Final Kingdom
Chapter 8: Memories
Kaori slept for two days, with little intervals where she would wake up to a female voice asking when the sleeping lady would wake up.
On the morning of the third day, she woke up, and realized that everyone but Yuna was sitting on a chair around her.
"Hi. Did something happen?" Kaori asked, sitting up.
"No, you've just slept for so long, we didn't know if something had happened to you." Lulu said, standing up when Yuna walked in with Aiko. "Take the seat."
"Thank you, Aiko, sit down, I'm going to go and get Kaori something to eat." Yuna said, setting her on the seat.
"You slept a long time." Aiko pointed out to Kaori, swinging her legs beneath her.
"Yes, I'm sorry if it inconvenienced anyone. I need to get up and train." Kaori said, looking around for her sword.
"It's not in here, but I'll get it." Aiko said, jumping up from her seat.
"Thank you." Kaori said, smiling.
By the time she had gotten back, Kaori had gotten dressed in some clean clothes, and had cleaned up a bit. She even had time to eat a little bit of food Yuna brought.
"Thanks Aiko." Kaori said, taking the sword from her and raising from her chair. "Auron, would you be willing to train with me?"
In response, Auron turned and walked from the house, with, after a minute, Kaori following.
They went up into the hills, and after they had both gotten ready, fought for about three hours, then decided that it was time to quit, and brought Lulu in, so that they could practice magic, and after Lulu, Yuna, for Summoning, and Rikku for Thieving.
She took the whole day training, and when they got back to the house, they learned that Tidus and Aiko were out playing in the water. They just couldn't wait for some Blitzball, or for Aiko, that and fighting.
They got cleaned up from the hot day, and started making dinner, and were almost done when Tidus and Aiko walked in, both laughing. Yuna told Kaori that Aiko was in her favorite place, on her fathers' shoulders.
At times like this, Yuna would get this sad look on her face, but Kaori only wondered, she never asked why. Finally tonight, she gathered the courage.
"Because…its something that I used to do with my father. He died when I was very young, and my sister was supposed to be dead for a long time. Then I found her by chance one day, and ever since then, I've wished that my father were here, so he could see her again." Yuna said, looking down at what she was doing.
They finished preparing the meal in silence, then when they sat down to eat, someone walked into the room.
"Lady Yuna. I have news for you." He said, bringing over a piece of paper.
"Thank you." Yuna said, after which he left.
Yuna opened the letter, read the contents, and then handed them over to Auron. After he read them, he put them down.
"We leave in the morning." Was all he said.
Everyone passed around the note, and read it, and after everyone had read it, they all ate in silence, ready to go to their own homes and pack so they could be ready to leave.
After everyone had left, Kaori went up to Yuna.
"Will you be going with us?" She asked, leaning against the doorway.
"Yes. For some of the way, at least." Yuna replied, putting everything she needed in her bag.
"Why is everyone so nervous? And they're all acting so strange." Kaori said, walking into the room and sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"We've gotten a clue as to the whereabouts of the Witch. She was near the Moonflow. I guess they never let you see the note did they." Yuna said, remembering that they had passed right over Kaori, thinking that it would be better to tell her in person.
"I see, so we have to go there and find her." Kaori said, looking down, hoping that something would explain all these weird things she was seeing.
"Kaori, there was something else in the letter also. Your brother was also spotted, and I know that something is going on with you, but since you lost your memory, then none of us has really brought it up." Yuna said, sitting down next to her.
"But, my brother is dead. Remember, he died a long time ago. And if I lost my memory, how can I remember my whole life, until I started really becoming a Summoner?" Kaori asked, not quite understanding.
"No, your brother is not dead. You started talking to me about him while we were traveling, before you lost your memory. You weren't completely sure that it was your brother, because far as you knew, you didn't have any siblings, but he looked so much like your mother and father, and you said he even smelled like your father. Do you remember anything about New York? Or, I believe you called it, Central Park? You said once that you lived there, and then you appeared here one day. You never told us how. Then the first time you Summoned the Magus Sisters, then you jumped back and tripped, fell and hit your head on a rock. That's when you lost your memory." Yuna said, explaining as much as she could without confusing her too much, or at least, trying not to.
"But-" Kaori started, still not understanding.
"Kaori, I don't know how it is that you think you were born here, or how you remember so much from when you were young and it was all here, but you were not born in this world. You have only been here for a couple months." Yuna said, trying to make her understand.
Yuna closed the conversation with a hug, and Kaori got up to leave the room. She went to the inn, so she could lie down in her room there, and get some rest, before they had to leave the next day.
As she slept, she saw some men, and a few women, walking around the area of The Moonflow. She had only been to this part once but she knew exactly where it was, so she figured that she wouldn't have any trouble finding it since all of her dreams seemed to be coming true, she thought that she could go and see if she could find these people. They acted like they were lost and didn't belong.
She didn't often have sound during a dream, but this one had voices along with it.
"So where are we going now? We don't even know where we are, so what are we going to do? How did we get here?" One of the girls asked. She had somewhat red hair that was in a ponytail.
"I don't know." One of the men replied. He had blonde hair, and he constantly had his sword out with him, making sure that no one was trying to hurt anyone from the group of people he was with.
"Yo." Another man said. He had red hair, and the top was short, but the bottom was in a ponytail as well.
"What now?" Another woman asked. She had black hair, and was very pretty, but seemed to be in a bad mood, which Kaori didn't know if that was her all-the-time mood, or rare with her. It kind of contorted her features, so she wasn't all that very pretty.
"Do you think he's here?" The first lady with red hair asked.
"I don't know. He very well could be, like us. Though I still don't know how we got here." The man with blonde hair said.
After that, Kaori didn't see anymore of them, but she had another dream. In this one it looked like her brother and herself. She could only guess that they were at their home.
"I'm going to leave, but I'll come back and help you sometime." Dustin said, putting his pack over his shoulder.
"You better!" Kaori said, softly punching him in the shoulder. "Only thing is, who will spar with me now?"
"I'll see if I can come home every once in a while and practice with you." Dustin replied, hugging her and turning to walk away.
"Do you think you'll be gone long?" Kaori asked, holding out her hand, like she could stop him from going.
"I don't know. I don't think mom and dad will want me to come back, after that fight." Dustin told her, turning back around.
Kaori saw something then that she had never before seen in her twin. He was crying.
"Now you're going to make me cry." Kaori said, and started sobbing.
Dustin came over to give her a hug, then reluctantly turned again to leave.
"I'll come by when I can."
Then Kaori woke up. There were tears in her eyes, and she could see that Rikku wanted to ask her something, but she just delivered her message.
"It's time to leave for the boat." Rikku said, setting a little bit of food in front of her and leaving the room.