Destiny Islands
"Kira... ...Kira... ...Is that you, Kira...?"
That voice...where am I? I should be dreaming, but I feel completely awake. Why is everything so...white?
"Kira, can you hear me?"
"Tsuki?"
"Kira! I just knew it was your presence I felt."
It's Tsuki. It's really her. I can't see her, though. I can't seem to open my eyes at all. Yet, somehow, there isn't a speck of darkness in sight.
"Tsuki, where are you?"
"I'm right here, Kira."
"But...where is 'here'?"
"We're inside our lights. In the dolls we left with Roka."
"Are we with him right now?"
"Yes. He's carrying us both to the Secret Place."
I'm home. With Tsuki and Roka.
"How is this even happening?"
"I think that when my Nobody fell asleep, all the darkness that filled up the empty body eventually became too much for it. It ended up forcing my very conscious mind out of it. I ended up finding my way to the next best vessel for me, that being my doll where my light is. I'm guessing the same thing happened to you."
"So I'm not the real me...I'm just my mind? Wait no, that doesn't make sense."
I mean, you can't say that the 'you' that other people see and interact with, the body, is any more the 'real' you than the voice you hear inside your head or the feelings you feel in your heart. Or can you? Now I'm even more confused.
"Tsuki, where are you?"
"I'm here, Kira, I'm right here."
"No, that's not what I meant. Where would I have to look if I wanted to see you?"
"Well, I'm pretty much right where you left me. You can find my Nobody sleeping in a room in the castle at Hollow Bastion."
"I'm sleeping, too. In a mansion in a place called Twilight Town."
"Alright, well come on then. Let's go take Roka to you so he can wake you up."
"But...how can we do that?"
"Don't worry, I know a way. I've been watching Roka for the past week now and I've seen how our lights have been making him stronger, just like we wanted. He hasn't shed a single tear since the day he returned to the island."
"Really? Wow, that's so brave of him. Are you sure it's okay to take the lights away from him now?"
"Well, it's important to keep Roka safe, but you're important too, Kira. Don't worry, Roka's going to be fine. It's good to cry, sometimes. And it's time to return your light now."
And then I'll be the real Kira, again. A complete person.
"Then we'll wake you up too, right Tsuki? We'll get your heart back."
"I'm afraid I won't be returning to my body yet. Maybe not for a while. There's still someone that needs my heart's protection."
There's only one other person I can think of.
"You don't mean..."
"Riku. He's got a tough journey ahead of him and he'll need all the help he can get. I'm going to stay in his heart and keep him safe."
"But why? I mean, after everything he did..."
"Even so, if something were to happen to him, that could make getting my heart back impossible. If I can do something to prevent that from happening, then there's no reason why I shouldn't, right?"
It makes a lot more sense than I'd like it to. Damn you, Riku. Why do you have to be such an important part of my best friend?
"Alright. I'll come and visit you anyway, okay?"
"Thank you. Hey, Kira?"
"Hm?"
"It's good to hear your voice again."
...
The dolls sitting side by side looked so happy together, it made Roka smile a little. He hadn't expected it to happen and in his surprise his expression turned to one of confusion. Then he felt sad, because the short-lived feeling of happiness had left him. Now back in his sombre mood, he knelt down from his crouching position and pushed Kira's doll closer to Tsuki's one. That was better. The two of them were best friends, after all. They should still stay close even after…
Death.
It wasn't a word Roka liked to think about.
Disappeared was better. Or faded. Or even just missing. Death seemed too definite. But Kira and Tsuki weren't gone forever. There was still a chance of getting them back and Roka planned to wait for as long as it took until that day came. But for now, he just had to keep the little dolls in a safe place, ready to send the light held inside them back to Kira and Tsuki's hearts.
A horrible feeling welling up in his chest reminded him that it could take months, even years, before someone came to get him. Whether it was going to be that strange man DiZ or the two Nobodies themselves, Roka wasn't quite sure.
"I'll leave you here from now on, okay?" he murmured softly to the dolls.
The echo of his voice reminded him that he was talking to himself and he lowered his head, closing his eyes sadly.
Please…just come home soon.
He barely even felt the soft hand on his shoulder.
After a few seconds, he finally became aware of it and dragged his head to look over his shoulder. Roka's half-closed eyes opened as wide as physically possible and he drew in a silent gasp. A glowing and almost transparent figure of Tsuki was kneeling on the ground right behind him, wearing white bandages around her chest, waist and arms and a long white skirt. A smile adorned her beautiful face and her features were blushing with light.
As Roka's lips parted to breathe his friend's name, he felt another pair of hands on his other shoulder. He spun around more quickly this time and let out a louder gasp when he saw who was there. Kira's shining image beamed a smile brighter than the sun and threw her arms around Roka from behind. He caught a glimpse of the long white dress she was wearing and the bandages around her upper arms. Tsuki moved forward and sat beside him, taking his hand in hers.
Roka's lips trembled as he became overwhelmed with every emotion possible. "I'm dreaming…" he whispered as a tear travelled down his cheek.
Kira was pressed up against his back as she held his waist tightly. She rested her chin on his shoulder.
"Will you come wake me up now? I'm waiting for you," she whispered.
"You mean...I can see you again now? And Tsuki?" Roka's voice sounded shaky, his whole body was completely frozen.
"You can see Kira again," Tsuki said, "But you'll have to wait just a little longer before you can see me."
Roka couldn't find anymore words to say. He was completely in shock and still trying to convince himself that he wasn't dreaming. Kira stood up and helped her blue-haired friend to his feet as well.
Tsuki pushed herself up and ran gracefully towards the open door, gesturing for Kira and Roka to follow her. Taking Roka's hand, Kira led him outside to where Tsuki was standing on the beach, the wind playing with her long ginger hair.
"Are you ready, Roka?" she looked back at him over her shoulder and smiled.
"Where are we going?" Roka stood beside Tsuki.
Kira gripped his hand tightly and Tsuki took hold of the other one. Tsuki held her free hand out in front of her, her palm facing towards the horizon. Within a few seconds, a shining white portal appeared before them.
"It's time for me to wake up now," Kira laughed as she and Tsuki ran forward, pulling the three of them into the Corridor of Light.
...
Roka appeared in a large bedroom and quickly realised that the angel-like figures of his friends had disappeared. But he only had to glance quickly across the room to find the girl sleeping in a double bed with the covers pulled up to her chin. Roka sprinted across to the bed and looked down at the girl in front of him. Kira... Quickly realising what he had to do, he pulled the purple-haired doll out of his pocket and held it out towards his friend. He prayed with all his heart that what he was doing was going to work. As if the little doll was answering him, it started to glow with yellow and white light. Roka stared in wonder and hope as the light poured into the girl's chest.
She woke up immediately, a dreamy look in her eyes. Sitting up slowly, the bed sheets fell from her shoulders, revealing her blue shirt and vest. She turned and looked at Roka, wearing a bright grin that she hadn't worn in a long time.
"You did it!" Kira almost cried with happiness as she leaped off the bed and into her friend's arms.
"Kira...Kira, you're alive," Roka was filled with relief and felt tears form in his own eyes.
"Thank you so much, Roka," Kira hugged him as tight as she could.
Having finally found some sanity amongst the craziness that had recently happened in her life, she never wanted to let him go.
The World That Never Was
"Twilight Town isn't exactly a big world, how do you expect us to believe that Xarki got lost in it?!" Xigbar threw a gloved fist onto the arm of his white chair.
The other Nobodies all gave Larxene the same suspicious looks.
"The story is rather unlikely," Saïx said matter-of-factly.
Larxene was breaking into a nervous sweat. "It's like I said. After we finished off the giant Heartless, another, more powerful, giant Heartless appeared and attacked us. I managed to get it to flee, but Xarki wanted to chase it down. I told her to forget about it and I ran after her, but she was too fast for me and I eventually lost sight of her."
Demyx made a surprised grunt, "You're telling us that the fastest Nobody in this room was outrun by a little girl?"
Larxene opened her mouth to answer, but then quickly realised that she didn't know how.
"I can vouch for her. I was there," Zexion spoke up.
Larxene sunk lower into her seat and silently thanked him for his help.
"And why were you with Larxene and not attending to your own mission?" Saïx pressed further into the interrogation.
"I tracked him down and made him come with me to help me find Xarki," Larxene quickly justified Zexion's actions for him.
"But even with the two of us looking, we found no sign of her. It's quite possible that she is no longer in Twilight Town at this point," Zexion concluded.
Everyone stayed silent for a moment.
"Lord Xemnas, how will we proceed with handling this matter?" Saïx turned to look at his superior.
"Hey, I'd be more than happy to look for Xarki myself in other worlds," Axel suggested.
"Same here," Xigbar joined in.
"That will not be necessary." Everyone's attention turned to their silver-haired leader. "One can almost be certain that Xarki does not wish for us to find her. I do not see the point in searching for something that is trying to hide from me. But no matter...I would hardly call this a loss. I only wish to have members in my Organization who are truly dedicated to our cause."
Larxene and Zexion gritted their teeth at Xemnas' words.
"Vexen. Do you have the replacement No. XIV ready?" Xemnas placed his emotionless gaze on the Nobody in the lowest seat.
The blonde man had a wild look in his eyes, "The experiment, No. i, is ready to be presented to you, my Lord."
...
Axel stood with his back pressed up against the Round Room's glass windows, his arms crossed over in chest as he was deep in thought. Roxas walked up to him slowly.
"Axel?" the boy woke the red-head from his daze.
"Yeah, what's up?" he tried to sound cheerful even though the days' events had got him pretty down.
"Where'd that girl go? The one we met on the clock tower."
The question surprised Axel a little. He realised that Roxas hadn't been invited to attend the meeting at Where Nothing Gathers, but still, Roxas had never shown much interest in their most recent member before.
"Xarki? Uh, she...she's..."
Roxas waited patiently for Axel to continue.
"She's, uh, not coming back."
"What? Never? How come?" Roxas seemed genuinely concerned.
Axel laughed awkwardly, "Well, she said something about wanting to get out and have some adventures by herself. But don't worry, she's a tough girl. She'll be alright."
"That's a shame. I was gonna ask her if she wanted to be friends," Roxas looked down sadly.
Axel patted the boy's shoulder a couple of times. "Hey, don't be so glum. You'll make other friends soon enough, just you wait. But for now, you'll just have to put up with me, alright?"
That made Roxas smile a little. "I hope that girl makes some friends, too. She'll be lonely all by herself."
Radiant Garden ~Dark Side~
"Yori, I'm home. Are you here?" Ikari pushed open the back door of her small house and stepped into the kitchen.
It didn't take her long to notice the rather conspicuous holes and stab marks streaked across the walls. The cause of the vicious attack, a long, thin, and very sharp kitchen knife, was sticking out of the door that led to the hallway. It had stabbed right through a note that Ikari had taped to it the last time she'd left the house.
Yori,
I'm going away again for a little while. Not sure when I'll be back, work's taking me pretty way away this time. But I'll try and get my deliveries done as fast as I can and get home soon.
There should still be plenty of money for food and anything else you need, so don't worry about that.
I'll see you when I see you.
Love, Ikari.
"Yori, it's me! Where are you?" Ikari was still anxiously scanning her eyes over the damaged walls.
As she took a few steps towards the hallways door, it opened suddenly, just a little way. Yori pushed it open from the other side and stood there looking at Ikari with a blank look in his blue eyes that were half covered by his white fringe.
"Welcome home, sis." the 16-year-old boy said in a low, sarcastic tone.
Ikari tried to ignore the bitterness in his voice and smiled brightly. "How have you been?" she asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
"How does it look like I've been," her younger brother gestured to the violent attack he'd made on the walls.
Ikari cringed, avoiding Yori's cold gaze. He had always looked a little depressed whenever she'd return home after being away for long periods of time, leaving him all alone. But she had never seen him this low before.
"I know it's hard sometimes. But if I don't keep working and earning money for us, how are we supposed to survive? We'll starve."
"You know, that doesn't sound too bad. I'd rather starve than spend another minute alone in this house. Especially with the kind of job you have."
Yori's words made Ikari's heart stop for a millisecond, but she tried to stay calm. "I just work for Arleen's dad's delivery service, you know that. He sends me to different worlds to-"
"I'm not an idiot, Ikari! I know that's a lie! I found all those swords you keep in the shed out back."
Ikari froze. "But...it was locked..."
"And you want to know something else I found out? I stopped by Arleen's house. Had a little talk with her dad."
Ikari felt sick.
"And he told me something very interesting. Guess what. Arleen has been dead for three years! Now...I'm only taking guesses here...but after seeing all the weapons you've been hiding...and the fact that you've never even mentioned to me that your best friend died...I can only assume that you-"
"NO!" Ikari leaned forward, covering her ears with her hands and closing her eyes.
"It was an accident!"
"What do you do when you go away, Ikari?! Tell me the truth!" Yori screamed.
"It's not what you're thinking!" Tears ran down Ikari's face and fell to the floor.
Yori spun around, pulled the knife out of the door and aimed it at Ikari. "Tell me! Now!"
Ikari looked up at her brother. Her pupils were dilated and her lower lip was trembling.
"I...I just help some shady guys out with taking down their enemies," she said, finally.
"So, if the people you're working with are bad...that means their enemies are the good guys?" Yori was quick at piecing the puzzle together.
"Yes." Ikari replied in defeat.
"You kill good people. I don't believe this..." Yori sighed and looked away; a very unpredictable look on his face.
"No, I don't usually kill them! I just knock them around a bit, that's all! The bad guys are always the ones to finish them off, though! I mean...I had to kill a couple of people this time, but it was just two people! And I feel horrible about it! I'm not a bad person, I promise!" Ikari hardly even understood the excuses that came pouring out if her mouth, and the more she stuttered, the more she knew she wasn't helping her case.
"Are you freaking insane?! Listen to yourself, Ikari! You've killed people! You've taken innocent lives! For money! What kind of sick messed up bitch are you?!" Yori swiped the air with the knife in quick diagonal sweeps, overcome by anger and frustration.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." Ikari kept repeating those words over and over again in a small, shaky voice.
"I'm so lonely here! I have no friends! Everyone hates me! I get so angry all the time! I have no one to talk to! And all this time, I thought that I was the one with the problem! I've wanted to just disappear from this world forever," Yori pulled his long sleeve up, revealing scars streaking the skin on his lower arm.
Ikari stared at it, horrified.
"But now I see that the one with the problem is you!"
Yori thrust the knife towards Ikari, stopping just before it stabbed her chest.
Yet somehow, Ikari still felt as though she'd been cut by it and gasped in pain. However, no blood was drawn. Yori swiped the air again and the same painful stinging sensation sliced across her chest. She fell off the chair and onto the floor, landing on her side as she clutched the place where it hurt.
Yori lowered the knife and looked down at Ikari. "You have this power too, don't you?" He gave Ikari an unforgiving look before taking a few steps towards the back door.
Ikari tried to look up at him, still shaking in pain. "Yori...d-don't leave..."
"Let's just make one thing clear," Yori opened the door, "You're not my sister anymore. You can forget about providing for your so-called family and just worry about yourself. Because from now on..." he stabbed the knife deep into the kitchen bench.
"You're on your own."
The door slammed shut.
Tears fell onto the floor in streams as Ikari lay there, frozen in shock. She wrapped her arms around herself and lay there, shaking and whimpering.
I'm not a bad person. Whenever I go out and do a job, I put on a fake personality. I shut off all feeling and block out my conscience. That way I can hurt people without feeling bad about it. I'd tell myself that I was happy about Arleen's death, even though I knew deep down that it wasn't true. And whenever I get paid at the end of a job, I figured that made it all worthwhile. Because that way, I'd know that I'd be able to take care of my little brother. Even if I couldn't see him very often, at least he'd be safe. And it's not like I could have found any other job. Everyone except Yori knew that I played a part in Arleen's death. Even if they didn't talk about it, it was obvious that everyone despised me. I figured that with my powers and everything, this was the only job for me.
But still...I never stopped to consider the fact that I was putting his mental stability at risk...That he was shunned by the whole town because of how strange he'd become. I wasn't protecting him. I was ruining him. And I've ruined myself, too.
That man I killed back in Traverse Town...that could have been anyone. He could have been a husband, a brother, a father...and I just took his life without giving it a second thought.
The old Ikari wouldn't have done that.
And then there was Tsuki. That poor girl who I deceived and managed to get close to, only to kill her when the time was right for some Organization's benefit. Why did I do it? What kind of person is even capable of standing there and watching the life drain out of someone's body, hearing their dying screams? Why did I turn into that sort of person?
Someone like me...
...doesn't even deserve to live.