A/N: So by the time this chapter comes out, there will be three hours left until Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV begins. Extremely hyped right now, and I have to wait until 3 in the morning over here! Anyway, after a rather disturbing shift in gears for our heroes, let's see what they make of the situation.
Chapter 73
Falsetto Smile
Sora had long since felt the pain of being stabbed with the knife. It was aching hot but instantaneous which at least made it bearable. What he was feeling now, as she sat back on the Gummi Ship, the world of Radiant Garden within his sights, was something else entirely. This was the part where fate mercilessly twisted the blade in a most slow and agonizing way.
After finding out about the shocking history behind the Keyblade War, Sora, Luna and Jiminy moved to gather the others quickly and relay the information. After dissecting the information, Riku and Kairi arrived at the same conclusions. There was no way they couldn't. No matter how many times Sora heard the words, they were essentially clear cut with no room for interpretation—they had been saving the worlds while also potentially destroying them at the same time.
The whole thing had left the gang with a better taste in their mouths, but for Sora it felt like something he would never be able to wash out. Sora faked a smile and waved at Milo, Kida and Obby after they had all promised to come back and visit again soon. Being outside of time, the only way they could ever get to Atlantis was through the puzzle box and it was by chance then that it had been Kida who had figured out a little trick concerning the box's operations. The artefact had been made in Atlantis and each Atlantean object had a signature that gave away the date that it had been made. Using her crystal had revealed a rather weird number however that seemed more like co-ordinates than an actual date. She surmised that this was what would allow them to travel back to Atlantis on their 'spaceship'. Thinking back now, Sora only wished he had had the energy to give them a proper farewell because the truth was that he wasn't even sure if he would be coming back.
Drumming his fingers against the console panel fashioned quite the dull noise to his ears, not that he was really paying attention. His mind fell back to the library and what he had learned there. The Kairi who went missing from Atlantis was sacrificed in an experiment by Keyblade Wielders along with six others. Of course there had been many others involved in those experiments but those seven had been the survivors, at least for a while. Kairi… seven… it could not have been a coincidence, but the Kairi he knew was here with him right now.
The torn pages, Sora realized. Someone had taken those pages specifically for a reason. They had been to that library before them, had been to Atlantis. The only person Sora could think of was the person who had left the note behind. In that case though, it was rather strange that they wanted them to know the truth only to proceed in ripping out the pages that would explain things.
"We're here." Hearing Riku's voice behind him, Sora turned in his chair to see Riku walking up to him, his eyes focused on the windshield. Sora turned back around and cuddled his hand in between his chin and chest.
"Riku… what do we do now? I feel… like I have dirt on my hands. There's this taste in my mouth, that I can't get rid of no matter how had I try," he murmured.
"Then we may as well dig deeper. There's still KRONOS and Moira's Crescent to take care of," Riku said, putting a reassuring hand on Sora's shoulder. The problem was that Sora didn't feel the least bit reassured of anything at the moment.
Closing the door behind him, Sora stayed to the back of the group as they approached Yen Sid. He felt the sorcerer's gaze try to pierce him, to make sense of him, but Sora averted his own gaze and looked elsewhere. In truth, he would rather be anywhere but in the same room as him at the moment.
"I trust you all retuned without any problems?" Yen Sid finally asked. After leaving Atlantis, they had contacted Radiant Garden to announce their return only to find out that they had been trying to contact the group for quite some time only to receive static in their place. Mentioning that they had been to Atlantis, Sora had imagined the surprised reaction that had emerged from Yen Sid as he vehemently pushed past Cid to ask them in his head. When Yen Sid had asked if they had found anything and Kairi proceeded to talk about the book, there was a long pause, at least until Cid had regained control of the microphone.
"We brought you a candidate. This is Rapunzel," Riku introduced. Rapunzel stepped forward and placed a hand on her chest.
"It's nice to meet you, sir. This is quite a beautiful town. I can see why it's called Radiant Garden," Rapunzel said.
"It's not mine, but I'm sure Leo- excuse me, Squall, will be glad to hear that from a delightful young lady such as yourself," Yen Sid replied with a warm smile.
Squall? That's going to be hard to get used to, Sora thought. He guessed then that Leon must have finally reached a point where he was comfortable enough in using his real name again.
"Are Roxas, Aqua and the others back yet?" Kairi asked.
"Terra, Ventus and Aqua, yes. Right now, I have Lea on a mission to confirm the validity of the data we received from Neuge and the King. As for Roxas and Xion… unfortunately, I have heard nothing from them as of yet," Yen Sid said.
"Huh? That's weird… I mean, I'm not concerned. They can handle themselves just fine but still… it's strange that they haven't contacted you yet," Riku said. Despite his words, Sora was sure Riku was just as worried as the rest of them at this piece of news.
Yen Sid nodded. "I will give it a few more days before I consider sending a search party. Very well, you're all dismissed for now. Rapunzel, would you care to stay here for a moment? Oh, and Sora as well for that matter. I have something I need to ask you."
"I'd love to, but I'd prefer if whatever you have to say is also said in front of the others too," Sora said, making contact with him for the first time. He had a feeling he knew what Yen Sid was going to ask and even if he didn't, Sora had an agenda of his own anyway. He felt the others' confused looks upon him but he ignored them and continued staring into Yen Sid's eyes.
"Is something wrong, Sora?" Yen Sid asked.
"You want to ask me about what I did with the Princesses of Hearts, don't you?" Sora asked. "They're fine. I hid them somewhere only I knew about," Sora then turned to his friends and gave an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I kept this from you guys. I'm sure Luna had some idea of what I was doing but I didn't tell her either."
"What's going on? Sora, what happened?" Kairi asked.
"Before leaving Radiant Garden, I feared that the princesses weren't safe enough even with Mulan's help. I talked a bit with Kefka while he was still locked away in the castle basement and it confirmed something to me. There was the possibility of a spy somewhere here working for KRONOS. The only other person who knew that other than me and Mulan was Namine. So, I went behind your backs and I hid the Princesses in Pooh's storybook."
"Pooh's storybook? But the book wasn't there when we went to Merlin's place," Luna said.
"I moved it. Gave it to someone to protect—Colette," Sora said.
"You did what?" Yen Sid was surprisingly quick to react, springing up from his chair with great speed for a man his age and slamming his hands on the table. "Do you understand how much danger Colette and her daughter could have been in if KRONOS had found out?"
"It was a risk, but it was better than nothing. Mulan, Donald, Goofy, Max and Mickey can't keep an eye on five princesses all the time. They need their rest and the princesses don't want to be cooped up all the time either," Sora explained. He needed to keep on this line of attack now. There was no going back. He pointed an accusatory finger at Yen Sid. "You're the one who thought it would be a good idea to group all the princesses together where KRONOS could easily get them. If I hadn't done what I'd done, they would probably be in Kefka's hands by now."
"Still, couldn't you have at least told us about your plans before you went through with them?" Riku asked. Sora had the feeling his best friend wasn't going to like what he had to say either.
"No, because of two reasons. The first is that when it comes to things like this, we just argue and nothing gets done because of it. Ultimately, Yen Sid gets the final say anyway so we'd have wasted a lot of time arguing over a decision that was completely out of our hands. Secondly, the less people who knew about this, the easier it would be to keep under wraps. It's not that I don't trust any of you, but KRONOS had all our information on their computer. I just couldn't take the risk."
"Despite your intentions, you still managed to cause quite a panic amongst us until Mulan soothed our fears. You didn't even tell Mulan where you had hid them. Not even she could ascertain their security even if you knew where they were," Yen Sid said.
"Well I'll apologize," Sora said. "Just not to you. I have stood here and listened to you make bad decisions consistently. Telling us to focus on Alice instead of finding Luna, finding a new candidate instead of focusing on Alice, putting the princesses all in one location… I've had enough of it-"
"Sora-" Kairi attempted to say but Sora held up his hand.
"No, Kairi. He needs to know. He needs to know now or he'll keep thinking he can get away with it." He then dropped his hand and turned back to hawkishly glare at Yen Sid. "Answer me this. Did you know whether Atlantis existed or not? Be straight with me." When Yen Sid refused to answer, Sora smiled beguilingly. He had thought Yen Sid's reaction back on the Gummi Ship had been weird. "I guess Neuge was right after all. I believe her words were something to the effect of 'you're an ignorant old fart'. Fine—if you're going to hide things from us then I'm done playing games. Consider this my resignation."
Sora summoned the Kingdom Key into his hands and looked at it for a while. This was the hardest part for Sora. He and his Keyblade had been together for so long now that it was hard to picture a life without it. That was almost like any addiction though. Having the willpower to resist was important in learning not to be dependent on something. An addiction… it was strange to consider the Keyblade in this way but even now he was having second thoughts about doing this. It was because of that that he had to go through with it. Mustering enough courage within himself, Sora placed the Kingdom Key on the table and stepped away.
"Sora, what are you…" Riku's voice fell off the face of the earth, no doubt too baffled to continue speaking.
"I'm not a Keyblade Master anymore and I won't wield the Keyblade anymore. I quit," Sora said the last part more quietly than he would have liked so he repeated it. "I quit."
The various voices around him calling out his name were all drowned out by the man at the front. "I suggest you sit down and reconsider, Sora. You're right. If you have a problem with how we're doing things then you should definitely feel free to voice your opinions."
"No, you're not listening. You're doing it again and you don't even realize it. You want me to sit down and reconsider and yet you wonder why I'm angry," Sora said.
"Sora," Yen Sid tried again, sitting down this time. "Please, calm down and we can talk-"
"Calm down? You want me to calm down and yet you continue to hide things from us and would do so anyway. It's easy for you to tell me to calm down. Here you are sitting in your chair all day long doing who knows what and we're out there. We're fighting, we're bleeding, we're hurting, and for what? Apparently for nothing since I've been sealing keyholes the entire time without knowing that I've just doomed the worlds and am about to ruin so many others' lives." Sora started pacing back and forth, feeling what he guessed must have been testosterone. He eventually stopped and turned back to Yen Sid. "You want to talk? Alright, I want my life back. I want to feel happy again. I don't want to feel like I'm a pawn in some game for you to use. Could you give me that? Could you look into my eyes and tell me that I wasn't just some pawn? That you tried at every single step to be honest with me?"
Silence was his reply. Taking it as a victory, Sora nodded and picked his Keyblade back up before making for the door. Riku grasped at Sora's shoulder to stop him but when Yen Sid raised his hand, Riku let go allowing Sora to leave. He was halfway down the corridor when he heard Luna's voice call out to him from behind. He stopped and turned to look at her.
"So you're really quitting? That's it?" she asked him once she was closer.
"Yes, I am," Sora said huskily.
Luna bobbed her head fervently. "Well, I know you haven't exactly been exactly happy for a while now so… even if it's just a little break, if it makes you happy, I'm behind you all the way. I always have and always will."
"I don't think it will be a little break but thanks," Sora said. A time of complete silence passed in which Sora found himself drowning in the blue pool of her eyes. When he eventually realized what he was doing, he blushed and looked down to her left hand. "Stay with me."
"Huh?"
"We don't have to do this anymore. Aren't you tired of it all too? I don't want you or Kairi or Riku to get hurt. There are so many other things we can do to have fun. Other people don't have the novelty we have of travelling to other worlds and yet they can still be happy with what they have," Sora said.
"Other people also don't have a Keyblade, Sora," Luna pointed out. "Let's face it. I'm not normal. I'm not even sure what I am or who I am-"
"What do you mean? Who else could you be but Luna," Sora said.
"And it sounds simple to say that but… who is Luna? I don't even know who I am. I feel like I'm taking bits and pieces of what others have told me to construct this character. I don't even know if she's real. The only thing I know is that when I'm out there, fighting, I don't have to think too much about it. It's an escape, or maybe that's who I really am and I don't know it. Maybe I even enjoy it," Luna said, laughing it off.
"What did I tell you about thinking, Luna?" Sora asked her.
"I know, but I still can't give this up. I'm going to keep fighting and when we next meet, I'll definitely have an answer to give you," Luna said.
"I know you will. I don't think you know it yet but you've grown since I first met you," Sora said. Luna blinked frantically and her head whizzed about as she looked down at her own body. Sora laughed and poked her forehead affectionately with his finger. "I'm not talking about that, you little munchkin. Anywhere, where will go now?"
"What else is there? I'm going after KRONOS… and I'm going to find Astra," Luna replied. Sora bit his lip and looked back up at her with some mirth. He was looking into a mirror, seeing a reflection of a Sora that had been more confident than the real thing at the moment. Luna had come a long way since he had met that timid girl with nothing but her name to go by all those months ago in Traverse Town. She was now very much a different person and yet at her core the one he knew back then at the same time. Her fears of changing when she got her memories back were unfounded. It wasn't the memories that had changed her but the journey. Maybe it was he who had changed too much.
"Well, we still have a few days before you leave again, right? Let's enjoy it for all it's worth," Sora said. The sound of a click from behind them sent a silent sigh escaping from his mouth. Not quite prepared, Sora turned around to face Riku and Kairi.
The next few days passed by in Luna's remaining time in Radiant Garden may not have been the best but she tried to make them as comfortable as possible for Sora, Riku and Kairi. Sora and Riku in particular had not gotten on well ever since Sora had made his announcement in front of them and Yen Sid. The two would generally avoid each other whenever possible but spending time with each of them on separate occasions at least gave her an idea of what they were thinking about.
For Riku who wanted nothing more than to keep his friend safe, his intentions seemed cloudy to Luna at best. The way he talked about taking out Moira's Crescent and KRONOS, it seemed like he was more outright concerned with taking revenge on them than actually protecting Sora. He kept referring back to the Sora's poisoning, him being battered and bruised to a point of near death by Desiree and Kairi's attempted assassination in his reasoning for why they had to move quickly to "stifle whatever options they both have left" as Riku put it. In the end, he may as well have just said to her eliminate every single one of them, though she supposed if he had then he wouldn't be allaying her fears that that would include Astra too.
As for Sora, Luna was sure to spend time with him in their secret place, the lake near the back of the school shrouded by tall plants. Asking what Sora was planning to do now, his reply was a simple one.
"Whatever it is that normal people do, I guess," he said as he threw a smooth pebble across the water. The pebble skipped thrice across the water's surface before losing its momentum.
Luna picked up her own pebble. "You're going to find that to be a lot of things. Come on, be more specific."
Sora nodded as Luna's pebble skipped four times before sinking. "Well, I don't know, I've never really… thought about it. I mean, if I could still make people happy without actually going to other worlds to make others happy then that would be wonderful. I'm sure I can work with Leon and the others for a while. Help with the town and all that."
Luna smiled and cupped her hands together, swaying gently. "Weeeelllllll," Luna adopted a sing song voice as she said this. "Since, you know, I obviously knew you were going to be lonely while I was away, I looked around for a job for you. I found one. Congratulations, you get to be Even's lab assistant!"
Sora stared at her with an emotionless expression for a while before asking, "What?"
Luna's smile turned into a broad grin and then roaring laughter. "Oh, you should see the look on your face! Gotcha!"
Sora rolled his eyes and gave her a lopsided smile. "You could have been the cause of a serious heart attack there. Me and Vexen, working together? I'd sooner rather have Donald shouting in my ear an entire day."
"Well, I wasn't joking about the looking for a job thing for you. Scrooge came back from Disney Town along with Huey, Dewey and Louie. He told me that he was looking to start a brand new invention that would make him millions— well he cut off before he could say that last part but I could tell he was getting there. Anyway, he asked me to ask you if you wanted to enter into a partnership with him," Luna said.
"Well, he's got a lovable accent so why not?" Sora replied with a laugh. The two of them spent the rest of the day with Stephanie and Colette playing a long game of Monopoly that was more frustrating for Luna than it was for the rest of them. She had an incredibly good time overall though and once she was out of money she found herself supporting Stephanie to beat Colette and Sora.
Now as she sat in Even's laboratory for another one of her tests, she had no choice but to mull over the previous days' events out of boredom. Looking up, she saw Even sitting next to rather expensive equipment, the very same as those used in the hospital, though that was to be expected. All technology was the very latest and developed by Xanatos Enterprises.
"So tell me something. Have you found out anything else about the Chimera?" Luna asked. The tips of her digits were digging into the arm rests harder than she'd realized so she relaxed them. "There was this guy back in Atlantis. He was a Chimera who could change back into his human form at will. He said… that he and all other Chimera are able to control the Heartless, kind of like a- a conduit, was how he described it. Do you think that's true?"
Even rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose that's possible, yes. You know, the greatest gift Abraxas gave us was the ability to understand what he was trying to do."
"I'm sorry?"
"The ISOs, Isomorphic lifeforms perfect in every way possible, at least of those that can be measured. Not even my data replicas hold a candle to them as difficult as that it to admit. By studying these ISOs that have recently appeared in the system, you can get a good idea of how the Chimera project was supposed to work. You are of course familiar with the Isopteran and Hymenopteran orders, yes?"
Luna opened her mouth to speak. "No."
Even hissed. "Simpletons. I refer to the termites of the Isopteran order with the other order, the third largest rank in the insect kingdom might I add, being reserved for ants, bees and wasps."
Well why didn't you just say that then? Luna breathed a sigh of annoyance through her nostrils before replying, "Okay, let's pretend I know nothing about ants or termites and just explain this to me in layman's terms."
Even was clearly not pleased with her dripping obvious sarcasm but continued anyway. "These insects all have something in common in that they're eusocial beings. They collaborate together to build their colonies and make their eco systems work as they should. They tend to have a hive mind of sorts where they share information and decisions with each other without having to directly communicate, unlike humans who are individualistic at our most fundamental. Now in, let's say a colony of ants, you have the queen ant and the workers and soldiers. Tasks are spread out amongst the workers and egg-layers also known as division of labor, then you have the overlapping of generations by the mother and adult offspring and finally you have the cooperative care of their younglings. With me so far?"
Luna nodded her head slowly. She hadn't really absorbed everything but she understood the basics and had an idea of where he was going with the analogy.
Even continued, "So it naturally came to my brilliant mind one day to check the synchronization rates between two ISOs. I had Tron find two ISOs who had never met before and ran tests on them. They would both be in separate debug rooms that I had made where they would have to help each other to get out of their own rooms. Would you believe it? A perfect sync rate between the two. It was as if they didn't need to even communicate with one another to know what the other was telling them. It was beautiful, it was… inhuman."
"Okay…" Luna said, starting to feel more than creeped out by Even's clear obsession and excitement.
"Of course I ran a few more tests for concrete validity. The groups that performed were the ISO-ISO pair, the ISO-Program pair and the Program-Program pair. In each of these groups it was always the ISO-ISO pair that performed on a perfect synchronization rate. That was when I realized. The hive mind, that idea of eusociality that is often found in the insects, was also to be found in the ISOs. The Chimera program probably aimed to replicate that effort. In that case, you and the other Chimeras would be the queens and kings and the lesser Heartless, your workers and soldiers. Put simply, if you really wanted to, you would be able to control the Heartless. If you aren't already."
"I'm sure you'd like that, you creep," Luna muttered under her breath but it seemed that it hadn't been quiet enough for Even not to hear.
"I would, actually, but alas, beggars can't be choosers," Even said. He walked up to her and then did something most unusual. He took a whiff of her.
"Okay, what the hay? I knew you were a creep but a pervert too? First the monopoly game and now this. Just my luck," Luna said, recoiling in shock.
"Don't be foolish." Even pulled away before turning his back. For a second, Luna thought of grabbing the nearest object and giving the scientist a good bump on the head to wake up to. "Did you know that a single honey bee can cause entire physical and behavioural changes in the other bees in a hive? They call it pheromones. Now, Heartless by their nature are not eusocial. They're quite selfish and live in their own little bubble, thus they tend to be quite competitive amongst themselves. I've seen quite a few Heartless around the garden acting strange recently, quite different from their normal behaviour patterns. Now I wonder why that could be. Incapable of change yet change they do. Would you have any idea?" Even riddled.
"Are you saying it's because the Chimera's pheromones are affecting the physiology of the Heartless or something like that?"
"You're quicker than you lead one to believe," Even replied.
"Hey, what's that even mean?"
"Yes, indeed. I believe that it's because of you that the relationship between Heartless has become mutualistic rather than parasitic. Heartless benefit each other without the risk of harming the other and the same can be applied to Heartless and Chimera. Well, I suppose you would be the exception since you go after Heartless. I have a feeling though that soon enough they will not be able to distinguish their scent from yours. It depends on how quickly they evolve, of course. Mimicry, a similarity between two species that protects one or both of them, tends to allow for faster evolution. If that happens, then we may be witnessing the eradication of the Heartless, but in a completely different way than I ever could have imagined. Evolutionary assimilation, if you will."
As Even laughed, Luna could feel the shackles around her body tightening. Even no doubt found it interesting, perhaps he even wanted to observe and see what happened next, but she was not some play thing for his fascination and studies. If Even's theory was right then she was affecting the growth and change of the Heartless without even knowing it. She remembered back to what Sora had told her about Syndrome's motivations. He had also referred to something about a hive mind and how he wanted to use the Heartless to get rid of the Heartless. So this was how KRONOS would accomplish that. They needn't do a thing but sit back and watch as the Chimera changed the behavioural processes of the Heartless to make them anything but what they originally were. She suspected then that they would try to protect the remaining Chimeras at all cost, but even if they didn't, they were still fine. KRONOS still had her.
"How is everyone taking it?" Kairi asked Sora. The two were standing on the rooftop of the castle overlooking the orange sky and town underneath. They had promised to wait for Luna here while she went off to finish her examination with Even.
"They were all pretty surprised when I told them but I think they understood things when I fully explained to them. You can always count on Donald and Goofy for getting behind your back when you need it so I felt a little more confident afterwards. Neuge… well, on the surface she seemed glad that I had made the choice but I think somewhere deep down she was sad that I wouldn't be training with her anymore. Well, she still has Luna so that's something," Sora told her.
"At least you'll be there to keep her company while Luna's gone then. Get ready for her to invite you to a bar ever single night from now on," Kairi touted.
"Crap, didn't think about that." Sora chuckled, his mouth turning upside down. "Hmm, well she's gonna have to find someone else. You know— underage and all that. By the way, did they find anything on Roxas and Xion yet?"
Kairi groaned a negative. "I'm worried. Something definitely happened to them. There's no other reason they would take this long to communicate with us otherwise. If KRONOS has them or something then-"
"Then we need to finish them quickly. I'm eighty five per cent sure there's a spy hiding somewhere here. The least I can do for you guys while you're gone is find them," Sora said. "But hold onto hope. If I know Roxas and Xion, wherever they are, they won't go down that easy."
"You're right. Lea should be back by tomorrow anyway with whatever he's got, and then we'll proceed from there. We just have to keep our calm and proceed normally," Kairi tried to convince herself more so than Sora. He admired her level-headedness and tact at the most dire of times such as these. Her ability to quickly switch and maintain her cool was a strength that could make even the most hardened of opponents think twice. He pitied the enemy who came in to contact with this one.
"Sora… I've always been dancing around this, but I need to know…" Kairi said something after this so quietly that Sora hadn't picked up on it.
"Sorry? I didn't quite hear that," Sora told her.
"I… want you to… kiss me," Kairi said, averting her eyes. A breath escaped both their mouths at a similar time. Sora wasn't quite sure he heard correctly what Kairi had said.
"Excuse me?"
"I need to know something, so I want you to kiss me… or maybe I should kiss you," Kairi said clumsily.
So he was unmistaken. He had heard correctly the first time then.
"Ah." Sora bit his lower lip and suddenly began to feel really uncomfortable. It was true that there had been numerous evenings and nights where he had spent time alone with Kairi watching the sunset or underneath the beautiful stars respectively. He had felt at peace with her as he did now, looking upon the town in front of him. Now was the moment of truth. Sora had been running away from it and Kairi had trapped him in a corner. He wouldn't dare make an excuse at the expense of hurting her feelings. More than anything, this would be his first actual kiss with a girl.
"Kairi, I-" But the redhead held her finger to his lips to silence him. There was definitely no running away now. Kairi leaned in. He could smell a nice flowery fragrance emanating from her as she did. Sora was paralyzed. He felt like a lost little kid completely out of his element, like coming in for the first day of school. Sora's eyes only briefly wandered down to Kairi's rosy lips before they became obscured by her snub shaped nose. Their lips met, Sora tasting cherry on his lips. The kiss lasted for a few more seconds before he found himself putting his hands on Kairi's shoulders, separating them both.
"Is something wrong?" Kairi asked.
Yes, is what Sora wanted to say. It wasn't that he hadn't liked it exactly, but at the same time he felt like he was doing something incredibly guilty. Images of her had flashed in his mind like lightning as he had kissed Kairi. He just couldn't do it.
"I'm sorry, Kairi, I can't. I love you, I really do, as a friend and I'll protect you at whatever the cost but I can't…"
Can't let you be consumed by my darkness.
Whatever he was facing right now, the pain, the suffering he felt. He would never want anyone to share that with him. Even the girl he had been thinking of, whom he had fallen for over the past weeks, or maybe even more… he could not make her suffer his torment. This fight was his and his alone. He knew something was wrong with him, ever since the moment he had Desiree submitting to him in their second battle, where he had wanted so much to inflict on her the pain she had inflicted on him, or maybe even before then when he had so mercilessly sent Maleficent to her death. There was a demon living inside him and until he could defeat it, destroy it, then he could not trust himself. He couldn't trust that he wouldn't fulfil the Seer's vision and be responsible for the destruction of the worlds. He couldn't trust himself to be anywhere close to his friends or even start a relationship with one of them.
"I understand. It was wrong of me in the first place to force that on you. I just… needed to know how you felt," Kairi said. Sora was surprised to see that she didn't seem hurt by this rejection. If anything, it almost seemed like she was expecting it. "I just want you to know that we'll always be here for you when you need us. I always will. I love you too, as a friend."
