A/N: I won't take up much of your time but I just wanted to thank those that reviewed and those that added the story to their alerts and favorites. It means a lot to know you guys like the story.

Through the Test of Fate

Chapter 3

The First Day

"Before we begin I have a few more things to explain," Kairi began as she did a quick look around the park just to make sure they were safe. She could actually feel herself growing more paranoid with each passing day ever since she first escaped her school that had become some sort of prison. 'No,' she shook those thoughts away, 'I'm perfectly safe here. I won't have to go back there any time soon.'

Unaware of her inner turmoil Sora yawned while rubbing his arms. Leave it to Kairi to wake him up at six in the morning, at least she had the decency to let him wear a jacket over his clothes not that that was any consolation when he was feeling so crappy.

"Okay listen up," Kairi spoke up once she calmed down. "Before you start training you have to understand that Keyblades are not given to us like you probably think. They come from within us, an extension of ourselves, a manifestation of our inner powers if you will. This means that whatever shape your Keyblade takes is caused by what sort of person you are."

"Also, you should know that Keyblades are divided in two different types," she continued, "They can be either Light or Dark, knowing the difference could help you in the future. You'll usually be able to tell them apart by their looks alone but some are a little more tricky. That's why I'm also going to teach you how to sense Keyblades."

Sora looked at her oddly, "Sense them? What do you mean by that?"

"A Keyblade is constantly emitting energy even if its just behind held in your hand. This power can be sense if given the training," she waved a hand is dismissal, "Don't worry though. Once you learn how to sense them you'll be able to tell Light from Dark without any trouble." With that said she got off the bench they were sitting on and placed her hands on her hips, "In any case, it's time to start your training."

Sora was pretty happy by just sitting on the bench but reluctantly stood up. A cold breeze washed over the area, making the groggy teen grumble under his breath before rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and looking at Kairi with a renewed sense of confidence.

"Let's get started then."

"Lesson number one! Fight me!"

Sora was breathing heavily, sweat and grime on his face as he tightened the grip on his Keyblade's hilt. Not for the first time, he was astounded by the amount of strength Kairi possessed despite her looks. If anyone actually made the bold claim that her being able to leave small craters on the ground from her attacks wasn't surprising, then he would like to punch that person on the face.

Drawing in a shaky breath he prepared for what was to come since, despite him being very tired, it didn't look like Kairi was going to give him any slack. He'd concluded that in the beginning since all of her attacks were fast and deathly accurate but part of him hope that she would take pity on his tired self.

"Come on Sora, stop slacking around!" Kairi reprimanded as she charged in and brought the Keyblade over her head.

Sora gritted his teeth as he blocked the incoming blow, receiving the expected recoil from the action that made his legs buckle under the impressive power under the blow. Grunting slightly, he managed to push the blade away and jump away to get a little bit of breathing room.

Kairi smiled, satisfied with his improvement. Despite them being in one of her Stop spells, she could tell that they had been training for at least two hours. During that time Sora had gotten a little better at blocking her attacks but she was still going easy on him, if it were a real fight she wouldn't be so obvious with her attacks.

Grinning she addressed the teen, "You better be ready because I'm about to push even harder."

He gulped in response but held the Keyblade in front of him protectively.

"Lesson number two! Physical training!"

"One-hundred... One... Two... Three..." Sora grunted as he continued his second set of push-ups. With his initial excitement over being able to do push-ups without much problem gone, he could feel his muscles groan in pain with each movement.

According to what Kairi said, with his hidden power unlocked his physical strength should be much better than before. In order to see what the extent of it was she decided to have him to push-ups until he dropped. While it had been a breeze during the first fifty, he could feel the exhaustion washing over him.

Standing next to him with her arms crossed was Kairi who appeared to be under some strain of her own. Her breathing was uneven and her brow covered in sweat. She was visually pale and knew for a fact that she was pushing herself too harshly.

Four hours had passed since Sora's training began and she could feel herself growing weaker and weaker from keeping the spell in place. She'd usually be able to keep it in place for at least six hours but in her weakened state it looked like she was at her limit.

'I'll wait until Sora's done,' she told herself as she watched him go. Much to her luck or lack thereof considering how hard it was for her to keep the Stop spell going, it looked like Sora had a lot of stamina. He looked like hell, both from their earlier and current training, but he was barely slowing down.

Kairi's brow furrowed in concentration as she quietly tried her best to keep the spell in place.

"Ninety-nine... One-hundred!" Sora grunted dramatically as he collapsed on the ground breathing heavily. His hair was wet with sweat as was the case with most of his body.

Eight freaking sets of a hundred! He didn't know whether to be proud or freaked out since only two days ago he could only manage a mere forty push-ups before falling over.

"Please tell me we're done for today," he pleaded to the girl that had watched over him. Much to his relief the black and white space around him faded to reveal the very colorful world he learned to appreciate after being in that monochrome place.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as he hard a loud thud and turned his head to see Kairi sprawled on the ground with her eyes closed. Quickly pushing himself off the ground, not without groaning loudly, he crawled over to Kairi and tried to shake her awake.

"Hey Kairi wake up," he shook her by the shoulders but she would not wake up. "Damn, I need to get her to a hosp-" he stopped himself, knowing that the idea was ludicrous since it would probably help those guys in her club find her. Biting his lip, Sora stood up and carried Kairi in his arms, "Don't worry Kairi... I'll get you home."

Despite his arms feeling as if they were going to fall off under the strain, he tried his best to hold on so that she could get some rest.

Sora watched over Kairi's unconscious form laying on the bed with a worried frown. It had been a few hours since he brought her back, during that time he had taken a shower, made food, and even did his homework. A sigh escaped his lips when he realized that he would get in trouble for missing school yesterday since he did not have the best attendance.

"One problem at a time," he told himself as he watched Kairi sleep peacefully under the covers of the bed. "Man... What am I supposed to do here?" His arms crossed as a frown etched on his face when he noticed that the girl seemed a bit red on the face, "Hmm?"

He placed his hand to her forehead and withdrew it in surprise. "You're burning up!"

There was no way she would get better on her own now. For that he would need to get her some medicine but he didn't really have any at the moment since he didn't get sick often. With a nod to himself he grabbed his jacket from the couch and left the apartment but not before leaving a note at her bedside just in case she woke up. The last thing he needed was for her to try to look for him.

Sora had, after meeting Kairi, thought that he would never be surprised by something ever again. Not only was she a Keyblade Wielder but she had even given him the ability to become one himself. She had some amazing abilities and was very strong, experiencing all of this in only a couple of days he figured that nothing would ever top those things.

Until now...

"Meow~"

A girl.

"Meow~"

Trying to communicate with a cat sitting on a stone fence.

"Meow~"

All the while having a stoic expression on her face, as if what she was doing was perfectly normal.

'Okay, you did it world. You proved me wrong again.'

Heaving a sigh, he approached the girl against his better judgment. Had it not been for her odd behavior he would have found her to be extremely cute. With her shoulder-length black hair, bright blue eyes that seemed to sparkle, and a petite frame, she could have passed off as an idol.

'Wait a minute! What if she is an idol? Am I walking straight into the arms of some sort of romantic comedy?!'

Pushing away those thoughts, he stood at the girl's side and glanced at the white cat on the fence, "Is it yours?"

The girl glanced at him briefly. "No," she answered as her eyes found the cat once again, "She had no owner."

"I see," Sora nodded, "Um... What are you doing here then?"

"I want it."

"What?"

"The cat... I want it."

Right on cue the cat looked at the two before jumping to Sora's arms. He let out a gasp as he held the cat to his chest, confusion written all over his face. The cat began to purr, making him smile before turning back to the girl who was sulking with her arms crossed.

"Um. What?"

The girl looked to her side, "Why?"

Sora cocked his head to the side.

"Why didn't the cat come to me?" The girl asked dejectedly.

Chuckling nervously, the teen held out the cat to her, "Here, you can hold her. I was the closest to the fence so that's probably the reason it jumped on me."

The girl's eyes sparkled in happiness as she smiled and took the cat from Sora, earning a meow from the cat. "Thanks," she held the cat to her chest as she nodded at the nice guy, "You were of great help."

"Don't mention it," he replied sheepishly.

"My name is Xion," she introduced herself with a smile.

Sora grinned, "I'm Sora."

Xion nodded before turning her back on him and walking away, "Nice to meet you Sora. You and I are friends from now on."

He chuckled in response as he watched the girl walk away, her long black coat going past her knees. "What a strange girl..." With a shake of his head, he resumed his walk to the pharmacy. Kairi was still waiting for him.

Kairi's eyes fluttered open as she took in her surroundings.

"That's weird... Why am I here?" She sat up and became painfully aware of how much her head hurt. Bringing a hand to her head she remembered what happened. "Why did I get carried away? I could have just stopped the spell instead of forcing myself to keep going. Now my powers are going to take longer to come back."

She looked around the empty room and wondered where Sora was but before she could get up to look for him she noticed the piece of paper at the side of the bed.

Kairi, I went to get some medicine for your fever. I'll be back soon, Sora.

Kairi found herself smiling at his thoughtfulness before resting on the bed and covering herself with the warm blanket. Judging by how cold and sluggish she felt, her fever was still there.

With nothing else to do but rest, Kairi found her thoughts drifting to her current situation. She was on the run from a club, more of an organization really, with her only protection coming from a fresh Keyblade Wielder and whatever she could do in her weakened state. Frowning, she thought back on how it happened.

Back when she first ran away, the sixth strongest Keyblade Wielder had fought her. It was a hard won fight but she got by without using all of her strength. The problem came when the fifth strongest found and fought her. His Keyblade's ability was a nasty one and the fight ended up leaving her in her current weakened state. If any of them found her before she could train Sora then...

Feeling herself growing anxious, she pushed those thoughts away and focused on the positives. Sora showed great potential. When someone first summons a Keyblade they gain a boost on their physical abilities, just how much and what abilities varied on the person but it looked like Sora was above average. To have the stamina to do so many push-ups without stop just a day after summoning his Keyblade was more than impressive, probably on par with the top Keyblade Wielders when they first began. If that wasn't enough, this was just the tip of the iceberg. His powers would grow much more with training and time.

Yes, this would work out. With her special training Sora would be strong enough to fend off most of the people looking for her. Not just for her sake but for his since he was too involved and they would probably hurt him.

Kairi felt a lot more calm as her eyes began to close on their own. A smile etched on her face before she drifted off to sleep.

"What are you doing here?"

Sora blankly stared at the girl in front of him. Xion, with the cat in her arms had been waiting for him outside of the pharmacy.

"You're the only one that can help me," she explained as she looked down at the cat, "I don't know how to take care of her."

'Then why'd you pick her up in the first place?!' He wanted to scream but instead cleared his throat and decided that he might as well help her, "Okay, tell me what you know about taking care of cats and I'll fill in the blanks."

Xion remained quiet before cocking her head to the side.

"You don't know anything?!"

She nodded.

"Fine, fine. Fine." Sora's right eye twitched as he watched the girl hopelessly. "Okay, I'm gonna take you to buy the essentials. You have money right?" He received a nod in response. Satisfied he motioned for her to follow him as he began to walk, "We'll probably need to buy you a book on taking care of cats...but I really don't have the time to go to the library. Hey. Do you think you could buy one on your spare time?"

"Roger," she saluted, the cat meowing in agreement.

He looked at her oddly before continuing, "Hmm...let's see, what else? Um... Oh! Make sure to feed her properly and let her out to get some exercise. Since cats remain indoor most of the time, you have to watch its weight."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of her," Xion assured as she petted the cat's head affectionately.

Sora smiled as he explained a few more things.

"All right, you're all set!" Sora announced as he and Xion emerged from a store. She carried two bags on her right hand while she held the cat with the other.

"Thanks a lot Sora, now I feel like I can take care of ten cats if I need to," she announced boldly.

"No, you'll never need to."

Xion smiled at his blunt response, "You're a nice person Sora." The teen blushed at the sudden praise, making the girl grin, "In any case, remember that we are friends now. I'll repay you for helping me one day."

"You don't have to do that," he responded, finding her overly polite quirks charming. "Well, I'll see you later Xion, I need to get going."

"Right. See ya."

Sora watched as she walked away before heading home. At least an hour and a half had passed since he left, hopefully Kairi had rested like she should. A part of him felt responsible for her condition since she'd been helping him train when it happened. The least he could do was help her get better.

With that in mind he walked a bit faster, wanting to get home soon so that he could check on her condition.

It didn't take him long to reach his destination to see a still unconscious Kairi, her face still flushed. He took off his shoes before moving to her side and shaking her awake gently.

"S-Sora," she muttered as she woke up looking a bit disoriented. Weird. She just closed her eyes for a second and he was suddenly there. Had she fallen asleep again?

"I brought you some medicine," Sora showed her a small box of pills. "Let me get you some water," he quickly went over to the sink as the girl watched over him, confusion on her features.

"What time is it?"

"It's a little past noon," he answered as he came back with a glass of water. He handed it to her and sat on the floor, "You know. If you felt bad, you shouldn't have kept the spell going for so long. What if you got worse?"

Kairi smiled as she swallowed the pills with a big gulp of water, feeling really thirsty. "I know. That was really stupid of me. For some reason I thought it would be okay if I continued to use the spell," she admitted before grinning smugly, "But I'm feeling a bit better already so there's no reason for you to worry anymore."

"Who said I was worried?" Sora shot back with his arms crossed as he looked over the girl briefly. It was true. She still looked sick but not as much as when he had brought her home. "Well, looks like your nap made you feel better. Are you hungry?"

"Not really," she answered truthfully. "You know, I just realized something that will help you improve even more."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Experience," her eyes closed as she crossed her arms, "All of the people looking for me have fought in many battles before, both with Keyblade Wielders and...Heartless."

"Oh! I've heard about them!" Sora smiled, finally glad to finally know something that Kairi was going to explain, "Heartless are the manifestation of the darkness of the world. They mostly stay on the outskirts of town. Good thing too since they attack people, right?"

Kairi nodded. "That's mostly correct but you're missing a few things that are only known to Keyblade Wielders," she explained, earning a confused look from Sora. "Firstly, Heartless only gather in the few towns where people with strong hearts live. In order for them to stay out of the towns though, a renowned scientist created self-powered generators to place on these towns where the Heartless gather. The generators keep the Heartless away though I don't exactly know how. Anyway, there's only a handful of towns where they gather."

"I see," Sora nodded in understanding, "So does this mean that you're going to have me fight the Heartless?"

She grinned in response, "Of course. Once we're out of the range of the generator, Heartless are easy to lure."

Sora remained quiet, not exactly sure how he felt about fighting some monsters that could claw out his heart.

"Don't worry about it though, most of them are pretty weak and besides, you have a Keyblade."

He lit up at her statement. "You're right," he grinned, "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Good then we'll find some tonight."

His eyes widened in shock, "W-What? But we already trained today?"

Kairi frowned at him, "Did you really think you would be ready to fight strong Keyblade Wielders by just training a couple of hours in the morning?"

"Yes."

"Well, no. In order for you to be able to actually beat them you'll also need experience and that experience can only be found in actual battle," she explained wisely, "If you were just to fight me all the time then you wouldn't be able to beat Keyblade Wielders that fight differently from me."

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked in confusion, "I know every Keyblade is different but I thought all of them had similar powers when it came down to it."

"Of course not," she sighed, "Some can use long range attacks, others can strengthen their blades, and some can even use hypnotic spells."

He chuckled dryly at the information, "I see..."

"Don't worry about it," Kairi giggled, "Once you get some experience these different types of battle styles won't faze you. Hopefully you'll learn to adapt to each different fighting style."

"Hopefully," Sora repeated with a nervous smile.

It was dark as Sora and Kairi got out of a train.

"This should be far enough," Kairi nodded to herself as she looked around the mostly deserted station.

They were at a small village about thirty minutes away from town. Thankfully they had left at sunset and it would give them enough time to catch the next train home after they finished with his training. She also felt a lot better now, it looked like the medicine helped her just as much as her catching up on her sleep.

"So where am I gonna fight them?" Sora asked as he clasped his hands behind his head, "I don't really know much about this place so I have no idea where to go."

"Don't worry about it," she waved him off and began to walk, Sora following behind her with a curious expression. "We'll just find a deserted area here, probably a nice grassy plain and then lure them to us."

He scowled in response, "Wouldn't that be dangerous though? What if a Heartless gets away?"

"They won't," she responded bluntly. "We're going to be luring weak ones and even in my current condition I'll be able to help you out if it proves to be too much for you," she finished the last part with a smug grin.

Sora growled at the insult behind her words, "I'm gonna take them all out! You'll see!"

"You sure are a lot more lively than earlier. What happened to your complaining about being too weak after our earlier training?"

He fumed at her words, finding the girl to be back to her annoying self. Part of him was glad but he had thought that she would start to act a bit nicer to him. A smile etched on his face as he thought about her acting nice and realized that he'd rather her act like her normal self.

"This will do." Kairi declared, snapping him out of his thoughts as he found himself standing on a grassy plain on the side of a dirt path leading away from the small village. The only source of light came from a few lamp posts and the town in the distance. "Now we'll have to summon the Heartless," she looked back at him and grinned, "It's actually pretty simple really. All you have to do is bring out your Keyblade."

He nodded and stretched out his hand, eyes glimmering with determination in the darkness.

"Be ready Sora," Kairi warned before he could summon his weapon. "The second you summon it, the Heartless will appear."

Sora smiled in response, "Quit worrying. I'll just beat them and then go home."

The Keyblade appeared on his hand with a bright flash of light as small patches of dark fog gathered before him. Dozens of glaring yellow eyes glowed in the dark as short dark creatures emerged from the fog, their bodies squirming in anticipation.

The Keyblade Wielder took a defensive stance as the Heartless around him prepared to pounce.