Chapter 99: Something Very Wrong

Sora banished his blade and did his best to regain his composure. He was still a bit shaken from the mere sight of the Heartless, being hit by dark fire, and… he couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the Heartless. He knew he had no reason to, but that whimper it cried at the end…

"Are you alright?" the Mouse asked.

Sora nodded. "Yeah. Just a bit…" he trailed off. There were a million questions running through his head right now. But for some reason, not a single one of them concerned the Mouse and who he was or where he came from. What Sora really wanted to ask was:

"Do you think he was right?"

"Hmm?"

"That man, in the cloak," Sora clarified. "He… he said that what was happening was merely a result of my own actions. Do you think that he meant… my darkness? And if he did… is he right?"

The Mouse was silent for a moment. He looked like he wasn't quite sure what to say. Sora felt a bit bad, now, for asking the question. But… he had to find out, and for some reason he felt like this Mouse might just have an answer for him.

"Well, that man was a member of a group known as Organization 13," the Mouse said finally. "I'm not sure if you should be trustin' him."

Sora laughed slightly. "I supposed you're right," he admitted, scratching his head a bit nervously. "I mean, he did try and frame me. And I saw him summon most of those Heartless. But…" He sighed. "It can't be coincidence that what we just fought looked exactly like a monster from my childhood fantasies."

"Well, if it was your darkness, maybe it was tryin' to take physical form, and-"

"Again?" Sora muttered, confused.

His darkness had already taken physical form once before, hadn't it?

His Shadow was a physical representation of his darkness, wasn't he?

"What d'ya mean?" the Mouse asked.

"Nothing," Sora said—except, he didn't say it. His mouth moved without him telling it to, his voice formed sounds without his consent.

"I'd rather you NOT mentioning me, thanks," his Shadow said, and Sora scowled. Not that he was really surprised.

What, scared or something? he taunted.

"No!"

Sora would have laughed at the protest that definitely didn't sound legitimate, but instead he winced and rubbed at his head. He could pick up a couple of the thoughts running through his Shadow's head right now, and a wave of what felt kind of like… hurt… just surged through him.

And… was that the thought of Kairi?

Sora couldn't figure that out, though. His Shadow cut off all connection between them. Sora shook his head.

"Somethin' wrong?" the Mouse asked.

"Nah, nothing's wrong. I just-" Sora paused, realizing something. He laughed and turned to the Mouse. "Y'know, I've been sitting here asking you all these questions, and I haven't even bothered to ask what your name is."

The Mouse smiled.

"Call me Mickey."

Sora nodded. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sora." He had a feeling that Mickey already knew that, but he figured it would be best to introduce himself, anyway. He hesitated a moment and then asked: "So you wield a Keyblade?"

"Yup," Mickey laughed and summoned his Keyblade again for Sora to see. It was primarily blue and decorated with stars. "Why d'ya ask?"

"I just didn't know there were any other Keyblade wielders besides myself, that's all," Sora replied with a shrug. "I guess it's a good thing, though. Since there are more Keyblade wielders than just me, the fact that I screwed up really doesn't affect the universe in some devastating way or anything."

Mickey laughed, a little awkwardly, and banished his Keyblade. "I guess... that's one way to look at it."

Sora laughed, too, though his laugh was a bit nervous. "Yeah. Pity that doesn't fix all my problems," he muttered.

If it did… well…

I wouldn't be in the mess I'm in now.

He turned away, his eyes finding a spot to focus on, though he didn't really see what they were staring at.

Not only in a painful struggle with the darkness…

But afraid to go home-

Because of what might be waiting for me…

Or who might not be…

He sighed.

"Gosh, Sora, are ya sure you're okay?" Mickey asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "Just… thinking about Kairi…" He sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. "She's… my best friend," he explained, then swallowed. "Well... she was…" For some reason, the thought hurt more than it usually did.

Like… something was different…

Like… he knew that was true, instead of just having his doubts.

He swallowed again. "I… I'm not sure how she feels about me after all that happened." It was hard for him to form the words. "I… I wouldn't be surprised if she hated me…"

Suddenly, that thought had more weight to it than uncertain doubt. Now, there was a cripplingly real weight attached to it.

Like… it was actually true.

He was beginning to feel sick.

"Aw, don't worry!" Mickey said. "I bet she'll forgive you."

Sora did his best to contain the bitterness that flared up inside of him. "How do you know?" he asked, fighting to keep his voice even. "You don't know her, and you've only known me for ten minutes!"

Mickey smiled. "Ya have a point," he laughed. "But even after only ten minutes, I can tell your heart is in the right place. An' that's what counts!"

Sora made a face, thinking about that. He clutched his chest.

"What… counts…" he repeated, slowly.

"You're sorry for what you did, aren't ya?"

"More than anything else…" he whispered. "But… how am I supposed to apologize for-"

"She'll understand!"

Sora looked up at him, shocked. Mickey was grinning.

"Friends always understand ya, even when no one else does."

Sora stood there for a moment, letting that sink in. Then he smiled, too.

"I guess you're right…" he said, slowly.

And yet…

There was still an awful feeling in his gut. Like something was terribly wrong. Even the reassurance of what Mickey had just said couldn't wipe it out. There was something…

Something about Kairi…

Something had happened…

Mickey frowned. "Gosh Sora, this really seems to be eatin' ya."

Sora shrugged.

"It's just… hard… not knowing…" he muttered, rubbing his neck.

"Well if ya want to know so bad, then why don't ya just go find out?" Mickey laughed.

"Because…" Sora began, but then paused. He swallowed.

Yes, he was scared to know. Yes, he wasn't quite ready for an answer, no matter what it might be. Yes, some of it was that he just didn't quite want to find out yet, because not knowing seemed better than being faced with an ugly truth.

But…

That wasn't at all why he wasn't going home to her.

"Because I don't want to go home until I'm sure that I won't hurt her again," he said finally. His hand clenched into a fist, a bit uncertainly. "I wouldn't… want to go home to apologize only to- to hurt her even more…" He swallowed. "And with my darkness-"

"The way it is now," Mickey finished, understanding. "I get it."

Sora smiled.

Mickey sighed.

"Welp, I should probably get goin'," he said. "Unless…" He turned to Sora expectantly.

Sora laughed and shook his head. "Short of me sitting here and moping, I'm pretty much out of things to talk about."

Mickey laughed, too.

"Then in that case…" He pulled a star shard out of his pocket. "I guess I'll see ya."

Sora nodded. "Yeah. I'll keep an eye out for you."

Mickey started to activate the star shard, but then paused. "About your darkness…" he said, slowly, and then trailed off. He made a face, looking like he hadn't quite been sure what he had intended to say and was now trying to think of something. Then he smiled at Sora. "Ya just can't give up. You're stronger than the darkness, Sora, and someday it'll see that, and it'll let ya go. But you're gonna hafta hold on 'til then."

Sora nodded again.

"Promise me that ya won't give up?" Mickey asked.

There was a surprising amount of determination in his eyes. So much determination, in fact, that Sora had take a second to think twice before he said:

"Yeah. I won't give up."

"Good."

Mickey activated the star shard, and was gone.

Sora stood there for a moment, unsure of what to make of all that had just happened. The Organization member, the Heartless, this conversation with Mickey and…

That feeling in his gut that had yet to go away…

It was all a bit-

"Finally!" came a rather exasperated and all-too-familiar groan. "I thought he'd never leave!"

Sora turned, a scowl working its way onto his face, to find his Shadow leaning casually against a wall. It appeared as though he had been there for a while, though Sora would not put it past him to have shown up recently and be complaining over nothing.

"I just found the most interesting piece of information, and I've been dying to tell you!" his Shadow continued, pushing himself away from the wall.

He was holding a piece of folded paper between two fingers, and there was a wicked grin on his face.