A/N: So I've been sick/in pain/dying/etc since Monday. (Okay, that's over-exaggerating a bit) but right now I feel okay enough to write so I will take advantage of that.

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Follow Me Home

Chapter Twenty

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"If all you wanted was love, why would you use me up?
Cut me down, build a boat and sail away?
When all I wanted to be was your giving tree
Settle down, build a home and make you happy?"

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Silence.

Kairi's eyes met Sora's. She was shocked to say the least.

Sora had no idea what to do.

Roxas fell to the floor and hopelessly watched the inevitable unfold. It was a little strange though; it had been at least thirty seconds since they saw each other and yet neither of them were doing anything.

All of a sudden, Kairi's facial expression changed from shock to complete terror and she started screaming and pointing at him. She ran back into the store, only to be stopped by Selphie and a suspecting Sarah. Kairi reached for the phone.

"We have to call 911! This guy is here to kill me! Please! Call 911!" Kairi couldn't stop shaking. Sora heard this and ran inside.

'Does she think I'm that guy?!' He thought to himself as he ran up to her. As he approached Kairi, she screamed even louder and cried. Roxas also came inside. Anyone that was passing the store stopped to see what was going on. Selphie was extremely confused. Kairi was freaking out.

"He's... come back... to get me! He's going to kill me! Selphie, call the police!" Kairi pleaded.

"Kairi, that's not-" Sora kept walking towards them, only causing Kairi to panic more. Tears made her vision blurry and all she could see was him getting closer.

"Selphie, let me take care of this." Sora said in a low tone. Selphie moved out of his way, leaving Kairi exposed.

"What in the world is going on?! Sarah questioned. Roxas couldn't say anything. "Selphie, lock the doors. Nobody needs to see this." Selphie ran off to do what she was told.

Sora knelt down in front of Kairi. Did she really not recognize him? Did Vanitas really do that much psychological damage to her? Then again, the guy did try to pass as him... and in Kairi's already fragile state of mind...

She didn't know that Sora was actually alive and here right now.

"Get away from me! Roxas, do something!" Kairi put her hands over to head and rocked back and forth, trembling with fear.

Namine appeared next to the door just before Selphie was able to close it and walked over to Roxas. Riku and Ken weren't around; Roxas assumed that Riku took him back to the car.

'She looks terrible...' Namine thought.

Sora reached out his hand and tried to get Kairi to remove her hands from her head, but she continued to panic. "Kairi... it's me..."

"NO! You're lying! You want to kidnap me and beat me and rape me and do whatever you want to me again! You're a monster! Go away! Someone, please help me!"

"Kairi..." Sora flinched at her words, but tried to stay calm, "I didn't die in that train crash. I got away..."

He didn't know what else to say. He was making it up as he went.

He looked to Roxas for confirmation. If Roxas could tell Kairi that he wasn't lying, maybe she would believe him. He was probably the only person that Kairi trusted right now, sadly...

But for Roxas, that meant Kairi would find out that he knew this all along, even if in reality it was really just for a short time. Kairi would assume that Roxas knew since day one and he would lose her.

Kairi realized that he wasn't doing anything to her, but her fear had escalated so much that she couldn't control herself. All of the horrible things that Vanitas put her through were coming back to her in full swing and those nightmares that she desperately tried to forget flowed through her like wildfire.

'She doesn't... at least... recognize my voice...?' Sora was bewildered at the emotional distress that this had put on Kairi.

"Would somebody please tell me what's going on... or take this somewhere else and not do it in my store?!" Sarah demanded.

"Roxas, tell her!" Sora yelled to him.

Kairi finally looked up out of curiosity, but her pain was evident. Out of instinct, Sora touched her cheek. She panicked and started crying once again.

Roxas stepped forward. He had to let go of his pride and let Kairi know that this wasn't Vanitas... but he knew the consequence...

He walked over to Kairi. Sora watched as he took her arms down and gently help her hands in his. Sora turned his head; he was a little annoyed by how close they had become but he knew this was the only way. Roxas wiped Kairi's tears from her face. She flung herself at him and wrapped her arms around him. Roxas held her tightly. To him, this was like saying goodbye. Roxas stroked her hair and tried to calm her down before he told her the truth.

Kairi felt safe in his arms.

"Kairi..." he said in a muffled voice, "listen to me, okay?"

Kairi nodded her head slightly, but kept her face buried in his chest.

Roxas let out a huge sigh. "This may be hard to believe, but... about four months ago... when all of that... stuff... was going on..." Roxas didn't want to remind her of the horrible things, but he couldn't think of any other way to explain it, "...I found out that Sora really was alive."

Kairi lifted her head and gave him an astonished look. Sora kept averting his eyes back and forth; it was hard for him to see them like this.

"But... that's... impossible... this guy... can't be..." Kairi slowly turned her head and glanced at Sora, but then quickly looked away.

"It was hard for all of us to believe, Kairi." Namine said. "But it's true. Sora has been living at my house for the past few months."

"But... what about... Vanitas...?"

Roxas took a moment to gather the words he wanted to say, "The day that you were kidnapped, I found Sora on the side of the road. I thought that he was that guy too..." Roxas glanced over at him, "Turns out that he was going to go and help you as well... so when we got there..." Roxas struggled to finish, "...he told me to get you and he dealt with that bastard..."

Sora really didn't want Kairi to know this, but at this point he didn't really have a choice.

"He... dealt with... him?"

"I whooped his ass." Sora responded.

Kairi wiped her tears away and her vision cleared up some. "So... that means..."

"It means that your wish did come true." Roxas reasserted.

"Wish?" Sora repeated. Nobody answered him.

Kairi sat there on the floor, completely baffled. 'Sora... is... alive...?'

He was right in front of her. She could see that he was clearly there—he wasn't acting violent towards her like Vanitas would have. He was more quiet and reserved. She wasn't sure how to handle this. Sora... the love of her life... was... ten feet away from her...

He wasn't dead...

Sarah looked at the time. The mall had already been closed for about thirty minutes. It was time for everyone to get out. She made them all get up.

"Kairi, thank you for coming to the interview, but I don't think this is the right job for you. Good luck with your searching and uh, I hope that you... feel better." She sounded stressed and just wanted to leave. Roxas, Namine and Sora slowly walked out of the store. It didn't even phase Kairi that she didn't get the job; she was still trying to understand what was going on. Sora and Namine walked in front of them. Kairi kept her eyes on Sora. Roxas just kept his hands in his pockets and watched her.

"I'll be in the car." Namine told Sora.

"Actually, Namine, you can go ahead and go. I can find a way home." Sora said.

"Are you sure?"

Sora nodded. Once they got outside, Namine waved to him, but her hand stopped moving when her gaze landed on Roxas and Kairi. She couldn't bring herself to say anything to them, so she just walked off to the car where Riku and Ken were waiting. Ken was asleep in the back seat.

"He's not coming?" Riku looked back at Sora.

"No, he said he'll be home later. Let's go."

Riku hesitated; he was a little frustrated but tried to hold it in and just drove off. Sora and the others waited until they were out of sight.

"So... what do we do now...?" Roxas asked.

"I don't know." Sora sighed.

After a few moments of silence, suddenly Kairi started weeping beside Roxas. Everything was finally hitting her. Sora was here. He was alive. He was breathing...

"Kairi, what's wrong?" Roxas tried to comfort her, but she refused his touch.

Kairi finally had a chance to apologize to Sora... for everything...

'I want him back more than anything... how I got this opportunity... I don't know... it's some kind of miracle...'

"Sora... can we... please... talk... or something..."

Sora's irritation was coming back to him. 'Maybe I should have gone with Namine...'

"Sora..."

Now that she knew he was indeed living, she was probably going to try everything in her power to convince him that she still loves him. To Sora, even though he obviously still cared deeply about Kairi, he didn't know what to do when it came down to whether or not to be with her again.

"Sora, just listen to her." Roxas said, completely regretful for doing so, but he knew that his chances with Kairi now were a lost cause. At the moment, he just wanted to give up. "She's been through hell and back. At least hear what she has to say."

Sora was very surprised that Roxas was saying this to him. 'Wasn't he the one that wanted to take her away from me? Wasn't he the one she cheated on me with...?' Sora was at a loss and was having trouble comprehending all of this. Kairi's cries got louder.

"Fine..." Sora said in a bitter manner. "But we won't be longer than five minutes."

"R-R-Really?!" Kairi sniffled. She looked up at Roxas, who just looked towards the ground.

"Well?" Sora put his hands in his pockets and took a few steps forward. He couldn't believe he was actually going to do this. It was going way too fast for him; everything was crazy. Kairi ran up to him. To be in Sora's presence was complete bliss for her, even if he wasn't happy. For Kairi, just being able to see him... was amazing...

Roxas stood there as they walked off together. He knew that they would be gone for much longer than five minutes.

There was nothing he could do for her anymore.

o.o.o

'She... hurt me. I know she's been through a lot, but that still doesn't erase what she did to me...'

'I don't know if I can love Kairi again. I don't even know what love is anymore...'

"Sora...?"

"Hm?"

"I... um..."

"You don't have to say anything. I don't doubt that you're sorry."

"...Huh?" Kairi gave him a concerned look.

"Basically, the past is the past. It can't be changed. Unfortunately, it does affect the future. Specifically, our future."

It was coming. He was going to tell her how much he hated her and that he never wanted to be with her again...

"I just can't understand what the hell was going through your head..." The irritation in Sora's voice was manifesting. Over the past year and a half, all he did was hold this in. He couldn't just keep quiet anymore. "Tell me that... why did you turn to Roxas when you had everything that you could possibly need with me?! HUH?!"

Sora's yelling scared Kairi. She started to tremble and was losing her balance. Sora couldn't stop.

"Maybe you're regretful for what you did, but the worst part was that you still ended up with him in the end. Sure, you thought I was dead, but that's no excuse!"

"S-S-Sora... please... don't yell... at me..."

"Did you ever really love me? Tell me that!"

"Of... Of... course I did... and I still do..."

Sora could hardly control his anger by now. He kept these feelings inside for such a long time and they were finally coming to the surface. The grieving period was over. The denial was over. He wanted to know why.

Kairi cowered next to him. He knew that this was making her extremely upset.

"Tell me... why did you have to go to Roxas?"

"I... don't know..."

"You still haven't figured it out?!"

'He's... never yelled at me...'

"Damn it, Kairi... you're just infuriating..."Sora stopped. "I can't deal with this. I'll take you back to Roxas. That's who you want to be with anyway."

"N-No..." Kairi sobbed, "that's not... true... Sora... your death was absolutely devastating... do you know how many times I tried to kill myself? If Roxas wasn't there... we wouldn't be having this conversation..."

"So what? He's your hero now?"

"Sora..."

"You know, I wish I would have died." Sora said in a very serious tone, shattering Kairi's heart.

His true feelings were coming out and she had to deal with them...

They arrived back at the mall entrance, but Roxas was nowhere to be found.

"Argh... where did he go?" Sora scanned the perimeters, but didn't see him. Kairi didn't even look; she was on the verge of crying once again.

'Sora hates me...'

"Call him." Sora told her.

"But..."

Sora took her purse from her and searched for her phone. Kairi was shocked and couldn't do anything about it. He found it and opened the phone. There was a picture of Sora and Kairi on the night that they got engaged on the cover. He stared at it for a while. Agitated, he looked through her contacts. He came to Roxas' name. Then he noticed that his name was right underneath his, as it would be since it was alphabetical order.

'I'm still in here...'

Kairi placed her hand on Sora's. The feeling was amazing.

"Sora... I want to stay with you..."

Sora looked into her eyes; he didn't know how long they did this, but he was entranced by her. Even though she did such terrible things to him, when he looked closely, it was like he was seeing her.

"Please... stay with me tonight..."

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A/N: Sorry for the delay on this chapter. Thanks for everyone's support and patience.

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