Chapter 7
Aftermath of Cinder's Second Death
Sometime later after Sora left Canterlot, he soon arrived on Mount Paozu, just as Goten had mentioned him. Chi-Chi was there, watching Goku harvesting radishes for her, and of course, she was pleased to see him.
"Phew, another successful harvest completed, Chi-Chi," called Goku.
"Well, that's good, but we have a visitor, Goku. It's Sora," replied his wife.
"Yeah, I asked him to come and visit us when he had the time," said Goten.
"Well, it's good to see you, Sora," smiled Chi-Chi.
"Yep. Hey, Chi-Chi," replied Sora.
Gohan and Videl came down, with baby Pan in her arms.
"It's great to see you, Sora," she said.
"Videl. Gohan. It's great to see you also," he grinned.
"Man, you were something else in your battle with Cinder. Also, I just hope Mom doesn't get mad at me, but you kind of seem down. Maybe you can tell us about it," said Gohan.
"Thanks, Gohan," he replied.
Sora told Chi-Chi and Videl everything that happened about his second bout with Cinder Fall, who was revived by the Dragon Balls, and was forced to kill her again after she fell into darkness yet again after allowing it to control her actions.
"Oh my goodness. I can't believe that heartless woman would come back to get her revenge on you. It was very much like how Frieza came back and tried to kill us all, until Whis gave Goku a chance to stop that monster for good," gasped the Gohan's mother.
"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up, Chi-Chi. Also, I'm really sorry for telling you about it in front of your husband, children, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter," sighed Sora.
"Don't be. You did what you felt was right, Sora," assured Goku.
"Yeah, Dad's right. Everything's okay now," added Goten.
"Maybe, but I just feel terrible again. I know I hated Cinder, but my hatred of her was so strong that I was forced to kill her the first time over the ruins of Vacuo, just like how your father retaliated against Frieza in self-defense. Even after he lost his best friend, Krillin, to him. Even though Chi-Chi hates Super Saiyans," replied Sora.
"While it's true that I don't like seeing Goku, Gohan, and Goten turn Super Saiyan, I can understand where you're coming from, Sora. Also, don't even think of saying that you deserve to be alone. Because the moment you do, you'll only end up hurting yourself, until the loneliness will be too much for you to handle," said Chi-Chi.
Her family nodded in agreement, and even Pan took his finger in his hand and held it for as long as she could. Sora smiled at Gohan and Videl's daughter, and realized that trying to isolate himself was not his Keyblade Master way.
"Actually, you guys are right. I know that I don't want to push people away from me, thanks to what Jiminy warned me about. Even after Cinder's second death, I'm just scared that I might end up becoming the worst version of myself, and become a very disgusting murderous delinquent. But I'm not gonna let this sadness consume me any longer. I'm gonna continue to move forward, no matter what. But, now that she's gone, even though I cast aside my desire for vengeance against her, I still have another hatred that's just as strong as my hatred for her. The hatred of Sephiroth, the One-Winged Angel. Also, much like Goku, I never knew anything about my own father, until I learned that he left me the day I was born, and on my sixth birthday for that matter," replied Sora.
However, Chi-Chi got an idea.
"Well, what if I cooked you some of my best beef-radish stew, Sora? That would cheer you up," she suggested to him.
Sora nodded towards her.
"Okay, sure," he smiled.
He waited for a while, and then ate it all up until his stomach was full. After he finished, he gently put his plate in the sink to be washed at a later time.
"Thanks for lunch, Chi-Chi. And thanks to your family for helping me realize that I can't let the past drag me down. I'm gonna try my best to let go of the painful memories that Cinder left in my heart. Even though she may be gone, I'll be careful not to let all of my hatred for Sephiroth get the better of me, just like how my hatred of her did before. Also, I just hope we see each other again," said Sora.
"Take care, Sora. I hope we see each other again soon, because I also hope to make sure you get some more intensive training with everyone else, including Piccolo for that matter. Oh, and you can thank Bulma for making sure that she made doubly certain that Vegeta would know his place for all of us. You see, that's literal proof that you still have the same fighting spirit that I have, even though I bested King Piccolo, Frieza, Majin Buu, and several others who wanted to either destroy my world, or take over it. But, you can also thank us for coming to your aid and stalling Cinder's thugs for as long as we could, until you and Kirito arrived," called Goku.
Sora nodded, but he and Goku shook hands with each other, and then with a tap on his shoulder, his Keyblade Armor appeared on his body, and he whooshed back to Canterlot. In only a couple of minutes, he had at last returned to his friends and family, safe and sound, but with a much clearer conscience. Everyone was there to greet him, relieved that he was back from his visit to Mount Paozu where Goku and his family resided.
"Man, that was some lunch Chi-Chi made. But, I just hope she doesn't punish Goku and Goten too severely, even though she would sometimes punish Gohan for not studying hard. But, at least she knows that he'll always be willing to fight for us, as long as he always trusts his heart," he told himself.
Everyone came to greet him, but of course, his girlfriends would still smother him in kisses, leaving him dazed and covered in kiss marks.
"That fight actually made us realize that not everything is going to be as easy as I realized, Sora. Also, after the training we endured, I kind of had a feeling you were pretty mad at Beerus for threatening to turn us into nothing but a memory if he used his Hakai on me and Usagi," sighed Rei.
"Yeah, and I most certainly don't want to become a memory either, because we all know what happened after Chibiusa disappeared before us after we went to confront Aunt Nehelenia," added Usagi.
"I know what you mean, Usagi and Rei. But at the same time, I guess it's fair to say that Beerus was right to make sure you'd never argue in front of him again," replied Sora.
"Still, I'm just glad you managed to stop Cinder in time, Sora, even though Aiden's dead because of me," said Kirito.
"Yeah, but even though he didn't deserve to die, it did make Cinder even more angry than she normally was, and that in turn means we'll now refocus our efforts on being better prepared to fight against Sephiroth now," he smirked.
"By the way. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I found out that Cinder didn't even think of goading me into joining her side, since she was pretty much unaware of me being Xehanort's kid," said Cody.
"Oh yeah! I'm just glad she didn't. Otherwise, she'd make Berserker escape if he dared to target either Destiny, Fluttershy, Ami, or any of your other girlfriends," replied Sora.
"Personally, I was kind of thinking the same thing. That could've led to him reacting the same way Vegeta did after Beerus swatted her aside on her birthday," said Minako.
"Well, I'm just relieved that Cinder didn't target any of us. I don't think I'd know what to do if Cody still found a way to maintain a sense of self in the form of Berserker. But I'm just glad that he was still able to protect us all, even as we protected him," smiled Ami.
"But on another note, at least we didn't make any unnecessarily crazy sacrifices in our fight against her army. After all, Usagi was right to give us another chance, until Haruka botched it up and attacked her," said Michiru.
Haruka flinched in terror.
"Why does everybody have to remind me about it? You know that I wasn't acting like myself, right?" she groaned.
"But you all gave me, Riku, Mamoru, Chibiusa, Sunset and Starlight another chance when I was an unwilling puppet of the Death Busters like my father was, even though Vassago struck him down and killed him, just as he told me in our final confrontation with Nehelenia," said Hotaru.
"That's right. And I was also a victim of Wiseman's lies and deceit, which made me end up like Big Brother Riku, as well as some of Xehanort's incarnations, Ansem, Terra-Xehanort, the Riku Replica, and several more of your past enemies, Sora," added Chibiusa.
"And even after everything that happened, we all formed an understanding with not just you, but everyone else after you told us about your rivalry with Demande," finished Mamoru.
"Well, you know what this calls for, guys? This calls for a celebration!" cheered Pinkie.
"I couldn't agree more, Pinkie," grinned Kenton.
Sora couldn't help but chuckle. But although he knew that he had to kill Cinder a second time, he could finally rest easy, knowing that he was finally able to let go of the hatred he felt for her, now that she was locked away in the deepest darkest pit of the underworld, never to be revived again.
Although I may have had no choice but to end Cinder Fall once again, I can finally be at peace, and have even found closure with the people I lost on Remnant, because of her cruelty. But even though I may have become the Master Huntsman, thanks to Ozma who changed his name to Professor Ozpin, I have a feeling that he's actually very proud of me for how I chose to be my own kind of huntsman, who will fight to protect what I cherish most. And even though what I did has already been set in stone, the future is always capable of change, even when I have visions of an event that's about to happen, until I find the strength I need to make sure that what I saw doesn't become a reality. And right now, the thing that actually makes me truly happy, is to always make sure everyone I cherish most is never destroyed by the darkness inside any of my enemies' hearts. As long as I never lose sight of the fire of hope that's in my heart, just like how I reminded Usagi that even though Vassago was her cousin, she's also learned to believe in the same fire of hope in her heart. And the stronger our bonds get with each passing day, every step forward will always be an even bigger step to a future that's always gonna be bright, rather than dark. And we will always be ready to make sure it happens together, as long as we keep each other in our hearts until the end of time itself. And while the bonds of friends may sometimes be in one place, it's in every part of the realm of light, and in the many worlds that we long to visit, or have yet to visit. They're always beyond those worlds, beyond the fabric of time and space, beyond dimensions, and last of all, beyond the realm of the gods. So until then, we'll keep moving forward… to a brighter tomorrow.