Sapphire absolutely did not want Niko to have to take this darkness on by himself. However, the alternative of it taking over did not sound any better. Nor did what he suggest. She blinked as if trying to figure out if she heard him correctly or not. She couldn't end him; no, that was an impossibility. Just like she couldn't hurt the Insurgents, she could not kill Niko.
"I can't do that," she told him bluntly, her voice sounding as if the idea of hurting him was insane, which it was.
"If Xehanort gets to me," Niko said. "You won't have a choice! I don't want to hurt you Sapphire, but my darkness does! I can't bear that idea! I love you, Sapphire and nothing, not even my darkness, can change that."
The emotion in Niko's voice surprised her, even though she knew it shouldn't have. Despite it, however, she could still not bare the thought of hurting her husband.
"I'd kill myself before I killed you," she replied, her eyes narrowed. "I can't do that to you."
Niko gave Sapphire a passionate kiss on the lips and got up. He was ready to get the rest of the quest on the road. He plotted a course for Neverland, where they needed to check on Peter Pan. Sapphire was a little caught off guard by the kiss due to the nature of their conversation, but she returned it. She watched him go, but she did not follow.
She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them, staring down at the bed underneath her. She was scared.
As the Gummi Ship approached Neverland, something caught Niko's eye. Their world was gone...no longer covered in darkness; just gone. Niko looked around and saw a new world appear. Niko started a new course for this new world. He could feel a familiar presence from this world. Something told him that Xehanort was in this world.
Sapphire finally got herself off the bed and walked back out. She walked into the cockpit to find Niko pull away from this dark world. She furrowed her eyes brows.
"What happened there?" she asked quietly as he pulled away.
"I found Xehanort," Niko replied. It was all he could say before he turned to Sapphireand sighs. "Once we defeat Xehanort, we can go back to our regular lives. Get some rest. You'll need it for what's to come."
Sapphire frowned. If Xehanort was here, there was no time to waste. While it was true that she and Niko had gotten little to no rest for awhile, she could not rest knowing that their enemy was within their reach. She shook her head.
"I'll be okay. I just want... I just want to go home." Despite the nature of her words, her eyes were narrowed and determined. If this asshole was standing in between her and her regular life, she wanted to deal with him as soon as possible.
"I want you to get some rest," Niko said. "I'm not landing this ship until we both get some sleep."
Sapphire's frown deepened. He was intent on this, she could tell. "A couple of hours," she told him. "We'll only sleep for a couple of hours." She raised a hand to cup the side of Niko's face, her thumb running along his cheek. She let her hand fall away from him before turning around and heading to the captan's quarters where she had been moments ago.
Niko chuckled and looked back at the lanes between. He knew what was coming and he knew they needed to be at their best. He needed to try dealing with his darkness. He closed his eyes and walked up to him.
Sapphire crawled under the covers when she got to the captain's quarters, and she let out a long sigh when she did so. She was so tired. She just wanted this whole thing to end so she could go back to her normal life. She wanted to get the Insurgents home and she wanted to get everything squared away with re-enlisting. She wanted to go on her honeymoon with Niko and have the opportunity to enjoy being married. She wanted to defeat Xehanort and go home. She shut her eyes, falling asleep only moments later.
Niko and Nix stood face to face with each other, each waiting for the other to move. It was a blur of movement, if anyone could have seen it. The two began to clash, both holding Keyblades and swinging them furiously at one another. They both eventually stood again, Niko not feeling tired but Nix was on the verge of tears.
"So what now?" Nix asked. "You gonna fight Xehanort and go back to a life with Sapphire in it? You know what she wants! She wants to leave us alone...she's not going to have time for us!"
"She will," Niko replied. "I'm not gonna go back to the Insurgents. I just don't feel comfortable doing that. However, I am going to still be there and support her. I love Sapphire, with all my soul and I don't want to lose her. I'll do what I must to make our marriage work."
"Fine..." Nix said. "I guess it's time for me to hit the road."
"Where will you go?" Niko asked.
"I don't know," Nix replied. "But I know where I would like to go."
Nix and Niko merged together and the dream ends. Niko woke up and noticed his hair was a bit darker with a red and blue streak down the sides. He didn't have the strength to react as he walked into the captain's quarter a and climbed into the bed behind Sapphire, holding her gently in his arms as slumber began to embrace him like an old friend.
A couple of hours had passed before Sapphire woke up. She slowly blinked her eyes open, finding herself comfortable in the arms of her husband. She didn't want to get up. She wanted to stay right there with Niko, cozy and safe. But she knew she could not. They had an evil to eradicate. And when it was taken care of, they could finally stay like this, sleeping side by side.
"Niko," she murmured softly, trying to carefully rouse him up.
Niko slowly opened his eyes and looked to Sapphire. He was happy to see her rested. Slowly yawning, he kissed Sapphire on the cheek and sat up.
"Morning, my love." Niko said. "You ready to go kick Xehanort's ass?"
Sapphire too sat up, and she faced Niko, smiling from the soft kiss on her cheek. "Absolutely," she told him with a firm nod, her smile disappearing as her grogginess vanished and her hardened resolve became apparent. She stood up from the bed and stretched a little.
"Lead the way," she told him. "I don't want to waste any time."
Niko landed the Gummi Ship in the world that appeared and hopped out. Looking around, he saw the Insurgents base. Niko shook his head and saw many other worlds.
"This is what happens to other worlds when they fall to darkness," Jiminy said, looking around sadly. "Keep your wits about you. I don't think it's gonna be a good thing what we find out there."
"So once we restore these worlds," Niko began. "What happens to this world and us?"
"Who knows?" Jiminy replied. "We'll just have to stop Xehanort and restore the worlds and deal with an escape route later."
