AN/ yay for me explaining what my poor planning didn't bother to expand upon during Falling to Pieces in the form of flashbacks...!
also, I have determined that the Marluxia Replicas are all named after flowers. YAY FOR REAL NOW!
Chapter 41: Burden of a Memory
The way things went, Sora and Leon ended up off on their own fighting Heartless away from everyone else. Sora decided he might use this time to ask a question he'd been thinking about. Aerith wasn't nearby, so… it had to be a decent time to ask, right?
"So… can you tell me who Zack is now?" Sora asked Leon.
Leon staggered mid-step, almost letting a Heartless get him in his surprise. He killed it before it could hurt him, but it was enough to make Sora realize perhaps now hadn't been the best time for the question.
"R- right," Leon answered, as if he'd forgotten that Sora'd tried to ask just minutes ago. "He was… a good friend." There was a tightness in his voice, and he wouldn't look at Sora. After a second he laughed, though it sounded a little forced. "Aerith's, um, boyfriend, actually."
"Oh," Sora said. That explained… a bit. Kind of.
"He's… he's gone now, though," Leon said. He still wouldn't look at Sora, and there was a tightness in his shoulders.
"Gone? What—" Sora began, but Leon cut him off.
"Not now. We need to focus on the Heartless."
"Oh, right!" Sora laughed. "Good point." The Heartless around were actually pretty weak right now, and multitasking shouldn't have been a problem, but Sora knew when a subject shouldn't be pressed anymore. Leon clearly didn't want to talk about it, so…
They wouldn't talk about it.
Still, I wonder what happened, Sora thought, with a frown and a huff of breath. Why is it no one wants to talk about him?
He sighed and returned to focusing on killing Heartless. More annoying ones were beginning to sprout up.
xxx
Eventually everyone was forced to the main section of town, where all the Heartless were. Cid was complaining, because they didn't have enough time to move his cannon. However, the Heartless problem at the center of town had become urgent and had to be dealt with immediately.
Sora glanced around, taking in his surroundings as quick as he could. The Heartless they were up against were Invisibles, Angel Stars, and Darkballs, each of which were annoying for their own reasons. Invisibles had a nasty attack where they surrounded you in a ring of fire, which could only be escaped by jumping at the right time. Angel Stars liked to guard the only spot they were vulnerable every time you got close to them, and cast nasty magic. The Darkballs actually weren't too terrible, unless many surrounded you.
Everyone was on their own, though Aerith was curing everyone, like she always did. Cid was currently taking out a Darkball with his spear. Yuffie was doing her best to stop an Angel Star from casting magic. Leon was being bothered by an Invisible. Cloud was taking care of another Invisible.
Sora noticed that there was an unguarded Angel Star by him, and quickly attacked it before it could compose itself. Once that was taken care of he turned, killing a Darkball behind him with a quick combo. He paused, noting that he had been caught in one of those rings of fire. He frowned and then counted to three and jumped. However, he jumped too late, and the fire caught him by the ankles, tripping him.
He frowned and then rolled over, casting a few rounds of Blizzard at the nearest Invisible. They all hit their mark, stunning it momentarily. Sora quickly jumped to his feet and rushed forward, finishing it off with a couple of quick strokes of his blade.
"Watch out!" he heard Cid shout, and he turned. Cid quickly rushed over and stopped an invisible from attacking Aerith.
"Thanks Cid," she laughed.
"No problem," he grunted, still trying to keep the Invisible away.
Sora turned, taking care of a few Darkballs. There was a sudden cry of pain, and he turned in shock. Cid was on the ground, blood pouring from a fresh wound. Aerith was frantically trying to heal him. Sora quickly rushed over.
"Leave me alone!" Cid told Aerith, batting her away. "Worry about the Heartless, I'll live!"
"But-" Aerith began.
"Go!"
Aerith sighed and turned, getting rid of some Angel Stars with her magic. Sora took out the Invisible that had taken out Cid. He turned back to Cid and grimaced. There was a nasty gash on Cid's leg, his pants were torn, and there was plenty of blood. He turned away and quickly went back to killing Heartless.
And the Heartless went down easily after that. Before long Leon and Cloud were helping Cid limp back to the Headquarters. Aerith hurried after them. Sora banished his blade and turned to Yuffie. She said nothing and ran off. Sora sighed and followed after everyone.
xxx
Sometime after returning to Headquarters Cid was upstairs, Aerith was still trying to heal him, and everyone else was downstairs. Yuffie was complaining, but was being ignored. Leon was in the kitchen, trying to find something to eat. Sora was sitting on one of the couches, reading through Kairi's letter again (and feeling sort of like Riku because of this). Cloud was leaning against a wall, deep in thought.
Kairi doesn't hate me? Sora thought, yet again.
That seems to be what I'm picking up from this letter… but…
I still don't understand.
Not after-
He gasped suddenly, as dark images from that time flickered through his mind. He clutched his head and gritted his teeth. The darkness started to rear up inside him, and his form began to flicker.
"Really?" he whispered. "Just really right now?"
"Sora?" Leon called, noticing what was going on.
Oh, no need to worry about me, I'm just peachy! Sora thought, almost bitterly. He shook his head.
What am I thinking? I'm not like-
He gasped, as another wave of darkness washed over him.
It hasn't been this bad for ages now! he thought frantically.
What's the deal!
"Shouldn't we do something!" Yuffie asked. Her voice sounded frantic, almost scared.
Cloud shook his head. "There's nothing we can do to help," he said. "He can fight this alone."
Yeah, thanks, Sora's bitter thoughts added.
Stop thinking like that! he scolded himself immediately. That's not all what-
The images flickering through his mind suddenly came to a halt, stopping on one particular one. Quite a few different emotions welled up inside him, as if he was reliving the moment that accompanied that image.
"So Kairi, what do you want to do today?" he asked, turning to grin at her.
Kairi shuffled her feet nervously. "I guess I don't mind, as long as I can stay with you."
Sora laughed. "Sure, you can definitely-"
Something changed within him. The darkness shrunk away, the light of this moment becoming too much for it to bear. Sora's smile slowly fell, his carefree attitude slipped away. Bitterness and anger began to well up inside of him.
He had better things to be doing.
"Kairi, I'm busy," he said, turning away from her. "You're going to have to find something else to do."
"But, Sora," she began.
"Just leave me alone, okay?" he snapped. "I've got to take care of something."
Sora felt like he was going to be sick.
How can she forgive me, after THAT? he wondered, a tear or two rolling down his cheek.
The darkness and the memories slowly began to fade away.
Man, if this is what a memory meltdown feels like, I feel sorry for Namine, he couldn't help but think.
I feel terrible.
He slowly glanced up and was confronted with four worried faces. Aerith had joined them. She stood halfway down the stairs, looking as confused but concerned as everyone else. Yuffie actually looked a bit scared, Leon just looked worried. Cloud… he stared at Sora with worry and understanding.
And for some strange reason, Sora panicked.
He might have been scared, or maybe it was the darkness inside of him that was scared.
But he reached into his pocket, grabbing his star shard.
He activated it.
The room before him disappeared. However, he hadn't been thinking of what World he wanted to go to, and he only ended up somewhere else in Hollow Bastion.
But he didn't care.
He went over to a nearby wall and slowly sat down next to it. After a second he hugged his knees to his chest and started sobbing.