Timeless

Chapter 7B: Escaping the Memory

(Date unknown, 2012 – ATL)

The next time Sora awoke, it was an arduous process just to open his eyes. Everything around him was blurry and the sounds came in muffled. Breathing was a painful chore. And there was a bright red light floating just in front of his face that made him squint.

Ah… right…

His heart.

Floating above without a care in the world was his crystallized heart for all the world to see. Somehow, seeing it a second time didn't cause Sora to relapse into shock. He figured that the last strand of sanity he had been clinging to had finally snapped and now nothing would phase him in the least. Off to the side of the laboratory, Dr. Hojo and three other scientists were going over some notes, whispering with a heightened sense of excitement, yet Sora could only make out a few words, not enough to form a full sentence.

"…bond of hearts…" they said quietly. "…connection… light… protective… Princess… see the…"

"I think they finally figured out what made you special," said another voice closer to Sora. He craned his neck and saw the ethereal form of his Nobody hovering nearby. Roxas was glowering at the group of scientists. "They're picking up traces of pure light in your heart. The pure light that Kairi used to restore you."

"What will happen to her?" Sora croaked, his voice barely audible. "Now that they know? Will she be safe?"

"You and I both know that she could kick all their asses with her hands tied behind her back."

Sora snorted dispassionately. "…Didn't stop them from kicking my ass."

"They caught you off-guard. They used a little girl to get you."

"God, I'm so stupid…"

"Sora, don't start with that. We need that optimistic attitude of yours to come back for just a little while so I can figure this out. Look sharp. Here they come." True enough, Dr. Hojo and his assistants were approaching. Hojo seemed sour about something.

"Ah, Sora, you're awake!" he exclaimed. "Well, it seems there was some truth to your earlier ramblings about your heart. We can't recreate the process without a Princess of Heart. Plans are currently underway to acquire one. In the meantime, we'll be extracting samples of the pure light in your heart so we can study it and hopefully duplicate it. Once that's done, we'll replace your heart, safe and sound." Sora's eyes darted to his heart. Up until that moment, he had been hesitant to look at his chest, to see the damage that had been done. The spot where his Keyblade had pierced his chest was covered by a bloodied gauze that looked as though it were in desperate need of being changed. Sora felt like he was going to be sick.

"Will you let me go then?" he asked weakly, tearing his eyes away from his scarred chest. Hojo let out a bark of a laugh.

"And why would we do a silly thing like that? There are still lots of things we can learn about you and your weapon. Not to mention, we can still use you for other experiments like weapon-testing."

"Bastard…" Roxas hissed. He looked like he was itching to beat Hojo to a pulp, but his ethereal form wouldn't allow it. Hojo turned back to his assistants and directed them to begin the extraction process. A white beam of light shot out of a strange apparatus in the ceiling, pulling pieces of red crystal from Sora's heart, digging deep and slicing through it. Sora cried out, filled with a burning sensation across his body. He strained to reach out to Roxas.

"Make them stop!" he screamed. Roxas watched on helpless, trying to take Sora's hand.

"Just hang on, Sora!" he said. "I'm right here! Don't give up!" The pain was blinding, pushing Sora to the very limit of his sanity. Just when it was bordering on lethal, he passed out.

oOoOo

Sora bolted awake, sitting up quickly as a sharp scream emitted from his lips. He froze, looking around, completely disorientated. He was back in his dark cell. Although his body still tingled with the lingering pain of the darkness, his heart was nowhere to be found. Panic filled him.

"They put it back," said Roxas. He was standing in the corner watching over Sora. "Your heart is where it should be."

"What happened?" Sora whispered, pressing his hand over his chest. The gauze over his heart was still damp with blood.

"After you passed out, they took what they could from your heart and put it back in your body. Then they dumped you here. You've been unconscious for 14 hours."

"This can't be happening…" Sora pulled his knees up to his chest protectively. "This whole thing… It has to be a nightmare."

"C'mon, Sora, don't go crazy on me. You're gonna get through this."

"How do you know?" Sora's eyes were wild and bloodshot. "I've been trying to escape since I first got here! This place is a fortress! There's no way out!"

Roxas eyed him a moment before he approached the door, easily walking through the bars and peering down the corridor. He seemed to get a certain distance away before he winced and retreated back into the cell. "They left you some food. I suggest you eat it to keep your strength up." Sora eyed the tray that had been left by the door.

"And if I don't eat?" he muttered. Somehow, death was preferable to this nightmare. Roxas shot him a stern look.

"Don't be selfish. The universe still needs you."

"I'm sick of being the one the universe needs!" Sora shouted suddenly. "The universe can go fuck itself!"

"You don't mean that. Kairi still needs you. You really think she should just fuck off and die?" Sora sputtered and didn't answer right away.

"But you said it yourself. She can fend for herself."

"But that doesn't mean she doesn't care if you live or die. She loves you, man! Get it together! For her sake! For Riku's memory! For yourself!" Roxas pointed at the tray firmly. "Eat." Sora glared at Roxas for a long time. Finally, after 5 minutes, he dragged himself over to the tray and began picking at the food. Moderately satisfied with that, Roxas turned to the bar doors once more. He stepped outside the cell and tried advancing further down the hall.

Sora panicked. "Where are you going?" he asked desperately.

"I'm trying to figure out where we are." Roxas made it about ten feet further away than last time before he stopped, grimacing about something and stepping backwards. "They're coming." Hojo and his entourage rounded a corner, coming up to Sora's cell, completely ignoring Roxas.

"Ah, the prodigal son is awake!" Hojo said. "How are we today?"

"Ask him where we are," Roxas instructed. Sora's eyes darted back and forth between Roxas and Hojo.

"Where… are we?" he asked slowly. Hojo seemed surprised by the question.

"Why would I tell you that?" he asked.

"Who am I ever going to tell?" Sora countered.

"Good answer," Roxas chimed in. Hojo seemed to be considering the request. He snapped his fingers and indicated to one of the guards to apprehend Sora. At first, Sora resisted, backing away, but his strength was still diminished, and he was quickly subdued. The guard pulled him to his feet and shoved him towards the door.

"You want to know where we are right now?" Hojo asked. "I think you of all people will find this poetic, in a way." He began marching down the corridor with the guards and the cuffed Sora close behind. The path they walked along was entirely new to Sora, at the opposite end of the building from the labs, but after a quiet few minutes of walking, there were certain elements that were starting to look familiar.

They ascended a staircase that led to a new set of damp hallways with sections of it flooded with ankle-deep water. Sora was glancing around, trying to figure out where he recognized these hallways from. Roxas was eyeing the décor as well, memorizing it for future reference. They came to an ornate gate separating a section of hallway from the one they were in, so Hojo pressed a button on the wall next to it. The gate slid into the floor. Far at the end of the corridor, there appeared to be daylight streaming in from an open door. Hope swirled in Sora's damaged heart. Beyond that exit was possible freedom.

They reached the end of the corridor, and instead of a doorway, it was merely a collapsed opening that led to the outdoors. It was hazy with overcast in the sky, the sun blocked by grey clouds. It looked like the facility they were in was located inside a mountain and part of the facility had crumbled away down the mountainside. Flooded water trickled out the opening and down the side of the debris.

"Behold," Hojo said, gesturing his whole arm towards the entrance. "Your ruined prison." At first, Sora didn't move. He suspected a trap. However, Roxas did not hesitate to jump over the debris and rocks out the opening. He looked around and then up.

"Sora…" he murmured. "You have to see this…" Sora glanced cautiously at his captors. They were waiting for him to move. Finally, he took a step towards the opening. One step after another, his feet took him out to the remains of the hallway, nothing more than a ledge at this point. Beyond the ruined ledge, the water from the inside filtered out down a steep cliff and far beyond the human vision. There didn't appear to be any ground anywhere beyond the facility. Looking up, Sora saw castle spires coming from the roof of the labs. Or more accurately, the facilities were merely basement corridors and rooms attached to the base of a decaying castle.

Squinting, Sora spotted a flag waving at the top of one of the remaining spires. His eyes widened in horror. It was Radiant Garden's flag. The ruined castle was the remains of Castle Luminous. The basement corridors were the waterways beneath Hollow Bastion, the very same labs that Xehanort had used when he was experimenting with hearts. They were on Radiant Garden the whole time.

"W-we're…" he stuttered. "We're on Radiant Garden?"

"Precisely," Hojo answered, smiling at the shock on Sora's face. "The Righteous Hearts started here and we never left, even after the Heartless ravaged this world a second time. We stayed safe in the secret laboratories beneath the waterways of Castle Luminous." Sora was finding it difficult to breathe. This whole time, the Righteous Hearts were hiding in plain sight and no one ever thought to check there. And no one ever would, since it was widely believed that the Heartless had destroyed this world. "What's the matter, Keyblade Master? Surprised to see how resilient we are?" After a period of silence, Hojo snapped his fingers and indicated to the guards to take Sora back to his cell.

As they marched back down into the humid basement, Roxas murmured, "This is a good thing. Now I know what to tell the others when I see them."

"See them?" Sora groaned. The guards glanced at him when he spoke but said nothing, unable to see the Nobody walking beside them. Roxas nodded.

"I'm going to disappear for a bit, but don't lose hope! I'll be back, I promise!" His form began fading. Sora let out a shout.

"No, wait, don't go!" He reached out to an empty spot in front of him. It was too late. Roxas was gone. Sora stared at the spot where he was once standing, grief filling him. It was only when one of the guards roughly shoved him three times that he resumed trudging back to his prison cell.

(Jan. 15, 2012 - ATL)

It had been three days since Sora had last seen Roxas. During those three days, he didn't eat, his motivation for living entirely depleted. Once a day, he was taken from his cell and the scientists perform tests on him with new weapons and chemicals they were working on. Each night, he came back to his cell beaten and bruised. The healing spells of Lucrecia's were becoming less and less effective. One of these days, they were going to kill him and not be able to revive him. He welcomed that day.

Sora was curled up on his musty bare mattress, shaking. For the last few hours, he had been holding back tears. He had made a promise to Kairi not to cry anymore and he certainly wasn't going to break his promise in his dying days. He stirred when he felt a warm breeze pass over his cheek.

"I'm back," said a voice in his ear. He painfully turned his head to see Roxas hovering over him, his ghostly hand pressed against the brunet's cheek. "I told you I'd be back." Sora's bottom lip trembled, emotions growing unstable.

"You were gone for so long…" he cried meekly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Where were you?"

"I was travelling. It took a long time because it's really difficult to maintain this form without being near you."

"Don't leave me again…" Sora whispered, uninterested in what Roxas meant by 'travelling' and 'maintaining his form'.

"I won't. I'll be by your side until the end. I promise." Roxas smiled serenely. "The end is coming soon." Before Sora could respond, the bar doors made a clattering noise as they were wrenched open. Three guards walked in to take Sora away for more experiments. Roxas followed along silently.

"Do something!" Sora called as he was shoved through the doorway of Lab E.

"I already have," Roxas replied. The guards strapped Sora to the tables and left the room. All became silent as they waited for the scientists to arrive. Roxas looked anxious, pacing the room and occasionally checking the clock. Sora watched him.

"What did you do?" he asked. Roxas stopped pacing. The door opened and Hojo walked into the room with a clipboard ready.

"Today's experiment will likely be the last one you'll have to endure," he explained, getting straight to the point. "We've accumulated as much information as we possibly can from you and your heart. There isn't much left to discover. So we've decided to use you in the testing of our anti-dark weapons. Zemus will instruct you to change into your Anti Form and then we'll use our anti-dark rifle on you. If all goes according to plan, the darkness in your heart will be eradicated and you'll be released from this torment."

"Released?" Sora asked, feeling just the tiniest bit of hope.

"Killed." The hope vanished and he paled considerably.

"Roxas, do something now!" he cried, struggling against his restraints. He thought he was ready for death, but he wasn't. Hojo seemed surprised by the outburst and looked around the room.

"The subject appears to have lost his mind…" he murmured to himself as he left the lab to prep the equipment.

"I told you, I already have," Roxas answered. His form was growing weaker and he appeared to be shrugging off pain. Sora stopped struggling, suddenly concerned for his Nobody.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked quietly. "What did you do?"

Roxas ignored the question. "You saved me from the darkness and oblivion once. Let me do the same for you, Sora. Help is on the way." He was slowly disappearing.

"Roxas, wait! What did you do? What's happening to you? Don't leave me!"

"I'll never leave you. I'll always be in your heart." Roxas smiled faintly, placing his hand on Sora's shoulder. His form faded until there was nothing in its place, leaving Sora alone and cold. He whimpered in pain and grief, clenching his eyes shut. The calming presence that was once his Nobody was now gone, a lingering dull ache in its place. Suddenly, the reality of his situation hit him like a ton of bricks. The atrocities committed on him, the torture inflicted, the mutilation of his heart, it all became too much to handle at once. His breathing became laboured and his headache grew unbearable. Struggling uselessly against his restraints, he let out a strangled scream that echoed off the walls.

When the oxygen in his lungs ran out, he gasped for breath and all became silent. That was when he heard sounds outside the room, doors slamming and crashes as things hit the floor. Then he heard voices, angry and alarmed ones, one side demanding cooperation while the other resisted. Shots were fired, accompanied by loud bangs of magic-usage until the whole building was shaking as a battle ensued just outside the doors of his prison.

And all at once, the sound stopped and silence reigned once more.

Sora's heartbeat was racing as he strained to listen for any kind of noise, his brain fumbling with an explanation to the sounds he heard. With his mind reeling in panic and terror, he jumped when the doors open and a group of darkly-dressed figures swept in, soldiers of war, taking positions around the room, securing it. Leading up the rear was a woman wearing red-accented armour and a dark helmet.

"Room is secure, Red," one soldier said, tapping her shoulder. The woman removed her helmet, shaking out her short auburn locks and turning her azure eyes on Sora. He gaped, taking a long moment to register who she was.

"K…Kairi?" he whispered, his voice hoarse from screaming and thirst. The woman in question nodded. Sora thought he'd never see her again, falling into a state of shock and disbelief. Kairi stepped forward without a word, summoning her dagger-sized Keyblade, the Broken Bond, and cut Sora loose from his restraints. When he tried to sit up, she pushed him back down and murmured a quick healing spell. Her hands lingered over his scarred and bloody chest, hovering over his heart. Her eyes widened a moment before understanding flooded them.

"So if was Roxas after all," she whispered more to herself. Her eyes returned to Sora's face, stony and hard. "He came to me, told me you were in danger and where I could find you." There was a flash of softness to her features, a hint of repressed weakness and misery, but she quickly hid it. "I'm sorry…" she whispered, leaning forward so only he could hear her. "I should have found you sooner. I just couldn't get the connection between our hearts to help guide me. I…" She trailed off, thinking it best to save her apologies for later when Sora was relocated to a hospital. "Let's get you home." She smiled dully, as if her facial muscles weren't used to smiling at all or she was too exhausted to attempt it.

The last thing Sora remembered before losing consciousness was being lifted off the laboratory table by three soldiers. The next time he awoke, it was in a flurry of panic. He bolted upright, screaming as the remnants of a nightmare ebbed away. Magic flared as light burned his fingertips, the weight of the Keyblade appearing in his hands in a flash of luminosity, readying himself for a fight and startling the nearby healers in the room. It was then that he realised he wasn't still in the hands of the Righteous Hearts. He was lying in a comfortable hospital bed, hooked up to IVs and a heart monitor, which was beating erratically at the moment. He remained tense and suspicious, his heart still racing and the memories of his suffering still fresh in his mind, making it impossible for him to relax, even after a kind nurse tried to reassure him that he was safe.

Sora looked down at his torso. There were numerous amounts of bandaging around his chest, especially over where his heart was. Almost by instinct, he slowly placed his hand over the spot, feeling for a heartbeat, as if he were unsure if his heart were still there. But sure enough, he felt the gentle thumping of a heart inside his chest.

"Sora?" The voice alarmed him and he turned his Keyblade on the newcomer in the room but stopped when he saw her face. Kairi gazed back at him, unfazed by the tip of Oblivion pointing at her throat. "You're awake."

"Am I?" he replied quickly. "I don't know anymore. I had so many dreams… So many…" His grip on his weapon increased as beads of sweat trickled down the back of his neck. "How do I know this isn't just another nightmare?" Kairi kept her gaze level and strong. She gently gripped the tip of Sora's Keyblade and steered it away from her body.

"You'll just have to take my word for it," she whispered, stepping closer. "You're not dreaming. You're safe now." Sora's eyes flickered around the room to the other healers and back to Kairi. His breathing slowly returned to normal and his heart rate decreased.

"Where am I?" he asked quietly, his arm dropping a few inches.

"Disney Castle hospital."

Although he was still tense, he allowed himself to dismiss the Keyblade in his hands. "How long was I out?"

"Three days."

The next question, Sora hesitated to ask but he needed to know anyway. "How… long was I… How long ago was I taken?" Kairi frowned sadly.

"Three weeks." Sora felt his blood go cold. "You were taken on the 23rd of December. It's the 18th of January today." He was held captive for three weeks. Three weeks of torture and brutal experimentation. He felt like he was going to be sick. "Sora, I'm so sorry." Kairi kneeled next to his bed, taking his free hand. "We searched for days after you were reported missing! We didn't know where to begin looking for you! We thought the enemy took you, so we kept sending scouts out to enemy encampments, but they found nothing. We had no idea that you were taken by human civilians right under our noses! For the first couple of weeks, I could feel the connection between our hearts wavering and when it went out, I feared the worst! I thought you…" She choked back a sob, vowing to stay strong and not break down crying. "I thought you were dead. I couldn't feel your heart anymore." Sora appeared to be in a stupor, still trying to come to grips with everything Kairi was telling him.

"My heart…" And then, his voice took a dark undertone, quiet and yet powerful, full of hate. "They removed my heart…" Kairi's eyes widened in fear, her expression asking the obvious question of 'How?' "They had some kind of shield around me to prevent me from turning into a Heartless. The only reason I didn't go insane was because Roxas appeared." Then he felt panic rise in his chest again. "Where is he? Where's Roxas!"

"I don't know," Kairi said, trying to calm her friend. "I think he used the connection between us to contact me, but you were alone when we found you. I think…" She placed her hand over Sora's heart again to confirm her theory. "I think he's gone…" She went solemn and quiet. Sora blinked, unable to comprehend what she was talking about.

"What do you mean 'gone'? How can he not be there?" He searched deep within himself, searching for the Nobody who should have been in the centre of his heart, but all he could sense was a missing ache. "No…" Roxas really was gone.

"I think he used the last of his strength to reach me. Whatever the Righteous Hearts did to you, it messed with the balance of light and dark in your heart. It messed with his existence. I'm sorry…" Kairi closed her eyes, giving Sora a moment to come to terms with the loss. To someone on the outside, they couldn't possibly understand the deep connection that Kairi and Sora shared with their Nobodies. Their Nobodies weren't just people who weren't meant to exist, they were part of Sora and Kairi. To lose them was to lose a part of their soul, their very essence, or like losing a loved one or a child.

Sora's eyes burned with unshed tears. One by one, he was losing everything that mattered to him, and for what? Because a few overzealous mad scientists wanted to conduct unethical experiments in the name of science and saving the universe from an unstoppable threat. They should have been on the same side but they weren't somehow.

"Just tell me you got the fuckers who did this to me," he hissed, his sorrow long forgotten, overshadowed by inconsolable rage. "Tell me you made them pay. Tell me they got what they fucking deserved!" Kairi jumped at his harsh words.

"We got them. Those who weren't killed in the fight when we broke in were rounded up and put in prison. They're being sentenced to life imprisonment."

"No, that's not good enough. I want to see them burn." His eyes flickered with the flames of hatred. "I want them erased from existence, you understand? Execute them!"

"Sora, you're not well, you don't know what you're saying." Kairi had never heard such ruthless words leave his lips before. It almost frightened her how cold he was becoming in just the few short minutes since he had regained consciousness.

"I know exactly what I'm saying!" he roared, wrenching his hands out of Kairi's. "Three weeks! They had me for three fucking weeks! Do you have any idea what it feels like to be cut up and burned and forced into a hellish anti-form? Why the hell should I let them live after all the shit they put me through?"

"Because that's not you, Sora!" Kairi shouted back, standing up to her full height. "You're not a bad person! Yes, what they did was horrible! I can't imagine what you must be going through, but listen to yourself! Listen to what you're saying! The 'you' I know would never call for another living creature's execution unless you had absolutely no other choice, and even then, you'd still be reluctant and remorseful!"

"I don't care what I would have done before!" Sora jumped out of his bed, ignoring the scared protests of the nurses around him and the IV tubes and cabling pulling at his arms. "They tortured me, Kairi! They cut out my heart and made me watch as they fucked around with it! They killed Roxas!"

"And they destroyed your light." Kairi calmly stood her ground and placed her hands on Sora's shoulders. "I know. But you're slipping into darkness – I can see it in your eyes. We're going to work through this, Sora. I saved you from the darkness once before, and I'll do it again, even if I have to shed every ounce of light in my heart to do it." Sora was breathing heavily, looking at the redhead with a mix of anger and surprise.

Before he knew it, those unshed tears he was refusing to acknowledge were sliding down his face at an alarming rate and his throat was choking up with emotions. Kairi didn't hesitate to embrace him, just like she had when they had learned about Riku's death, just like when Sora had nearly got himself killed in the Land of Dragons, and just like all the times when he had been informed of yet another friend dying in the line of duty. He practically collapsed in her arms, his voice shaking with the howl of a wounded animal, the reality of his detainment crashing down all around him. And the tears just wouldn't stop.

"It's going to be okay," Kairi whispered repeatedly like a mantra in his ear. Sora wanted to believe her. He really did. But he just couldn't. It would never be okay. Not now. Not ever again.

(March 6, 2012 – ATL)

Footsteps echoed across the barren cold hallway, the sound both deathly quiet and hauntingly loud. It was all Kairi could focus on, her own footsteps as she drew nearer and nearer to the room at the end of the hallway amidst the howls and screams of insanity coming from other rooms, behind shut doors. The florescent lights that lit this dingy corridor were flickering in and out of existence but the funds simply didn't exist to replace the bulb. Once it goes out, it will stay out forever. Moodily, Kairi saw it no differently than a life. You couldn't replace a person's life once it was gone.

Reaching the end of the hall, she hesitantly put her hand on the knob, pausing to feel the smooth cool surface, allowing a moment to compose herself. Visiting this room never got any easier. If anything, every time she arrived, she would dread it more and more. It was becoming insufferable. However, she would do anything for her friends, even if all she could do meant very little in the long run.

Twisting the knob, she felt it click and release. The door swung open slowly, creaking like a tired old wheel begging for oil, and she stepped inside, shutting the door behind her.

"Not the darkness…" a voice whispered. Somewhere in the midst of a bundle of sheets and blankets, cowering in the corner of the single bed in the center of the room, was Sora, shivering and murmuring to himself. "No, not again… Don't do this…"

"Sora?" Kairi said quietly, hoping to draw him out of whatever daytime terror he was experiencing. "Sora, it's me."

"Shut the door, you're letting the light out!" he snapped, hugging himself close.

"The door is shut," Kairi calmly replied, as though it were routine. "The darkness won't get inside."

"It's too late, it's already inside," Sora hissed. "It's inside me. I can't get it out! It won't come out! I'm stained, I'm darkness! They tainted me! Oh god, I'm tainted!" He began scratching at his own arms. "It won't wash off, never come off, the stink, the dark, it's inside me!" Kairi latched onto his arms to stop him from ripping his own skin.

"It's not," she whispered. "You're pure, Sora. Why can't you see that?"

"They made me a monster!" he cried weakly, fighting for control over his arms. "Look at me!"

"I am looking!" Kairi shouted, quickly losing patience. It had been nearly three months since he had been rescued from the clutches of the Righteous Hearts, but the poignant memories and the terrible events would never leave him, forever scarring him both mentally as well as physically. Nothing she said or did for him would bring him back to reality. She had never felt more useless in her entire life, unable to help Sora through this traumatic period in his life.

When it had become apparent after a month that he wasn't recovering psychologically, they had him moved to private quarters in a special wing of the Disney hospital, a wing set up after they had begun recovering people who were being controlled by Maleficent. It was the wing, in Kairi's opinion, for the most hopeless of hopeless cases. Only those who suffered brain damage from the Eximo spell were put here. The fact that they chose to put Sora here was a major insult and only proved that they had given up on him. But Kairi would not give up.

Never.

"Those fuckers..." Sora growled lowly, hunching over. "What did they do to me...? I can't break free! The darkness won't leave me!"

"Why can't you see?" Kairi whispered, holding his hands tightly. "Tell me what I should do! I want to make you better!"

"You can't!" Sora gave up on trying to free his arms, slumping over slightly. "It's too late... You shouldn't be here... You're a Princess. I'm darkness. I can't forget what they did to me... My heart... It burns! They're killing me!" His eyes were wild, reliving another horrible memory that burned his mind. "Stop it! You don't know what you're doing!"

"No, no, no!" Kairi cried, placing her hands around the back of Sora's neck. "Don't lose yourself in the memory! Sora, please focus on me!"

"I can't forget! I can't forget! It burns!" He began shaking, rocking back and forth as the memory consumed his consciousness. It was agonizing to watch and Kairi was sure she would start breaking down if she had to witness another moment of her only childhood friend slipping deeper and deeper into madness.

There was only one solution left, something she had been holding back from using because of her morals and her point of view concerning a person's free will. But at this point, she was willing to do anything to save Sora from his own inner demons. She wrapped her arms around his head, hugging him close.

"Listen to me," she whispered in his ear. "I can make you better. I can make all the bad stuff disappear. Would you like that?"

"Nothing disappears, not darkness, not despair, nothing…"

Kairi felt the corners of her eyes prickle with tears but she quickly blinked them back, refusing to break down. She had toughened up years ago, and she certainly wasn't going to allow herself a moment of weakness now. "But I can! I can make it all go away. Only if you let me."

Sora went very quiet, still shivering in her arms. "…How?"

"Just close your eyes. I'll make you forget… It'll just be a bad nightmare." She pursed her lips, still concerned that she wasn't doing the right thing, but the war was getting worse and worse everyday. Without their key warrior at the front of the lines to protect the refugees, they were lost. She wasn't just doing this to get her best friend back, she was doing this so the universe stood a shred of a chance. "I can break the memory chains from the last four months. Naminé showed me how. Do you want to forget?"

He took a lot longer this time to answer. "Yes…"

"Just relax…" In a motherly sort of way, she smoothed out his unruly spiked hair and kissed his forehead, gently placing her hands on either side of his head. Her hands began to glow.

"Close your eyes. I'll make it all better…" That nagging twinge of guilt wouldn't go away. She was manipulating him, doing the very thing she swore she wouldn't do when she had learned how to control her light and perform the same magic Naminé once knew.

As she worked her magic, tearing apart Sora's chains of memories from the past few months, Sora winced in pain. "It hurts..." he whimpered.

"Ssh, hush now. It's almost over…"

Sora closed his eyes, desperately craving the solace he needed. At once, he fell into a deep sleep, his head cushioned against Kairi's shoulder. She continued to smooth out his hair, taking deep breaths to calm her shamed soul. This is for the best, she would tell herself. Sora needs to forget everything to get better. It's the only way.

Sometime later, he stirred, awakening from his slumber, his head lying in Kairi's lap where she hadn't moved a muscle since she had sat down on his bed.

"Kairi?" he mumbled, his mouth dry. "Where am I? What time is it?" Relief washed into her features but was quickly replaced with a neutral mask.

"It's 7:34PM. You missed dinner."

"Did I? Shit." He sat up but quickly thought better of it when a headache hit him hard. "Oh man, my head's killing me. Am I hung-over?" Kairi managed a weak smile.

"What's the last thing you remember?" she asked cautiously. Sora paused, thinking hard about her question.

"We were at the Christmas party and…" he trailed off, a dark look crossing his face. "I got jumped. But the rest is pretty hazy…" The dark look passed and he went back to looking thoughtful. "I think I was in a lab somewhere, but I can't be sure. Seemed like a dream…" Then his eyes lit up. "Roxas was there! I remember that!" Kairi looked panicked for a moment.

"Roxas?"

"Yeah, but…" Sora paused, frowning slightly. "He's… not there anymore." He pressed his palm to the center of his chest, feeling for the warmth of his heart. "Something happened." Looking to Kairi for help, he shrugged.

"You were kidnapped by the Righteous Hearts," she said bluntly, figuring that at this point, the truth wouldn't hurt so much and his mind wasn't as delicate as it was just a few hours ago. He could handle the news. There was no danger of him ever recovering his memories of the worst three weeks of his life, unless she willed it, and she knew she never would. "We rescued you after Roxas came to me in a dream. But he was separated from you for too long without a real body. I think…he's gone for good." Shock spread across Sora's body, causing him to inhale sharply.

"Oh no…" He closed his eyes, allowing a moment of grief to take him before his tough exterior returned. "And the Righteous Hearts?"

"They were dealt with."

"How? Who was behind them?"

"You don't need to worry about that. They were dealt with. It's done and over. Just get some rest. I'll bring you some dinner." She got up to leave, moving quickly for the creaky door, wanting nothing more than to outrun her guilt. A part of her couldn't actually believe it worked. He couldn't remember being tortured, mutilated, or experimented on. It was for the best. But she felt disgusted with herself. She abused a power she had over him. She reshaped him into something she could use. Sometimes the ends really don't justify the means at all.

"Hey, wait, Kairi," Sora called, gently grabbing her by the wrist. Kairi froze, dread filling her. "Thanks. For being there when I woke up." He released her arm and sat back down on the bed.

"Yeah…" she replied, clenching her fist as she did. "Yeah, don't worry about it. That's what friends are for." With that, she fled the room. It was possible she felt even worse leaving than she had when going in.

(Sept. 25th, 2007 – CTL)

Sky rapidly sat upright, gasping for breath, hands rushing to his head to block out the intense pain and the flood of memories exploding in his brain. Kairi was crying out in distress, her hands retracting so quickly from Sky's presence that it looked as though his aura had burned her. Alarmed by their reactions, Sora and Riku rushed to their friends' aid.

"What's wrong?" Sora cried, putting his hands on Sky's shoulder in an attempt to quell the older man's pain. Riku was holding Kairi close, rubbing her back in a comforting manner. "What happened?"

"God! Oh god! It burns!" Kairi whimpered, burying her face in Riku's chest. "It burns!"

"Burning…" Sky whispered, his breath still coming in sharply. "My heart's burning…"

"What did you see?" Sora yelled, moving his hands from Sky's shoulders to his face. "Please tell me what's wrong!" He had never been more terrified in his life than right at this moment. His two friends were reeling in shock from whatever they had just witnessed and there wasn't a thing he could do to help.

However, after a minute of Kairi and Sky shaking and cringing in pain, a calming wave washed over them and the pain faded as their minds had time to adjust to the new and disturbing memories. Kairi stopped shaking as she pulled away from Riku but her face was still white as a sheet and her eyes looked haunted. Sky brushed Sora's hands off him as he stood up and began pacing around the backyard, trying to come to grips with this new revelation in his life. It was overwhelming and just too difficult at that very moment to handle.

"Are you okay?" Riku whispered to Kairi, still rubbing her arms in a soothing way. She didn't respond for a long time, looking past Riku as if she were watching something that wasn't there. But after a few blinks, her eyes locked with Riku's as she zoned back into reality.

"It was me…" she mumbled, tears already forming in her eyes. "I was the one who erased his memories…"

"What?" Riku was taken aback, unsure he fully understood what she was talking about.

"That blank spot in his memories, the ones from when he was kidnapped. I'm the one who erased them. I forced him to forget!" When she blinked, two tears trailed down her cheeks. "Why would I do that…? How could I do that to him?" She inhaled shakily. "And now I just made him remember everything, all the horror and the experiments! Oh my god… I made him remember!"

"Kairi, no…" She looked up at Sky, who had stopped pacing and was standing behind Riku. His eyes looked like a stormy hurricane instead of the clear blue they normally were, projecting such intensity that almost made Kairi flinch away. "You did the right thing."

"How can you say that? All those terrible memories..." She began shaking again.

He sat down beside her and took her hands. "I'm not as frail as I was before. I couldn't handle it then but…" He gave her hands a gentle squeeze as the storm in his eyes cleared up. "I'm stronger now. I'll be okay. I needed those memories to help my people. Now I can."

"What did you see?" Sora asked desperately, not enjoying being left in the dark.

"Everything," Sky replied darkly, closing his eyes. "I remember every moment clearly now, every experiment they ran, all the tests they did on my heart, the moments when they forced me to turn Anti, everything right up until my Kairi rescued me and broke the chains of memory tied to my kidnapping."

"The Kairi from your timeline manipulated you!" Kairi cried. "How is that any better than what the Righteous Hearts did to you?"

"We all did a lot of terrible things, things we're not proud of. It was necessary." He put a finger over Kairi's lips before she could interrupt with self-loathing. "She did it to save me. I don't blame her for what she did. I needed to forget that time in my life to recover properly. I wouldn't be here right now if she didn't do that. So don't wallow in guilt about something you didn't do, Princess."

It was quiet for a long time before Kairi nodded. There was a wisp of an eternally apologetic look in her eyes that Sky doubted would ever go away completely, but he knew how strong Kairi was capable of being. Sky smiled. She'd be fine.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Riku asked.

"Yes," Sky answered, looking up. "The Righteous Hearts are hiding beneath the waterways of Castle Luminous."

"Are you serious?" Sora exclaimed.

"There's no time to waste. I gotta go tell Leon the news." Sky straightened up. "It was good to see all of you again." Kairi stood up as well and embraced Sky.

"I'll miss you," she whispered, hugging him tightly.

"You're leaving already?" Sora moaned, folding his arms. "But you just got here."

"Stop being a whiney brat," Sky snapped, releasing Kairi and grabbing Sora in a headlock. "Or I'll kick your ass again."

"That first time doesn't count!" Sora growled, escaping the headlock and grinning. "See you later, Sky. Don't be a stranger!"

"Yeah, try visiting when you don't have bad news," Riku chimed in with a smirk. "Come back when you nab your new boyfriend!"

"New boyfriend?" Sora asked quizzically.

"I'll tell you later."

Sky rolled his eyes, pretending he didn't hear that last part. He waved as he opened a Door to take him back to Radiant Garden. This was by far the most important lead they had gotten. He'd be damned if he let this one go.

oOoOo