Disclaimer: Characters/Locations are property of Square and/or Disney. I own nothing.

Break The Chains That Bind Us

Chapter Six

Kaze climbed to his feet, sighing as he cast a quick glance around the roof of the Clock Tower before making his way down to the streets below. Things had happened so fast since he'd got back, and now he didn't know what to do next…

After returning from his visit to Castle Oblivion, he'd sat alone, running through everything, thinking of where to start when he tried explaining things. He'd expected his friends to show up there like they usually did, but there was no sign of them. It was only sometime later he'd left to find them himself and came across one of those same strange white creatures from that place in his dream.

Pushing aside his surprise, Kaze had summoned one of the Keyblades, intending to get rid of it; the very thought of one of those things in his home sickened him, but it had moved. He'd given chase, his thoughts so completely fixed on it that he had failed to notice the sets of eyes watching him from above.

His quarry bounced off the walls as he pursued it down an alleyway. Just as he'd caught up to it, a small dark swirl of purple and black had opened, the creature disappearing inside of it. Admitting defeat, Kaze had dismissed his weapon as he glanced around to see if there were anymore of them, puzzled at its appearance.

He'd returned to the roof of the Clock Tower and it was there that he had his first fateful encounter with a member of the Organization. The fight had been a short one, Kaze put his loss down to the fact he was taken by surprise.

The confrontation had only left him more confused. Whoever they were, they had shown a great deal of interest in Sora and his location. Didn't they already know where Sora was? Wouldn't they know he was back at that Castle with Namine? Perhaps Sora was already awake and had left…

Kaze had told them that he hadn't met Sora, which wasn't exactly a lie. He hadn't met him in person yet after all. Even more confusing had been the Organization member's surprise at seeing Kaze with the Keyblades. Didn't they already know that this would happen? Maybe he wasn't supposed to have 'awakened' yet, or maybe they had just been ill informed. Either way, the meeting had assured Kaze of one thing; he was going to have to find Sora and fast if he had left Castle Oblivion already. He wasn't going to allow any of these people to get to him first.

As he exited the Clock Tower and emerged back on the streets, he heard a voice that he recognized calling his name. Turning, he spotted the familiar face of the brown haired girl running towards him. "Kaze!"

"Olette? What's wrong?"

She stopped in front of him, doubling over to catch her breath back. "I saw flames! What happened here?"

"Ah, that." Of course, the fire that the Organization member had created up there had probably been visible all the way across town. He gave her a sheepish grin. "I kinda got into a bit of a fight…"

She inclined her to the side. "With who?"

Kaze didn't reply, instead he gently pushed her behind him as he stepped forward. More of those creatures were scurrying past ahead. He summoned the Keyblades, ignoring her startled yelp and sudden bombardment of questions. He wasn't going to give those things a chance to attack. Instructing her to stay put, he edged towards them and swung each of his weapons, disposing of those in his way. Glancing back towards Olette, he waved a hand at her, signalling for her to follow him.

She fell into step alongside him, but it didn't take long before she started her questioning again. "How did you do that? Where did you get those things? What are they?"

Double-checking to make sure they were safe for the moment, Kaze stopped and faced her. "I need your help. I have to find someone, but I have no idea where to start looking. I'm going to have to stay somewhere else for now, they know they can find me at the Clock Tower."

She frowned at him, but slowly nodded. "We can find you somewhere else to stay, but… who could find you there?"

Kaze paused. This was going to be harder than he had first thought. "The Organization… I need to find…"

"Kaze!" She cut him off, giving him a disapproving look. "You're in trouble with the Organization?"

"Sort of. I need to find someone before they do."

The answer seemed to satisfy her. Olette's face brightened. "I can help with that! What do they look like?"

Now this was going to prove interesting. Kaze smiled, "Me. He looks like me." He didn't wait for her response to that. "He and I… We're connected. His name is Sora."

"Connected? Like… a relative?"

Kaze brought a hand to his forehead in frustration. "No… Not quite." Pulling his hand away, he called Oathkeeper into it. "This is something that I can use because of Sora."

She leaned forward to look at it closer, gingerly touching it with a finger. "Like a gift…?"

He shook his head. How was he going to explain this one? "It's something that I…"

"Borrowed?"

Maybe it was better if he didn't go into any more detail. "Yes, that's it. I'm borrowing it…"

"…And you want to give it back?"

"Something like that. So, will you help me find him?"

She nodded eagerly. "It won't take long to find someone here! We can just ask around."

"No, he's not here. I don't know where he is."

She stared at him blankly. "Then, how are we supposed to find him?"

"I'll think of something." Kaze started walking again. "For now, let's just get somewhere safe where those creatures can't bother us."

"Those white things? I've seen them before, but never this many."

He spun around towards her. "You've seen them before now?"

"There's usually one or two around the place. There always have been. I've heard people say that they belong to the Organization, that they can control them. Others claim that they're the result of their weird experiments…they call them Nobodies."

Why had they appeared in his dream if they were connected to the Organization? Because of what that voice had said? That he was like them, the same as them… In-Between…

He jolted as he felt a hand tapping his shoulder. Drawing it away, Olette rolled her eyes at him. "You're always spacing out like that." Once she was sure that she had his attention, she continued, "You can stay with Hyne for now, and tomorrow…"

"That's no good. I need somewhere to stay with no other people. I don't want anyone else getting caught up in this…"

"Alright, we'll find somewhere else. Then tomorrow, we look for eh, what's his name again?"

"Sora." Kaze closed his eyes. "His name is Sora."

Neither of them said anything more as Olette guided him to one of the many empty houses in a far corner of the town. Kaze disliked the area; it was a reminder of what the Organization had done to this place. Had the people who had once lived there simply abandoned it and left, or had they all been taken away? Despite the uncomfortable feeling around there, it was at least a safe place for him to stay for now.

Assuring him she'd be back first thing in the morning, Olette left him alone. He settled himself down in a corner, taking out both Keyblades and turning them each over as he examined them. He didn't sleep, out of fear that another attack from the Organization may come, and out of fear that he'd be plagued by more strange dreams. Finding the hours weren't passing fast enough, he ventured back outside.

His short walk only disheartened him more. This entire section of the town was crawling with the silver forms of those creatures, the Nobodies… That was what Olette had said they were called. Why were there so many of them here now? Was it because of him? The thought pained him but the feeling quickly turned to anger for the Organization. This wasn't his fault; it was theirs. If they did have control over them, then they were here because of them.

Kaze was grateful when Olette returned early. He greeted her outside the building he had stayed in as she led him back to the Clock Tower. She informed him that she had told the others to meet them there so that they could lend their assistance with coming up with an idea to look for this 'Sora'.

Hyne was already waiting outside; upon seeing them returning, the blonde-haired boy hurried over to them both. "He really did look like you!"

Kaze blinked. "What?"

"I saw him, he was here. In our Clock Tower!"

"Sora? Sora was here?"

"Well, I don't know if he was who you were looking for, but he did look like you…"

"Where did he go?"

"Towards the Station, but…" Kaze was already moving. He couldn't believe his luck; Sora had come to him, to his home! "… Kaze, wait! He was with some of those weird Organization people."

Kaze didn't slow, that added information only made him quicken his pace. He heard footsteps behind him, and then Olette's voice calling out to him.

"Kaze, will you slow down? Where are you going?"

He glanced back at her. "To the Organization's main place. That's where they'll take him…"

"You can't! Kaze, stop it! Please."

This time, he stopped and turned to face her. "I'll be alright. I'll go find Sora, and I'll take care of anyone who tries to stop me! I'll stop whatever they're doing too. They'll be sorry for sending any of those creatures and messing with this town."

His words didn't seem to encourage her much; her expression only grew more worried. "You can't just walk in there like that…"

Kaze grinned. "Watch me!" Noticing her face drop even more he cringed. This really wasn't working. "I have to go. I'm sorry."

"You're just going to leave, without saying goodbye to everyone?"

"I don't have time. I don't know how long it will be before I can come back, but I will. I promise."

Olette smiled sadly. "And you'll bring Sora too, right?"

"I'll bring Sora too." Giving her a small wave, Kaze started to walk away again, leaving behind his friends and his home.


Axel stayed back, lingering around the side of the cave and watching.

Before even coming here, Axel had made sure he at least got filled on things a little better, and he'd made sure to take his time over it too. He didn't care either way if Sora and the other one found these 'Doors' or not; it didn't effect him. He'd got some satisfaction to arrive here and find that they had already took care of this one. If that meant Number Two wasn't pleased, then good. He hadn't exactly expected Number Two to be quite this mad though. Axel was glad he wasn't the one on the receiving end of that bad mood.

His instructions hadn't really been all that clear, so Axel had figured he was 'helping' out enough by keeping the other one out of the way while his wonderfully efficient 'partner' took care of things. Number Two hadn't actually expected him to do any fighting, had he? He was out of practice; observing was much more interesting. He wasn't very impressed with Sora's performance so far, he'd expected better. This was just outright disappointing to watch.

The most amusement Axel had got from this so far was dropping that particular little 'hint' to Sora's NEO. He still wanted to see how that was going to turn out; maybe he'd have to do a little interfering if Sora kept taking a beating. Both Keyblade Masters were going to be in for a surprise when they found that next Door…

And Axel still had another bombshell to drop too. He had been looking forward to sharing that with the crazy one, at least until he'd gone and dived through his flames. Painful, but inventive; he'd have to remember that one.

Looking up, he noticed the faint glow that Number Two seemed to be gathering for an attack. An energy based attack, from the looks of it one that was going to be particularly painful if it connected.

Sighing, Axel allowed his flames around the edges of the cave to drop. He couldn't be expected to keep them up all the time, could he? That required effort on his part. If Sora was smart, he'd realize they'd already lost this one and take the opportunity to leave.

As for leaving, it was probably about time that he made himself scarce too. Watching for a few more seconds, Axel turned around and headed for the exit.

"Move!"

Hearing Sora yell, Kaze stopped staring and threw himself to the side. Pure white energy almost blinded him as it connected with something behind him. From the sound of rocks falling, he figured it had hit one of the walls.

Even as he was pulling himself to his feet, Kaze was searching for Sora. Spotting the other boy standing on the opposite side of the cave, he felt a wave of relief flooding him. If that had have hit either of them…. He didn't need to think about that. Instead, he'd probably be better focusing on making sure Number Two didn't get the chance to pull off anymore of those attacks.

Gripping his Keyblade tightly, he rushed at the NEO swinging it. The red blades appeared once more in each of his hands before Kaze had even reached him. His own attack was blocked effortlessly by one as the second was already sweeping towards Sora.

Kaze ducked aside and felt the form of another Keyblade taking shape in his other hand; the Kingdom Key. At least with two weapons each, they were a little more even.

Both Keyblades flashed, and both pulsing blades met them in return. Number Two turned around, focusing his full attention on Kaze now. He began backing away as his cloaked opponent launched a string of violent blows. While his attempts to keep up with them distracted him, he didn't see the movement of a leg sweeping across to knock his legs out from under him.

Hitting the floor, Kaze rolled as one blade was brought down, plunging into the ground alongside him. He scrambling backwards, expecting the second to be drove into him, but it never came. Carefully sitting up, he realized why; the NEO had already diverted his attention to Sora.

Kaze stood up, ready to join back in, but he hesitated, noticing the lack of flames. He shot a glance towards the cave's exit. The fact that it wasn't blocked anymore wasn't what caught his attention, something was going on outside. From the small patch of clear sky that he could see from his position, he could make out flashes of silver and white tear shapes streaking across it.

Whatever it was, Number Two appeared aware of it too. One of the dark portals of swirling purple and black clouds had gathered at the rear of the cave, and the NEO was walking towards it, fight seemingly forgotten, or dismissed as un-important.

He was just walking away? Kaze gritted his teeth as he charged at him one last time. Something solid in the air blocked him; as he crashed into it, he stumbled backwards, just as the cloud swallowed up his target.

Appearing from behind, Sora joined him. "He's gone…We should probably leave before he changes his mind and comes back."

Reluctantly, Kaze followed him outside. He craned his head backwards, looking towards the sky. The blazes of light had stopped. "Did you see that?"

Sora nodded. "It looked like something I've seen before. It looked like… a meteor shower."

"Why did he leave because of that?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter, he'll be waiting again at the next Door. He must already know where they all are…"

Kaze gave a small grin. "Well, we at least know where the next one is."

Sora titled his head towards him. "We do?"

"It's on your Island, Sora. The Door that you've been looking for is back at your home."

"My home?"

"Assuming Axel was telling the truth, then yes."

For a brief moment Sora didn't move, then he was running, heading in the direction that they'd came, back towards the train. It wasn't quite the reaction that Kaze had been expecting. He hurried after him, almost struggling to keep up. "Sora!"

He slowed, allowing Kaze to catch up. The expression on Sora's face didn't seem happy; he looked troubled, his eyes haunted. "…Sora?"

The other boy started moving again before responding. "We have to hurry."

"Shouldn't we head back to Hollow Bastion first?"

"I have to get there now. We can't wait."

"Sora?" Kaze was alarmed. He'd never seen Sora so frantic before.

"He'll be there. He'll be there waiting for us."

Was he referring to Number Two? "Then let him wait. Next time, we'll be ready for him, but right now we should head back to Holl…"

"No." Sora whirled around. "Kairi is there."

He didn't need to offer any further explanation, Kaze understood. Of course he'd want to get back as soon as he could. If that lunatic was there waiting for them… Kaze knew that he'd want to get back to his home as soon as he could too. But he still felt that they were rushing into it; they were both injured from that last fight. If they went ahead like this, they weren't going to last very long during the next inevitable round.

They remained silent until they finally arrived back at the train. The vehicle was still where they'd left it; parked stationary as it waited at the edge of the grassy field.

Kaze waited until they'd boarded it before approaching Sora. "What about Riku?"

Sora's head hung slightly, as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"I think he'd want to come too. And if we're going to be going up against Number Two again, don't you think a little extra help would be nice?"

"There isn't any time…"

"Kairi will be fine. It's the Door he's interested in stopping us from getting to, not her."

There was a long pause before Sora finally turned to him. "Alright, we go back and get Riku. But then we're heading straight there."

Kaze smiled. "That's what I was planning on doing anyway."

Sora rubbed his forehead as he settled further back into the seat. Home, he was going to be able to go back home. The thought that Axel may have lied to Kaze had briefly crossed his mind, but he didn't care; there was no harm in at least going back to check, was there? If Axel was playing any of his games, he was going to be sorry for involving his home in it.

He'd wanted to take his time, to understand what it was he was supposed to be doing better, before rushing to the next Door's location, but now… now he just wanted to get there as soon as possible.

Sora shifted his gaze across to Kaze, noting the angry-looking red marks running across his arms. He had been right; running into things as they were now wasn't going to do any good.

The return trip seemed to drag out with painful slowness. His reeling mind kept repeating the same question; why his home?

The vehicle pulled up along the edge of Hollow Bastion and both Keyblade Masters wordlessly moved to the doors, their weapons in hand. As they parted, Sora expected to see that swarm they'd left behind waiting for them, but the valley beyond was empty and silent.

"I told you there wouldn't be any left for us."

He didn't share Kaze's optimism. Had the others really taken care of them all? That didn't seem likely…

Keeping an eye out of any 'surprise' attacks, Sora cautiously made his way to the front Castle gates, with Kaze sticking close behind him. Gently pushing aside the main doors, they both entered, stepping into the main hall. They were welcomed back by an enthusiastic Yuffie who guided them into the library even as she was informing them of what had happened. Or rather, attempting to. Sora was already lost, though he picked out the words "completely wiped out" and "Riku".

Namine emerged from behind a row of bookcases, accompanied by Aerith. As Sora allowed her to see to his arm, he turned to Namine. "What happened? There's none of those things left."

The memory witch slowly shook her head. "We didn't do anything." There was a slight hesitation before she continued. "Riku did."

"Riku?"

"He did something." She paused, seeming to consider her choice of words. "There was something like a meteor shower that he called down."

Sora and Kaze exchanged a startled glance. "A meteor shower?"

"Whatever it was, there was none of those Nobodies left when it had finished."

"You think that's why he left?" Kaze asked. "They have some kind of connection to be able to control those things, right?"

That wasn't the main question that Sora was wondering about. Why had they seen it from where they were? "Where's Riku now?"

"The Chapel. He hasn't moved from there since he came back."

Sora immediately moved towards the door, only stopping to face Kaze as he followed him. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

Leaving him in the capable hands of Aerith so she could see to his own injuries, Sora headed for the Chapel.

He found the older boy standing motionless at the far end of the room. He turned around slowly as Sora entered. "Back already?"

"What did you do, Riku?"

"I got rid of them. Aren't you pleased?"

"Couldn't you have done that before?" Sora didn't wait for an answer, that wasn't what he'd come to speak to him about; he could leave that until later. He was wasting time. "We found the next Door." He watched his friend's expression carefully, gauging his reaction. "It's on our Island, Riku."

If Riku was surprised, he didn't show it. "You want me to come with you?"

The question almost sounded like he was amused. Sora's eyes narrowed. "You don't want to?"

"I can't go back, Sora. Not yet."

"We need your help!"

"I'm not coming with you." Riku walked past him to exit the room, the simple movement bringing their conversation to an end.

He hadn't even considered the possibility that Riku would be un-willing to go with him. Why wouldn't he want the chance to go back home? "What about Kairi?" Sora spoke so quietly, he wasn't sure that Riku would even of heard him, but the fading footsteps behind him halted.

"Tell her that I'll see her soon."

The footsteps resumed, leaving Sora completely alone.

Note's: Hm, not too happy with this chapter, but I can't figure out what it is that I'm not pleased with.

Yay for official names for BHK's friends so I didn't have to think up my own! Flashback sections have now caught up with the events of SITA – I intend on doing just a few important "Kaze-only" events that were mentioned, but not in detail. Sort of a look at things from his side during certain parts.

Next stop: Destiny Islands… That should prove interesting. And no worries; just because that's next doesn't mean it's nearing the end – I'm sure something will come up there. ;)

Check out the amazing new PV trailer on KHU if you haven't already – woahomg! (I love the new verse in Passion!) The official soundtrack listing has also been leaked, however, if you don't want to be spoiled AVOID looking at it. It contains some serious spoilers – from BHK's name to a huge hint at who the final boss will be.