Late Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome to 2024 everyone! Wow, how time flies! By time, I mean, not just a new chapter but the approach of the newest mobile game, Missing Link! Who's playing when it comes out? Anyway, to celebrate a new year, I finally got a new chapter up for you all!

We're finally going to know what happened after Sora heard little Data-Kairi scream! What will he find when he reaches her?

Well, I won't keep you any longer, enjoy the new chapter!

*NOTE/SPOILER WARNING: It takes place AFTER KHIII*

NOTE 2: Lots of retelling of the experience of "Player" in KHχ[Chi] but in Sora's View

NOTE 3: Sora is NOT Player, he's just got similar experiences. Player exists somewhere doing the main story, but they don't cross paths... I Think...

*NOTE 4: SPOILER WARNING again - Re:Mind events mentioned!*

DATE: January 6, 2024

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Chapter 18: Where The Pieces Provide Clarity

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"Aaah!"

Sora runs, recognizing that familiar child's scream that was now absent of its cheerful glee and laughter, and instead fill with terrified fright and fear.

"Kairi!"

He runs as he frantically calls out to her, afraid of what befell her. Was this the moment that he heard about in passing, the beginning of the fall of Radiant Garden? But that can't be, it fell several years later as far as he was aware, unless he remembered it wrong? After all, it has been some time since he talked with the restoration committee.

"Aaah!" Her scream gets even louder.

Move now, think later. Kairi was in need of his help. No matter if it was something little or even something world shattering, he promises to always keep her safe, no matter what.

When he finds where exactly she is, he's confused and worried. There, coming from the lower west district was little Kairi running frightened by whatever was chasing her. She paused for a few moments, unable to move before running again and making her way up to the castle's outer gateway. She desperately shakes the sturdy iron bars, hoping the gate opens with just her strength alone, but it is to no avail. Her ears perk up as she turns around, tears begin to well in her eyes as she cowers in fear at whatever or whoever she's seeing, trying to avoid it at all costs. Her eyes close as she begins to fall limp and disappear.

"Kai—" But Sora's cry is interrupted as he sees her running again from the same spot moments ago, the same scene playing out over again silently; her screams and whimpering sobs were muted as her running repeated like a broken cassette tape.

"What's going on?" He could only think aloud. He tried to interfere but all that happened was her passing through him like a phantom. No matter what he tried, what keyblade action he used, what special abilities or items, nothing seemed to work. Something truly felt wrong here.

He finally gives up, unable to do anything more about the scene that played before him.

"What do I do?" He couldn't leave it like this, "Wait, maybe it's those glitchy heartless that messed up this world? If it's like any of the other missions, then all I have to do is clear out this world and everything will go back to normal." With that in mind, Sora steeled himself for the task before him and set off.

His first place to start was the direction that Kairi had run from, the lower west district. Maybe he'd get a good idea of what went on for his dear friend to be running for her life now? So that's where he started.

As he made his way through the empty world that Radiant Garden became once more, he came across his first clue. The sight of an extremely familiar light twinkling in the distance caught his attention. There, floating in front of the window of an empty shop was a crystalized flower petal glowing a brilliant light pink.

"No… It couldn't be," he recognized the shape. It was a piece of Kairi's heart.

But what was it doing over here? Was the younger version of her broken because of whatever made her run in fear in the first place?

Slowly, he approached the piece. It was beautiful as before, but something seemed different. A closer look at it revealed what had changed, instead of just a pure petal shape, a musical note was embossed on the center.

He takes it in his hand, holding it close to his heart and suddenly he sees a scene digitalize before him. The scene plays out and begins with a Little Kairi skipping around in circles. She's happily singing a sweet improvised little ditty while she waits by what looks like a bakery. Not a moment later, the tiny bell of the shop makes its ding-a-ling sound as an elderly lady comes out. She's carrying two paper bags of baked goods and smiles as she sees Kairi. The little girl holds out her hands in a way that spoke to a certain routine. The bags are gently placed in her hold, the crumpling noises and the crunch of the baked goods crackle as she squeezes them tight. The bags nearly pull her down due to the unexpected weight. The woman gasps in shock and is startled at first, but Kairi perseveres, soon proving she can carry the bag of goods. The elderly woman smiles as little Kairi smiles happily back at her. The scene then fades as she is walking away, again humming her little ditty and the lady is waving farewell.

When Sora finds it's over and sees the bakery become an empty shop once more, he notices the petal begins to rise into the air and flies off behind him. Sora gives chase, not wanting to lose her heart, also wanting to know where it's going and why it's happening. He runs and runs till he notices himself back where he started. The piece then finally stops, hovering over the scene of little Kairi running away. It glowed and fixed itself into place, and this time, there's something changed about the scene. Where there were only the screams and whimpering cries of a scared little Kairi, there is now noise.

Her screams pierce through the silence as sounds of smoke and whooshing can now be heard all around her. At her brief pause, the familiar buzzing of twitching movements sounded in front of her. She then runs, the noise of the gate as she shakes it rings with a dull clang as she tries to open them. Finally, the sound of footsteps from clacking shoes is what causes her to turn around as the scene ends with her falling limp and disappearing.

"This petal… is this Kairi's memory?"

That must be it, the answer to how to fix this world and then lock it away as promised. He had to gather Kairi's blooming heart once again and restore the memory of the scene that she was stuck reliving. Maybe, this was the answer. Was he finally going to see what happened to Kairi and the life she lived before ending up on Destiny Islands? If… no, when he made it back home, he could share this with her and help her get one step closer to recovering those lost days.

The task before him was not set in stone, but it was a start. He'd gather the pieces again, just like before when he went to save Kairi and fix what's broken. But only this time, there wasn't the risk of disappearing because he misused the power, again…

For once, Sora had a more strategic plan in finding Kairi's heart petals. He chose to continue in the direction of where he first found the piece. From there, he would walk the road of the lower and upper districts, following the shape until he looped back to the plaza. Then, work his way out and then up to the castle.

With each petal he found, he experienced seeing sweet memories of Kairi's younger life. One, that was by a fountain, showed Kairi sitting and stirring the waters as she felt how smooth they were at her touch. Then, she splashed it about, wetting her grandmother's dress, who in turn, lightly splashed the water back. The two laughed joyously as they felt the cooling waters soak their clothes on what seemed to be a particularly hot day.

Another held a memory of Kairi being accompanied by a young Ienzo. He handed her a sea-salt ice cream and was shyly munching on his as they walked back to the castle. Her eyes lit up at her first bite, mesmerized by the way the sweet and saltiness danced upon her tongue. She smiled so sweetly and thanked the boy kindly for treating her to the lovely dessert. The boy could only look away and nod in response to her cheeriness.

The next memory he found was where he first interacted with young Data-Kairi. She was kneeling down, admiring the flowers and taking in the aroma of their beautiful scents. When she pulled away, she took time to think before plucking four flowers out and arranging them into a colorful bouquet. When she looked down at her choices, two reds, a yellow, and a pink, she closed her eyes took in the scent of her flowers one more time. When she opened her eyes and felt satisfied by her handiwork, she immediately got up and ran off excitedly.

Sora couldn't help but smile at each memory, as they showed a side of Kairi that was just so innocent and still, remained true to who she is now. Everything was smoothly falling into place, but as before, there were only three pieces left to find. He was getting an idea of what these memories represented, which were, well, her senses. The bakery represented sounds, the fountain feelings, the sea-salt ice cream the taste, and the flowers represented smell. Each one of these aspects filed in a piece of the missing scene. When he came back to the place where her moment was left in repeat, he could now take in the smells burning all around, feel the winds of the damp and dreary atmosphere, and taste the unpleasant smoke and darkness that tainted the clean air.

These pieces, scattered and forgotten, they were coming together to construct the memory of a trauma she chose either willingly or unwillingly to forget ever happened. Sora wasn't sure of why this was happening or what caused this world to play back this clearly scary memory of her past, but he knew in his heart, he had to gather the remaining pieces. Maybe, maybe by doing this, Kairi could finally know the truth. Even if this wasn't his Kairi, she still deserved to know. If this could help her to be whole again, to move on from something that had been so deep seeded and buried to the point of being forcefully forgotten, he'd help her move on. He'd save her and show her that this can no longer hurt her anymore.

"Four down, only three to go."

TBC

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Okay... I will be honest, this chapter was cut in half because things ended up taking a turn somewhere completely different from the points I originally wrote down. So what's to come is going to be quite interesting. For now, Sora's getting through this world, doing a routine mission, but noticeably there's something lacking here. Oh, I wonder what could that be?

For an update on how this story is progressing, it's really just going about whenever I am able to update. I am aiming for a shorter time between chapters. Given the next chapter is close to completion, maybe you'll see an update sooner than even I expect. Here's hoping! Oh, and a reminder, after this mini-adventure is finished, we're going back to more casual days with Sora, the Chirithy, and the gang. So that's something to look forward to, or backwards to... Okay, I'll stop.

So, that's it for now! If you have any ideas, suggestions, questions, or any comments for this story, feel free to let me know. Thank you all again for reading everyone! Thank you again to all who have given follows, favorites, and just check out this story! I know I'm repeating myself here, still thank you all again so so very much! Happy 2024 New Year! :D