Author's Note-Um...First of all, the disclaimer. I own nothing! –puts up a sutra to keep the lawyers away- See? I'm just a humble fanfic writer! ...Ahem... Heh, Anyways, if anybody would like to suggest a Disney movie for the fanfic, be my guest. Oh, and by the way, to anybody that read mine and my friends' story, Tangerine, we've decided to finally finish it, so it's going to be updated now (but I will still post to this fanfic at least once a week.) So with that said, enjoy the new chappie!
Taro opened his eyes slowly and looked around. Asleep on the other end of the couch he saw a red-haired girl and in the recliner he saw Sora, sleeping as well. But...they were back at his house. How...? he wondered. He stood up and stretched, looking down at himself in confusion. Boy...I thought I was a goner for sure... He shook his head. Looking back down at himself again, he noted with distaste the blood that covered himself and his clothes. His own blood.
With that in mind, he went into the bathroom and showered. As he did, he flinched slightly. There were two rather large scars on his back. Scars he would never be rid of. When he finished showering, he went to his room and dressed, this time wearing a white shirt edged with black and blue jeans. He walked into the living room drying his hair with a towel to see Sora and the girl awake and now looking up at him expectantly.
He sighed and fell back onto the couch. "...Maybe introductions should be established..." He pointed to himself. "Kimoto Taro." He looked over at the girl. "...And you are...?"
"Nightfall Tam." The girl said with a smile. "One of the few survivors of Twilight Town..." she added quietly.
"And I'm Sora." Sora said. He looked around at everybody. "Now...what exactly is going on...?"
Taro stared at him with near disbelief. "You mean...you don't know...?!" No. Please, no...
Sora shook his head. "If I did once, I don't now. I've lost my memory, it seems. I barely even remember my own name."
"Say, Kairi...what's your hometown like? You know, where you grew up?"
"I told you before...I don't remember..."
"Nothing...at all...?"
"...Nothing..."
"...You ever want to go back...?"
"Well...I'm happy here... But you know...I wouldn't mind going to see it."
"I'd like to see it too...along with any other worlds out there. I'd like to see them all."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"Hey! ...Aren't you forgetting about me...?"
The memory was distant yet clear. Sora couldn't see the faces but he could hear their voices clearly. Three voices. Three kids. And one of those voices...was his own.
Taro felt his soaring hopes drop and shatter like bricks.
"Find and take Sora with you. He should remember how to deal with these things. He can help."
King Mickey. King Mickey had said that. He had full confidence that Sora could help fix things, that he knew what he had to do. Guess again, moron mouse... Taro thought.
He sighed and stood up, throwing his towel askew, then running a hand through his damp hair. "...I'm gonna go make some food. I'll explain while we're eating." With that said, he departed to the kitchen.
Now what? Taro wondered as he took out ingredients for soba. What am I gonna do? What can I do? He filled a pot with water and set it to a boil on the stove. I can't even get off this planet. And I'm supposed to save other planets? Not to mention that I'm stuck with two amateur strangers now that I'll probably end up babysitting. I may as well just give myself up to the Heartless right now. This is hopeless...
He began to slice vegetables when King Mickey's voice suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Don't worry. There will always be a door to the light."
What? Where did that come from? And what was he talking about? A door to the light? A door to...hope?
...Tch. Hope? What hope? In a place and a situation like this, there was no-
"Ouch!" Taro started. He winced and set down the knife, then held up his other hand to study the new, bleeding cut on his finger. As most of the things in this town did, it unearthed a memory. But this one...he just couldn't seem to push back...
-----
"Ow! Let me go, Mom! That hurts!" the ten year-old blonde yelled as his mom practically dragged him through the streets by his hair. Several people stared, but soon shrugged it off. Everyone in this part of town knew each other and what in their parts was common, and this was most definitely common.
"...No. You see? This is what happens when you run off without telling me with your friend and your cousin to the docks and start throwing fish at the sailors!" his mother ranted.
"Well why aren't you dragging Kiyoshi home like this, too?"
"...Because his dad is training him in how to be a stupid ninja and he got away. But your Aunt Hoshi will be receiving a call from me shortly, don't you worry." His mom pulled him inside.
"Grrr... Housecat..." The boy grumbled.
"Don't even start! ...You sound just like your father, the bastard..."
"Don't you like dad, Mom?"
"...It's a love-hate relationship."
"Where's the love?"
His mom shrugged. "You find it."
He knew that she was going to be sarcastic for the time being. She always was when she was mad.
"...I need to keep an eye on you. I don't trust you to stay here. So you're going to help me make dinner." His mom said, dragging him into the kitchen.
"But mom-!"
"No buts! ...Now, get started on those vegetables. I'm gonna start on the riceballs." She narrowed her eyes at him. "And don't even think that you can just sneak away on me. I'll have my eye on you, Taro."
Taro nodded quickly and turned to the vegetables. On the list of the few things that could scare him, his mom was somewhere up there. "...Though, you know...we didn't throw the fish at anyone important..." he said.
Mrs. Kimoto raised an eyebrow. "...And just who are these people that are important to you, Taro?"
"Pirates!"
"-.-; Pirates...?"
"Yeah! They're tough and they get to travel around a lot! I want to be one someday!" Taro said enthusiastically. "Yeah. I want to travel and see other worlds... Ow!"
Mrs. Kimoto walked over to him and studied his newly-cut finger and sighed. "...Taro, I don't know why your uncle is teaching you how to use kodachis when you can't even wield a kitchen knife. You're a klutz when it comes to blades." She said as she went for the band-aids. After they washed up the wound and bandaged it, his mom said, "Now...what do you wanna know about pirates?"
Taro grinned. "Everything."
-----
Taro shut his eyes tightly to try to stop the flow of lonesome tears from falling. Didn't work. A single tear ran down his cheek. Dammit, stop crying! Its only going to make you look weak. He thought angrily."...Here." A feminine voice said beside him. He opened his eyes and looked over to see Tam. She handed him a paper towel. "Now. You go clean that cut and get a bandage. I'll help you with cooking if you're really that distracted." She turned to the pot of already-boiling water. "Soba, right?" Without even waiting for a reply, she dumped the noodles in.
Taro sweatdropped, but then smiled a bit sheepishly and nodded, giving her a little thankful bow. "Arigato..." he said. Never argue with a woman... he thought, sweatdropping again. With this thought in mind, he made his way to the sink to wash his wound.
"So...who taught you how to cook?" Taro asked. "Your mom?"
Tam shook her head. "Surprisingly enough, it was my dad. My father was an exceptional cook. It's a good thing, too. The only thing that my mother could make was microwave macaroni, instant ramen, and pop-tarts." She said with a sad smile. "And you?"
"I got into a lot of trouble as a kid... My mom punished me a lot by making me cook dinner with her and then grounding me."
"Nice."
There was a long silence, save the chop, chop, chopping sound of Tam slicing the vegetables and the running water of the sink. Finally, Tam broke the silence by asking, "So what are we going to do? The Heartless have already swarmed the place; we can't hide here that much longer."
Taro blinked and glanced over at her as he turned off the sink and went to the medicine cabinet to get a band-aid. "You're staying with us...?"
"I don't really have much of a choice, do I? I'm no better off than you are; if I stay here on my own then I'll die."
"...Good point. Welcome aboard, then. Our mission is to go to numerous worlds and sealing the keyholes and saving my friends. Yeah. That's my plan. I think." Taro said with a nod, then a frown. "The problem is," he continued as he set some bowls and chopsticks down on the table, "that I don't have a clue how on how to go about that. We can't go to other worlds; I don't know how to without a ship."
"Well... How about using a gummi ship? Have you tried that yet?"
"...Gummi...what?" Taro asked, sweatdropping.
Tam sweatdropped as well. "...You mean you don't know? You really don't have a clue, do you?"
"...Don't rub it in..." Taro grumbled. He blinked. "Gummi...you mean candy, right? I don't see how a bunch of candy or a ship made out of candy is going to get us into and through outer space."
Tam sighed as she dumped the sliced vegetables in the pot. "...Definitely clueless. Where have you been? Gummi ships are the way to go these days."
"Well apparently I'm not with the times. So, fill me in." Taro said.
"Gummi is a material from asteroids and outer space that they use to build space ships with. And," Tam added with a grin, "I just happen to know a place that does just that."
That made Taro perk up immediately. It was some of the first good news that he had heard in what had seemed like years. "Really?"
Tam smiled and nodded. "Really. Yeah. We can go there soon, if you'd like."
Taro nodded. "I would, I would!" he replied excitedly.
"Okiedokie!" Tam said, turning off the stove and picking up the pot.
"No, wait, Tam!" Taro exclaimed. Tam blinked and set down the pot.
"...What?"
Taro frowned. "Is the soba even hot? I mean...you picked up that pot bare-handed. It would've burned you. It's a metal pot."
Tam went almost dead white for a second, then blinked, then frowned. "Ouch!" she exclaimed, running over to the sink.
Taro sweatdropped. Late reaction time...? He then shook his head and called, "Oi, Sora! Food!" To Tam, he turned to her and asked, "...Are you all right...?"
Tam glanced over at him, blinking, then nodded quickly. "Oh! Hai, hai! Arigato..."
Taro walked over to her. "Let me see it..." Before Tam could react, he grabbed her hands and studied them. His eyes widened slightly. Her hands were burned only slightly, but that's not what concerned him. What concerned him was the faint scars that varied in lengths but covered her hands. They were so faint, that unless you were studying her hands or looking for those scars, you wouldn't even notice that they were there.
Tam quickly pulled her hands away and back to herself. "Taro..."
"Tam...what happened to you? Who-"
Before he could finish, Sora came into the doorway and blinked. "Um...you called?" he asked, a little hesitant.
"Yes. We were just about to eat. Sit down." Tam said, quickly changing the subject and sitting down in one of the chairs.
Taro frowned, then nodded and sat down. '...I'll ask again later...and hopefully that time I will get an answer...' he thought.
"So...are you going to start explaining what's going on or what?" Sora asked, sitting down.
Taro nodded solemnly. "You, Sora, are a keyblade wilder. Just like me. About a year ago, you apparently fought legions of monsters called Heartless... You remember?"
Flash! Sora got an image of scaling a castle...scaling a castle and fighting...something... Fighting for his life. There were two people that were very important to him, two people that he had to save.
That he was trying to save.
Sora nodded. "I do remember flashes of some kind of fights...but it's very vague. I can hardly remember anything.... But those monsters outside...those are Heartless too, right?"
Taro nodded again. "Yes. And you finally defeated their leader the last time and sealed the door to darkness-Kingdom Hearts. But now...they're back."
"Is it for revenge?"
Taro shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not really all that sure."
"And their leader?"
Taro shrugged again a bit cluelessly. "No idea. Nobody knows..." He frowned. "But like I said, they're back now. And we have to go to other worlds to seal the keyholes, stop the Heartless by closing the door to darkness, and saving my friends. You guys in?"
"Well..." Sora started, a bit unsure.
"Sora...if you do come...you might end up regaining your memory. You might end up finding a way back home." Tam said.
Taro nodded. "It's worth a shot. C'mon, we need you, Sora." he persuaded.
"Well...I..." Sora nodded and smiled. "Let's do it."
"I'm in too!" Tam exclaimed.
Both boys stared at her. "But...Tam...don't you think that it's going to be a little dangerous...?" Taro asked.
"Yeah. Maybe we should drop you off at somewhere that's a bit more...safe..." Sora agreed.
Tam's eyebrow twitched. "Excuse me?! Are you two trying to be sexist?" she demanded. "The whole 'Must protect the damsel in distress' thing? The 'You'll only get in our way and just be another person that we'll have to protect' thing, huh? Well I ain't buyin it! Obviously the two of you are gonna need help. Especially-" She glanced at Taro's band-aid and almost smirked. "-If you're getting defeated by a vegetable. You say this journey is dangerous? No problem, so am I. I'm coming with you two whether you like it or not and nothing's goin to stop me." She grinned, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms as if just daring anyone to challenge her or her statement.
Taro closed his eyes and sighed, but then opened them again to smile softly in defeat. "Alright then. You can come."
Tam smirked again. "Heh. Of course I can."
"One for all and all for one!"
Sora blinked. Another voice? Strange... But nevertheless, he closed his eyes and shook his head, then opened his eyes and smiled as he placed his hand in the middle of the table.
"One for all and all for one!" he quoted.
Tam and Taro blinked at the younger boy, then smiled and placed their hands on his.
"Let's do it!" Tam cheered.
Taro nodded. "Yeah. Let's go." He looked around at everyone. "Is everybody done eating?"
His two comrades nodded.
"Then let's go! Lead the way, Tam." Taro said, pulling on his black coat.
Tam nodded.
Outside, dressed in a dark blue cloak and hidden by the shadows that she stood in, stood a woman, watching the three teens leave the house and walk off down the street. Ceridwen. "It begins... Move ever forward. Remember, Sora. You will be the one that will open the door to the light. But beware. Danger lies on the road ahead of you for you all...from the inside...and the out..."
Author's Note-Well, I'll try to have more up and posted soon! Just read and review and I shall be happy and motivated. Ja ne!