Kingdom Hearts - Taken by Surprise
In, Out. In, Out.
Kairi stared down at her hands, clutched together and fingers intertwined in a silent prayer, faintly aware that her knuckles were beginning to turn white. She continued to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth, just the way Riku and Sora - the very thought of him sent such a sharp pang to her heart that she had to work to keep breathing at all - taught her to do whenever she started to panic.
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Faint movement out of the corner of her eye reminded her that Riku was pacing to her right. He looked murderous, agitated, and faintly remorseful, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.
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Every once in a while there was a faint cry from behind the closed, mahogany door, which would make Riku pause as both he and Kairi turned towards it. They waited for a few seconds, the tension thick in the air, but when nothing happened, Riku would return to his pacing, his expression darker than before, and Kairi would turn back to staring at the hands in her lap.
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Leon and Cloud were still outside fighting off the remaining Heartless from the large-scale attack that had befallen the town. Yuffie was working with Tifa to track down the evacuated citizens and guide them back to their homes, which they had abandoned in the wake of the attack.
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Truthfully, it was probably due to the panicked evacuation that this had happened in the first place.
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"Kairi, Riku and I are going to go help Leon with the Heartless. Can you stay here and help the girls evacuate the town?"
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As she continued to usher people towards the castle, keeping an eye out for any Heartless that might come across their path, she caught a glimpse of him. He had gotten separated from Riku, and was fighting a rather overwhelming horde of Shadows by himself.
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Distracted as he was, he didn't realize some were gathering below his feet, creating a massive black hole right below him. She realized too late what was about to happen, and that there was no one there who could stop it from happening.
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It was understandable, really. Instead of just concentrating on fighting the Heartless, like they had in the past, the Restoration Committee now had to worry about evacuation and protection detail. They just didn't know they'd be stretched a little thin was another large attack.
In, Out. In, Out. In, Out.
Sora was caught by surprise as the black mass of Shadows beneath his feet swelled up around him. She watched with horror as the darkness began to wrapped around his arms and legs, even reaching up to circle his neck, to hold him in place. He struggled, twisting the Keyblade to destroy any Shadow he could get to.
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Sora's eyes widened, going blank with pain as a shock of darkness ripped through him. He stumbled down, the darkness slowly fading away into the ground, forming back into Shadows, until he finally fell to the ground, mouth moving wordlessly. A shrill scream split through the air, and it took Kairi a while to realize that she was the one screaming.
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Riku had quickly arrived on the scene, no doubt called by her shriek of terror, swinging Way to Dawn rapidly through the twitching Shadows, barely restrained blood thirst in his eyes. Kairi had sprinted down towards them, shouting Sora's name in a chant to keep hold of her sanity. Riku was already shaking him frantically, trying to get him to say something, but Sora had already slipped into unconsciousness, eyes still disturbingly blank.
In, Out. In, Out. In, Out. In, Out.
They had quickly gathered Sora up, lifting him up and draping him over Riku's back, as they all but ran back to Merlin's House, where they knew Aerith would be waiting for them with Cid and Merlin. When the two of them arrived, panting and practically begging for someone to help Sora, Aerith and Merlin had quickly taken control of the situation, directing Riku to bring Sora into the back room. It was then that Aerith, as kindly as possible, asked Riku and Kairi to wait outside, her hands already glowing with green energy.
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Kairi wanted to protest, and almost did so with a squeak in her voice, but Riku had placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her, solemnly agreeing to request even though he looked like he desperately wanted not to.
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The wait had started then, the air growing tenser with every minute that passed by with no word of how Sora was doing. It was broken briefly when Cid had attempted to be reassuring, but he had given up rather quickly when he realized he wasn't helping and offered to get ahold of everyone else and let them know what was going on. Kairi was silently thankful to him for that, but couldn't get the words out even if she tried.
In, Out. In, Out. In, Out.
Now if only Aerith would walk through that door and announce that everything was alri-
Kairi jumped as the door really did swing open, revealing a rather tired but content Aerith. The Healer looked up, taking in the still form of Kairi and Riku, both with the same question in their eyes, and smiled reassuringly at them. "Everything's going to be okay. Sora's going to be fine now."
The relief in the room was almost palpable. Kairi stood up from her chair, not even noticing as the blood rushed back into her numb hands, and turned to share a relieved smile with Riku. The silver-haired boy turned back to Aerith, looking a lot more relaxed than when he first burst into the house. "Are we allowed to see him?"
Aerith nodded, stepping aside to let them walk through the door. They did so quite quickly, making their way down the hall, which hosted a number of other doors that led to the rooms of the Restoration Committee, until they reached the room Sora was in. Hesitantly, quietly, Kairi peeked her head in, sensing Riku doing the same over her head.
Sora was lying down in a bed with his eyes closed, a thin sheen of sweat layering his face and his mouth set in small frown, but he twitched and turned in their direction, almost as if he sensed they were there, as his blue eyes fluttered open and settled on them. A small smile appeared on his face, and he raised a weary hand in greeting. "Hey, guys. How is everything?"
The two moved forward, Kairi sitting down on the edge of the bed while kneeled down on the floor beside it, leaning his elbows on the edge. Kairi leaned towards Sora, running a hand absently through his spiky brunette locks. "Everything's just fine. How are you feeling?"
Sora shrugged, waving it off. He suddenly turned to his left, looking straight at Riku. "I'm really okay, Riku. You know I've handled worse than this."
Riku smirks at this, though there is still a little worry hidden in the depths of his aqua blue eyes. "I know that. It's just… hard to watch, that's all. It goes against the grain, you know?"
Sora laughs at that, though it sounds more tired than it usually does, and lifts a hand to pat Riku on the head. "I'll be more careful next time."