AN: Lol still on that hot streak. I can't stop myself posting new chappies. xD Sorry. Better than a months long drought though, right?! :D
End of AN!
Namine walked through the narrow backstreets of Twilight Town, as evening came.
The sky started to darken, letting the street lamps and lights do the work instead.
She hefted her bag of new outfits, turning to smile at Strelitzia.
She squeezed the other girl's hand and gave it a good swing between them.
The other girl glanced at her, then down at their hands. "Are you happy about something?" she said, smiling back.
"Yes. I really had a lot of fun today," Namine replied. "I love the mall. And I love going there with you."
"I like going to the mall with you, too," Strelitzia agreed, with a small laugh. "Honestly I was nervous about all this 'normal girl' stuff Lauriam's been wanting me to do - especially school - but it's been...nice. I know he said it's what our parents would have wanted for us, but I...I was still nervous. But - it hasn't been that bad. Especially with you around..."
"Thanks!"
"Y-you're welcome..." Strelitzia looked the other way, her voice catching.
Namine eyed the back of the girl's head, looking her up and down.
Strelitzia looked back at her. Her face started to turn pink. "W-what? Is there a bug in my hair?" she stammered, reaching up her free hand to pat at her head.
Namine giggled. "No. I could have said yes just to watch you freak out, though."
"Well, I'm glad you didn't! So why- why were you staring at me like that, then?"
"Like what?"
Strelitzia looked away again. Then up. Then down. "Never mind! S-so-"
"I was just wondering what your hair would look like if it was all curly - or maybe wavy - or a ponytail, or-"
Strelitzia gaped at her. "How much time do you spend thinking about my hair?!" she squeaked out.
Namine beamed at the girl. "A lot."
"Why?!"
Namine shrugged. "I don't know? It's pretty, and I bet it'd look even prettier in all kinds of different styles!"
"You- think my hair's really that- that pretty? I don't even think about my hair that much!" Strelitzia protested, looking like she was going to faint.
"I like your hair. And your face. And your eyes. And your b-"
Namine's words caught in her throat as a hand suddenly seized her arm from behind! She was yanked backwards hard, dropping her bag all over the ground! She spun around-
And found herself staring at a familiar sight.
It was Xehanort - Young Xehanort!
Strelitzia had stopped too, spinning around in alarm. Her face went white, her pretty green eyes growing huge. Then she raised her hand and called her Keyblade. "Let her go!" she yelled.
Xehanort raised his free hand - the air rippled strangely - and Strelitzia went flying backwards, hitting the wall of the alley!
"Strelitzia!" Namine cried. She set her jaw and twisted in the man's grasp, bringing her knee up between his legs with all she had.
"Ugh...!" The man gasped, his grip slackening on her as he bent forward.
Namine tore herself free and called her Keyblade, running to Strelitzia and helping her back up again. She turned back to face Xehanort, holding her weapon out. "You want a piece of this? Come on then, you stupid p-"
Strelitzia seized her wrist, pulling at her hard as she started off down the alley. "Namine, run!" she exclaimed.
Namine went along with her, trying to juggle her mind between running, looking back for Xehanort, and trying to reach out to Luxu with her powers. But she didn't have her sketchbook and it was just so unexpected and-
"Enough!" Xehanort appeared in front of them, and a shimmering barrier suddenly flashed - right in between Namine and Strelitzia, separating them. He raised a hand, and a blue light flashed out from him. Namine found herself frozen, mid step. Strelitzia was the same, her Keyblade raised, mid-attempt to slash at the barrier!
Xehanort stepped forward, grabbed Namine's arm-
A light flashed from nearby, and Namine suddenly could move again! The barrier shattered into pieces. Strelitzia gasped, falling forward on the momentum of her own swing, and hitting nothing but air. She wobbled and recovered, whipping her head up.
A wooshing noise and a swirling portal appeared in the alleyway - and out of it came- Amaya? And the actual, present day Xehanort?
"Huh?" Young Xehanort gasped, whirling around as well. "What-"
"Release her and stand down," the older Xehanort said, in a tired, quiet voice. "It is indeed enough..."
Young Xehanort stared at him. Then to Amaya. "I don't- understand..."
Amaya strode forward. "You will. Just let the child go."
Young Xehanort hesitated. He looked to his older self again. His hand released Namine's arm, giving her a little push away.
Namine immediately ran back to Strelitzia's side, grabbing her hand and turning back toward the Xehanorts.
"Thank you," Amaya told Young Xehanort. She sighed, looking to Namine. "Now...Namine - what you were kind and brave enough to help me with before - it would be more than understandable if you said no, but: would you be at all willing to do so again?"
Namine frowned. "I already showed him everything Luxu asked - and what you asked."
"Yes, you did - but now I would like it if this Xehanort could also see what the younger one saw," Amaya replied quietly.
Namine looked at Young Xehanort. "Why are you such a dick?"
"What?"
"After I just helped you - you tried to kidnap me!" Namine said angrily. "What the hell?"
"I was going to retrieve you so you could do exactly as she has said," Young Xehanort replied.
Namine stamped her foot, throwing up her hands. "So you had to kidnap me? God, did you ever think about just asking nicely? I would have said yes! You really do just like being an evil dick don't you? Kidnapping me makes me less likely to say yes, you fucking moron!"
"I-" Young Xehanort started.
"Unless the next word is 'sorry', say nothing to her," Amaya cut across the man, her brown eyes intense.
"What?" Young Xehanort turned to her. "You are saying you want me to- apologize?"
"It might make her more likely to agree to help you - but it's also just the right thing to do," Amaya stated. "No one is going to force her to."
Young Xehanort again looked at his older self, confusion and bewilderment on his face. "What is even going on here...?"
Old Xehanort (it was confusing; Namine had to mentally make it less confusing) sighed, his yellow eyes dimly gazing back at the younger man. "Just do as she asks. We have come to an...understanding. And a realization."
"What understanding - what realization?"
"You'll be told after you've done what I asked of you, child," Amaya spoke, firm and clear.
Young Xehanort's lips parted, blinking at her. Then he shook his head, turning to look at Namine. "Very...well. I...well...suppose I- a-apologize for- attempting to...take such a forceful approach when I apparently could have done otherwise?"
"Jeez, when was the last time you ever said sorry for anything? It sounds like it's been a really long time," Namine responded.
Young Xehanort's face flickered with anger. "I don't usually-"
"That will do," Amaya said. "Now - Namine? You're more than welcome to say no."
"If it makes him be less of a dick, sure," Namine said, shrugging. "I mean, if Saix can be better now...and Luxu changed, too! But...I'll do it at home. You can take them somewhere else."
"Would that work...?" Amaya asked.
Namine grinned at the Xehanorts. "My powers still work across worlds. And if I'm going to be connecting with their Hearts again, I could break them if I wanted to. Anywhere. At any time. Like this..." She raised her hands, curled her fingers, and mimed pulling on invisible strings, making a snapping noise with her mouth for effect.
Amaya smiled at her, nodding. "Then they'll have something to keep them on their toes. Thank you, Namine. And I am truly sorry for them."
"It's not your fault. You tried really hard," Namine said. "You're actually nice - and really pretty, too!"
"Thank you..." Amaya gestured at Young Xehanort. "Come. We're leaving."
"Where?" Young Xehanort said.
"You'll find out," Amaya responded. "Now: walk."
Young Xehanort glanced at his older self, then strode into the portal.
Amaya gestured, and Old Xehanort passed through it as well.
The woman lingered, her eyes looking at Namine and Strelitzia with sadness and apology still. Then she turned and entered the portal.
Namine let her Keyblade vanish, looking at Strelitzia.
Strelitzia looked back at her.
Namine let her hand go, turning and stalking back to get her fallen bag. She picked it up, examining it before nodding. Smiling. "Okay, let's get back home."
"How can you just be okay after something like that?!" Strelitzia cried, her eyes wide.
Namine frowned, confused. She shrugged. "I don't know? Why are you freaking out when it's already over? Amaya's going to take care of things. She's good, and smart. And pretty."
Strelitzia stared at her for a long time, breathing. Then she hurried forward and grabbed Namine's hand tightly. "Let's just go, okay..."
Namine still didn't get it. It wasn't like anything too crazy had happened?
Master Yen Sid strode through his tower, descending the stairs floating in the magical space. He waved a hand and changed the door before him into a new one, and stepped through it.
He entered into a special room - a space and time all its own. Confined, closed off.
Yen Sid raised his hand to the door behind him, sealing it off once more.
Then, he turned his attentions to the middle of the room.
The creature remained as it was, as it had been, this past week now.
Yen Sid had studied it deeply, with magic and the five senses alike. He had observed, and recorded many notes.
He had attempted to question it, as well, but its rudimentary intellect seemed not enough to sustain any kind of conversation. Nor did it possess the knowledge to sustain one with. It had no experiences to draw on, no recollections or information stored. What intelligence it did have only seemed to be there to give it the ability to strategize during battle, and to take commands and orders from Hearts of Pure Light...or perhaps solely from the specific Heart that had birthed it.
It was primarily driven by its instincts - a guiding directive. A core behavior it could not waver from. As with all animals, it could not help but be what it was - do what it did. No thought given, no higher reasoning, no questioning itself or its place in the universe...
Yen Sid closed his eyes a moment against the shining, flickering light of its form.
Born of a Princess's Heart...
As he pondered the past, light and darkness, and people and Hearts, he felt it within himself - and all around him.
A momentous shift...in the tides of Light and Darkness. The ebb and flow of fate, worlds, Hearts, and the universe itself. All of it, all connected. One thing had shifted...and caused everything else to begin to shift as well. Pieces slid over, cogs rotated, and many things clicked into place with many other things.
All in all, the grand picture had changed, now showing an altered image as a whole.
Yen Sid searched his Heart, searched the stars...straining his ears, and his senses...listening for the whispers, the voices speaking across thrumming bonds, across void of darkness...
Some were anxious. Some were excited. Some, even, indifferent (they would continue as they would, regardless).
Yet they all whispered the same, singular word - the name that defined a unique Heart - at the root and cause of this shift.
A name Yen Sid knew very well indeed.
He opened his eyes, looking to the ceiling.
"Xehanort..."
Had the Heart gone astray...finally begun to find its way back onto the right path again? After so long?
I would like to believe...my old friend and comrade...