Author's Note- ... -yawn- No more going to school with only two and a half hours of sleep... -sigh- Anyways. Sorry this got out a bit late. Part of the reason is that our internet ish being crappy again. Yeah, which reminds me, if it says 'meanwhile...' instead of the little dash thingies, that's because my computer is being crappy and won't let me fix it on the rough draft preview thingy. The other reason is because of so much school work. I swear I'm being over worked.. Anyways. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, so don't sue me. Now enjoy the fanfic while I go and get some sleep...
"Hm... One out of two of your engines have been completely and totally destroyed. We're not going anywhere." Vincent said.
Yukiro sighed. "So that's it? We're stuck here?" he asked incredulously.
"Of course not. We merely need a new engine. We can go to Midgar for it."
Yukiro looked over at Vincent. "Midgar? ...Do you think that it's still standing? Especially after everything it's been through?"
"People find a way to survive. If they broke away from the kingdom centuries ago, then I would think that they'd have made a name for themselves, hm?" Vincent suggested, raising an eyebrow. "Either way, more than likely the old military base has probably become a city by now that undoubtedly has gummi parts. I recommend we go there."
Yukiro nodded. "We shall do that, then." He said.
Vincent looked over at Riku. "You, however... I would recommend that you lose the jacket."
"What? Why?" Riku asked, frowning.
"While the Dark Knights have been as long since gone as the kingdom has, they have made quite a reputation for themselves. Even if they've been gone for centuries, they would still be known as a feared legend. The black jacket that you wear, that is their trademark symbol. And I'm telling you now, not all parts of Midgar are...friendly, to say the least..." he explained.
"Tch. Fine." Riku said, discarding it with a look of disgust. Underneath he wore blue jeans and a black cotton tank. "Let's get going, then."
"Agreed." Vincent said with a nod. "Yukiro?"
Yukiro crossed his arms and nodded. "Yes. Let's go."
Meanwhile, on Destiny Islands...
"Geez! How old did you say you were?" Tifa exclaimed while training.
Kiyoshi knocked away a punch. "Eleven."
Tifa sweatdropped. "And how long do you say you've been training?"
Kiyoshi caught her leg as she kicked and knocked her to the ground. "All my life." He said with a grin.
Tifa broke her fall karate-style and sat up. "What's your martial arts style?"
"Er... Kenjutsu." Kiyoshi said, glancing around.
Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Kenjutsu? No way. You fight with your fists and a staff-you don't even wear a sword."
"Karate?"
Tifa sweatdropped. "I take karate... You know, you're a really bad liar, Kiyoshi."
Kiyoshi smiled, rubbing the back of his head as he sweatdropped. "You really think so?"
"It's completely obvious." Tifa replied as Kiyoshi shoved his hands into his pockets and walked a few feet away to stare out over the ocean. The salty sea breeze toyed with his obsidian-colored hair as his blue eyes hinted worry and a bit of loneliness.
'Sakura...Taro...Hyotoko... What happened to you guys? Where are you? Could you be out...there? Or...is it possible that you all are...' Kiyoshi found himself unable to complete the thought.
What if they were dead? What if he could never get home? What would happen to him then? He was just a kid...he shouldn't be having to deal with this stuff. Why did he have to deal with all this stuff, anyway? Why couldn't he just live a normal life like everybody else?
He missed his home, he missed his family. His family was probably dead, or at least most of them. And his friends, they were scattered. The only people he knew on this strange new world were Kairi and Tifa. But they'd never seen or even heard of Twilight Town. With all of these thoughts, he suddenly felt lonelier than he'd ever been...
Tifa frowned and climbed to her feet. "Kiyoshi...? Oi, Kiyoshi..."
Kiyoshi blinked and looked up from the crystal-blue sapphire waves. "Hm?"
"There you go again..." Tifa sighed.
Kiyoshi blinked. "Go again? Doing what?" he asked.
"Zoning out. You're a good fighter, Kiyoshi, but you don't seem to concentrate on like...anything..."
Kiyoshi huffed. "S'not my problem. I'm ADD-Attention Deficit Disorder. My mom had it. And I don't have my medicine for it."
"Obviously." Tifa replied. "You should think of some sort of way to fix it."
"Yeah... I guess you're right." Kiyoshi sighed. He blinked. "So where's Kairi?"
Tifa sweatdropped. "Again with the randomness!"
"What?"
"-.-; Never mind..."
Meanwhile...
It stood before her, an ominous gaping hole that belonged nowhere on this island. It shouldn't have belonged on this world, period. And yet, it did. It stood there in spite.
A sparse mist flowed lightly out of the door, covering the cavern floor. The darkness inside it was mocking. Challenging.
Angering.
She hated the door. The door had destroyed their world once, it started all of their problems.
And here it was, open again.
/"Sora! Sora! Where are you? Sora!"/
There was no answer in her dreams. Why?
She had stopped hearing Sora's voice. He had been in her dreams, and now he was gone! It had been like that for the past few days...
She had to find him! For all she knew, he could be dead or dying or worse.
She hoped that none of those were the case.
She wanted the door to be shut again, but at the same time she didn't. She knew that she would have to step through it, though. It was the only way...
She felt a bit of fear, but...wasn't that natural? Sora must have looked inside while closing it, yet he didn't let any fear interfere, he shut the door. And Riku... Riku, who had to be terrified of the darkness after all that had happened to him... He allowed himself to be locked inside, he helped. He faced that without fear, or at least without showing fear. They did what they had to do. They did their part.
Now it was her turn.
Without pausing to consider, she turned on one heel and walked out, stuffing a rolled-up letter into a bottle. She waded out into the breaking waves. Her green plaid skirt swirled around her legs as she gently released the bottle. "His voice...it's left me. This time...I'll fight." She nodded. 'Maybe if he comes back... At least he'll know. And then hopefully he won't be worried. We will be reunited... I will search for him until we are!' she thought.
As she turned and ran back to the secret place, she didn't notice the small rowboat pulling up to the dock. Without a second thought, she rushed through the tunnel and came to the edge of the door to blackness. She didn't even stop there. She ran, she leaped! ...Into the never-ending darkness...
Meanwhile...
"Kairi! Kairi, wait!" Tifa and Kiyoshi called, jumping out of the rowboat and after the red-haired girl.
"Where's she going?" Kiyoshi asked.
"Where else? She's going into the secret place!"
"Secret place? What secret place?"
"Just follow me and you'll find out!" Tifa replied, running into the tunnel. Kiyoshi did as he was told and followed. They stopped at a black, gaping hole.
"Sh-she's in there?" Kiyoshi stammered, staring into the darkness.
Tifa nodded, intimidated, but not showing it. "Yeah. It's not like she had anywhere else in here to go. She must have gone off to find Sora and Riku." She replied quietly.
"Alone?!"
Tifa paused, then shook her head. "No. Not alone." She took a couple of steps towards the door, then turned to face Kiyoshi and tried to form an encouraging smile. "Well? Whaddaya say, Kiyoshi? Are you ready to go see your sister again?"
Kiyoshi blinked, nearly caught off guard.
/"From this point on, you'll have to put your training to use..."/
Kiyoshi frowned. "..." He lowered his head slightly. 'Yeah, but...Riku...I'm scared. I'm just a little kid. How am I going to change anything anyway?'
Tifa blinked. "Kiyoshi...?"
/"You're too important to get kidnapped. I would have prevented it all if I could, but I can't. Hyotoko and Sakura are being used as bait and you're the only one that's left. He has to have the responsibility to protecting you, now. That responsibility will keep him from falling into darkness for the time being."/
Kiyoshi sighed. 'Fine, then, Riku. You saved my life, I'll risk mine to keep from getting kidnapped and save Sakura and Hyotoko. We're square.' He thought. His frown turned to a determined look as he nodded. "Yes..." he said.
"Yes?"
"Yeah. Let's go."
Tifa smiled. "That's the spirit... Then don't look back...and let's go!" Tifa said, running and leaping into the door.
"Tifa!" Kiyoshi exclaimed as he stepped forward. He frowned worriedly, then nodded. "For my friends..." he said. With that, he ran...and dove into the darkness...
Author's Note- Grrr! This stupid friggin computer.. –kicks- I really hope this doesn't have a virus on it. -.-; Anyways, I recently saw the Black Cauldron for the first time, but I still can't manage to get Jungle Book. Anywho...please review! I can't promise the next chapter being out by Friday, but I'll try my best to get it out by the end of the week. I'm already working on the rough draft. Ja ne!