A/N: 6.24.09-Thank you to anyone and everyone who has taken the time to review and read this. Yeah, this note is mostly so I remember later that I've fixed up this chapter. Sort of. xD
Old note: Today, I have not a snazzy remark to make, so let's go straight to the story, after the disclaimer, of course.
Disclaimer-Guess what? Kingdom Hearts still isn't mine. Hm. I'll have to fix that.
Keira walked back to the house with Aerith and Tifa on either side of her. Now that she was almost completely healed, she felt very excited to see everyone again. She had already explained what had happened in Twilight Town, though she had no doubts that she'd have to tell the others about her part when Riku had been unconscious. She shivered at the memory of it all. Larxene was a bit annoying in attitude, yeah, but she was also extremely frightening; Marluxia seemed like a ballerina in comparison to the Nymph. Then, there was the fact that, despite what Roxas said, she could not get Larxene's final words to leave her head.
"Poor Kairi," mumbled Aerith.
"Wherever she is, the other captured princesses should be," remarked Tifa thoughtfully. "But who knows where that could be." Keira sighed and nodded in agreement with the other two, wondering how many of the other princesses had been captured. Her black boots dully thumped the ground as they entered the house and shut the door.
"Guys?" called Tifa.
Cloud's voice answered from the kitchen, "In here." Tifa smiled unconsciously at the sound and, by the time she realized how long she had been smiling, she saw that Aerith and Keira had smirks on their faces. Tifa blushed and looked away from the knowing expressions as she stepped into the kitchen and took a seat beside Cloud. Keira felt the strong urge to run as she sat down between Tifa and Riku, but she resisted and sank into her chair so that she would look more or less important. Aerith sat between her and Leon, a space that Keira was glad for.
Leon was questioning Riku. "But you don't remember anything after that?"
"Nothing, Larxene knocked me out," he repeated, if not a little annoyed, his arms crossed over his chest. Leon nodded and looked at Keira as he leaned back in his chair. She sank down so low that Tifa had to grab her arm so that she didn't hit the wood floor. He stared at her with an expectant stare for a few moments; when she didn't speak, he did.
"Keira, I know you've got something to add to the story," he said in an indifferent yet commanding voice. Tifa pulled her up by the arm a little more so that she was sitting taller.
Keira took a sudden, intense interest in the table's wooden markings. "What's there to say really besides Marluxia kidnapped Kairi?" She kept her voice quiet to show that she did not wish to speak. The way she had lost to the Nobodies humiliated her, her attitude toward Riku made her blush, and Larxene's parting words about her being weak hurt her; because they were true. Leon heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. As she looked away from the deep brown of the table, her eyes met blue ones. 'Do it before he kills you,' was what Cloud's told her.
"Fine," she sighed, refusing to allow her eyes to meet anyone else's. "After Riku fell unconscious and Larxene flirted with Marluxia," this earned chuckles from Roxas and Axel, "Larxene said something about being a little grateful towards me if I was going to give her a heart." Leon nodded and the King contemplated this as she continued. "Larxene was fast. She ran at me and stabbed her knives into my shirt so that I was pinned to the wall." She continued to talk about the fight, not missing a bloody detail. The more she spoke, the worse she felt.
XxxxxX
Kairi's little "chat" with Maleficent made her wish that Naminé and herself were still whole so that she could escape through a portal. Maleficent's motives were now more or less clear to her, but that didn't help her at all. She strolled over to the bars of her cell and struck at them with Radiant Destiny, hoping for them to break, but the most damage she managed was a few scratches.
Glaring at the bars, she kicked at them with her purple sneakers. She winced at the pain and immediately regretted the flare of anger. "Don't despair, Kairi," A voice said from the other cell; Kairi recognized it as Alice's. A smile graced her lips for a minute because even though Kairi couldn't understand the girl's optimism, it cheered her a little. "We'll come up with something."
She sighed at the girl's words as she slumped against the wall. "You're right, Alice," agreed Kairi. 'I hope.'
XxxxxX
"I do say, that woman sounds terrible." Merlin remarked once Keira had finished retelling what had happened. "And that does explain the number on your clothes. Stand up, dear." She followed his instructions without a second thought. From across the table, Merlin pulled out his wand and waved it twice, sending a flurry of light at her. She jumped once as the light came near her but soon relaxed when it fell upon her body. Almost immediately, all rips, tears, and stains in her clothes were repaired.
"Thanks, Merlin."
The wizard smiled in response as he reclaimed his seat. "Think of it not, my dear."
"So, what do we do now?" Leon muttered to no one in particular as he stared at the table.
Sora glared across the table, his chair squeaking against the floor as he jumped up. "We find out where Kairi is!" He decided, speaking for the first time. Sora looked round the table, but he found no support. Keira bit her lip and stood up once again, as did Riku.
"He's right. It can't be that hard," agreed Keira, her eyes burning with determination.
Riku nodded. "There are several obvious places to look, too."
Roxas seemed annoyed as he, too, stood up. "There are just two small problems with your plan to find Kairi. For one, you should at least check up on Jasmine to see if she's been captured yet." Roxas inhaled deeply, as if his next words were particularly painful, "And two, if Keira were to follow around with you like she's obviously planning to do, she'll probably be captured, too. And then where would we be? Watching Maleficent take control of all of the worlds."
The table seemed felt unease at Roxas' words because they knew he was right. Axel nodded in agreement. "And if you don't think you'd be captured, Keira," He said, eying the girl, "Remember how you were at the mercy of just Marluxia and Larxene." This hit a sore spot in Keira, Larxene's words bouncing around in her head again.
She pounded the table and whipped her head to face Axel so fast that her ribbon flew out of her hair. "I was out of magic, had I not been, I wouldn't have been at their mercy."
"What makes you so sure?" Axel spat as he also stood up. "You haven't worked with them and that was your first encounter with them. I say that you got off with Larxene easily."
"You do, do you? What do you know about me, really? I'm still learning things about myself, and this," she gestured with obvious distaste at her heart. All of this trouble, and for what? She was supposed to be some sort of princess, yet she was the weakest in the group. She had been fighting longer than Naminé, and the latter was still better than her. Keira shook her bangs out of her face before stomping out of the kitchen and, a few seconds later, there was the sound of the front door slamming shut. Riku made to exit the kitchen as well, but Naminé stood up instead and shook her head.
"Let me go after her," she offered before also exiting the kitchen. Axel sighed and slumped back into his seat and massaged his temples.
"Why were you so hard on her?" asked Riku, anger audible in his tone. He despised the fact that he had allowed Larxene to get better of him, and he despised it even more because he had left Keira at the mercy of such horrible torture, "As if what Larxene said wasn't enough. You didn't need to add to it."
Axel spared him a glance. "Because if she faces the Organization like that, then she's bound to get her ass kicked and captured. And nobody knows Saïx's rage and determination better than me."
XxX
Naminé was surprised by the distance Keira had put between herself and the house while she searched for her. The sun had been setting for a while by the time she found the princess in the Dark Depths. Her legs were hung over the side of the cliff, swinging contently and her cheeks were still red with embarrassment and anger.
"Keira?" called Naminé more out of respect than acknowledgment.
She nodded. "Come on over, Naminé." She lifted her eyes to the distant sun as Naminé sat beside her.
There was an awkward pause, then, "Are you feeling better?"
Keira smiled at the other girl's hesitation. "It's okay to ask, Naminé." She told the other girl as she watched the sun slowly fade away. "I'm alright. I'm not really mad at Axel, but I'm stressed out. I mean, I've been stressed out since I got here."
"I understand," stated Naminé, smiling lightly. When she had been brought to Castle Oblivion and been put under Marluxia's "care", she had been extremely stressed.
"Well, somebody does!" responded Keira so vehemently that they both laughed. As the sun went down completely, she pulled up her legs and hugged them to her chest. "I wonder what happened to my family, my friends. I know what happened to Quince, but Nalani... and Elie..." She muttered softly, drawing Naminé's attention. The witch had never heard the princess talk about her past. "Heh, I bet my mother screamed at the Heartless and threw things at them. She probably fought to save her heart."
Upon realizing what she was suggesting, Naminé objected. "Keira you don't know that her heart was captured."
Keira shook her head. "Yes, I do. When a world is taken over, people usually lose their hearts. Particularly people with no ways to defend themselves."
"But some of them escape to other worlds," reasoned Naminé. Keira nodded in agreement with her because she wanted to believe that her friends and family had escaped. It just seemed too unlikely. She tilted her head upwards and stared at the many stars that were becoming visible.
With a soft, reminiscent smile, Keira murmured, "I can hardly believe my world used to be part of this."
Naminé nodded, staring at the stars serenely. "It's beautiful."
After another moment of silence, she sighed. "Larxene... What she said back at the station was true."
"Kairi being captured was not your fault," argued Naminé immediately.
"Maybe not," she agreed, "But I am weak. Ever since I came here, all I've ever been is the one in trouble. I feel like if this thing is supposed to be so great," she gestured to her heart, "then I should be stronger. Even you are tons stronger than me, and I've had a keyblade longer."
Naminé smiled. "I've known about everything since I was born from Kairi's heart and, given who I'm the embodiment of, my will and strength might be just a bit stronger than yours," she added, her smile becoming teasing for a moment. "You haven't been aware about Nobodies or Heartless for that long. Give yourself time, Keira. You can be great, I know you can."
XxX
"They've been gone a while," remarked Cloud from where he was sitting with his arms crossed. No one had left the table since Naminé and Keira departed.
Aerith stood up and put her hands together. "I bet you guys are hungry," she said to mainly Roxas, Axel, Sora, and Riku. Sora's stomach growled and answered for the table as a whole.
Tifa nodded earnestly. "We'll help you, Aerith," she offered, grabbing Yuffie's wrist.
"Thanks."
Yuffie turned to look at the others at the table still, "Alright! Well, shoo. Leave us to it!" All of the men, feeling hungry beyond reason, didn't bother arguing and exited the kitchen.
"Axel," Roxas muttered quietly to his redheaded friend. "Let's go find Naminé and Keira."
"But, food..." whined Axel.
Roxas shrugged. "It'll take a while for them to finish, anyway. Besides, you have an apology to make."
Axel sighed. "Fine, let's go, but I ain't apologizing."
XxX
"We should go," remarked Naminé quietly as she stared up into the night sky.
Keira grinned and nodded, "Yeah, as if it isn't dark enough." Her stomach growled as they stood. "I think I could use some food, too." Naminé giggled and shook her head before she walked down the slope leading to the Great Maw. Keira slowly headed after her, her walk turning into a run when she heard Naminé gasp quite audibly.
"What's-?" She didn't bother finishing her sentence. There were at least a thousand Dusks on the cliffs of the Great Maw and there were more blocking their exit to the fissure, "Holy." Shadow Heart materialized in her right hand and Keira had to nudge Naminé to get her back to reality. "We can handle these guys."
Naminé smiled lightly and nodded despite knowing they didn't stand a chance; it would be too difficult for the two of them to take out all of the Nobodies after a day full of fighting. Chain of Memories appeared in her hand as the Dusks moved in closer. "They came to take you." Naminé stated without really knowing how she knew that.
"You're probably right," agreed Keira as both of them rushed forward to fight.
XxxxxX
Kairi yawned loudly and started to nod off, but she quickly shook herself awake. She would not fall asleep in this prison; she would find a way out... but how? In the next cell over, the other princesses had stopped sending words of comfort to ease the girl's restlessness, so Kairi assumed that they had fallen asleep. The Princess glared at the bars. How could Radiant Destiny not break them?
XxxxxX
After a while of walking, Roxas and Axel finally reached the Fissure and stared at the Great Maw. There were many white things there, and two blurs were moving at a rapid pace to make the white creatures disappear. Axel and Roxas exchanged a glance before they rushed out to help. "Axel," began Roxas as his keyblades materialized in his hands.
"Huh?" asked Axel as he slashed at some Dusks with his chakrams.
Grinning, Roxas said, "No suicide moves, got it memorized?"
Axel smirked. "Got it memorized."
XxX
Naminé swept her keyblade through several Nobodies, making them disappear instantly. A Dusk dropped behind her silently and prepared to assault her when it was destroyed by the hands of a shard of ice. She turned around and smiled appreciatively at Keira. "Well, that's twenty down and about nine hundred eighty more to go," remarked Keira expertly as she stood beside Naminé.
With a nervous glance at her, Naminé replied, "Our best bet might be to retreat."
Keira shook her head stubbornly. "They'll just follow us. And what if they go after other people? It's too risky."
"Keira, we can't really defeat all of them!" Naminé cried, wanting to shake the girl so that she could understand the magnitude of their problem. An army of Dusks was assembled before them, ready to strike.
"We have to try," decided Keira as she pulled Shadow Heart behind her body a little bit. Naminé had a distinct feeling that much of the determination was coming from what Larxene had said; Keira needed to prove to herself that she could do something. Naturally, Naminé was clever enough not to mention this. Before either they or the Dusks struck, a large blast of fire fell upon the army and destroyed about fifty Dusks.
"The two of you haven't been getting too pessimistic, right?" asked Roxas as he and Axel dropped down from a higher cliff. Naminé grinned and threw herself at her boyfriend, placing a gentle kiss on his waiting lips.
Keira managed a small smile. "Thanks, guys," she muttered as she rubbed the back of her head.
Axel grinned. "What are you thanking us for? There's still Dusks here." He reminded her as she turned around. "Oh, and I'm sorry about earlier. I just wanted you to be realistic, kid, but... I guess you sort of already understand, huh?"
"You're forgiven."
XxX
About a half an hour later found Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie allowing everyone back into the kitchen. "I think we did a pretty great job at cooking," declared Yuffie as she wiped something off of her face.
Aerith and Tifa giggled at her. "But, Yuffie, you've gotten powder all over you when we didn't even use anything with powder," pointed out Tifa as she shook her head.
"That's no fair, Tifa," she whined, sticking out her lower lip, "You owned a bar in your world." Everyone in the room burst into laughter.
Sora declined Aerith's offer to get him a drink as his eyes scanned the room. "Roxas and Axel aren't here." It was unusual that he had noticed this much sooner considering they were the two loudest people besides Yuffie.
"Yes, we are." Axel contradicted as he, Roxas, Naminé, and Keira entered the room. There were grass and dirt stains on their clothing and skin, but they looked fine otherwise.
Keira wiped some dirt off of her face. "Sorry that we're a little late."
"We got a little caught up," agreed Roxas. "Apparently, they knew that we were coming back here."
Although no one really needed to know who 'they' was, Naminé informed, "There was an army of Dusks at the Great Maw."
"I wonder if that means that they've caught Princess Jasmine," mused Riku.
Leon shook his head. "Maleficent probably would have been here in person if that were the case."
"She does get impatient," agreed Riku. Sora sighed and also nodded, but, for the rest of dinner, there was no unpleasant talk of Maleficent, Heartless, Nobodies, or Organization XIII.
XxX
The next morning started out pleasant enough; Keira agreed to secretly take Denzel and Marlene to the Marketplace in order to get them some candy. This meant that all three of them had to wake up before anyone else - which was hard since Keira believed Cloud woke up at the crack of dawn - and leave the house before anyone noticed. She found Denzel and Marlene waiting for her in the kitchen by the time she awoke and came downstairs.
"Well, aren't you two fast," yawned Keira from the doorway. Marlene giggled while Denzel grinned proudly. "Let's get going, quietly," she reminded them as they crept out of the house. It was so quiet outside that Keira was surprised the Marketplace was even open. She handed both children a little bit of munny but reminded them not to start eating anything until later. Then, she walked over to a jewelry shop.
She stared at a silver bracelet with longing, but shook it off. There was no way she was buying herself a bracelet. If she were to wear it while fighting, then she would probably just lose it. Her eyes drifted to a pink daisy keychain instead. The more she stared at it, the more it dawned upon her that it was perfect for Aerith. Of course, Aerith wouldn't really have a use for it, but, for the sake of the moment, she purchased the keychain, just in case. When they returned to the house, it was still as silent as the grave. "Go stick your candy upstairs and I'll get us cereal." She told Marlene and Denzel as they ran up the stairs, a lot louder than she would have liked.
Keira turned to close the door, but someone beat her to it; a certain tall blond-haired swordsman. She winced inwardly, 'Busted.' "Morning. Cloud," she greeted him innocently before she dodged toward the kitchen. Somehow, he beat her to it and stood in the doorway. "Can I help you with something?"
Cloud stared at her expectantly, one eyebrow raised. "Where were you three?" He asked in a calm, cool, and collected manner.
"Oh, we went to the Marketplace." Keira answered as she took the daisy keychain out of her pocket. "I wanted to buy Aerith this."
"And what would Aerith do with a keychain?" he asked, causing her to blush.
She stuck the keychain back into her pocket. "Erm... I don't know, but it's the thought that counts, right?" She tried to sneak under Cloud to get into the kitchen but was, however, very unsuccessful.
"What 'candy' were you talking about?"
"U-uhm..." Keira stared at Cloud's eyes. Boy, it was hard to lie to those eyes. "Healthy crackers...?"
Cloud stared at her emotionlessly for a few minutes before his face cracked into a faint smile. "They better not eat that candy for breakfast," was all he said before entering the kitchen. She sighed in relief, following him and grabbing the first sugar-filled cereal that she found in a cabinet, Count Chocula.
As she poured the cereal into three bowls and added milk, she remarked, "I missed you too, Cloud." Hoping he didn't notice the sarcasm, she shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.
"Stop," said Cloud as he shook his head and he returned to the table with a cup of coffee, "The misunderstood teenage angst."
Keira teased him right back. "Oh, and wouldn't you know all about that?" To stop herself from speaking further, she shoved more cereal into her mouth.
Denzel and Marlene returned downstairs with a very hungry Axel trailing them. Chocolate stains were apparent on faces of the children, making Cloud sigh with disdain. "Come on, let's go clean up." He said, following them to the bathroom because he knew they wouldn't do it if he didn't follow.
Axel and Keira exchanged glances. "You're eating like a starved coyote," he observed as he pulled one of the other cereal bowls toward him, "And it's making me hungry." Keira snickered as Axel began to shove the cereal down his throat spoonful by spoonful.
XxX
Late afternoon found Keira laying on her bed and staring at the ceiling with boredom. She had declined the offer to spar with anyone at least five times, still drained at the thought of the fight with Larxene. Her body was lying off of the side of the bed with her head hanging over the edge, and it wasn't very comfortable; she felt cross-eyed and all of the blood was rushing to her head. She sighed, springing back onto her bed. "I need to do something."
"Start with not talking to yourself," called Riku from the hallway. Though there had been a point (a very small one, she had to admit) when his teasing her annoyed her, she found that it made her feel good now; her heart beat painfully in her chest as she jumped off of the bed, threw on her boots, and opened the door.
"Can I help you, Mr. Eavesdropper?" she asked with a playful grin.
Riku smirked. "Why, yes you can, Princess." His smirk became more pronounced as Keira's face turned sour at the nickname. "Let's go out."
She fixed him with a blank stare as her cheeks burned. "Uh-uhm..."
Riku chuckled and grabbed her by the wrist. "Don't be so shy, Princess." He said, towing her behind him as they descended the stairs; Cloud and Tifa watched the two with interest from the loveseat. Keira caught both of their eyes and felt her cheeks burn a deeper red. Tifa hid a giggle behind her hand as the teenagers exited the house.
"What about Sora?" Keira finally asked, knowing how much Riku cared for his friend.
"He's somewhere with Roxas, Naminé, and Axel. I think they met Leon at the Castle."
Keira blinked. "Where are we going?"
Riku shrugged lightly. "It doesn't really matter, does it?" A light smile touched Keira's face. 'No, it doesn't really matter.' She agreed as she freed her wrist from his grip and hesitantly placed her hand into his.
XxX
Keira sighed with content. She was sitting atop one of the Marketplace's higher walls with her eyes staring at the ocean, a smile on her face. (A/n: Ocean = totally made up.) The afternoon had been great. She had been out with Riku all day; they went out to lunch, then up to the Postern. It had just been so blissful. Even more importantly, Riku and her had gone out on a date. Her face flushed at the word, but she didn't really care. After that, she'd run back to the house to give Aerith the keychain, and she had actually liked it. The clearing of someone's throat behind her drove her out of her thoughts.
She turned around and her heart skipped a beat; a boy with straight black hair was standing beside her. Keira jumped up and summoned Shadow Heart. His crimson keyblade was already pointed at her throat. "Stefa, it's been a while," he greeted her without emotion.
"So it has, Quince," she agreed, her left hand balled into a fist. 'How is it that I could've ever fallen for him?'
"I bet you're wondering how your friend, Kairi, is," he said casually, keyblade still near her throat.
Her eyes narrowed. "Where is she?" She did not wait for a response and swung Shadow Heart. "Oh, crap." Her swing was vicious enough to make her lose her footing, and she began to fall backwards and off of the wall completely. For just a minute, it looked like Quince reached out to help her, but she was sure that she was mistaken, for he was smirking. She hit the water with a loud splash and glared Quince, who waved goodbye and retreated into a black portal. 'He only showed up to, what, confuse me? Piss me off?'
Keira knew that there was a ladder to get back up, but she knew that she had to swim to the Borough to get to it. (A/n: Also totally made up.) She muttered angrily to herself and began to breaststroke to the ladder. She paused for a quick moment when something in the air caught her eye; a large and black wing had just disappeared round a corner, and the sun reflected off of a sword. The image of a certain swordsman beating her to a bloody pulp in Traverse Town made her gulp and quicken her pace.
XxX
Yuffie was making her way out of the Bailey when Keira's soaking form fell over the wall. "What happened to you?" She bent over the girl's side as the latter rang the water out of her hair.
"Oh, you know, klutzy me; I fell off the wall in the Marketplace." Her answer was hurried as she stood. Water was dripping down from her skirt, shirt, and her hair still, but she didn't mention Quince; he wasn't worth mentioning. Keira walked forward when she caught sight of black feather on the ground. She stared ahead and noticed that every so often there was another feather. Remembering what Sora had said about his time here before, Keira guessed that it was possible for lightning to strike in the same place twice. Before Yuffie could ask for more details, Keira was running (slipping, really) down the Bailey's steps and heading for the Castle's Gates. (A/n: The place where she fought Riku much earlier in the story.)
Yuffie stared after her in wonder and bent down to examine the same black feather that Keira had touched. Her eyes widened as she grabbed it and jumped over the wall, heading back for Merlin's house. "Cloud!"
XxX
"Cloud, did you hear that?" asked Tifa with her eyebrows furrowed together. She could've almost sworn that she had heard someone shouting his name.
Cloud shook his head. "Hear what?" Tifa didn't have to open her mouth to respond, for Yuffie burst into the room at that moment. "Yuffie!" Both of them shouted, rising from their places on the couch.
"What's wrong?" asked Tifa as she and Cloud stopped before her. Panting, she only held up the black feather as her answer.
XxX
Keira had several stitches in her side, was panting, and her ribs hurt; she had only made it the end of the Great Maw. Of course, since she was so close to where she thought that she had to be, she was having second thoughts of going at all. Why hadn't she dragged Yuffie along with her? Well, it was too late now. She took a few deep breaths before she continued to run all the way up to the Dark Depths.
She expected to see the legendary swordsman standing at the edge of the cliff, but, instead, she found Aerith tending to some lilies in the corner. Keira blinked a few times as she tried to calm her breathing. "Aerith?"
The flower girl turned around and fixed her with a soft smile. "Keira, what are you doing here?"
Keira was still trying to catch up with her breath, and it dawned upon her that she had lost the trail of feathers a while ago. Once she lost the trail, she simply went by what Sora had said about Sephiroth. "I-I thought that..." She trailed off and shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, it doesn't matter," she mumbled, squatting beside the woman. "So, you really like that flower keychain I bought you?"
Aerith giggled. "I do, Keira; it's beautiful." She assured her with a sweet smile. Keira felt her own lips twist up into a smile, but it didn't last. An agile figure jumped from above, landed behind them, and stabbed his sword out all in one fluid motion. Keira gasped in horror as she felt tears burn her eyes. The legendary swordsman, Sephiroth, had stabbed Masamune through Aerith's chest in the blink of an eye.
There was no reaction, nothing that she could think of but mumble, "Aerith." Tears slid down her cheeks, blinding her a little, but she could still tell that Aerith's emerald eyes were no longer alight. Keira shook her head and screamed, "Aerith!"
"Princess, we owe this all to you and your lack of strength."
A/N: It's an FF tradition, and, although I love Aerith, it had to happen. Cruelty number two, eh? Poor Aerith. D: See you next chapter!