Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own KH or KHII. Yep, still own plot and OCs. That stuff isn't gonna change, people.
Chapter VII
Kaylee woke the next morning to someone forcefully pounding on her door.
"Squeep!" she shouted as she jumped up and landed on the floor next to the bed, gravity taking place and bringing down the blanket over her head.
"Kexlae!" It was the now-familiar voice of The Superior.
"Tweep!" Kaylee yelled nervously throwing the blanket to the ground as she stood up. She raced to the door as Xemnas banged on it once more.
"Kexlae!" he shouted so angrily it sounded as if he'd been doing this all night.
"Fweep," Kaylee squeaked as she opened the door. Xemnas folded his arms over his chest and stared down at her. She was quickly pulling her cloak on over clothes. Her hair was fairly neat but half messy while her glasses were askew. After hurriedly zipping her cloak she straightened them on the bridge of her nose then smoothed out the back of her hair with her hand.
"Come with me." Kaylee did as the Nobody said. He led her down the hall where Number Six was waiting with his arms crossed. His purple-grey covered half his face and he seemed to have a permanent glare and frown fit on his face. "I hope you remember Zexion, The Cloaked Schemer."
"Y-yes Superior." Kaylee held her had out to Zexion. He glanced at it then simply nodded a greeted. She squeaked and pulled back.
"He will be training you. For all of this week you will not leave his sight until nightfall. In the mornings you will meet him in the meeting room and proceed from there. Understood?"
"Y-yes Superior," Kaylee stuttered. Zexion nodded. Xemnas looked between them and before parting bid them a good day. "S-so, um, wh-what now?" Zexion shrugged. He turned on his heel and walked away. Kaylee just stood there then remembered Xemnas's words. "W-wait for me!"
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Skyler stood in the sand tapping her foot. She was waiting for Sora to come for their rematch.
"Where is he?" she thought out loud. Finally she saw him approaching with Riku, Goofy, and Donald. "About time!"
"Yeah, yeah." Skyler pulled her sword from its sheath and stood in a ready stance.
"Are you ready?" Sora nodded. He swiped the air with his keyblade then took his own ready stance. There was long pause in which Sora and Skyler watched each other and Riku, Donald, and Goofy debated on who would win. Suddenly Skyler leapt at Sora, blade held high. She swatted at his shoulder as she landed, only to have her blade to be blocked by the keyblade. She grunted and back up then took a running start towards the keyblade master.
He sidestepped to avoid contact with her blade and she stumbled to her hands and knees. Sora lashed at her and she twisted around to hear the forceful clang of metal upon metal. The sound caused the competitors'- as well as the spectators' – ears to ring. They tried to avoid the distraction but found it hard. Skyler pushed herself to her feet and took another lunge at Sora. He intercepted the blow and pushed on her blade, followed by a determined counter-attack.
She stopped him and pushed against his weapon, forcing him to the ground. He grunted but wouldn't let the fight end there. He bounced back up and leapt at her. The two engaged in a battle of back and forth attacks and counter attacks. The sound of clanging metal resounded around the entire island. Finally something caused Skyler to hit the ground. Her sword fell not to far from her, but far enough that she couldn't reach it. Sora stood over her with the keyblade held above his head.
"What are you doing?" Skyler asked.
"Enjoying the moment." Skyler grinned. She used his current distraction to her advantage and snaked her legs around his left leg. She touch her ankles together and bent her knees, pulling back hard and pulling Sora down, knocking the keyblade out of his hand.
"Draw?" Sora asked.
"Draw."
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Nicolette examined her sword. She looked at the engraving of a dragon on the hilt. The lean creature slithered between the line of three teal gems. She fingered the beast of myths and legends then moved to the gem on the top of the pommel. It gave a soft glow when hit with the sunlight that streaked through the window. She had never noticed the craftsmanship of the weapon. She gripped the hilt as if it was going to save her life.
She thought of her friends. What were they doing now? She knew Skyler was fine. But what about Kaylee? How was she dealing with the Organization members? Nicolette placed the sword on her bed and crossed the room to her desk where her laptop lay. She opened it and quickly tapped the keys, enjoying the soft noise that came from them. It was the only noise she could hear and she liked to know that silence could exist around here.
It always seemed to be loud wherever she was. School, here…Now that she thought about it, these were the only places she'd been to. Sure she had a home. But that was when she was younger. Her parents were taken by the heartless when she was small and she hadn't seen them since. Ever since then she felt a mix of fear, anger, and hatred towards anything that had to do with darkness. She hated that Kaylee had to be with Nobodies. She knew that if she were there she wouldn't be able to contain her feelings.
She felt a single tear roll down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away as if someone was there and she was ashamed to cry. She finally opened her e-mail. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She quickly clicked 'compose mail'. She typed Kaylee's address into the bar and sat there thinking of what to say.
'Kaylee,'
That was all that was on the document for quite a while. Then she thought of it.
'I can't tell you how much I hate that you are with the Organization Nobodies. It's horrible.'
Another tear rolled down her cheek. She let this one escape and a few more seemed to take advantage and fell.
'I miss you and Skyler so much. I want to hear from you.'
More tears came. Nicolette couldn't tell if they were from her worry for Kaylee or because of the memories of her parents swimming in her head.
'Write back. Your Friend, Nicolette.'
Nicolette clicked the 'send' button before allowing her eyes to free the tears that lined them. She shut the laptop and returned to the bed, weeping silently. Then a song came to her.
"If you could close your eyes," she sang quietly, gripping the puzzle-piece shaped charm on her necklace, "And just imagine everything's alright. But do not hide those tears. Cause they were sent to wash away those years."
It was a song she and her mother loved. They would blast it on the radio and sing as loud as they could to their hearts' content. What she didn't know was that someone was outside the door listening to her song. It was that familiar gun blade warrior Leon.
He had come to ask her why she really wanted to talk to him when she started singing and he dared not interrupt her. In fact, he didn't want to. When no more lyrics came he turned on his heel and returned to his room.
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After shadowing Zexion for the day Kaylee was bored out of her mind. He didn't teach her much. Just gave her a grand tour of the castle- half of which she had already seen –and explained the personalities of the other members. She took her time alone to check her mail. When she looked she found Nicolette's message. She smiled when she finished.
'Hey Nikki! I'm doing just fine here. No need to worry! Honest. I know you don't like these Nobodies…or any…but they're treating me fine. Just like one of their own. Of course, that is most likely because they think I'm one of their own. I miss you, too. Tell Skyler I say the same to her. I haven't found out anything of recent plans. Miss you! Remember Nikki, life's a puzzle. You have to put together the pieces. Read the necklace! Kaylee.'
She grinned and sent the message, hoping it would make Nicolette happy. She wished she could send a message to Skyler but knew it was forbidden. If the Organization found out they'd track her e-mails straight to Skyler and, worse, Sora.
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Skyler and Sora were engaging in a wonderful game of slaps. Sora was repeatedly trying to slap Skyler but she was too quick and always got away from him. Finally they switched and it was Skyler's turn to slap him. She got him every time. By the time they were done Sora's hands were colored red.
"Hey, Sora?" Skyler asked.
"Yeah?"
"Race ya to the water!" With that said the young warrior stood up and took off for the ocean. Sora grunted and sprinted after her. Once the met in the water, Skyler tackled Sora and the two began wrestling. Every now and then one of them would get pushed under the water and the other would have to wait until they stopped coughing so they could resume.
"You two are way too competitive," said a voice. They stopped to look up and see Riku standing in the shallows shaking his head.
"Aw, it's fun," said Skyler.
"Why don't you join us?" Sora asked.
"I don't know. You two can be a little rough," Riku joked. Skyler and Sora laughed.
"Okay then," said Skyler. She unexpectedly pounced on Sora and the two grappled. Riku started laughing, which was just what Skyler wanted. She got off Sora and launched herself at Riku, causing him to fall back into the waves. Sora jumped on them and they started a three-way wrestling match. To any passer by they were just a tangled mass of arms and legs flailing the water.
The returned later that night when the sky was completely ink-black and the only light was from the fading moon and twinkling stars. All three were soaked to the bone.
"Well that was fun," Sora commented.
"Yeah," Skyler and Riku sighed in unison.
"I do stuff like that with Nicolette and Kaylee all the time," said Skyler.
"You miss them?" Riku asked.
"A lot," replied Skyler. "But you guys are fun, too!"
A/N
(dodges stuff thrown by reviewers who wanted a longer chapter) I'm sorry! I had writer's block so this is sort of a filler chapter. But hey, you learned more about the characters right? Right?! Sorry for any typos. I was too tired to proof-read. And the song Nicolette was singing was Wash Away Those Years by Creed. I take no credit for it. R&R
-Wolf