The stars lit up the night sky, flickering and dancing in the world's atmosphere. One flickered rapidly, and then suddenly seemed to be swallowed by darkness itself.
"The Heartless aren't wasting any time...." BHK sighed. "But I wonder, who's controlling them this time? Or are they acting on their own?"
"What'd you say?" Kairi asked, walking calmly to join him. BHK shook his head. "Nothing, I was just talking to myself...So! Are you all packed? Ready to go? Cid says we should be out of here by tomorrow."
Kairi nodded. It was the same night that the fight between BHK and the Heartless took place. "Yeah. I'm ready." Kairi answered. They were quiet for a while, each wondering what the future had in store for them. "Do you have any idea as to where he is? I mean where do we start looking? There are so many worlds..."
"I have no clue whatsoever." BHK said, sighing again. "But I'm sure he'll turn up. Besides, there's another quirk about traveling with you, Kairi."
Kairi raised an eyebrow, "And what may that be?"
"Your heart." BHK stated simply. Although it wasn't so simple to Kairi. "My heart?"
"Your heart. See, you and Sora are connected. Much like the world's themselves." BHK said, gesturing toward the remaining stars. "Although yours is a connection of Light. Not ties to the Dark. You are searching for him, and I'm positive that he is looking for you as we speak. It is inevitable that you will meet again, But...."
"But what?"
BHK hung his head. "I just don't know how long before we find him is all. I'm sure it won't take too long, you both have very strong hearts, you being one of the Princesses, and he being a Keyblade Master, and the connection between those hearts is strong as well. But I have to warn you. It could be many weeks, months or even years before we find him again. The whole interlocked hearts thing is a cute idea, but we still have Time and Space to deal with."
Kairi nodded. "But it doesn't matter." She said. "I know we'll find him."
"That, m'dear, is a very good attitude to have. You better keep it too. Negative thoughts won't help us, not on this journey." BHK trailed off, squinting at something up above him.
'What is that?' He thought. There was something, or someone standing on the roof of a high tower. BHK strained to get a good look at the person but before he got locked onto the figure a voice called out from behind him.
"Hey! It's just about ready! C'mon in!" Cid yelled. BHK was broken from his trance and turned back to call to the former pilot. "Sure! We'll be there in a sec!" BHK turned back to the tower. The person was gone. BHK turned again and followed Kairi into the shop, feeling a horrible sense of foreboding.
The two re-entered the shop, looking around for Cid. He had just emerged in the back doorway, rubbing his hands with an old rag to clean of oil and grease. "Well, come on back. You'll want to see what we've got here." Cid strode back through the door and Kairi followed. Leon had been sitting by the counter, but he too got up to see the redone ship.
Cid led them to his Garage. Old and new parts to ships lay scattered all over the place. Blueprints lined the walls and an old sketchbook laid on a table. The place was a mess. BHK thought that it was the perfect area for a Garage.
In the middle, suspended by a lift, was the Gummi ship. It looked like a standard ship except that the color was redone. It was black with the usual tan color changed to a midnight blue. It was beautiful.
"Great job Cid" BHK said, having deep respect for the Gummi builder within the old man. Cid took on a happy grin and then started to give them a grand tour. He started around the back of the ship.
"You've got two standard compact engines, both connected to the Warp gummi installed into your Navi system." explained Cid. BHK whistled. "A free Warp gummi...Wow Cid, you must really like us."
Cid gave a half-hearted frown. "If you keep teasing me like that kid, you'll barely get a wing. Try flying with that!" But Cid continued moving around the ship, giving explanations and little comments about it.
"We've got you a standard turret on each wing. And below them, you've got two regular laser cannons, underneath the wings." Cid said, however there was a warning tone in his voice. "A decent pilot should be able to stay safe with those weapons, but once the more advanced Heartless ships start rolling in, jet on back here with the Warp and we'll fix you up. But don't expect many more freebies!"
BHK nodded. "Thanks Cid" he said. "Our search couldn't even begin without you...." BHK ran a hand along the ship, silent. "...I guess we'll be leaving in the morning then, after we get our last bit of rest."
"Be careful" Leon warned again. "As I told you, the Heartless are just as fierce in space as they are on the ground."
BHK grinned. "Don't worry Squall. We'll check back in every now and then just to prove we're ok. I don't want you to stay up all night wondering how we're doing...." BHK said this with a teasing tone in his voice, but Leon didn't react violently.
BHK turned to Kairi. "I'll go get some minor necessities for our trip. Stay back here with Cid and Squall. I'll be back in a flash." BHK thanked Cid one more time and left the store.
BHK returned an hour and a half later, his hands grasping many bags. Kairi looked through them and pulled out a bag of "Nacho Cheesier" Doritos. When asked if these were the "necessities" that he had mentioned, BHK said, "Can't have a road trip without snacks!" and laid down on the sofa.
Kairi made a nice pasta with shrimp and biscuits for dinner and afterwards, BHK and Kairi retired to the upstairs. Yuffie was already snoring in one of the beds and Kairi took the bed next to her. However she was surprised when BHK came over and sat next to her.
"Kairi" He said, looking at her meaningfully.
"Yes?" She asked puzzled.
"If you ever get separated from me, use these." He said pulling out three objects from behind him. "?" Was the look Kairi gave him.
"This," he said holding up a watch, "is a watch, however, with this button here, you can open and close the Gummi ship's cockpit. If you've locked it, you should be alright in there until I get back. I've got my own watch too so the other button will call me if you get into trouble of any sort. I'll get there as fast as I can. Also, only yours and mine will be able to open the ship." He handed over the watch. "Keep it with you at all times, Kairi." Kairi nodded her understanding.
BHK now turned to the remaining two items. "For the same situation, I got you these. I couldn't really picture you as a great sword fighter, and my extremely active imagination scared me when I pictured you with a whip so this'll have to do."
It turned out to be an old crossbow, and the second item was a bundle of arrows. "Now, I'm sure that you won't be the greatest shot in the world immediately, but if you point this thing at somebody's face, I'm pretty sure they'll back off." Kairi smiled slightly. "I put a bit of a spell on the arrows so they'll be a little more effective."
"What spell?"
BHK shrugged. "A simple variation of the Fire spells. If you aim right, those arrows should set a small area on fire with contact, so please don't aim at me." Kairi let out a small giggle as BHK stood up. "Good night Kairi." He strode back over to his own bed and wrapped himself in the covers. "Good night." Kairi placed the crossbow and arrows under her bed, but strapped the watch on her wrist.
She put out the light near her bed and rolled over in the darkness. "Cool" she whispered. "It even glows in the dark..." Kairi heard a faint chuckle.
The next morning was a little rushed. BHK wanted to get started soon, but to be truthful, Kairi wanted to set sail even sooner. They ate a small breakfast and put the "necessities" in the ship. BHK and Kairi both climbed in as Leon, Yuffie, and a proud Cid watched.
"Be sure to scan your fingerprints on the computer!" Cid called up. "That way no one but you will be able to use it!"
"Gotcha!" BHK called back. On the Gummi ship's dashboard was a blank screen. "This must be what Cid was talking about." BHK muttered. As if on cue, the screen flashed and words began to type themselves across it.
"Number of new Users?" It read. "Two" said BHK. The screen flashed again.
"First and Primary User: Please place hand on screen to commence scanning." BHK did as he was told and a horizontal line of light moved from the bottom of his hand to the top again. "Scan complete. Preferred interface?" It asked.
"Voice command with manual as backup." The screen remained blank for a second, but then read: "Voice patterns registered. User Name?"
"BHK"
"Login Complete."
After that: "Secondary User: Place hand on screen to commence scanning." Kairi was about to climb over the first seat to get her hand on the screen but Cid called again. "There's a screen on the back of his chair Kairi!" She sat back. So there was. She blushed at her mistake and placed her hand on the screen. The horizontal line reappeared and Kairi could feel her hand tingle.
"Scan complete." The computer screen typed, "Preferred interface?" Kairi said the same thing as BHK.
"Voice patterns registered. User Name?"
"Kairi"
"Login complete."
BHK poked his head out of the window. "Okay Cid! We're just about ready to go!"
"Right! Light'er Up!" BHK withdrew his head and punched a red button. The Gummi ship began to levitate on its own, dropping only slightly when the lift was removed. Kairi was now the one to pop her head out. "Thanks again Cid! We'll see you soon!!" Cid nodded and flicked his nose with his thumb.
BHK rotated the ship slowly with dual joysticks. The garage door slowly opened as the ship aligned. BHK pressed another button and flipped a series of switches. The ship started to shudder as the engines fired up.
"And we go in 3...2!....1!!" The engines blasted them forward through the door. BHK slowly pulled back on the sticks and the ship's nose angled upward. They picked up speed and shot through the world's atmosphere.
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