So while Dual Destinies was about building a world and establishing rules, this... will also do that and will be more character focused in general. I'll try to provide a nice balance of action and character development though they're not necessarily mutually exclusive. Just know that Sora's a tiny part of a much grander scheme in this story. Anyway, back to the show!


Chapter 7

Downpour

Almost lazily, Sora let the rucksack on his back slip down his shoulders and onto the floor waiting for the heavy thud of contact as proof of this. Sitting himself down, he stared at the white linen that coveted the table. On it laid a coaster for beverages and a few napkins folded neatly in a triangle with silver cutlery set on top of them with equal spacing. Around him were others enjoying their meals in delight or waiting for their own.

After a few more seconds of staring into space, Sora's attention turned to the rain that was lightly pattering against the window of the coffee shop. Ever since Sora, Riku and Kairi had returned to Radiant Garden, it had seemed to be to interchanging between on and off. If Sora could have shouted at the rain to make up its mind, he would have done so but nature wasn't quite so willing to listen. Compared to this, being back on the Gummi Ship was a surprisingly calm and enjoyable experience. Well, it certainly didn't rain in the sea between worlds—that much Sora knew though there were stranger things like giant whales in its place.

Sora leaned over the side of the chair and opened his bag before pulling out a book. About a few months ago, the concept of reading something like this would have seemed absurd to Sora. Nowadays, the word didn't seem so alien to him in concept especially after recent events and while the term non-fiction still bored and repulsed him he figured teeny steps were good enough. A part of the fun was seeing his friends react to his newfound interest.

"The truth hidden within the lies huh? What bunch of nonsense was he spewing?" Sora asked after hearing Frollo's reasoning echoed in the form of Kairi. After leaving Quasimodo's world, the two of them and Riku couldn't help but discuss the city of Atlantis that Frollo had spoken so passionately about.

"I'm not sure. I don't even know if he knew what he was talking about but I would think that someone who would go so far as to abandon his own world must have some understanding." Kairi replied.

"Not necessarily. I had very little myself when I wanted to leave the islands. I think it's the fear of not knowing what was out there that drove me. It's probably the same with Frollo." Riku joined in after engaging in the autopilot.

"It doesn't matter though right? I mean we're not going to change what we're doing just because of some point brought up by a guy who was totally insane?" Sora asked.

"Of course it doesn't change anything. That said, wouldn't it be cool if we really did come across the lost city?" Kairi proposed chirpily. No one in that room could have denied their interest in a discovery like that. The thought of being the pioneers of their age was an attractive one but there were some things that were more important right now.

And so the discussion of a lost city and the ramblings of a mad man came to an unsatisfactory end, for Kairi at least who probably had it on her mind throughout the day. Instead, she turned her attention to a more peculiar fact that she could actually see.

"Hey Sora, what're you up to?"

Sora looked up from the book he was engrossed in and smiled. "I'm reading. Have you heard of this book?"

"The Name Game? Nope, what's it about?" Kairi asked cocking her head to the side to look at the cover.

"It's about a young girl who has trouble remembering her name. She wakes up in a town with no name and asks the townsfolk if any of them know her but to no avail. At this point she starts to question whether she even exists because if no one knows her it's just as equivalent as people seeing through her and not noticing her. The book deals with what faces mean to different people and asks the question of whether you have a face if other can't see you or recognise you by it. It's great so far." Sora answered to the surprise of Riku, Kairi and even Kupopo who was in the back of the cockpit.

"Wow, you are really invested in this kupo. I've never figured Sora would be the one to become so accustomed to reading." Kupopo said.

"Speaking about customs, the book talks about that too. It talks about what a 'character' is and how people see others. A character is really a conformed protocol that you assign to yourself making you who you are. There's no reason not to expand your horizons though and step out of that character every once in a while. It's healthy." Sora continued in a sagacious manner.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done to Sora? Are you planning on a career change to philosopher Mr Keyblade Master?" Kairi asked.

Sora laughed and shook his head. "Hah, not likely. The librarian recommended it to me and what she said about the book just stuck with me. Let's just say that I guess ever since the fight with Abraxas I've felt like I need to step up my game and become stronger. That and… Luna liked books a lot. It's kind of my way of making her happy, even if she doesn't know it yet."

"That's really sweet. Okay, now you've got me pumped. I have to outdo you and make her even happier when we get her back." Kairi announced with a triumphant fist.

If something like reading could motivate them so much then that could only have meant good things for the future. Before Sora could even flip the page, he found himself looking past the book into the eyes of a woman who was standing at his table. She reminded Sora of a cosplayer, one of the gothic makeup wearing maids that were sometimes featured in some of the manga that Tidus had recommended him. Her pale complexion seemed to glow in contrast to the light because of this.

"Bonjour, how may I take your order?" the girl asked with a pleasant and broad smile. She even had a faint accent that made Sora wonder if he had stepped back into Quasimodo's world again on accident.

"Oh, I-"

"Oh my goodness, you are the Sora no? One of the Keyblade wielders who saved our world?" she asked in surprise.

"That's what they call me." Sora replied unenthusiastically as his fingers found their way to the menu. "I'd rather you just keep that between you and me though."

"Understood. I apologize for my eagerness. So, what will it be?" she asked in a cutesy manner.

"Oh, a cappuccino would be great thanks." Sora picked returning back to his cheerful self. The woman bowed and excused herself before making her way to the back behind the counter. Sora looked around him before returning to the book. He had some time before his old friends Terra, Ven and Aqua would be arriving so he had thought to go exploring. Sora had found himself doing a lot of that these days, not that he could ever say he had planned it on the day or even the day before. His legs usually carried him to wherever he needed to be at the time, not necessarily where he wanted to go and usually that was fine with him. He was just a follow wherever the wind takes him person anyway and so it had come to be that he had stumbled upon this café without even having planned to come here.

"Here you go. One cappuccino for you. I even poured my heart into it, see?" Sora put the book down as the woman returned with the drink. Sora laughed as he peered into the white foam to see a heart shaped pattern on the surface.

"Latte art… you sure must know your way around coffee." Sora complimented before taking the hot cup into his hands and sipping lightly. The foam and cream tickled Sora's taste buds and stayed there for a while before slipping down his throat. Sora put the cup down and gave the cosplay maid and thumbs up with a supporting grin. "Okay, now I know where to go when I need some coffee. You're working miracles here."

"Why merci beaucoup. I'm glad you enjoy it." The girl said. At this point, she stood at the table apparently waiting for something and Sora had no idea what that was. Sora was looking for something, anything, to strike a conversation. Eventually he timidly tried to refer to the book he was reading with unexpected results.

"Uh, have you-"

"Tomorrow at six."

"Wait, what?"

"That's when I'll be free."

Sora could only nod with a mouth halfway between a smile and puzzlement. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on but something seemed to be happening and it was better than the awkward nothingness that could have been the alternative. It was only after the girl had retreated behind the counter that Sora had realized what type of unwritten contract he had gotten himself into. Was he even equipped for a date with someone he had just met? How had he even gotten into it? He had only wanted to talk to her about a book. The worst part though was that he knew next to nothing about dates. Maybe he could consult Kairi on that later, not that he was sure she had ever been on one but she was a girl so she must have had some idea as to what other females liked.

Sora withdrew from these thoughts wanting nothing more than to get back to his drink, although he did his best to avoid eye contact with the maid from there on out. Before he knew it, Sora had downed his entire cup of coffee and placed the book back into his bag, put the munny on the table and quickly left the café to prevent the visible heat of his cheeks from being seen by anyone, least of all the maid.

Wet and miserable yet hopeful, was what Sora could only describe as he stepped out into the puddled streets opposing its blue sky counterpart. He set off towards Merlin's house while observing other people going by. Everyone had somewhere to be, and grounded in this world that only made sense. They didn't have the matters of worlds beside Radiant Garden on their mind, they weren't given a mysterious puzzle box to which its secrets remained unknown nor were they constantly fighting Heartless and saving worlds in their everyday life. Sora wished he could live in such a simple life, where there was only the straight line of A to B instead of a zigzag in between the two.

He almost had such a life as well. After beating Xemnas, Sora had returned to the islands hoping that he could live in peace with his two friends by his side, without any jealous or petty issues that had been the result of their journey in the first place. But the threat of Xehanort had not been over and there were people that were trapped in a cage of torment. Fair enough, they went out knowing they were needed and saved the day once again. This time there was no choice. Abraxas had destroyed Sora's island, Sora had met Luna, Sora had travelled with her to find her world and Sora had failed to save her and the last seeress, Yeul. The worst part was that he had still not made the jump from A to B but instead jumping to points that made no sense. He felt like he had absolutely no control over his own life at the moment and he had no idea when he would be able to get a good night's sleep without any worries.

Sora turned and took a shortcut through the soggy grass taking amusement in the spongy and moist sounds made from beneath his shoes until he returned to hard ground. The dreams were also something to contemplate, having not received any consolation from them either. In each dream he saw himself just watching as Yeul fell before him like he was forced to repeat the same day over and over again. The last dream however had been different. The same scene had played out exactly as it had done before but instead of seeing Yeul, it was Luna in her place, and as if by some strange out of body experience, he saw that it was himself that had plunged the Keyblade into her back. Sora had refused to go back to sleep for fear of dreaming again.

He soon reached the street that led to the residential district, but instead of going directly to Merlin's house, he changed his mind and found himself heading towards another that he hadn't been to in a while. It was a few more streets away from where Merlin's was but his quick pacing practically got him there in no time at all.

"Sora, you've come back. Did you find her?" Colette asked once she had opened the door upon hearing him knock. The answer was pretty obvious though because if he had found her then he wouldn't have come alone.

"I'm sorry." Sora said, not wanting to fully admit that he had no idea where to start.

"What for? I know you're trying your hardest and that's all that matters. Come in." Colette said in understanding. As far as Sora knew, that was all Colette ever had been: understanding. Or maybe she couldn't be anything else, not after her husband had died. In some ways Sora almost wanted to be criticised by her for not trying harder, because he felt like he wasn't.

"Where's Stephanie?" Sora asked looking around the comfy living room.

"School of course. She has to study you know?" Colette reminded him.

"Nah, she's a clever kid. Probably smarter than most of the people in her class. She doesn't need to study." Sora said jokingly.

"My daughter a prodigy. I like the sound of that." Colette replied. When offered a cup, Sora politely declined and pointed towards a photograph on the table.

"Is that Ansem the Wise?" he asked. The man in the photo scarcely resembled the Ansem he knew, fostering a more youthful appearance.

"Yes, and there's me and my husband Kohle right next to him. Here I was still studying for biomedical science and Stephanie wasn't born yet. So for my thesis I had decided to take on work experience at Ansem's lab. This was before he had become more secretive regarding his research. That's where I met Kohle." Colette explained sitting down next to Sora and taking the photograph into her hands.

"So what was he like when you met him?" Sora asked.

"He was the argumentative yet passionate type. The way it usually went was that we sat down sometimes to explain our theories on the workings of the heart and Gummi blocks though the latter isn't really my field. He absolutely believed that his own theories made sense as to their origin but I wasn't so sure and I still don't think so to this day if we're honest but I never bothered arguing the point too much. People like him are so set on their own beliefs that they'll fight for them, even if they are wrong." Colette continued with a thoughtful look on her face. "This may sound silly, but I don't quite know how I ended up with him. I suppose one thing led to another leading to Stephanie."

"That sounds familiar." Sora then added quickly, "N-not the having a baby part but the not knowing how you ended up in a situation part."

"Yeah, I was like 'what, you've gotten that far already? How old are you again?'" Colette quipped and the two let out a fit of laughs into what was probably once a quiet room. Soon enough, the inevitable question that Sora had expected would be knocking on his door and it wasn't a question of choosing whether to open it or not but how he was going to go about it. "So, how have you been since that day?"

"I don't know. I thought I had everything in control but I feel like I'm still in Abraxas' mind games. Sometimes I just want this all to be an illusion so I'll wake up and everything will be alright but I know that I'm living in reality." Sora bent forward and clasped his hands together before asking, "Do you have sleeping pills?"

Colette frowned upon hearing this. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I have nightmares, of the night Yeul died. I keep seeing it, that one moment where I couldn't do anything. I know there's no point thinking about it, she's gone and there's nothing I can do… but still, I can't stop feeling this guilt that's buried within my heart. It's like a ticking bomb and I feel like I'm going to explode any moment except I have no idea when that time will be." Sora told her in an almost whisper. "Riku and Kairi just tell me the same thing. 'You need to get over it Sora. There was nothing you could do. Yeul wouldn't want you to be despairing over her like this'. But they don't understand what it's like to see a friend die right in front of your eyes. That's why I don't feel like there's any point in telling them."

"I'm not your doctor Sora but even if I were I wouldn't recommend you sleeping pills. This may be tough to here but this is a problem you're going to have to face on your own. I would know because I've suffered something similar before in the past." Colette said.

"Oh, with Stephanie's dad… it must have been painful." Sora said.

"It wasn't easy. It never is but all I can tell you is to concentrate on looking for Luna for now. Usually I find that being preoccupied with the little things usually takes my mind off of the big ones. You have both Riku and Kairi and are free to choose how you spend your time with them." Colette advised with a smile.

"Yeah… I'll try that." Sora said before coughing. He must have been starting to develop a cold probably from the weather. "What about you then?"

"Oh, I almost forgot. I've finally found a job to help support Steph. I met with the man heading the company, David Xanatos… well it was more like he met me really. We discussed a few things and after hearing my plight and finding out that I studied biomed, he insisted that I take a job in the health department." Colette announced.

"See? I knew you'd get something eventually. Way to go! How did Stephanie react when you told her?" Sora asked now as gleeful as an energetic child.

"In much the same way you did, and she's only nine." Colette pointed out.

"I'm known for it." Sora justified adding the cherry on top with a cheeky grin.


Sora returned immediately to Merlin's place after a cheerful conversation with Colette to welcoming old faces.

"Ven! Terra! Aqua!"

"Well if it isn't the early bird." Kairi's patronizing tone caught Sora off guard and he turned to apologize.

"Don't worry about it, but boy do you look paler than usual Sora. Like you've seen a ghost." Terra said with a chuckle.

"Maybe I did see one." Sora responded in much the same tone. It had felt like it had been forever since he laid his eyes on the trio he had helped save many moons ago. They had all been affected in one way or another by the wounds of the past and while it was he that had played a part in their awakening, it had ultimately been by their hands that they had departed from their sleep.

The first thing the group had done after the final battle was the reparation of the Land of Departure, formally known as Castle Oblivion to Sora and the others. Even though they had sought its repair, they never truly stayed there but instead used it as a memorial for their deceased Master Eraqus. If one were to go there now, they would find a white pillar with a Keyblade lying on the ground next to it. Instead of this however, they had managed to pick up the pieces and had found themselves on a long vacation to see the world much in the same way Roxas, Xion and Lea were doing.

But like Sora, the three friends had been called back to action by Master Yen Sid who had been adamant about mobilizing everyone to combat the current threat, that being Alice who was found to be missing. Yen Sid had already explained that if even one Princess of Heart fell then the worlds would all fall into darkness, for it was the gift of light bestowed on the chosen seven in the past that had been responsible for saving the world from the darkness brought on by the Keyblade War. Apparently there were no second chances if a princess was lost but Yen Sid had not clarified when Sora had asked the question.

It was something that bugged him actually—that he had tried to set a personal goal of becoming more independent and knowledgeable of the worlds and yet he sometimes felt like he had no idea why he was fighting. Obviously Alice was his friend, and obviously Yen Sid felt that was enough of a reason for Sora to do it. No other explanation was needed, or in other words, the less he knew the easier he could do his job.

"I take it you didn't find anything then?" Sora asked the question that Riku and Kairi probably had asked before.

"No, but Riku just informed us that another Keyblade wielder appeared here… and she was asking for Luna?" Aqua tried to confirm.

"Apparently. She even fought Leon but she disappeared before we arrived here." Sora said before reciting Leon's story. "She said her name was Astra. That was the name of Luna's friend."

"Could it be a coincidence?" Ven asked but Riku shook his head.

"She has a Keyblade, I wouldn't consider that a coincidence. She even asked about her according to Leon." he answered before turning to Sora. "Luna didn't tell you anything about her, did she?"

Sora bit his lip thoughtfully. "I… think she mentioned something about Astra being her only friend. She also had a dream where she was here and was being chased by something, a rhinoceros I think. At that point she was with her friend in the dream." He then quickly looked up and his face seemed to be filled with a positive energy known only to Sora. "She's looking for Luna as well just like us. Maybe she's found out some information that can lead us to her. We need to find her!"

"Big problem." The voice of positivity was immediately opposed by the voice of negativity as Leon stepped into the room. "When Astra was fighting me, she seemed skilled. Unless she somehow taught herself then someone definitely taught her how to use the Keyblade."

"She even managed to beat Squall." Rinoa said coming in from behind.

"SHE DIDN'T BEAT ME!" Leon shot back in complete embarrassment.

'"Aw Leon, you're blushing again', is what Aerith would say if she were here right now." Kairi said grinning.

"Anyway… I just had a thought. You don't think that she encountered the same group who's after Sora, do you?" Riku asked. Sora hadn't even thought about it and from a similar look of surprise neither had the other six people in the room. He remembered back to the moment Abraxas had been killed when Alfonso and Salome had revealed themselves as being Keyblade wielders. It was a moment in time that felt like an anomaly, like it shouldn't have existed and yet it did. He had felt his heart beat so rapidly that he wasn't even sure it had fully settled yet. His thoughts regarding it certainly weren't and were all over the place. Had they chosen to kill him then and there, he would have been powerless and unable to act.

"Let's… try to stay positive alright. This is a big chance for us. We can't doubt this now." Sora eventually said though it was clear the doubt had already been securely placed. No, if they were working with the same goal in mind then it was possible that Astra would work with them for that alone. He had to stay positive. And a friend of Luna's couldn't possibly be that bad, right?

"Yeah, you're right." Kairi muttered before changing topic. "Aren't Roxas, Xion and Lea also supposed to be coming soon? We have to hold a party!"

"That'll be the wedding… after we get Luna back that is." Rinoa said resting her arm over Leon's shoulder. "Chip, Dale and Cid have already finished with the latest in Gummi Navigation technology, thanks to Xanatos Industries' help."

When Riku rolled his eyes, Sora managed to stifle a laugh. Riku had never really been trusting of David Xanatos since he met the man. As to what Sora thought, he really had no opinion of the man as of yet. It's not that he didn't trust Riku's instincts but he also couldn't deny that he had provided considerable help to the flourishing world.

And why was Sora beginning to feel so hot? Was a fever coming on that quickly? His eyes suddenly found humans in the shape of blurs and he struggled to focus on them. It was his swaying on the spot that was noted by everyone who asked worriedly if he was okay.

"Yeah, just a bit dizzy is all. I think I'm coming up with a cold. I'll just- I'll just- I'll…" Sora let out a multitude of coughs. Before he could place his hands to his mouth, he noticed blood on them… his own… blood? He turned around with the world seeming to turn with him and he stumbled forward hoping to get away as far as possible from his friends. He didn't know what was happening, he couldn't decipher voice from voice calling after him.

He was falling. It was a feeling he had felt before many times. When he sacrificed himself to save Kairi. When he had fallen into the river in Mulan's world eight months ago. In his dreams… Quickly, or was it slowly? He felt as if the speed at which his brain was able to process had slowed down exponentially… whatever speed it may have been, he looked to grab the closest thing to him in hopes of staying up. His hands found a wooden object, a table maybe? But then they found air… and then they hit the floor along with the rest of his immobilized body. All he could do now was look at the broken table he had just crashed through and watch as he was turned onto his back to meet the light, and shadows within the light… and then those shadows became darkness.


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