Kyrie (c) Me

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

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 25

Kyrie was silent as she walked below deck, heading to the room where she had talked with Axel. Walking in, she was surprised to see Axel as he lay on the hammock, rocking it back and forth with his foot. He looked up as she walk in, noticing the aggravation in her eyes.

"Hey, welcome back. Is something wrong?" he asked in concern as he sat up, allowing her to sit next to him. She was still for a few short moments, before nodding.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked. She nodded again, as she pulled out her notebook. He was silent as she wrote, recounting all of the events from when she went to the deck to what had happened just minutes ago.

But how could he do that to Jack? The man risked his life to help him find Elizabeth, only to be backstabbed and left for dead. Why, Axel? Why are people like this, willing to betray each other to save their own skin?

Axel heaved a sigh as he placed a hand on her head, making her look at him.

"Kyrie, that's just how life is. People will betray you for their own selfishness, and sometimes you'll betray others too. I know I had to betray a few people in the past, and I've had people stab me in the back too. There's nothing you can do." he explained, remembering how he betrayed his fellow members at Castle Oblivion. But he would never tell her that, he would take that to his grave.

She nodded sadly and heaved a sigh, before leaning into him. The action made him blush, but he didn't push her away. He just wrapped his arm around her shoulders like he usually did, because of their significant height differences, and held her close.

"But you don't have to be like that. Just be yourself, and you'll fine. 'Sides, I wouldn't want it any other way." she blushed at his words, and nodded. Suddenly, they heard a loud bang, and the ship rocked harshly, throwing Kyrie forward as she dropped her belongings. Axel quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back, keeping her from injuring herself.

"Pirates!" they heard someone cry. Kyrie quickly got to her feet and ran to the door, before a hand around her wrist stopped her.

"Kyrie, don't go out there! It's too dangerous!" he pleaded. But she quickly shook her head, she couldn't leave Sora and the others to fend for themselves. Not only had she made a promise, but the three grew on her. Pulling her wrist away, she ran up to the deck, surprised to see that the whole ship was in chaos.

"Kyrie, duck!" Sora cried as he ran forward, throwing both of them to the floor just as a cannonball flew over their heads. She looked at him thankfully before the two got to their feet. They heard a small clink and looked down, to see the cursed medallion laying on the floor. He leaned down and picked it up, glaring at the Black Pearl before looking at the others.

"What're we gonna do?"

"We're just gonna have to fight!" Sora exclaimed, holding the medallion tightly in his hand as he summoned his keyblade in the other. The others nodded as they got their weapons ready, watching as pirates swung over from the pearl onto the Interceptor. Kyrie summoned her keyblades and prepared herself for the onslaught.

"There's the medallion! Get it!" one of them shouted as they got on board, they eyes landing on the trinket in Sora's hand. Kyrie was in front of the boy in seconds, sending one of them reeling back with a blow to the face.

"Man, this is gonna get ugly-" she thought as she sent another pirate overboard, hearing him scream before he hit the water. With this the fight began, with Will and Goofy manning the cannons while Sora, Donald, and Kyrie fended off the horde of bloodthirsty hooligans.

"Ah!" Sora cried as he was thrown against the mast, the medallion flying out of his hand as he did so. A pirate reached down and grabbed it, before getting electrocuted by Donald's thunder spell.

"Got it!" he cried as he grabbed it. Running to get out of the fray, he didn't see the foot that was in front of him before he tripped, the medallion landing on the floor beside him.

"I'll take this." the man snickered at he took it. But Kyrie was there in a heartbeat, slicing him in half with her Lost Memory keyblade. The trinket landed on her shirt and got tangled in her pendant, making her blush when she realized all undead eyes were now on her as their target.

"Oh. Crap." was her only thoughts as she began running, trying to stay as far away from the horde as possible.

"Get 'er!"

"The wench has the medallion!"

"Shoot her!"

Kyrie quickly turned, summoning her shield of light just as a few rounds were shot off, protecting her against the bullets.

"Ha, take that!" she thought as she ran back, taking them out with her keyblades with a series of strokes and uppercuts. Soon, all of the pirates were off the ship as smoke rose from the Black Pearl.

"Hooray!" Donald exclaimed as he began jumping up and down. Sora walked over and untangled the trinket from Kyrie's pendant, before holding it in his hand.

"We beat the pirates!" Sora said proudly. But a dark voice chuckled from behind them, making them jump.

"Well, did you now, laddie?" Turning, they spotted Barbossa and his men as they surrounded them, with Jack tied up in the center of the mass. Sora gasped.

"Jack!" he cried. The captain gave an uneasy chuckle as the pirates turned their attention on to him. But the ruthless captain paid no mind to his minions. Instead, he had his eyes on the medallion in Sora's hand.

"Now then, I'll be having back that medallion…Unless it's more important than their lives?" he spoke, indicating Elizabeth and Jack. From the corner of her eye, Kyrie spotted Will as he climbed up to the edge of the ship, holding tightly to some rope with a gun in hand.

"Will? What're-" Kyrie thought as she watched, but at that moment, he began talking.

"Barbossa! She goes free!" he exclaimed as he aimed the pistol at the captain. The group stared at him in shock while he laughed.

"Go ahead boy…shoot! We can't die." Barbossa explained. But the determination in the man's eyes didn't falter.

"You can't…but I can!" without hesitation, he whipped the gun around until it was pointed at his temple, making the four jump at his recklessness.

"Will, no!" Kyrie thought as she watched, why in the world would he try to kill himself? But he simply continued, unfazed at the gun he himself pointed at his head.

"My name is Will Turner! My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner! His blood runs in my veins!" the large band gasped at this. "On my word, do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker." He finished. The captain was silent for a moment, before nodding.

"Name your terms…Mr. Turner." Barbossa spoke grudgingly. Will nodded as he looked over to the small group.

"Release Elizabeth…and Sora, and Donald, and Goofy, and Kyrie too!" he demanded. The captain was silent for a moment. "We'll gladly set them free. But unfortunately, the lass with the white hair we'll be taking along with us. After all, our new associate wants her for his own affairs."

"I said she goes free! You are not to harm any of them!"

Kyrie looked over to the medallion in Sora's hand as the two argued, she couldn't let those scum get the medallion.

"But what can I do? Where can I-" she looked over to the side of the deck, an idea popping into her head. "That's it! I can…"

"Anything else?" Barbossa sighed, apparently giving in to Will's demands. The man shook his head. "Leave, now!"

"Agreed. Leave we shall…but the Heartless stay!" they heard a familiar maniacal laughter and turned, just to see Pete hit Will over the head with an oar. Without a moments hesitation, Kyrie reached out and snatched the medallion out of Sora's hand, running to the bow of the ship. Sora stared at her as she ran, confused and alarmed at what she was doing.

"Kyrie! What are you-" he cried as she ran to the deck. Barbossa's eyes widened when he realized what exactly the girl had planned.

"Stop that wench!"

Just as Kyrie raised her arm to throw the trinket overboard, a gunshot rang out and she felt something pierce her side. Her eyes widened as she dropped the medallion, making it land on the floor of the deck with a small clink. Falling forward, her legs hit the side of the ship and she fell over, going overboard.

"Kyrie!"

"No!"

She fell into the water with a loud splash, back-first, and watched as Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran over, looking down at her with wide eyes. She began to sink further and further away from the surface, her limbs paralyzed and unable to move.

"This is…just like my dream. I…can't swim. I…can't breathe…" she thought as she sank, watching a red stream flow from the wound to her side towards the surface. A muffled sound of another splash brought her back from her thoughts, and she could barely make out what it was. A black and red shape swam at her, but she slowly closed her eyes as she began to lose consciousness.

"I guess…this is it…" and she allowed the darkness to take her.

…

…

"Kyrie!"

"…Who…?"

"Kyrie, wake up! Damn!"

She felt herself slowly regaining consciousness, was she dead?

"If I did die…oh Axel! Demyx and Xigbar, Sora, Donald, and Goofy… This'll kill them, when they find out that I'm dead." she thought sadly, berating herself for her reckless actions. But she felt something press against her chest, trying to force something out.

"C'mon Kyrie, don't die on me! Wake up!" finally finding the strength to open her eyes, she was surprised to see red and black. Her vision cleared and she blinked in confusion.

"Axel? What-" she thought as she stared. Indeed, it was the pyro as he kneeled over her, his hair wet and tamed as water drenched his uniform. Kyrie looked down at herself and wasn't surprised that she was wet as well, but something else caught her eye. Her wound was gone!

"Oh man…you're okay." Axel sighed as he relaxed, relieved that she was finally awake. She looked at him in confusion before looking around for her backpack, but it wasn't anywhere near her. Then she took notice of their surroundings. It was a small, tropical island, with a large expanse of beach and sand. Currently, they were on the beach.

"Your backpack's still on the ship. Remember? You dropped it when they started attacking." Axel explained when he caught her confusion. She nodded before grasping his hand and placing it against her side, where she knew a bullet had passed through.

"Oh, that. Once we got to dry land, I used cure on it. Good thing there was this small island nearby when those guys started attacking, huh?" he continued. She nodded and smiled before looking down at her lap, not sure what to say.

"Axel risked his life to save mine…" she thought as she looked down at her lap. A hand on her shoulder made her look up into Axel's emerald irises as he stared at her. Without thinking, he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"You're so reckless…I thought I- …I thought that I had…lost you. When you got shot and fell into the water, I ran to the back of the ship and dove in after you. But you're okay…you're okay…" he whispered furiously as he held her close, not daring to let her go. When he saw her fall into the water from where he was hiding nearby, he actually felt afraid and devastated for that one fateful moment. When Xemnas and Saix attacked her back at the World of Never Was, he was the same then, but he didn't actually witness her attack. But when he watched as she got shot and plummeted into the water…it was ten times worse. Kyrie stared at him with wide eyes, not sure exactly why he was acting as he did.

"Axel…?" she thought as she stared. She could feel his body tremble slightly, and reached up to stroke his hair, trying to get it back into its usual spiky shape. She heard him chuckle softly from where his head was buried in her shoulder.

"Silly." he said simply. She slowly allowed her eyes to close, and leaned into his embrace, sighing in happiness. The strange feeling was back, the butterflies in her stomach, her hands sweaty and clammy, but she didn't care. Nothing at the moment seemed to matter anymore, when she was with him. But suddenly, her pendant started to glow, causing him to gasp in pain and pull back.

"What the-" he gasped as a light shot out of it and pierced the sky, creating a small pillar of light. The two stared at her pendant in amazement, before hearing the distant sounds of someone shouting. Turning, they spotted the Interceptor in the distance as it made its way towards the island. Probably attracted to the light her pendant created. Axel sighed, getting to his feet and helping her up as well.

"I better get going. I'll try and catch up to you later, okay?" he grunted, clearly not pleased at the appearance of the ship. She nodded silently and turned to him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she gave him one last hug. He gladly returned it, before opening a corridor and stepping through. She stood there for a few moments, before running towards the water.

Getting knee deep into the water, she began waving her arms, trying to get their attention. As the ship sailed closer, she could clearly see Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jack, and Elizabeth as they leaned over the side of the ship, staring at her in shock.

"Kyrie!"

Yep. Another action-packed chapter! But then again...Port Royal is famous for action, no? And I bet all of you could guess who Axel was talking about when he said "betrayed". ...If you haven't, I suggest playing Chain of Memories and 358/2 days.

Please read and review!