Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, or anything else related to those things with trademarks and copy write protection.
Garden of Snow and Ice
If Only…
"Kairi, am I seeing things, or are you wearing a raspberry beret?"
The auburn-haired Princess of Radiant Garden giggled and waved her feet behind her head, lying on her bed with pink flannel pyjamas on her body and the beret she'd bought earlier in the day topping her head. She cocked her head slightly to the side and smiled at the face on the small screen in front of her. "Why? Too artsy for you Sora?"
Hey boyfriend laughed on the other end of the communicator. "No, it's cool. It just reminded me of something."
"What did it remind you of Keys?" Menelmon asked, the bird digimon sitting next to her digidestined partner while Aiwemon roosted on Sora's shoulder.
"Prince," Sora answered simply.
Kairi frowned. "Prince?" she asked. Sora couldn't help but smile and he began to sway his shoulders a little bit, upsetting Aiwemon very slightly.
"She wore a raspberry beret,
The kind you find in a second-hand store.
Raspberry beret;
And if it was warm, she wouldn't wear much more.
Raspberry beret;
I think I looove her."
Kairi blushed and buried her head in a pillow and Sora laughed. "You know, Prince, the guy who wrote the song called Raspberry Beret?"
"Shut up," Kairi mumbled. "Now you're going to get that chorus stuck in my head, and I didn't even know that there was a song called that."
"Well now you do Kairi," said Sora.
"Humans are weird," Aiwemon blurted out, causing all three of the others to laugh.
"Well digimon are pretty strange too," Kairi told him. "You won't find a lot of humans who have bottomless pits for stomachs like you digimon do."
"Hey that's just him and Gomamon," Menelmon said, "don't go lumping me in with pigs like them."
"Patamon's the real pig," Aiwemon muttered.
Kairi shook her head. "Sorry Menelmon, but your argument doesn't hold. I've seen you eat; maybe not quite as much as Aiwemon, but you do still eat a lot."
"Kairi are you calling me fat? I need to keep my strength up in case I need to protect you at a moment's notice."
The princess laughed. "Menel we're safe in the castle, we don't need to worry about being attacked at a moment's notice."
The words had hardly left her mouth when her door banged open so fast and so loudly that she was afraid for a moment that it would break off its hinges. Kairi's heart leapt to her throat as she and Menelmon whirled around, Menelmon already shouting, "Ice Feathers!" and about to fling her wing towards whatever was in the doorway.
Kairi belayed that an instant later upon recognizing the man in the door. "Mast—Garda don't DO that!" she yelped, her adrenaline jolt slowly coming down as the burst of fear and combat readiness subsided. "Knock on my door! Knock next time! What if I had been changing and you'd just walked in on me naked? What then?"
"Well then I'm sure some people would get embarrassed," Garda told her, stepping aside to reveal a few other people outside her door: King Mickey, Lord Ramius, and Kensworth.
Kairi looked curiously as the three stepped into her room after her former master. "What's going on?" Sora asked.
"Oh, you're talking to Sora," King Mickey noticed. "Good. How are things out there Sora?"
The brunet shook his head. "Not good Your Majesty."
"There are Heartless everywhere," Aiwemon added. "We haven't even gotten to a new world because we've been fighting so many between worlds. They're like hot soup."
Everyone looked at the digimon on the screen curiously. "Hot soup?" asked a quacking voice from the communicator (Donald was obviously within earshot of Sora and Aiwemon), "How are Heartless like hot soup?"
"You really want to eat it, but you hurt yourself if you try too hard," Aiwemon answered.
There was a pause.
"That… actually makes a lot of sense," said Kairi, surprised.
"You're right, it does," Menelmon agreed. She looked at Aiwemon through the communicator. "You continue to surprise me Aiwemon." He beamed at her compliment.
"Your Highness," said Kensworth, "you need to get dressed."
Kairi looked at him in confusion. "What? Why?"
"A few people have requested an audience with you, Kairi," Lord Ramius said. Kairi blinked for a few seconds before glancing over at the clock.
She groaned. "Urg… it's like, eleven o'clock and I'm talking with Sora. Can't they come back tomorrow?"
"I would not advise it, milady," Kensworth told her.
"Three of them are members of the Senate who knew your father," Lord Ramius added.
"And blowing 'em off wouldn't be a smart move Kairi," said King Mickey.
Kairi glanced at Menelmon and sighed before giving Sora a sad look through the communicator. "I'm really sorry Sora."
"No, it's okay Kairi," he said. "Go do your Princess thing. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
He was smiling; he was smiling that smile of his that always melted her heart. Being apart from him was almost more painful now than it had been before she'd called him. Kairi kissed her index and middle fingertips and pressed them to Sora's lips on the screen. "I love you," she whispered.
"I know," Sora answered softly. "Love you too. Goodnight Iri."
"Night Sora."
Kairi looked at the screen for another few seconds after it went blank before placing the handle down against her pillow. "Hup!" she exclaimed, rolling off to the edge of her bed. Slippers slid snugly against her toes and Kairi stood up. She reached for the sling hanging off one of the ends of her four-poster bed and fitted it on her shoulder so she could rest her left arm. "Alright Menel," she said, "let's go." Menelmon nodded her head and slowly soared after Kairi.
Kensworth and Lord Ramius looked at Kairi in astonishment as she approached the door. "You can't present yourself like that," Kensworth said, looking over her pink flannel pyjamas and raspberry beret with black trim.
"They're asking if they can talk to me at eleven o'clock at night right in the middle of when I'm talking to my boyfriend who is out there fighting the forces of darkness to keep them safe. They can see me when I'm dressed in whatever I damn want to be dressed in, now step aside Kenny."
Kensworth looked apprehensively at the young Princess, then glanced at both Lord Ramius and at King Mickey. Both of them nodded their heads slowly, and Kensworth moved aside. "Thank you," Kairi said. She sighed. "I'm sorry about snapping, but there's just a lot going on right now. Where are these people who want to speak with me?"
"Waiting in the audience chamber," said Lord Ovan Ramius. Kairi nodded her head and left the room, the four others and Menelmon just behind her.
-A-D-
A few minutes later Kairi exited the lift that took them up to the top level of the castle that held a waiting room to the audience chamber, the audience chamber itself, and the study. She shuffled her feet along the stone floor before pushing open the massive doors into the throne room. The audience chamber in her castle was nearly as large as the one in Disney Castle, and no less impressive. White-washed marble walls and floors stretched far into the room, with one long rug leading all the way up to a dais where two golden thrones with purple satin cushions sat empty. There was room for more thrones, but only the two that sat there gathering dust were present. Tall marble statues lines the walls in alcoves, each one displaying the forever chiselled likeness of past Kings and Queens of the Talerith family line, regardless of before or after all the kingdoms of the world were united.
Kairi hadn't looked upon them often, but every single time she came up into this chamber she couldn't help but glance at each of the statues. These were the men and women who ruled her past. These were the foundation of her blood, the very deepest of her roots. She made a mental note that if she had time later, she should search in what had been her father's study for a book on her family genealogy, or ask Tron if Ansem the Wise had placed information of that sort into Radiant Garden's systems mainframe.
She stopped at the forty-first one and her heart yanked at her. Standing in his marble pose, looking regal and imposing, was the man she knew to be her birth father, King Raithen IV. She gazed upon his likeness carved forevermore into the cold stone. There were long-thought forgotten memories buried in her that had surfaced upon returning to Radiant Garden a couple of months ago, and in her mind's eye she could still remember when she, her father with his golden hair and neatly trimmed short bear, her older brother with his boyish laugh, and her beautiful mother, had lived happily together…
Before the dark times; before the assassin had killed her parents and brother; before she'd been whisked away to the safety of Destiny Islands through a door Ansem found; before Maleficent and the Heartless came.
Kairi shook those thoughts away and wiped a faint tear off of her eyes. She'd had a good life and childhood on the island of Felra, and she'd befriended Sora and Riku, and Selphie and all the others. Her parents there, Seymour and Janet, had been very good to her. Even though her dad had been a bit of a prick that cared a lot about his work, he'd really proven how much he did care for her when she'd returned home with Sora and Riku after the Organization had kidnapped her. But even they were gone now; wiped out by Nixion and the Heartless and Nobodies Maleficent had sent specifically to get rid of them, Sora's mom Anne, and Riku's father and mother Rekun and Riley.
Maleficent. It all came down to Maleficent. Ending the witch wouldn't bring her family back, and it certainly wouldn't bring back the baby that her mother would have had had Maleficent just left the Islands alone; but at least getting rid of her would help prevent tragedies like the ones that had befallen them from occurring. Kairi'd wanted that baby brother or sister as soon as she'd found out.
That thought in mind, Kairi continued onwards past the distant image of her birth father and approached the four people standing near to the dais. Three of them were chatting quietly together, and one was standing somewhat separate from them, looking at them with apprehension. All four were men, and the three who were speaking with each other were dressed in finely embroidered tunics and smart black pants with golden belts and shiny shoes and thick overcoats. In contrast, the other man who stood a little ways away from them was in a collared shirt and grey slacks underneath a tweed jacket.
The fourth was looking right at her as she strode towards the four men and Kairi stopped about ten feet away from them. She waited a few seconds, and when none of the three chatting men made any motion to suggest that they had noticed her, Kairi sighed and rolled her eyes before proceeding towards the fourth.
He instantly began to bow, politely bringing his arm in front of his chest as he bent his back. "Your Highness."
"At your service," Kairi replied pleasantly. "How may I help you?"
The three men who had been chatting suddenly turned around and stared at her. Kairi shiftily glanced at them with a tiny smirk at the stunned looks on their faces before returning to the man in front of her as he began to speak.
"Your Highness," he began, "my name is Tyler Johnson; I'm the principal of Keila Elementary School."
"Nice to meet you Mr. Johnson," Kairi said, extending her hand as Menelmon landed on her shoulder. King Mickey, Garda, and Lord Ramius were standing about twenty paces behind her, with Kensworth five in front of them. The principal shook her hand, and Kairi smiled. Keila had been her mother's name. "So, what can I do for you?"
"Well…" he replied slowly before sighing. "Your Highness, is it, well, normal, for you to give audiences in your pyjamas?"
Kairi giggled in her throat. "It's eleven at night and you guys showed up when I was talking to my boyfriend before going to bed. If you want an audience at eleven, then you're going to get me at eleven in whatever I happen to be in, because I'd rather get it over and done with quickly before going back to my big comfy bed."
Principal Johnson nodded. "Fair enough. I came across some excellent Christmas cookies while I was shopping with my wife earlier this evening and the cashier at the counter informed me that you had baked them. They were so good, I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming by my school in a few days and giving them to our students."
Kairi's eyes brightened. Her instant answer would have been 'yes', but she held back for a second. "Would I also be able to read a story to some of the younger classes, like your kindergarten and first graders?"
"Of course," answered Mr. Johnson with a smile.
"Then I'd be delighted to," Kairi told him, figuring that that had been the whole reason he'd come by in the first place. Who asks a Princess to come and give cookies to elementary school kids just because they were damn good cookies? "How does Friday morning and afternoon sound?"
"That sounds swell. Thank you Your Highness."
"The pleasure's all mine," Kairi told him, shaking his hand again after his second bow. "Tell all your kids tomorrow, and I'll keep in touch." He nodded his head and strode out, a bounce in his step.
Kairi smiled and watched him go before turning to the other three, who were looking at her with disapproving looks. They bowed quickly before the first one of them spoke. "It's inappropriate for you to be dressed like that, Your Highness."
She already knew that this audience she was granting wasn't going to be a pleasant one, and her eyes hardened. "You heard what I told Mr. Johnson. You got me out of bed while I was talking to Sora, so you can suffer the consequences. If you'd wanted to speak to me while I was dressed, you should have dropped by before I had my bath."
Kairi felt a hand on the shoulder opposite the one Menelmon was roosting on, and she turned and saw her godfather standing beside her. He knelt down slightly and whispered in her ear. "These three men are members of the Senate, and all of them were advisors to your father and Ansem the Wise. None were nobility, but they are still important men." He stood up straighter. "Princess Kairi, this is Senator Clark Bridges," he indicated a man with a mane of grey hair and brown eyes, "Senator Bill Barfolk," a man with black hair and blue eyes, "and Senator Reese Tyson," the final man, who was light blond with flecks of grey strewn throughout and also held blue eyes.
"And how may I assist you, Senators?" Kairi asked, trying to shift her tone into something more polite.
"We understand that the police received noise complaints about Rockshaw Park this evening," said Senator Barfolk.
"And we also understand that you took part in the commotion occurring there," added Senator Bridges.
Kairi nodded. "Yeah. The police that showed up came by and talked to us and told us to keep the noise from our snowball fight down. They're pretty new though, aren't they? Captain Beagle and his King's Honour's Company from the 1st Royal Swords Battalion of the 8th Royal Guards made better police officers than they do. Hm, that's a mouthful, and there's only twenty-three of them in the whole Regiment, that's not even a Platoon over in what Selphie and Tidus are in."
"We're working on it," Senator Tyson answered slowly, drawing his head away in embarrassment, "about the police, I mean."
"A snowball fight is not something a Princess like you should be engaging in," Senator Bridges said rigidly. "It is beneath your station, as are those people who dragged you into it."
"Those people as you call them are my friends!" Kairi retorted. "And unless you can name for me about a dozen noble children that I could hang out with, which I note that there really aren't because Lord Ramius is the only nobleman left and I haven't met my godfather's wife or any of his kids, you can stuff it about my friends. And don't even mention that you think Sora's not good enough for me despite him being an honorary noble for being a Keyblade Wielder and the Chosen Master of the Kingdom Key!"
"They're common," Senator Tyson muttered, "you're—"
"They're middle-class and I was raised middle-class!" Kairi retorted. "So shut it."
"Regardless," Senator Bridges continued, undeterred by the princess' passion. "It was still a very pedestrian thing for you to do, especially since you inadvertently got the police involved. Tomorrow you are going to hold a press conference to apologize for the incident, as well as for exploding at a store manager."
Kairi felt a jolt of surprise before she smothered it and narrowed her eyes. "So you know about that too?" she asked. That one she felt guilty about, but the snowball fight was completely innocent.
"Yes, we do Your Highness," said Senator Barfolk.
Kairi looked upon the unflinching, disapproving looks of the three Senators before sighing. "You're advising me to hold a press conference tomorrow?"
"Yes, Your Highness. It is only proper for you to apologize for your actions today."
"Fine," Kairi answered. "I'll have a press conference tomorrow. I'm sure you can make the arrangements, since I certainly don't know how."
"Of course Your Highness," answered Tyson.
"Good," she said pointedly. "Now I'm going to bed. Let me know in the morning when and where it is. Goodnight." Kairi spun around and began walking back out of the throne room. Menelmon flew quietly beside her, and King Mickey, Garda, Ovan, and Kensworth followed.
"Aw, don't be upset about them Kairi," King Mickey told her. "They're just trying to do the best thing for your image as Princess Royal."
Kairi didn't glance behind her at the mouse monarch, but instead looked at the statue of her father in its alcove until she'd passed it. Dad, she thought, did you ever have to put up with crap like this?
Not really finding an answer in the stone image of her past, Kairi came to a decision of her own and turned an eye towards King Mickey. "My image will be who I am and what I believe in," she answered, "and I won't let it be dictated by those Senators."
-A-D-
Senator Bridges had a message sent to the castle the next morning, letting Kairi know that her press conference was set for one in the afternoon in front of the parliament building in the middle of the city. Kairi took the news with her morning potion, so that she could deal with both unpleasant things at the same time.
"I hate taking these things," Kairi muttered, looking at the green bottle filled with the thick green liquid. She sniffed. Her nose was a little runny from the previous day, but it could have been worse. Kairi glanced behind her and noticed that Kensworth was watching her closely, so she grimaced and raised the potion bottle to her lips.
Her glass of orange juice was in her hand the second after she'd finished the potion, gasping for breath. It was a shame that she had to ruin the taste of orange juice, but anything to get rid of the yucky bile taste that was a potion was worth it. Realizing that, she only drained about half of her juice and settled instead on taking a heaping spoonful of porridge into her mouth.
The door behind her opened up and a male servant came in. She thought that she recognized him as one of the two that had been chatting when she'd snuck out to see Sora when he had been in hospital, but she couldn't remember which one or what their names were. "Your Highness," he said, "there's a news report on the SV about what happened at Rockshaw Park last night."
Kairi looked behind her and swallowed. "Really?" she asked.
"I want to see that," Menelmon said, flying off of Kairi's shoulder and going towards the door.
"Yeah, they're showcasing your handiwork," the servant replied, winking.
Kairi smiled and pushed her chair back and placed a hand on her head, making sure that her beret wasn't going to fall off. "Okay, this I've got to see." She ran after the servant for about thirty seconds, taking three turns, before winding up in a nicely sized common room that the servants mostly used. About a dozen were there, standing and watching the SV. Several turned around and bowed or curtsied as she approached, saying, "Your Highness," or "Princess," in greeting, which prompted the others to all look around at Kairi and greet her in kind. Kairi nodded her head once to collectively do the same.
"…orts of noise disturbances at Rockshaw Park last night. When police arrived on the scene, it was to find a large snowball fight underway between members of the United Forces, and Her Royal Highness, Princess Kairi, and her royal bodyguard composed of members of the 8th Royal Guards," the voiceover of the male newscaster was saying as the spherevision screen showed the park as it currently was. The snow was all churned up with all the people that had been running through it the night before, and there were the shapes of breaking chest-high walls and defensive mounds made of snow. Kairi looked at it all through the screen and smiled, but what made her smile most was what the camera panned onto next.
There was a simple rectangular keep fifteen metres tall right in the middle of the park, with ten-metre high walls boxing it in with twenty metres between the walls and the keep. All of it was made of snow and ice, with a broken icicle portcullis at the gate of the walls. On the side of the keep's open entryway there was writing carved into the snow and ice, large enough to be seen and read easily from a few metres away. It read, 'Kairi's Castle: Definitely the Final Dungeon' and underneath it was a cartoon drawing of Kairi's head with two fingers splayed out nearby for victory. The Princess and every single magic user that had come to the battle had laboured on the whole construct before they began, and somehow, someway, Kairi and her guards had been able to defend the entire thing from three whole companies of soldiers in their snowball war. Twenty-four, including her, against two-hundred and seventy, and they'd somehow managed to win.
She wanted to keep that streak alive.
"Waking up this morning, children were surprised and excited to find a giant snow castle in the park right outside their homes."
"It's great," said one teenager as they caught her walking on her way to school, "I've never seen anything like it before. Wish I coulda played in it last night if that's what was going on."
"I'm going to play with my friends after school here for sure," said a boy, looking no older than ten, "it's going to be sweet! We don't even have to make our own snow forts, it's all right here."
The scene shifted back into the studio, where the dark-skinned news anchor for the Radiant Garden Network News, Barbara, was sitting. "The Princess is scheduled to speak about the castle and the events of yesterday evening at a spherevised press conference later today."
Kairi laughed and the others all looked at her. "I got on the news!" she cheered to herself, "and this time it wasn't because of some big battle with evil or because I got hurt, it was because of a bigass fun snowball fight!" She laughed again and proceeded back to where her breakfast was waiting. Already the potion's effects were working; her ribs weren't giving her any pain anymore.
-A-D-
"You can't wear that."
Kairi pursed her lips and took a breath, trying to lock away her anger. Senator Reese Tyson was standing outside her room, which she had just exited, and he was looking at her new winter outfit (minus the snow pants) with disapproval in his blue eyes.
"And why not?" Kairi asked slowly. "I just got it."
"It isn't suitable for a princess to wear out of doors," he answered. The Senator sighed. "Must we explain everything to you, child?"
"Then would you mind telling me what is suitable to wear outside in this weather without freezing?" Kairi asked as politely as she could.
He held up a hanger. Hanging from it was a long white fur coat with long sleeves. In his other hand was a pair of white gloves, and on the hanger's hook was a square white fur hat.
Kairi took one look at the ensemble, realized that she would probably look pretty cute in it and that it would keep her warm, and shook her head. She couldn't give in, not even over something this trivial that they still felt like disagreeing with her over.
I may have no aspirations of becoming Queen, but I'll be damned if I let these guys rule over me.
"No thank you, I think I'll make do with what I'm wearing," Kairi answered, her feet already moving away from her room.
Senator Tyson started towards her, "Your Highness—!"
Kairi bit him. "That's right! Your Highness! Who is the Princess here, me or you?
He stopped and mumbled back something along the lines of, "Well, you are…"
"Exactly," Kairi told him definitively. "I'm the Princess. I make the final decision. If my decision isn't well-liked, then it falls on my head and not yours. If people don't like what I wear, they can take issue with me and I can explain my reasoning and decisions to them. But I am not budging unless I'm given a damn good reason to budge. This outfit looks nice, it keeps me warm, and it's what I decided on when I got it. If you can think of any reason that trumps all of that, name it. You can't? Okay, so we're agreed, now I'm going."
Honestly, she'd only given him a half-second with which to answer in, but that wasn't important. What was important was that Menelmon was on her shoulder and that the speech she'd prepared was in a pocket on the inside of her jacket. Lord Ramius, King Mickey, and Garda met her in the entrance hall and followed her into her chocobo-drawn carriage with eight members of the King's Honour's Company, their head today being the Company's XO Lt. Pabel with Sgt. Parkinson alongside. Kairi had hoped for Beagle, but he was busy training the remainder of the company in… special tactics.
"How are the meetings going?" she asked openly as Gerald closed the door behind them and the carriage started to rumble away from the castle.
"We're making progress," King Mickey answered. "A good deal of the logistical problems and troop assignments has been decided. We were even able to launch the UFS Unity yesterday and we're launching off the RGS Starlight in three days. It's a shame you missed seeing the Unity off."
Kairi looked at them quizzically. "The Unity?"
"It's a massive star cruiser," Garda answered her. "Larger than even the Avenger. It and the RGS Starlight are going to be the flagships of two separate battle groups. The Unity is to be staffed with personnel from all of Disney Castle, Radiant Garden, Twilight Town, Destiny Islands, the GDI, Oseans and Yuktobanians, and State military, while the Starlight will be mostly members of Radiant Garden, since it is classed as a Radiant Garden ship."
"With your approval," Lord Ramius began, "we'd like you and Naminé to take the Starlight as your personal flagship."
Kairi felt a little overwhelmed and honoured. "Our-our own flagship?" she asked incredulously. Kairi shook her head slightly. "N—no, that's too much. Besides, I'm probably not going to be on it very often. Frodo won't last long in Middle-earth without me and Sora around if Maleficent's going to help Sauron take back the One Ring."
Lord Ramius and King Mickey sighed and Kairi quickly looked between them and started to speak again. "But I can certainly call Naminé and ask her if she'd like the honour of having the Starlight," she told them. "I think she'd like that."
"I think she would too," Menelmon added. "It seems to me that you don't really want to be sitting back giving orders, you'd rather be there on the front lines giving orders."
Kairi smiled slightly. "I'd rather be on the front lines, true, but giving orders? Not so much right now."
"You were pretty assertive back on Destiny Islands after Blitz Fest when the Heartless attacked," Garda observed, a ghost of an approving smile on his face.
"But that was with Sora and my friends," Kairi returned, seeking justification. "I'm allowed to be a bit bossy around them. I can't just boss around people I don't know or have any emotional connection to!"
"Then build an emotional connection to them," replied Ovan Ramius.
Kairi shook her head, remembering something. "I can't do that," she said quietly.
"Why not?" her godfather asked her.
"Because if I do and they die because I told them to do something, I'll feel guilty, like I'd sent them to their deaths," she answered, sinking into her seat as the carriage jostled. "I don't want to feel that kind of pain again. Don't make me feel that kind of pain again."
Her voice wasn't angry, but it was certainly emotional. Kairi cursed herself inwardly. She was about to cry for a second time in as many days. She was being stupid. She had to be strong, strong for Sora, strong for Naminé, strong for Riku and Roxas; strong for herself. The death of the female soldier Amber Kelsey still weighed heavily on her heart. If only she'd been stronger, if only she'd been better with her healing magic, if only she'd been able to end the battle sooner, then they might have been able to save her; then the young woman might not have died in front of her and Sora.
If only she'd been…
Arms wrapped around her, and Kairi was taken aback for a moment as she took in the concrete-coloured hair of her godfather beside her head. He was hugging her, tightly, and it didn't bring her any discomfort. Another pair of arms came around her body, these ones the strong and knotted arms of her former master, and Kairi let herself go as she stretched her one good arm around the two men as tightly as she could. Menelmon softly placed a wing against Kairi's cheek. The embrace was so strong and kind, like her father's after she'd returned home with Sora and Riku.
"Oh little girl," Garda said kindly in his gruff voice. "I am so sorry for the suffering you've had. But this sort of training, I could never have provided you nor wanted to."
"Let it out Kairi," Lord Ramius told her. "Let it out, Princess, let out all your frustration at the cruelty of this unfair world."
She did, but if she had any presence of mind she would have taken note that this was the first time her former master had been so straightforwardly caring to her. King Mickey sat in silence, sorrowfully contemplating many things.
-A-D-
When Kairi's carriage arrived at the appointed place at the appointed time, a platform already erected with a podium in place was waiting for her. Kairi stepped out as Gerald the footman opened the door for her, and she was instantly greeted by the blast of cold winter air. A shiver ran up her body involuntarily, and she wiped her eyes again. The ride had aided her, and now she strode up to the podium with purpose reignited.
But she stopped short at the sight she beheld.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asked, frowning curiously at Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie and Hayner, Pence, and Olette.
"We're getting chewed out, same as you," Hayner answered with a smile. He nudged his head behind him, and Kairi noticed the other two Senators from the night before standing there.
"Ah, there you are Your Highness," said Senator Clark Bridges, they grey-haired, brown-eyed man coming towards her. "We have a speech prepared for you; I trust that you'll approve of it." He smiled pleasantly and handed her the document, even though he refrained from looking at her in the eye.
Kairi took the document in her gloved hand, glanced behind her at the assembled news crews, journalists, photographers, and civilians who had come by to hear her speak, and skimmed the document.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,
As many of you may be aware by now, yesterday evening there was an incident of public disorder that occurred in Rockshaw Park involving myself and a number of youth from Destiny Islands and Twilight Town. I would like to inform you that the activities that took place yesterday evening within the bounds of the park were never intended to be allowed to take place, and it was only through the daring plotting of the teenagers behind me that they transpired. Rest assured that I would never willingly take part in an event so mundane and pedestrian, and I deeply apologize for my involvement in the frivolity. There are so many greater issues to address.
Also, I sincerely apologize for my actions within Hollyhead Mall yesterday. What left my mouth was a slip of my tongue and I deeply regret it and am retracting my unnecessary comment.
Kairi stopped reading seriously after that. The rest of the page dealt with highlighting good things that the government had done for the people of Radiant Garden or planned to do, but Kairi wasn't well-versed enough in what the government was actively doing to feel confident about supporting them. She trusted the Prime Minister; she didn't trust these Senators or what they'd written down, especially with them going so far as to almost make her label her friends as conspirators and hooligans.
Yeah, so not reading this, she thought. Kairi looked up at the Senator and nodded at him. He gestured with his arm, and Kairi stepped up to the podium. At once there were a number of flashes from cameras and she could almost hear the spherecams rolling.
"Good afternoon," she said into the microphone. "I apologize for calling you out here on such a cold day, but I guess we can't have Destiny Islands' weather all year round now can we?" She smiled slightly at the few chuckles she got from the reporters and glanced back at her friends and at Garda, Lord Ramius, and King Mickey. They were smiling back at her, so she proceeded and pulled her own paper out from within her ski jacket.
"Least the sun's shining today," she said absently, looking up into the clear sky, not a falling snowflake in sight. Kairi glanced back down at her prepared sheet of paper. "Firstly, there are reports that I was involved in an incident at Rockshaw Park last night involving a large snowball fight. I would like to dispel these rumours right now, by confirming that they are all true. I took part in the events of last night at Rockshaw Park and, in fact, while my friend Sergeant Hayner Garneky of Abel Company, 1st United Infantry Regiment, was the first one to threaten bringing others into our private snowball fight, I was the one who initiated the call for aid by asking my Royal Guard to come and take part. Following that, the companies of my friends behind me were swift in answering their call, and a massive snowball war was waged last night. I didn't anticipate that it would grow so large, and I freely say that the soldiers behind me were conspirators, conspirators in a conspiracy to get me to have fun in this cold winter weather that I am so unused to.
"I understand that this snowball fight was a somewhat childish thing to do, and is certainly beneath something that a Princess should theoretically be doing, however, I am going to be honestly blunt with you all. I don't care about what society expects of me. I. Don't. Care. The snowball fight that my friends and I had was amazing, and it was the most fun I'd had since my sister Princess Naminé knighted me and I defeated Cho'kal, Chief Guardian Garda's Stone Golem, during the Quarterfinals of the Zeus Cup on Olympus Coliseum.
"Looking back on the snowball fight, I realize that it really wasn't fair that my guard and I were to defend me and my snow castle against the combined might of the soldiers in the United Forces, and completely cream them. So this evening, we are going to have a second round so that those brave soldiers may restore their lost honour, open to the public. Anyone may participate in the battle, and anyone may choose any side, be it attacking the castle and 'snowballing' me into submission, or defending the castle and repelling the invading army. The game will being at seven pm, and hot chocolate and cookies will be served afterwards at nine-thirty at Talerith Castle for all combatants interested."
"Secondly," Kairi started quickly before Senator Bridges or Barfolk could interrupt her, "not many of you may be aware of this but, I exploded at a store manager in Hollyhead Mall late yesterday afternoon when he told me that I did not have to pay for the winter clothes you see me wearing now. I yelled at him, nearly screamed at him, because I didn't want to be treated differently from any other customer, because I wanted to pay, because I wished to feel like a normal teenager again."
She paused.
"For nearly ten years, I lived a life without my memories of Radiant Garden, without the knowledge that I was a Princess and heir to a throne and Kingdom. My situation had been no different from any other regular kid. I went to school, made friends, played, laughed, been scolded and got into fights; loved and was loved. But now I can see that that is no longer the case. My life has changed in so many ways, and brought me to the people that expect me to lead them in the future. To the manager of SportGarden, I sincerely apologize for my actions to you yesterday. They were uncalled-for and foolish."
"However, my words were not without reason. I feel that even though the timing may not be the greatest, that what I am about to say needs to be shared with the people of Radiant Garden. I have only told one person this, but I have decided—"
Kairi couldn't finish, as she saw the blue light of a claymore forming on the ground nearby. She'd only seen the round energy projections once before, back when she'd first come to Radiant Garden with Sora after they'd fled Destiny Islands and left Disney Castle with Max in tow, but she vividly remembered what they were.
"Son of a," she muttered, not caring if it was picked up by the microphone. She flashed out her right hand, grateful that her ribs no longer pained her, and looked behind her just as Crowning Flame appeared in the Princess' hand. "Menelmon!"
"Mm-hm!" Menelmon replied, taking wing in the cold air. "Ice Feathers!" she shouted, whipping one wing out. Four ice-laced feathers shot off her wing and pierced the body of a Neoshadow that had been flung into the air by a claymore. It writhed. Kairi's eyes whipped around again, and she spotted the Heartless now just as more claymores appeared and started to move towards their targets. There were four bulbous Morning Stars, ever popular in Radiant Garden, and scattered with them were two large Crimson Jazzes and several pitch black Neoshadows along with a few of a type she hadn't seen before. They resembled scorpions, with black chitin armour and grey faces with big yellow eyes. The claws of a scorpion were instead scythe-like arms, and the stinger that reared back was less a stinger than it was a bulbous pod-shaped mouth. With them were also several sage-looking Heartless in green robes floating above the earth with massive tomes in front of them.
"Please remain calm," Kairi quickly assured the reporters, who were just about ready to break and scatter in panic, "we'll take care of this quickly!" The Dragon Knight of Radiant Garden leapt right off her platform with a yell, almost reaching the closest Morning Star just as two claymores converged on it and fired their energy payloads into the Heartless' base, jolting it up into the sky.
She jumped again, slicing her Keyblade across the Morning Star's front. Crowning Flame bit two centimetres into the Heartless' front and then stopped, not enough strength in Kairi's one-handed stroke to finish it. Regardless, Kairi shouted as she pushed with all her might, and the Morning Star crashed into a building's brick wall before falling down to the ground, only to get shot up again by another claymore.
The female Keyblade Wielder dropped to the ground, Crowning Flame held out behind her back as one of the Scorpionkin Heartless landed in front of her after being launched into the air from a claymore hit. The white digivice clipped to her jeans started screaming and its screen glowed with golden light. Menelmon flew above Kairi, her body radiating the same golden light. "Menelmon digivolve to, Soronmon!"
Kairi looked up, smiling at the sight of the giant bird that was now above her. Her feathers and wings were white as snow, and sharp talons were now on her massive brown feet where there had none before on the yellow legs Menelmon had. A mane of ice-white feathers ruffled her neck, and between the Champion digimon's large brown eyes was a cresting plumage of ice-blue.
"Polar Chill!" the Champion roared, flapping her massive wings. Icicles the size of large watermelons formed and barrelled down from underneath her wings, striking against the fire bombs of one of the Crimson Jazzes and breaking them apart. More icicles continued to rain down upon the fire Heartless, and when its body was pierced by no less than four it broke apart in a cloud of darkness.
The scythe-arm of the Scorpionkin Heartless in front of her reminded Kairi of the rest of the battle at hand. A rip formed in the side of her ski jacket and Kairi gasped slightly as the scythe struck her right side. Growling, Kairi jumped forward between the Heartless' arms and stabbed Crowning Flame into the Scorpionkin Heartless' head. It shrieked and instantly began writhing in pain.
Kairi gripped her Keyblade tighter with her one good hand and got behind it, digging it in as she rode the frantic Scorpionkin. The scythe-arms flashed up around her, trying to dislodge her and her Keyblade, but they just weren't flexible enough to reach the Princess. The Scorpionkin's tail jerked spastically, and from the mouth that had replaced the stinger blobs of purple gunk were spewing out of it. Kairi could hear screams, but blocked them out as she watched one of them fly through the air and quickly calculated where it was going to land.
Kairi's eyes widened in fright for a moment when she saw that the purple goo was going right for Olette, the brown-haired girl duelling with a colour-changing Bookmaster. "Olette! Look out!" Kairi shouted. The girl turned at the warning, but didn't catch sight of the purple goo until it was a half-second away from hitting her. Olette leaped, but some of it splashed onto her trench coat and burned through the fabric. A howl was torn from Olette's lips as she landed hard on the frozen ground. Some of the goo had persisted and hit her leg.
That cry broke through the block Kairi had placed on the sounds of everyone else battling, and she removed her hand from her Keyblade and tightened the grip her legs had on the writhing Scorpionkin's neck. She placed her right hand right next to her Keyblade's embedded blade. An arrow of light pierced right through the broken chitin in front of her hand and burrowed deep into the Heartless' head. The Scorpionkin shuddered for a moment and stopped moving, and Kairi yanked Crowning Flame out of its head before flashing into the air twelve feet away from the Heartless. The arrow exploded within the head, and the light cut through the cloud of darkness that the defeated Heartless became.
Crowning Flame swept through a Neoshadow that had been tossed up by a claymore, and Kairi Flash-Stepped again, this time emerging in front of the Bookmaster that Olette had been fighting. She deflected a lightning bolt that had been sent towards the downed mage, and Kairi turned to look at Olette. "Are you alright?"
Kairi winced when she got a look at Olette's leg. The place where the goo had hit was red and inflamed, and beads of sweat were rolling down the leg and Olette's pale face. "You can look at it later," Olette answered. "Let's just clean this up first." Kairi nodded and turned around, flinging Crowning Flame at the Bookmaster.
Her Keyblade cut through the Heartless tome and pierced the robed creature's chest. The Keyblade flashed with light and reappeared in its Wielder's hand as she summoned it back, noting the pink heart rising through the darkness formed by the dead Bookmaster's body. Kairi glanced at Olette again. "I'm going to cast a spell now," she said, "keep me covered."
Olette nodded and clutched her small staff closer to her chest, but suddenly shouted, "Look out!"
A blob of the purple poison goo from a Scorpionkin was arcing through the air right for her. Just seeing the damage that a tiny bit of it had done to Olette's leg was enough to make Kairi quake at the imagined pain that getting hit completely would do, and the girl's legs moved to carry her out of its path even though in her mind she figured that it was already too late.
"Kairi-REOW!"
The auburn-haired Princess of Heart fell to the ground as Soronmon fell upon her, whacking her out of the way of the purple blob but taking the hit in full herself. Kairi rose desperately screaming "Soronmon!" at the sight of her partner wracked with pain, the digimon's feathers already dissolving and her wings pressing against the ground for support. Kairi shoved away the need to scream her partner's name again and concentrated on the spell she was about to cast. She'd only practiced it once before; she couldn't afford to mess up the words. "Flames of Light that burn in my heart, rise up from the ground and illuminate this deep darkness that surrounds us. Become the weapon of the champions of Light who sit on their nine thrones. Burn with the strength of the four winds behind your graceful strokes. Flame Style 43, Torching Brands!"
Crowning Flame became embroiled in golden flames and Kairi looked at it for a scant moment before plunging the Keyblade into the frozen stone beneath her feet, just noticing that Olette sent a bolt of lightning into a nearby Neoshadow that had been thrown into the air by a claymore. Kairi felt a good deal of her energy being pulled out of her, trying to suck her dry for using a Style stronger than any she'd attempted to cast in combat before, but she maintained her will and reigned it in. Golden light pulsed down the blade of her embedded Keyblade, and nine pillars of golden fire, each a dozen feet tall, roared out of the ground beneath most of the remaining Heartless. There wasn't even a moment's notice for the Heartless to react, not that any of them would have taken note of their impending doom.
The pillars of brightly burning golden flame swooned after nine seconds of rending their intense heat and light upon the battlefield, and each pillar's flame came together and formed a sword with a blade shaped of the same burning golden flames. None of the nine Heartless the pillars had consumed remained, but the one other Crimson Jazz, one Morning Star, three Neoshadows and a Scorpionkin still did.
Kairi shouted "Strike!"
The nine brands of golden flame surged forward, and each one mercilessly cut a swath through one of the six. The strong Crimson Jazz resisted the first, but even it couldn't withstand two blows and a blast of ice from Pence.
It was silent for a moment after the darkness the Heartless had disintegrated into disappeared, then Kairi unzipped and took off her damaged ski jacket. She was too hot to wear it at the moment. Moving her arm around a little in the sling, Kairi turned to see her guard's Executive Officer, Lieutenant Pabel, coming up to her. "Are you alright Your Highness?" he asked, sheathing his sword and looking no worse for wear from the skirmish.
"Fine, just a little bruise," Kairi answered, dismissing Crowning Flame in a flash of light. Kairi looked around. Some of the reporters and photographers who had been in the crowd were lying on the ground, clutching tightly at various places on their bodies where there was a small wound. A civilian who wasn't with the press but had come by with the crowd to see Kairi speak was howling, the skin of his side bared to the elements and red and splotchy from where the poisonous blobs had struck.
Kairi gave her Lieutenant a grimly resigned look. "Have the men see to the wounded. (She turned) Hayner! Pence! Tidus! Wakka! Help me with Olette and Soronmon!" Kairi had barely taken three steps towards her partner when microphones were being shoved into her face and a crowd of people obscured her view of the Champion digimon.
"Princess Kairi! How are you feeling right now?"
"What are your plans for getting these Heartless attacks to stop?"
"Are you and the other Keyblade Wielders strong enough to fight Maleficent head-on?"
"How is the government's spending on the defence budget justified if Heartless are still appearing within the city?"
"Princess Kairi, the claymores were supposedly upgraded to such a level that any Heartless appearing within the walls would be destroyed within moments. Do you have an answer for why they are failing us now?"
"Princess Kairi…"
"Princess Kairi…"
"Princess Kairi…"
The auburn-haired princess jammed her eyes shut in the babble of voices. "ENOUGH!"
Her voice thundered throughout the square, stopping all movement and silencing the reporters and their constant questions.
"I don't have any answers for you right now," she told them. "I'm a little drained from casting that Flame Style and I've got wounded friends to take care of. If you want to ask questions, see me—"
Kairi never finished, gasping as Menelmon, not Soronmon, limped towards her through the air. Menelmon dropped, and Kairi roughly shoved two people out of her way with her cast and caught Menelmon just before she would have hit the ground, using her own body as a cushion.
"Menel!" Kairi whispered. The small bird digimon was shivering frantically; a large number of her ice-blue feathers from her neck and back had been burned away, revealing blistered dark crimson flesh. Tears of pain at the damage done to her partner by the Scorpionkin's venomous pus threatened to break past Kairi's indigo eyes, and Menelmon's wing lightly scraped against her cheek as the bird digimon slowly opened her pain-filled brown eyes.
"Are you… okay… Kairi?" Menelmon asked slowly. Kairi dumbly nodded her head.
"Yes, yes I'm alright Menel," she replied. "I'm not hurt. And don't worry, we're going to fix you up right away."
"That's good," Menelmon answered quietly. "I wouldn't… have wanted… you… to be…"
Her eyes closed.
"Menel?" Kairi asked, horror quickly overtaking her and momentarily overriding any tears she might have shed. "Hey, Menel, say something. Don't do this to me Menelmon." Kairi gasped as pieces of grey light started to flake off Menelmon's feet and rise into the sky, leaving nothing behind. Tears fell hot and fast now as she could only watch her faithful and friendly digimon partner's data fly away as her body slowly underwent the process of reconfiguring. "Hold on! Come on! Hold on Menelmon! You can't leave!"
The last bits of the ice-bird digimon's data flew off into the sky, and Kairi screamed in her grief. "NO, MENELMON!"
Several minutes went by as Kairi's body was wracked with inconsolable sobs, the princess weeping her heart out for her lost friend. This was beyond impossible. Menelmon couldn't die, she just couldn't! She was one of the best friends Kairi'd ever had, and one of the strongest too. Even though they'd only been together for a few months, Menel had rarely left Kairi's side since the two of them had first met in Primary Village. She'd loved Menelmon and bonded with the little ice-bird digimon like no other, and now she was…
"A shame," someone said behind her. "Are you alright Your Highness?"
Kairi glanced behind her with the corner of her eye, spotting the speaker and recognizing him through her tear-blurred vision as one of the three Senators, but which one he was she couldn't tell nor care. "You bastard," she murmured.
"Hm?"
"A shame? A SHAME! IS THAT ALL YOU CAN CALL IT, A FUCKING SHAME!" Kairi roared, unable to find the strength to even turn around, let alone stand up. It was all she could do to keep her back skyward and her good hand pressed against the ground to keep the majority of her body above the cold hard ground. "One of my best friends just DIED to protect me, and all you can do is call it a shame and ask me if I'm alright. Do I look like I'm alright you inconsiderate—!"
She stopped herself, and forced her legs underneath her. Menelmon wouldn't have wanted her ranting and raving. With gargantuan effort, Kairi stood on legs that wobbled and nearly gave way beneath her, but her voice was still loud and not at all hoarse.
"Maleficent!" Kairi bellowed into the sky. "I don't know if this will reach you, but if it does, I want you to know that I vow that I will put an end to you! Do you hear me, witch! I'll get you for this! I… will defeat you! The Light I hold and the Light of my friends will cut you down, and then all the people of all the worlds will live free from the fear of you; free from your black soul and tainted darkness! Then nobody else will have to die because of you! You won't take anybody else I love from me!"
Her strength gone from her final scream, Kairi fell back onto the ground, tears streaking out of her eyes again. "Oh Menel," she whispered in agony. "If only I'd been stronger. If only I'd been faster. If I'd only seen that one coming, then maybe you, maybe you wouldn't have…" Kairi sniffed and placed her head between her knees, the sobs coming on harder now. "Menelmon…"
-A-D-
Kairi stayed that way for what seemed like a long time. She couldn't discern the passing of time, for each second felt like an eternity with the gaping black hole the loss of her partner left in her heart. This must have been what T.K. had felt like for that minute after Angemon used up all his strength to defeat Devimon.
For a moment, Kairi burned with jealousy at the young boy. At least Angemon had reverted back into a digiegg.
After some time she was able to discern that somebody was calling her name.
It doesn't matter, she thought. She's gone. She waited for me for ages and ages, and now she's gone. I'm a horrible digidestined partner, I'm a horrible Keyblade Wielder; I'm a horrible person period. I should just lay down and die.
How would that accomplish anything? The voice of her Keyblade, Alcezeran, retorted. How would that bring about the revenge you've just sworn?
Shut up! Kairi retorted.
"Kairi!"
The auburn-haired Princess buried her head in her knees even further. "Go away," she muttered quietly.
"Kairi, you really need to see this. Tron's been trying to get a hold of you for the last thirty minutes."
It was Selphie who was talking to her. Kairi looked up into her best friend's green eyes, and she felt her grief coming on again. "Oh Selphie!" she wailed, throwing herself into the girl's arms. The brunette just took her and let Kairi cry on her shoulder for a minute, softly running a hand up and down Kairi's back and patting her head.
"Kairi," Selphie finally said, "I think you really ought to see this."
Kairi had learned long ago that arguing with Selphie was pointless when she gave her that adamant look, so she didn't even try. For many minutes Selphie led her on through the city until they had returned to the castle, standing outside the castle's postern with the gardens all covered in snow. Kairi gazed sombrely at the snow-covered flowers and naked trees. Menelmon had used to love roosting in those branches.
Selphie just smiled and kept pulling her onward. They went into the castle's underbelly through the door in the postern, and down the halls of the science labs that Ansem the Wise had used. Dimly, Kairi recognized her surroundings and got a general idea of where Selphie was leading her, but it all amounted to nothing in her mind. Menelmon was gone, and unless Kairi went to Primary Village in the Digital World and spent countless hours searching through the thousands of digieggs there, she'd never see her friend again.
The girl placed a finger to her blue Crest of Virtue and bitterly closed her eyes. She'd never see the magnificent splendour of Thorondomon again but for the memories in her heart, and she'd never ride upon Soronmon's majestic wings again, or hear Menel's happy laugh.
They stopped, and Kairi opened her eyes again. Standing in front of her in the computer room were Kensworth, Lord Ramius, King Mickey, Garda, Hayner, Pence, Tidus, Wakka, and Olette with a splint on her leg. There was something that Mickey was holding, and Kairi looked at it.
It was a large white egg as big as the mouse's head, patterned with dark blue circles.
She felt her heart skip two beats as she took it in. "This is…"
"I found that floating around the Dataspace off the Grid a millicycle ago, User Kairi," said a different voice that Kairi had not heard very often. "I recognized that its data signature was similar to the digital monsters that you and User Sora had, and came to the conclusion that you would have some idea of what to do with it."
Kairi came forward slowly and took the digiegg from King Mickey as he offered it to her. Tears were again in her eyes, but Kairi didn't care as she nuzzled the egg against her body and cheek and began to rub her good hand gently down its opposite side. "Yes Tron," she replied, her voice thick with her tears and emotions, "I know exactly what to do with this."
Lots of love and care, and just rub gently. Don't worry Menelmon, we'll see each other again soon. I promise that we won't lose each other again. I promise.
-A-D-
For a story that I initially put under 'Humour', this chapter sure isn't much on the 'Humour' side now is it?
And it wasn't until about halfway through service this morning that I realized that there could be no better day than today to post this.
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk