The Keyblade Nutcracker
Chapter 4
Well, Christmas has passed and I did not get ownership rights to either intellectual property, so, suffice it to say, I do not own Kingdom Hearts by Square Enix or The Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
"How does that even make sense?" Namine asked, "How does me killing him affect you being cursed?"
"The specifications of my curse were that the only way that I would be free would be if my beloved saved me from an attack by the one who put the curse on me by hitting him with some sort of projectile weapon, allowing me to perform a killing blow against Xehanort," Sora answered.
"I take it Xehanort is the Mouse King?" Namine asked, gesturing at the space where the Mouse King had fallen.
"Yes, he was, but you saved me," Sora responded.
Suddenly Kairi ran up to the pair and said, "Hey, lovebirds! A carriage arrived! Should we attack?"
"No," Sora said cheerfully, "It's here for us to get to the ball."
With that, they all rushed to where the carriage was.
The carriage was magnificent, with golden wheels, a curved ivory chassis, and majestic white horses which seemed to shine with a light of their own. As each member of the group got in, they noticed how comfortably large the interior of the carriage was.
As they flew, several changes took place in most of the occupants of the carriage. Namine's was the simplest transformation, her simple nightdress lengthening and turning into a beautiful white ball gown with a small amount of frill and lace.
Yuffie's helmet vanished, revealing short, black hair as her skin turned to flesh, while her uniform became light blue while wings sprouted from her back. Beside her, a large shuriken sparkled into being, causing her to cheer with delight and pull it in front of her, stroking the metal surface, saying "How's mommy's favorite little weapon?"
Beside her, Riku sat, with his uniform turning purple, while his skin lost the metallic gleam. His helmet vanished, allowing his hair to move to odd angles as he took on a more relaxed expression.
Kairi then sprouted wings, as a golden crown sparkled into existence on her head. Her cloth skin then lost the stitching pattern and turned to real skin.
Sora's uniform remained the same, but his skin lost the wooden texture as his key sprouted a handle in the center of the ring at the end, as well as chains attached to the other end of the ring, making it more like a sword than it was.
"What just happened?" Namine asked, looking at the changes that just occurred.
"Sora wasn't the only one with a curse on them," Kairi said, "As long as we were trapped in the other world; we couldn't be our true form."
"Who are you, really?" Namine pressed.
"Yuffie is one of the Snowflakes…" Kairi began, before Yuffie cut her off.
"I'm the Great Snowflake Ninja!" Yuffie interrupted indignantly, "Get it right"
"Sorry," Kairi answered, "and Riku is the bravest of my guard."
"And who are you?" Namine asked quizzically.
"I am the Queen of the Sugar Plum Fairies," Kairi responded cheerily.
"Why were any of you here?" Namine inquired, trying to figure out what was going on.
"We came to help Sora," Riku answered, "but we were found by the Mouse King, who turned us into toys. My Queen was the first of us to arrive. Master Xenmas found her and gave her to you, having been told of our mission. We arrived a year later, and managed to free Sora, but we were trapped in this form. We ran from that place, and were found by the very same Master Xenmas who had found Kairi. We were given to your friend, along with several automaton soldiers, and Sora was given to you."
"We're home!" Yuffie suddenly laughed, "We're finally home!"
The carriage came to a halt at those words. When the door opened, Namine was very surprised to see such beauty. It was made of crystal and metals so lovely that no one could even attempt to make metals that could appear to be their equal.
Sora helped Namine down and led her through the castle, giving her a tour and regaling her with stories from his childhood as the other guests entered.
There were many dances from each kingdom, even those of Kairi and Yuffie. Such amazing displays of music and rhythm were these that no one could ever describe them and do them justice. Eventually, the clock struck midnight. Sora walked Namine to the balcony, holding her hand gently.
"Namine," Sora said, his voice suddenly cautious, "The night is almost over, so we…I have something to ask you."
"What is it?" she asked, concerned by his tone.
"You have a choice, but you can only make it once," Sora answered, evading actually asking the question, "the magic can be accessed once a year, but, we can't return to your world, so we can only make this offer right now."
"What's wrong?" Namine pressed, wanting to get an answer.
"Well," Sora fidgeted, "The thing is, and the choice is yours entirely, that you have to choose between either staying here with us or leaving here, never to return."
Namine fell silent. Here, she had Sora, Yuffie, Riku, and Kairi, people who showed they cared about her, or the real world, where she was born and where all the other people she knew resided.
"Do I have to choose?" she asked.
"I'm sorry Namine," Sora apologized, presuming she didn't want to be there anymore, "I'll take you back, myself. Nobody wants to be with a bunch of people that aren't normal, right? You want to be with all of the people who are really important to you. Anybody would choose that."
"I didn't say I was going," Namine responded, "Just give me a moment to decide, okay?"
The entire castle was silent, anticipating Namine's response. She then smiled at Sora gently.
"I choose to stay with you," she said lovingly, wrapping her arms around him.
And so, the story of the Nutcracker Prince has reached its end. Thank each and every one of you for reading this story, meaningless fluff that it is.