Chapter 12: Mending Hearts
A/N: Hey everyone! I just saw the new trailer for the Kingdom Hearts 3d game and it made me realize I need to get a move on with this series if I want to reach it. That and because it was insanely awesome! Oh, I'm going to have a lot of fun writing that story.
A lot of you were really happy to see Taiyouko again. Even though she isn't seen a lot in the series, she plays a very important role. And now she'll play an important role in Lumen's life. I wonder how that's going to work?
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts; I just own my oc's.
Enjoy!
/
Taiyouko handed Lumen a handkerchief when her crying subsided. The poor girl sniffled as she dabbed her eyes with the pale yellow cloth.
The young keyblade wielder was taken away from where she fought with Vanitas and was near the market area.
She handed Taiyouko her handkerchief back as she rubbed her slightly puffy eyes.
"Thank you" she managed to choke out.
Taiyouko gave her a weak smile and put the handkerchief away.
None of them said anything for a little bit. Both trying to wrap their minds over what had just happened.
Lumen rubbed her shoulders when she felt a chill run up her spine. She couldn't believe that she was almost taken away by Vanitas. She didn't know what he meant by she was the final key to his master's plans, but she had a feeling it wasn't a good one.
If Taiyouko hadn't rescued her, who knows what would have happened.
Speaking of which, how did she know to rescue her?
The last time she saw her, she was taking her children to the park.
She looked at her rescuer nervously.
"Um, how did you know that I was in trouble?" she asked.
Taiyouko looked at her for a moment before smiling.
"I was getting my kids some ice cream while they were playing at the park" she said.
"Just as I was about to head back, I heard someone calling for help. I went to look and found you being dragged off by that masked kid"
Lumen looked at the ground shamefully.
"I'm sorry" she said.
Taiyouko laughed a little and waved a hand at her.
"Don't be" she said.
"If I hadn't rescued you, then who knows where the creep would have taken you"
Lumen nodded her head slowly.
"Yeah…you're right" she said.
"Thank you"
Taiyouko smiled.
"No problem" she said.
She gently took the girl by the hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Why don't I give you a grand tour of the place?" she asked.
"I'm sure that'll brighten your mood"
Lumen smiled weakly. She felt grateful that this kind woman was offering to distract her with the recent events that just unfolded on her.
She suddenly remembered about Taiyouko's children. Hikari in particular.
"My successor" she thought.
"What about your children?" she asked.
Taiyouko laughed.
"We'll head to the park as I give you a tour" she said.
"Besides, they're playing with their friends. They'll be safe"
Lumen bit her lip nervously. She hoped that Hikari would be alright. She didn't want anything to happen to her successor.
But then again, she wanted to get rid of the images of what recently just happened to her.
"Ok, then" she said.
"Lead the way"
Taiyouko smiled and tugged her along.
"Onwards then!" she cried.
Lumen laughed a little. She found this woman's cheerful personality to be contagious.
/
Taiyouko wasn't bluffing when she said she would give a grand tour. She practically showed Lumen the entire town before they headed for the castle.
"This is where my father usually stays at" she said.
"Only people who work for him are allowed to go inside, but other than that, it's closed to the public"
Lumen looked at her.
"You're father is the ruler of this town?" she asked.
Taiyouko nodded.
"You could say that" she said.
Lumen tilted her head to the side.
"Then does that mean you get to go in there as well?"
Taiyouko nodded again.
"Yeah, but I hardly ever go here" she said.
Lumen raised an eyebrow.
"How come?" she asked.
Taiyouko's face harden a bit.
"Let's just say that my father and I don't see eye to eye"
Lumen grew confused. She was about to ask why when she heard a couple of voices.
"Get your hands off of me you big oaf!"
The two women looked to see a set of guards carrying a couple of boys by the back of their shirts. One had fiery red hair that spiked out everywhere while the other had blue hair that spiked up at the top. The red head was struggling while the blue haired one had his arms crossed, not looking happy with the predicament he was in.
The guard that was carrying them was muscular built and had brown hair that was brushed back. His companion as black hair that was in dreadlocks and pulled back while he had sideburns that went down to his chin.
The guard dropped the boys to the ground and crossed his arms.
"For the twentieth time, you're not allowed to enter the castle"
The red head got up and dusted himself off.
"I don't take orders from you, monkey man!" he cried.
His blue haired friend sighed and held the bridge of his nose.
Taiyouko sighed.
"Not again" she muttered.
She looked at Lumen and gave her an apologetic smile.
"I'll be right back" she said.
She quickly went over to where the red head was still fighting with the guards.
"Dilan, Aeleus" she called.
"What seems to be the problem here?"
The guards looked at her before they quickly bowed.
"This little brat was trying to get into the castle again" Dilan said.
The red head glared at him.
"I'm not a brat!" he snapped.
Aeleus gave the boys a glare.
"The next time you sneak into the castle again, there will be some serious consequences" he warned.
The red head waved him off.
"Yeah, yeah, you said that last time" he said.
Aeleus glared at him before looking at Taiyouko.
"I'm sorry about this, Lady Taiyouko" he said.
Taiyouko's eyebrow twitched at being referred to as 'Lady'.
"They're kids" she said.
"What harm could they have done?"
"You're father is in the middle of a very important experiment" Dilan said.
"He can't be interrupted.
Taiyouko's gaze harden at the mention of her father.
"What do I care if he's doing an experiment?" she snapped.
"It's not like he doesn't have time for anything else, let alone his family"
The guard's face fell.
"Lady Taiyouko" Aeleus said.
"Save it" Taiyouko said.
"Just go back to guarding my father, I'll handle these two"
The two guards nodded before heading back into the castle.
Taiyouko turned around to face the two boys. She crossed her arms in front of her as she gave them a scolding look.
"Lea…Isa" she warned.
Isa sighed.
"It was his idea" he said.
"I had no part in this"
Lea glared at him.
"Oh yeah? Then why did you come with if you had no part in it?" he asked.
"It was your idea to go through the front door this time!"
"I didn't think you would go along with it" Isa said.
"It's not my fault you're an idiot"
Lea glared at him.
"Why you!"
"Alright, enough you two" Taiyouko said.
"I'm letting you both off easy. But if you try to do this again, I won't help you. Got it?"
The two of them nodded.
"Yes, ma'am" they said.
Taiyouko smiled.
"Good, now get going"
She walked back to Lumen and gave her an apologetic smile.
"Sorry about that" she said.
Lumen smiled and shook her head.
"Don't be" she said.
The two of them started walking again, leaving Lea and Isa to themselves.
Lumen could hear them as they walked away.
"*sigh* man Taiyouko's hot" Lea said.
Isa made a noise to show he was disgusted.
"She's old enough to be your mother" he said.
"So what?" Lea asked.
"I like chicks that have a backbone like that. One day I'm gonna find myself a chick like that"
Isa sighed.
"Keep dreaming" he said.
"The day that happens is the day I'll go berserk and lose my mind"
Lea laughed.
"Now that, I would love to see"
Lumen chuckled a little.
Boys could be so strange at times.
/
"You seem to be rather popular around here" Lumen said.
Taiyouko sweat dropped as she laughed nervously.
"Yeah, well that sort of happens when your father is a leader" she said.
"I don't like it, but it gets me out of some tight spots"
Lumen laughed.
"I know the feeling" she said.
"My father is the leader from where I'm from so people treat me like a princess"
Taiyouko laughed.
"Looks like we have something in common" she said.
They walked a bit more and viewed the sights that only Radiant Garden could offer.
As they walked, they ran into yet more people.
And young boy with steal colored hair that covered half of his face was accompanied by an older looking man. Both wore white lab coats, only the boys had the sleeves cuffed up due to it being too long.
The older man sneered at Taiyouko when he saw her.
"Taiyouko" he sneered.
"Even" Taiyouko replied with venom.
"What in the world are you doing out here?" Even asked.
Taiyouko placed her hands on her hips.
"Why should it matter to you?" she asked.
"You're not my babysitter and I'm pretty capable of handling myself"
Even just growled. He always hated it when she made him feel in superior. Didn't she know that she should respect her elders? But then again, what would she know? She didn't even respect her father.
Taiyouko rolled her eyes and smiled at the boy who poked his head from behind Even's back.
"Hey, Ienzo" she said softly.
Ienzo poked his head out more and smiled softly when he saw her.
Taiyouko smiled a little and held her hand out to him.
"You wanna come to the park with me?" she asked.
"Leon and Hikari are there. I'm sure they would be happy to see you"
Even sneered.
"Can't you see that we're in the middle of something?" he asked.
"Besides, what gives you the idea that he would-"
He was cut off when Ienzo suddenly ran from behind him and latched himself to Taiyouko. The little boy smiled shyly as he buried his face into her dress.
Taiyouko wore a triumphant smirk on her face and gave Even the stink eye.
"Ha! He likes me better than you!" she cheered.
Even just grumbled.
"If your father gives you lip about this, don't come crying to me" he said.
Taiyouko rolled her eyes.
"Whatever you say, old man"
"Now why don't you go and do something that's actually productive?"
Even growled and stormed off, muttering things about disrespect.
Taiyouko laughed.
"Gets him every time" she said.
Taiyouko turned Ienzo around so he could see Lumen.
"I'd like you to meet my young brother, Ienzo" she said.
"Ienzo, this is Lumen. She's a guest so be nice"
Lumen smiled and waved to the boy.
"Hi"
Ienzo blushed and turned around to bury his face into his sister's dress.
Taiyouko just laughed and hugged her brother.
"He's really shy when he's around other people" she said.
"But when we're alone he can be quite the chatterbox. Right Izzy?"
Ienzo nodded and held onto his sister's hand.
"Well then, let's go to the park"
With that, they headed towards the park.
/
Hikari and Leon weren't the only kids who were at the park. A few other children were playing along with the two of them. All of them appeared to be around Leon's age and seemed really close to the boy.
Taiyouko looked at Ienzo and smiled.
"Alright, Ienzo. You go have fun"
Ienzo nodded and ran towards the swings, where Hikari was at the moment.
Lumen watched as her brother, Leon was attempting to pull himself out of a headlock by a younger girl.
"Cloud! Get your sister off of me!" he cried.
Cloud sweat dropped and gave his sister a dull look.
"Mikomi, let him go" he sighed.
Mikomi beamed at her brother.
"What are you talking about, Ni-san? He likes it"
She turned back to Leon and put him into a tighter grip.
"Say uncle!"
Lumen laughed as she sat with Taiyouko on the bench.
"What a lively bunch of kids" she said.
Taiyouko laughed a little.
"I know. Sometimes I wonder how their parents deal with them"
They laughed at that and watched as the children played.
None of them said anything for a while and just enjoyed the scene.
Taiyouko looked at Lumen.
"So do you want to explain why you suddenly broke down like that?" she asked.
Lumen looked at her for a moment before looking at her lap. She nearly forgot that she has a total meltdown in front of the woman who saved her. She didn't want to explain herself because she would be embarrassed, but she couldn't leave her worried like this.
"I…was just having troubles with someone I care about" she said.
Taiyouko gave her a knowing smirk.
"Ah, it's boy troubles then" she said.
Lumen nodded.
"Yeah, you could say that" she said.
"My boyfriend, Terra did something very horrible and I don't know what to do"
Taiyouko propped her head into her hand as she listened.
"Well, what did he do?" she asked.
"Did he cheat on you or something?"
Lumen quickly shook her head.
"No! Of course not!" she insisted.
"Terra would never stoop that low. He just…he promised that he would never betray me and I just found out that he did. He didn't even look like he regretted it. He didn't show any emotions at all. Not only that, my father and my best friend went behind my back tried to show that Terra did these horrible things. I'm sure they had their reasons, but I just can't believe they would do that to me. Why would they hide stuff from me like that? It's like they don't trust me either"
She looked at Taiyouko to see her thinking.
"I'm not making any sense, am I?"
Taiyouko quickly shook her head.
"No, no! I'm just trying to put the pieces together and figure out this little soap opera" she said.
She rubbed her chin in thought.
"I'm sure I can relate to you about the whole father issue. I don't get along with my dad at all and I refuse to talk to him. Do you have a bad relationship with your dad?"
Lumen shook her head.
"Of course not" she said.
"After my mother died, he was the only person I had left. He took care of me and everything, even when it was difficult"
She thought back to the day that her mother died and how torn Eraqus was.
/
Eraqus held Lumen tightly as they sat on her bed. He had to break the news that her mother had passed away and that she wouldn't be seeing her again for quite a while.
Tears pooled his eyes and he held onto to the only living proof of his beloved wife.
Lumen looked up at her father when she felt him shake. She couldn't see the tears in his eyes as they threatened to fall.
She didn't know what was going on, but she knew it wasn't good.
"Daddy, where's mommy?" she asked.
Eraqus bit his lip to prevent himself from crying out.
He simply held his daughter tightly and ran a hand through her hair.
"I-I'm afraid mommy is gone, Lumen…and she won' t be coming back for quite a while" he choked.
He buried his face into her hair and held his precious daughter to his heart.
"But I promise I'll take good care of you for her" he whispered.
"I'll give you twice the love as if mommy were here. I promise nothing bad will happen to you"
A tear slipped down his face.
"I promise"
Lumen didn't know what to say. The only thing she knew was that her father was sad and that he needed to be loved.
She hugged him in return and closed her eyes.
"It'll be ok, daddy" she said.
"I know it will"
/
Lumen looked at the ground sadly.
"My father changed after my mother died" she said.
"It was like he died as well. It was difficult for him to raise me on his own, but he never changed the way he felt towards me. He always gave me his love and showed that I was the only person who mattered to him. He would never do anything that would harm me. And yet…."
"He asked your friend to do something behind your back" Taiyouko finished.
Lumen closed her eyes and nodded.
Taiyouko sighed and watched as her children played.
"Well, I wish I could say I understand, but I don't" she said.
"I hate my father with a passion and wished that I was never related to him"
She closed her eyes for a moment.
"But from what you've told me, you're dad isn't a bad person"
She looked back at Lumen.
"I'm sure he was just trying to protect you in his own way. Maybe he asked your friend to do stuff behind your back because he couldn't do it himself. Maybe he trusted your best friend with it because he knew your friend would protect you and keep you safe"
Lumen gripped her skirt.
"If they wanted to protect me, why would they lie to me?" she asked.
Taiyouko shrugged.
"Probably so they wouldn't worry you" she said.
"I know I would do the same if it came to my children. When you're a parent, your whole perspective on life changes drastically. What you once thought was harmless turns out to be the most dangerous thing in the world. What you once thought was right turns out to be very wrong. You're whole world is reversed. So speaking from a parent's perspective, I'm going to say that your father thought he was probably doing the right thing into keeping you safe. It wasn't nice, but sometimes you have to be mean if you want to protect your child. Same goes with friends. A real friend will do anything to protect their best friend, even if it means going behind their backs. They'll do whatever it takes to protect that bond. Even if it severs your friendship with the person, at least you know that they were trying to do the right thing"
Lumen looked at her for a moment.
Maybe her father and Aqua really were trying to protect her. Sure, it wasn't nice what they did, but they've never done anything bad to her.
Eraqus was always thinking about his daughter and always put her needs before his own. He tended to mess things up a bit when it came to parenting, but at least he tried.
Aqua was always there for her from day one. She always looked out for her and treated her like the sister she never had. She was always sticking up for her when people where bullying her. And when things looked bad, she always got her father to fix the problem. She was the ideal friend.
Maybe Taiyouko was right. Maybe they were doing the right thing.
But that still didn't explain about Terra.
"Then what about Terra, what's his excuse?"
Taiyouko scratched her head in thought.
"Just how serious is your relationship with this guy?" she asked.
Lumen blushed a little.
"We've been going out for a couple of years" she admitted.
"But we have to keep it a secret since my father is Terra's teacher and he would surely kill him if he found out about us"
Taiyouko laughed.
"That sounds familiar" she said.
"And does Terra show that he loves you?"
Lumen nodded.
"Before we left on this little mission, he would tell me that he loved me each day. He always stood by my side and made me feel like the luckiest woman in the world. If I was sad or upset about anything, he would always come and comfort me. And if I was away from him, he would always find me"
Taiyouko smiled.
"Sounds a lot like my lover" she said.
She pulled out a set of army dog tags that were hidden under her dress and looked at the name.
"He always treated me like a princess"
Lumen smiled.
"It's an amazing feeling" she said.
She frowned a little.
"But recently, he's been acting different. It's like he's a totally different person"
"Did something happen that would have caused this?" Taiyouko asked.
Lumen shook her head.
"I don't know" she said.
"We recently had this exam from where I'm from and…he didn't pass. He was upset about it, but I don't think that would be a reason why he would be acting differently"
She recalled that Terra wanted to ask her something before they left for this mission.
"Oh! He wanted to ask me something, but he was never able too" she remembered.
"He looked really nervous about it"
Taiyouko raised an eyebrow.
"What do you think it could have been?" she asked.
Lumen shook her head.
"I don't know" she said.
"And I think it's too late to find out"
Taiyouko snorted and shook her head.
"It's never too late to ask" she said.
"Maybe he's just nervous about this thing he wanted to ask you and it's got his mind all messed up. Maybe that's why he's acting differently"
Lumen looked at her.
"You think so?"
Taiyouko nodded.
"I'm a mother, and I know these things" she said.
Lumen looked at her hands in her lap.
"Maybe I should talk to him about it"
"It wouldn't hurt to try" Taiyouko said.
"Owww!"
Taiyouko looked at the park to see that Ienzo had jumped off the swing when he was too high and landed face first into the ground.
"Oh dear" she said.
She stood up quickly.
"I better go take care of him before he starts crying"
She turned to Lumen.
"Will you be alright?"
Lumen smiled a little and stood.
"Yeah, and I should get going now anyway" she said.
"I'm sure my friends are wondering where I went"
Taiyouko nodded a little before she smiled.
"Just remember what I said"
Lumen gave her a grateful smile.
"Thank you so much" she said.
Taiyouko laughed a little.
"Hey, we're friends now aren't we?"
Lumen chuckled.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right" she said.
Taiyouko smiled before she ran off to pick up her brother as he started crying.
Lumen smiled at her new friend before she walked off.
She had some talking to do.
/
"I wonder if what Taiyouko said was true?" Lumen asked herself.
She walked near one of the court yards that lined the outside of the town. The air smelled of flowers while fountains streamed peacefully.
"I guess maybe Terra does have a lot on him mind right now…but that doesn't give him the excuse to hurt me like that" she said.
"I thought he had a little more faith in me than that. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I wouldn't?"
She sighed as she looked up at the sky.
"I guess being in a relationship is a lot harder than it looks" she muttered.
"Lumen!"
Lumen gasped and whipped around to see Terra running towards her.
"Terra?"
The young keyblade wielder skidded to a halt when he reached his girlfriend and tried to regain his breath. He appeared to have been running for quite a while with the way he looked so winded.
He looked up at her from his knelt stance and gave her a weak smile.
"I've been looking everywhere for you" he said.
"I was starting to think that you left this world"
Lumen gave him a stern look and crossed her arms. Even though she loved him dearly, she was still mad and hurt by what he had done.
"Maybe I should have" she said.
"Since you obviously don't care about what your actions will do to your friends"
Terra flinched at that. He figured she would still be pissed. He would be to if he was in her predicament. But that wasn't why he was here. He was here to set things right.
"I know you're mad" he said.
"Oh, I'm more than mad" Lumen said.
"I'm hurt. How could you do this? To my father? To our friends? To me? Don't you realize the pain you've given us? My father was willing to give you a second chance at becoming a keyblade master and you just blew it by using the darkness within your heart. You promised me that you would never let that happen and that you would never betray me. But what do you do? You go ahead and use the darkness to help you get through this mission! My father warned us about what happened when the darkness consumes us. Do you want me to see you get consumed by the darkness? Do you want me to see you become an empty shell of what you once were? Well, I don't ! I want my boyfriend to be safe and sound. I want my boyfriend to think with his heart and not with his head. I want my boyfriend to actually be alive rather than dead!"
Terra didn't say anything as she yelled at him. He didn't want to hear it but he knew that he had to. He caused her so much pain and this was his punishment.
Because he let the darkness in his heart control him, he was hurting his light.
That was his sin and this was his punishment.
But that didn't mean he wasn't going to do anything. He betrayed her trust and he had to get it back.
He had to right his wrong doings.
"I'm sorry" he said.
"I know that doesn't change the fact that I've done horrible things, but I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone, most of all you. I know your father is giving me a second change and I'm grateful for that. I want to be a keyblade master, I really do. But with everything that's happening, my mind is in so many directions. I need to find Master Xehanort, I need to destroy the Unversed, I have to protect the worlds from the darkness. I know that the darkness is bad, but I'm always afraid that I'm doing the wrong thing and it takes over. I want to fight the darkness and destroy it, but somehow it's destroying me and who I really am. I don't want to be a Terra that you don't know, but I also don't want to be the weak Terra that you're used to. I want to protect you as best as I can and the only way to do that is to become a keyblade master"
Lumen just gave him a sad look.
"Is being a keyblade master really that important to you?" she asked.
"Do you think that's what I want?"
Terra shook his head.
"No, but at least I will know that I have the strength to protect you"
Lumen sighed. She had heard this hundreds of times, but it seemed that he still wouldn't listen.
"I don't need a keyblade master to protect me" she said.
"All I need is your love. As long as I know you love me, then that's all that I need"
Terra gripped his hand into a fist.
"I know that, but how will my love protect you from the Unversed?" he asked.
"All they feel is negative emotions. Love will have no effect on them"
Lumen closed her eyes for a moment.
"You would be surprised what it's done to those who've been consumed by the darkness" she said.
She looked up at him sadly. She was losing the Terra that she loved and she knew it.
"Do you really love me?" she asked.
Terra looked stunned that she would even ask such a question.
"Of course I do!" he insisted.
"You're the only woman that I've ever had and ever will love"
Lumen sighed. That was a petty excuse. That wasn't the Terra that she knew. The Terra that she knew would go crazy and shot his love for her to the world.
"Then prove it" she said.
Terra gave her a hard stare. So she was playing hard to get now, huh? Well, fine. He knew how to play that.
"Fine then, have it your way" he said.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a very small box.
Lumen raised an eyebrow when she saw bend down on one knee and held the box up.
"Terra, what are you-"
She had a hand flying to her mouth when she saw Terra open the box and revealed a diamond ring sitting in the middle of it.
Terra gave her a gentle look as he held her hand.
"Lumen, will you marry me?"
/
A/N: WHAT? Did Terra just propose to her? I think he did. Oh, I'm such a nasty person leaving it at a cliff hanger like that. Especially since Terra caused Lumen all of that trouble.
Got to love Taiyouko. She may be crazy at times, but she's full of wisdom. And I thought it was cute to have all of the future members of Organization Xlll present. Lea was just funny because his comment of having a girl like Taiyouko is going to foreshadow his relationship with Tsukiko.
Anyway, please don't hate me with the way I ended this chapter. I thought it would be interesting to see your reactions if I ended it like this.
Please review and tell me what you think!
Ja ne!
