Chapter 5

Sora: Day 10

Over the last few days of training, Sora had noticed himself become stronger. He had no way of knowing how strong he was before he'd lost his memories, but that didn't really matter to him. All he knew was that he needed to keep getting stronger to protect Naminé.

Why did he need to protect Naminé again? He couldn't remember.

There were those two boys that he fought… yesterday? The day before?

It was hard to keep track now.

He cast his gaze around his room, scanning each of Naminé's drawings. She had pinned a few more to the walls, and he thought there may be some missing.

One in particular caught his eye. It was a drawing of himself in his cloak holding his Keyblade. The other boy in the drawing (Riku, his mind supplied after a second) had his peculiar sword in hand. What caught Sora's attention the most, however, was the expressions. The fact there were expressions in the first place was odd. In each of the other drawings around the room, Naminé drew simple expressions, typically choosing to focus more on the scenery or the action. This was the only drawing Sora knew of where he could see the expressions, and he wasn't sure he liked what he saw.

Sora's own expression seemed to be that of anger. His eyes were narrowed in concentration, brows furrowed, ready to fight. Riku's own expression… Was that sadness? Sora looked closer. Riku's eyebrows were arched up, and it even looked like tears were streaming down his face. His sword was visible, though it wasn't held in his fighting stance.

The longer Sora looked at this drawing, the more it made his heart hurt. He knew that he and Riku had grown up with Naminé and… her… but were he and Riku still friends? Why did he feel so much hurt? Did Riku want to hurt Naminé?

At that thought, Sora stepped back. He had to protect Naminé at all costs. No matter what.

Even if it meant fighting his old friend again.

He heard a Dark Corridor open and wrenched his gaze from the drawing. The Superior stepped through.

"I've been impressed with your progress," Marluxia said. "It seems you've retained your abilities."

Sora gave him a brief nod.

"I think it's time to give you your first mission." Sora couldn't help the thrill of excitement he felt. This would be his first mission that he could remember, and he wouldn't let the Superior down! "But first, let's discuss why we're doing missions."

"…Okay?" Sora definitely wasn't expecting that. He was just ready to get out there, and maybe even see a new world!

"Not so long ago, oh, about eight months, I was found by Organization XIII. I had only recently become a Nobody, but I had no sense of who I was before then. See, like you, I lost my memories. The leader of the Organization promised that, should I join him, I would recover my lost memories. It wasn't long after that a former associate and I realized that our leader never actually intended to reward our efforts. Instead, he wanted to keep it all for himself. He never actually intended to help me restore my memories.

"Now, however, I have the ability to do just that, thanks to Naminé. Not only that, with you by my side, we can exact revenge on Xemnas and all who stand with him."

Sora crossed his arms. Revenge? He didn't realize that that was what he was training for. Just the thought of revenge on anyone made his stomach churn.

Did he know this when he started working for the Superior?

How long had he been working for the Superior?

…What kind of person was he like before he lost his memories?

That question scared him the most. He had no idea who he used to be. Only a name and what Naminé told him.

What would Naminé think?

He was dimly aware that the Superior was talking, but none of his words made it to his head. Then, it took him a few moments to realize that Marluxia had quit speaking and was instead staring at him. Sora blinked and shook his head.

"Interesting," the Superior said. "You have lost your memories and still feel strong emotions. Granted, you are – well, mostly – whole."

Sora wasn't even sure what to say to that. Instead, he tried to focus on what the Superior was saying.

"To repeat myself, there is a member I would like to recruit to our cause: Number IX, Demyx, like the element that he controls, he tends to stick to the path of least resistance. Your mission is to either sway him to our cause or destroy him."

Sora couldn't help his gasp. Marluxia narrowed his eyes.

"Superior?" he finally asked. Marluxia nodded, giving Sora permission to continue. "What kind of person was I before?"

The Superior was silent for a few moments. He seemed to be making some quick decisions. "That doesn't matter now. Who you were is no more. You are now the Keybearer, chosen to take down the Organization."

Sora shook his head. "That's not me." He instantly snapped his mouth shut. He had never (that he could remember, anyways) spoken out against the Superior. He kept silent and straightened up as he waited to see what Marluxia would do.

The Superior's expression never changed from that narrow-eyed glare from moments earlier. "I see that some of who you were has decided to peek out. Remember, you are not that person anymore. Your role as the Keybearer is to take down the evil that is Organization XIII."

The more Marluxia told him, the more questions he had. Who exactly was this Organization? Were they really evil?

Sora almost didn't notice the Superior speaking to him again. "There are times I almost envy you, Keybearer. The rage, the horror your feel. I can almost imagine what emotions are like. But for our purposes, you won't be needing those."

Sora's brow raised. "I won't need my… emotions?"

"We won't turn you into a Nobody like myself. You're much more useful as you are. Naminé?"

Marluxia turned, and Naminé, via a Dark Corridor, entered from behind.

Sora felt his heart pound. "Naminé? W-what are you going to do to me?" He couldn't even begin to comprehend the pain that was in his chest. This was Naminé, his best friend, someone he depended on.

The girl before him flinched and curled up on herself. "I'm so sorry, Sora. I don't want to do this."

Marluxia sneered. "You'll do it, or I'll turn you into a Dusk."

Sora didn't know what a Dusk was, but he was sure Naminé didn't want to get turned into one. He didn't want her to get turned into one, either. He swallowed his fear. He would have to trust that Naminé would still take care of him after this. And that was terrifying. "Just do it, Naminé," he found himself saying. No matter what, he didn't want to see her hurt.

But when her eyes met his, he knew he had already done just that.

Sora had no idea anyone could look this hurt.

Her eyes were filled with tears, and she shook her head.

Sora took a deep breath and tried to smile. "I'll be okay."

"Your heart's already damaged enough," Naminé responded, her voice barely audible. "I don't know what blocking your emotions will do to it."

Sora looked to the Superior, whose frown had deepened further. He turned his gaze back to Naminé. "Please, just do it," he said. "I don't want you to get hurt. I don't care what happens to me, so long as you're okay."

She nodded, a few tears escaping her blue eyes.

Sora didn't ever think he'd be the cause of so much pain in those eyes.

Naminé approached him and placed a hand on his head.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

And then he was falling…

Roxas: Day 55

Roxas wasn't sure when he'd be returning to the Castle That Never Was. He figured, initially, that he'd be there as long as he needed to figure out the secrets of the 13th floor.

What he didn't figure, however, was that Kairi would want to go with him. Honestly, he should've expected her to, since she was adventurous as Sora and Riku, and Sora had left her behind when he faced Ansem.

"I don't want to have to worry about you," Roxas had told her.

"That's okay, you won't need to!" she'd replied enthusiastically and explained that Aerith had taught her magic.

Roxas hoped she was right. He was still learning how to fight with his own and Sora's fighting styles. Though they were similar, Roxas had developed his own before he'd gained Sora's memories.

It was definitely strange, entering Castle Oblivion. He had clear memories of pushing open the giant doors, conversations with Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy. Roxas hoped they were okay. It was something else entirely for him to experience it. Not with Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy.

So far so good. No headaches.

Roxas hoped it would stay that way.

Now that he was here, he didn't know if they'd be able to unravel the secrets.

That didn't mean they couldn't try anyways.

With that, he pushed open the door.

Naminé sat with her sketchpad in her lap. There were only a few lines haphazardly sketched across it. Her crayon was in her hand, but she couldn't find any strength to lift it. Her eyes were instead on the pod before her. Sora floated inside, his cloak billowing around him as if he were underwater. Could she even call him Sora anymore? She was taking more of what made him… well, him and she'd already taken his memories. Now that she was taking his emotions, what could be left of him?

A Dark Corridor opened behind her. Marluxia had to have been coming to check on her progress. She couldn't make her crayon make contact with the paper. He wouldn't be pleased about her progress. Or lack thereof.

"You've made some interesting choices," a voice that definitely wasn't Marluxia's said. Naminé didn't bother turning her head. She felt herself tense.

"I didn't have a choice, Axel," she forced herself to answer.

Axel chuckled, though it was hollow. It wasn't a real laugh like Sora's. "You know Sora would tell ya differently."

"He told me to do it," Naminé said. Her grip on her crayon tightened. She was almost sure it was going to break. "Marluxia would've killed him."

"You don't know that," Axel retorted. "If you're so sure your hero wouldn't have beaten the bad guy… well, you don't trust him all that much, do you?"

Naminé was silent. Did she trust Sora? She'd trusted – hoped – that he would come to rescue her from Marluxia and Larxene. And then they had backed her into a corner. She had to shatter his memories. He'd told her to do it. She remembered one fleeting thought she'd had right before doing it: she'd thought about trying to get away from Marluxia.

But she'd been too scared.

And she was scared now.

The silence between them was deafening. It felt like forever before Axel spoke again. "Roxas and Kairi are here."

Naminé dropped her crayon. She could feel herself shaking. "If he sees them… I don't know how he'll handle it. He already has a hard time hearing her name."

"You're her shadow, though. You've been through all his memories. Don't you think she'll do everything she can?"

Naminé couldn't argue with that. If only she had just half of the determination her other had…

"So…" Axel said. "What're you going to do about it?"

Her breath caught.

Axel never ceased to confuse her. She never knew where his intentions lay. What exactly did he want her to do?

What did she want to do?

She wasn't sure how to answer that.

She thought she knew when Sora was still floors below, on his way to rescue her.

But now that he was here?

And it was her fault he was like this anyways.

"I want to make things right," she finally said.

Axel was silent for a moment. "And how would you go about doing that?"

Naminé ran things over in her mind. She had broken the chains of memories in Sora's heart. Just because the chains were broken, however, didn't mean that they couldn't be mended.

She would need Roxas, though. No doubt, Sora's memories had followed an almost invisible chain straight to his Nobody. She would need his help later. His and Kairi's.

She hadn't dreamed she'd ever meet her. She thought Castle Oblivion was all that she would ever know. She'd feared that, once Marluxia and Larxene had finished with her, she would disappear.

Kairi was the key to Sora losing his memories.

Maybe she could be the key to eventually restoring him.

With that realization, dozens of ideas and plans flit through her head until she settled on one she thought could work.

Naminé would need for all of the right dominos to fall into place. Kairi would have to be the first one.

Decision set, she picked her crayon from the floor and began drawing.

Have a happy Holiday!