Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts characters/some of the story (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 10

As they boarded the Gummi ship, Donald immediately ran over to the controls and began the countdown to lift off. Kyrie, Sora, and Goofy took their seats and not long after, the ship took off.

Once they were in the sky and leaving the Land of Dragons, Sora stood from his seat and walked over, crossing his arms as he stood in front of Kyrie. She stared at him curiously, confused on why he was giving her a "you have some explaining to do" look.

"Don't tell me you forgot! Why did you almost take my head off back at the mountain path, and why did you risk your life over a doll?" He demanded. He was probably a little sore over the fact that she had almost beheaded him. Goofy joined in and Donald set the controls on auto-pilot before joining them. Kyrie was silent before pulling out her notebook and started writing.

I'm sorry for almost taking your head off, Sora. But you were on my right side, I thought you were a heartless. It's a normal reaction.

"Normal? But couldn't you see me?" he asked. She stared at the floor silently before shaking her head. The three boys waited patiently as she wrote to elaborate what she meant.

I can hardly see in my right eye. That's why my hair covers my right eye, and why I always try to avoid walking close to anyone on that side. Sometimes I may be able to see a little bit, like some shape or color, but most of the time I can't. So I'm sorry about what happened, I should've told you, but I didn't want to give away a weakness.

"Kyrie…" Sora started, but stopped. He really didn't know what to say. Sure, he may have been a little mad about what happened, but now after hearing why…

Goofy placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, smiling at her.

"Gawrsh, it's alright. It ain't a weakness, it just something that happens." he explained. She nodded before Donald spoke up.

"So how did it happen?" he asked. Kyrie raised her eyebrow at him, confused for a moment, before realizing what he had meant. Nodding, she began to write.

I can't remember.

"That's right. Master Yen Sid said that you lost your memories…" Sora spoke, remembering the old sorcerer's words. Kyrie was silent, she was only being half-truthful. In a sense, she had a suspicion of why she lost her sight in that eye, but she needed to know more.

"So now that's answered…why did you risk your life to save that toy?" he asked. Kyrie smiled, the boy's curiosity never seemed to dwindle. She grabbed her pen and began to write.

That toy is all I have left of my past. I may not remember it, but I know that toy is the key to remembering who I was. Who I am. That's why it is so precious to me.

She didn't dare tell them the same as she told Ping. While she did not remember her past, she did remember the dreams. And DiZ had told her that her mother had given it to her as a present, and therefore, was all she had left of her mother and father. The boys stood there silently before nodding in understanding.

"Oh." Sora spoke. Donald went back over to the controls to see where their next destination was.

"It looks like we'll be there soon, but it'll be dark." he sighed. The others nodded as they gathered their things, preparing themselves for the long night ahead of them.

-Meanwhile, the Dark City-

Axel was silent as he wandered the Dark City. He was on thin ice with the organization, and he wasn't sure how much longer he had before they would mark him a traitor and come after them. He heard the familiar sounds of footsteps and looked up from where he was leaning against a building, arms crossed. Demyx stood there, looking almost embarrassed.

"Uh, hi Axel…" he started, but stopped when he caught sight of the pyro's glare. He gulped and fidgeted, almost ready to make a run for it.

"What do you want, Demyx?" he growled. The young man was silent before gulping and answering.

"I-I was wondering…how do you think Kyrie is?" he answered. Axel was silent before giving the water mage a small smirk. Out of the organization members, Kyrie looked up to Demyx and Xigbar the most. Demyx was like a big brother to her, while Xigbar was more like a father or crazy uncle, depending on the circumstances.

"Actually, I saw her yesterday. She misses you and Xigbar a lot. Got it memorized?" Axel confessed. Demyx seemed to brighten at this aspect.

"Really? She misses us?" he asked. Axel nodded.

"Yeah. You both are like family to her, why wouldn't she miss you?" he chuckled. Despite having qualms with the melodious nocturne, they met eye-to-eye when it came to Kyrie. Demyx blushed a little and scratched the back of his head. He saw Kyrie like a little sister, and looked out for her. After hearing that she had been kicked out, he felt horrible.

"It's just that, this is the first time anyone has ever missed me. Y'know, since we're nobodies and all. No one would miss us if we were gone." he explained. Axel nodded, understanding what he meant. With that, the water mage turned, walking away with a little spring to his step.

"Thanks for the info, Ax! See ya later!" he called. Axel felt his eyebrow twitch at the nickname, but nodded nevertheless. Once he was gone, Axel was left alone again. Or so he thought.

"Hmph. So you nobodies can care for others, or is this some sort of ruse?" Startled, he turned and spotted a familiar figure as it stood nearby. It was the man that worked for DiZ.

"Why're you here?" he growled, summoning his chakrams. The man held his hand up, before holding out a small box with a bow on it. Axel raised his eyebrow at the parcel, confused.

"What, now you're trying to give me presents?" he mocked. The man shook his head.

"No, it's not for you. It's for the girl." he answered. Axel was silent as he dispelled his chakrams, crossing his arms as he did so.

"Okay, now why are you trying to give Kyrie presents? You almost kidnapped her on two occasions, as well as punched her in the stomach." he pointed out. The man was silent before continuing.

"It's a present from DiZ. Apparently, it's her birthday tomorrow. How he knows, I don't know. But he gave this to me and told me to find you, since you and her are close." he walked forward, and shoved the box into Axel's arms. He stared at the box for a moment, spotting a white card on top of it, before looking back up.

Prepared to give the guy a tongue-lashing, he opened his mouth before realizing that the man was gone. Shrugging his shoulders, he plucked the card off the top of the box and opened it, reading what was inside.

Happy 18th birthday, Kyrie.

It has been a long 11 years since you last celebrated your birthday, and even longer since I last gave you a card. You may not remember your birthdays, but you were 7 when you last celebrated your birthday. You always loved celebrating your birthday.

But I digress. I want to give you a present to mark you entry into adulthood, but to you it may mean nothing. Nevertheless, I wanted you to be happy on this special day, and this present will hopefully be enough. I love you, my beloved granddaughter, and we'll see each other again soon. I promise.

Love,

Your Grandfather

Axel read the letter, his nose scrunching with disgust. Kyrie had mentioned the man a few times, since he appeared in her dreams, but he didn't know much about him. Then again, neither did she.

But he paused, from what he remembered when he was Lea, birthdays were something that were special and long-waited for. People often got presents, ice-cream, and cake on their birthdays, and had their whole families and friends come over to celebrate.

But Kyrie wasn't going to get any of these things. Well, except one present from a man she hardly remembered. The thought bothered him, she would probably feel terrible if he gave it to her. Then inspiration struck him.

"That's it! I'll get her a present! That way, she won't feel depressed when she gets this." he thought. Tucking the box into his cloak, he opened a corridor. Taking one last look at the Dark City, he stepped through.

-Later, Beast's Castle-

As the four got off the Gummi ship, Kyrie stared in awe at the new world they had arrived at. The dark sky indicated that it was nighttime, and currently they were standing in the courtyard in front of a castle.

"Whoa…" she thought as she stared at it. It was enormous! Gargoyles decorated the courtyard, as well as some portions of the roof. But overall, the castle had a gothic look and a gloomy feeling in the air.

"Hey, Kyrie! Are you coming or what?" snapping out of her reverie, she spotted Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they stood at the castle doors. Nodding, she ran over to meet them as Donald and Goofy pulled the doors open and walked in, leaving Sora and Kyrie to close the doors behind them. Kyrie took one look around and thought only three words to describe the interior.

"Gloom and doom." she thought as she stared at her surroundings. The castle looked even more gothic and depressing inside than outside, and that said a lot in her book.

There was a grand staircase that led to three doors, one in the center, one on the left, and one on the right. Before the staircase, a few doors could be spotted but only one was partially opened. There were rugs, old paintings, and more gargoyle statues that decorated the room. Kyrie felt an uneasy feeling, like something was familiar about this place. But…what?

"Hey, what is this place?" Sora asked as he looked around. Kyrie shrugged her shoulders as he looked at her, she didn't know.

"It's huge!" Donald exclaimed. They nodded as Goofy placed a hand under his chin, pondering something. After a moment, he spoke up.

"It's sort of gloomy, don't ya think?" he asked. Kyrie nodded as she brought out her notebook and wrote something down.

You said it. This place gives me the creeps.

Sora smirked at Kyrie's nervous expression, before chuckling.

"Jeez Kyrie, you're such a girl!" he laughed. But one hard glare from her silenced him, and he realized how it came out. She quickly whipped out her notebook and began writing.

You're so very lucky that you're like a little brother to me, Sora. Otherwise, I would've gone after you for saying something as narrow-minded as that.

"Oh right…sorry. I didn't mean it." he chuckled sheepishly. She gave him a curt nod as he tried to change the subject.

"I wonder who lives here." He spoke as he walked forward.

Just then, a roar rang out in answer.

A revelation exposed! Yes, that is Kyrie's true age, despite her looks. And now we start the good stuff in Beast's Castle. Thank god I got this part of the story written out, because I'm in a writer's block.

SIGH...If any of you have any good ideas- except for Axel and Kyrie kissing- please PM me. (the reason I say this is because one of my best buds who reads but doesn't review this story keeps trying to convince me to go ahead of schedule and make them kiss.) Anyways...

Please read and review!