Episode 86: Kairi's Fears and Closure
On the same night, Sora, Kairi, and the Pokémon were sleeping soundly. Kairi started to have a nightmare.
In her dreams she looked around and she saw Heartless in every corner. The Heartless are Shadows and Flutterings. She summoned her Keyblade and held it tight. All around there are Dream Eaters, but they are colored darkly and have red round eyes that lacks pupils. The symbol's variant is colored a deep navy fading into a bright neon purple with a thick white border, the tail at the bottom of the heart-shaped symbol is cone-shaped. Its wings are shaped like bat wings with small spikes in the center and growing larger near the sides. They bear a very vague resemblance to the Heartless symbol. These are Dream Eaters known as Nightmares. They were the source of the nightmares.
"Sora! Sora, where are you?!" Kairi called out. She searches for her boyfriend very frantically. She kept searching for him. She then heard her own voice in the darkness.
"You did this to him. You're the reason it happened," the voice said.
"Who's there?!" Kairi called out.
"You turned him into a Heartless," the voice said.
"No! That's not true!" Kairi exclaimed.
"Yes, it is," the voice said.
"I'm not going to let you get the best of me! I won't!" Kairi said. The Heartless have vanished and then Sora came before her. Kairi's face lit up. "Sora, thank goodness, you're safe. I was looking desperately for you!" She walked up to her boyfriend and took her by the hand, but her hand went through his, to her confusion. "Sora? It can't be." Sora's whole body turned black and his eyes turned yellow. Kairi could only watch in horror. "No. No, not again! Please, not again! Please, no, no, no!" Sora came at her, and she screamed.
Kairi woke up in cold sweat. Kairi panted heavily. She woke up Sora and the Pokémon. Hoothoot and Misdreavus were all confused by what happened.
"Kairi, are you okay?" Sora asked with concern. Kairi looked at him and she lunged at him with a tight hug. She started to cry hysterically.
"Oh, Sora," Kairi cried.
"Shh, it's okay, Kairi. It's okay," Sora assured his girlfriend.
"I had a horrible dream. I dreamt that you turned into a Heartless again, and-" Kairi said before he cuts her off.
"It was only a dream. It wasn't real and it won't be. I promise you," Sora said.
"No, I promise you," Kairi said. She held him tight. "I promise that I won't let the darkness take you again."
A few days later, Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, Angel, and Togepi continued their journey to Violet City for Sora's first Gym battle in Johto, but each night was getting worse and worse and it was making Sora worry. He knew the events of him turning into a Heartless by sacrificing himself to save her from the masked figure was driving her. Today, the Heartless attacked them. The Heartless consists of Shadows, Powerwilds, Bandits, and Pirates. Kairi started to do the heavy lifting against them. She was running herself ragged.
"Kairi, don't overdo it! You need to rest!" Sora said.
"I can handle it fine, Sora," Kairi said. He could tell she was trying to protect him, and he was mighty grateful for it, but he knew she'll end up out of the steam she needs to keep fighting.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Sora ordered. Pikachu nodded. Sora and Pikachu unleashed lightning at the Heartless, destroying them. Angel fired Swift at the Heartless, destroying them as well. Angel ran up to Kairi.
"Eevee, Eevee, Eevee!" Angel said.
"Angel, I'm fine," Kairi said. Angel wasn't buying it one bit. Just then, the Heartless were going to attack again, but Sora and Pikachu came and slashed through them. The Heartless explodes into dark poofs. Hearts floats up from the slained Emblem Heartless. Sora dismissed his Keyblade.
"Glad I made it in time," Sora said, dismissing his Keyblade. "You gotta take it easy, Kairi. They could have gotten the edge on you."
"I can keep up just as much as you," Kairi said.
"Yeah, but you're pushing yourself and running yourself ragged. You're not invincible, Kairi. You're not Wonder Woman," Sora said.
"You don't think I can keep it up, don't you?" Kairi asked.
"No, I know you can, but you got to know your own limitations, both as a Pokémon Trainer and as a Keyblade Wielder," Sora said.
"But-" Kairi said.
"No buts, Kairi. I mean it. You gotta limit yourself. Even superheroes have limits," Sora said. Kairi knew he was right. She was pushing herself hard, but she didn't care about her own limitations, she only cared about not losing Sora again, even if it was for a short time.
Unknown to them, Ansem is watching them closely. He grinned evilly.
"Fear can be one's downfall. And it seems that her fear of losing the one she loves can become a reality. She needs only a nudge," Ansem said, conjuring a Heartless, shaped like Sora. He laughed to himself. It dresses in the same clothing as Sora, including his gloves, shorts, large shoes, hooded shirt, and even has the same necklace and hip chain. However, its clothing is colored entirely in shades of black and gray. Its skin is also black, as is its spiky hair. It carries a copy of the Kingdom Key, which is similarly dark-colored. It also has the glowing yellow eyes characteristic of Heartless. "Follow them and strike at the right time." The Heartless sinks into the ground and moves forward.
A little while later, Sora is feeding Bonsly some juice from the berries he and Kairi have recently collected.
"Here you go, Bonsly. Don't drink it too fast or you'll end up getting a tummyache," Sora said. Bonlsy took the bottle from him and Bonsly gave off a loud burp. "Wow, that was a big boy burp." He laughed.
"Bonsly," Bonlsy said. Sora placed him down. He walked up to Togepi and started to play with each other. Sora laughed. He saw how close the two baby Pokémon were after a short time. He looked at Kairi who is brushing Angel's fur.
Kairi kept on brushing Angel's fur and she sighed.
"Angel, you don't think I'm pushing myself, do you?" Kairi asked.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"I mean, I was only trying to protect Sora from becoming a Heartless again. I love him more than anything," Kairi said. Angel knew she was afraid of losing Sora again and she would do anything to prevent it from ever happening.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"I'm not going to let it happen," Kairi said.
A little later, after brushing Angel's fur, Kairi has left to fill a bucket with water. Kairi was planning to make some soup for the both of them, but a barrier quickly surrounds her. She gasped as she dropped her bucket.
"You're not going anywhere," a voice spoke.
"Who's there?" Kairi asked, summoning her Keyblade. Just then, the Heartless version of Sora appeared, much to her dismay. "No, this can't be real! It can't be!" The Heartless Sora pulled out the shadow Kingdom Key and held it. The Heartless started to run right at her. Kairi screamed loudly.
Her scream was heard by Sora and the Pokémon who were helping out with the preparations.
"That doesn't sound good," Sora said, fearing the worst. He and the Pokémon ran to where the scream came from.
Kairi held her Keyblade and it blocked the dark Keyblade's strike. She skids backwards and lowered it.
"Why is this happening?" Kairi asked. It came at her again, so Kairi did her best to block. The blows were stronger than the last. Kairi didn't know how long she was going to last, and she didn't know what to do.
Sora and the Pokémon all arrived and saw the brawl.
"Kairi!" Sora yelled. He tried to run to her, but he couldn't go any further because of the barrier in front of him. "This cannot be happening!" He was banging the barrier. The Heartless aimed the shadow Keyblade at Kairi and fired a beam of darkness at her. She dodges by cartwheeling out of the way. "Kairi! Hang in there!" Kairi turned and saw her boyfriend.
"Sora," Kairi said.
"Kairi, you gotta take it down!" Sora exclaimed.
"Sora, I can't!" Kairi said.
"Yes, you can! And you will! You gotta take that faker down!" Sora said.
"How?" Kairi asked.
"Because you're strong, Kairi! You were strong when we fought together in Hollow Bastion!" Sora said.
"It was my fault that you turned into a Heartless," Kairi said.
"No, it wasn't, Kairi! That guy was close to killing you and I saved your life! I did what I did just so you can live!" Sora said.
"How? By throwing your own life away?" Kairi asked.
"And I'd do it again just to keep you from dying! But that's hard for me to do that now because of this invisible wall between us! You gotta take that Heartless down! I know you can!" Sora said.
"I can't!" Kairi said.
"Don't repeat yourself and use the Keyblade and fight! Look at it and see it for what it is! That's not me! I don't know how it looks like me, but I know you can win against it! Use your Keyblade and take it down!" Sora said.
"Sora," Kairi said.
"Look, Kairi. I know you were trying to protect me from turning into a Heartless again, but you gotta remember that there things nobody can control!" Sora said. "Stop punishing yourself!"
Those three little words struck a cord with her. She knew she was right.
"Sora's right. I was punishing myself when it came to times we had to use the Keyblade. And if it keeps up, I might end up becoming a Heartless and Sora would be lost without me when it happens. He might have done the same thing if it was me in his situation. He would blame himself, too. No more playing the blame game. It's time to get serious," Kairi said in her thoughts. She held her Keyblade forward. She spoke out loud, "You know the difference between you and the real Sora, Heartless? The real Sora is much better-looking than you are!" She came running at the Heartless Sora and it came running at her. They clashed their Keyblades at each other, so she turned and struck it on its back. It was still standing, so it swings it at Kairi, but it missed her. "Swing and a miss, strike 1!" It tries again. "Strike 2!" It swung again with the same result. "And strike 3! You're out!" She gave it a swing with the Destiny's Embrace, hitting its shoulder.
Ansem was watching the fight between them and he was disappointed by how it was turning out.
"This isn't how I was picturing it. She has regained her fire," Ansem said.
The Heartless fires a beam of darkness at her, but she casts her Reflect spell and it bounces right off. She came running at it again, so she readies her Keyblade. The Heartless does the same thing, so Kairi and the Heartless gave one last clash of their weapons. The both of them did a stance like two samurais swinging their swords. The Heartless fell on the ground, faced-down. It then started to dissolve into the darkness where it was born. Kairi dismissed her Keyblade.
"The real Sora would have been too fast for that," Kairi said. The barrier then vanishes as Angel ran ahead of Sora, Pikachu, Togepi, and the rest of the Pokémon.
"Eevee!" Angel cheered happily. Kairi caught her partner in her arms.
"Angel! I'm sorry to make you worry so much," Kairi said.
"Eevee, Eevee, Eevee, Eevee!" Angel said.
"I promise I won't make you worry again, Angel," Kairi said. Eevee started to lick her face with a lot of affection. Kairi giggled from the licks.
"Glad to hear it, Kairi. She wasn't the only one who worried so much," Sora said. "I got worried to no end. I thought I was going to lose you right there until I got through to you." Kairi shuts her eyes and looked away. "Come on, look at me, Kairi. You should know you can't fight so much on your own."
"I know, Sora. Or should I say, I should know that. I was so worried about losing you again, I didn't care about my own safety, just yours. Now I see how that turned out," Kairi said.
"Kairi, it's an admirable thing that you'd risk your own life for me, unless you do it constantly. Also, it wasn't like you to hesitate the way you did, Kairi. Why did you freeze up like that?" Sora asked.
"It's just, when I saw it looked like you, I just lost my nerve completely. I could just strike down a piece of you. How could I?" Kairi asked. Sora understood where she was going with it. He knew he'd freeze up when a Heartless that looked like Kairi has turned up.
"You got a point there, Kairi. That might happen to me if I was in your shoes. But you would snap me out of it by telling me that wasn't you," Sora said. Kairi agreed with her boyfriend with that.
"You're right," Kairi agreed. "I'm just sorry I made you worry so much when it came to fighting the Heartless. I thought I could get stronger by fighting them off by myself, but then I ended up making you worry about me. I'm sorry, Sora."
"Don't be sorry, Kairi. You have nothing to be sorry about," Sora said.
"Don't defend me on this one, Sora. I don't deserve it," Kairi said.
"Well, I say you do. You go and blame yourself for what happened all you want, but you were the one who brought me back. You shouldn't forget that," Sora said.
"And I won't. Again, I'm sorry for making you worry so much about me," Kairi apologized.
"It's alright, Kairi. Really," Sora said. "There's nothing to forgive."
"Nothing to forgive?" Kairi asked.
"You heard me right. I'll stop worrying about you if you just take it easy. And you'll stop worrying about me when I do the same," Sora said. Kairi smiled a bit.
"No, Sora. I'm not going to stop worrying about you," Kairi said. Sora was caught off by what his girlfriend said.
"You won't stop worrying about me?" Sora asked in surprise.
"And you heard me right, Sora. I'm going to keep worrying about you. Not just about the Heartless, but just about every little thing when it comes to mind, Sora. And I promise it's going to get a whole lot worse and worse," Kairi stated. Sora chuckled a bit. "And what is so funny, mister?"
"Sorry, it's just, you sound just like my mom when you said that to me. She always told that to me and Karen when we were little kids. She said she was going to worry about our dad and it'll get worse and worse. That's what I was laughing about."
"Funny. My mom always said that to my dad when they were just dating. A small world, huh?" Kairi asked.
"Yeah. I now know we have one thing in common. We both have moms that are going to worry about our dads at everything they do," Sora said.
"You're right, they do," Kairi agreed. "How do we seal the deal?"
"About with a kiss?" Sora asked. Kairi smiled.
"And I'd like that," Kairi said. She and Sora leaned forward and kisses each other on the lips with a lot of passion. They kissed for nearly a minute, so they parted lips and hugged each other. "I really do love you, Sora."
"I love you, too, Kairi," Sora said, holding his hug.
Ansem huffed and floats up in the air.
"It seems I have underestimated the bond they share. It's not going to be as easy as I thought. A minor setback. That will not stop me," Ansem said, vanishing into the darkness.
Back to the couple, Sora took the bucket she was carrying.
"Don't worry about cooking anything, because I'll handle it," Sora said.
"But I-" Kairi said before she was cut off.
"No buts, Kairi. You should rest up after that day you've been through. I'll do my best making that soup," Sora said. He looked over to Heracross. "Hey, Heracross, think you can make sure she gets back to camp safely?"
"Heracross," Heracross nodded. The Singlehorn Pokémon leads Kairi back to the camp.
With the help of the Pokémon, he did his part to make dinner for the two of them. He cuts his fingers a few times when it came to dicing the vegetables that she uses. Good thing they have some bandages in the first aid kit. Sora made some mistakes every now and then. He got done with preparing the meal, but it didn't look anything like how it would turn out.
"Well, here it is. Hope it meets your expectations, Kairi," Sora said.
"Time for the taste test," Kairi said. She took a spoonful and ate it. She had a look on her face that told her something. She swallowed it and she smiled. "It tastes good, Sora. I know you did your best, Sora."
"Hearing that makes it all worth it," Sora said, taking a spoonful in his mouth and he found the taste to be off. He said in his thoughts, "I think I'll stick with grilled cheese for a while."
It seems Kairi is doing okay for her part. She's not going to push herself over the limit when it comes to use of the Keyblade, but that is not going to stop her from worrying about her boyfriend on a daily basis. I'm sure that is Sora is willing to live with it. But until then, the journey continues.