Kyrie (c) Me

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

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 21

She didn't know how long she waited, sitting next to the cornerstone of light. After getting tired of standing, she decided to sit next to the stone as close as possible, and lend it her strength. The queen simply watched her the entire time, not once breaking the silence or making a sound of any sort.

They just simply waited.

But all of a sudden, they could hear Donald's voice, loud and illegible, as he was speaking to someone. A puff of smoke appeared, with Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Merlin standing in the center of the room.

"Perhaps, I'd better just see for myself." Merlin told Donald. The duck simply crossed his arms and scowled as the old wizard approached the cornerstone, taking note of Kyrie as he looked at it, stroking his beard.

"Mm-hmm…interesting…" he mumbled as he stroked his beard. All was silent for a few moments before the queen spoke up, interrupting his thoughts.

"What's happening, Merlin?" she asked worriedly. The old wizard ceased stroking his beard and looked at her, his voice grave.

"This is not good. In fact, I'm afraid, it's quite serious." He explained. Within seconds he turned, and with a wave of his hands, a silver door appeared in a flash of smoke and bright light. The others stared at the door in confusion, and Kyrie could feel something strange coming from the door. It felt…wrong.

"What's that?" Sora asked curiously as he eyed the door, making the old wizard turn to him.

"My boy, that is a gateway to a special world. Someone in that world is responsible for what's going on in this castle. Of that, I'm certain." He explained.

"Oh boy!" Donald cried in joy. Goofy nodded as he patted Donald's shoulder.

"We knew we could count on you, Merlin!" he smiled, his idea actually working instead of backfiring on him. Sora turned to the others and clenched his fist, smiling.

"Then we should go get him!" he quickly reached for the door handles before Merlin intervened.

"Wait a moment!" he cried as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"The perpetrators must be stopped, of course. But there's something else to do first. Somewhere in that world, there should be another door that's identical to this one. I believe our enemies are utilizing that door. As long as it remains open, the castle will be in grave danger. Listen carefully, Sora. You must find that door. And when you do… lock it with your Keyblade." He explained, giving Sora the instructions the boy probably needed. Kyrie was silent as all this went on, should she go with them? Or should she stay behind?

"But what if something happens to the cornerstone while we're gone? Should I risk it? But what about their safety?" all these thoughts were jumping around inside her skull, beginning to give her a massive headache.

"Now, one more thing. You're heading into a very special world. While you're there, the nature of that world may tempt you to do something dark. You must resist that temptation at all costs!" He warned them. Sora stared at him blankly.

"What do you mean?" he asked. But the wizard merely wagged his finger at them.

"You'll know soon enough. I have faith in you my lads. Oh, but there is one thing. I request that the girl remain here, since she is lending her own strength to the Cornerstone, protecting the castle while doing so. I hope you don't mind." Kyrie gave a small sigh, at least now she didn't have to make that decision. Sora nodded.

"Okay. C'mon guys, let's go." and with that, they opened the door and walked through.

-Later-

As they waited impatiently for their return, Kyrie could sense changes in the cornerstone, and lent her strength to it where it seemed that the darkness would snuff out its light. But a while later, the thorns disappeared and the door began to shake, throwing Sora, Donald, and Goofy out.

"You're back!" one of the chipmunks, Chip, cried. While the three were gone, the chipmunks made their way downstairs and joined them as they waited. Kyrie smiled, she could already feel the light coming back into the cornerstone of light.

"Are you better now?"

"Yes. Tell them I said thank you." She quickly got to her feet and rushed over, eager to make sure that none of them were injured.

"N-Now, I hope you didn't do anything reckless while you were there?" Merlin asked them worriedly. Kyrie immediately pounced on them, hugging them in relief, which they returned gladly. Donald, having gotten out of her hold, looked at the wizard.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed. But the looks on Sora and Goofy's faces told otherwise, as they snickered into their hands. But something caught the duck's eye and he turned, a surprised look on his face when a female duck dressed in an elegant purple dress appeared in the doorway.

"Daisy!" he cried as he ran over. "Daisy, I'm back!" he continued as they stopped a few inches away from each other. Kyrie gave a confused look as well as Sora, they didn't know who she was or why Donald was acting so strange.

"Who?" Sora asked as he looked at Goofy. The dog smiled.

"Daisy is Donald's very special sweetheart." He explained, a huge smile on his face. Sora smirked as he held his hands behind his head.

"Really…" he spoke teasingly. Kyrie gave a soft smile, but was still confused. What was a sweetheart? But the second the two reunited Daisy gave Donald an irritated look and she knew he was in for it.

"Donald, you forgot about our date again! You'd better have a good excuse this time!" she scolded as she wagged her finger at him. He backed up a little, holding his hands up in surrender.

"But Daisy...I…" he tried to explain, but she was at it again.

"I know it's an important mission, but you could at least check in every once in a while." She complained. He looked at the others expectantly, but Sora and Goofy were staying out of this one and Kyrie had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"Sora…" Donald started, before eyeing the door from the corner of his eye. Before he could make a move, Daisy grabbed his tail feathers and refused to let go.

"Going somewhere?" she asked. He quickly shook his head, knowing he'd upset her otherwise.

"Of course not!" he cried as he shook her off, making her fall over as he ran.

"Donald!" she cried as she got up and ran after him, chasing him around the group as they did so. The group watched the two go at this for awhile, before it was finally time to say goodbye.

"Goodbye Queen Minnie, Daisy. We'll bring the king back safe an' sound." Goofy spoke as the four bade goodbye to the castle residents. Sora nodded as well as Kyrie before Donald walked up and clasped Daisy's hands.

"Don't worry Daisy, I'll be back soon. Then we'll go on a date, I promise." he explained. She gave him a small smile, a little tear forming at the corner of her eye.

"Okay, I can wait. I love you Donald."

"I love you too, Daisy." Kyrie watched the exchange between the two with confused eyes, love? She's heard the word before…but what did it mean?

"Love…what is it?" she thought as she watched the couple. Once they were done, they were off.

-Meanwhile, the World that Never Was-

Axel was silent as he walked through the Dark city, irritated and confused. Ever since he came back from Beast's castle, all he could think about was Kyrie. But not in the same way.

All he could think about was how she felt in his arm, how her hair smelt, how her heart would beat wildly inside her chest when he was around, how she would give him a gentle smile and stare at him with her dark brown irises, and how the sun would reflect her hair like fresh snow on a winter day.

All these things he thought of, and for some reason, just thinking about her in that sense brought a terrible ache in his chest, where his heart would be. And there was more than that. He was supposed to feel guilty, because he tried to kiss her in her sleep!

"Why did I try to do that? She's my best friend…friends aren't supposed to do that." he thought angrily as he walked, trying to blow some steam. But along with these strange feelings for her, he also felt unbearably lonely.

Roxas was gone, and he was all alone. Kyrie was too busy hanging around Sora, and he could risk her safety by hanging around her and Roxas' other. But then again, it's not like she asked to go with him. She was forced to.

But maybe…he could free her from that. If only…if only Roxas was here…

"That's it! If I can turn Sora into a heartless, Kyrie could be free and we'd both have Roxas back!" he thought, almost smug at the idea. With Roxas back, Sora would be a heartless and Roxas, himself, and Kyrie could go back to the way things used to be.

It was perfect.

-Kyrie-

Kyrie was silent as she watch the stars pass by, lost in thought. Sora and Goofy were in the middle of a card game, and Donald was busy driving the ship. She gave a soft sigh, her chin resting in the palm of her hand.

"Love…what is it?" she thought curiously. Seeing the way Donald and Daisy looked at each other, it was the same look that Beast and Belle gave each other, as well as Hercules and Meg. Was love something…special? Something only two people could share?

A sudden jolt from the ship snapped her out of her thoughts as she looked around, surprised to see that they were underwater. Where the heck were they?

"Hey, it's Atlantica!" Sora cried in excitement as he and Goofy rushed over to the windows, pressing their faces against the glass to get a better view. But Kyrie was far from excited at the sight of the water surrounding the ship. She felt her heart begin to speed up, and her breaths become fast and labored.

The feeling of sinking, falling. Having the air slowly stolen from you as you sank deeper and deeper into the water…

The dream of what happened in Radiant Garden came to her quickly, and she felt a griping fear take her as she backed up against the wall, trying to find any means of escape.

"Kyrie? Are you okay? You're shaking…" snapping back out of her hysteria, she saw Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they stared at her in concern. She tried taking a deep breath, but it came out in a short and breathy gasp. She quickly pulled out her notebook, trying to keep herself from flipping out.

I'm okay. I'm just…scared of the water is all. I'll be fine.

"Scared of the water? That's silly! Why would you be scared of the water?" Sora laughed. But Kyrie only looked down in shame, making the boy stop short and look at her.

"Oh…sorry…" he mumbled when he realized his mistake. She gave him a small smile, it wasn't his fault. Goofy was silent for a moment before speaking up.

"Why don't ya stay here while we go and see Ariel and the others? That way, you won't have to go anywhere near the water." he suggested. She gave a small nod before he pointed to the sleeping quarters.

"And since there's no windows in there, you can go back there if you want to avoid lookin' at the water." he added. She nodded and gave him a small hug as the three headed off into the new world, leaving her behind. She stood there silently for a few moments, before heading into the sleeping quarters and shutting the door. Curling up on one of the bunk beds, she gave a soft, irritated sigh.

She hated this fear. It was irrational, she shouldn't be afraid. But she couldn't stop it from gripping her every time she thought of the water.

"Why am I so afraid? Was it because of the dream? I was fine when we crossed the river back in the land of dragons…" she thought as she silently sat there. Then a thought came to her.

"Maybe I'm not afraid of the water…but I'm afraid of the depth. It makes sense, because the river only reached my shins, it wasn't deep. This water surrounds the ship, so…" she gave a grim smile and opened her backpack, bringing out her star plush and her white Wayfinder. She hugged the star close to her chest with one hand while the other held the Wayfinder in front of her. She stared at it and frowned a little.

"I wish you were here…Axel. You always keep me safe."

Okay, so this chapter was boring, but next chapter a certain blonde nobody will appear. Care to take a guess?

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