For Day 11 of the Kingdom Hearts 3 Countdown Challenge - Angst. World reveal spoilers in the story and in the author's note.
"You really don't remember her, do you?" Marluxia said, tossing his hair over his shoulder with a sly smile that made Sora want to punch him in the face.
Sora's eyes narrowed. "Remember who?"
Marluxia shook his head and clicked his tongue. "It's such a shame. You were her hero. She was counting on you to rescue her. How do you think she feels about you forgetting her?"
"Huh?" Donald and Goofy both said.
Sora looked at the two of them, then back to Marluxia. At least they were as confused as he was.
"Who was counting on me to—"
"Well, I suppose there are a lot of people counting on you now. But you've already failed at least one of them."
He glanced behind him, and Sora gasped. "Rapunzel!"
She was with someone Sora hadn't seen before, a woman with dark curly hair and a long cloak.
Oh no, he'd promised to keep her safe, he had to make sure she was—
"She reminds me a lot of her, you know," Marluxia said. "Of Naminé."
Sora skidded to a halt as Donald and Goofy continued on. "Naminé? You know Naminé? Marluxia, wait, you have to tell me—"
But the Corridor of Darkness Marluxia had summoned had already closed, and Sora's hand grabbed wisps of black smoke. There was a strange, hollow ache in his heart, and he wasn't sure why.
"I… forgot about Naminé? Is that why I can't remember why I'm supposed to thank her?"
His heart pounded as he racked his brains trying to remember. Why had he forgotten her? Why couldn't he remember what had happened? It was there, the memories were lurking somewhere in his heart, he just knew it, so why wouldn't they come to the surface?
Hang on.
He reached into his pocket and took out Kairi's good luck charm. For a moment it wasn't its usual shape. It looked like a paopu instead.
"Naminé?"
Then the moment was over and it was back to its usual form, thalassa shells and all, and that snapped him to his senses.
"Oh no, Rapunzel!"
He tucked the charm back into his pocket and raced over to Donald and Goofy. By the time he reached them, the mysterious woman was gone, and Rapunzel along with her.
"We can't find her anywhere!" Donald quacked, panic in his voice and eyes.
Goofy searched behind a log, behind a rock, behind a tree. "She just upped and disappeared, and Eugene's still missin', too."
Sora groaned. "Of course. Marluxia's probably working with whoever kidnapped her. He was the distraction. C'mon, we have to find her. Eugene, too, if we can."
As they took off in search of any clues, Sora's thoughts kept wandering back to Naminé.
He'd forgotten her. He didn't remember anything after when he and Donald and Goofy had arrived at Castle Oblivion until they'd all woken up in that white room in Twilight Town.
And not only that. Kairi had forgotten him. He knew that from his dream. She'd talked to Roxas and begged to know his name, and Sora had to give her a hint to jog her memory. All his friends had forgotten him for a while, too. The Restoration Committee had told him as much.
Could the two things be linked?
He pictured Naminé the last time he'd seen her, in the dream. She'd looked sort of sad. Alone. She and Roxas had each other now, except…
Sora hadn't kept his promise to Kairi, and that meant she and Roxas were apart now, too. His heart hurt a little more at the thought.
And if what Marluxia said was really true, if she was his friend, how could he have forgotten her?
Well, one thing was certain. When they met again, he didn't just want to thank her.
He wanted to say sorry, too.
A/N: A big thank you to Rapis-Razuri for inspiring this story! She pointed out the parallels between Rapunzel and Naminé, and the wheels got turning in my head and from there this idea was born.
I really do wonder if Sora's missing memories of Naminé will be explored in the Tangled world, as Marluxia seems to be heavily involved and it would be the perfect opportunity. Guess we'll find out soon!
As always, thank you for reading!