The Road to Dawn
By Ariana Aislinn
Chapter 18: Return to Hollow Bastion

Well, life has really been throwing one thing after another at me! The good news is I have a new job teaching first grade. The bad news is, it really eats up my time and makes it hard for me to write. Still, I wanted to try to have a chapter ready for a Christmas present for my readers. Yes, I know it's a bit late, and it's just barely an hour too late to call it a New Year's present, but I hope you'll all forgive me for that! So, enjoy!

Standard disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and its characters are the property of Square-Enix and Disney, not me.

"It shore is a good thing we weren't bettin' real money, a-hyuck!"

"Oh, be quiet!" grumbled Donald, but Sora only laughed as they followed Yuffie up the front steps of the castle at Hollow Bastion.

"Relax, guys! It was a long flight, and it was a fun game, even if she beat the pants off us." Sora poked the duck in the forehead. "Now, pay attention! We've got a lot to do to find out what's been happening, and where we should go next."

Donald eyed the crowded steps as they approached the front gate of the castle. "There sure are an awful lot of people here…" He indicated the crowds of people gathered here and there. Nearby sat a small group of despondent-looking elderly men, chatting quietly.

"I know." Yuffie nodded, walking just in front of them. "It's so weird, too. There was a time when Hollow Bastion used to be filled with people, but when I was a kid the population was in a bit of a decline. Then, after the night of the storm when Maleficent arrived, those who survived were mostly refugees in Traverse Town or other worlds. Not all of them returned after the barriers went up. But like we said, something must have gone wrong with the barriers. It was only a couple weeks after you defeated Ansem that refugees started to show up here, just as if this were Traverse Town. All sorts of people are here now, from all over the place, and we're having a hard time accommodating them all," she told them as she pushed open the huge, double doors to the castle's front hall.

"No thanks to some," muttered Leon, overhearing the tail end of their conversation as they entered. He was seated on the edge of the central fountain, with a clipboard and a pile of blankets, apparently tallying up supplies. "Sorry to leave you to Yuffie's tender mercies when we arrived, but you were in the middle of your game, and there's way too much work to be done." He looked up at Yuffie and sighed, shaking his head. "I knew that Setzer seemed untrustworthy. Haven't heard another word from him about those promised supplies. Good thing I wasn't counting on the extra help, but it still ticks me off."

Yuffie slapped a hand on his shoulder, drawing a glare from the young man. She grinned. "Oh, lighten up! We're all doing the best we can to help, and we've got Sora now, too!"

"Oh yeah, sure!" Sora nodded. "Just let us know what you need, and we'll help out."

"Here we go again," Donald said, rolling his eyes. Goofy merely nodded good-naturedly.

"Maybe later, but thanks, guys. Look, I gave Aerith a call as soon as we got close and asked her to look around for some spare clothes for you, Sora. Why don't you head upstairs and see if she's found anything?"

Yuffie nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, she's already set aside a room for you, though with all the refugees, you're going to have to settle for one of the ones we're not done fixing up. They're all pretty messy, and some were partially filled with machinery for Ansem's experiments, but I think we found one that's not too bad. Though you'll have to share!"

"Aw, no big deal." Sora grinned. "Goofy snores, but I think we'll manage."

"What?" Goofy blinked. "Do I really?"

"Like a lion with indigestion!"

"Hey now, I know you're not comparing me with Simba, are ya, Donald?"

Sora just chuckled and followed Yuffie upstairs as the other two lagged behind, arguing. They had to take a few lifts, but a couple of stories up Yuffie guided them to a residential wing filled with open doorways. They found Aerith inside one of the rooms, an apron tied around her waist and her hair tied up in a pink kerchief. She sneezed lightly, then wrinkled up her nose and waved a hand in front of her face. "So dusty in here…" She brightened as she saw Sora, hurrying forward to give him a quick hug. "So good to see you! I hear you had a bit of trouble on your way here."

"Aw, it was nothing." Sora shrugged, grinning sheepishly as he eyed his slashed-up shirt front. "Well…except for a close call. I hear you've got some replacement clothes for me?"

Aerith nodded. "I think so. Actually, we found a couple of rooms that will do, so if Goofy and Donald don't mind sharing, I'll put you up in the next room. The clothes I found are there. Will that be all right?"

"I guess so. Lucky Sora," Donald grumbled, sticking out his tongue at Goofy, but Sora could see a humorous glint in the duck's eye. Likewise, Goofy's hurt look had a feigned air about it, and it was obvious that the pair's banter hid a long-standing friendship. Yuffie flopped down on a dusty bedspread to chat animatedly with them as Aerith walked out into the hallway with Sora.

Aerith stepped back, eyeing Sora appraisingly. "Hmm…I had a few different outfits, but you've grown more than I thought you had."

"Really?" Sora frowned thoughtfully, comparing the height difference between himself and Aerith.

She giggled softly. "Yes, but that's actually a good thing. Most of the clothes I found are in a bit of disrepair, but there's one outfit that was actually in very good condition. I was worried it wouldn't fit you, but since you've obviously grown a couple of inches, it won't be a problem." She rested a fist against her chin. "I'd mend your old clothes for you, but have you looked in a mirror lately? I think you're outgrowing them."

Sora blushed, rubbing the back of his head. "We've, ah, been a little busy."

"So I hear! Very well then, this way." She pushed open the door to the next room, which looked very like the last. This one, however, had some ragged curtains in a window where Donald and Goofy's room had none, and the bedspread was of a different pattern, though just as dusty. In one corner a bit of copper piping came through the floor, stretching up through the ceiling on its way to an upper level.

On the bed was a pile of clothes, laid out as neatly as Aerith had been able to manage. Many of them were hopelessly wrinkled, and a few were a bit faded. Several shirts needed mending, and there were some quite dusty pairs of pants. Aerith picked a black bundle trimmed with red and golden yellow off the top of the pile and pushed it into Sora's arms. "Here, try these on. I'll be waiting in the hall."

"Okay, thanks." Sora held the clothes up and shook them out, eyeing them curiously as Aerith shut the door behind him.

They were actually rather similar in style to his old, baggy pants and short-sleeved jacket, but aside from the difference in color, there was something else different about them that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Perhaps it was that they looked more grown up, somehow. His trademark hood was there, too, as well as some very sturdy looking gloves and shoes; he had to admit that his own were rather the worse for wear. He tried them on quickly, and it was almost eerie how they seemed made for him. "Hey, Aerith," he called, "where did you say you found these again?"

"I didn't, precisely. I haven't gotten a chance to speak with Leon about it yet, but yesterday I was out on the ramparts and found a package addressed to 'The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee.'" She giggled slightly. "Funny name, isn't it? But I decided to go ahead and open it, and inside were some blankets and foldable cots, as well as some changes of clothes, apparently for the refugees. Oddly enough, there was nothing else quite like that outfit there. It reminded me so much of you, I brought it up as soon as I heard you were on your way."

"That's pretty odd!" Sora shrugged and started changing out of his old clothes. It didn't take long to get the new ones on, and it felt even stranger once he was wearing them - they fit like a glove. There was also something, a strange air hanging about them. Sora closed his eyes for a moment, thinking. Faint images briefly flitted across his mind…freshly sharpened pencils, soft, white light, and gentle lines of color across crisp paper. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone. Slowly Sora grinned. He wasn't sure how she'd managed it, but he knew where the new clothes had come from. "Thanks, Naminé," he said softly, then turned to go see what Aerith thought of the fit.

Some hours later, the three visitors had gotten well settled into their temporary quarters. Sora, Donald, and Goofy now stood around a rather cluttered castle kitchen with their old friends, eating a hurried dinner of roast chicken, potatoes, and carrots. In addition to Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith, Cid had joined them, having just come from somewhere in the depths of the castle, where he'd been working dismantling some machinery. The others chatted amiably, but Cid applied himself seriously to the task of eating.

"I apologize for the food. We've gotten some of our gardens up and running again, but they just aren't doing very well. At least the livestock seems to be thriving, on the outskirts of town." Aerith dabbed a napkin at her mouth as she leaned against the sink, plate in one hand and a fork held daintily in the other.

"Really?" Sora belatedly remembered to finish chewing and swallowed before continuing. "All I've ever really seen is the castle. I didn't even know there was room for stuff like animals and gardens."

"Oh, sure!" Yuffie nodded while gnawing on a drumstick. "Granted, Ansem really did take over a lot of stuff with his machines, and then when Maleficent showed up, the place really went to hell. The gardens were neglected and got overgrown, and a bunch of the livestock ran off or died. But we're doing our best to restore our livelihood. Things were actually going pretty well until the refugees started showing up."

"I'm afraid most of the refugees are on their own as far as food, though," sighed Leon. "We just can't handle cooking meals for all of them. But they've managed to do okay. Some of them have stuff to trade, and the townspeople share what they can. You gotta admit, Hollow Bastion may not have a lot of survivors, but we're a tough bunch, and most of 'em are pretty generous, too."

"I can tell! Thanks for letting us stay, you guys."

Yuffie laughed. "Of course, Sora! What'd you think we were going to do, shove you out on a balcony with a pillow?"

He grinned. "You never know." He chewed thoughtfully on a bite of potatoes, then turned to Leon. "Hey Leon, we've got to plan our next move. I don't suppose you could help?"

Leon shrugged, not looking up from his plate. "I suppose we can try, but I don't make any guarantees. I'm really not sure what we can do."

"We have to find the king!" Donald insisted.

Sora grinned. "Yeah, Donald, I know. Just calm down, okay?" He tweaked the duck's beak, who stuck out his tongue in return. He laughed, but then turned serious again as he regarded Leon. "Well, Donald is right, but that's not all we have to do. Ultimately, we've got to find out what's going on with the barriers. Whatever's wrong, I think it's pretty clear that our job's not done yet, and the worlds still aren't entirely safe from the darkness. So, we've gotta make them safe, and to do that we're going to need help. We need to know things, and we need to find our friends. Besides which…I'm worried about Riku. Last I heard he was okay, I think, but…I'd like to know, you know?"

Leon nodded. "Sure. So, you got a place to start, or any leads?"

Goody tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I dunno about you guys, but I'd like to know how come we were asleep for so long, and just who wanted to mess with our memories."

"Well…it's all okay now, isn't it? We got our memories back."

Donald frowned. "I know, Sora, but don't you want to know why they were messed with in the first place?"

Leon raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say you met the girl who did it?"

"That's right…Naminé." Sora nodded. "Like we told you and Yuffie before, Leon, Naminé woke us up in Castle Oblivion. She said that she'd had to put us to sleep so she could restore our memories."

"That's right! 'Cause she'd had to uh…draw over our memories. Y'know, erase 'em. Dunno why…I think she said someone made her do it."

"But why would someone do that? And what made her put things back the way they were?" Aerith asked.

Sora shook his head. "That's just it, we don't know. I guess Donald and Goofy are right - it's something we need to find out. It's just…Naminé is a good person, and I don't want anything to get in the way of believing that."

"Gawrsh, Sora, you don't have to worry about that! Finding out the truth is a good thing, and I'm sure Naminé has a good heart."

Donald nodded decisively. "That's right! You told her we could be friends with her, right? And you know your friends will stand by you. If anything, finding out the truth may give us a way to help her."

Sora brightened. "Yeah, you're right. She seemed okay for the moment, but…someone's making her do things she doesn't want to do, and I'd like to find out who, and why. Still…we're right back where we started. We just have more questions to answer, and no starting places." He sighed.

"Right then," said Yuffie. "Let's try this. What are the questions you want answered? If we go through them step by step, maybe we'll find some we can help you answer."

The other three exchanged glances, thinking. "Well," said Donald slowly, "can we fill in any of the holes since we were here last? When we saw you, you'd come back to Hollow Bastion just after Sora sealed Maleficent's Keyhole. What happened then?"

"That's right. That was when we took off in the gummi ship after Ansem. What happened to you after that?"

"The barriers went up again, and many of the survivors returned to Hollow Bastion. We started rebuilding and cleaning up the castle, trying to undo the mess Ansem and Maleficent had made of the place." Leon shrugged. "What we told you before, pretty much."

"Yes, but what about the Keyhole? Is it still locked?"

Aerith regarded the duck thoughtfully. "Truth to tell, we don't like to go up there…it used to be the Great Hall that housed Ansem's throne room, and it was often used for royal balls and other formal occasions. But now…it's such a mess, and it holds so many bad memories. The Keyhole's still there, and we're really not sure how to dismantle it…or even if we should. I'm pretty sure it can't be opened, and there's no darkness pouring out of it, but it just sits there…waiting."

Goofy nodded. "So it's not doing anything suspicious, then?"

Yuffie shook her head. "Not as far as we can tell."

Sora, who had been silent for a moment, spoke up. "Maybe we need to go back even further. There's one thing I've never really had a chance to ask all of you, not since I started to find out some of the truth." He looked up, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "The Keyhole was made from the hearts of seven princesses. The last one Maleficent needed was Kairi. Kairi used to live in Hollow Bastion before she came to the Destiny Islands, on the night of the meteor shower. So…who is Kairi? Did she really live here, and did any of you know her…before?"

There was a long silence, and no one really looked at each other. After a while, Yuffie shrugged. "Well, I was only six when Hollow Bastion fell to the Heartless, so I don't really remember much." She stuffed a huge bite of potatoes in her mouth and concentrated carefully on eating.

The silence stretched out again, until it was eventually broken by a rather indelicate throat-clearing. "Ya'll chose a real doozy of a subject to bring up," Cid growled around his fork. "But I'd say you deserve to know the truth - as much of it as we can tell you."

Sora frowned. "What do you mean, as much as you can tell?"

"What he means, Sora, is that there's some we don't remember, some we aren't sure about because of the confusion at the time, and some that's just not our right to tell. Not as long as Kairi herself doesn't know." Leon frowned. "For that matter, some of it I'm not even sure she'd want to know."

"Please," Sora begged, suddenly very hungry to know the truth. "Please just tell me. I…I need to know, at least a little of it. What happened that night? What happened to Kairi, and to her family?"

Leon was stubbornly silent for a while, but Aerith caught his eye. "Come on, Leon," she said gently. "Tell him, please."

The tall man sighed, straightening up a little. He set his empty plate on the counter and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Look, Sora, a lot of this is just water under the bridge. It doesn't matter anymore. But I'll tell you this - I was a pain-in-the-neck teenager at the time, a little too concerned with myself to notice much around me, but I do remember Kairi was a sweet little kid. Only four, and always getting into stuff, but cheerful and friendly. She had a family that loved her very much, and like a lot of people, she lost them on that night. In fact, for the longest time we all thought she was dead, too. But before Maleficent came, Kairi lived in the castle with her family."

Sora nodded. "Kairi's grandmother is still alive. She lives on the islands with us now."

"Good to hear; I'd hoped as much. That old lady sure had it in for me a few times, but I'll admit it, I was a brat." He quirked a smile. "I'm glad to hear she's okay."

"But…the rest of Kairi's family?" Sora pressed.

"Kairi's parents were fine people. Very well thought of, and great leaders. Never spent much time with them myself, but everyone knew who they were. They were…killed by the Heartless." Leon stared at the floor. "Saw it happen, though it was at a distance. I was trying to fight some of the Heartless a little ways off. It was when I saw the two of them go down, side by side, under a heap of Heartless…when I saw the blood…" He coughed. "That's when I panicked. I was frozen to the spot, and for several minutes, all I could do was watch the world fall apart around me. That is, until Cid slapped me in the face. Once he'd snapped me out of it, he ordered me to follow him to his gummi ship and piled me aboard with Yuffie and Aerith. That was the last I saw of Hollow Bastion, until you took on Maleficent." He looked away, and Sora could see he wasn't planning on sharing anything further.

"Can't say as I knew what was happening at the time; I was too busy trying to get the young 'uns out," muttered Cid, "but I knew Kairi's parents were dead, and I kinda figured she and her grandma were goners too. Everywhere I went there were bodies, and where there weren't, there should have been but there were only more Heartless. Seemed as if everyone was either dead or taken by the darkness. I saved who I could, and I hightailed it out of there."

There was another minute or so of silence, and finally Sora spoke again. "That…that's not all, though. There's more."

Cid shook his head. "Remember what I said, kid. Ain't necessarily your business. You sure you need to know? Kairi's safe now, and that's all that matters, ain't it?"

"Yes, but…I think she'd want to know the truth, too. And…this isn't over yet. How do we know she won't get caught up in things again? As much as I'd hate for that to happen, she is one of the seven princesses, whatever that means. Doesn't that mean someone might still try to use her? I don't exactly understand it, but I think I've always known there was something special, something important about her. I'd like to know exactly what that is, so I can try to find a way to protect her…if and when the time comes." Sora swallowed back a lump in his throat. He wanted to know…and yet he didn't. There was something wrong about finding out the truth before Kairi herself knew it, but he meant what he said. He'd made a promise to Kairi to come back to her, but he'd also made a promise to himself to protect her. In order to do that, he needed to know.

Leon sighed. "All right then. Sora…Kairi really is a princess, not that we ever really used the title much. Her mother's brother was the king of Hollow Bastion."

"The king? But…then…"

Leon nodded. "That's right. Ansem the Wise, the last Seeker of Wisdom, was Kairi's uncle."

And now I shall rub my hands together deviously as I disappear into the night, to work on the next chapter some before bedtime! Happy New Year, everyone!