AN- Sorry it's been so long! Enjoy!

Heart

Chapter 8: Rescue

It had to be selfish, for him to want her so much. Could he really do it? Would he really leave Raven just to get Kairi back? No, he wouldn't. Because if he did then Kairi would never forgive him. And that was something he wouldn't be able to stand.

Maleficent was standing right between the two girls, smirking. Despite all their previous altercations, Sora had never hated her. He had fought her to save others, but never hated her. That had changed now, and Sora was unaccustomed to so much hate surging through his body at once.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Robin breathing heavily. He had heard everything, and he was practically mourning for the decision he seemed to think that Sora would make. After all, if Maleficent was baiting him with another girl, she had to be special.

And Sora made his decision when his eyes met the Boy Wonder's mask.

"Kairi," he whispered, "Kairi."

Maleficent laughed, and with a wave of her hand the enchantments around the girl shattered. "Your decision, boy. Go take her before I change my mind. And leave so I can end this other girl before I get interrupted again."

With a pain deep in his gut, Sora slowly walked to the platform where Kairi was lying. He could feel Maleficent's eyes on his back, so he lifted her into his arms, still dawdling. And then he heard a noise and he knew it would be okay, that it all would be okay. Maleficent, occupied with Sora, hadn't noticed Robin rise from the ground and run to Raven's side. However, Robin was deterred when he found that magic was binding Raven to the stone and her eyes had gone glassy and unfocused.

Screeching with rage, Maleficent raised her staff into the air and brought it down hard. Robin tried desperately to avoid the black tendrils that had erupted from the ground and were snapping at his ankles, crackling with electricity.

Sora could see the doorway- he could escape with Kairi right now. His team would find him later, they always did. But he looked back to the titan whom he had just met, and gently laid Kairi on the ground.

Lunging into the air, he swung his Keyblade at Maleficent's back. She whipped around to face him, and with her concentration broken, the attack on Robin ceased. The two boys instantly knew what their goal was. They both attacked, Sora swinging his Keyblade high, and Robin kicking low, and as she fell to her knees, her staff flew from her hands.

Robin caught the staff with a triumphant grin, and Maleficent looked up, horrified, from the ground. Sora had his Keyblade aimed directly at her back and without her staff in hand she wouldn't dare to move.

"No! You can't touch that! You have no idea what will happen if you destroy it!" she shrieked.

Smirking, Robin raised the staff above his head and smashed it into the ground. The crystal shattered onto the ground, and he watched a purple mist unfurl as it escaped its container. To his relief, he saw the enchantments on Raven break, and he took her gently into his arms, trying his hardest not to look down and see what state she was in.

"You'll never get away with this!" Maleficent screamed, "Darkness will conquer all! You will never truly defeat me, or the darkness." Sora was about to challenge her statement, but to his horror, she started fading away to a purple mist right beneath the point of his Keyblade. In seconds she was gone.

"So I guess it's not over," Sora frowned.

"No, but for now, everyone's safe, and I think we're going to be better off now. I really do."

"Whoa Robin, cheery, huh?"

He laughed. "I think I'm justified. But for now let's get to the tower and get Raven and Kairi some help. Everyone else is just starting to wake up." The other titans along with Donald and Goofy struggled to their feet, moaning quietly but overall looking to be in mostly good health. They at first seemed pleased that Maleficent was gone, but then gradually realized that it wasn't necessarily a good thing.

However, they brightened when they saw Raven.

"Glorious! Friend Raven has been recovered!"

Robin was still grim; now he could feel her breath against his chest, and it seemed irregular and labored. "Not just yet, Star. Cy, I need you to come back with me to the tower. We need to get Raven medical attention right away. Sora's friend too."

Hearing his name mentioned, Sora perked up.

"Come on, Sora, we're gonna take the T-Car. Everyone else, get with someone who can fly and help each other back when you feel ready. Call in if there's any trouble."

With Raven and Kairi held tightly in their arms, they sat in the car and urged Cyborg to drive quickly. Sora had contented himself with staring into Kairi's face. It must have been one years, two, since he had seen her. He hadn't forgotten her face, but he had missed it.

But Robin couldn't bear to look down at Raven- not only because of the blood staining her leotard (hers?) but the warped expression of pain on her face. He held her tighter and tried to ignore how warm her body felt. She was on fire, she had to be. Robin felt like he was sweating.

They bolted out of the car doors, Robin running ahead to the Medical Bay. He gently laid Raven down on the first bed, and saw Sora do the same with Kairi on the adjacent one. Cyborg came in right behind them, and wasted no time in hooking them up to the machines that would hopefully tell them what was wrong. They had to all take a step back so they could be sure of what they were seeing.

"Okay…" Cyborg watched the first screen, "Kairi is in perfect health by the looks of this- low blood sugar, but she probably hasn't eaten in a while. She needs to wake up but her brain activity makes me pretty sure that she's just unconscious, and not comatose."

"And Raven?" Robin prompted. His heart faltered. Downstairs he heard the others enter the tower, but the noise was distant to the ringing in his ears.

Cyborg squinted at the second screen. "Her blood sugar is fine, lungs are completely functional-," he swore loudly.

"What?" Robin asked.

"But from the rhythm of her heartbeat, it looks irregular. And she might be bleeding internally. Like there are holes in her heart. Like it was being ripped away."