Epilogue: Far off Memory Like a Scattered Dream
Yuki stood looking at the pictures that covered the walls of Naminé's room. Naminé wasn't in there for once. Perhaps since they had finally caught Roxas she was needed to finish her task. Yuki's blue eyes scanned the images that she always loved to see. So beautiful, and meaningful. But now, something wasn't right, it wasn't the same. Her eyes settled on one image in particular. Roxas walking away from Axel. It must have been the day he ran away from the organization. Did it hurt him to walk away from his best friend? What about her? Did he realize he was leaving her behind too? And X and Y? Did he even think of Xion? He left all of his friends. But then again, they had all left each other.
Yuki was tired. So many days she had gone on, searching for what she was told she didn't have. None of them were supposed to have hearts. Yet why, if the didn't have hearts, was this hurting her so badly? Was it all a lie so she could fulfill her role in the organization's plan?
The door to the white room opened without warning. Yuki turned to see who it was. Naminé stood looking at her with her head tilted to the side. Yuki smiled at her but didn't speak.
"Yuki, what are you doing here?" Naminé asked. She slowly crossed the room and stood beside Yuki.
"I don't know. I was just looking for someone to talk to." Yuki replied, looking at the pictures on the walls again. Naminé watched her silently, not sure what exactly she should do. "Are you finishing Sora's memories now?" Yuki asked.
"Yes." Naminé said with a nod. "We're making preparations to keep Roxas away from the organization until it's time for him to rejoin with Sora. But it will only be a few days." She explained. Yuki nodded, not really taking in Naminé's words. Her mind was too busy processing one fact. Roxas had a few days until he was gone.
"I'm scared Naminé. Scared and confused." Yuki said suddenly. Naminé looked at her in confusion.
"Why?" Naminé asked. Yuki gave a heavy sigh and walked away from the wall. Naminé watched her, not moving.
"I've gotten so sick of all of this fighting and running," Yuki said, frustration lacing her voice. Her hand braced against the side of her head as if trying to keep it from running too fast. "But now that I'm finally realizing that, I realize everything is just beginning. It's only going to get worse." She continued. Naminé looked down at her feet.
Yuki continued pacing back and forth in front of the window. She knew Naminé wouldn't talk much. She hardly ever did. But all the same, being able to let it all out was helpful. At least Naminé wouldn't constantly remind her she didn't have a heart.
"You know Naminé, everything that's happened feels so far off," Yuki said turning back to Naminé. "I remember it, but it feels like it happened so long ago. So long ago it might have been a dream that scattered itself through my memories." She continued. Naminé looked up at her with interest.
"A far off memory that's like a scattered dream?" Naminé asked quietly. Yuki blinked in surprise. That wasn't exactly how Yuki would have worded it. But at the same time, it was perfect. Exactly what she was thinking.
"Yeah. I guess." Yuki agreed. Naminé smiled at her softly.
"Then try to line the pieces up." She said simply. She walked away from the wall to her normal seat. She sat down and pulled out a sketchbook. She flipped through it until she found a half-finished drawing. Yuki watched her as she drew, trying to understand what Naminé meant.
Yuki walked to the window and stared out it in thought. If she wanted to line the pieces up she had to find the pieces first. The first piece was she was an elite Heartless. The second she was a keyblade wielder. She came from Destiny Islands and was taken away by DiZ. She became part of the organization and played a pawn in their game. She had friends. Great friends that she would never let go of. And now she had decided she wouldn't play the pawn anymore. But what could she do?
"Why does DiZ hate me so much?" Yuki asked. She looked over to Naminé. Naminé stopped her drawing to think of the answer.
"He hates all Heartless and Nobodies. They remind him of his mistakes." She answered. Yuki frowned, looking back out the window.
"He seems to have a particular hatred for me though," Yuki commented. Naminé sighed and nodded, keeping her eyes lowered though Yuki was looking at her.
"You're too human. Everything about you proves that what he thinks about Heartless isn't always true." Naminé said. Yuki looked back at her in confusion. Too human? She was no more human than the others.
"I'm just a Heartless though." Yuki said. Naminé shook her head.
"You're not just a Heartless. You have to line the pieces up, Yuki. When you do, I think the answer will be obvious." Naminé said. She stood up and closed her notebook. She looked at Yuki with a smile. There was a determined look in her blue eyes that Yuki hadn't seen before. It made it apparent just how much Naminé looked like Kairi.
Naminé smiled at Yuki one last time before leaving the room, back to her work on Sora. Yuki watched her go before looking back out the window.
Yuki was missing something, but for once she wasn't worried. Instead, she was determined. She was going to find whatever it was about her that was so important.
"Line the pieces up," Yuki said to the air.
Yours and mine.
*3*
X frowned staring at the world around him. It was a small world, just a bit of land and a tower. The tower wasn't very tall, but still several stories high with other towers sticking off of it on occasions. X hadn't come here in a long time. The last time he had been here he had been with Terra. They had been searching for Master Xehanort.
X took a deep breath as he approached the door to the tower. This was a risk and he knew it. The wizard he had come to see knew what he had done in the past. He could turn X away or possibly kill him. But that wasn't important. X had already made his decision.
X walked up the stairs of the tower slowly. He was taking deep breaths to keep himself from panicking. He stopped in front of the door to the Wizards office. He took one last deep breath before pushing open the door and entering the room.
Inside the room, an old man sat at a desk. The old man wore blue robes and had a blue wizard's hat with yellow stars and a crescent moon on his head. He had a long grey beard and black eyes that were not at all welcoming. He watched X like a hawk as the Heartless closed the door and approached the desk.
X bowed his head to the old master.
"Master Yen Sid." X said. He looked up at the master cautiously. Yen Sid gave him a harsh look, but X didn't cower away from him.
"It has been a long time since you dared show yourself here." Yen Sid said. His voice was gravelly but firm. X nodded, keeping eye contact.
"Yeah, I know." He said casually. He put his hands in his pockets, trying to appear as relaxed as possible.
"And yet, you have not changed." Yen Sid said. X frowned. His mind brought to mind all of the things he did the last time he had met Yen Sid. The tricky words and pretty lies. The acting as he tried to hide his true intentions. He still was the same, wasn't he? Never saying the whole truth. Lying and abandoning those close to him. Anything for his own personal gain.
X shook his head trying to clear the negative thoughts. That wasn't true. Not anymore. He was different, he wasn't acting for just himself anymore. He was in the right.
"Not physically, but I like to think I've changed quite a bit mentally," X said, looking back at Yen Sid. Yen Sid didn't speak right away. He looked over X, looking for some indication of who he was now. But he still did look the same. The same relaxed demeanor that seemed almost arrogant. The same look that said he knew far more than anyone else.
"Why are here? Do you come to spread the darkness?" Yen Sid asked.
"I came to stop the darkness," X replied. Yen Sid's eyes widened in interest, but he didn't speak. X sighed before continuing. "Sora's going to wake up soon. I want your permission to guide him in the fight against organization thirteen." Yen Sid's look changed from one of interest to one of surprise.
"You intend to stop them?" He asked. X looked away and nodded with a frown.
"Kingdom Hearts brings nothing but ruin." He said softly. Even saying the name of Kingdom Hearts made X feel more guilt than he could express. He warred with himself over wanting to run away and never get close to that place again, and fighting to stop it. If he just left the fight to others he felt he would never forgive himself.
"And why do you find the need to guide him?" Yen Sid asked. X sighed and smirked, looking back to the old master.
"I messed up before, maybe this is a way to start making up for that." He replied. It was his job to ensure that Aqua, Terra, and Ventus were never forgotten. He had given himself that job to start making up for it. And maybe helping Sora would lead to their rescue. "I know organization thirteens goals and plans better than anyone else you could get. Please." X added on. It was true, he knew what organization thirteens plan was. But he knew that wasn't what would convince Yen Sid. The fact that he had pleaded with him was what would do it if anything did.
Yen Sid seemed to look over X for some time. He was obviously thinking. X didn't speak again, just kept his eyes lowered. He knew he was risking a lot. He was just a Heartless to this man. A very dangerous one at that. It would be better if he just vanished. But X couldn't not yet.
"Very well, but know you will be under heavy supervision." Yen Sid finally agreed. X looked up at him and nodded. He didn't bother to ask what that supervision would be. It didn't matter.
"I expect nothing less," X admitted. "Leave him with me too long and I'm bound to betray him." He said. He turned away from Yen Sid, going to wait outside. The storm inside of him calmed, if only for a moment. He let out a sigh before his mouth upturned into a smirk. Maybe he wasn't meant to fade after all.
*3*
Y frowned pacing around the forest in Twilight Town. She looked around her cautiously, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Backing up against a tree she slid down to the ground, her hand resting on a bag that hung at her side. Her eyes kept moving as she slowly opened the bag. It was filled to the brim with papers.
Deciding it was safe enough Y turned her attention to the papers. It was all research she had acquired from Castle Oblivion. Most were from Vexen and Zexion. Notes on whatever research they had been conducting. A few surprised Y. Somehow they had managed to locate the Xehanort reports Aqua, Terra, Ven, and herself had collected. She had picked those up mostly so no one else could use them.
Y had thought if there was anything she could use to save Roxas it would have been within the files at Castle Oblivion. And since Yuki had mentioned the people who took Roxas were located in Twilight Town, what better place to wait to be found.
Y quickly lost herself in reading the files. The notes were extensive and really had many brilliant ideas. But all the same, it made Y realize something. The entire time they had been nothing but puppets in a much grander scheme. Pieces moving to the whim of someone far more powerful than them. Everything was planned out precisely. The only thing they hadn't accounted for was them running away.
"This is an odd place to do homework." A deep voice said. Y's head snapped upward to see who had spoken. In front of her was a man in red and black, with only a single bright yellow eye visible.
"It's not homework." Y said cautiously. She assumed the man had known as much before speaking to her. But still, she felt it was necessary to say. She could tell very easily this had to be the one leading the imposter. The one who had insisted Roxas be taken away.
"Oh really. Then what is it?" The man asked. Y gathered the papers and stood, so she wouldn't have to look up at the man too much. He was still quite a bit taller than her, but it didn't bother her.
"Research I stole from Nobodies," Y answered. The man looked taken aback by her blunt reply. He blinked a few times as if trying to make sense of what she had just said. Y smiled, pleased with herself.
"Who are you?" The man asked. Y shrugged with a playful smile.
"Just a girl looking for answers." Y said simply. She was careful to move in a way that kept her Heartless emblem hidden. "But you can call me Y." She added with a broad grin. The man looked at her with interest.
"What answers could you possibly desire from the Nobodies?" The man asked. He was watching Y with keen interest. She was interesting to him. Perhaps enough to get involved in his plot.
"A lot of things. But most importantly, I want to know where they came from." Y answered. It wasn't the full truth, but hopefully, it was the right thing to say. It appeared to be as the man smirked at her.
"They are just heartless beings." He said. Y frowned.
"Heartless, huh?" She asked.
It was almost laughable at this point. Saying they were heartless. Just leftovers when someone lost their hearts. Y knew that wasn't true, they weren't just temporary replacements of the real people. They were just as human as any somebody. The laughed and cried. They felt something. Y had committed it to memory. They weren't going to just vanish and before forgotten like this man intended. But she couldn't tell him that.
Y looked up at the man in interest. If she had to be a puppet in this crazy game, she was going to choose who's puppet. And as detestable as this man was turning out to be, he was the best puppet master she could find.
"Do you disagree with me?" The man asked.
"I do, but I'm a little naive I guess." Y replied, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "You wouldn't mind teaching me, would you?" She asked.
The man looked at Y with interest. He was considering what she had said. His eyes studied her, eventually landing on the bag she held. Y knew he wanted the information. Maybe that was the bargaining chip she needed.
"I have never been a great teacher in my own eyes. But I will attempt to guide you." The man said simply. Y smiled broadly. She bowed to him in gratitude, trying to mask the smirk that had appeared on her face. Part one of her plan was complete.
"Thank you." Y said straightening up. "So what do I call you sir?" She asked.
"DiZ." The man replied. He turned away from Y and headed to the old mansion. "I will take to our base of operations. Understand you must tell no one of its location." He said as he walked away. Y followed after him, still grinning.
"Of course." She agreed.
Y smiled as she walked behind the man. She ran through her memories, trying to decide just when things turned this way. Where all of them would be separated and Y would be working with the enemy. She couldn't decide. But it didn't matter. She was going to hold onto her hope, even if the others wouldn't.
One day she would save them both.
A/N: First and foremost, thank all of you readers and reviewers. It means a lot to me. I was posting everyday, just hoping to get one or two reviews. It made my day every time.
My lovely guest reviewer, thank you so much. I'm so glad I could help you through anything. And as it turns out, you were helping me through a rough patch too. This story was my escape method, I'm glad it helped you too. Also, good luck with Union cross (or whatever the games called now). I enjoy the game very much. Vulpes for the win!
To Chirithy564, your support has meant the world to me. Don't worry about getting that fan art done, you're volunteering to do this on your own time. You don't have to do it at all, so I can't complain about how long it takes. Your life comes first.
Ok, announcement time. I'm continuing the series, but not right into KHII. I'm going to do a prequel story next for Chi. I'll probably post it with in the next couple of days, the title is The Forgotten's Keeper. It's not detrimental to the story, but I do suggest reading it because it explains a few things about my characters from this story. Until then, peace out my friends.