Finally!
Internet issues have been resolved and now I present Chapter Eight.
Thanks again to Ragnarok Warrior, janus-juan, and Linkandzel for reviewing last time.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, Black Cat, or the song I include in this chapter. I do however own my ideas, plots, and original characters.
Enjoy!
EDIT: Dates have officially been added to clear up potential confusion and keep the timeline in order without any discrepancies.
Chapter Eight: Onboard the Kingdom
Tuesday, June 1st 4794 P.C.
Several hours after departing Destiny Islands, the Kingdom hurtled through open space. Sora was leaned back in the pilot's seat, letting autopilot do his work for him, occasionally glancing at the radar as he read a book titled Storm Fall. Kairi and Naminé had found a deck of cards and were teaching themselves how to play no limit Texas Hold 'Em. Jenos had donned a radio headset and was attempting to contact Chronos, but to no avail.
"Full House!" Naminé exclaimed, startling both Sora and Jenos. "Beat that!" Naminé grinned victoriously at Kairi, who sighed.
"That's hard to beat," Kairi said dejectedly. "Especially with the way my lucks been going," Kairi laid her cards down. Naminé gaped in surprise. "All I've got is a Straight Flush. I guess you win, Naminé." Sora and Jenos both let out a bark of laughter. Kairi glared up at them.
"So you two find it funny that I lost?" Kairi demanded. Sora shook his head.
"Of course not, babe," he said. He pointed at Kairi's cards. "A Straight Flush beats a Full House." Kairi looked down at her cards in shock. "You won, Kairi." Kairi grinned widely and stuck her tongue out at Naminé. Naminé scowled and quickly picked up the cards and began shuffling them again.
"Rematch," Naminé said, determination set into her eyes as she began to deal again. Kairi grinned wickedly.
"You're on."
The next few of hours passed by fairly quickly. Sora watched Kairi and Naminé beat each other repeatedly in Texas Hold 'Em until they both got fed up with the game and decided to go see if there was any canned food in the kitchen. Jenos finally admitted defeat to the COMM system and went to take a nap on the couch, leaving Sora alone with Roxas.
"I'm so bored!" Roxas groaned as he appeared in a flash of blue light on the vacant seat next to Sora. "Isn't there anything to do on this ship for those of us who can't physically interact with everything around us?" Sora considered this.
"Have you considered turning on the TV?" He asked as if it should've been obvious. Roxas stared at him.
"Oh, you're right!" Roxas said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "I could turn on the TV and watch a show. There's just one little problem; I CAN'T TOUCH ANYTHING! I'M A SPIRITUAL PROJECTION YOU ASS!" Sora laughed hard at Roxas as the Nobody continued to vent about how much he missed being able to interact with the real world and more importantly how much he missed cheeseburgers, which only made Sora laugh even harder. Kairi and Naminé came up the stairs, each carrying an open can of sliced peaches in one hand and a bottle of cream soda in the other.
"What's all the commotion about?" Naminé asked as they watched Roxas attempt to punch Sora only to pass right through him. Sora collapsed to the floor, laughing so hard that he was barely able to breathe. Roxas attempted to kick him, but lost his balance as his foot passed through Sora's stomach, causing the Nobody to fall flat on his backside.
"Why can't I hurt you?" Roxas said, as Sora attempted to get his laughter under control.
"Because you can't touch anything, remember?" Sora said, gasping for breath. "Isn't that what started the whole thing of you trying to hurt me?" Roxas sighed in defeat and went to sit on the couch. Roxas passed right through Jenos' legs as he sat, effectively freaking Jenos out as he woke from dozing.
"Jesus!" Jenos scrambled off the couch and hit his head on the floor, knocking himself out. The others all stared down at him for a moment.
"Uh, Jenos? You okay?" Sora asked, snapping his fingers in front of Jenos' face. Jenos didn't respond. "Yup, he's out cold."
"What should we do with him?" Naminé asked. Sora and Kairi looked at each other and it hit them. Several minutes later, and after hitting Jenos' head against no less than nine different walls and every doorway they had to go through, Sora, Kairi and Naminé managed to navigate Jenos' unconscious body into the dining room, where they dumped him into a chair and laid his head down on the table.
"Well, now that that's done and over with," Sora said as he shut off the lights behind them as they left the room. "Onto the most important question of the day." He turned to face Kairi and Naminé. "Where'd you guys get the food from? I thought we didn't pack any." Kairi and Naminé grinned at him.
"Isn't obvious?" Naminé said, impaling a peach slice on a fork and popping it into her mouth. "We found it in the pantry." Sora stared at her in surprise. "What?" she asked.
"There's a pantry?"
Kairi and Naminé both nodded. Kairi grabbed Sora's hand and began dragging him along after her.
"Of course there is, silly," she said. "Why wouldn't there be?" Sora thought hard about it.
"I don't know," he replied. "I just don't ever remember there being a pantry." Kairi laughed.
"Maybe Donald hid it so you and Goofy wouldn't eat all of the food," she suggested.
That honestly would not surprise me one bit. Sora thought as Kairi led him into the kitchen. The kitchen itself wasn't exactly the most spectacular part of the ship. It had white tiled floors and ceiling, the walls were painted a light, candy-apple red, the stove was stainless steel, as were the sink, microwave and refrigerator. The counters were made of white marble and the cabinets were polished oak. Kairi led him through most of the kitchen and knelt down near a corner tile.
"See how this tile here isn't lined up with the others?" Kairi pointed out. Sora stared at the tile. Sure enough, it didn't appear as if the tile had been put in right when the other tiles were set in place. "Watch this." Kairi knelt down and twisted the tile so it lined up with the others and pressed down on it. A brief flash of yellow light illuminated the edges of the tile. There was a low hissing noise and the only wall in the center of the only wall free from decoration in the kitchen opened up to reveal a rather large walk in pantry.
Sora gaped in surprise. After all the weeks he had spent aboard this ship, traveling from world to world with Donald and Goofy, he had never once seen this pantry before. There five rows of shelves, each one running along every wall in the pantry and each one completely covered in hundreds of cans and boxes. Sora stepped into the pantry to get a better look and spotted a note attached to a can of ravioli just above his eye level. He reached up and pulled down the can and peeled the note off of it.
Dear Sora,
Please don't let any of this good food go to waste.
-Master Yen Sid
"At least that explains where all of this food came from," Sora said, handing the note off to Kairi and Naminé for them to read. "So at least we know it's all good." He placed the ravioli back on the shelf, making a mental note to come back for it as a midnight snack. The trio stepped out of the pantry and the door closed automatically behind them, leaving no evidence of there being a concealed pantry.
"So," Naminé said as they made their way out of the kitchen and back up to the cockpit. "We've got about a day and a half of flying left before we reach Radiant Garden, right?" Sora nodded, wondering what she was getting at.
"Then how about we go have a How I Met Your Mother marathon?" Naminé suggested. Kairi grinned at the idea.
"I'm sold," she said. She turned to look at Sora. "What about you two?"
"Don't see why not," he said. "We've got the first five seasons on DVD somewhere down in the Rec Room. Tell you what, you two get some snacks together, and Roxas and I will go get the first season. Meet you two up in the cockpit!" Sora dashed out of kitchen and down the hall to the Rec Room.
Several minutes later, Sora walked into the cockpit with the DVD in hand. Kairi and Naminé were busy trying to figure out where the TV was in the cockpit. Sora watched for a minute as the two girls searched the cockpit for the concealed TV Sora chuckled as he watched Naminé search under the couch.
"Where is the damn thing?" she said exasperatedly as she pulled her head out from under the couch. Kairi shrugged as she examined the hologram projector in the middle of the room.
"Who knows?" she said, kicking the hologram projector.
"Where the hell is Sora? He should know where it is." Naminé growled in frustration. Sora cleared his throat. Kairi and Naminé looked up at him. Sora walked over to a row of buttons above the navigation monitor and pressed a small silver button that blended into the chrome paneling. The hologram projector lowered itself into the floor and a large flat-screen rose in its place.
"And that's how it's done," Sora said, smiling smugly. He bowed slightly and Naminé rolled her eyes.
"Show off," she muttered with a slight smile as Sora walked up to the TV and popped the first disc into the built in DVD player.
"Oh hush, Naminé," Kairi said to the former Nobody with a small laugh. Sora grabbed the remote from a pouch Velcro-ed to the side of the TV and threw himself down onto the couch. Kairi and Naminé quickly followed suit. Kairi produced a comically large bowl of popcorn and took a large handful for herself before passing it off to Naminé. Roxas flashed into existence, casually lounging on the couch's armrest next to Naminé. Naminé passed out bottles of cream soda.
"Show time!" Sora said eagerly, pressing Play as the main menu popped up.
LD
The next few hours flew by as the three teens and teen Nobody watched the entirety of the first season. When they finished watching the season finale, Sora yawned widely and looked at the clock. It was three in the morning.
"Good lord," Roxas said as he looked at the clock as well. "It's that late?"
"Yeah, it's that late," Jenos said as he walked into the room. Sora and the others all looked at him. "Which means it's time for all of the underage humans to head off to bed." He walked over to the couch and began shoo-ing them all off and towards the door. Sora and Roxas both grumbled as they got to their feet as Kairi and Naminé began picking up the random pieces of popcorn and scattered bottles of cream soda.
"Do you even know how to fly a Gummi ship?" Sora yawned as he and the others shuffled towards the stairs, Roxas whispered something to Naminé and vanished in a flash of blue light. Jenos laughed at Sora.
"But of course!" he exclaimed as he sat down in the pilot's seat and flicked a switch, deactivating the autopilot function. The ship lurched slightly as Jenos took control. "So you kids go get a goodnight's sleep." And with that, Jenos turned on the radio and Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer began playing through the speakers and Jenos began humming along with the chorus. Sora and the others glanced at each other and headed down the stairs.
"So where are the bedrooms?" Naminé asked as they exited the stairs and entered the hallway. "Kairi and I have no idea where they are, remember?" Sora nodded.
"I know," he said. He pointed down the hall. "Down the hall, third door on the left. That'll take you into a semi-circular room with three doors. The door on the right will be my room; you two can have whichever of the other rooms you want and each room has its own adjacent bathroom." Both girls nodded and began heading down the hall to the door Sora had indicated. Kairi paused when she realized Sora wasn't walking with her and Naminé. He was standing by the door to the kitchen about to walk in.
"Sora?" Kairi called out. Sora looked up at her. "You coming?" she asked, gesturing down the hall to where Naminé stood by the doors to the bedrooms, waiting for the couple. Sora gave the auburn haired teen a half smile.
"I will be shortly," he said, holding up the popcorn bowl and empty soda bottles he held under his arm. "I'm just going to go take care of these." Sora smile grew slightly and he disappeared into the kitchen. Kairi stared after him for a moment before she shrugged and headed down the hall after Naminé. The blonde pressed a small red button next to the door Sora had told them to go through. The door slid into the ceiling with a whooshing sound. Kairi and Naminé stepped into the semi-circular room.
As Sora had said, there were three doors in the room, one in the center and two opposite each other on the left and right sides of the room. The lighting was dimmer in here than in the rest of the ship. A hologram projector was displaying a calm beach scene at night, complete with at full moon split in half horizontally by the ocean horizon. A small side table was bolted to the floor. A couple of books were sitting on top of the table. Naminé picked up one of the books and glanced at the back cover.
"Unholy Storm," she said, she placed the book back down next to the other. "And Gathering Storm. I take it these are Sora's?" Naminé turned to look at Kairi, who nodded.
"How'd you know?" she asked.
"He's the only person I know who leaves books lying around in random places," Naminé said with a shrug as she walked towards the room on the left. "That and those two books are part of the Derrick Storm series by Richard Castle, which is Sora's favorite book series. I call the left room, by the way." Kairi's eyes narrowed at the blonde.
"And just how did you know that?" Kairi asked her former Nobody suspiciously. Naminé laughed as the door to the room she had called opened for her.
"Don't worry yourself, sis," she said as she walked into the room. "You seem to forget that I spent a lot of time in your head and I have access to your memories and Sora's memories whenever I want. Night!" Naminé pressed a button inside her room and the door closed. Kairi remained standing there for a moment.
"Did she just call me sis?" she asked herself. She shrugged and walked over to the center room. The door slid open as she approached and the light inside automatically switched on. She walked into the room and stopped to look around.
I think I can safely say that this was Donald's room at one point. Kairi realized. There was a comfy looking, queen sized bed with two bedside tables on either side. Identical lamps sat on each night stand. A large mirror sat atop a beautifully polished cherry oak dresser. A flat screen was situated on the wall with a DVD player situated in a small opening in the wall. Kairi was actually impressed. Although she wasn't exactly a huge fan of the matching blue walls, carpet and sheets.
"Those will have to go," Kairi said. She walked through the room towards another door set a few feet away from the bed. As Kairi approached it, the door slid open, revealing the adjacent bathroom Sora had mentioned. It was far more upscale than she had been expecting.
Matching marble sink and tiling, silver faucets and toilet paper roll, and a large, luxurious bathtub with several jets set along the rim. Kairi approved of Donald's taste, the duck had style. She looked over at the stack of blue towels and immediately revoked her previous thought.
WAY to much blue. Kairi sighed. Oh well, no point in letting such a luxurious bath go unused. Kairi pressed a blue button next to the door. Kairi smiled as she knelt down, undid the laces on her lilac shoes and kicked them off. She straightened up and unzipped the front of her mini-dress, letting it fall around her ankles. She slipped out of her white halter top and tossed it to the ground onto her dress. She reached behind her back, undid the clasp of her bra and slid out of it, letting it fall to the ground, adding to the pile. She took off her necklace, adorned with a single silver bead and the bracelets on her wrist and placed them on the sink counter.
She walked over to the tub and turned on the faucet. Steaming hot water gushed from the faucet and several of the jets, quickly filling the tub. Kairi shut off the faucet with a grin. She gently placed her toes into the water, testing the temperature. She quickly pulled her toes out and slipped of the last of her underwear, tossing it over to the pile of her clothes. She slowly lowered herself into the bath with a sigh. The heat of the water helped her muscles loosen up. Kairi sank low into the water, satisfied.
Half an hour later, after the water had cooled off, Kairi climbed out of the tub feeling well relaxed. She wrapped a blue towel around herself, covering herself modestly. She strode over to the door and pressed the blue button. The hand holding her towel slipped and the towel fell to the floor. She cursed under her breath and bent to pick her towel back up as the door opened.
Kairi glanced up as she grabbed her towel. Sora stood in the doorway with one hand raised as if he had been about to knock on the door. The two of them locked eyes. Their faces immediately flushed red in unison. Sora spun on heels and faced away from her.
"I swear I didn't see anything!" Sora said quickly staring out at Kairi's room. Kairi quickly threw her towel around herself, gripping it tightly.
"Of course you didn't," she said with a laugh as she attempted to make their current situation less awkward. Sora continued to blush crimson. "But hey, I forgive you. Besides, since we're going to be living on this ship together for awhile; I'm sure we're going to catch the occasional glimpse of each other without any clothes on, right?" She placed a hand on Sora's shoulder and he turned to face her.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sora said, still blushing. "Anyway, I just came in to wish you a goodnight." He pulled Kairi into a tight hug and kissed her on the top of her head."Sweet dreams, Kairi." He kissed her a second time and began walking towards the door. He paused and looked back at her. "I love you." Kairi felt her face grow warm.
"I love you too," she said, blowing Sora a kiss. "Goodnight." Sora grinned and stepped out of the room. Kairi continued to stare after him as the door closed. She smiled softly to herself and hummed tunelessly as she quickly toweled herself off. A few minutes later, after her hair was completely dry, Kairi slipped back into her underwear, crawled into bed and slowly drifted off to sleep as thoughts of Sora danced about in her mind.
LD
Sora whistled lightly as he stepped out of the shower and wrapped a fluffy white towel around his waist. His normally, gravity-defying hair was no longer spiky. Sora had to push it back out of his face just to see. He stepped out of the bathroom. Roxas was lying on the bed (which Sora found to be an interesting sight as the Nobody was successfully propped up by the pillows without leaving any sort indent on the pillow or shifting the sheets at all) and was watching the Food Network.
"The Food Network?" Sora asked the Nobody as he walked into the room. Roxas glanced over at him.
"Yes, I watch the Food Network," he replied. "Is that a problem?" Sora shook his head.
"Of course not," he said, sitting himself down on a chair that sat facing the TV. "The Food Network is one of my favorite channels, so I'm not surprised it's yours too." Roxas nodded.
"Makes sense," he looked over at Sora again. "Dude, what the hell is up with your hair?" Sora raised his eyebrows.
"What do you mean?"
"It's not all-" Roxas gestured with his hands above his head. "You know, gravity-defying and what not. It's lying down." Sora laughed.
"You didn't seriously think my hair stayed spiky when I showered, did you?" he explained. Roxas thought about it for a couple of minutes.
"I guess you're right," he said, turning his attention back to the TV. Sora produced a small towel seemingly from nowhere and began toweling his hair off. Both teens were quiet for a few minutes as a rerun episode of Iron Chef: America.
"Hey Sora," Roxas said, "How do you think shows and books get from world to world?" He turned to look at Sora. Sora looked up at him and removed the other towel from his head. Roxas gaped as Sora's hair, now freshly dried, leapt back into its usual spiky nature. Sora couldn't help but laugh at the bewildered look Roxas was giving him.
"What's with that look?" Sora asked. Roxas pointed at Sora's hair.
"How the hell did you get your hair to be that spiky again without using gel or hair spray?" Roxas demanded.
"To be honest with you, I haven't a clue," Sora replied. "But it's always spiky whenever it's dry and it only flat whenever it's wet. The instant it is dry enough, it jumps right back into place." Sora shrugged. "At least I never have bad hair days." Roxas chuckled.
"Lucky," Roxas said as he yawned widely. "Well, that's it for me. Night, dude." There was a brief flash of blue light and Roxas vanished into the back of Sora's mind. Sora yawned as well.
"I'd almost say the same thing for me, Roxas," Sora said quietly as he finished drying off. He walked back into the bathroom and slipped back into his underwear. "But I have a very good book to finish reading." He grabbed the copy of Storm Fall he had sitting on one of his bedside tables, turned off the TV, threw himself onto his queen sized bed and delved straight into the final chapter of the Derrick Storm series.
LD
Kairi struggled desperately against the chains of Darkness that held her hands above her head. The raw darkness burned her skin and caused her to feel nauseous. She couldn't see much in the darkened room. From what she could tell, she was once again in the Castle That Never Was. Figures moved around in the shadows, all laughing at her feeble attempts to escape. The girl Kyoko stood in the light, smiling at Kairi as the auburn hair teen struggled against the chains of Darkness.
Kairi looked to her left. Naminé and Roxas were both also chained in a similar manner as she was, although their chains seemed to be made out of- Kairi shivered. Their chains were made out of blood. Standing past Naminé and Roxas was the man in the top hat, Charden. He had one of his white gloves removed. Blood flowed freely from his palm, but instead of dripping to the ground, the blood rose from his palm and formed the chains that bound Naminé and Roxas.
She turned her head to the right. A woman dressed in a red dress with a black, gothic belt around her waist and a white overcoat decorated in a thousand red roses, with heavy, dark makeup, amethyst eyes and long green hair tied into a spiky ponytail on the top of her head except for her bangs, which mostly covered one of her eyes stood with a pistol aimed at Kairi's head. Kairi swallowed hard and turned her head so she was looking straight.
Kneeling in the center of the small pool of light was Sora. His clothes were ripped to shreds. Blood streamed from dozens of wounds covering his body, slowly pooling around him on the ground. His arms were stretched out to either side by chains of darkness. A long, slender silver knife was stuck in his right shoulder. His head was hung so Kairi couldn't see his face, but she could see the steady dripping of blood falling from his head and adding to the pool already on the ground around him.
Kairi felt tears streaming down her face. What had happened to them? Who had done that to Sora? She had a million questions but when she opened her mouth to ask them, she found she could only manage a cough. Her lungs screamed painfully at her. Kairi felt as if she had been hit in the chest with a ton of bricks.
Behind Sora, Kairi could see Maleficent sitting on a throne, smiling evilly as she stroked her pet crow, Diablo. Pete stood next to her grinning widely. A man stepped from the shadows. He was dressed in fur lined black coat. The front of the coat was parted most of the way down the man's chest with an intricate interlace at the covering the opening. He wore a thick black belt with two buckles. His midnight black boots clacked on the ground as he walked towards the center of the room. He had long, silver white hair that parted down the middle with his bangs framing his face.
His lavender hued eyes locked with Kairi's for a brief moment. Kairi felt fear course through her. In that brief instant of eye contact, Kairi had felt the man's bloodlust and murderous intent. She also felt an immense power radiating from him. She tore her eyes away from the man and forced herself to glare at Maleficent. The evil witch didn't pay her any attention.
Maleficent shot a glare at the man as she rose to her feet. Was it her imagination, or did Kairi see a tiny bit of fear in Maleficent's eyes as she glared at the man? The silver haired man reached his right hand around himself and gripped the handle of the sheathed sword he held in his left hand. He slowly drew it.
Kairi stared in disbelief. There was no blade, only the hilt of the blade. The man raised the bladeless hilt above his head, as if he were raising a real sword and was about to cleave Sora in half.
"NO!" Maleficent cried out. "This is MY revenge, Creed, not yours! I will kill the boy!" The man, Creed, stared at Maleficent for a moment. Then he shrugged and slid the bladeless hilt back into the sheath and turned away from Sora.
"As you wish," he said uncaringly. Maleficent grinned widely. She strode over to Sora and wrenched the knife from his back, far from gently. Sora let out a howl of pain. Kairi tried to cry out to him but only coughed up a small spurt of blood. Maleficent grinned wickedly as she clutched Sora's hair with her free hand, yanking his head up so he was staring at Kairi. Kairi felt her heart break as Sora looked at her with his pained eyes. Kairi realized, both of them knew what was about to happen.
"Any final words, Keyblade brat?" Maleficent said sinisterly as she rotated the knife in her hand. Sora continued to stare at Kairi. He slowly forced his mouth into a smile.
"Kairi," he said weakly. "I love you. I'm so sorry this had to happen." A single tear rolled down his cheek. Kairi felt a river of tears begin to stream from her eyes, blurring her vision.
"I love you too," she managed to say. Her voice sounded hoarse as she spoke. Sora continued to force a smile for her, even as the knife tip plunged towards Sora's throat. An explosion rocked the room nearby and light flooded the room. Everyone except Maleficent, Kairi and Sora looked at the source. Sora and Kairi refused to take their eyes off one another. The tip of the knife was less than half an inch from ending Sora's life when-
Kairi woke up screaming Sora's name, terrified for his life. Kairi looked around her and remembered she was still in her bedroom on the Kingdom. She shivered. That nightmare had been too realistic for her tastes. Kairi felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She wiped them off on the bed sheets and got off the bed.
At least I didn't have to watch him die. Kairi thought as she stumbled towards the door. I don't think I could handle that; dream or not. She opened her door with the push of a button and headed out into the semi-circular room. She wasn't sure why, but she felt a need to see Sora, to make sure he was okay. Kairi raised her hand to knock on Sora's door.
LD
She stood there in stunned disbelief as the light in his eyes dimmed. He reached out for her and she took his hand, squeezing it for the very last time. She felt her heart stop a beat and in that moment, she knew he was gone. Darkness fell across the face of the city and across her face as well.
"Good "' she thought, as the wind gathered up her hair, "now no one will see my tears."
Sora closed Storm Fall, feeling very satisfied. He couldn't help but wonder; why did Richard Castle end his best-selling Derrick Storm series by putting a bullet through Storm's head? Sora shrugged it off and placed the book on the nightstand. He slid himself under the covers of his bed and pressed a small green button on the nightstand. All of the lights went out at once.
He closed his eyes to finally enjoy a good night's sleep when there was a knock on his door. He let out a barely audible groan and threw the covers off of himself. Sora slowly shuffled to the door. Whoever was on the other side knocked again. Sora yawned widely and pressed the button to open the door.
"Kairi?" Sora said in surprise as the door opened. Kairi was standing there, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. Sora's face flushed red for a moment as he realized she was only dressed in her underwear but it vanished when he realized she had tears streaming down her face. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Kairi threw her arms around Sora, pulling him tightly into a hug and burying her face into his chest. Sora was taken slightly aback.
"Um, Kairi?" Sora asked running a hand through her hair. "What are-"
"I just had to make sure you were okay," Kairi muttered into his chest. She pulled back slightly and looked up at Sora. Sora raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a small smile.
"Of course I'm okay," he said as he wiped Kairi's tears from her cheeks. "Why wouldn't I be?" Kairi wiped her nose on the back of her hand and looked past Sora into his room.
"Can I come in?" she asked him. "I really need to sit down." Sora nodded and stepped aside, allowing Kairi room to walk in. Kairi smiled slightly and walked into the room. Sora pressed a button and closed the door behind them. Kairi walked over to Sora's bed and sat down on the edge. She glanced at the messed up covers.
"Did I wake you up?" she asked Sora as he sat down next to her. Sora shook his head.
"Nah, I had literally just climbed into bed," Sora said with a slight shrug. He shifted himself closer to Kairi and placed his hand on hers. "So, what happened that got you all worried?" Kairi took a deep breath and explained all about her nightmare. By the time she was finished, she had tears slowly starting to stream down her face again.
"It was just a dream, Kairi," Sora said soothingly as his thumb traced circles on the back of her hand. Kairi leaned over and rested her head on Sora's shoulder.
"I know," she said, wiping her tears away on the back of her free hand. "But it just felt so real, I actually felt the Darkness in those chains I told you about hurting me." Sora placed and arm across her back and pulled her closer to him.
"It's okay Kairi," he said, kissing the top of her head gently. "I promise you it was just a dream." Kairi looked up at Sora as if she didn't believe him. "Besides, do you really think Maleficent could capture me?" Kairi considered this.
"I guess you're right," she said slowly. Then she brightened up a tiny bit. "Besides, that Creed guy I saw must've been a figment of my imagination. After all, who uses a sword with no blade?" She smiled up at Sora and he smiled back down at her.
"There you go!" he said, briefly tightening his hug. "Feel better now?" Kairi nodded and kissed Sora on the cheek."Thank you."
"No big deal," Sora said. He got to his feet and stretched his arms above his head, feeling the vertebrae in his back pop satisfyingly. "Now, how about we both get to bed so that when we get to Radiant Garden tomorrow we'll be well rested, okay?" Sora walked over to his door and opened it. He glanced behind him. Kairi was still sitting on the bed, watching him.
"Kairi?" he said. Kairi took a deep breath.
"Is it alright if I sleep here tonight?" she asked. Sora felt his heart skip a beat.
"Wh-what?" he stammered. "Why?"
"Because I don't think I'll be able to go to sleep if I have to be alone," she explained. "I almost had to watch you die, Sora." Kairi's voice began to rise slightly and tears were beginning to form in the corners of her eyes again. Sora could see a tiny bit of fear in her eyes as well. "It'll be easier for me to sleep if I'm here with you. Is that okay?" Sora felt his heart pound rapidly. He thought about it for a moment.
"Of-of course it's okay, Kairi," he said, swallowing hard as he looked over at Kairi, suddenly very aware of the fact that she was in nothing but her underwear. He pressed the button to close the door behind him and walked back over to the bed. Sora pulled back the covers for her. Kairi smiled warmly at him.
"Thank you for understanding, Sora," she said as she slid under the covers. Sora circled around to the other side of the bed and flipped back the covers on his side before climbing in. As he pulled the covers back over himself, Kairi shifted herself so she was pressed up against Sora. "Goodnight," she whispered. She planted a soft kiss on his cheek and closed her eyes. Sora smiled softly down at her.
"Sweet dreams, Kairi," he said gently. He kissed the top of her head softly and closed his eyes as well, and the pair of them drifted slowly to sleep.
LD
Wednesday, June 2nd 4794 P.C.
Naminé's eyes fluttered open. She yawned widely and sat up to stretch, causing the covers to slip off her bare chest. She lunged for them and pulled them nearly back up to her chin before she remembered that she was alone in her room. She didn't have to worry about anyone seeing her naked.
Naminé grinned at the thought and slowly climbed out of bed. She hummed softly to herself as she strode over to the tower stereo that stood in one corner of her room, exaggerating her hip swings for her own amusement. She let out a small laugh to herself and opened the small CD cabinet that rested on the ground next to the radio and began rifling through the CDs that were available.
It took her about a minute to find one she felt like listening to. She popped the disc into the player and pressed the SKIP button repeatedly until she found the track she was looking for. A lone guitar began playing. Naminé grabbed a pen that was sitting on her empty dresser and began singing along to the lyrics as drums began to beat through the speakers of the stereo.
Right, right, turn off the lights.
We gonna lose our minds tonight
What's the dealio?
I love when it's all too much
Five AM turn the radio up
Where's the rock and roll?
Naminé began dancing around her room, imagining herself up on a stage with a thousand screaming fans cheering for her as she sang.
Party crasher, penny snatcher
Call me up if you are gangster
Don't be fancy
Just get dancy
Why so serious?
So raise your glass if you are wrong
In all the right ways,
All my underdogs, we will never be, never be
Anything but loud
And nitty gritty dirty little freaks
Won't you come on, and come on, and
Raise your glass
Just come on and come and
Raise Your Glass!
Slam, slam, oh hot damn.
What part of party don't you understand?
Wish you'd just freak out (freak out already)
Can't stop coming in hot
I should be locked up right on the spot
It's so on right now (so fuckin' on right now)
Party crasher, penny snatcher
Call me up if you a gangster
Don't be fancy
Just get dancy
Why so serious?
So raise your glass if you are wrong
In all the right ways
All my underdogs, we will never be, never be
Anything but loud
And nitty gritty dirty little freaks
Won't you come on, and come on, and
Raise your glass
Just come on and come and
Raise Your Glass!
Won't you come on and come on and
Raise your glass!
Just come on and come and
Raise your glass!
Oh shit my glass is empty...
That sucks !
So if you're too school for cool (I mean...)
And you're treated like a fool (treated like a fool)
You could choose to let it go
We can always, we can always
party on our own...
So raise your (Aw fuck)
So raise your glass if you are wrong
In all the right ways,
All my underdogs, we will never be, never be
Anything but loud.
And nitty gritty dirty little freaks
So raise your glass if you are wrong
In all the right ways,
All my underdogs, we will never be, never be,
Anything but loud
And nitty gritty dirty little freaks
Won't you come on and come on and
Raise your glass!
Just come on and come and
Raise your glass!
Won't you come on and come on and
Raise your glass!
For me!
Just come on and come and
Raise your glass...for me.
Naminé stopped dancing around her room, she felt exhilarated. Her cheeks were flushed red at the thought of being a rock star. She let out a small chuckle and took a deep breath to steady her heart rate and glanced at the clock. It was almost ten thirty. She pressed a hand to her stomach as it let out a long low growl. Naminé sighed and shut off the stereo. She grabbed her black cloak from the back of the chair where she had folded and left it the previous night. She quickly slipped into the cloak, gasping in slight surprise as black pants and matching heeled boots magically appeared on her body.
"That's going to take some getting used to," she muttered. She walked over to the mirror that hung next to her door and examined her hair. Perfectly straight and golden blonde, as always. Naminé smiled to herself and inhaled deeply. A faint aroma drifted into her nostrils, causing her stomach to growl again. Her mouth began to water.
"Is that bacon and eggs I smell?" Naminé exclaimed eagerly. She darted to her door and slammed her palm against the button. She ducked under her door before it was even halfway open and bolted for the kitchen. She slid to a stop just outside the kitchen door.
Jenos was inside, flipping freshly prepared waffles onto a plate. Naminé's stomach let out another loud growl as Jenos topped the waffles with butter, whipped cream, and a strawberry. Jenos turned at the sound of the growl. He let out a small laugh when he saw the look of hunger on Naminé's face. He held out the plate of waffles he had just prepared to her.
"Morning," he said cheerily. "Bacon and eggs are on the table and coffee's in the pot." Naminé grinned and took the plate from Jenos.
"Thanks, Jenos," she said as she walked past him to add bacon and eggs to her plate. Jenos nodded and poured more batter onto the waffle iron. Naminé poured herself a cup of coffee, tossing in a couple of packets of sugar and some Irish crème creamer, before sitting down at the table. She eagerly cut into the waffles and took a bite.
"Oh my god," Naminé said in surprise. "Jenos, these are delicious!" Jenos grinned at her and tossed the next set of freshly prepared waffles onto a plate. Naminé took another bite. Extremely light, fluffy, cooked just long enough and with a mouth-wateringly strong taste; these waffles were the best waffles Naminé had ever had.
Definitely better than the ones Axel always made when I was in Castle Oblivion. Naminé thought as she took another bite. He always seemed to cook them just a little bit too long. She glanced around the table. No sign of Sora or Kairi anywhere. Naminé swallowed and spun in her seat to look over at Jenos.
"Hey Jenos," she said, raising her voice over the sound of popping grease as Jenos slapped more slices of bacon down on the frying pan on the stove. "Where are Kairi and Sora at? Did they already eat?" Jenos shrugged.
"As far as I know, both of them are still in bed," he replied as he poured another batch of waffle batter onto the iron. "You can go wake them up if you want. I'm sure they're both hungry." Naminé nodded, wondering why she had thought that Sora and Kairi would be up before she was. Especially considering Sora was the laziest out of all three of them.
Naminé got to her feet and grabbed her plate. There was no way in hell she was going to let waffles as delicious as these grow cold while she went to wake up the others. She walked out of the kitchen, munching on a piece of bacon as she left. Hell, even the bacon was delicious! She took her time walking down the hall to the semi-circular room that led to the bedrooms. She paid more attention to her surroundings as she strode down the hall. There was an oil painting of a magnificent white castle with blue topped towers. There was a picture of Sora, Donald and Goofy from the time the three of them first met over two and a half years ago in Traverse Town.
Naminé smiled at the photo as she walked past it, taking a large bite of waffle in the process. She elbowed the button to open the door to the semi-circular room and headed straight for Kairi's room. She kicked the base of Kairi's door.
"Kairi!" she called. "Rise and shine! Jenos made waffles! And more importantly, bacon! I know you have a mildly unhealthy love for bacon!" There was no response. Naminé frowned. "Kairi? Are you in the bath? Are you ignoring me? What'd I ever do to you?" Still no response. Naminé growled. "Alright, I'm coming in." Naminé nudged the button to open Kairi's door with her chin. Naminé poked her head into Kairi's room as the door rose.
"Kairi?" Naminé called out. The covers on Kairi's bed appeared to have been thrown back in a rush. Naminé walked further into the room and stuck her head through the door to Kairi's bathroom. Still no sign of Kairi anywhere.
"Where the hell is she?" Naminé asked herself as she left Kairi's room. She glanced over at Sora's room. "Hopefully Sora's starting to get up," she muttered as she walked up to his door. Naminé pressed the button to open Sora's door. "Hey Sora, are you up? I need your help with finding-" she froze as Sora's door opened and she found herself staring at his bed. "Oh my god."
LD
Kairi yawned widely and slowly opened her eyes. She smiled softly as she immediately saw Sora's still sleeping face. She shifted herself closer to him so the tip of her nose was pressed up against his. She tilted her head up, lightly nudging Sora with her nose.
"Sora," she whispered softly. "Are you awake?" Sora slowly grinned and opened his eyes, staring straight into Kairi's.
"I hope so," he said with a yawn. "Because if this turns out to be just a dream, it's gonna suck." Kairi giggled as Sora flashed his trademark goofy grin. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a brief kiss.
"Good morning, beautiful," Sora said as they pulled apart. Kairi rolled her eyes.
"Oh please," she said, glancing at her reflection on Sora's flat screen. "My hair is a mess, my eyes still have a sleepy sort of look in them and I don't even have makeup on. I am not beautiful." Sora let out a small sigh as he sat up straighter. He grabbed Kairi's shoulders and spun her gently so she was facing him again.
"You don't need makeup to be beautiful, Kairi," he said softly, staring her directly in the eyes. "And it doesn't matter to me one way or the other if your hairs a mess or not. You are always beautiful, even when you think you look hideous. Trust me." Kairi smiled and planted a soft kiss on Sora's cheek.
"If you say so," she said. "I guess I'll believe you this one time." Sora rolled his eyes and Kairi punched him playfully in the arm. Kairi's nose twitched slightly. "Do you smell bacon?" Sora chuckled and took a whiff of the air. Sure enough, there was a strong smell of bacon and… waffles? Sora took another sniff. Definitely waffles. And they were practically right outside his door. Kairi seemed to realize this just as Sora did. They exchanged a brief glance of confusion. The pair of them nearly leapt out of their skins as Sora's door opened unexpectedly.
"Hey Sora, are you up? I need your help with finding-" Naminé said as she poked her head into Sora's room. She froze when she caught sight of Sora and Kairi both staring at her with wide eyes, neither of them dressed in more than their underwear. "Oh my god." Naminé's face slowly broke into a grin. Sora and Kairi's faces both flushed crimson as they realized what Naminé must be thinking.
"So sorry to bother you," Naminé said as she backed away from Sora's door. "I didn't realize you two were, ahem, busy. I'll just be on my way then." The door closed as Naminé walked away. Sora and Kairi both glanced at each other.
"Well that was slightly awkward," Sora said after a few moments of silence. Kairi nodded and bit her lower lip nervously.
"Come on," she said as she got to her feet and stretched her arms above her head. "Let's get dressed so we can explain the situation to Naminé before she can tell Jenos, or call anyone and tell them." Sora briefly considered what would happen if Naminé told Riku about what she had seen.
"Good idea," he said. He rolled out of bed, grabbing his pants from the floor in the process and slipped them on. "I'll meet you up in the kitchen." Kairi nodded and gave him a quick kiss before leaving for her own bedroom. Sora smiled after her as he slipped on his shirt, jacket and silver crown pendant.
He left his room and headed up to the kitchen. Naminé and Jenos both stared at him as he walked in. Sora paused at the looks on their faces. The pair each had an eyebrow cocked, as if they were waiting for him to finish telling a story. Sora walked past them and placed a couple of waffles onto a plate.
"Well," Jenos said as a grin spread across his face. "Spill it." Sora looked down at the waffles on his plate and back up at Jenos.
"Why should I spill my waffles?" he asked the older man. "They look delicious and that seems like a waste of food to me." Naminé rolled her eyes.
"He means spill the beans about you and Kairi and all of the weird stuff you did to each other last night," she explained. "And you can either tell us, or I can dig around inside both of your memories for the details. I'm not picky." She grinned at Sora. There was something about that grin that sent a shiver up Sora's spine. He knew instantly that Naminé wasn't joking around.
"Nothing happened, Naminé," Kairi said as she entered the kitchen. "So please stop prying for details of things Sora and I have yet to do." Naminé studied Kairi carefully as the auburn-haired girl poured herself a cup of coffee. Naminé sighed.
"Damn, and here I was hoping you two had done something so I could have an interesting story to tell everyone." Sora accidentally swallowed a large bite of waffle without chewing as Naminé spoke, resulting in him gagging terribly. He quickly grabbed a glass of orange juice (which Jenos had just poured for himself) and chugged it, making it easier to down the un-chewed food.
"Hey! That was my orange juice!" Jenos exclaimed as Sora set the empty glass down on the table. Sora grinned sheepishly at him.
"Sorry about that Jenos," he said. Jenos looked sadly at the glass for a moment before getting to his feet to pour himself a new glass. Sora turned his attention to Naminé. "And just why would you want to tell everyone about what me and Kairi are up to?" Naminé grinned devilishly back at him.
"Oh, you know. Personal amusements, settle some bets, the usual," she said slyly. Sora and Kairi stared at her, eyebrows raised.
"Who exactly is betting on when Sora and I have sex for the first time?" Kairi asked. Naminé started counting on her fingers.
"Well there's definitely Selp-" Naminé began, but she was cut off as two separate alarms went off. Sora leapt from his seat and bolted out of the kitchen for the bridge. Kairi, Naminé and Jenos quickly followed suit with Jenos pausing long enough to pick up his glass of orange juice. Sora reached the bridge and practically threw himself into the pilot's chair. He kicked the switch labeled Autopilot, giving himself manual controls.
Sora grabbed hold of the steering wheel and flicked a switch set into the side of it. Immediately, one of the alarms stopped blaring.
"What's going on?" Kairi shouted over the alarm as she and Naminé buckled themselves into the remaining two chairs.
"That was the World Proximity Alarm and the Potential Hostile Gummi Ship Alarm!" Sora shouted over the still blaring alarm. "I shut of the WPA but I can't get the PHGSA to shut off! Donald never taught me how!"
"Maybe it's one of those clap things!" Naminé suggested. She clapped her hands twice and the alarm went silent. "There we go." Everyone stared at her.
"How the hell did you figure that out so quickly?" Sora asked. "I've been on this ship and had to deal with that alarm a thousand times. I've never been able to shut that thing off!" Naminé shrugged.
"Luck I guess," she said with a grin. Sora stared at her for a moment before shrugging and turning his attention back to piloting the Kingdom. A purple and pink hued world appeared in front of them; Radiant Garden. Naminé turned to Kairi.
"So, are you excited to finally see your home world after all these years?" the former Nobody asked.
"Way to make her sound like an alien, Naminé," Roxas said as he appeared in a blue flash of light, lounging on the couch in a pair of black and white checkered pajama bottoms. Naminé, Kairi and Jenos stared at him. Roxas smiled and waved at them. "Morning everyone!"
"Incoming!" Jenos shouted suddenly, pointing at the radar. Two red dots were rapidly approaching the yellow triangle in the center of the radar that represented the Kingdom's location. Outside of the cockpit, a pair of yellow Gummi fighter's shot past the Kingdom.
The Kingdom rocked back and forth as the other ships zoomed past. The other ships slowed down so they were flying parallel to the Kingdom. Each ship was triangular in shape, with a pair of small Fira-class engines on the wider end of the triangle. In the center of each ship was a cockpit large enough for one pilot.
"Um, Sora," Kairi said nervously. "What's going on?" Sora swallowed hard.
"I don't know, Kairi," he said. "But I get the feeling it's not going to end well." The COMM system began to crackle.
"You are entering Radiant Garden Airspace," a tough sounding female voice said. "Due to the Heartless threat, you are required to present your security codes." Sora glanced over at Jenos and mouthed "Security codes?" Jenos shrugged, a small bead of sweat forming on his brow from nerves.
"If you fail to comply, we will be forced to shoot your ship down." Another female voice said on the COMM. "Present your codes now."
"Umm, we don't have any codes," Sora said. "It's been a while since we were last here and that was before there was a security-"
"No codes huh?" the first female voice spoke up. "That's a pity." Sora glanced out of the window. A panel opened up underneath each of the other Gummi ships. Missile pods lowered themselves and turned to face the Kingdom.
"Oh shit," Sora and Jenos said in unison. The second female spoke again on the COMM again.
"Goodbye."
LD
Talk about a welcoming committee. Don't you hate it when you don't have the security codes you need? I know I do.
Chapter Nine is almost done, all I have left to do is add the finishing touches and make sure it's edited. I should have it up and running in the next week or so. But I promise not to vanish for a month and a half again.
I've also decided that I'm going to answer any questions I get from the previous chapter's reviews i receive at the end of each new chapter. Well, I'll answer what I can without spoiling future events in the story.
janus-juan: This is one of those questions I can't answer without giving away more than I want to, so all I'm going to say is that one way or the other, your question will be answered in Chapter Ten. And, either way, I do have plans for Naminé.
Ragnarok Warrior: I'm not entirely sure off the top of my head when Sora learned Zantetsuken. I'm going to have to go look that one up.
Linkandzel: Don't worry, we haven't seen the last of Riku. He'll be showing up more often starting a few chapters from now. Mostly because he's not doing anything right now other than flying around. But he will be returning in the very near future, I promise.
That's it for now! Chapter Nine will be up in the near future. And as always, reviews are greatly appreciated! Hope everyone is having a good year!
-Shadow Horizons