Well, new chapter after a long time. I plan on finishing all my stories but my schedule is crazy right now.

Kingdom Hearts: Slave of Love Revised

Ch.16 Promise

Sora quietly opened the sliding door where Kairi was supposedly sleeping.

Auron was gone now, saying something about having to prepare the place for when he fought his heartless. It would take a couple of hours and he figured that he should probably talk to Kairi before that.

When the door slid open, he was met with the sigh of Kairi laying on a futon much like his, with her head dipped to the side and a bit of drool on the corner of her mouth.

Sora didn't know what to say so he settled for clearing his throat.

"Mmm?" Kairi stirred awake and noticed Sora looking at her. "Sora? Sora!" Her eyes grew wide and she sat up immediately, worry on her features, "Are you okay now?"

He smiled and nodded, "Yeah. I'm okay."

"Good," she smiled back and then whacked him on the head.

"'Ow!"

"That's for making me worry! Why would you fight Riku even though you were already feeling bad? Are you an idiot?!"

Sora tried to hold it in, but couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"What?!"

"It's just..." he tried to voice it but he couldn't as another fit of giggles escaped his lips.

"What is it?" Kairi asked again and looked around the room for what could be so funny when her eyes landed on a mirror and she caught a look of her appearance. Her hair was a mess first of all, there was a red mark on her forehead – she would sometimes lay her arm over it when she slept – and there was drool!

A crimson blush spread across her face as she pushed the boy out of the room.

A few moments later Sora was sitting next to his futon with his body leaned back and his legs spread when the door slid open and Kairi walked in, now looking a lot more proper.

She wordlessly sat next to him and crossed her arms, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"You owe me an apology. An apology for being an idiot."

"You're right," he agreed. "It's just... I played right into Riku's hands. It was stupid."

"As long as you know that," she nodded to herself before looking at him with a mischievous smile, "You're going to have to make it up to me now."

"Make it up how?'

"I can't think of anything now, but I'll have you pay me back someday." With that said she looked around the room and frowned, "Where is Mr. Auron anyway? We can't just leave without saying anything to him."

"About that..." Sora began but trailed off.

"What's wrong?"

"Auron is getting things ready...for when I fight the heartless."

She looked at him as if he was crazy, "What are you talking about? You're all better now, right?"

Sora let out a short breath to calm his nerves as the gravity of the situation was coming back at full force. He noticed that Kairi was getting worried and decided to tell her everything.

"I'm better for now, but the Heartless is getting stronger. Auron said that if I don't do something now it'll take over me, for good."

Kairi could feel her heart beating wildly against her chest as his words sank in.

"He said that I'm going to 'beat it into submission' and he's getting things ready right now."

"I don't get it," she shook her head, "If he's saying that you're going to physically fight the Heartless, then that means that he can separate you from it, right? Why doesn't he just get rid of it himself?"

Sora wasn't so sure what Auron meant either but he didn't have to wait for an answer as the sliding door leading to a hallway opened.

"Because this is something that only Sora can fight," Auron said in a firm tone. "If I could separate Sora from the Heartless I would have done so already."

"Then how is he going to fight it?" Kairi asked with a worried frown.

"In his heart," Auron stated simply. "I'm going to put Sora into a kind of trance where he'll be met with his heartless and have the chance to fight for control. During that time his body is going to be consumed by darkness and it's my job to make sure he doesn't break out of here and go berserk."

Kairi glared at the man, feeling that he was leaving important stuff out, "What happens if Sora can't win this time?"

"There is no 'this time,'" Auron said, "Either the kid wins today, or the Heartless takes over him for good."

Kairi swallowed and spoke in a pleading voice, "What can I do to help him?"

"He can only help himself," Auron answered. "All I'm able to do for him is give him a fighting chance, and keep him from going on a rampage outside while he's fighting."

"But-"

"It's okay," Sora interrupted with a sad smile.

"What do you mean 'it's okay?' It's not, okay. There has to be something I can do to help you," Kairi argued.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, "You're already doing a lot. Just by being here, showing me that I'm not alone, it's enough." Sora let go off her shoulder, took a step back, and pounded his chest with a cocky grin, "Besides, I'm pretty strong. I'm not going to lose to a heartless."

Kairi looked at him in the eyes, as if trying to figure out what he was really feeling and thinking. Sora tried to hold her gaze but blushed and turned away by how penetrating her gaze was.

"Fine," she relented before pushing a finger into his chest, "But you better win"

Sora smiled, relieved.

"But I'm going to help Mr. Auron with keeping you safe while you fight that thing."

"Deal," he grinned.

Auron watched the two in solemn silent. 'Keeping him safe' was not what he would be doing, but making sure that he didn't leave at any cost. To be frank, if the Heartless proved to be too strong and the kid ended up being taken over, then he would have to kill him.

He hoped it didn't have to come to that.

Sora couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a massive open rocky field when the doors to an old elevator, that Auron had led them to, opened.

Even Kairi had trouble believing that an old elevator at the basement of Auron's place could actually lead them to such an open space. She dismissed the possibility of it being the effect of some sort of teleportation spell almost instantly, nothing on their ride to the elevator had indicated such a thing, but the lighting of the room was definitely the cause of a spell, no place this big could be lit so well without it.

It almost looked like the sun was shining down on the field.

"First things first," Auron said as he walked ahead and the two followed after him. "I suppose I should tell Sora what a Heartless is," he glanced at Kairi, "You already know this, right?"

Kairi looked at him blankly, uncertainty written on her face.

Auron fought the urge to roll his eyes, "It's simple really. Heartless are formed by the darkness of people's hearts. They take up physical forms in a world parallel to this one, and some can even enter our world by using natural dark passages that open randomly, however these passages are not too frequent."

Sora and Kairi listened earnestly, finding the explanation fascinating.

"What Sora has is an Inner Heartless," Auron explained. "They are stronger than normal Heartless, but can only be formed by introducing a mismatched keyblade into a host."

"What do you mean by that?" Kairi asked, worry in her voice.

"There are two types of keyblades, Dark and Light. Dark Keyblades are a lot more common because anyone with a bit of power can wield one. Light Keyblades are much more demanding, only those with pure hearts can wield one. If a person with some darkness in their hearts were to wield one, then the light from the keyblade will bring out that darkness and form a Heartless that resides within the heart of the wielder."

Kairi bit her lip and placed a hand over her chest, "You're saying...that what's happening to Sora is my fault?"

"In a way, yes," Auron responded.

"You didn't know Kairi, neither of us did," Sora quickly broke in. "If anything, this is my fault for having darkness in my heart."

Kairi shook her head, "It's okay Sora. We'll...talk about that later.."

"Good," Auron nodded and came to a stop in front of a rocky hill. "This is where you'll be Sora. I'm going to use a spell to keep you bound to this hill."

Sora nodded and crossed his arms, "So what happens when I get rid of it?"

Auron looked at him blankly.

"You said that if I didn't fight it now, it would keep on trying to take over me," Sora explained.

The older man closed his eyes and sighed, "It's not going away kid. This fight will only stop it now but it will always reside within your heart as long as it continues to have enough darkness to feed it."

"He has to live with it forever?" Kairi asked in horror.

"Not necessarily but we've wasted enough time already," Auron said with a shake of his head and turned to Sora, "Stand against the hill."

The teen nodded and walked forward until he turned and rested his back against the rocky wall, "Now what?"

"Bind!"

Glowing white chains erupted from the ground, wrapped tightly around Sora's ankles, abdomen, and wrists before digging into the wall deeply.

The teen was wide-eyed and glared at the old man, "What gives?! Give me a warning next time!"

"This should be enough to keep the Heartless at bay for at least ten minutes," Auron said, ignoring Sora's protest. "Do your best to be done before then."

As the man stepped towards Sora, the teen turned to Kairi.

She was trying her best not to let any of her worry show but knew that she was doing a pretty bad job at it. Her lips trembled, her arms were hugged tightly around her stomach, which felt like it was twisting all over the place; but even with all of that she managed to hold his gaze and give him a supportive smile.

"I'll come back," Sora said with a smile of his own, "I promise."

"I know you will," Kairi answered.

Sora held her gaze even as Auron placed a hand on his chest, and then his world went blank.