Chapter 117

Dreams of Distant Friends

A basketball appeared in Sora's hands. He dribbled it from one hand to the other, bouncing it on the stained glass platform, before catching it in both hands again. He locked eyes with Roxas and bounced the ball toward him. Roxas caught it and passed it back. Sora caught it and ran past Roxas, dribbling as he went. Roxas turned and gave chase. He did a Reversal, sliding around and stopping in front of Sora, blocking his path. Sora then threw the ball to the side and dashed after it, reclaimed it, and continued his run toward the basketball net. He stopped and made a shot, but Roxas jumped up and slapped the ball away from the net. He caught up to it and started dribbling the ball as he ran toward the opposite net, this time with Sora pursuing him. Roxas stopped in front of the net and made a shot. The ball bounced off of the backboard and dropped through the net with a swoosh.

Sora and Roxas continued their game, running all around the Station of Awakening. Sometimes, one of them managed to nab the ball from the other. Some shots made it into the net while others were blocked or missed. They each made a slam dunk as well.

They were all tied up, six to six. Sora bounced the ball to Roxas. Roxas bounced it back. Sora started to move, weaving around the court while avoiding Roxas. He stopped twenty feet away and made his shot. Unfortunately, Roxas had made a dash toward him, causing him to rush and put a little too much power in the shot. The ball bounced off of the backboard and sailed away, bouncing on the floor before falling over the ledge. Sora and Roxas watched it fall off and vanish.

"Whoops," Sora said, admitting his error. He turned to face Roxas. "So, uh, should I call a new one? Summon it back? I'm not sure how this whole thing works."

Before Roxas could offer a suggestion, the ball reappeared, soaring above the ledge and back onto the station. It bounced across the glass straight toward Roxas, who then caught it. Sora glanced over to where it had fallen, wondering what had just happened.

"Hey," Roxas said, drawing Sora's attention back to him. "I guess it's my ball."

"Uh, yeah." He took another quick glance back at the ledge, but nothing revealed itself. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. These Dives have always been surreal. I shouldn't worry too much about it, he thought.

They continued their game, matching skills fiercely, laughing when one of them scored a point, and thoroughly enjoying themselves. After they had each scored fifteen points, they decided to take a break.

"That was a good game," Roxas said, laughing.

Sora nodded in agreement. "I bet Irvine would have liked to see those moves," he added. Roxas fell silent and looked away uncertainly. Sora frowned, understanding his Nobody's conflicted feelings. "You know, I like hanging out with you in here一even though the atmosphere is kinda creepy一but I feel bad that you're watching life from the sidelines."

"You know what would happen if I separated from you," Roxas argued.

Sora shrugged. "Actually, I don't, really," he admitted. "I was told that it 'has to' be like this, but they never explained how or why."

Roxas smiled and shook his head. Same old Sora, hopelessly lost trying to understand the rules and logic of everything. Then again, it is not like he is any better at making sense of everything. Even when he was in the Organization and Axel was spoon-feeding him answers to his questions, he was always asking the why and how of everything and questioning everything that the Organization was doing. Granted, his questions and doubts were well-founded, but the point still stood.

"I had to merge back with you so that you would be complete," he explained. "You were only half of what you were. Your strength was greatly depleted. You didn't even have a real body."

"Oh, yeah. I guess I never really thought about how that worked between Kairi bringing me back to the light and you merging with me back in Twilight Town. So, my body was where you were, and Kairi's light created a body for me. I thought that the Final Keyhole being complete just made the Heartless stronger, but I was actually weaker. When I fought Xemnas in Hollow Bastion, he said that I was 'not whole'. So, I guess I couldn't really be complete without you." Sora shook his head. He put his hand over his chest empathetically. "But you deserve to live as your own person just as much as I do."

Roxas sighed. "I shouldn't have to take anything away from you. I wasn't supposed to ex一"

"Yeah, well, things don't always go how they're 'supposed' to," Sora shot back. "And you do exist. And it's a great existence. Your life shouldn't be left to waste."

"You got an idea for how to do that?" Roxas asked.

Sora realized that he still did not have an answer to that problem. "Uh… well… We'll figure something out. Ansem, Ienzo and Even are smart. And Merlin and Yen Sid have really powerful magic. Between those guys, we can come up with something."

Roxas let out a chuckle. "Come back when you think of something, and I'll think about it."

They fell silent, unsure how to further pass the time. Sora thought back to the basketball game and looked over to the edge of the platform curiously.

"I wonder who it was that threw the ball back," he mused.

Roxas followed his gaze and shrugged. "Dunno. But when I caught the ball, I felt something... I'm not really sure what it was. I guess it felt like a… friend. It felt somehow familiar."

"Huh." Sora crossed his hands behind his head and laid on his back. "I wonder what it was, and why it was just off the side."

In her own dream dive, Kairi sat in a room very similar to the dormitory in which Naminé had resided while in Twilight Town. She sat in a chair to the left of Naminé. Both girls had a sketchbook and a crayon in their hands. A box of crayons sat on the table between them. Kairi looked over at her Nobody's artwork, which depicted the team, Mulan, Shang, and the soldiers standing before the Emperor.

"That's amazing," Kairi said, impressed.

Naminé smiled. "Thanks." She snuck a peek at Kairi's sketch. "That's an interesting symbol."

Kairi glanced down at her sketchbook page, on which she drew the symbol that she had seen on the staff in the palace's storage room. "It is. It was on the artifact that the Emperor showed me," she explained. "But I feel like I've seen it before. I just don't know where."

Naminé shrugged. "I don't know. Nothing like that sticks out in the more prominent instances in your memory. I could cycle through every moment that you saw and try to find it there, but that would take a long time."

"Oh, well. If I see it again, maybe we can figure out what it means."

"Sure."

Kairi finished touching her sketch up, then took a look around the room. The walls were lined with drawings depicting events that had taken place since Naminé had merged into Kairi's heart. Kairi knew that her Nobody had been with her during all that time since. However, she knew that, save for a few periods of chatting back home, Naminé had not truly participated in any of it. She had only sat in this room, watching from the sidelines as Kairi lived through everything. Sora and Riku knew that she was with them; Donald, Goofy, and the King, to a lesser extent; Aqua, however, barely knew she existed. She had never made the same connection to their friends as they had.

"Must be lonely in here," Kairi mused.

"It's fine," Naminé replied simply. "I don't get bored."

Kairi shook her head. "That's not what I mean. You don't have any friends to talk to, except for the times I'm here. You don't have any experiences to share. You have no one to laugh or cry with, no one to lend you their ear when you're hurting and need a friend, no one to share ice cream with. You should be able to do all of that and more."

Naminé hesitated before responding. "Should I?" she asked softly.

Kairi noticed the hint of self-loathing in her voice, and realized why she was avoiding the topic. "Yes, you should," she said firmly, supportively. "We would all be happy to have you join us."

"Even after all I've done?"

Kairi knew that her Nobody still felt immense guilt over taking Sora, Donald and Goofy's memories apart under Marluxia's orders. Even after undoing the damage, she still felt that that one event defined her. But Kairi had something else in mind. "After you put Sora, Donald and Goofy back to the way they were and fixed the harm that you were forced to do while you were pretty much held against your will? I'd say especially after all you've done." Naminé blushed. Kairi stood up and hugged her Nobody. "Besides, Sora never got to formally thank you."

Naminé smiled softly, offering Kairi a degree of encouragement. "Come on, Naminé. Spend one day with us, please. At least have dinner with us just once," she insisted.

Before Naminé could reply, they heard a voice permeating the dreamscape. Ven… I'm sorry, Ven…

"What was that?" Kairi asked.

"I think it came from outside," Naminé guessed. "You want to check it out?"

Kairi nodded.

With that, she opened her eyes, finding herself back in bed. She threw her blanket off, slipped out of the bunk bed and stood up. She listened for the voice.

"Ven, I'm sorry. I might not make it back as soon as I thought." Kairi looked up and realized that the voice was coming from the bed above hers. She began to climb the ladder leading up to the top bed. At the same time, she heard the door open and saw Mickey enter, also coming to investigate the voice.

Kairi climbed to the top of the ladder and saw Aqua tossing and turning in bed. "Sleep well, Ven," she heard the blue-haired woman murmur. She frowned, realizing that her friend was having a bad dream.

Mickey jumped up and grabbed onto the frame, hoisting himself up next to Aqua's head. He nudged her shoulder to shake her awake. "Aqua," he whispered.

Aqua's eyes fluttered open. She tilted her head to see Mickey and Kairi looking at her with worry.

"Are you alright?" Kairi asked.

Aqua blinked, still sleepy. "Did I do anything?"

"You were talking in your sleep," Mickey told her.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Were you dreaming about Ventus?" Kairi asked.

Aqua nodded. "Yes. He's… he's still asleep. His heart is still lost." Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I was supposed to go back and wake him up. But now I've been gone for so long."

Mickey put his hand on her shoulder. "Do you want to go find him? We can try to wake him up," he suggested.

Aqua thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe. I mean, yes, I do want to find him. But I have no idea if it will do any good. Will I even be able to wake him? Could I? Do I have the power?"

Mickey nodded, understanding her concern. "Right. Master Yen Sid said that the light of a friend should be able to bring his heart home, but that was only right after he lost it."

"His heart was close enough to point the way back to our home, where he would be kept safe," Aqua continued. "But that was so long ago. His heart has been floating, lost, for twelve years. I don't know where it could be. I don't know how to find him. I might never be able to wake him up." She broke down crying.

Kairi shook her head. "We will," she declared adamantly. Aqua and Mickey turned to her. "We will find a way. I know you haven't seen most of what our friends have pulled off, and I haven't been at it as long as the others, but this is what we do. We make miracles happen. When it looks like there's only smothering darkness, we find the small glimmer of light. We'll figure something out, like we've always been able to do."

Mickey smiled and nodded. "Right. I don't know how, or how long it'll take, but we'll find Ven's heart, and we'll find a way to wake him up," he promised. "And we'll all be right there to greet him."

Aqua smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thanks. You guys are right. I just have to believe. Ven's heart is still out there, somewhere. We just have to find him."

"That's good. Do you want me to make you some tea?" Mickey asked.

Aqua shook her head. "Thanks, but I think I'll be alright now," she replied. "Sorry for waking you up."

"Don't worry about it," Kairi said. "Sweet dreams." With that, she descended the ladder.

"Good night, Aqua." Mickey gave her a parting smile before dropping down to the floor. Wishing Kairi good night, he left and returned to his room. Kairi slipped back into bed and pulled her blanket up.