Chapter 76: Broken Friendship
Back in the gummi ship, Zidane could see that Hikari's way of cheering the Princess of Heart up had not gone according to plan so he had pulled both of the girls into the bridge and began to tell them stories of Radiant Garden. Hikari didn't seem to mind the stories as it reminded her of when there was peace at home and the precious memories of Sakuzy that she will keep in her heart. The two girls knew that they both came from Radiant Garden from their previous 'private girl talks' so it wasn't any surprise when Zidane mentioned Kairi's appearance every now and again. Zidane's plan seemed to be working as the girls were having a good time and a good laugh from the stories that the thief told. "Right. There was this one time when we were in this forest, searching for this hidden lair that Ansem's heir had told us about." Zidane began another tale as the girl's laugher calmed down, "Hikari was holding on to my tail, making sure that she didn't get lost since Sakuzy was holding the map."
Kairi seemed to giggle at this while Hikari tried to hide her face, "I was five then! Cut me some slack!" Hikari pouted, making Zidane smirk to himself.
"So anyway," He carried on, "Half way through the forest, Sakuzy decides to use his map reading skills to 'lead the way to freedom' as he used to say, which, ends up with him falling into a river a tar, landing in a bush of poison ivy and getting pecked by a huge chocobo." The girls couldn't hold their laughs as the humorous atmosphere was set once more. "It was soooo funny. Sakuzy would walk around Radiant Garden, scratching and waddling like a chocobo for weeks since he couldn't get the feathers or the tar off. Even Cloud found it funny." Zidane laughed as he told the stroy.
"Really?" Kairi said in disbelief, unable to imagine Cloud actually laughing let alone smiling....well at least what Donald and Goofy had told her about him. Hikari's communicator quickly rang, making her rise from her wooden seat and took the call into the kitchen.
"Well, he didn't exactly laugh along but we could see him smirking under that emotionless face of his." Zidane quickly answered with chuckles trailing along.
"What about Squall? It's hard to remember him as a social person." Hikari asked before facing Kairi, "He calls himself Leon now, right?" Kairi nodded her head in response.
"Well, Squall was a fighter, I can tell you that. While you, me and Sakuzy were in one group and Kairi would be somewhere near the castle with her grandmother or Ansem's heir, Squall, Cloud, Yuffie and Aerith were another group." Zidane began to tell. "While Yuffie and Aerith would try and get Cloud to show emotion, proper what they are still trying to do now, Squall was with Rinoa, another member in the group. I don't know much but Squall wasn't only upset that he couldn't save his home from the Heartless."
"Sounds like one of those childhood love stories to me." Hikari shrugged as she placed her feet on the table, coming back to the table and taking her seat back on her wooden chair while Zidane and Kairi remained on the brown sofa. "It's just a shame that the Heartless attack has changed us all. Squall is an emo, Yuffie is a ninja, you're a thief and Sakuzy is an Endless. The only one that I can think of that hasn't changed much from what I have heard from the others is Cloud."
"Well, you're not the innocent girl that you once were." Zidane chuckled, "You could knock one of us out if you wanted to, but knowing you, you would knock out me."
Hikari hummed at the thought, "Yeah...I guess that I've changed for the better." She said as she placed her feet off the table.
"What do you mean?" Kairi asked.
"Well, I didn't want to guys to protect me and let them do all of the fighting. There's no fun in that. So, I said to myself that one day I will have my own adventure with a close friend around all of the worlds once the worlds are balanced again so that I could discover myself again." Hikari smiled at the thought, "I know that after this, that adventure will be calling me." Kairi smiled at Hikari's dream as it began to make her think.
"The reason that you want to go on an adventure was because of that story of the cake world that Sakuzy had told you that one night." Zidane pointed out, making Kairi giggle again.
"Shhhh, don't say that. That ruin the imagination behind i—WOAH!" Hikari tried to place her feet back on the table but leaned too much on the wooden chair, leading her to fall to the floor. Zidane and Kairi were silence at first before looking at each other and laughed their heads off. Hikari seemed to laugh along just be watching the way the two laugh.
The teleport shined brightly as Sora came into the Bridge, looking at his arms to see that they were no longer covered in fur, before turning to face the source of laughter. He looked over to the three teenagers that were laughing, he didn't want to destroy their joy by his presence but he knew that he had to talk to Kairi sooner or later. He took a deep breath before stepping towards the three and smiled weakly at them, "Hey guys." He said. He looked at Kairi as the laughter in the bridge began to die down; he noticed the dullness within her eyes as the shine that was normally seen in her eyes had faded away. He started to feel the regret and guilt of what the soul had said to him, even when Hikari glared at him as she took her place back on her seat.
"Hey Sora." Zidane greeted casually before facing him, "Where's Brian?" he asked as he noticed that the teleport's light had faded out.
"He said something about showing something to Basil. I'm not sure what though." Sora answered, flicking his eyes at Kairi every now and again.
"Ha!" Zidane cheered as he faced Hikari and held his hand out, "Pay up!"
"Damn it!" She groaned as she handed Zidane 300 munny.
"What's going on?" Sora asked about the act of trading munny.
"Because of the way you have been acting, Hikari betted that you would kill Brian while down at Mousedom." Zidane explained. At least Sora knew how Hikari felt about the situation and now wished Brian all of the luck that he needs when he pulls her aside to tell her what she needs to know. Zidane faced Hikari and Kairi, "Show what you ladies know! Keep your mind in loving and caring girls."
"The only love that you're going to receive is the eternal hugging of the TNT." Hikari shot back, ignored by his womanising ways.
"At least our love will be a blast." Zidane punned, making everyone groan. "Okay. Okay. That was bad. I'm going to heal my leg." Zidane quickly hopped out of the room before embarrassing himself even more.
Hikari sighed as she leaned her head in her right hand, her arm leaning on the wooden table, "This is what I get for letting him have some of my cake." She muttered to herself.
Sora watched Zidane flee the room and he wanted to do the same that certain moment, he didn't want to end up fighting with Kairi and if he was to slip up by saying that he had the virus, meaning that he might lose control again and she and all of his friends would only get hurt by him. His heart was saying different, his heart was saying to follow Roxas' advice and tell Kairi the truth, ignoring the soul's threats to freedom. Without the soul, the heart and body cannot hold together, Sora thought Meaning that Roxas would be free and I would turn into a Heartless if there was no soul but if I keep this from Kairi, either way I'm going to fall into darkness. Whether if it's under the soul's control or by my own emotions. Sora turned his glaze at Kairi, who remained her sight on the doorway that Zidane had took off from. If I end up going down, I'm going to do the right thing. "Hey Kairi." Sora smiled apologetically at her, trying to make eye contact. He sighed as he noticed that she refused to look at him. He quickly looked at Hikari, "Could you excuse us for a minute?" He asked her.
"After what happened last time?!?" Hiakri said in disbelief, Sora could have figured that she would say something like that. "You're lucky that I didn't hunt you down for it. You can excuse yourself though." Hikari turned away from him.
"Hikari, pleas-" Hikari was just making it harder for Sora with his negative attitude on the situation. Why do girls have to stick together?
Kairi rose from her seat, avoiding Sora's eye contact, and looked at Hikari, "If you need me, I'll be in the bedroom." Kairi said with no emotion before heading towards her room once more.
"Kairi..." Sora sighed with sadness. From that exit, he could see just how uncharacteristic Kairi was being. They had fights in the past but she would always look at him to see if he was ready to apologise if she was ready to apologise to him. Her voice just now sounded as if she was an empty shell again, feeling nothing to avoid the feelings in her heart. Seeing her and her heart in that form of depression had just made his heart break with hurt, guilt and regret, something that he never wanted. He wanted to be the one to comfort her, not cause her pain. The one to dry her tears, not cause them. The one that could make her happy, not the way she is. Whether the soul had control or not, this was his fault, he had hurt Kairi and he had to fix it.
He looked up at Hikari, who was glaring at him, "Can't you just leave her alone? It's best to leave her be for the time being." Hikari asked him in a softer tone, wanting to help the both of them.
"Hikari, please! Just let me talk to her." Sora begged, his head lowered in shame as his bangs covered his eyes.
"No!" Hikari blocked the way to the corridor to the other rooms, "There is no way that I'm leaving this spot." The portal shined brightly as Brian returned to the ship with a serious expression as he walked over to Hikari and began to drag her away, "Apparently, I'm leaving my spot. Brian! Let me go." Hikari's threats were ignored as Brian dragged her upstairs to the cockpit.
Maybe that truce was a good idea. Sora thought to himself before headed down to Kairi's bedroom.
BOWBOWBOW
"Brian! You just let Sora go to Kairi." Hikari snatched her arm out of Brian's gloved hand as the two stood in the cockpit. "I'm hope that you are happy with you-"She froze from her complains as Brian had pulled her to an embrace, holding her tightly. Hikari remained flabbergasted at this action, Brian hasn't hugged her like this for ages, the last time he had actually hugged her was when he was departing for the recon mission, promising to tell her something important. Her body remained shocked before snapping out of her state of shock and slowly hugged him back, "What's gotten into you?" She questioned before hearing him sob on her shoulder, "Brian?" She panicked, never had she heard or see him shed a tear. She pulled Brian off of her, seeing that his eyes were violet blue once more as they remained tired from the redness that began to form. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"I'm sorry." Brian cried as he wiped his eyes, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'msorry."
"Brian! Snap out of it!" Hikari begged him as she shook him by the shoulders, clearing Brian's mind a bit and turning his eyes back to his deep blue colour. "What happened down there?"
He looked at Hikari before looking away from her, "I found something out."
BOWBOWBOW
Sora halted when he reached the girl's bedroom door, Kairi's bedroom door. He raised his fist to knock on the door but found that his had halted a few inches away from the door. He pulled his hand away and tried again, only to find his hand halt in the same place. He sighed as he placed his arm back to his arm. Was it his nerves that was stopping him, was it fear that he might lose his friend before of the stupid mistake that he had said. Was he afraid of losing her...forever? Sora sighed again before looking back at the door, I've got to try.
He knocked on the door.
He waited for some form of response from the other side...There was cold silence that remained. He knocked on the door again only to receive the same kind of cruel silence. Have I got the right room? Sora quickly checked the hallway and remembered that his room was the nearest to the bridge on the left side while the battle simulator was opposite to the room. The girl's room was opposite the medical room, a.k.a Zidane's room and Brian's room was based at the far end of the hallway, next to the cargo bay door and engine room. He looked behind him to see Zidane in the medical room, I have the right room but why won't she answer. He knocked on the door again before leaning towards the door handle to find that it was locked, "Kairi?" he called her.
"Go away!" Her voiced sounded strained and weak from the other side of the room. Sora was glad by one thing; he managed to get some form of communication with her.
"Kairi. Can we talk?" Sora leaned his forehead on the wooden door as he spoke.
"I think that you've done enough talking the other day." Kairi replied harshly, Sora could hear her sobs from the other side of the door.
"Everything that I said, I didn't mean it. I would never think of you as a worthless princess or a distraction." Sora told her. "You're more than that." Silence was hold onto him again as she didn't respond, "I'm sorry, Kairi. I really am. I've let you down...I've let the others down." He sighed as he leaned his back towards the door and slid down it so that he was sitting on the other side, little did he know that Kairi was doing the same thing. "I don't even deserve your forgiveness or anyone else's. I might as well be what the others have been calling me because I'm nothing without you-"
"Stop!" Kairi halted his apology, "Just stop it, Sora. You were right."
"No Kairi! I wasn't." He turned to face the door again as if he was facing her; he knew that what he had said before had shot at her confidence. "I'm the idiot who said that, you are not worthless. You are one of the most brilliant fighters that I have ever seen and I just wished that I could make it up to you somehow, for breaking my promise to train you, for saying that I don't trust you, for yelling at you about Ven. I'm sorry....I'm so sorry." Sora sighed as a tear fell down his face while looking at the ground. He waited for a response but was greeted by the cold silence once more, "Kairi please! Say something! Anything!" He begged. He continued to wait for a response before hearing the door click. The door was unlocked.
"HIKARI! HIKARI!"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!!"
Sora quickly wiped his tears away and stood up as he watched Brian and Hikari come his way. Hikari stormed towards him and pushed the Keyblade Wielder to the ground before entering her room and locking the door behind her. Brian groaned at this before looking at Sora, "Comfortable down there?" He joked as he gave Sora a hand.
After helping Sora up, the two walked towards the bridge and sat down at the table that Zidane and the girls had been sitting. Brian grabbed the wooden chair and pulled some cards out while Sora landed on the brown sofa. "I'm guessing that she didn't take it that well." Sora referred to the shouting that the fighting that Brian and Hikari had caused.
Brian sighed with anger as he began to deal seven cards for them each, "Why do girls have to be so complicated??!" He asked out loud.
Sora hummed in agreement before looking at his cards, "What are we playing?"
"Go fish."
BOWBOWBOW
"Why do guys have to be so complicated??!" Hikari yelled with frustration before looking round to find that Kairi wasn't in the room. "Kairi? Kairi? Kai- Why are you in the wall?" Hikari looked next to the door to see Kairi struck in the wall. Hikari could only hear Kairi groan in pain both physical and emotionally but mainly physical. Hikari quickly pulled her out of the wall before walking into the on suite bathroom that was in there. "What was you doing near the door anyway?" she asked.
"Arguing with Sora." She said to her but she didn't really know herself, she didn't say that much when he was apologising. The Princess of Heart jumped as she heard something smash in the bathroom as well as Hikari thinking of death plans to use on Brian, one involving an army of pink elephants. She went into the bathroom and quickly walked over to Hikari, preventing her from destroying any else that had a western theme to it. "Hikari, what's wrong?"
"Him." She simply said before both girls headed into the bedroom.
Kairi guessed that she was talking about Brian since Sora was at her door during the time. "What happened?" Kairi questioned as she tried to help her as well as trying to dry her tears from before Hikari came in.
"He's covering the truth. That's what happened."
BOWBOWBOW
"Got any twos?" Sora asked, already having three sets of group pairs.
"Go fish." Brian threw him a card, "She wouldn't accept it."
"The memory loss?" Sora asked.
"What else?" Brian looked at his cards, "You got any fives?"
"Go fish." Sora answered, making Brian pick up a card. "It was unexpected." He said, "Got any jacks?"
"So is your ability to get my cards!" Brian said with annoyance as he passed two jacks to Sora, making him get another group pair to add to his collection. "And so is coming back from cleaning myself up to see your dancing with two showgirls." He smirked.
"Yeah, yeah. You got any- Wait! I did WHAT?!?" Sora gasped.
BOWBOWBOW
"Memory loss?" Kairi gasped, she wouldn't have thought that Brian would have memory loss as he had managed to tell her times with him and Max and the times when Hikari had strike him the first day after the Stitch incident.
"Yeah, he pulled me aside and kept saying that he was sorry. Before I could question it, he told me that lie!!" Hikari explain in the pit of rage.
"Maybe he didn't lie." Kairi said to her, making Hikari look at her in disbelief, "Maybe he pulled you aside because he thought that you should know about it, It would explain why he never told us about knowing Nikolai or being an Endless."
"I don't want to believe it!" Hikari sighed as her rage was slowly replaced with sorrow, "If I believe it then I know that the friend that I once had will be gone forever."
BOWBOWBOW
"She's my best friend; she had the right to know. I didn't want it to be another situation when the Order revealed my life to my friends." Brian sighed in despair, "You got any threes?" he added.
"Go fish." Sora replied, making Brian pick a card up. "You were right. Even if we had decided to avoid facing them, the truth would have come out eventually and that would have just made things worse." Sora looked at his cards, "You got any aces?" He asked sheepishly.
"I'm sick of this game." Brian said coldly as he threw his cards on the table, "If she's not even going to believe me then I don't even know why I consider her a friend." Brian rose from the table and began to head towards the hallway, "If you need me, I'll be in the cargo bay." He stormed down the hallway after that.
"Brian! Wait!" Sora called him as he rose from the table of scattered cards and when after him.
BOWBOWBOW
"I guess I just have to accept the fact the Brian I knew is long gone." Hikari sighed sadly.
"That's not true." Kairi tried to comfort her.
"He's changed, Kairi. He's not the boy that comfort me at my semi-dead brother's funeral, he's just a flirting dick and the only reason I stayed by him was because of those memories but if he can't even remember them then what's the point?" Hikari yelled in frustration once more before leaving the room.
"Hikari! Come back!" Kairi chased after her.
BOWBOWBOW
"Man, this place is dark." Sora slowly walked into the dusty cargo bay full with boxes. Sora stepped in slowly, with a light in hand as he searched for his friend. "Brian? Are you here?" Sora walked down the wooden stairs, keeping the light on the floor below. He didn't notice the book that rested on the stairs as the book managed to throw Sora off balance. He began to bounce down the stairs, groaning in pain for every step he landed on before landing face first on the steel flooring, breaking his light along the way. While Sora was peeling his face of the cold surface, he didn't notice the creaks from the wooden steps as someone began to travel down them. Sora pushed himself up and began to guild himself by waving his arms in front of him in search of a wall, making him trip over another box that was placed on the floor. The landing didn't hurt as much as last time but the dust that remained on the boxes managed to make Sora sneeze. "Ah Choo!"
"Sora?" The lights were switched on, allowing Sora to see.
He could basically see that Brian wasn't in the carbo bay. I thought he came in- wait! Who turned on the light? He turned around to see Kairi by the light switch. "Kairi?"
As soon as both of them noticed each other, the wooden door slammed shut. The two looked up at the door in confusion before Sora ran up the wooden stairs to the wooden door. As he expected the door, Kairi looked on the ground to see a strange looking book that was engraved, Stories of Balance. The book did look important but placed it by the side as she heard Sora sigh and began to drag himself downstairs. "Well?" Kairi asked.
""The door is locked." Sora replied, "Looks like we're struck."
Kairi shook her head as she stepped forward, "Only you would say that." She commented as she summoned her Destiny Island Keyblade and pointed it to the locked down. Sora frowned as soon as he saw that Kairi had changed her Keyblade. Oathkeeper was one of the symbols of their friendship and even the connection to their hearts but if Kairi took it off and would fight with her original Keyblade instead then it just means that he has to show her that he meant was he had said back at the door. After a while, the keyblade didn't respond to the lock door, "Sora, why isn't it working?" she asked, trying to unlock the door again with her keyblade.
"That's because I'd placed a charm on the door." Laughter could be heard on the other side of the door. Sora and Kairi quickly ran up the wooden stairs and began to call out Brian's name, who was placed on the other side of the door.
"Brian! Let us out!" Kairi demanded.
"And let you hide your misery within intense training sessions and locking yourself in bedroom. I think not." He replied.
"Brian! Open this door!" Sora demanded.
"Nah! The truce fits much better with you on the other side, Bigfoot." Brian laughed.
"When we get out of here-" Kairi began to promise him.
Hikari's voice was suddenly heard on the other side of the door, "When you get out of there, you guys will forgive each other." Both of the keybladers heard the two friends laughing, making them realise what they had fallen for.
"The whole argument. You guys set it up!" Kairi accused the two of them.
"If it get you two to talk face to face with each other then why shouldn't we/" Hikari said to them.
"Just talk to each other." Brian told the two to do before Sora and Kairi could hear footsteps fading away.
"Now we're struck!" Kairi announced as she began to walk down the stairs and sat down next to one of the wooden boxes, hugging her legs close to her as she leaned her head on her knees.
"Kairi..." Sora slowly walked down the stairs, moving towards her before knelling in front of her, seeing that she had hidden her face tightly within her knees. "I hate seeing you like this. I hate myself that I'm the one that caused you to cry." He placed his hand on her knee, trying to comfort her. "You just have to remember that what happen what others say, including me, you just have to believe in yourself." Kairi remained silent, "Kairi." He moved a little closer, allowing him to tilt Kairi's head up to face him. "You have to believe me." He looked into her violet eyes, waiting for an answer.
She remained looking down, trying to avoid Sora's present and how close he was to her. His breath brushing next to her skin, his deep blue eyes soaring into her with the kind of light that reflected off his heart, the way his voice spoke softly and with care. Like the Sora she knew. She finally looked up at him and gave him one request...
"Fight me."
Mad: Dun Dun Dun. Will Sora fulfil Kairi's request? Tune in next time for KINGDOM HEARTS: BALANCE OF WORLDS!!! Messages...
Future Keyblader: The vision will be questioned later on.
Grey vs Ale: With Xion, you just have to wait and see. Heheh
Kisdota-The Freak Gamer: Yeah, you're right about that. So long that we enjoy what we are doing, that's what important, right? ^^
Artism: Yeah, I'm still trying to get a new laptop. ^^
Celticskyedancer: Thank you X3
Fantasy-Keymaster2599: I've checked your story out and I hope my review helps.
Soragirl4ever: Mousedom is done and I'm glad that you like the pic.
Island-style-girl: Glad you liked it.
Sgt. Reynol: Glad that you enjoy Brian being in pain.
Maybe it was good going in that Animation class; it just made me want to write casue you can make your own characters. Brian was become real one day people, as an animation. ^^
Kingdommad.