EEK! It's been so long! I'm sooo sorry for the lack of updates! You all must hate me now T_T Anyway, just wanna let you know this chapter gets rather light hearted by the end... BUT DON'T BE FOOLED =D anyway, on with the show!

Shadow Prince

Chapter Three

The Glass Heart

In which Kairi finds the truth about her father, Roxas is dubbed a stick in the mud and Sora and Kairi share a moment

xXx

Kairi and Roxas were standing at the gate to the castle. Kairi was wearing her cloak and a white dress of Namine's along with holding a large basket to put the groceries in. Roxas turned to look at her. Kairi cocked her head to one side, "What?"

"Look, I'm just going to be frank with you, as soon as I walk through that gate I'll disappear to you." He stated in a casual way that only confused Kairi further. She furrowed her brow. "I know it sounds ridiculous but it's true. Outside castle grounds normal people can't see me."

Kairi remained silent for a moment then, "I guess its part of this whole 'cursed' thing, right?" She smiled. Roxas nodded solemnly and opened the gate. He stepped out first. Kairi saw a shimmer of light as he passed through the gate. Kairi followed suit and looked around. Roxas was standing right beside her, albeit he was transparent, but she could still see him. "Roxas… I can still see you,"

"Huh? What? You can?" He questioned, blinking rapidly. Kairi nodded and told him that she could see him but he was transparent. Roxas began walking away after that and told her to follow him to town.

"Hey, this isn't the way to Twilight Town!" Kairi called to the transparent boy walking far ahead of her. She had expected them to go the previous town she had been to, which was Twilight Town. He turned his head and looked back at her but continued walking,

"No, we're going to Traverse Town. It has a large market and will have everything we need." Roxas looked ahead again, a path he'd obviously walked many times. Kairi just followed him. When they got to Traverse Town all Kairi could see were merchants stalls and the huge crowds. Roxas grunted.

"What is it?"

"It's busier then usual. You better be careful." Kairi was about to ask why but Roxas had already disappeared into the crowd. She sighed and began weaving through the large crowd and trying to find Roxas as well.

xXx

"Hey, Roxas, look at this!" Kairi had long since forgotten that she was basically talking to thin air with Roxas there. People turned to look at who she was calling to, but saw no one. A girl in a black cloak and fluro green shoes muttered to herself about all the crazies in town. Roxas slapped his head with the palm of his hand,

"Kairi, nobody here can see me! Stop before your deemed the town weirdo," he sighed walking over to the girl. Kairi pouted,

"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Roxas! Now look at this," Kairi whined and then pointed to a stand with a large number of jeweled necklaces and bracelets. An old man wearing a blue pointed hat and had a long white beard appeared from the shadows of the stand. He was stroking his beard fondly and giving her a kind smile.

"Why hello, miss. How might I help you this fine morning?" He asked, still smiling. Kairi couldn't help but smile back.

"Just appreciating these beautiful necklaces, who made them?" Kairi had always been fond of jewelry; her mother had been a jeweler herself. But due to her sudden illness, Kairi's mother had to close down the small shop and all its money went to trying to find a cure.

"I did actually, name's Merlin, nice to see someone who appreciates my work!" At that the elderly man held out his hand to shake, Kairi gladly took it.

"Kairi! And I don't see how anyone couldn't like it," Kairi said, gazing at the large number of beautiful stones and intricate metal work. Merlin laughed.

"That's not what I meant."

Kairi liked Merlin; he was kind and light hearted. She had lost track of Roxas while she chatted, but eventually he pulled on her arm and told her that they should go. Merlin raised a thick white eyebrow as she told him it was time for her to go,

"I really should get going, but it was nice talking with you! I hope we can speak again sometime," Kairi smiled kindly. Merlin nodded saying he understood and picked a necklace out of his selection and handed it to Kairi.

"Here, take this as a thank you for giving an old jeweler some company," Merlin winked with a smile. Kairi tried refuse but the old man put the necklace in her hand and curled her fingers around it. She smiled and said thank you. Kairi was walking away when she actually took a good look at the necklace. Its pendant was a smooth teardrop shaped white stone hung on a black thick string. She looked at the necklace for a while as she walked, not paying any attention to where she was going. Eventually, Kairi walked into someone.

"Eeek!" She squealed dropping the necklace onto the ground, then realized she'd walked into someone, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Kairi?"

Kairi looked up to see familiar teal eyes almost covered by silvery bangs staring at her.

"Riku! Seems I keep running into you… literally…" she trailed off, looking to the side. Suddenly she wondered where Roxas was and why he wasn't telling her they should really be leaving.

"You dropped this," Riku interrupted her thoughts and handed her the necklace Merlin had given her.

"Oh! Thanks! Anyway," Kairi smiled gratefully taking the necklace from Riku's hand, "I really have to get going," she really didn't feel comfortable at all right now. She wanted Roxas there, even if no one else could see him.

"Where to?"

"Er, just around. I'm running errands for the local hotel," Kairi said hurriedly, she wondered if it was obvious she was lying. He raised an eyebrow and quickly looked at the large basket she was holding with one hand. Kairi smiled apologetically at Riku. He closed his eyes and nodded,

"Alright, I'll let you go," he nodded. Kairi let out a sigh of relief. Riku's gaze wandered past Kairi, she tilted her head and turned to see what he was looking at. She was relieved to see Roxas, watching her from a distance. As soon as he caught her gaze, Roxas looked away. Kairi wondered why Riku was looking in that direction, surely he couldn't see Roxas? She looked back at Riku, faking the best confused look she could.

"What are you looking at?"

"Huh? Oh nothing. So, had any luck with your father?" Kairi blinked, her father? She hadn't thought about him since she'd woken up back in the castle.

"No… Nothing actually," she said softly, overcome by guilt suddenly.

"Well maybe I've seen him,"

Kairi described her father to Riku the best she could, she didn't know where the picture she had of him was. Probably with that damn horse. Riku nodded slowly as Kairi did her best, but in the end he said he hadn't seen him. The two parted ways and Kairi, cautiously, headed back to the castle. Roxas came up beside her,

"Jeez, you're chatty," he said simply, "we could've been back by now if you hadn't kept talking to people."

"Sorry."

There was silence for a long time after that. Roxas was slightly in front of Kairi, leading her through the trees to the castle.

"… I heard you talking to Riku about your father. I really… I think he might have come by the castle," Kairi perked up instantly.

"He did?!" Kairi could see Roxas nod.

"But… Kairi… I don't think he ever left."

xXx

Kairi wandered the castle, slightly aimlessly. She found the library, where she spent some time reading books, and was now sitting on the stairs. Her eyes were a little puffy, and her nose was still a little runny but Kairi considered herself to be okay. Somewhere deep down, she'd always known that her dad was dead, yet she always refused to believe it.

And that's what led her here.

To this castle.

To, what she assumed, death.

Kairi stood up, turned around on the ball of her heel and walked up the stairs. But instead of turning left to go to her room, she turned right. She was curious to see what was down this hallway.

Most of the doors were closed, and the hall got darker and darker the further she went. Eventually she heard a slight crunching noise under her feet; she looked down to see that she'd stepped in something. It was dry and hard. Kairi shrugged and continued walking. A little further down the hall she found a doorway that was open. Slowly she looked into the room.

It was just as dark as the hall, but a little crack in the curtain allowed some light to come in. It was dust covered and Kairi could see the carpet was covered in the same sort of crust she'd stepped in before. The bed's sheets were torn and ripped like a wild animal had had a go at them. In middle of the room there was a small round table. On it was a glass case.

Kairi walked into the room, starring intently at the glass case. She stared at what was inside when she got up to it.

Inside was a glass heart.

It was put together like stained glass, with various different hues of red and black. And revolving around that were two smaller hearts, not made of glass. They glowed a faint pink colour. Kairi reached out a hand to touch the glass case, but almost instantly something pushed her away. She heard a venomous hiss.

"What are you doing here?"

Kairi couldn't move, her eyes still not very well adjusted to the little light in the room. She felt her body be pushed backwards, and her back slammed against the wall. It held her against the wall with a vice like grip, its claws sinking into her flesh.

The creature before her almost looked human. Its flesh was completely black, along with its hair and clothes, although the cape it wore was more of a dark blue colour. Its eyes were a sickly yellow-green.

There was no doubt in her mind. This was the so called prince, Sora.

"Why are you here?!" He barked at Kairi. She felt her body tense, pain erupted from her back. "WHY?!" He barked again, she could see the distress in his eyes, she could feel the pain from his heart.

"I-I'm s-sorry for coming into your r-"

"No! Why did you come back?! Why! You could have run away, why did you come back?!" Kairi stared at his cold eyes. She'd never thought of why. It was true, she could have run away, but she came back. Suddenly, Kairi realized that she had nowhere else to go. She had sold her home; her horse had run away, her father was dead. There was nothing for her now. Tears began to swell in her eyes and she closed them in despair.

Suddenly she felt something ice cold against her lips. She opened her eyes and saw that it was the former prince who was pressing his lips against hers in a forceful kiss. The grip he had on her loosened and Kairi felt her body relax slightly. She wasn't sure how long they had been like that, but a sharp crack tore the two apart.

Sora's head whipped around to look at the glass case. He let go of Kairi, letting her slide down the wall leaving a red smear of blood. He leapt over to the table, looking at it intently with his yellow-green eyes. Kairi heard another crack, like sheets of ice breaking apart. He gasped and Kairi saw a pink dust float up off the heart and then settle down at the bottom of the case. Sora lowered his head so that his bangs fell over his brightly coloured eyes, hiding them from view. Kairi looked on, and could have sworn that she saw something fall from his eyes. Slowly he lifted his arm and pointed to the door.

"Leave," he choked out. When Kairi only stared at him with wide, frightened eyes he yelled this time, "I said leave!"

This time, Kairi didn't hesitate. She got up onto her feet and ran from the room. She ran until she was at the stair case.

"Kairi? Wh- You're bleeding!" Roxas cried like he was startled. Kairi ran down the stairs and wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face in his shoulder, and started to cry. She cried for herself, she cried for her father. But most of all, she cried for the broken hearted prince.

xXx

Later that afternoon, Kairi found herself staring out her bedroom window. Namine had insisted that she re-bandage all of Kairi's wounds. Although Sora had given her some fresh wounds, they weren't that bad.

Roxas seemed to be completely unsettled though by Kairi's small encounter. He told her that she should go back there, no matter what. But Kairi was determined too. She wasn't going to just sit there like a prisoner. She hoped that Sora would be in a better mood, and with that thought in mind; Kairi got up from her bed and walked out the door and down the hallway that would lead her once again to Sora.

Kairi came upon the door to his room, slightly ajar as it had been before. As she looked in she saw that the room was lighter then before; the curtains fully open to allow the sunlight, or what ever of it managed to get through the cloud cover, into the room. She could see where her blood was smeared on the floor and the dried substance staining the carpet. And on the other side of the room, sitting on all fours, was none other than Sora. Kairi took a deep breath and walked into the room as calmly as she could. She sat down right beside Sora despite all of her instincts trying to tell her to keep her distance.

"It's nice isn't it?" She asked looking out at the forest just outside the window. Kairi watched Sora carefully from the corner of her eye, ready to bolt if need be.

He grunted and said with a monotone voice, "not that I can really appreciate it." Kairi could hear the slight hint of sadness.

"Hmm…" Was all Kairi could muster. There was a long period of silence after that. Kairi was unsure what she could possibly say.

"You know, you really shouldn't be here," Sora said at last, turning his head slightly to look at Kairi.

She scoffed, "what makes you say that?"

"Well I think earlier would be a good reason."

"Not good enough," Kairi replied whimsically. It was laughable to her; she'd just possibly started a petty argument with someone who could kill her in an instant. But, he hadn't yet. Sora furrowed his brow and looked at her with a confused expression on his face.

"Roxas told you to stay away too, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but he's a stick in the mud," Kairi scrunched up her nose. To her surprise Sora chuckled, and she couldn't help but smile.

"That may be true, but that doesn't mean he isn't right."

"Well, that's too bad now isn't it? Because I'm not moving just because you, or Roxas, tell me too," Kairi stuck out her tongue trying to show just how serious she was. Sora shook his head and sighed.

"Fine. Be that way."

"I will."

END OF CHAPTER. Haha... seems the more I write this, the crappier it gets =_= I'm soo sorry. There's only going to be 3 or so chapters left. Short, I know but if I keep dragging on I'm going to lose intrest permanently! So let's see... we've seen three sides of Sora now, right? The truly heartless one, the incredibly scared one, and this last one! What's going on here?! Well, you can probably guess what's going on, but I'm not going to say for sure! ^w^ And the next chapter will surprise you. I assure that you will NEVER see it coming. Ever.

THANKYOU TO THOSE WHO REVIEWED LAST CHAPTER! Chasingfireflies(who got a mention in this chapter! Go find it XD), Miss Captain-Mad Dog Vane, and khfan forlife!!!!! THANKYOU AND I HOPE YOU DON'T HATE ME ;-;