Chapter 77

Yelling at a Mouse

"She sacrificed herself… for me?" Riku muttered, shocked at the story. "Why did you keep it from me for so long?"

"I had to respect her choice," Mickey replied sadly.

"What about us? You could've given us a choice," Riku countered. "We could have gone and helped her."

Mickey nodded solemnly. "I know. I wanted to find her, but I had to make sure you were safe first. And then you vanished. I was torn between going to find her and going to find you, but I decided that you needed my help more."

"But what about after? During the next year? Or, if that couldn't be done, you could have told us all after we beat Xemnas!" Riku argued. "We could have helped her. And we all would have done so without a second thought!"

Sora and Kairi nodded. "He's right," Sora agreed.

"I know. But Master Yen Sid warned me against telling you because that is exactly what you would've done," Mickey admitted. "You would have gone in, regardless of the consequences or the odds. Getting in was hard enough, and even if we were able to pull it off, none of us had a way to get back out with Aqua safely."

Sora was aghast. "You don't think we would've been able to handle it?" he asked, shocked. "We beat the Organization in a gauntlet! Donald, Goofy and I defeated Ansem in the darkest corner of the universe, and Riku and I defeated Xemnas on our own! We fought Heartless, Nobodies, dragons, skeletons, and even a giant demon! Whatever the Realm of Darkness threw at us, we could take it!"

Mickey had difficulty coming up with a counterargument to that. Sora and Riku were indeed powerful and talented Keyblade wielders. Kairi certainly had great potential. And Donald and Goofy, while not nearly as strong as Sora, Riku or himself, were certainly capable of holding their own and assisting the others if need be.

"Even barring Sora's recklessness," Kairi said, "we could've found a way to get in and out, then gone right in to save her."

"Gawrsh, your Majesty, why didn't you ever tell any of us?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah," Donald agreed, "we're supposed to be partners. And friends have each other's backs, right? All for one and one for all?"

"I didn't want to risk all of your lives to try to make up for my failure," Mickey said. "Aqua chose Riku's life over her own chance of freedom. I didn't want to dishonor that choice by losing both of you."

Riku would have none of it. "She risked everything to save me! I deserve to be allowed to try to save her!" he yelled.

"We both deserve that chance," Sora added.

Riku turned to Sora, unsure of what he means. "Huh?"

"Remember when we were kids? We met Aqua while we were playing on the island," Sora reminded him.

Riku thought back to the story. "Yeah. Mickey did mention her bringing that up." He searched through his childhood memories, but could barely come up with anything clear. He shook his head. "Sorry, but I don't really remember it that much."

Kairi closed her eyes and breathed deeply for a few seconds. After a moment, she opened them. "I think Naminé can help with that," she said. She placed her hand on Sora's forehead and concentrated. She placed her other hand on the computer keyboard. The screen filled with static before it cleared up and showed footage of a sunset hour on the play island.

The point-of-view turned up to see someone standing on the bridge that led over to the land platform with the Paopu tree. The woman standing there jumped down to the sand, proving the POV to be that of a child. The blue-haired woman looked at young Sora and a boy to his right and giggled. Sora and the other boy, who was revealed to be a five-year-old Riku, looked at each other in confusion before they returned their attention to the woman.

"One of you might be special enough," Aqua whispered to herself. "Hey, you two mind telling me your names?"

"I'm Sora," Sora answered innocently.

"And you?" Aqua asked, addressing the other boy.

There was a slight pause before they heard the other answer: "Riku."

Aqua appeared to think to herself for a moment. Sora and Riku traded glances again, their curiosity apparently growing.

"Sora, do you like Riku?" Aqua asked.

"Of course I like him," young Sora replied. "He's my best friend."

"Good. So, then, if something happens, and Riku is about to get lost… or, say, he starts wandering down a dark path alone, you make sure to stay with him and keep him safe. That's your job, Sora, and I'm counting on you to do it, okay?" Aqua then reached out and petted their heads affectionately, causing both Sora and Riku to laugh. Aqua smiled at both of them.

The memory faded and Kairi took her hands away from Sora's head and the keyboard, causing the computer screen to revert to what it had showed previously.

After such an emotional revelation, everyone present was at a loss for words. The first words spoken, which came from Yuffie, were not what anyone had expected to be the first response.

"Aw, Riku, you were so cute!" the ninja cooed. Riku blushed and dodged her gaze.

Dilan's comment was less profound but still a stretch from the important points of the revelation. "Had your parents not told you not to talk to strangers?"

Sora and Riku simultaneously scratched the backs of their heads, mildly embarrassed.

"What were we supposed to do?" Sora asked defensively. "Besides, my dad was there watching us. We were all in view of him."

"You mean your dad who used to take a nap in the boat while we played?" Riku snarked.

Sora blinked as he remembered that his father usually did lie down in the boat to doze off while they were on the island.

"Well, what were you doing, not being the responsible one?" Kairi asked jokingly. "Your dad had to have told you about stranger danger, being a police officer and all."

Riku shrugged. "I guess I didn't see anything wrong with just talking to her if she didn't do anything that didn't seem right," he replied.

"So, that was how you met Aqua?" Goofy asked, bringing the conversation back to its original topic.

Sora turned to Goofy and nodded. "Yeah. It didn't seem like much at the time, but I guess she inspired me to help Riku through thick and thin. She inspired me to always be there for my friends." He nodded to Riku, then turned his gaze to Mickey. "We have to go in there to save her."

"But… How would we get in and out?" Mickey asked. "We don't have an easy way to travel through the darkness."

"Ahem." Everyone turned their attention to Kairi. "I think that's another area where Naminé can help." She extended her arm to the side, turning it so that her palm faced upward. Taking everyone by surprise, another arm curled upward out of Kairi's forearm. This new arm was slightly paler, yet still appeared to be naturally attached to the rest of her body.

This arm, which Sora, Riku and Even presumed belonged to Naminé, snapped its fingers. A Corridor of Darkness suddenly materialized in the hall leading to the study, causing everyone to turn and look at it in amazement. Naminé's fingers snapped again and the portal closed back up.

Mickey whirled back around and stared at Kairi in shock. "That was her who got us out of the Organization's stronghold?" he asked, recalling the dark portal that mysteriously opened to let him, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi off of the Altar of Naught after they had apparently defeated Xemnas.

Kairi nodded. "Yeah. She also opened one of those to help me escape from my cell."

"Not to mention, you and I got out," Riku resumed his rant, "Ansem the Wise got out on his own, and then Sora and I both got out on our own after another hour, just because Sora read a letter that Kairi sent weeks before! We all could have put together a way to get in and out safely. Even if we didn't have someone who could open those portals freely―"

"Which Roxas can," Sora added. He turned to address the four former Organization members. "Can you guys still access your dark powers?"

Even put his hand to his chin, pondering the question. "Well, we have not tried opening the corridors," he admitted. "Although, I do hypothesize that we indeed retain those abilities."

"Especially as it is clear that we still have our other powers," Aeleus agreed.

"Anyway," Riku continued, "even if we didn't have someone who could open those portals freely, we could have come up with a way to get in and out, and we would have found Aqua and gotten her out safely!"

Sora turned to Riku. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.

Riku nodded forcefully. "We're going to fix this. We're going to the Realm of Darkness, and we're going to rescue Aqua."

There was a pause as Riku waited for the party to respond, agree or disagree. After a brief moment, Kairi nodded. "Let's do it," she said. "Aqua's my friend, too. I want to help her."

Donald and Goofy nodded as well. A moment later, Mickey, having managed to gather himself, did the same.

"Ahem," Ienzo cleared his throat. "As much as I support your commitment to aid your friend, there is still a point that all of you, even his majesty the mouse king, are disregarding, even though it had already been addressed in the king's story. The Realm of Darkness is a big place. Even if entry and exit were certain and your confidence in your ability to survive proved true, it would still prove difficult to find her. It would be like searching for a needle in a haystack."

"Ienzo is correct," Aeleus agreed. "Perhaps it would be prudent for us to develop a means to ascertain her precise location before leaping headlong into an uncertain mission."

Riku contemplated their words. He sighed, unconsciously allowing himself to relax. "I guess you're right," he conceded. "Mickey did barely manage to find the Keyblade and the door when he was in there. We have no way of knowing where we'll find Aqua."

"Worry not. We will work together to develop a tracking measure so you can go in, find Miss Aqua, and get her out before you run into too much trouble," Even assured them. "Just give us some time to put it together. We'll let you know when it's ready."

Sora nodded. "Okay. Thanks."

"I guess it's going to be a while before everything's ready," Goofy said. "We probably ought to leave them to their work."

Riku stormed out of the computer room without a word. Everyone heard the study door slam as he made his exit.

Sora looked at Mickey solemnly, and he could tell how awful he felt about the way Riku reacted. "You should have told us, Mickey," he said. "You should have trusted us." He walked out, with Kairi right behind him. Yuffie followed after.

Donald and Goofy looked at Mickey sadly and stayed with him until they all left together.