crammed into a basket of stuffed animals as he turned back to see Gill slap Nemo down the spit sink. Dr. Sherman was getting up, woozy as he was, and spotted Gill dying. " Whoa!"
He hurriedly picked up Gill and gently placed him in the water. Disoriented from the lack of dissolved oxygen, Gill dizzily swam his way back to the Tank Gang. Aozora, hiding in the kelp, swam forward to greet him.
" Is he going to be okay, Gill?" Gurgle asked worriedly.
" Don't worry," Gill gasped. " All drains lead to the ocean."
" I hope so," Aozora whispered as Darla screamed at the spit sink. " Fishy!"
The sink snapped and sprayed water all over her face.
''
"…now what do we do?" everyone turned to Aozora and gave him the 'eye'.
" Well, first we have to get those two blue-heads out of the way," Gill eyed the two men who were still in their heated, albeit quiet, argument. Dr. Sherman and his assistant had tidied up the place and survived Darla's massive fit as they fiddled with her braces. Dr. Sherman promised her a pet turtle. Aozora remarked that he hoped it would be a snapping turtle.
The poor doctor also kept staring out to the harbor, apparently wondering what it was that motivated the pelican to fly in with fish in his mouth.
" Hey, look, the Goth guy's moving out!" Deb exclaimed, rushing to the wall of the tank. " Flo, get out of the way!"
" And the other guy's going with him," Bubbles added.
" I hope they don't fight," Aozora said quietly. " Zexion doesn't stand a chance if he does. I'm surprised they didn't blow up the first time they saw each other."
" They're not going to fight. Zexion's just pretending to be here on the look out for either Sora or Aozora," Naminé remarked, suddenly materializing before them. " Lunch hour. Everyone's gone. Who wants to bail the fish tank?"
The Tank Gang looked at each other. Then they looked at Aozora and Gill. Gurgles, trembling as he was, stuck one fin up.
" I'm staying with the Gang," Gill responded. " Take Aozora and go. We'll bail another way."
" How, Gill?" Bloat asked. Gurgles looked ready to cry. Jacques patted him on the back sympathetically. " Oui, oui, we'll find anoza way."
" Oh, Peach read something very interesting about our Aqua Scum filter…" an evil gleam flashed in Gill's eyes.
Naminé pulled out the plastic bag. " Aozora, we have to get going. I don't know how long the lunch hour lasts."
She submerged the bag in the water and Aozora quickly swam into it. Naminé lifted up the bag, tied the top off securely, and hid it against her notebook and her body as she quietly tiptoed her way to the waiting room. Gill and the Tank Gang watched her as she slowly opened the door, peeked out both ways, then quietly shut the door.
" Well, that's it for us," Gill looked at the others. " Nemo's finally gone, and so did Aozora. We're going to trash that Aqua Scum like nothing this dentist's ever seen. And when he bags us, we roll for freedom. Who's with me?"
There were no doubts, no dissenting voices, as everyone – with the exception of Peach – raised their fins and claw.
""
" You've got some weird spell on you," Naminé told Aozora as she hurried to a lonely side of the harbor. She looked around warily, then rushed into the dock between two great sailing ships, gleaming white in the Australian sun. " I'll just fix it…and then you'll be on your way."
" Where to?" he asked wearily. He didn't care where he was going, as long as someone was directing and providing the means for him to get there.
" There's a train station here," she answered, carefully setting her notebook down on the dock and picking up the bag. " I've a train ticket for you. Make sure you board the right train. If you don't, it'll be a while before we try and bail you out. The Order's scrambling; someone's gotten wind of Zexion's allegiance and Kairi's stumbled onto something somewhere out there. Something big."
Aozora's heart pounded. What did she discover?
" Okay, I'm going to undo the spell," she said sternly, watching him with dark sapphire eyes. " Don't kill me after I do so."
" Why would I-"
Aozora never finished; Naminé opened the bag and tossed him, flailing pathetically in the air, into the blue waters of the harbor. A flash and two seconds later, a dripping – and very angry – blond teenager scrambled onto the dock wearing only dark blue boxers spotted with white silhouettes of paupu fruits.
One had to admit he had a very nice body. Which was why Naminé was flushing as the poor Guardian stood there, dripping and ready to blow his top.
" You could've warned me about that!" he growled through gritted teeth. Naminé only giggled. Aozora looked down on himself and realized why he felt so wet. His face turned an embarrassed red.
" Luckily," Naminé remarked, yanking out some folded clothes from one of the white boats, " nobody was on that boat for two days and we had some clothes for you."
She tossed him a dark shirt with a long zipper down the front, a short-sleeved white jacket with a red collar, and dark pants that went white like his jacket one-third down. The zipper had a huge handle shaped into a sideways cross made of shining steel; she also handed over some gray and darker gray shoes with red straps on them. For the most part they looked like his original clothes but looked better…much better.
" And Yuna sent these," Naminé remarked, handing over his checkered wristband and his two rings, which were black and white. Aozora snatched at them as he yanked up the pants and nearly fell over." And I found these. Luckily it was me who found them and not someone from the Society, or else we really would've been in trouble."
She handed over a star-shaped charm made of shells and a steel necklace of a crown. Aozora swore. " Shit! I have to give those back to Sora!"
" And this," Naminé gave him a dark oblong device with a screen and a round button. Aozora cursed more violently. He totally forgot the fact that Zexion gave it to him for some very specific reasons.
" Yeah, you might want to check the device while on the train," Naminé said, then looked at him sternly. " And mind that tongue!"
" Yes ma'am!" Aozora saluted her.
" Right," Naminé said, pointing to the east. " Train's that way. You know which train to ride. Get back to Twilight Town; we've some business there you'll need to attend to before going after Sora."
She slapped a paper ticket into his hand. " And if you lose it, you'll be very, very sorry."
" What are you going to do, kick my ass?" Aozora smirked.
" Worse." Naminé grinned. " You know just what I can do."
"….right, point taken. Lesson to self: never mess with a memory twister."
Naminé giggled again, turning even redder. What was with her!
The sky suddenly flashed a shiny blue-white light, sending stars up into the sky. People all around gasped, stared, and pointed. Aozora stared. Shooting stars?
" Sora's successful once again," Naminé observed. " Nemo's good to go. As do you, Guardian. And put that shirt on; the last thing we need is a sick Guardian."
Aozora muttered something thankfully incoherent. Naminé then absentmindedly looked at the watch that she wore on her wrist – where the hell did that come from? – and stared. " You've got fifteen minutes. Run!"
Aozora stared at the ticket, read the time, yanked on the jacket and did just that – run with the ticket, the two necklaces, and the shirt in hand, down the dock and to the train station for the ride back to Twilight Town.
Chapter 60…
" This is not what I wanted! Why? Why!"
" He could get Lexeus to help him, like he said the last time we blew up his laboratory."
" What do you know of my past?"