((Hey~! I'm updating a day late, at least...sorry D':.
I decided that I will update at least once a month. And the deadline I've given myself for each month is the 18th.
However, I'm thinking about putting this story, Remembering XIV, on hiatus for a while. Meaning I won't update it during that time. Because I really need to get Last Whispers caught up to this, because I've realized that it will soon be important to...
I can't give away the reason, though. It's a spoiler ;D.
So anyway..
I haven't decided whether it really will be on hiatus or not. Check my deviantART, username there is Aroselia, if you want to find out. I'll put it on my dA ID for you. Or, you could also send me a PM here.
It's a short chapter this time, again ;m;. But I've thought of ideas for the next chapter, and a few ideas for further chapters, with the help of Riayna Darkheart ((Thank you for everything!)). So the future chapters might turn out better, and more interesting.
In any case, I'll leave you alone now so you can read the chapter! Enjoy~!))
DAY 409 ~ Destiny Islands
Another nightmare. I wasn't sure why Sora kept having these…but it scared me a bit, too. Why Sora kept having these nightmares, I didn't know. It all became a blur.. I remembered seeing the stained glass place, again. But this time we kept seeing people that Sora had seen, before…this time they told him to go back to Destiny Islands, rather than Twilight Town.
Sora immediately worried about the islands. About all his friends back there. About Kairi.
And then the dream took him there. Kairi was standing not too far, staring out at the sea. She looked different than she had, before. Her hair was longer, and her outfit was a salmon-pink and white dress. Still, by her auburn hair and sea-blue eyes, Sora could tell it was her. "Kairi!" he called to get her attention. "S...Sora!" Kairi, startled, looked toward Sora.
"You're here!" "Y-yeah," Sora nodded. "I'm here...but it's--" "A dream, right?" Kairi finished. "I'm dreaming, too." She fell silent, suddenly. It seemed like she was worried about something..
"What's the matter?" Sora didn't care if it was a dream, but he didn't like seeing Kairi that...worried. It was the same as how I felt about Xion..
"A man came yesterday," she began. "He...wore a long black coat. I don't know his name, but.."
"What did he say?" Sora asked. He suspected that it was an Organization member, and so did I.
"He...he told me that you needed to come to Destiny Islands," Kairi sighed. "I don't know why..."
"Did you see what he looked like?"
She shook her head. "His hood was up the whole time. But, Sora, I'm scared...he said that if you didn't come, the Islands would be in danger.." This shocked Sora.
"Kairi, I promise.." he was about to put a hand on her shoulder, when Xion cried out..
'N-no!' Xion sounded weak, but her voice was enough to stop the action. 'Stop!'
Suddenly Sora woke up, pulled out of his dream. He felt...angry, though. "Kairi...she was right there!" He sighed in frustration. He had felt so close to her...felt like she was right there..
----
Sora looked around, seeing all of his friends around him, snuggled up in the blankets Geppetto had provided. Silently, Sora tiptoed around them so he could get outside. He needed some fresh air.
'Xion,' I thought so that only she could hear. 'What happened...?'
'I felt like...being around Kairi...it drained me a bit,' Xion explained. 'I have no idea why...I just knew that if he made contact with her...it...' She couldn't finish--because she didn't know how to explain it. All I knew was that something weird was going on.
Sora stared at the sky outside, wondering if any of those stars was actually the world he was from.
"Sora," he heard someone behind him say. It was Naminé. "Do you know what we are going to do about Axel?"
Sora had almost forgotten the envelope. "No," he answered, shaking his head. "But listen...I think we have to go to Destiny Islands."
"What for?"
"I had a dream...and everyone kept telling me to go there." Sora explained.
"Hm.." Naminé paused. "It's just a dream, though, right?"
"Yeah...I guess.." Sora still wanted to go. But Naminé was right--why listen to figments of his imagination?
'Xion,' I needed to ask her something again.
'Y...yeah?'
'You weren't in the Darkness during this dream...right?'
'For part of it, I was..' she replied. 'But...nothing happened, or anything. I was just...there.'
'What part..?'
'When we saw Kairi.'
Sora and his friends decided to exterminate Heartless for the rest of the day. None of them knew what to do about the envelope thing, but decided that it was best not to rush into things--especially if it was a trap.
They walked around Traverse Town, fighting mostly Shadows—not much else seemed to show up. Most seemed to be centered around Third District.
I kept wondering about the dreams. Why did it feel like...everything was connected?
And what about Axel? Had he really been labeled as a traitor...? And turned...
No. That wouldn't happen, would it? I couldn't imagine Axel being...gone.
"Hey, Sora," Donald walked in front of him to get his attention. "What're you daydreaming about?"
"Huh?" Sora blinked a few times. Then he gave a nervous laugh. "Oh, I didn't realize I was daydreaming.."
"Well, anyway," Donald sighed. "Let's head back to Geppetto's. We've cleared out most of the Heartless, now."
"Oh, alright," Sora nodded. The three walked back toward Geppetto's house, a soft, cool breeze blowing in their faces. It reminded him a bit of the breeze back at Destiny Islands...
I have to go back there, don't I..? he wondered. Kairi...
But I couldn't shake the feeling that it was a trap. That something bad would happen..
What was it?
----
Sora fell asleep quickly after dinner. It gave me time to talk to Xion, again.
"Roxas.." she began, "I don't think...I don't think we should go to the islands."
"Why not..?" I asked. Because Sora felt such a connection to them, I had been beginning to wish to go, myself. And I knew Xion liked the ocean..
"It's just...during the dream...I felt more...faded when Kairi appeared, right?" I nodded, and she continued. "But what if...it was real? What would happen if we really saw her..?"
She looked so worried...scared...I wished that I could comfort her somehow. But how could I?
"I'm sure it's just a dream," I tried reassuring her. "Not real.."
"But let's just say that it was real!" She seemed to be getting...desperate? "What...what would I do?"
"We'd figure it out," I promised. "Don't worry." I tried to give a reassuring smile.
It worked a little. "Thanks," Xion smiled at me. "I'm glad I can count on you."
----
((Yeah, sorry for the short chapter. But now you get short parts from Naminé and Kairi's points of view~!))
•Kairi•
It had been around a month since I finally remembered Sora's name. A dream helped me remember it.
I sent him a letter, in a bottle...by tossing it into the ocean. I don't know how, but I knew he'd find it.
But nothing could have prepared me for what happened later. A month later.
I decided to visit the minor island again--it had been so long since I went there. I crawled through to the secret cave. All the drawings on the walls...the memories...I missed Sora so much. Riku, as well. I cried.
That was when I suddenly heard a voice behind me.
"Sora will be arriving soon," the voice said. I turned around and saw someone wearing a zipped-up cloak with a hood. He looked...mysterious.
"Wh-what do you mean?" I asked, staying suspicious. Still, his words seemed to give me some sort of...hope.
"It is required," the man answered. "We will tell him that he needs to, and he will. Or, you will tell him."
"I...how would I??"
"It is possible," the man chuckled. "And I am certain you'd want to save your island." Then, in a flurry of some kinda of dark magic, he disappeared.
I walked up to the spot where he had been standing and, instinctively, bent down to study the ground there. It was normal. It's not like I hadn't seen weird...magic before, but...the man's words...sounded like a warning.
----
When I went to sleep I had a dream of Sora. I had just been watching the sea, waiting for something...for my friends' return..
And I heard him.
"Kairi!" I heard from behind me.
I turned and saw his spiky brown hair, his blue eyes.. "S-Sora!" I exclaimed. "You're here!"
He nodded. "Y-yeah...I'm here...but it's--"
"A dream, right?" I asked. "I'm dreaming, too." Then I remembered what the man had said...that Sora would return...
"What's the matter?" Sora looked at me, a bit worried. I decided to tell him the truth.
"A man came yesterday," I started. "He...wore a long black coat. I don't know his name, but..." I trailed off, wondering what else I could say about it.
"He...he told me that you needed to come to Destiny Islands." No, that wasn't right. He said Sora was coming. "I don't know why..."
"Did you see what he looked like?"
"His hood was up the whole time," I shook my head. "But, Sora, I'm scared..." I admitted. "He said that if you didn't come, the Islands would be in danger.." When did he say that? Wasn't it only...hinted at? I couldn't remember. "Kairi, I promise.." he began, but suddenly I was ripped out of the dream, into another. Away from Sora. I lost him, again.
•Naminé•
I couldn't sleep well that night. So I decided to draw.
When I draw...I don't really think about what I'm drawing. Things just...come to me.
So it shocked me to see what I ended up drawing that night.
It was Sora, back on the Island, reaching for a more mature-looking Kairi. She was also trying to reach him, while she disappeared into a portal of some sort..
What did that mean? I felt a bit of jealousy toward Kairi, who would always have Sora..
I was the one who first replaced Sora's memories of Kairi with my own. And I was also the one who put them back to normal. Which one was I regretting, now?
I decided to go talk to Sora. Maybe it would help me get my mind off of things.
I was so wrong.
"Sora," I greeted, when I saw him outside. "Do you know what we are going to do about Axel?"
"No," Sora turned to face me, and shook his head. "But listen...I think we have to go to Destiny Islands."
The picture. Was it going to happen? I felt more jealousy... "What for?"
"I had a dream," Sora explained, "and everyone kept telling me to go there."
"Hm.." I tried to act normal. Tried to hide my feelings. "It's just a dream, though, right?"
"Yeah...I guess.." Sora nodded slightly.
I felt a bit bad for holding him back. But I had my own selfish reasons, as well. Everyone seems to be selfish, sometimes.
Kairi was lucky. At least she was somebody--someone who truly existed. She had much that I could never have.
I wanted, at least, to be able to enjoy my time with Sora.