Disclaimer: Honest, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Just this story, people, that's all…(And I wish I could say Roxas was mine too…)
Chain of Hearts, Chapter 10:
Radiant Garden (part 4)
By Nagori Kirashi
Roxas kinda creeps me out a bit in the next few parts, but yeah, that's alright, I'm kinda going for that…Still, he does, erm…I'd also like to say that this entire chapter didn't exist at one point, but there was such a hy-uge gap that I came back and typed this. It not only came out good, but I can't imagine the story without it now. Pretty cool, pretty cool…
-,-,-,-
Riku, Sora, Hayner, Donald and Goofy were standing just outside of the Radiant Garden, down inside a large crevasse where they had all agreed they would have more sufficient room to practice. At the moment, Sora and Riku were facing eachother. Though they had shook hands before the battle began, neither of them seemed to keep their word when they spoke of a friendly fight. The competence between them was intense.
"Sora, watch out!" Hayner yelled as Sora somehow did a mid-air dodge roll to avoid Riku's attack. Goofy covered his eyes, then squinted through them to see Sora and Riku both with their Keyblades in hand as they lunged at eachother. Their Keyblades struck together like the dowels that Hayner had practiced with back in the town Ecstasy as each of them repeatedly dodged in and out, striking the other's blade and moving back out in the hopes of catching the opponent off guard.
At last Riku found the perfect chance, and he did a quick ground roll so he was behind Sora. Then, not quite wanting to sever Sora's limbs, he used the dull edge of his Keyblade to hit Sora directly from behind his knee joints, causing the friend to fall quite harshly onto his back.
When Riku stood, Sora was still lying there.
"Aw, man," he said to them. "This is so dumb; I feel like I could sleep for a week."
"Give me another chance like that to put you into a coma," Riku replied complacently, "and it just might happen."
Sora turned his head wearily to Riku, trying to smile but finding he couldn't. Ignoring the second headache that was forming after he had hit the back of his head on the ground, Sora said, "I don't think I can do this. Can we quit for today?"
"Only if you admit defeat," Riku said seriously, lowering his Keyblade so the tip was just above Sora's neck. "Do you really want that?"
Riku wasn't surprised to have his Keyblade struck from his very hands by Sora's own Kingdom Key.
When Sora stood, though, he wasn't looking half up to par for another fight. Instead he went over and leaned on Hayner's shoulder, which only put him in further danger; this time from Hayner.
"Hey," Riku said to Sora, who nearly suffered a dislocated shoulder from Hayner even as Riku spoke. "I think you need a little mental training more than you need to up your strength. How about it?"
"What can you do about it?" Sora asked glumly, severely doubting it as he attempted again to rest his forehead on Hayner's shoulder. This time the hit he received was much softer, though the look on Hayner's face as he crossed his arms was not.
"I dunno, give a bit of friendly advice?" Riku said with a smile, striding over to Sora slowly and casually with his hands placed in his pockets, his weapon now gone. "I mean, I think you're just letting this get you down."
"Why?" Sora said, then much to Hayner's relief, looked up. "Roxas isn't just my friend. He's part of me. He is me."
"You didn't need him this badly before," Riku said. "If you still want to use strength as an excuse, remember when you didn't know about him?"
There was no reply, so he continued. "You beat Ansem. Or so we called him then, anyway. Don't lie to me, either; I was partly there when it happened. And that took more strength than you'd ever shown in your life until then."
Donald and Goofy's eyes met as they began to understand what Riku was getting at.
Sora's face was beginning to take on a thoughtful expression. "But…I didn't know about him then. Now I feel like…I really am missing something."
"You're missing some-one," Riku corrected. By now he was standing in front of Sora. "You're still connected, Sora, no matter how far apart you are. Just like Kairi. You're still connected to all of us, and it's your heart that's doing it. So even though Roxas is gone, you're still bound to eachother. Call it a curse if you want to, but it's one that you used to save my life. Friendship," Riku said, softening his voice, "is what really keeps us together."
"And what about…?" Sora still felt as if he had much evidence to prove Riku wrong, though he was beginning to feel better. As much as he wanted to believe him, his heart kept trying to convince him otherwise, as if it were in too much pain to even want to recover.
"You and Roxas shared a lot of things, didn't you?" Riku asked. "That included emotions, right?"
"…Yeah," Sora said, lowering his eyes. They reminded Hayner so much of Roxas' own. "We shared everything, it seemed like."
"So get over it," Riku said, not meaning to sound blunt. "Look at it this way; Roxas has. No, more like he's pretended to. Do you remember this?"
Sora watched curiously as Riku pulled a long black cloth from one of his pockets.
"I keep this with me," he told them, "to remind me that it's not good to hide from what you really are."
"No it's not," Sora agreed. "So…what's this getting at?"
"Never mind that, but just think about this; this is Roxas right now." Riku reached over and tied the cloth loosely around Sora's eyes, then stepped back. "Looks pretty sad. I'll bet if we compared you like this to Roxas right now, he'd look the same way."
"You mean with a blindfold?" Sora said, using his thumbs to push the blindfold up past his eyes so he could see Riku.
"Exactly. Er, sort of," Riku said, taking the blindfold back. He wrapped it around his fist as if he were blindfolding his hand, then held it over his chest. "He's blinded his own heart. Sora, only you can take it off for him. So even though he might still be blind in some ways, that doesn't mean it's not there. It's just hidden away for now, waiting for someone to bring it back out." Riku tucked the black cloth back into his pocket. He looked into the distance as if the sun were setting. "You and Roxas are still together, no matter how far away you are. If you can see through that blindfold, then nothing can stop you."
Sora was quiet for a long moment as his brain worked to sort everything out.
"…Riku, thank you." Sora said quietly at last. After another moment he added, "Wow, you're right; I think I can feel him. Like he's right here beside me."
"Um, sorry, that'd be me," Hayner said to Sora's right, not sounding that apologetic. Riku laughed.
"It'll be harder than that, trust me, but I'm sure you can do it," Riku said as a grin appeared. "Speaking of which…Ready for a re-match yet?"
"Ha, I was born ready," Sora said, and all of a sudden the gleam was back in his eyes. "Too bad you were born to lose!"
"We'll see about that," Riku said in amusement, and both stared at eachother in determination as they lurched forward into tense battle. Donald, Goofy, and even Hayner could tell that something that had been missing before from Sora's morale had now returned. This time they fought freely, becoming one with their weapons and attacking with unique maneuvers that turned their duel into a form of art.
It was a draw.
-,-,-
Naminé was back to drawing in her sketchbook quietly when she felt a gentle brush of air caused by a vortex of darkness appearing nearby.
'Oh, no,' she thought, wondering what they wanted this time. 'Maybe I can ask for a pencil sharpener…'
She nearly fell backwards off her chair in fright when she saw who it was.
Lexaeus, the largest one in all the organization, was built like a giant. He had rusty colored hair that was slicked back in a way that almost resembled her friend Hayner's hair, but it was much shorter than that and somehow made his head look smaller in contrast to the rest of his body. He had small eyes, thick brows, a sharp set of side-burns, and an incredibly large chin that matched his muscular brute. He wasn't a pretty sight, but it got what was usually his main point across. His weapon, she knew, was usually a huge tomahawk; something that almost resembled a clamp tool but without the actual compressing device on it. It took a giant like Lexaeus to be able to carry a massive weapon like that.
Something else about him gave her the creeps as well; one would expect someone like him with a deep, frightening voice to use it more often, most likely by force.
But he barely ever said a word more than he had to. To him, it was almost as if sound was a weakness, and often times it could be, such as the small nervous noise that she herself made when he'd appeared. She had already revealed her own fear.
Naminé was also right that he wouldn't say anything now, either; Lexaeus simply went over to her and grabbed her arm.
"Ow!" she cried, struggling slightly against his powerful grip.
Lexaeus must have pretended to ignore her, either that or he didn't care as he pulled her towards the portal he had come through.
In her sudden rush, Naminé felt her sketchbook slip from her hand onto the floor, but she had no way of reaching it as long as her massive captor kept forcing her along.
"Stop, my…! Wait," she pleaded, tugging harder than before to get away from him. Naminé had no idea whether she would be back again to retrieve her sketches. "Please, I dropped my sketchbook, stop!"
Lexaeus still didn't listen, and Naminé was dragged from the room like the hostage that she was. Her sketchbook was left to lie open on the floor, still open to the same picture she had last been working on.
It was a picture of Sora and Roxas, back when they were still friends.
-,-,-
Cloud Strife nearly spit out the drink he was taking when Sora strode in, challenged him to a rematch, and then declared the rules.
"You say what?!" He turned to Sora, who was now standing in front of Cloud with a ferocious gleam in his eye. The tall blonde coughed several more times as if still choking on his drink. Leon, the only one besides Yuffie and Cid who were back yet from Ansem's study, couldn't help but laugh slightly. If at all possible, this almost caused the hair on Sora's head to stand even more on end than before.
"You heard me," Sora said again. Donald, Goofy, and Hayner all exchanged weary glances, but Riku stood by with a grin on his face. Sora was holding his hand out, and Cloud took from it what the teenager was holding.
"You want to re-fight me…while you're wearing this?" Cloud held up the black blindfold. He tried holding it up closely to his own eyes to see if Sora were just trying to spook him out, and though he did find it was possible to see through it if one concentrated really hard, Cloud found himself with a headache when he tried to focus his eyes enough to see anything besides blurs. He wondered if he had done more damage to Sora than he thought.
"Sora, did I give you a concussion during our match?" Cloud said out loud. Sora only snatched the blindfold away once more, then said, "One on one. We'll go back to the Deep End, where we fought before. Same crowd, same weapons."
Cloud took a deep breath, then looked away and inflated his cheeks slightly as he exhaled speechlessly. At last he turned to the spunky brunette while running his fingers through his own blonde hair and said, "You know what, let's see what you've got."
Sora's face filled with a huge grin, and suddenly Cloud wondered if maybe he wasn't in for something after all.
Yuffie, in the meantime, was sitting on the bed and staring at Sora with a dropped jaw the entire time.
"Don' underestimate 'im," Cid warned from his typing. He stopped to copy something down off of the computer into a small notebook he kept nearby, but otherwise he showed no different behaviors than usual. "Yuf', ya wanna go git the oth'rs? Tell 'em ta meet us there."
"Sure," Yuffie replied in a high pitched voice. Her mouth barely moved, still hanging open in awe.
"Shut your mouth, Yuffie," Cloud Strife told her bluntly. "You look like a retard. I really couldn't care less, except I do happen to know you, so that puts my reputation on the line too."
"Aw, thanks," Yuffie said, listening to Cloud anyway as she disappeared from the building at a skip-like run. Sora's face was now covered in a sly grin with his arms crossed and his eyes shut. He was only mimicking Riku at the moment, however, and soon enough his best friend caught on and threw something at him.
"So, you're really sure about this, then?" Leon asked Sora thoughtfully, and he got a nod in response.
"Riku reminded me that there's more to being together than…er, being together, I guess," Sora said, scratching his head as he finished his sentence with an awkward pause while he tried to decide what he was trying to say. "…Anyway, I feel different. Like I'm ready to do this now."
"Well, your funeral, not mine," Leon said with a small shrug while turning away.
"No, not Sora's either," Riku said, then glanced at Cloud as he added, "…but I'm sure you'll have one to look forward to if Cloud isn't careful."
"Ha ha, er," Cloud laughed to himself, then turned away as well and rubbed both sides of his nose as a distraction. "Hell, I just hope I'm not there."
-,-,-
"Where are you taking me?!" Naminé said, leaning her full weight against the huge man who continued to toe her forward through the blackened area. She could hear the occasional scurry as either a Dusk or a Shadow Heartless crawled through one of the nearby shadows.
Suddenly her massive captor stopped, and so did Naminé. When she looked up, she gasped.
"Roxas…?" She said, and he only nodded once. He stood somewhat expressionlessly in his leather Organization XIII uniform, a solid contrast against the small white dress that Naminé herself wore. Her own voice was a whisper as she said, "…You turned on Sora?"
"I turned on him," Roxas began, then added, "or he turned on me first. Whatever, same thing."
"Roxas, no, wait—!" Naminé said desperately. "It was me, I'm sorry!!"
"What'd you have to do with anything?" Roxas asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He then turned and said something to Lexaeus and Axel, who stood nearby in the same casual pose as he had been in the first time he had spoken to Roxas after he'd rejoined the Organization. Lexaeus made no reply, other than taking Naminé roughly by the arm once more and leading her away.
"Roxas, please!" Naminé yelled, her lavender blue eyes filling with sadness. "Wait, just listen to me! And…please, don't make me go back there, we need to talk—this isn't right!"
"What is there to talk about?" Roxas asked casually. "Just stop being such a problem. You're better off where we put you than you are with those losers anyway, so just cool it."
"How can you go off a memory you don't even know is—?" she began, then changed her question, knowing she only had time for one more before she was pulled into the black portal Lexaeus had made. "Sora's still your other half!! What did he ever do to you besides be there for you?!"
"Aw, not you too, now," Roxas said, rolling his eyes slightly as he turned a shoulder to her. Glancing at her from one side, he finished, "Apparently nothing, according to him."
"That's because—!" Naminé could feel the cold tingle of the vortex drawing closer, and she struggled more than ever against Lexaeus. "Roxas, I'm sorry!"
Then she was gone, and Roxas sighed.
"Man, she sure has something for you," Axel commented to Roxas. "How'd you ever end up with a girl like that?"
"Aw, shut up," Roxas said, hitting Axel in the same casual manner. "She's not mine; where'd you get that idea from, huh?"
"Just looking at you two together almost makes me happy," Axel said, smirking.
"Don't you wish," Roxas said back, and both grinned as if she'd given him a farewell hug.
-,-,-
All of the friends and audience who had been present last time were there once more, waiting this time with a nervous anticipation for it to begin. Even Merlin had joined the group. Riku, out of sheer gentleman behavior, had taken a fold-up chair for Kairi to sit on, just in case she might start to feel too nervous to stand.
She was already sitting, and it hadn't even begun yet.
The others were also treating Kairi like the guest of honor as she sat next to them. They each felt at least a bit sorry for her and were showing respect towards her as if knowing how she felt to be watching what looked like it could very easily be Sora's last fight.
Cloud stood facing Sora, staring into his face from about ten feet away and holding the Buster Blade like before. Cloud found now that he was unable to read his opponent's eyes, and to his surprise this felt as though it led to an incredible disadvantage. A person's eyes revealed their next move just as much as their body did; they revealed times of weakness, or times of increasing strength. He had thought it would be Sora who was at the disadvantage when it came to fighting like this, but it seemed that he was at one now, too.
'Don't let it get to you, Strife,' he told himself wearily. Instead, he just imagined how his own face would look if he were about to take on someone nearly a foot taller than him while wearing a blindfold. This, he decided, would be what he imagined when he looked at Sora's face.
In the meantime, Sora was also having deep internal thoughts. He could indeed see blurs through his blindfold, though that was it. He had no depth perception, which was key to a fight for him. Another thing was speed, and if he had relied on his sight to accomplish his agility before, it was time to come up with a new tactic, fast.
Leon stepped forward awkwardly, raising the same white cloth above his head as the others studied the two fighters. Both Cloud and Sora were standing in the same pose as they had last time. The only difference this time was the cloth tied around Sora's head and tucked behind his ears, giving him an ominous look.
"Alright, remember, this is just practice," Leon reminded them. "Seeing as one is at a disadvantage—"
"Don't… hold back," Sora warned Cloud, cutting Leon off sharply. "I want to do this. And I want to push myself. If I fall today, then I guess I wasn't meant to stop those guys after all. And better here and now than there with nobody by my side."
Riku admired Sora's words, but he was sure that Sora couldn't even see the flag Leon was holding up, much less the small smile that spread across Riku's face or the look of deadly determination that crossed over Cloud's.
"Okay, you ready for this?" Sora asked Cloud, who nodded at first, then said, "Yeah. I'm ready."
"…Go!"
Sora ran ahead, holding the Keyblade out. He now had to rely one-hundred percent on the Keyblade to guide him, and he knew if his heart trusted it enough, it would.
He nearly died of relief when the clang of metal against metal vibrated through his hands and into his ears. Cloud was taken back, a look of surprise on his face as Sora's Kingdom Key counteracted his own bulking sword. It was at this point, as he stood shaking furiously with strength, that he decided he would not go easy.
Suddenly, to Cloud's amazement, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the strength pushing against his weapon, and it was knocked to his side like the losing end of a fist fight. Sora, almost able to see what was happening just by using the senses he had and through what direction the Keyblade was pulling him, didn't waste even a second. He still had no idea if Cloud had recovered right away from his weapon being forced backwards, so Sora made sure he was the first to attack.
This time, they noticed, he was much faster, and while dodging around Cloud from all sides, he pulled off a strong combo that may as well have been only one attack it happened so fast.
Humiliated that he was losing like this, Cloud rose his expectations once more, now from challenge to death-match. The adrenaline in him told him that that would be all that could save him. He no longer held back from some of his most powerful moves, yet as he tried to attack Sora with some, the blindfolded boy somehow managed to either dodge or reflect it.
The older warrior was furious.
'Dodge, roll… left, swing, dodge,' Sora kept thinking to himself. He was reading the instructions that the Keyblade was giving him, and he was pulling them off with such grace that he had somehow managed to remain ahead. Then again, there were other things. Sora felt that even now he couldn't rely on the Keyblade alone; he was relying on his ears in a way he never had before. Every step that Cloud took, every swipe that cut through the air—it was all just an open book, once one learned how to read it.
"You know what, Sora?" Cloud said, now slowly edging sideways in a large circle around Sora while gripping his Buster Blade with both hands. "You've really shown me a lot of what you can do today, but I promise you that this has only just begun."
Sora was turning in the general direction from where he could hear Cloud's voice. In reply to the threat, he said as a comeback from their previous match, "Don't kid yourself. If I had attacked when I wanted to just now, you would be dead right now, I'm sure of it."
"Well there's just one problem with that," Cloud threatened as they continued to circle around eachother, and in a raised voice, he yelled, "I'm not done here yet!"
'This is harder than I thought it'd be,' Sora continued to think in his head. Suddenly the image of yesterday's fight came back into his head, the way he had been so easily overwhelmed by Cloud's constant string of abilities and how truly ridiculous he himself had felt. He could almost see himself being flung hopelessly aside by Cloud's sword.
Cloud Strife noticed the weakness in Sora for that split second, just from how Sora's entire body drooped slightly in a way that would look to most people like he were just taking a deep breath.
'Forget his eyes,' Cloud thought. 'This kid is an open book just waiting to be burned.'
With his guard let down for that short amount of time, Sora barely had time to think about defending himself as suddenly he heard Cloud's fast-approaching footsteps. Sora held the Keyblade up defensively, and suddenly his seasoned opponent gripped his sword and leapt towards his target. Cloud slowly spun in a clock-wise direction, turning as soon as his head could reach to watch Sora become closer.
Then Cloud let out a yell as he held his massive sword with his right hand, ready to propel it in the same direction in a way that stunned those watching with his graceful speed, yet at the same time caused everything to look as if it were in slow-motion.
When Sora took the blow, not only was his Keyblade worthless to defend him, seeing as the attack was coming from the side, but Sora himself was sent through the air so that when he landed he continued to tumble uncontrollably towards the edge of the cliff. He could hear Kairi scream his name.
Sora still clutched the Keyblade in his hand, receiving several harsh bruises as his body tumbled with it, but it was the Keyblade that would save him in the end, he knew it. He tried to point the Keyblade towards the ground in the direction he was moving, and eventually it cut into the ground at an angle so that the Keyblade rammed into his chest, stopping his reckless tumble. After several moments of clinging onto the handle and holding himself up, one knee on the ground and the other with his heel dangling off the edge of the cliff, he realized he had had his breath knocked out of him, and when he started to breathe again, it was raspy with pain. He could feel the large cut that had resulted in Cloud's attack, and it felt as if he'd had his side torn out.
Nearby, Cloud stood with his eyes shut, catching his own breath for several seconds. That had been all the time that had passed, though it seemed to Kairi as if the last few seconds had played themselves out forever just to torture her.
At last Cloud opened his eyes and looked down at the slight drenching stain of blood on his blade, and for some reason his success and the red stain on his weapon stimulated him.
Now everyone was yelling various things as Cloud ran at the seemingly helpless teenager with his sword held forward. Sora was still blindfolded, but with the blood pumping in his ears he could no longer hear them.
All he felt now was his heart, connected with Kairi's, and it told him he was in danger.
Suddenly Cloud was as amazed as he was frustrated to have the Kingdom Keyblade blocking him from his victim, who still kneeled far below him on the ground. Sora was holding the Keyblade above his head with both hands, kneeling down and ignoring the gravel digging into his legs, while Cloud was holding his Buster Blade at waist level and leaning all his weight and strength against it. Both were shaking with the effort of keeping up their guard and strength.
The edge of the cliff was inches behind Sora.
Then everything seemed to stand still for Cloud, who noticed nothing but the small grin appearing on Sora's face.
The little grin was a success. Cloud, startled by this unexpected gesture, let down his strength just enough, and Sora did the same so that the weapons were still matched in strength. Then, all at once, he used the extra strength he had built up to heave Cloud's weapon away from him, then duck behind him and send him knocking off his own feet. The Buster Blade clattered from Cloud's hand, and as he reached for it automatically, he could feel the end of Sora's Keyblade brush the area above his heart.
No one moved for what seemed like hours, and at last, Cloud pushed the edge of Sora's Keyblade away slowly, almost gently, so that he could stand; something that someone would not do if they were still in the middle of combat. The last attack had shook him up, and he knew very well that Sora had him on his back; a true symbol that the blindfolded opponent had somehow won.
It had been a close fight, but a good one nonetheless.
Sora dizzily removed the blindfold as the Keyblade disappeared, and suddenly he could feel the pain overtake him on his side. Cloud's attack had done not only done damage, but it had injured him quite severely. The short yellow suspender straps that hung on each side of Sora's ultra baggy shorts were stained red against his right side, despite the injury being just above his waist.
Kairi had been sitting on her chair with Riku resting his hands on her shoulders so she would stop sitting and standing at a constant rate, but when she saw Sora, she gasped again, and Riku let go of her shoulders so she could run over to him. By the time she got to him, Sora had already allowed his knees to slowly give and was sitting on the ground, clenching his side with his arms.
"Hey," Cloud said to Sora even as Kairi knelt down next to the injured fighter. Cloud was walking indifferently towards the rest of the group, but he stopped long enough to throw a vial of something at them. Kairi was the one who caught it, and she held it out gently to Sora.
"Here," Sora said to her, opening the container that was designed so he needed no more than his thumb to flick it open. Sora tasted a bit of it, smiled weakly yet deviously at Kairi, then flicked it into the air above himself.
"Wait, Sora—?!" she said, unsure why he had wasted it all. Suddenly she was captivated by a strange mist of sparkles that seemed to come down around them and quickly fade away as soon as they were touched. When one landed on her, she felt a bit more rested, though the majority landed on Sora, and then he was able to stand.
"What was that?" she asked Sora as he lifted the side of his shirt and checked a much less gruesome-looking injury. Kairi still gasped in spite of herself, putting her hands to her lips, but Sora just nodded his head to one side as if shrugging—partially from feeling enough relief to make up for the pain he still felt, and partially because he felt he couldn't let himself appear vulnerable in front of Kairi after just making her sit through such a close match.
Together, they began to walk towards where the others were all talking excitedly.
"It's a potion," he said to her finally as he put his hands in his pockets. "They're perfect in the middle of a fight, or after one if you're really hurt."
"So that's what it was…?" Kairi speculated to herself. Then, with an admirable gleam in her eyes, she turned to the brunette and said, "They're so pretty, and magical, too! Sora, I'm so jealous; you must get to see all kinds of beautiful sights everywhere you go."
Sora grinned adoringly, then looked at Kairi and said, "I don't need to go to other worlds to find what I really think is beautiful."
Just as Kairi was giggling and blushing, they each felt a hand on their shoulders as Hayner stuck his head between them.
"Is this the part where you kiss?" he asked them. Sora hit him hard enough on the shoulder to make up for all the punches he'd received earlier that day.
"Sora, Hayner," Kairi said with a giggle, more amused than upset by them. "You guys be nice…Haven't you got work to do?" she asked Hayner, turning to him.
"Aw, anything's better than hanging with you sick love birds," he said, shrugging them off almost in frustration. He went off to join Riku, and despite being opposites of eachother in every way, they still shared a common ally, and that was enough to make them sociable with one another.
In the meantime, Sora turned back to Kairi and leaned in closer, an adoring look on his face while Kairi gazed back shyly. Hayner, glancing back just in time to see this, nearly tripped flat onto his face he was trying so hard not to either laugh or say something rude. Riku, however, just hit Hayner on the shoulder and said, "You leave them be, alright?"
"Fine, argh," Hayner said, hitting Riku lightly back as they continued around a corner. This was a mistake, he found, because Riku only laughed and used his hand to push Hayner's head, causing the shorter boy to stumble; an easy task for someone like Riku whose victim was barely past his shoulder height.
"Still," Hayner continued firmly, steadying himself out but standing a bit farther away from Riku. "I think we should just leave them behind altogether if they don't hurry."
"Oh, they'll be coming," Riku assured him, and soon enough they could almost see Sora jolt as he realized he was left behind when they heard their spiky-haired friend yell, "Woa, guys, wait for us!"
Seconds later Sora and Kairi appeared around the corner of the tall crystal walls dividing the area's sections, trying to catch up with the group.
Riku noticed they were both holding hands.
-,-,-
Just moments later after returning Naminé, Lexaeus had returned, and one by one, the rest of the Organization appeared as well. Saïx walked along the group as each of them shifted around and stood in their order. Only two spots were empty, one being Saïx's own and the other being that of Xemnas himself.
"The time has almost come," he informed them clearly, the others all silent as he began his speech. There were no other noises, as the rest of the lower Nobodies once crowding the streets had now cleared into the castle. "Xemnas will be restored after his devastating defeat in the shadows. All that had once been, our glory, our journey, and most importantly, our Kingdom Hearts, will be returned!"
Each of the Organization members smiled in their own ways, excluding a few. Roxas and Axel leaned forward so they could see eachother's faces, gave eachother a thumbs up, and then stepped back into line.
"In not long," their new Superior continued, "We'll be able to combine our strengths and—"
"Now, just what exactly are we waiting for again?" Xaldin interrupted suddenly, taking an almost threatening step forward so he was standing in front of the rest of them. He was one of the few who had not smiled. "I'm sick of waiting; this is ridiculous! We've been building up armies of Nobodies, sending everyone all over the place after those kids, and basically slaved our asses off for you—I wanna see some results!"
Saïx looked back at him daringly and ordered, "Get back in line before I find someone else to take your spot."
"That's just it, though; I'm no worse than Roxas!" Xaldin continued furiously, pointing sharply in Roxas' direction as he continued to glare at Saïx. "What about him?! Is he so hard to replace? He's a traitor, a little cocky bastard who thinks he can just walk in and take us all over! Get rid of him—he's the one who beat our asses last time anyway, so why not?!"
"Just shut the hell up!" Roxas yelled furiously, also now stepping out from the line. "You want me to beat yours again, dammit?!"
"Stop it, back in line, all of you!!" Saïx ordered loudly, and with furious looks on their faces Xaldin and Roxas took a step backwards and rejoined the line. When they did, Xaldin noticed somewhat in alarm that Saïx was motioning for him to follow. The berzerkish leader was backing into his portal, and as Xaldin was sure he knew where they were supposed to meet, he too finally disappeared.
"What was that about?" Axel asked out loud, and at least three members turned and swore sharply at him. He hunched down slightly as the insults bounced off him, then shook his head and straightened himself, like he had already blown them off, although Demyx and even Zexion began to edge away uncertaintly as the area around Axel heated and forced them to mind their distance. The area became otherwise quiet as they waited uneasily for their leader's return.
Finally Saïx, as well as Xaldin, reappeared. Even though only Saïx could see it as Xaldin stepped back into his place, the Third Member was now smiling.
-,-,-
"That was the most impressive fight I've seen in years," Leon said in his thoughtful pose. "And that's saying a lot."
All of them were back inside the main residence inside the Radiant Garden, and Cloud and Sora sat next to eachother on opposite ends of the small bed, each one tending their own remaining injuries.
"You mean you've seen better?" Jiminy asked Leon, currently using a small part of Sora's hood as a hammock.
"I wouldn't doubt it," Cloud said easily, standing by with his arms crossed.
"Well, that blindfold was a bit much, don't you think?" Leon asked Sora rather than replying to Jiminy or Cloud. "I mean, why didn't you just unleash yourself at him? Take him down without that extra burden?"
"I was testing myself," Sora replied, looking at his hand thoughtfully as the Keyblade appeared in it. "To see how much I trusted my Keyblade. And myself."
"Hey, I doubt a single one of us 'ere trusts 'emself that much," Cid said, sitting on the bench over by his computer yet facing the others while resting his back against the wall.
"Guess I'm ready, then, huh?" Sora asked with a small smile, perking up just slightly.
"I would certainly think so," Merlin said, flipping through a book like mad while in search of something. They had no idea what, but whatever it was he eventually gave up anyway.
Sora sat for a moment, then suddenly remembered the black cloth. He took it from his pocket, folding it several times, then handed it carefully towards Riku.
"Here you go," the brunette said. "Thanks a lot for letting me use it, by the way. I'm serious."
"No problem," Riku said, taking the cloth. He noticed it had a tear on one side of it and he wondered whether he should alter it by sewing it or risk leaving it in its natural condition. For now he just left it.
"I still can't believe—" Yuffie began.
"…that I lost," Cloud interrupted with an almost rude voice. "Sora, I don't think I would have faced you had I known the humiliation I were going to have to put up with. Don't even think of asking whether you're 'ready' or not…It's only making me feel like it was me who wasn't ready. After all these years…to lose like that."
"Those weren't the only reasons he challenged you like that," Riku told them, referring to the things Sora had told them right before the match. Riku had, of course, talked it over with Sora before hand, and knew exactly what all his friend's reasons were to fight.
"Well, then?" Tifa asked him while sitting back on the bed. Sora now sat next to her several feet away, no longer taking part in the conversation himself as he polished his Keyblade. "He also said he was doing it to make sure he was really meant to take on the Organization. Isn't that all?"
"No, it's not." Riku lowered his eyes as well as his voice. When he looked up again, he said, "Sora was making sure he was ready to fight in the dark."
-,-,-
The Castle That Never Was was back in the possession of its original owners, and all twelve of them that remained at least seemed to be quite excited about it.
This was their first victory.
It hadn't taken them long to restore the castle back to its original state, eliminating all signs that a legion of Heartless once lived there. Yet the first room they had set to work on rebuilding was the same one that had ressurected them after it was destroyed; Proof of Existence.
The entire room wasn't very large; miniscule in comparison to the vast majority of what their castle was made up of. It had been destroyed by Malificent, and they knew that, were one of them to be defeated, it was this room that would save them.
And according to Saïx, it was vital that they be perfect this time. Working together, they had managed to return it to its original state. All of the grave-like slabs on the floor were no longer glowing red, as they had after their defeat. Each one now shone a sharp, stimulating light blue to show that they were, in fact, alive. The only one to still be red was Xemnas', and it was a darker red, like there had been some black mixed in with its crimson hue. It glowed the color of blood.
The Organization had been told by Saïx that the reason they'd returned was because each grave was attacked by a specific element when it was destroyed. Every one had its own, such as the fire that heated the glowing red square with Axel's chakram imprinted on it until it had cracked apart. This could easily be believed, seeing as it seemed there were certainly enough different kinds of Heartless for this to be accomplished.
The reason that Xemnas hadn't returned, according to Saïx, was because their former ruler needed all of their own powers combined to attack the grave. So it would be, it seemed, and the plan at the moment was that they would each attack his restored grave until, they hoped, the conqueror would returned. Thus was supposedly why they needed all members present.
As Xaldin now knew, however, none of the last part was true.
Their grave-like monuments had been destroyed by Malificent herself, who found the room offensive. They had returned because there had to be a Proof of Existence somewhere; when it was destroyed, the only thing left to prove they once lived was their actual rebirth, and so it had been.
The fact of the matter was that the reason Xemnas hadn't returned was because of the way he had been defeated. He had gone into a dimension that was all but his own, and it was there that after his defeat the darkness consumed the remains of his soul in such a way that would have been unimaginable to most of the others in the Organization.
He was lost in the World of Nothingness.
There was a way to bring him back, though. Before the grave could be attacked, it needed the blood sacrifice of the one who had defeated the leader. It was for this reason and this reason alone that Saïx had been gathering such a great army. His intention; lure Sora, capture him, and use him to summon member Number One, Xemnas. The only way he could capture Sora, he knew, was by taking every precaution there was. This was no ordinary person; he had to be prepared in every way he knew how.
Though there was something else as well. Even though they had become separate beings now, they had been one person when Xemnas had been defeated, and one person they still were. It wasn't just Sora who was required for the ressurection.
It was both sides of Sora.
Saïx, however, simply enjoyed the thought of using one to get to the other. It was much more convenient anyway, and for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to feel guilty about what he would do to them both in the end anyway.
That was why he had really brought Roxas back. He was half of what he needed to restore Xemnas.
So far, Xaldin was the only other one who knew it. And he wasn't telling.
-,-,-
"So, is this all?" Hayner asked them. "We're leaving now?"
Kairi, who overheard them, ran over to Sora and took his arm.
"Are you really?" she asked sadly. "I feel like you just got here!"
"I feel like it was just yesterday when we were still together on Destiny Islands, or in Twilight Town," Sora replied. After a moment of sad silence between the two, Hayner came over and, putting a hand on each of their shoulders, he said softly, "That's because it almost was only yesterday."
Cloud yawned in the silence. Yuffie just hung her head.
As Sora turned from the group, Kairi still held his hand, forcing him to turn and look at her.
"Sora?" she asked quietly. "What if I don't see you again?"
The brunette smiled at her after a moment, hiding the same question from his face. "Don't be silly, of course we will, Kairi."
"…Alright," she said, giving him the all-familiar smile he knew and loved. "So I'll see you soon?"
Just
then Goofy came in, and walking over to them both, he said, "Hey,
Donald says we're ready now. He's been checkin' out the Gummi
Ship with Cid, and they don't see nothin' wrong with it so
far."
"Wait, what's Donald doing in the Gummi Ship?!"
Sora said. "He's gonna break something!" He could just see the
impatient friend growing frustrated at something in the ship and
tearing it apart with his magic. Right before following Goofy,
however, he turned and embraced Kairi in a tight hug.
"And you bet I'll see you soon," Sora promised to her.
"Okay," Kairi said, closing her eyes in Sora's shoulder. Finally they had to let go of one another, and Riku who stood nearby looked at Kairi with a thoughtful expression before smiling a farewell. There was no way for her to see how hard that smile was for him.
So Kairi just stood with the others inside the cozy shelter, watching as they all left. When she started to take a step forward, Yuffie put a hand on her shoulder.
"Trust me, you'll be better off not watching them leave," the dark-haired girl advised to Kairi kindly. "Just close your eyes and imagine that any minute they'll be walking back in through that door. If you do, I promise in no time they will be."
Kairi did.
-,-,-
When Riku was walking back to the ship, he noticed a quiet girl standing by herself and staring into the distance. A long brunette ponytail swirled itself down the entire length of her back, and when she turned, their eyes met.
"Riku," she said quietly, and he felt like he were hearing her voice for the first time. "I see you're leaving already. I always tell Sora he needs to give himself a break now and then. Don't you ever want to just sit back and take a break? It's not good for you if you don't, you know."
"I…know," Riku said, then shook his head to himself as if to wake himself up. "Sometimes you don't have time to take a break."
"You'll wear yourself out," Aerith said. "You must have a strong heart to think that way after everything you've been through."
"You've heard, then?" Riku said, allowing himself to smile.
"Of course," Aerith said, her face still straight. As tall as she was, even compared to Sora, Riku was still just a bit taller. "Sora told me. There's a lot he left out, though; maybe you could tell me sometime."
Riku looked away for a moment, then looked back at her with one eyebrow raised casually. "Am I that interesting?"
"Not really," Aerith said casually, causing Riku to jump slightly at her bluntness. Then again, he reminded himself, he could be just like her sometimes, if not worse. "I'm just curious. Will I ever see you again?"
"Sure," Riku said, regaining his own calm disposition. They gazed at eachother in calm silence for a moment, as though trying to decide what to make of eachother.
"I'm looking forward to it," Aerith said softly after a moment, and Riku continued to look at her, unsure how to respond for once.
Just then Sora came up behind Riku and, tapping his friend, he said, "Riku, it's time to go, c'mon! I'm gonna go make sure that Donald didn't destroy the Gummi Ship." As Sora turned his back to them, he looked over his shoulder and waved, saying, "See you, Aerith. Thanks for everything."
"Bye, Sora," she said in a voice so quiet that Riku doubted Sora had even heard her. "I'll see you later too, Riku."
"Uh," Riku hesitated for another moment, then answered, "I'll visit you sometime, then."
"How?" she asked placidly. As Riku walked away, walking backwards so he could still talk to her, he said, "Easy."
The grayish-haired boy waved one hand and a swirl of black darkness surrounded it.
"You'll have to tell me how you can do that, then," Aerith said calmly, now revealing a gentle smile as Riku continued to back away, still looking at her. Both of their eyes showed an interest that would have been read by most people as nothing more than quiet stares.
When Riku finally caught up with Sora, turning around at last, Sora said, "Hey, what's up, Riku? I haven't seen you acting that cheerful for awhile."
"What're you talking about?" Hayner said derisively, rolling his eyes. "You and that girl back there looked like you were about to fall asleep."
"You want me to show you what sleep is?" Riku said with a smile, lightly shoving his fist into Hayner's shoulder as if he were threatening the shorter teenager.
"Hey, watch it," Hayner threatened as if he were twice Riku's size.
Just as Sora had feared, when they got to the ship they found Donald having a total fit. He was just about to cast a fire spell on the small screen where Pence should have been when Sora ran over and stopped him.
"Hey, look, you just have to turn it on," Sora said, smiling somewhat nervously as he simply reached down and presses a button. Almost instantly the image of the Usual Spot in Twilight Town came into view, where Pence and Olette could be seen laughing and fighting over something in the background.
"Aw, phooey," Donald said, rolling his eyes and going over to his own chair to pout in silence. Riku laughed, and Goofy tried to pat his partner's shoulder comfortingly but was shrugged off. Used to it, Goofy joined them all as they took their seats.
"Pence…hey, Pence!" Sora yelled, knocking on the screen to get his friend's attention. At last the two stopped bickering as Pence realized he was being paged. "We're ready for take-off."
"Oh, sorry about that," the pudgy boy said cheerfully, coming over to the screen. He moved his face closer to the screen so that his face took up the entire monitor as he studied the members aboard the ship. Finding that it was more difficult to tell who was on board anyway when they were all pixelized, he said, "Still no Roxas, huh?"
"Sorry, Pence," Sora said, forcing the emotion out of his voice as Hayner shook his head. Several clicks were heard as they all fastened themselves in. "Is everyone else here ready?"
"Hy-uck, you bet!" Goofy said, and Sora started the engine.
-,-,-,-
