Kairi parted ways with Riku and Sora later that evening with promises that they would be back to pick her up first thing in the morning for a birthday that she "would never forget
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Summary: Kairi is plagued by dreams about her past, and finding her father. She wants to discover the truth of the matter, and learn who she is. Sora and Riku seem to know, but seem unwilling to tell her...
Writer: finem
Abandoned Princess
Part 4
Kairi parted ways with Riku and Sora later that evening with promises that they would be back to pick her up first thing in the morning for a birthday that she "would never forget." It was meant to be her sweet sixteen, but there was still that nagging knowledge that she had very well possibly missed the actual day by a lot. There was no guarantee that she even really was sixteen. Maybe she was older than Sora...maybe she was older than Riku and just small for her age. It was a thing she had thought of often, but never before had it bothered her so much. Why was it now, after they had all fought so long to be together again that she began to feel a need to learn about her past?
Sora and Riku had been gone for so long. She'd wanted to see them again; wanted it badly enough to brave the darkness in hopes of finding them, so why did she feel so...restless? Like there was something in her that knew that she was missing something important?
"Namine, are you still playing with my memories?" Kairi mused to herself and she got ready for bed.
Despite Sora's year long sleep that was supposed to have restored all of his memories and the memories of those connected to him, it seemed to Kairi that there was still a part of her mind constantly at work, but at what, Kairi could not decide. Pushing the troubling thoughts aside for anticipation of a day filled with family, friends, and new memories for her to make, Kairi lay down in her bed, closed her eyes and slept.
.. .. ..
It was an endless hallway, and every step she took led her farther from the start and no closer to the end. The hallway was filled with doors without number. Some were open while others were shut, and from the open ones streamed light and darkness, in no particular pattern, casting the hallway into a greyish gloom.
"Sora?" she called. "Riku?"
No answer, but the echoes of her own voice, and even that didn't sound like her. Why did this feel so familiar?
Eventually, Kairi found a focus. She thought, at first, that there was one of the light-filled doorways ahead of her, but it turned out to be a vast mirror in an ornate frame, so large it took up the whole hallway and more. The walls and ceiling and floor fell away from her, but still she stood before the mirror. Yet her reflection wasn't her. It was someone who looked very much like her, but with blonde hair, garbed in a simple white shift.
Kairi reached out to touch the mirror, but just before her fingertips met smooth glass, the image rippled and became her. Or, rather, became who she was ten years ago. The little, auburn-haired girl looked up at her with impossibly innocent eyes.
"Where did Daddy go?" the younger her asked.
Kairi stared down at herself, fascinated, watching as the glass seemed to waver, shift. The child reached out with the trust that only small children can have, reached out to touch the mirror, reached through the mirror, and Kairi found that she couldn't turn away, couldn't recoil, could only watch with innocent curiosity.
"Grandma, what are we doing?" she asked, wide eyes looking up at the wizen old woman who gently held her hand, guiding her through the tombs of the castle library.
"I want to tell you a story, little one," the hunched woman replied. "Come, sit by the window with me."
Kairi smiled up at her grandma. Story time! She always loved story time! He grandma knew all kinds of great stories, and there were always princesses, and dragons, and brave knights or princes to the rescue! She missed the stories that her daddy used to tell, but he was always busy now. He and the six scary men were always using big words and hurrying off to the parts of the castle where she wasn't allowed. That was fine, though. Her grandma told great stories too, and her daddy would be done working soon, and come tell her all about it, just like he always did.
Releasing her grandma's hand, she skipped happily over to their usual spot and plopped down into her chair, watching as her grandmother settled herself down with greater care, waiting anxiously to fine out what great adventure she'd hear about today.
"This is very important, dear," her grandma said, and Kairi was a little confused. Why did her grandma seem so sad today? "This is an old story, but it's important that you hear it. It's something I want you to hold in your heart always."
Kairi nodded solemnly, doing her best to be mature and poised, the way her etiquette teacher always told her. It felt like her grandma was speaking to her as a princess, not just a granddaughter.
"Long ago," the queen mother began, "people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light very much.
"One day, people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves, and darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared, but small fragments of light survived...in the hearts of children.
"With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now. But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. Someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open and the true light will return, so listen, child. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away. Do you understand, Kairi?"
Kairi looked at her grandmother, her young heart stirring with a strange emotion that she did not recognize. Kairi stood by the window, watching the scene between the child and her grandmother with an aching pain in her chest.
"Where's Daddy?"
The voice of the child and teen blended as the stained glass window above them both shattered, the castle and library disintegrating as well taking the two away and leaving Kairi in endless darkness.
"I have to…find him..."
.. .. ..
Kairi woke gasping. There was something burning her! The dream was gone in less than a heartbeat, the only concern in her mind the need to identify the cause of the sudden stinging pain in her chest.
Ripping her sheets away, she looked down to find…nothing. There was nothing out of the ordinary on her person, but…
Even as she watched, the pendant around her neck began pulsing with a dull glow. It was easily discernable in the darkness of her room, but it wasn't something she'd be able to see in the light of day. How long had it been doing this?
She reached out a tentative hand to touch it, but it was cool as always under her fingers. It seemed that the burning was…from within.
"I have to…find him..."
Her eyes, almost against her will, were drawn to her window, the ocean, the silhouette of the play island standing out against the moonlit sky, and in her mind's eye it went further; the beach, the secret place…the door.
Before she knew what she was doing, Kairi found that she was dressing, pulling on sneakers then climbing out of her window. It didn't matter that it was well after midnight, she didn't care that her friends would be there in a few hours to escort her to her 'surprise' birthday party. Something was calling…
Her heart would not allow her to ignore.
.. .. ..
Sora sat up in bed, entire body thrumming with an all too familiar sensation.
"No way," he growled out, falling gracelessly out of bed as his legs got tangled in his sheets. He dressed with the speed of one accustomed to having rude awakenings, and was out of his window running towards the docks within three minutes of waking.
He wasn't at all shocked when Riku met him half way there.
"What the hell is that?!" the older boy asked as they bounded down the wooden planks. "It feels like—"
"The door's been opened," Sora completed the thought grimly, fingertips itching as he resisted the urge to call the Keyblade. That shouldn't have been possible without him or Riku being there to unlock the door to darkness, but then again…neither of them had possessed the Keyblade when the door first opened. The darkness had done that for them, and since they had never found and sealed the keyhole for Destiny Islands, there really was nothing stopping the darkness from coming through again.
"We have to hurry," Sora said, hopping down in to the boat next to Riku and thinking quickly. They didn't have time to row, so he would have to get creative. Maybe if he created a small localized Aeroga spell at the tip of his keyblade he could use that as a motor and—
Sora froze. Ever since he had carried Kairi's heart in his own and she had restored him from being a heartless, the two had shared a special connection, heart-to-heart. Once his memories had been set right again, he had always been able to sense her presence to a certain level, in his heart when they were on the same world.
In that moment, Kairi's presence vanished from the Destiny Islands. Once again, their unit was broken. Sora looked out to the play island in despair.