Chapter Nine:
I Thought You Said Forever

A/N: 6.6.09: Last chapter was so short I decided to do this one, too. I'm adding song lyrics to this chapter because I used the same song's lyrics for the title. Obviously, at the time, I thought it fit. x3

Aw. Let me say that I have two favorite reviewers, Megabitch and Fuyu. They inspire me and are probably pretty much the only reason I keep writing this story. :P Oh, and for those of you who are interested, go to my profile and at the bottom of the page is the link to a video of the trailer of Kingdom Hearts three (Actually, it was a teaser for Birth by Sleep)!

Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

'Who's gonna call on Sunday morning?
Who's gonna drive you home?
I just want one more chance
To put my arms in fragile hands.'
-"Paperthin Hymn" by Anberlin

Naminé glanced around, unsure of what to do, settling for calling, "Roxas! Sora" Said persons looked her way, and Sora gasped with horror. Tifa, who had just taken out a Heartless on the verge of attacking the two keyblade wielders, looked past them, and a hateful expression momentarily warped her features. Without another thought, she moved swiftly past them and toward the legendary swordsman.

"Tifa, don't!" warned Sora, though she did not listen to him in the least. Cloud finally looked away to see what the commotion was about; he also realized what was happening and retreated from his assault on Quince to attack his archenemy. Sephiroth scowled, dropping Keira, and swung Masamune at Tifa in order to force her away, which worked, if only for the moment. With Shadow Heart in hand, she ducked under the sword and swung at the arm holding Kairi. Sephiroth glanced down at the annoyance; he swung at her and knocked her away.

If she had thought that the feeling of her lungs nearly bursting open had been the worst, then she had been sadly mistaken. Though Sephiroth clearly did not hit her as hard as he could have, the blade tore through her clothing and into her skin, leading her to realize that, aside from Riku's keyblade, she had never been touched by a blade. She managed to land on her feet and, filled with anger, rushed back at him, but Sephiroth was already gone. Sliding to a stop, Keira searched for any sign of him, but it seemed that the legendary swordsman had disappeared.

Without a warning, she was hurled into the air. Unlike Riku, whoever threw her into the air did so harshly. Sephiroth finally appeared before her in midair and swung Masamune with a true intent to hurt her this time. He continuously appeared, knocking her higher into the air with his sword, until she finally swung Shadow Heart and forced him away. Her body landed before the Lady and the Tramp fountain with a thud, and she quickly tried to force it back up with her forearms, but she could not find the strength to do so. Masamune had done serious damage to her body, though her bloodied lip was all her doing.

Cloud surveyed the situation. Kairi, who had been freed by Keira, was by Sora, Naminé and Roxas. Aerith was healing a long cut that ran the length of Riku's left arm while Leon and Yuffie attempted to deal with Sephiroth. Goofy and Donald were slaying various Heartless and the King had Quince cornered. Tifa... she was running toward the fountain, and Cloud quickly followed her. Keira's arms were slashed, and she was still trying to heave up the upper half of her body. She heaved a sigh before coughing roughly, droplets of blood falling to the ground.

Tifa knelt down beside her. "Stay down, Keira. It's okay," she added when Keira tried to raise Shadow Heart to heal herself. "Aerith, I need your help." Her eyes moved from the healer's to Cloud's, "Get Sephiroth." He was just in time, for Leon and Yuffie had both been knocked back by Sephiroth's blow. Quince disappeared from the King as green and black flames appeared near the door to the Mystical House's ruins.

A woman in a long black cloak appeared from the flames with a scowl on her face."Cease, fools!" She waved around her staff as she looked toward her lieges. "Leave them, we'll find the others first." Though her annoyance was obvious, it was even easier to see that Sephiroth was much more aggravated at her ordering him around.

"Until next time, Cloud," murmured Sephiroth as his wings folded around him and disappeared. The witch exited after him, but Quince reappeared in front of Keira and Tifa, who wasted no time in rising against the wielder. Quince glared at her, an expression that made Keira's queasiness increase, and snapped his fingers, summoning a new wave of Heartless and Nobodies. A Dusk appeared beside Tifa, wrapped around her legs, and knocked her into the air. Quince took this as his cue and knelt down in front of Keira.

"Stefa, why can't you do one simple thing for me?" he whispered as he shook his head. "You just have to fight, don't you? Not that I'm surprised; you're still mostly you, after all. Honestly, though, a princess shouldn't fight; she should give in." Aerith stopped just short of the two of them; she was surrounded by Dusks.

"Hyah!" cried Yuffie as she hurled her over-sized shuriken at the enemies surrounding her friend.

"You... liar." Keira muttered weakly, shaking her head. Once again she pushed herself, and, this time succeeded. She glared at the boy hovering above her as she slowly got to her feet. "You've been pushing away Nalani and me for the past year. For whatever reason, you've hated me, and I've hated you. This... changes nothing, improves nothing. That's the way it should be... right?" Her legs began to give way beneath her. "I hate you," she added, for good measure, as she hit the ground and everything faded away.

Quince smirked, turning at the sound of Riku's footsteps quickly approaching him. "Stupid."

XxX

A little girl with very blond hair climbed a tree while a brown-haired boy admired her from afar. Her hair was in braids and she was sitting in front of a tree by the shore of a lake. The boy was holding wild flowers and yellow dandelions in his hands while practicing some sort of speech. The girl looked back at him and smiled; in response, the boy blushed.

xxx

The same girl with now darker blond hair ran across a gymnasium. Following hot on her heels was him, Quince. He called out to her, the scowl on her face not going unnoticed by him, and she wiped out on the freshly polished wood floor. The momentum sent her sliding across the floor and into a wall; she swore very loudly, as did another girl, though he, admittedly, tried to ignore the presence of the second girl. Quince quickly ran to her side, as she drew her ankle close to her body, calling, "Stefa?"

XxX

Keira awoke with a start as she tried to gather her bearings. She was definitely lying in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, and her body ached something terrible. Propping herself up, she tried to pick out the details of the room, see if she recognized it, but there was not much to see; it was quite bare. "You weren't out for that long," observed Cloud, causing her to jump. The room was way too dark if she had not noticed that she wasn't alone. He rose from his seat in a chair across the room and joined her. Not relieved by his presence, she sighed, the hope that she would have some alone time to sort through what had happened extinguished.

Cloud slowly lowered himself onto the edge of the bed. "Would you have gone with him?" He asked, his eyes on the adjacent wall. At her silent confusion, he added, "Naminé told us what happened." She nodded slowly, as if it helped her digest the words better. She did not know why Cloud bothered asking because she knew that he already had an answer.

Her grogginess began to fade as the events returned to her in a flash, hurting her head. "No," she answered quite quickly, her throat throbbing in protest. Now that she had time to think, she wondered why she had considered going with him at all. After all, she knew that it was in Quince's nature to look out for number one. He had been exhibiting that behavior for quite some time, deeply puzzling herself and Nalani. "No." She repeated for the sake of reassuring herself before looking at Cloud. "Where are the others?"

"Aerith, Tifa, Naminé Donald, and Goofy are resting upstairs. Leon and Cid might be up there, too." She wondered exactly how large the house they were staying in was. "Sora, Riku, Donald, Roxas, Kairi, and the King went to the bell tower to seal the keyhole so we can get moving by morning. Axel's wandering around."

"When did they leave?" she asked in a failed attempt to sound casual.

He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly suspicious. "A few minutes ago, why?"

She tried to appear innocent. "They need me in order to seal the keyhole."

"They have four Keyblade wielders - one of whom can wield two."

"Right." She ran her hands through her hair, annoyed to find the simple movement hurt her, though she did not show it. Her head felt like it was close to bursting open. 'I want to go back. I want to go back to how it was...' Keira flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. "So, that guy - Sephiroth, right? - He's obviously someone you guys know from the past."

Cloud snorted quite uncharacteristically. "'Know' isn't the word for it, but, yes, he's a sadistic bastard. Sora, Donald, and Goofy met him in the past few years where Sora has... battled him. Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, Tifa, and I know him because he's from our home world. His attack on you was... worrisome. I assumed he would kill you before you to hit the ground, but I guess he had his orders."

It was her turn to snort as she sat back up. "What, you were worried? Aren't you supposed to be frosty and indifferent?"

"Exactly what has everyone been telling you?" asked Cloud, eyebrows raised, though he did not seem angry. Of course, he was never one to show emotion. After a moment of silence, he added, "I was concerned."

"That's why Tifa's so nice to me; it's because she knows you like me like... your little sister or something." Keira stated, nodding, and he did not correct her. "That makes sense."

"No," Cloud shook his head. "Tifa likes you because she likes you." He corrected, ruffling her hair a little. His tone became a little more melancholy as he remarked, "You know that kid."

Keira dropped her voice to a mumble, "Yeah. Yeah, I do." She had, conveniently, left Quince out when she explained to everyone about her life and her home. He had not, or so she thought at the time, had anything particularly important to do with her ending up in the Radiant Garden, so she had not mentioned him. "He was my friend when I was young. We didn't exactly see eye to eye when we entered high school, though. Despite the fact we haven't been talking, I liked him... until tonight," she admitted, surprising herself. "It's stupid because he's always looked out for himself and no one else. If he's ever looked out for me or our friend, Nalani, it's been to his benefit."

Cloud stared out the dark window, deep in thought. "You were lying when you said you wouldn't have joined him. It was Naminé who prevented you from going with him." She did not argue or even act ashamed. Silence overtook the room and, eventually, Keira drifted back to sleep, her mind reeling, after which Cloud left to check on Tifa.

It felt like she had only been sleeping for a few minutes when she awoke to the beginnings of sunlight filtering through the window. Neither her throat nor her head felt even a little better as she kicked off her sheets and started out of the room still completely dressed in shoes and all. She found no one outside, so she stepped outside, into the chilly morning air, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Yuffie's grinning face greeted her the minute she stepped out of the house. "You're up, great!" Always ready to go, even at sunrise, her hands seized Keira's wrist as she started out of the area. Keira wondered exactly how long Yuffie had been awake as she had the air of someone who had been bored for quite some time.

'She is a ninja. Maybe she's up before the sun rises.' Her cheeks burned with both embarrassment and guilt at the thought. "Yuffie, where are we going?" she mumbled as they entered the second district. Had she been more awake, Keira would have been excited to see more of Traverse Town. Instead, she was steadily wishing that she was still in bed.

"The secret waterway," answered Yuffie, barely glancing back at the house as they left. "I told Squall that we should have stayed at the hotel instead." Keira did not question her as the path they were on opened up into a more open courtyard.

When they passed a mural of butterflies, Keira froze, gasping in awe at the sight. "You can see the keyhole, right?" Yuffie's shoulders stiffened; it even looked like she paled a bit. Leon looked them over with a scowl. "Yuffie, I thought I told you to stay put?"

Yuffie crossed her arms. "Why do you assume it was my idea?" A look of high amusement - a rare change from his indifferent expression - passed Leon's features.

"For one, you're leading, and, two, Keira's half-asleep." Yuffie pouted. "Where are you two going?"

"The secret waterway," answered Yuffie simply.

Leon's eyebrows furrowed together. "Why?"

"I found another passage in it, and I wanted to explore. But, to be able to see well, I need some light."

Leon sighed, though relatively surprised that Yuffie had found something new for them to look into. "I shouldn't leave you two to go on your own, again," he added as he recalled the events at Hollow Bastion. (A/n: I'm pretty sure that's what you call the castle alone.) "Let's go." He entered a set of small wooden doors near the fountain and under the hotel.

"That's Leon for you, always ruining our fun," mumbled Yuffie despite the fact that she was smiling.

Keira grinned, much more awake now, "But you enjoy his company all the same," she pointed out.

Yuffie nodded and replied unblushingly, "You got it!"

XxX

Back at the house, Tifa and Cloud were looking around for Keira. "She went off with Yuffie," informed Kairi from her spot on the couch downstairs.

"Where would they have gone?" wondered Tifa.

Kairi shrugged. "I heard her yelling something about another passage in the Secret Waterway earlier."

"We may as well go find them," decided Tifa, "for something to do, if nothing else. Besides, the sooner we get together, the sooner we can leave." Yuffie, Keira, and Leon were the only ones that were missing.

"One problem, Tifa," remarked Cloud.

"What's that?"

"We don't even know where the Secret Waterway is."

Tifa rubbed her temples. "Oh. That's right."

"I do," offered Kairi as Riku joined her. "I think that I can still remember." She glanced back at the drowsy forms of Roxas, Naminé, and Sora. "C'mon, you lazy bums, let's go."

"'kay," mumbled Naminé, pulling Roxas up with her. Once they were standing, she used him as her pillow, and Kairi knew for a fact that her other would be blushing if she were more awake. "Go ahead, Roxas, you lead." Roxas grunted something incoherent as he rubbed his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up.

Kairi sighed at the still-sleeping Sora as she walked across the room and grabbed his arm. Still, he did not awake. "Wake up, lazy bum," she repeated, blushing as she planted a kiss on his cheek. She tried to ignore Riku's chuckle from behind her.

XxX

"It's dark," stated Keira unnecessarily as she stared at the passageway with a feeling of anxiety. Somehow, she had never completely overcome her fear of darkness.

"The keyhole's been sealed, so we should be okay," reassured Yuffie, assuming that was what the girl feared. "If not, we do have Squal, not to mention that I'm a pretty able fighter myself." This did not make the keyblade wielder feel particularly good about herself, but she said nothing.

"Yuffie," sighed Leon as he looked back at Keira, pulling a stick out of the water. "Can you use your magic to light this?"

Despite the stick being wet, she still had faith that she could do it. "I should be able to, let's see." It was odd, and somewhat annoying, that she actually had to think about casting a fire spell when she was not in the middle of a battle; she supposed that the adrenaline that flowed through her when her life was in danger probably made using magic much easier. "Fire," she mumbled as a small flame exited Shadow Heart and caught the tip of the stick.

Leon nodded appreciatively, entering the passage first and illuminating their path. Yuffie sent Keira a reassuring look as she followed next and, with reluctance, Keira picked up the rear. The passageway was not all that terrifying, though the deep water forced them to swim. "What could possibly be all the way down here?" murmured Leon more to himself than to anyone else. When Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden had been overrun and he and the others relocated to Traverse Town, he thought he had explored every bit of the world. This new passageway threw him for a loop. After a long while, Keira was able to wade with the water up to her knees as it slowly shallowed.

At long last, they came to a dead end. "...Really?" whined Yuffie. "That's it?"

Leon shook his head. "Don't get too disappointed; there's something on here," he added with a gesture to the wall. Sure enough, there was a surprisingly artistic mural painted there.

"What are you guys doing down here?" Sora's voice came from behind them and echoed in the passageway. In order to catch up, the group had run from the house to the waterway. The tip of Kingdom Key had a flame hovering above it; he quickly extinguished it when he noticed Leon's torch. Yuffie drew their attention to the mural.

At the left corner was a young, petite, blond haired girl with braids. She was looking at a smiling, brown-haired boy with dandelions in his hands; Keira felt her skip a beat, unable to decide whether or not the picture was a coincidence. She had her own memory of Quince giving her dandelions at the same age as the girl in the picture. In the center of the mural was a girl that resembled Keira as she currently appeared. She was holding Shadow Heart whilst looking away from a boy with black hair who also carried a keyblade, Quince. The seven Princesses of Hearts lined the side of the mural; there was Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Snow White, Alice, Jasmine, and, of course, Kairi. Sora and Riku were in it as well, as were all of the others. The other side had Maleficent, Sephiroth, Quince, Heartless, and a handful of other Keyblade wielders. One was a boy with messy black hair, a girl with silver hair, a boy with black and red-streaked hair, a girl with a side ponytail, a green-haired boy, and, finally, a redheaded girl with blue streaks. There was also another keyblade wielder, but he was standing away from the others with his body turned away.

The very bottom of the mural caused Keira's blood to freeze in her veins. A girl that was most definitely she was laying on the ground with her two sided heart floating just above her; the boy who was undoubtedly Quince had his keyblade pointed down at her. Keira's legs moved automatically, wishing to put as much distance between herself and the picture as possible, and she bumped into Riku.

XxX

"Will we be friends forever?" asked the blonde of the boy sitting beside her in a tall tree.

He stared at her for a minute. "Forever!" He agreed with a grin.

The younger Keira tilted her head to the side. "And you'll never hurt me, right?"

The boy scowled, as if it was not even a possibility. "Never ever," agreed young Quince.

A/N: 6.6.09: Wow, this was annoying to edit. So many mistakes... Again, I accidentally called Keira 'Kat'. Dx One of my big edits was the addition and description of the other Keyblade wielders on the mural. :3

Old note: This chapter seems short, too. x.x Forgive me, darling readers and reviewers. I'm pretty positive that Snow White was the other Princess of Heart because all of the Disney Princesses were princesses of heart-besides Ariel, at least.

If you couldn't tell, the large chunk of italics was a flash back, and the last sentence of the chapter are lyrics from Paperthin Hymn by Anberlin. See you next chapter!