Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

Riku blinked in confusion, his eyes darting to Kairi and then back to Sora. "Wait a second. You mean..." he said, trailing off as he looked to Kairi. The Prince was after the Princess of Heart, which was obviously her. Riku realized then that he had in fact missed out on a lot while he was away, more than he liked.

Kairi lowered her head slightly, her hand slipping away from Sora's arm as she leaned forward and pushed her red hair away from her face, her fingers staying in her hair as she leaned her elbows against her knees. Nathaniel was a story she wished could never be told, but it was impossible to completely ignore her past with him.

 

Sora nodded slightly, realizing what Riku meant with his unfinished sentence. "He turned into a dragon last time I fought him, too," he said, looking out in front of him as he changed to focus back to Nathaniel. He knew Kairi didn't like being connected to him in anyway, so he wasn't going to lead Riku down that path in this conversation.

 

Riku had glanced at Kairi when she moved forward, but then his eyes went back to Sora when he spoke. He furrowed his eyebrows. "I bet it wasn't easy then either," he said, remembering seeing Sora get caught in the dragon's grasp, which was why he had the broken ribs. "The Darkness must have made him even stronger." Much like what happened to Xehanort's Heartless. Riku remembered the rough spots in his own fight due to the power his enemy had from the Darkness.

Kairi bit her lip and closed her eyes at Riku's words, hating to hear anybody talk about Nathaniel, especially when they related him to one thing: Darkness. That was what he was, and she couldn't see that in the past. How couldn't she? It still bothered her that she had been deceived so easily, and even picturing his face sometimes hurt. She had loved him. After all he had done to her, she had loved him.

 

"It did," Sora confirmed with a nod. "This time around, things were much harder." Not only did the Darkness make Nathaniel stronger, but it also made Sora weaker. The combination had been awful, and it had almost cost him his life. Thankfully, though, he outsmarted Nathaniel, got an advantage, and then ended up winning the battle.

 

Riku nodded once, his sight turning to the floor. He didn't like that he was missing so much of his best friends' lives, especially when things were so life-threatening. He wanted to help now that he was here, but all they could really do was hunt down Smith and destroy him. Riku thought leaving his friends here in New York would be easier for them; he was clearly very, very wrong.

Kairi didn't say anything or move, her hands still in her hair. She didn't like hearing Sora talk like that, even if it was the truth. Two people she loved once in her life had fought each other, even if one of them didn't deserve her heart, which was slowly reparing itself after he shattered it to pieces. The fact that he had done the same to Sora's body didn't make her very comfortable either.

 

Sora shifted his gaze to the ground, silence surrounding them. He glanced at Kairi and frowned a little, seeing how she appeared uncomfortable. He unfolded his arms, grunt leaving him with the action. He set his hand on Kairi's shoulder, his eyes shutting at the pain the movement caused.

 

Kairi heard Sora's grunt, which only proved her thoughts true. Nathaniel had hurt Sora, which in turn caused her pain as well. She tried to relax under his touch, but didn't move.

 

Sora lightly squeezed Kairi's shoulder, meaning for it to be a comforting gesture. The silence in the air felt uneasy, though the silence was broken when the doorbell rang. That must be Roxas and Namine, he thought, not moving or opening his eyes.

 

Kairi lifted her head, her hands leaving her hair. She didn't want to leave Sora's touch, but she did have to answer the door. She pushed herself up, happy to have something distract her. She walked away from the couch and toward the foyer, approaching the front door and opening it to see the two blondes she had already been expecting. "Hey," Kairi greeted softly. "Come on in."

Roxas nodded once and kept his hand in Namine's as he stepped inside the house. It was quiet, not that he expected there to be a lot of noise; things were too serious to be doing much of anything else but thinking.

 

Namine stepped into the house behind Roxas, his hand still securely around hers. She was glad for that because, once again, she was feeling dizzy. She hated feeling weak and lightheaded all the time, even if she had a reason to feel sick. She wasn't sure if Kairi knew about what Smith was doing or not; Namine would assume so, since Kairi was her best friend, and she would have wanted to know if she was sick or not.

 

Kairi shut the door and locked it on impulse, aware of what was going on here. Behind her Nathaniel worries, she knew about Smith and that he was back. That scared her just as much, even if he didn't affect her as directly as he did Namine and Roxas; she hadn't forgotten the time he and Carter kidnapped her.

Roxas wiped his feet on the rug when he was inside, not bothering to take his shoes off. He let go of Namine's hand then, believing she would like to take off her coat now that they were inside. Even if he didn't need it, he realized she did, so he glanced back at her and would wait patiently for her.

 

Namine looked down at the coat buttons, undoing them before she took off the coat and hung it by the door. However, she left her shoes on; they were comfortable, and Namine didn't feel like taking them off in case something happened. She didn't like thinking that something could happen at any second, but that was the truth of this situation. She turned back towards Roxas when her coat was up, her sky blue eyes staying on him.

 

Kairi walked past her friends and into the living room, where Sora and Riku were waiting. She trusted them to follow in the silence, since they had all met here for a reason.

Roxas's eyes left Namine a second after she looked at him, his gaze trailing Kairi for the moment. Once he saw her turn into the living room, he glanced back at Namine before following the redhead. They had some things to discuss.

 

Namine walked behind Roxas, the girl looking down at the ground as she walked. She was sure that Riku and Sora were in the living room as well, since they wouldn't leave Kairi alone when there was a threat in the area.

 

Kairi's eyes found Sora and Riku immediately, the girl taking her seat between them once more. Just like Namine, she had a smaller sofa just to the side of this couch, so she believed her friends would sit there. Then they could all talk about things comfortably...or not, considering the circumstances.

Roxas approached the loveseat that seemed to naturally be left open, taking his seat on one of the cushions and leaving the other open for Namine. The aura in the room was thick with tension, which didn't surprise him, but only made the silence heavier.

 

Namine wordlessly sat down next to Roxas, the girl leaning back into the chair once she was seated. She felt crummy, so she hoped that nobody would pay any attention to her right now. There were so many more important things to worry about right now than her dizziness.

 

Riku had his hands clasped, elbows resting on his knees as he turned his gaze to Roxas and Namine. He wondered how Namine was feeling, considering Sora had told him and Kairi that she was experiencing more dizziness. It was obviously because of Smith, who they needed to track down. He turned his gaze to Roxas and Sora, who were conveniently sitting near each other. "We have to come up with a plan," he started, breaking the silence as he focused on the business they needed to tend to. "We can't go into this with any doubts."

 

Sora nodded, turning his head a little to look at Riku. "First we have to figure out what he's doing," Sora said, furrowing his eyebrows. He managed to escape into the Realm of Light, but why was he even in this place? If he was here, then he was surely planning something evil. Sora had figured he would have gone after the girls, but both of them were safe before the boys even got to them.

 

Roxas nodded stiffly to Sora's words. His first thought would have been for Smith to go after Namine or Kairi, but it seemed that wasn't the case. "...Obviously he didn't get enough from the Realm of Darkness," he pointed out. "So what do you think he wants here?"

Riku furrowed his eyebrows and let his sight drop from Roxas to the floor in front of him as he pondered over the possibilities. He knew how the Realm of Darkness worked, having been there himself in the past. "He had enough power to get out of the Realm after Sora and I defeated our enemies. I'm starting to think that wasn't enough to satisfy him," he stated seriously. Smith had seemed very power-hungry when he saw him back in the Dark Realm. With the influence of Darkness, he could only want more.

 

Sora furrowed his brows, leaning forward slightly to get a better look at Riku. He muffled a grunt at the pain, forcing himself to ignore it. "You think he's trying to get more power?" Sora asked, though he had a feeling that was what Riku was getting at. It made sense; Smith had spoken a lot about power when he was in the Realm of Darkness.