Chasing The Truth
By FlikFreak
Epilogue
Shibuya was unnaturally quiet now. Neku supposed it was because he had been so used to the keyblade, but he also attributed it to the lack of chaos. There were no nobodies, no heartless, no buildings falling apart or pavement shattering…everything was the way it should be. He couldn't even hear the music, though he knew it was there.
But still, he felt a bit empty.
"Come on, Neku. You're supposed to eat your lunch, not stare at it."
Sighing, Neku prodded his sushi with his chopstick, but still didn't bother eating any. "I dunno, Shiki…"
The seamstress frowned thoughtfully. "You thinking about it again, aren't you?"
A shrug. "Yeah. I miss them."
"We'll see them again," Shiki assured him. "You said they promised."
Neku nodded. "I know. I guess I'm just adjusting to having a more or less normal life again."
"I am too," Shiki admitted, sighing.
Normal life was almost like a dream to Neku now. He had gone through so much those past days that he could hardly keep track of anything anymore…for a while he even forgot his own last name. Only when he returned to Shibuya was he snapped back into reality, and he noticed how strange everything was.
Destiny Islands, Sora's home world, was like the opposite of Shibuya. It was a small place, hardly populated, and immensely peaceful. The music there had been calm as well. Neku sighed as he remembered Sora's expression when he recognized his home. "I wonder how everyone's doing…" he muttered.
Shiki looked at Neku worriedly. "Have you heard from them?"
"No," Neku replied. "I've got a letter written for them inviting them to our next concert, but I haven't sent it yet."
"You didn't give it to Hanekoma?"
"He's got his hands tied organizing and everything. I couldn't reach him."
Shiki looked away for a moment thoughtfully. "Well, there's another way you could get it to them."
Neku hesitated. "…there is?"
"Yeah. Kairi told me about it at Radiant Garden…"
The Shibuya River was as silent as it always was. Rhyme followed Neku in, claiming that her brother was off skateboarding. As they entered, the girl gave a strange expression. Neku looked at her in concern. "Something wrong?"
"There's a bit of mist in here," Rhyme replied. "But it's nothing serious. I think it's always been here."
"You can still sense it?"
"Yeah. I don't even notice it most of the time, though."
Neku paused as they entered Rubicon, staring at the flow of water in front of them. Konishi's bridge was still up, but he wasn't planning on crossing. Rhyme gave Neku a curious look. "What're you doing?"
"Sending an invitation," Neku replied vaguely, smiling. He didn't have a glass bottle, but he figured that an empty soda bottle would work just as well. Shrugging, he pulled it out of his pocket and tossed it into the river – regardless of whether or not it was a sewer – and watched it disappear.
Rhyme tilted her head, a hint of a wince in her expression. "Neku, isn't that considered polluting?"
Neku shook his head. "Not if you're sending it to someone."
"Sending…?" Rhyme echoed. "There's an invitation in it?"
"Yeah," Neku replied, nodding. "I talked to Shiki about it…she said Kairi sent Sora a letter in the same way. This is a bit unorthodox, though, because normally you use an ocean rather than a sewer and I'm using a plastic bottle instead of a glass one…"
"I sure hope they get it," Rhyme said, sitting on the edge of the river and dangling her feet off the side.
Neku took a place next to her. "They will, Rhyme," he replied. "They will."
Sora sighed, leaning against the lopsided paopu tree. "I guess it takes longer than I thought to get used to the quiet."
Roxas, whom had appeared in spectral form and taken a perch atop the sideways trunk, shrugged. "I had the lucky experience of getting a memory wipe when I went from leaving the Organization to joining that fake Twilight Town. Still, though…sometimes I kind of miss all that chaos of having to chase down the Zoners."
"Really?"
"Nah. I'm glad it's over with."
"Thought so."
Roxas sighed. "I miss Neku, though. He's a neat kid."
"We're going to see him again," Sora insisted.
"You sure?" Roxas replied. "He's across the universe from us."
Sora shrugged. "So? Even if we're apart, our hearts unite us again. Aerith told me that two years ago."
There was a moment of silence before Roxas stared back out to sea, smirking. "Heh…I guess you're right, there."
"What about Xenuk? Do you miss him?"
It was Roxas's turn to shrug. "I do, but I think he's happy where he is now. Plus, it's like Ven said. It's because things end that makes them so great."
"If they went on forever, they'd have no meaning," Sora agreed. "A lot of people care about what happens in the beginning or the middle, but the ending is important, too. If the ending wasn't there, then it'd all be meaningless. He had no regrets with what he did. I'm sad, but I'm sort of happy for him, too. He did what his heart told him to."
Roxas nodded, hopping off of the tree trunk. "Yeah."
"Sora!"
The brunette glanced up, and Roxas vanished. Racing toward him from the dock was none other than Kairi, looking rather surprised. "What's up, Kairi?" Sora called.
"I found a letter," Kairi replied, pausing and holding up a plastic bottle. "I think it's for you."
Sora blinked. Wondering about the sender, he unscrewed the top of the bottle and pulled out a rolled-up envelope, ripping it open and pulling out the letter.
Dear Sora,
It's been a while since we last saw each other, huh? Two months? It's almost hard to believe that our journey even happened. Rhyme says she doesn't sense mist anymore, but Joshua said that's only because there isn't normally mist in Shibuya. Shiki's been making a whole bunch of new outfits; she says a lot of them are based on the people we saw. Beat's been skateboarding as usual, but it took him a while to stop keeping a sharp eye on Rhyme.
Leon and Yuffie came to visit a few days ago to see how Shibuya was doing. There are hardly any heartless or nobodies causing trouble for them in Radiant Garden; they say only the 'local variety' are what they have to deal with. I don't know what that means, but it seems like they're having an easier time of it.
We're holding a concert next month. Hanekoma says it's going to be our biggest yet. We wrote a song especially for you guys. See you there?
-Neku
Attached to the letter were three front-row tickets.
Go for it, Sora.
"Hey Kairi, go get Riku. I'm going to contact Chip and Dale."
"Huh? What for?"
Sora grinned. "I promised Neku, didn't I?"
The End.
