Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love Revised

Ch.13 Trip to Lake Radiant

Sunlight peeked through the curtains of Kairi's room, shining down on the sleeping girl who began to stir and slowly open her eyes. A yawn escaped her lips as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sat up on her seat, wincing slightly when feeling some pain on her neck, no doubt from sleeping in such a bad position.

She stretched her arms over her head as she turned her attention to the still unconscious Sora on the bed. Her gaze lingered on him and she wondered why he wasn't waking up. Cloud had said he would be okay but he obviously wasn't, otherwise he'd be awake right now. The only thing that was certain at the moment was that she wouldn't stop worrying about him until he woke up and gave her one of his annoying quips. She smiled at that before rising from her seat and walking over to the bathroom for a much needed bath.

A cold breeze hit Roxas as he walked through the crowded streets of Hollow Bastion with a worried expression on his face. Today was the day that Roxas and the others were going to discuss their plan to rescue Sora. They usually met at the house of whoever could fit them all in without being too crowded.

It wasn't long before he walked up the familiar few steps into the place where they always met. The house wasn't too impressive but it was the biggest anyone in his group owned by far. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind as he made his way in, instantly being greeted by the sight of his friends.

"Finally," said one of the people inside. He was a teen at about nineteen years of age with brown hair that reached to the base of his neck in the back, he wore a simple white shirt underneath a black jacket, which complimented his black jeans and boots.

"Sorry about being late Terra, but I'm not exactly a morning person," Roxas replied with a grin.

"Well, it doesn't matter," another teen huffed dramatically, "Am I the only one that's melting to death here? I don't know why you guys didn't choose a cooler place, you know that I can't handle this kind of weather. Sora's my buddy and all, but you guys really picked the wrong guy for this one."

"No we didn't," a blond haired teen replied with a grin, "Every group needs a comic relief! Don't underestimate your role in all of this Demyx!"

Roxas chuckled and shook his head, "Come on Hayner. You know he's really good at getting people to talk."

"You guys are idiots," muttered Aqua with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey. No need for insults," Demyx complained with his hands raised defensibly.

Hayner turned to her while nodding in Demyx's direction, "What he said! You don't have to be so serious all the time Aqua. You'll get wrinkles that way and – "

He was cut off as a book landed squarely on his face, courtesy of a frowning Aqua.

"Enough of this," Terra spoke up angrily, "We didn't come here to screw around. We came to find a way to save Sora! So I suggest everyone calm down and not talk unless you have an idea."

Roxas nodded in agreement as he put on a thoughtful look, "We already have a way into Radiant Garden, that being the sewers but I think they'll have the one we used last time watched. Maybe we could just ask Seifer if he know another way in."

"I don't trust him," Aqua spoke up, "Look at what happened with Sora, we can't risk having another one of us caught."

Terra remained quiet before smirking confidently, "Don't worry about it. I can get Seifer to talk; he's still terrified of me after all. And I know you don't trust him Aqua, but he's the only one that can get us in."

"When do you think we can go get Sora back?" Hayner spoke up when seeing the upset look on Aqua's face.

"Soon," Terra replied, "We have enough money for supplies, all we need now is to talk to Seifer. If we take all of that into account, I'd say we should be able to move this very week."

Leon yawned as he sat against the wall outside the girl's dormitory. While it was the middle of the day, he'd been up the whole night because of his mission, if he could even call it that. Seriously, he didn't understand why they called him all the way to the Eastern Gate just for patrol.

"Hey Leon."

He snapped out of his thoughts when seeing Kairi walking towards him. "It's been a while," he grinned at her before taking the box from her hands. "I take it you didn't have any trouble with this?"

"I did," she replied sourly, much to Leon's confusion, "We ran into some…idiot!"

"What happened?" Leon asked in obvious anger. She was his younger sister, there was no way some idiot was going to bother her if he could help it.

Kairi's eyes widened slightly as she realized something. "You could help me out!" A smile spread across her face before she continued, "I really need your help Leon."

"Lead the way," Leon replied instantly.

"This isn't what I had in mind," Leon complained before sighing.

Kairi had been so worked up that he thought it was something serious but now, standing in her room and looking at the unconscious form of her slave…he couldn't help but wonder why exactly his sister was acting so strangely. Yes, a normal person would be worried, but Kairi was taking it too hard and-

He stopped his inner musings when taking notice of something, "What is he doing in your bed?"

His sister brushed him off and moved to stand next to Sora. "He was attacked and hasn't woken up since yesterday," she explained as her eyes brimmed with tears. It wasn't until now that she was talking that she realized just how helpless she felt - how guilty. "Cloud told me he'd be okay but he's still unconscious! Please help him Leon! I don't want him to be like this because of me!"

Leon finally understood why Kairi was so worried and it didn't surprised him. She had always been like this really, worrying about others, even total strangers to the point of tears. The fact that she worried over her slave too was expected, even more so when she thought that it'd been her fault that he got hurt in the first place.

"Let me see..." he began as he uncovered the bandages on Sora's chest to reveal a thick line which was obviously the result of a blade. "If it was only a cut then there shouldn't be a problem..." his brow furrowed in concentration as he put a hand above the wound and used magic to see if there was anything he wasn't seeing at first glance. His hand glowed a color blue as he tried to find something.

Kairi watched the scene in fascination before Leon finally retracted his hand."What is it? Will he wake up soon?" She asked almost immediately.

"This is… Odd," Leon concluded with his face scrunched up in confusion. "The wound came from a Dark Keyblade I'm sure of it, but it doesn't explain everything though."

"Why does it matter? I didn't even know that a keyblade could be dark," Kairi admitted.

"Not everyone knows," Leon explained, "See, a keyblade is normally void of any sort of light or darkness but as the person uses it, it will begin to gain either one. A keyblade filled with darkness, or a Dark Keyblade for short, is capable of many different things such as causing a lot more damage than is expected from a simple wound."

Kairi's eyes widened in panic, "Then Sora is a lot more hurt than we thought!"

"Don't worry, he's not," Leon assured, "His wound is mostly healed and he should wake up in no time. The reason he's still asleep is probably because his body's never experienced such wounds before."

"Then you're giving me your word that he will be okay," Kairi pushed in worry.

Leon nodded, "Yes, in fact I wouldn't be surprise if he woke up today."

Kairi sighed in relief at the news. "Good, I was really worried," she smiled to herself before looking at her brother, "Thank you Leon."

"No problem," he gave her a grin before moving away from the unconscious teen. "I have to go now, I was on duty the whole night and should really catch up on my sleep now."

"Okay, bye Leon," Kairi watched her brother leave the room before she turned back to Sora, though this time with a small smile on her face. "Hurry up and wake up," she sat on the chair next to the bed while at the same time pulling up one of the books she had laid out on a nearby bookshelf. She glanced at him one more time before turning her attention to the book on her hands, "I'll be waiting right here for you."

Darkness.

It was all Sora could see as he felt himself floating in nothingness.

W..e U.!

Clouded eyes blinked as they caught sight of…something.

..ra!

The rapid drum of his heartbeat blasted away in his ears, eyes darting about as a feeling of anxiety overcame his senses.

A voice…

He could hear a voice!

So…ra!

His eyes focused on a single spec of light in the darkness, sending rays of light down on him, as if calling him.

Sora!

He could hear it clearly now, the voice!

Wake up…

Sora!

Everything hurt suddenly, specially his chest but he decided to move towards the light calling out to him. He gritted his teeth as he reached out with his hand in a desperate attempt to get away from the darkness.

No!

Everything flashed white.

"Sora!"

His eyes snapped open to be greeted by Kairi's warm smile.

"You're finally awake!"

"H-Huh?" Sora sat up and brought a hand to his aching head, feeling a cold sweat running down his face. "What happened?" His mind was blank, he briefly remembered waking up in the middle of the night but, glancing at the window, the sun was out.

"You went unconscious after getting hit in the chest," Kairi explained with a relieved smile. "I'm so glad you finally woke up, I was going crazy here!"

He smiled in response, "How long was I out?"

"A whole day," she answered with a weary look on her face. "Leon and Cloud checked on you just to make sure your wound wasn't too bad," as she said that, Sora padded his chest with a scowl, "What's wrong?"

"It kind of hurts," he admitted with a sheepish smile.

Kairi brought a hand to her chin in apparent thought. "Well…if you really want, then I could take you somewhere that'll probably get rid of the pain," she offered before scowling, "But it's pretty far from here and we'll need to stay the night there."

"I don't really need it, but um… I mean… It'll be nice if I could get rid of the pain," he explained awkwardly. Asking for things had never been something he enjoyed doing, he preferred to earn things instead of sounding so needy.

She chuckled at the way he was asking before nodding, "Okay then, we could get going right away. It's still early after all."

"Where are we going anyway?"

"I could tell you but…" she smiled at him before sticking her tongue out, "I'm not. That'll be your punishment for making me worry so much."

"Oh come on!" Sora complained, "It's going to drive me insane!"

"Not telling~" she replied in a sing song voice.

Kairi smiled to herself as she and Sora sat inside a carriage that would lead them to their destination. They had been moving for at least an hour and Sora hadn't stopped asking where they were going until recently, finally settling down and looking out the window. She really would have told him where they were going but he'd annoyed her to the point that she just didn't want to tell him.

Besides, judging by how close they were to the mountains, they were probably really close to the place she wanted to take him to. The fact that she could also benefit from their trip and get rid of a sore neck made her anxious to get there as well.

"We're here!"

Both teens heard the driver's voice but Sora was the first to get out with an exited grin on his face. Always one for adventure, Sora really enjoyed going to all sorts of places and was instantly amazed as soon as he stepped out of the carriage.

"Whoa!"

"This is Lake Radiant," Kairi smiled as she too took in the scenery. It was breathtaking every time, a large mountain overlooking the forestry surrounding the lake that had water so clear that it gave a perfect mirror image of the mountain. "That's where we'll be staying," she pointed to a large cabin near the water's edge.

Sora nodded. "I never imagined going somewhere like this," he admitted before giving her an appreciative smile, "You know, I'm glad we decided to be friends." He caught wind of how he was sounding and tried to rephrase himself, "I mean, being with you is always great! That's why going to places like these...meeting such cool people... Well, thank you."

"N-No problem," she replied with a blush before waving off the driver, who gave a curt nod before leaving the lake. "But we're not here just to have fun," she smiled at his confused look before adding, "This lake has healing properties that speed up your body's recovery. Things like sore muscles or small wounds are easily healed in the water."

Sora couldn't help but gape at the information, "Are you serious? That sounds way too incredible to be true."

"I'm serious," Kairi grinned, "Only a few people know this though, which is why there aren't a lot of people here. And how is this 'too incredible to be true' when you were so convinced about there being mermaids?"

"Am convinced," Sora corrected with a grin, "Anyway, why are they keeping this healing lake thing a secret?"

"Just think what would happen if everyone found out," she explained with a troubled look. "People would fight over it to the point where it'll be heavily commercialized. In the end all of this," she motioned at the surrounding area, "Would be ruined."

Sora nodded in response before bringing a hand to his chest and closing his eyes in discomfort. "Can I go in already?"

"We should first change into our swimming-" Kairi began but stopped mid-sentence when seeing Sora take off his shirt and walk over to the water, completely ignoring what she had to say. She huffed in annoyance as she walked after him, "Why didn't you wait?"

"I don't have any other clothes," he reasoned with a grin before kicking off his shoes and stepping into the water, his body twitching instantly at the unwelcomed cold. "I-It's freezing!"

Kairi laughed as she watched him slowly step deeper into the water until he was in waist-deep, "Go in all the way, you won't get healed unless the water touches your chest."

Sora nodded in understanding and went in deeper until the water covered his chest. His eyes widened in surprise when an odd feeling enveloped his chest, it was as if a cold wind was blowing through it while at the same time a warm wind did the same. It was a really odd feeling but he found that the dull ache on his chest was beginning to lessen.

He shuddered at the cold before dipping his head in the water, reasoning that he better get used to the water quick.

"I'm going to the cabin to change. I'll be right back," Kairi announced from the water's edge before walking over to the cabin.

Sora was left alone in the water, humming contently as he gazed at the scenery. The odd feeling in his chest was still there but not as potent as before. Kairi had been telling the truth, the water really was getting rid of the pain. But as he was left alone with his thoughts he began to think of how things had really changed in such a short time.

Kairi was his friend now, he had made other new friends, met incredible people, and he got to visit this beautiful lake. Despite his rough start and bad situations, he found himself enjoying his new life in Radiant Garden. Things were finally looking up and he knew that it was all thanks to Kairi.

Sora relaxed in the water and closed his eyes before stretching his arms over his head to find that the action didn't hurt his chest anymore. He smiled at that and wondered if there was any way he could repay Kairi for all that she'd done.

Out of everyone that he had ever known she was easily the most amazing person he had ever met.

Ch.13 End