I'm really proud of myself with this chapter. Oh, the plot thickens.
Disclaimer: No.
20. Bring Me to Life.
Everyone walked back to the gummi ship in silence. They had given Kakashi, Iruka, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto a short farewell and thanks. Of course, no one but Riku, Kairi, and Sora knew why the awkwardness in the air was so thick you could almost taste it, but Axel, Darran, and Lifelle could tell it was there.
Darran slowed down to walk with Kairi again. He touched her hand lightly, as if asking for permission. Kairi smiled and grasped his hand, swinging it with every step.
"So... are you okay? You seem tense," Darran asked casually. (A/N: I hate that word. I hate that word. I hate that word. Blech.)
Kairi looked up, surprised he had noticed. She had tried her best to act normal; she though she was doing a pretty good job. Apparantly not, if it was so recognizeable that a guy picked up on her inner turmoil.
"Yeah, I just have a bit of a headache," she lied, smiling sweetly.
"Oh! You know what really helps headaches? I know this great little remedy for them," Darran said. He brought her hand up to his chest, rubbing the skin on the top of her hand between her pointer finger and her thumb gently. He gradually added more pressure. Amazingly, the pain that was in Kairi's head dissapated, leaving her thinking amazingly clear.
"Wow! Where did you learn that?" Kairi asked, impressed. Darran smiled sheepishly.
"I learned it from my mom, back before..." he trailed off.
"I'm sorry," Kairi said sincerely. Darran shook it off and grinned reassuringly.
"No worries! Is all the pain gone from your head?" He inquired, all his teeth showing in that brilliant smile.
"Yeah... this is the clearest my head's been in like a week," she admitted. Sora threw her a glare from the front of the group. Not bothering to be nonchalant, he walked up to Darran, glaring the entire time.
Uh oh... Namine whispered.
"You know what? I haven't been able to get a decent workout for a while. Wanna fight?" Sora asked, calling his keyblade.
"Um... You think that's a good idea, Sora?" Riku dared to ask. Sora shot him the filthiest look Kairi had ever seen on his face.
Darran's dark mahagonay eyes flicked from Kairi to Sora. His grin widened, like a wolf grinning when another male challanges him to a fight for dominance. His keyblade appeared in his hand.
"In the field, then?" He asked, gesturing to the plains next to them.
"Guys, I really think we should get back to the gummi-"
"Stay out of this, Riku."
Sora's tone was absolutely murderous. He was looking at Darran almost crazily, like a mad seriel killer looks before dismembering his latest victim.
"Let's get on with it," Darran said, taken back a little by Sora's voice. Sora charged for him with lightning speed. Darran just barely got out of the way from a direct hit; his white T-shirt ripped. Blood blossomed on the fabric.
"You're gonna have to do better than that!" Sora called, his voice rougher and lower than ever. There was an animalistic edge to it; very unlike the boyish voice everyone was so used to. Darran doged another attack by ducking; Sora flew right past him and nearly hit a tree. Panting, he paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
This is bad... Namine said, her voice apprehensive.
This time it was Darran who charged. His keyblade was in front of him like a shield until he was right in front of a mildly unprepared Sora. He swung his dark keyblade down on where Sora's head had been a split second before. Blood spurted from his shoulder as he cried out in pain; Darran's keyblade had gone much deeper than his had.
Darran flitted back out of swinging range and turned back to face Kairi. His eyes were overbright; his smile too manical.
"Did you see that, Kairi?" He asked, his voice higher from excitement.
Don't respond, don't respond, don't respond... Namine was chanting.
"Watch out!" Kairi yelled. Sora was right behind Darran, grinning psychotically. A shocking change appeared in front of him. His skin got much, much paler; almost sickly. Deep, black shadows grew under his eyes, which were turning from thier usual laughing, light blue to onyx. It was as if all the darkness in Sora had risen up to his eyes, which were shining unhealthily bright. Sora's nails turned clawlike and deep black, growing out of his gloves. Two dark wings protruded out of Sora's back, snapping open with a sickening clack. They completely encased Sora in darkness; not a hint of light shone on him. Darkness itself shimmered around the wings, swirling endless coils. Finally, Sora's canines were growing at an alarming rate, protruding from his mouth. They stopped the inexplicable growth spurt at a halfway point between his chin and mouth, glistening sickly.
"Wrong move, kid."
Sora took one swipe at Darran with his clawlike hands. Blood spurted from his stomach as he fell backward, making a sanguine, morbid arc in the air.
"Sora... what's happened to you?" Kairi whispered. He raised one of his wings threateningly.
"You. You did this to me," He accused, pointing one clawed finger.
"What are you-"
Kairi was interrupted by Sora's wing puncturing her arm. His wing, clawed at the top and at the bottom points, had sped towards her with such a speed that Kairi was amazed that it didn't cut her arm clean off. Instead, it had barely perforated her skin. A single trickle of blood trickled down her arm.
"Sora..." she whispered. Suddenly, a paralyzing pain shot up her arm and through her body. She screamed, unable to tell who she was, where she was, when she was...
Kairi plummeted into darkness, in complete pain. She screamed; was this dying? It felt like it. She soon found herself wishing to die as fast as possible, just to stop the fire in her veins. Suddenly, an odd thing happened. She started to sing. It was an eerie lamentation, echoing around the endless darkness swirling around her.
How can you see into my eyes?
...Like open doors.
Sora was in front of her now. Not the deformed, maniacal Sora who had hurt her, but the old Sora. His hand was outstretched; it looked as though he was clawing at something to try to reach her. His lips moved, but Kairi only heard her own voice, being used against her will to sing.
Leading you down into my core,
Where I've become so numb.
Memories flashed through Kairi. Her 5th birthday party... she had first seen Sora, his spiky hair bouncing as he ran. She giggled; this boy was cute...
Without a soul.
My spirit, sleeping somewhere cold.
...She saw herself, writhing in pain next to an unconious Darran. Her mouth was locked in a frozen stream; Riku was shaking her...
Until you find it there in me,
Back home.
Sora had broken through whatever it was he was fighting so despearately momnets before. He grabbed her in a tight embrace, whispering in her ear. Stop singing, she told herself. Her mouth shut, yet the words continued to flow through the darkness...
Wake me up inside.
Wake me up inside.
Call my name and save me from the dark...
And that's exaclty what Sora was doing. She heard him screaming "Kairi!" in her ear frantically, pulling her along with him as he ran through the abyss.
Bid my blood to run,
Before I come undone,
Save me from the nothing I've become...
Bring me to life.
Thy had reached a wall. Sora kicked at the darkness encroaching it fiercely, it crumbled and fell. "We're almost back..." he whispered. A white light shone in front of them. Sora kept her in a his tight embrace as he barrelled forward. Sunshine burst in front of them. Kairi suddenly became aware of a horrible ripping sound. She looked around, where was that coming from?
Oh. It was her, sobbing uncontrollably.
"It's okay, Kairi, it's okay, you're going to be fine, it's okay..." Sora was repeating, an edgeo f hysteria to his voice. She looked up at his eyes, no longer pitch black. Yet, they were not back to normal. For the first time in her life, Kairi saw something in them that she had never seen before. Fear. Pure, helpless fear, as if the world was ending and there was nothing he could do about it.
"What... happened?" Kairi asked. Her voice broke three times in that simple sentence.
"I hurt you... Kairi, I'm so sorry," Sora whispered. Anguish flooded his eyes, intermixing with the fear. Kairi looked around. They were in the forest, a small stream to their right. Sunlight shine through the trees overhead. Kairi looked at her arm, where a small purple-black bruise showed.
"What... happened to you?" Kairi asked.
"I don't know... I just got so mad... The next thing I knew, I was that... that thing. And then... this part of my mind... It was controlling me. I wasn't myself. I couldn't think. Then... I saw you, screaming, blood flowing from your arm. I attacked that... that strange metality that was taking over... then I saw you, in the darkness. I ran towards you. Your face was blank, empty. Emotionless. It scared me Kairi, more than you will ever know," Sora finished, lowering his head in shame.
"Sora... Are you okay?" She asked. Even though he attacked her, Kairi was far more concerned for him than she was for herself.
"How can you be worrying about me at a time like this?" Sora asked, looking up at her again. Disbelief was written all over his face.
"Because. That wasn't you that attacked me," Kairi responded. Her face drew closer to Sora.
"Besides that... why do you care?" Sora asked, though not unkindly. His face, too, was coming closer.
"Because... I love you. I always have, and I always will," Kairi said, the words coming out in a rush. All the anguish and fear was exterminated from Sora's eyes as he whispered, "I love you too, Kairi."
Remember that stereotypical romantic movie? Remember the final scene, when the boy and girl declare their feelings, and then the slow and emotional music starts playing in the background as they kiss for the first time? Think of that moment, only a hundred times better, and then you will be able to envision Sora and Kairi's first kiss.
This moment was cut short, however, by a scream from outside the trees. Sora and Kairi broke out of the kiss clumsily, seeing Lifelle, shrouded in a demonic light. Fire landed where her feet left the earth. Her eyes glowed red.
"You," she whispered. It seemed a thousand voices spoke at once.
"You killed my brother," she went on, blood dripping from her hands. Riku came after her, wearing the same dark outfit he had when Ansem had taken over him two years ago. His eyes, too, glowed an evil red.
"You went too far, Sora," he declared. The two of them created a portal of darkness, glaring at the couple before them.
"We'll meet again," they said in unison. And then they disappeared into the portal, leaving pools of fire behind.
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Please review. I worked really hard on this and put a lot of effort in it!
Vampire love!