A/N: I back track a few moments at the beginning of this chapter, so don't be like, what the heck? :P

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Follow Me Home

Chapter Fifteen

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Roxas drove down the road; his nerves were through the roof. There was way too much going on right now and he was having trouble taking it all in at once. Kairi's in trouble, Sora's sitting next to him... he wanted to ask him a million questions, but no words were coming out.

Sora, on the other hand was just staring blatantly ahead and focusing on the road. He didn't show it, but he was also a little anxious for what was about to happen; he really didn't want Kairi to see him and was trying to figure out how to do this without that happening. He turned to Roxas, who could barely even compose himself. He was about to say something, but he couldn't. He wouldn't be able to come up with a plan until he actually saw what was going on.

Roxas turned onto a dirt road that led straight out to the lake. Sora was surprised at how calm Roxas was able to be in the midst of everything. He knew that would change the moment he saw Kairi, however. They were coming up to the lake. Some smoke was rising in the air from a fire. As they got closer, they could see the outline of what looked like Vanitas. In front of him, Kairi lay there, and from what he could see—she wasn't moving. Roxas immediately stopped the car. Right before he got out, Sora grabbed his arm.

"Listen to me."

"What are you doing? Don't you see her?!"

"I want you to get Kairi out of here and take her to the closest hospital. I will hold off the freak."

"No way! I'm going to kill him!"

"Roxas!" Sora yelled; his seriousness piercing through Roxas' skin, "We don't have time for you to play hero! Besides, you couldn't even hit me! That guy has a gun. You must get Kairi to safety!"

As much as Roxas hated to admit it, Sora was right. Kairi was the top priority. "...Fine... but let's hurry..." He quickly got out of the car. Sora hesitated for a moment. Unbeknownst to Roxas, he dialed 911, told them the location and what was going on and then hung up.

'Here we go...'

"KAIRI!" Roxas yelled, rushing towards them. Vanitas heard him and turned around.

"How did you-" He was cut off by Roxas' sudden tackle. Sora got out of the car and face palmed.

"So much for the plan... argh..." He ran over to them. He saw Kairi half naked, laying there. 'This... can't be happening...' His blood boiling, he pushed Roxas off of Vanitas. "Get her out of here, now!"

Roxas obeyed his command. Sora picked Vanitas up and threw him a few feet over. Roxas couldn't believe the condition that Kairi was in. He immediately took off his jacket and covered her other half. Roxas picked her up and held her, unable to take his eyes away. She was so cold...

"Damn it, Roxas! Hurry up!"

Roxas rushed to the car and put Kairi in the back seat. He wished he had some blankets or something to cover her, but the best he could do was turn on the heat. He sped off, leaving Sora there to fight Vanitas. As much as he wanted to do that himself, Kairi was more important.

Vanitas sprung to his feet after being thrown around. He faced Sora.

"Well... well..." Vanitas smirked, "If it isn't-"

"Save the introductions. Why are you doing this to Kairi?" Sora watched him closely; he was ready to counter any attack. If there was one thing that Leon taught him, it was to never let his guard down.

"No particular reason." He said nonchalantly, "Just something fun to do."

Sora gave him a disgusted look. Vanitas smirked in response. Sora watched as his hand moved to his belt, where he was probably keeping the gun. Not willing to take any chances, Sora immediately ran towards him and knocked him over with a quick blow to his knees. He then snatched the gun from him and threw it straight into the lake.

"Only cowards use guns!" Sora lifted him up by the collar and used his weak arm to brutally punch him in the face multiple times. He was surprised at how weak this guy was; he didn't even land one punch on Sora. Vanitas' nose and mouth started to bleed. "People like you don't deserve to live! And on top of that, why are you trying to be me, huh?" One of Vanitas' blue contacts fell out. Sora realized this and poked his other eye, causing him to scream in pain. He then slammed Vanitas' face onto the ground and stood over him, burying his foot into the back of his neck. Vanitas could hardly breathe. Sora grabbed both of his arms and twisted them. He pulled them over to the side, still keeping his foot in tact. Vanitas cried out and begged for him to stop.

"Ahh! Okay! I'm sorry! I give... up!"

"You're a lowlife scum..." Sora proceeded to stretch Vanitas' arms all the way to the ground next to his side; he could have sworn he heard something snap, but he didn't care. He kicked Vanitas in the head as hard as he could and stepped away from him. Police sirens were heard in the distance.

"That should do it..."

Once Sora confirmed that Vanitas was indeed immobile, he ran off into the woods to hide. He climbed up a tree and sat there, resting and trying to calm himself down. He had never been so angry in his life—nor did he think he would ever have to do something like this. He was always so nice and innocent... but yet he just left someone for dead in the middle of the grass below him. He definitely over analyzed the situation; thinking he was going to get an actual fight out of this guy that has apparently been torturing Kairi for weeks. In a way, he was disappointed.

Vanitas could hear the sirens, but he couldn't get up. He was in the most terrible pain of his life. What hurt even more, however, was his pride.

'This must be all Kairi's fault...'

The police pointed guns at him. "Put your hands in the air!"

But Vanitas couldn't. He just lay there. They cautiously approached him and once they deemed it to be safe enough, the policeman grabbed his arms and locked them in handcuffs. It took two officers just to lift him and drag him over to their car.

"You are under arrest for the suspicion of murder, kidnapping and god knows what else... you have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will..."

Sora listened from above. He felt that justice was served.

'Should I go over to the hospital...?'

He did want to get a closer look at Kairi, but he didn't know if he had the motivation to actually go through with it. Sora sat there and pondered for a while. The police were searching the area. The last thing he wanted was to be seen and questioned.

'I guess... I'll go...'

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Roxas rushed into the hospital for the nurse's assistance. They grabbed blankets and a stretcher and put her on it. Roxas wanted to follow, but he knew that they wouldn't let him even if he tried. He also wondered how Sora was doing... since when did he know how to fight?

'Will Sora even come here...?'

'If Kairi found out that he was alive... she would...'

'No... she can't... because if he rejects her... she really would kill herself...'

So many thoughts were rushing through Roxas' head. Once again, he was at a loss on what to do. He got it in his mind that he was nothing but a burden to Kairi; that he never really helped her at all. For God sakes, she was beaten by this guy and Roxas had to depend on Sora to get rid of him? It wasn't Sora's battle to fight...

Right?

And what if Sora wasn't there?

Roxas didn't really doubt that he could beat Vanitas; the guy was a complete dumb ass. However, how could someone like this dig so deep into Kairi's psyche, even if he did look like Sora? He had no idea what Kairi would be like after all of this... and he had no way to prepare for it either. How did Sora feel about it? Roxas was driving himself crazy once again. He wanted to do the right thing... he wanted to help Kairi but he didn't know if he could anymore...

Sora walked into the waiting room; his hands resting in his pockets, his hood over his head and his blue jacket partially zipped. Roxas noticed him right away and ran over to him, hoping for details.

Now that he was able to relax a little more, Sora was reminded of what Roxas had done to him. He wanted to ignore him, but he knew that Roxas wouldn't leave him alone until he gave him some sort of confirmation on what happened to that crazy bastard.

"He was arrested." Sora said simply. "Where's Kairi?"

Roxas was taken aback by Sora's sudden question. Should he tell him? Even he hadn't seen her yet. What if... she was already awake...?

"I won't let her see me." Sora promised, but Roxas still felt a little uneasy about it.

"How are you going to do that?"

"Turn off the lights, duh."

As much as Roxas didn't want him to, he really didn't have the authority to stop him either. Sora did help him and Kairi out a lot...

Sora didn't stick around to wait for his approval anyway. He asked one of the nurses where Kairi was and she pointed down the hall. Sora walked slowly down the hallway; his heart beating wildly in his chest. He stood in front of the door and looked through the small window. The lights were already off and she looked like she was sleeping. Sora put his hand on the door handle and pulled it down. He hesitated before going in—he was getting second thoughts. However, he forced himself to take a few more steps.

Kairi's eyes were closed and she was still, so he assumed that she was indeed asleep. Sora stood over her bed; he was able to get a better view now. She had a black eye. Sora's fists tightened; he wondered what other wounds she had but they were covered by the blankets. Even though she did what she did to him, he still felt incredibly sorry for her. This was a girl that he had been in love with since middle school. He had shared so many memories with her, good and bad. He just couldn't understand what went wrong...

But at the same time, he felt anger. He felt betrayed...

Sora stood there for a few more minutes. Despite everything, this was the most serene that Sora has seen her in a very long time—then again, he hadn't seen her for over a year and then all of a sudden these things happened...

'Was it... fate?'

She squirmed around, making Sora immediately turn around. He paced towards the door.

"W-Wait..."

Sora stopped, but didn't turn to look at her.

"I wanted... to tell you... that..." she started coughing, but Sora tried his best not to run to her side. After a few more coughs, she resumed, "...right before... I felt like... everything was going to fade away... I... heard your voice..."

'She... heard me?'

"You... really saved me..." Kairi continued; her voice was low and appreciative, "...I wanted to say... thank you... Roxas..."

That name pierced through Sora's heart. He opened the door and went out. Roxas met him in the hallway.

"I think she wants you." He told him and kept walking down the hall.

"What?" Roxas stood there for a moment, confused, but then opened the door and went inside.

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A/N: Oh my goodness... wonder what Sora will do about this?

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