Valentine of Destiny

Woah. Kairi has a sister?! This, is going to be good.

Great job. Just try and make sure you break when someone else speaks. I noticed you didn't do that a couple of times. It got a little confusing.

Other than that, no complaints. Keep up the good work.

-Kairi

 

Heh, yup! ^^. She's going to play a big part in this story!

Darn it, I've been trying to watch that part...thanks for the tip. I'll be more careful next time.

 

WOW, exellent plot twist and what about Elanore. Is she like the heartless of larxene? Good going. MORE PLEASE!!!

 

Whew...I finally got a break...okay, folks, next chapter:

Kairi was sitting on the tree branch that she, Sora and Riku always hung out at, the one where they always had to cross a small bridge to get to. Riku was staring straight at the sunset, with his yellow and purple clothes and his 'too cool for school' face on. Sora was sitting next to her with his red clothes and his white and blue jacket on. The two of them were talking, but for some reason she couldn't hear the words.

That didn't seem to matter at all to her, though. She couldn't feel anything, couldn't hear, couldn't even smell or say anything. She was happy by the fact that she was talking to him.

As she turned her head towards Riku, she saw him being blown away like sand to the wind. When she saw that, Sora immediately turned his head so he was looking straight. As he did that, Kairi looked down. She saw that her bare legs were starting to fade away herself, slowly moving up to her purple skirt and white top. Sora put his hands on the base of the tree and jumped away, everything behind him being blown away.

Who cares, Kairi thought.

She felt her eyes close, and then she felt the hard floor behind her, at least a little bit. She was lying down, at least until she felt someone's hands holding her up a little bit. She was starting to regain her senses, bit by bit. She could start to feel a little bit more, but her hearing was having a hard time coming back. She could hear...something, but it was very faint...

What's going on, she wondered. Kairi opened her eyes.

She stood up and looked around. She was in Hollow Bastion, not too far to the Door to Darkness, but that wasn't what caught her attention. She saw Sora, slowly falling backwards, with some strange orbs of light flying out of him. He looked like he was going to pass out.

Kairi got up and started running towards him, still not hearing anything. She couldn't hear the machines weazing and wailing as she passed them, she couldn't hear Donald and Goofy protesting Sora's reckless actions, all she could do was run and try to catch him.

She caught up with him just in time...or so she thought. As soon as she felt him in his arms, he disappeared in small collection of light orbs. As the orbs floated up, she finally heard it:

...

...Kairi.

Kairi opened her eyes from the mention of her name, and winced in pain. She tried moving her head. She saw that she was lying on her bed, beneath her covers, but for some reason it was a little hard to feel that. It felt like she was standing up. She tilted her head to her left, were her mirror was. She saw that she had bandages on her head, one of her eyes, and throat, and that it was night time outside. She tilted her head and looked straight at the ceiling. How did this...?

Kairi's eyes narrowed. Now she remembered: That blonde witch that attacked the island. What was her name again? El Gaunt? Artichoke? Elmomo? Ah, whatever. She was an old bat anyway... Kairi tried moving her fingers. She could move her left hand, but a little painfully. She was about to move her right hand when she heard it again:

"...Kairi."

Kairi's heart skipped a beat. She forced herself to sit up straight, wincing a little bit.

She couldn't help but smile at the sight. Right next to her lit lamp, on her nightstand, was Sora.

Sora was sitting next to her bed, but at the same time his upper torso, head and arms were lying at the edge of her bed, obvious to everyone and the world that he had fallen asleep. She also found out why she couldn't move her right hand: He was clutching it in his right hand. And then she heard it from his lips:

"...Kairi."

Kairi blushed a little bit. Even when he was asleep, he was still a sweet, lovable goofball. She leaned towards him and kissed him on the cheek. He stirred a little, but then stopped moving.

The door to Kairi's room slowly opened, and Riku popped his head through the door. Kairi turned towards Riku and waved with her free hand, smiling a little. Riku smiled in return, and quietly opened the door more. He tiptoed his way to the nightstand and whispered, "Get some sleep, okay?"

Kairi nodded, and got comfortable between the covers of her bed. When he saw that she was ready, Riku turned off the lamp, and closed the door quietly as he left.

Kairi watched Sora as she started to doze off. He was starting to act like his old self again. Maybe her getting hurt wasn't so bad after all.

Good night, Sora, Kairi thought, and then she closed her eyes and went to sleep

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiashi stood atop a clock tower a couple of blocks away from where Kairi's house was, the moon radiating it's light behind her. She watched the window where Kairi's room was, up until she saw the small light go out. She didn't know this 'Riku' and 'Sora' that well, but they seemed...decent. Hiashi started looking around the neighborhood from where she was standing, watching for whatever appeared, and at the same time thinking.

She's different now, she thought, very different. I wonder if those two are the main causes?

Suddenly, she spotted it: an armored knight heartless, materializing from the middle of the town square everyone had fought in earlier. She jumped straight up from where she stood, and dropped as fast as she could towards the heartless. As soon as she had jumped, she already had one hand around it's throat, and her other hand gripping her sword, the blade just inches away from its face.

"I'm giving you one chance," she hissed, "What is Braig planning?" The heartless made a series of clinks and clanks while shaking within her grip.

"Fine." she said, and thrust her blade into the heartless' head. She closed her eyes and began to see what the heartless had seen.

There wasn't much, unfortunately. She saw Elanore, Braig, Ienzo, and Even standing there, talking but not able to hear what they were saying. There were 11 coffins behind them, four of them opened, but the other seven destroyed.

The heartless couldn't take any more of its memories being ripped open, and it disappeared in a wave of smoke. Another one down.

Hiashi jumped again and landed in the same spot she was in when she first jumped at the heartless.

Not this time, she thought, I won't make the same mistakes this time!

 

Truly satisfying...

Anyway, I'm here not to just say HOLY MAKALALE in this thread, I'm also hoping that people will truly appreciate the hard work gone into this story.

 

Thanks so far for your support. Next chapter:

The sun started shining through the open window of Kairi's room. As a fresh breeze started to blow into the room, Sora started to wake up.

He let out a yawn from the sleeping position he was in, head and arms still on the bed, as he felt the breeze blow by. It was actually refreshing, feeling a cool morning breeze like this. Even if he did hate the cold weather, this seemed to perk him up a bit, on the outside. His insides, however, found butterflies as soon as heard a certain person laugh a little, above him.

"Did you sleep well, Sora?" asked a recovered Kairi, "Looks like you needed the sleep a lot more than I did!" She started to laugh a little again.

Sora, not getting up and with his eyes closed, smiled, "Yeah," he muttered. Then his eyes opened wide. He remembered what happened to her a couple of days ago. He sat straight up, looking at her frantically, "Kairi! Are you okay?! Are you-." Kairi put her index finger on Sora's lips to quiet him down. Sora stopped talking and looked at Kairi, and started to blush.

Despite all the bandages on her neck, arms and eye, she looked like she recovered rather fast. She looked like the fight with Elanore never occurred (again, despite the bandages), and on top of that, she was smiling, rather sweetly, at Sora. Still, this wasn't entirely what was making Sora blush: He realized now that she was in her pajamas. He knew that Selphie had helped the guys out by checking any wounds that might not be...visible. When she gave the guys the green to come back in, Kairi was in bed and they all took turns with the watch.

Kairi was sitting up in bed in a pair of long-sleeved, pink pajamas. They were just a bit loose on her, and there wasn't anything particularly special about them, but adding the fact that Kairi had a happy, smiling look on her face...she looked pretty cute to Sora.

"Thanks for making sure I was okay, Sora," Kairi said, removing her finger from Sora's lips, "I'm feeling a lot better now." Sora's face was turning more and more red by the second as she gave him a peck on the cheek. Kairi laughed again as she saw Sora's color change.

"Are you sure you're okay?" said a flustered Sora, as he started to cool down a little bit, "You took quite a beating, and you've been out for two days! That's a lot more recovery time than any of us have ever taken!" Kairi could hear what he was hinting, about the adventure and what might happen...

"As long as I'm with you guys, I'll be safe. Plus, when you're with me you'll be safe," she added in a little coyly, raising an eyebrow. Sora was not amused...a little flattered, but not amused. He was about to object again, but Kairi cut him off, "Sora...you, Riku, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie...You're all my friends, and you all have risked you're lives to save our home and the people who live here." She looked at him with a serious look on her face. Sora sighed. He just wasn't going to win this one...

So, instead, he smiled, "Yeah, about that," He got up from the chair he was sitting on, turned around and walked two steps towards Kairi's closet, and gave it a quick tap with his foot. Immediately, the closet door burst open, and a huge shower of gifts, ranging from chocolates, flowers, balloons, and cards, came flowing out of Kairi's closet. As soon as the avalanche stopped, Sora spoke again, "You have a fan club. Not sure how, but it got leaked that you got hurt during the last fight, and a huge shower of supporters kept coming by with 'Get well' gifts."

Kairi blinked. This, to say the least, was a little overwhelming. "Wow..." was all she could manage. Sora chuckled a little, "Yeah, you should have seen Selphie and Tidus. Selphie's jealous that you've gotten so many guys following you, while Tidus is amazed that...well, let's just say the cheer squad's your enemy now." They both laughed at that.

As soon as the laughing died down, Kairi frowned a little bit. There didn't seem to be a better time to ask, so..., "Sora, about the fighting...why haven't you been sticking up for yourself lately?" Sora stopped laughing as Kairi continued, "You haven't even been doing your training sessions with Riku, and every time some bully like Reno and his friends come along and pick a fight, you let them toss you around like a rag doll."

Sora tried to avoid eye contact, "I..,"

She reached out to him and held one of his hands in both of hers, "You seemed like yourself again when the heartless reappeared, and when Cloud and Squall showed up, you were overjoyed. You're really starting to worry me, Sora," she squeezed his hand a little and looked him right in the eye, "Please, tell me what's wrong."

Sora tried to look at Kairi. Her face was a mixture of seriousness and worry. Sora gulped a little. How in the world could he say this so she could understand?

He tried, "Kairi, I...,"

There was a knock on the door, and it slightly opened. Riku's voice came through, "Are you two awake? We need to have a talk downstairs, so hurry up and get ready. Everyone's waiting." Riku closed the door, and his footsteps echoed down the hallway he was traveling.

Sora took his other hand, and released his hand from Kairi's, "Kairi...I'm sorry, but I just...I don't know how to tell you...not now." He turned around and exited the room, leaving a very frustrated Kairi sitting on her bed.

Riku, you have the worst timing!! she thought, angrily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kairi came downstairs with her pink outfit on and bandages removed, still a little angry with Sora and Riku, but her mood quickly lightened when she saw who was down in the kitchen and dining room.

At the table were Mary and Squall, both talking like they've been friends for many years. It was a little funny, to Kairi, seeing the leather-jacket-and-belt strapped man, with his sword leaning against his chair, sitting there sipping a cup of tea while talking Sora's mother. Cloud and was leaning against the wall closest to the Mary and Squall, watching what was going on, while occasionally saying something to whatever conversation they were having.

Sora, Riku, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie were sitting in a circle of chairs, talking about the heartless they had to fight, and all the screw-ups that Tidus, Reno and Rude did. At one point, Tidus was doing ridiculous imitations of Reno and Rude getting hit and how they reacted, each one resulting in everyone laughing.

"Hey, kid," said a voice from behind Kairi. Kairi's heart stopped for a second; she thought she was dreaming when she saw her during the fight. Kairi quickly whipped around and practically strangled her older sister.

"HIASHI!" she screamed. Everyone turned to Kairi's direction, most of them smiling, others looking like she lost her mind (mainly Tidus). Hiashi winced in pain a little, "Easy! I'm going to need those ribs later!" Kairi loosened up a little, with tears in her eyes, "Where in the world have you been?! I thought we lost you when the heartless invaded!!"

Hiashi tried to force her younger sister to let go of her, and then started to take a few deep breaths She nearly crushed my lungs!Hiashi thought. She put her hands on Kairi's shoulders, the look on her face warm and friendly, "I promise, I'll tell you everything I know, but there's something we need to talk about first." Her expression changed to seriousness, and a little cold, as she viewed everyone.

Squall spoke up, "I've explained this to Sora's family, as well as the mayor, so now it's your turn," Squall put the cup of tea he was drinking down on it's saucer, "I'm sure you've been wondering about the latest heartless invasion, as well as who this 'Elanore' person is."

Cloud took a turn at speaking, "Riku was close when he said that person was Larxene. The truth is, that person is a part of what Larxene used to be."

"What, you mean she's a heartless?" asked Sora. Cloud shook his head, "We're not sure of that. We know that she is made of darkness and can command the heartless, but at the same time she doesn't behave like any of the other heartless that have been made...well, all except one."

"Xehanort's heartless," Squall started, "is the only one that even remotely fits the behavioral pattern that Elanore is exhibiting, but at the same time she isn't composed of the same material as the heartless."

"What do you mean?" asked Riku, "Is she a 'whole', with the power of darkness?"

"I'm not sure of that, either," Squall said, "But in order for us to find out you, both, need to hear our story, and then come with us back to Radiant Garden. We're pretty sure there's some clues that can help us stop her."

Sora sighed, then said, "Okay, we're in. What's the story?"

Squall stood up from his chair, and walked over towards Sora and the others.

"First off, it's our fault she attacked the Destiny Islands."

 

You know what, folks? I'm in such a good mood right now, and I have a bit more free time than I realized, I'm going to go ahead and post the next chapter right now. Hope you enjoy:

Sora, Riku, and Kairi were in one rowboat, Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka in another one, and Squall, Cloud, and Hiashi were in a third, all rowing towards the island that Sora and the others used to play on since they were kids...or rather what was left of it. Whether it was far away or getting closer with each stroke, the island was in terrible shape. Most of the trees that were on had been burnt down due to the lightning, and there was still a good deal of smoke coming from it.

Sora shook his head as he looked at it. The island was like a second home to him, to everyone. It was hard to believe that Elanore's lightning bolt had twisted and repulsed it to such a state with only one lightning bolt. As Sora stared at the island, his mind drifted back to what Squall had said earlier that morning...

"First off, it's our fault she attacked the Destiny Islands," Squall had started. Everyone reacted with awe and shock. Just what was that supposed to mean?!

"What do you mean 'it's your fault'?!" said an angry Tidus.

Squall held up a hand, signaling everyone to settle down, "Easy! This wasn't intentional!" He looked at Sora and Kairi, "You received those letters from Roxas and Namine, right? About the catacombs?" Sora and Kairi looked at each other, a little confused, then back at Squall and nodded. Squall started again, "Alright, well it turns out there was a room in one of the catacombs that turned out to be an armory...at least, that's what we thought at the time.I

Sora and the others reached the shore of the island, the pier completely destroyed. Everyone stepped off their boats, none of them saying anything. Kairi grabbed Sora's arm and held on to it. Sora was thankful, and at the same time disappointed, that she did that. On the one hand, he knew she was there with him, and that she could help him get through this, just as he would do for her. On the other, this turned out to be very real.

Hiashi stared at Sora, appearing to not register Kairi's holding his arm. She focused on him as hard as she could, until she saw it. Sora's aura was fluctuating, a sign that he was troubled and in pain. The upper portion of his aura, the white-colored part, was trying to stay steady, but at the same time flow naturally. Kairi's doing, Hiashi thought. The lower half, the black-colored part, however was occasionally trying to surge upward, but was quickly quelled by the white part of the aura. The boy was struggling with something, but his darkness was being kept in check...no doubt because of Kairi. Those two had to be dating each other.

He had better not hurt her... Hiashi thought, gripping her sword. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Riku. She released her sword. There was something odd about him, too...

"When we discovered the hidden room," Cloud began, with his eyes closed, "we figured it was a 'last-minute-defense-type' armory. It was stocked full of weapons, ranging from swords and maces to all kinds of weapons we had never seen before. As we continued investigating, we found something very unusual."

"Weapons you had never seen before didn't already count as 'unusual', Cloud?" said Riku. Cloud opened his eyes, "We had already found a few rooms with different kinds of libraries, spell chambers, and torture chambers. At that point in time, no, we didn't find it unusual." He and Riku stared at each other, daring the other to blink.

"What we found," Squall started, yet again, "were a few rooms. All had sarcophagi, one room had one, another had four, the thrid had seven. All of them were state of the art, even though it appeared they had been in those rooms for many years. We were going to investigate them further, until we were forced to evacuate."

"What made you evacuate?" asked Wakka.

Cloud broke his stare with Riku and looked at Squall. Squall sighed and cupped his forehead with one of his hands, while Cloud shook his head with his eyes closed, saying just one word:

"...Yuffie."

"She made another explosion. Apparently the explosion was close enough, because it resulted in a cave-in where we were," Squall said, then shook his head, "We were lucky to get out of there with our skins, let alone our lives,"

" As soon as the dust cleared, we saw that one of the walls had collapsed. Most of it landed on the rooms with the seven sarcophagi, destroying certain equipment pieces which we haven't quite identified yet. However, it caused the four in one room to open," said Squall.

" Four people ended up coming out of the sarcophagi altogether, one of them being Elanore. We couldn't see who the other three were, but we heard one of them saying something about 'knowing where the keyblade was', and then the four of them disappeared," said Squall.

Tidus, Wakka and Selphie went to area where Riku and Sora often had their sword fights, where the huge, leaning tree branch used to be. The white sand was charred black, and at the same time white from the ash.

Tidus stood in the middle of the area and looked down. He saw a coconut, looking very well intact. He smiled, walked towards it, and tried to pick it up. As soon as he touched it, he frowned. The coconut fell apart into ash and scattered a little bit. Tidus just stood there, his head hanging down and staring at where the coconut used to be.

Selphie was on her knees, staring at the sand. When Riku and Sora were gone, and she couldn't remember who Sora was at the time, she remembered pleading and begging Kairi, Tidus, and Wakka to go to the island with her, and almost every single time she asked, they said no. They all had their excuses. Tidus and Wakka had to practice playing blitzball, while Kairi was trying to remember why she forgot Sora. Nothing she did could get them to go to the island.

Now, they're finally back on the island...and this is what they've come to.

Wakka saw that Selphie was crying while sitting there. He walked up behind her, leaned down and put his hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be alright.

"We need the three of you to come with us back to Radiant Garden. There's some things we need to plan there, and it looks like the Destiny Islands are safe, now that the keyhole is sealed. Besides, they seem determined to get the keyblade from you, Sora,"

Squall sat back down after speaking. He and Cloud looked at Sora, waiting for his answer.

"We'll go," spoke Riku, with Sora looking at Riku a little surprised, "But first we need to prepare a few things: First, we need to make sure the islands are properly secure in case the heartless come back. Second, we're going to take a look at the damage Elanore caused,"

Everyone stared at Riku. He spoke again, "Something seems a little odd, her trying to destroy our island. I'm not entirely sure it was to spite us. Finally...we need to tell everyone what's going to happen."

Squall and Leon looked a little confused. Riku hesitated, "...the last time we did everything ourselves, Sora and I were gone for over a year, and everyone forgot about us, not to mention that I was seduced by the darkness, and almost ruined everything for everyone," he lowered his head.

Hiashi stared at him, both intently and fascinatingly. The expression of pain on his face seemed familiar, yet somehow...sincere. How on earth could that be?

Riku raised his head again, "I'm not going to have another repeat like that." Squall spoke up, "Alright. Let's get this done."

Squall and Cloud stood by the rowboats, making sure they stayed where they were since the pier was gone, while Riku went to where the secret cave was at...or rather, used to be at.

Squall wasn't kidding about the damage. There were charred marks everywhere. Riku looked around, frowning. Most of the drawings were gone, save a few. One of the few survivors was the drawing of Kairi and Sora, handing each other a piece of papou fruit. Riku smiled at it, and then took a step forward.

The moment he took that step forward, the drawing cracked, and the half that had Sora's face on it shattered and fell to the ground. Riku recoiled in surprise. The rock was split perfectly down the middle.

That can't be a good sign, thought Riku. He quickly turned around as soon as heard the footsteps behind him. Hiashi emerged from the entrance, frowning at the way Riku was staring at her.

"You gotta problem?" she demanded. Riku's eyes widened, and then he looked away.

"Sorry," he said, "I thought you were somebody else..." He looked back at her, confused, "Why are you here, anyway? How do you know this place? I thought you were from Radiant Garden, like Kairi."

Hiashi walked forward towards one of the walls, "I am, but I was sent here to wait," she pressed on a rock, and the entire wall lowered. Another room was on the other side, with a couple of computers and an open sarcophagus in it. She walked towards the open sarcophagus and began searching, "When it was discovered that Kairi was a princess of heart, Ansem the Wise figured there would some people who would try to abuse her power. So, she was sent here, while I was placed into a sarcophagus and waited until I was needed." She took the stone flooring of the sarcophagus out, one-handed, and threw it aside. The stone flooring landed with a crash against the wall, "Funny thing, though. I would've stayed sleeping it that thing if her lightning bolt hadn't woken me up, so to speak."

Riku's mouth hung open. She was strong! "Wait a minute...did you know about Elanore and the others?"

Not looking at Riku, Hiashi spoke up, "Yeah. I'm about as up to date as you, except for a few things," She turned around, holding a strange, three-pronged key in her hand, "I know what's in the 'first sarcophagus' that your buddy, Squall, mentioned earlier, and I've got a pretty good idea of how to defeat them, but in order to do that, we need to go back to the catacombs."

Riku stared at Hiashi, "Even though you're Kairi's sister, I don't really trust you. Just what is it that you hope to find in the catacombs...or should I say 'who'?"

Hiashi closed her eyes and smiled a little, "An old friend...he's actually like a father to me..."



Cnc?

 

I think you might've meant Kairi there.

Other than that, no complaints. Great job. The suspense is killing me.

-Kairi

 

Wow.... Looking really great so far, I was especially surprised about Hiashi's knowledge of the erm.. somebodies of the Organization. Can hardly wait to see what will happen next! :D

*I'm not too good giving proper cnc-ing on text though, sorry in advance.. ^^;;*

 

OMG Haishi is a Keyblade weilder like her sister???

 

Okay, here's the next chapter:

Riku stared at the small key that Hiashi was holding. This just seemed too hard to believe, especially considering the whole situation. Before Riku could object, however, Hiashi spoke again.

"Whether or not you trust me doesn't really concern me," she started. Hiashi put the key in a pocket in her cloak and started walking towards the exit, but paused at the entrance, "I will tell you this much, though: What Squall said earlier, about not knowing who or what these guys are?" She turned around to face him, "He knows. In fact, he was around when they tried to take over, and tried to stop them...actually, I should say, he was remade to destroy them." Riku watched her eyes as she said the last sentence, and it surprised him. Her eyes were full of anger, but at the same time, he could of sworn he saw tears forming in them.

She turned back around and walked out the entrance, leaving Riku to ponder about this girl...and why she seemed so bitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, is everyone ready to leave yet?" Squall said.

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Hiashi, and Cloud were in the town square, at the last heartless battle they had. It was 6 'o clock in the morning, and everyone (except Riku and Hiashi) were tired and grumpy from having woken up so early. Everyone had a backpack, filled with supplies that they were going to carry with them for the trip.

"Alright, we're going to have to travel by gummi ship to get to Radiant Garden. If we use portals right now, we'll be leaving ourselves vulnerable to enemy attack. Cid should be in orbit in about two minutes, so make sure you have everything secure." Squall said. He then picked up his backpack and went to sit down on a bench. Cloud went and leaned against a lamppost (whether it was to think or to catch up on sleep was anyone's guess), while Sora, Riku, and Kairi just stood around, kind of fidgeting a little bit. Hiashi watched them and, mentally, smiled. Kairi really hadn't changed as much as she thought...

Everyone turned when they saw Reno and Rude show up. They looked like they weren't in the best of moods, while at the same time not looking to pick a fight. The two of them walked up to Sora, "I take it you're all going to leave to fight those...heartless...thing-a-ma-bobs...and that Elanore chick that attacked Kairi?

Sora nodded, "Yeah...Did you come to see us off, or something?" Rude nodded a bit, "Something like that..."

Reno looked Sora straight in the eye, "...Those stories you've been telling everyone...Were they all true?"

Sora's eyes widened in surprise, "Umm...well, I left out a few details," particularly the parts about Riku being evil and my dating Kairil, he thought, "but for the most part...yeah, all true."

Reno nodded, "I see..." Riku spoke up, "Have you two found Seymour yet? We still haven't seen him with you two." Rude shook his head, "No. No one has seen him during or after the attacks. A search has been issued, but with all the lack of clues, no one's holding out much hope...is it possible the heartless took him?"

Riku shrugged, "Probably...but I don't really see what use they could get from him. Up until now, nobody, including him, knew about the heartless."

Reno looked at Sora again, "...Don't loose out there. You might be stronger than you let on, but I was still able to beat you earlier. If you continue to hold back, your not going to be able to accomplish what you set out...and because of that, I'm pretty sure I won't have somebody to beat up when this is over." He grinned and gently punched Sora in the shoulder.

Sora nodded, while Riku and Kairi stared in disbelief. Maybe Reno and Rude weren't so bad after all...

A loud ship's roar was getting louder and louder as it got closer and closer to the square. Cid loved to fly, but sometimes he took things just a little too far when he wanted to show off the upgrades he made to his ship. People were peeking out their windows and starting to come out their houses, but most of them screamed and went back inside when they saw the ship.

It looked like a loon was driving when the people saw Cid's face, as excited as he was. "ALL ABOARD!" he boomed. Sora and the others began to cluster together.

"HEY!"

Everyone turned. Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka came running towards the others, apparently in a hurry.

"Just where do you think you're going?!" demanded Selphie.

"Did you really think you were going to get away with this?!" asked Tidus.

Everyone looked at each other, "What are you talking about?" asked Kairi.

"All of you leaving, without saying goodbye," replied Wakka, "We know we can't go with you and all, but man, you'd think you'd at least have the courtesy of letting us see you off!" Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka began giving hugs and handshakes to Sora, Riku, and Kairi, wishing them luck on their journey.

"Before I forget," said Squall, and he pulled out a small, hand communicator, and he pressed one of the buttons, "Cid? Would you send Irvine down here, please?" A moment later, a small boy appeared from a beam of light that shot from the ship. His appearance was that of a cowboy, black gloves and cowboy hat, and he had a rifle strapped onto his back. His brown hair was tied back into a small ponytail. In terms of height, he wasn't much taller than Tidus. Irvine smiled a little and tipped his hat.

"This is Irvine," Squall said, putting his hand on Irvine's shoulder, "He's one of our most talented snipers, and we're going to leave him here until we get back. If the heartless show up again, you'll have some cover. He's got plenty of combat experience and is more than capable of helping out." Irvine nodded, "Hey," He then saw Selphie, and gave her a quick wink. Selphie blushed a little, then turned her head sharply in response.

"We need to get going," said Cloud. Squall nodded, and spoke into the remote again, "Okay, Cid. We're ready. Take us aboard." A beam of light shot down at Sora and everyone who was leaving, and when the light faded they were all gone. The ship then rose high above the town and took off into the sky.

 

Wow, Riku has a rival... never mind, I don't care how handsome this Irvne guy is, no one can out-handsome Riku (I've seen pig-like faces putting up Riku's costume and silver hairs. Guess what? For once in a lifetime, they actually looked handsome! Which convinced me...) that Riku will not have to worry about SELPHIE! DON'T GO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

I think you could remove the "just" part of this sentence - without it she will sound more unfriendly in my opinion.

Did you make the underline for the wrong word? It confuses me when there was pressure to the "to".

As usuall, nice update. :>

 

He/She (I've made that mistake before) could also remove the just and swich the really and doesn't around.

That confused me too, was it meant to be on the To or the Destroy?

 

Ladies and gents...next chapter:

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Hiashi, Cloud, and Squall stood in the middle of the bridge of Cid's ship, the result of everyone being teleported. Sora, Riku, and Kairi had their mouths open in awe.

"Wow," said Sora,"...I've never seen a bridge this big!"

"No joke," said Riku, "Mickey has some pretty complex ships in his hanger, but none of them are this big or complex!"

Kairi just stared out the large, practically building-sized windows of the ship, watching the stars and worlds as they slowly went by, and smiled, "I don't know that much about gummi ships...I like the view, though."

Hiashi smiled a little bit as she heard Kairi say that. Her mind wandered back to when Kairi was four years old, sitting on the front porch. Every time a shooting star went by during the summer, she'd always laugh her head off at how quick and bright they'd go by...

Cid spoke up from the helm, a good ten feet above where everyone was standing, "That's because this ship is also a battle cruiser, able to deploy a few smaller gummi ships and a good number of soldiers into battle!" Everyone turned around to see Cid, who was grinning like a maniac. It had been a long time since Cid had flown his ship, and he was...a little too happy.

Cid's smile frowned a little bit. He leaned forward at a monitor not too far from his head, and stared at it for a few seconds. He then stood back up and looked at Squall and Cloud, "Do me a favor and go to the cargo bay. It looks like we've caught something extra." The two of them nodded, and left the bridge, the door sliding by to let them out, and then closing behind them. Sora gaped in wonder at that. It was like a sci-fi movie! Riku face-palmed himself at the sight of Sora, while Kairi's head dropped a little bit.

"We'll be reaching Radiant Garden in about ten minutes, so try not to break anything in the mean time," spoke up Cid again. The four of them walked forward a few feet to some empty chairs and sat down, with an awkward silence between them.

Kairi finally spoke up, "So, Hiashi...Where have you been since Radiant Garden?" Hiashi, sitting cross-legged across from Kairi, shrugged a little, "Pretty much in a coffin."

Riku's head dropped, while Sora and Kairi stared, bug-eyed, at Hiashi, "Umm...could you...explain that a little bit?" Sora started, "...Please?"

Hiashi uncrossed her legs and sat up a little bit, "I've been inside a sarcophagus since the invasion, placed in an area in...I think you called it the 'secret cave'? Anyway, I'm supposed to serve as a bodyguard for the princesses of heart, and apparently it's a good thing I'm here."

"Yeah," said Sora, "We really appreciate you helping us when Elanore attacked. Thanks again, for that."

Hiashi stared at Sora a little coldly, "You're welcome...but that's not what I meant."

Sora cocked his head, a little confused. Kairi frowned, and leaned forward a little bit, "Hiashi, I told you before: They're my friends! I've known them since I arrived on the islands! I mean, they've risked their lives to save me more times than I can count!"

Not taking her eyes off Sora and Riku, Hiashi spoke again, "They're keyblade wielders, Kairi," Hiashi stood up, "Plus, I can see their history in their eyes: They both have succumbed to the darkness at least once already. If it happened once, it can happen again!" She glared at Sora and Riku with such an intensity, she might very well have burned a hole through the two of them.

"But-," Sora started, but he was cut off. Cloud and Squall had returned, and they both were dragging something.

"We'll talk more later," said Riku, getting up and going to where Cloud and Squall were. Sora and Kairi stared a little uneasily at Hiashi, then the three of them followed Riku.

As soon as Riku had a clear look at what Squall and Cloud were dragging, he exclaimed, "Oh, come on! Not you two again!"

Reno and Rude sat on the floor, completely out of their minds with dizziness, and not very aware of where they were. "It looks like they might be airsick...," said Cloud.

Sora rolled his eyes, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on the islands!"

"Yeah, but *hiccup*," Reno never finished his sentence. As soon as he hiccuped, he fell backwards onto the floor and started moaning, "Make the room stop spinning..."

Rude decided to give talking a shot, "We remembered something a few minutes before you all left: Seymour had been acting a little strange a few days before the invasion. If nothing else, the police can handle the investigation on the Destiny Islands, but if there's a chance that Seymour was taken by the heartless, we've got to take it. Like it or not-,"

"We're coming with *hic*," Reno tried again, then moaned out, "yooooouuuuuuuu...." and passed out, his eyes swirling in every direction.

Riku was a little puzzled, "How did you guys get on the ship? We were pretty high up...don't tell me you two used...?" Rude grinned a little and nodded.

Sora started laughing, Kairi covered her face in embarrassment, while Hiashi just stood there confused, "What are they talking about?" she asked, a little irritated.

Sora tried to stop laughing, "They used the papou catapult!" Hiashi raised an eyebrow. That just sounded stupid.

Riku sighed, "Originally, it was used as a farewell for the wives of sailors who were going to war. They'd catapult pieces of papou fruit, as a symbol of them being with their husbands, no matter where they went. They were fired off an extremely old, but powerful, stone apparatus that was just dubbed the 'papou catapult'. It's powerful enough to fire an anvil at least several thousand feet, if used correctly."

"Well, we didn't use it correctly," Rude said, a little bashful, "We were off a little bit and ended up crashing into the ship,"

Everyone heard Cid mutter, "That explains the turbulence..."

Rude continued, "...and we...misjudged the catapult's properties...So..."

Reno said bluntly, still on the floor with his eyes rolling, "We don't have a catapult anymore."

Sora fell to the ground, laughing. Kairi had to lean onto something, but she was starting to laugh now, too. Riku found it difficult to hold in, so he was laughing a bit as well. Hiashi just stared at the stupidity of those two, risking their lives in such a manner.

Squall and Cloud stared at the bunch, not saying a word. It made sense, now, why Sora was the way he was...if he was hanging around people like this all the time, it was no wonder why he was a little naive.

"We're here!" boomed Cid again. Everyone looked out the window to see Radiant Garden, coming closer and closer into view.

"Alright everyone," Cid said, "strap yourselves in. We're coming in for a landing!"





Cnc?

 

hiashi is being mean
if she can see soras history, shouldnt that mean she can also see how inocent and adorable he is? *pinches his cheek*
and how riku only went to darkness to save his friends? *glomps him*
and that time she said 'their keyblade weilders'? she sounded like king triton that one time. wtf
*slaps hiashi for being mean to riku*

 

Two things I'd like to make clear, here:

1. There's actually a very good reason why Hiashi is very, very hateful towards Riku and Sora being keyblade wielders.

2. Notice in previous chapters her seeing Sora's aura, and focusing on Riku's. There's a good reason behind that as well.

I want that kept in mind so nothing gets blown out of proportion. I like the speculation and people trying to figure out what's going on so far, but at the same time I'd like the facts straight.

 

Okay guys, I'm having a lot more problems than I realized, between school, my computer, and basically life (nothing serious, just a lot piling up), plus, this story was supposed to originally be a Valentine's Day thing, so I have to ask you guys:

Would you all still like me to continue the story? If yes, then you'll be waiting awhile...like at least a month because of school, friends having problems, and work.

Would you like me to, instead of yes, wait until next Valentine's Day to continue and finish the story? By then, I should have a side project or two done that would keep you all occupied until then.

I am sorry that I have to ask this. I really, really want to continue writing this, but at the moment with all this going on, it's practically impossible.

 

Interesting stuff and reasoning, but when it comes down to writing, we ALL have the same symptom. Laziness. Guess what, if I wanna write, I could continue for five hours and finish a 10k chapter if I want, without check but good quality. Only problem is I couldn't find the heart to start writing.

So if you can get over it you can write pretty like, everytime you like (Exclude working. I don't want your boss firing you :P)

 

Alright, you win. Because you demanded it, here's the next chapter:

Shaking their heads as they walked down the street, Cloud and Squall dragged Reno and Rude's struggling bodies down the street, with Sora laughing, Kairi covering her mouth, Riku shaking his head, and Hiashi marveling at how Reno and Rude acted towards the moogles. People watched the group as they went by, particularly at Reno, Rude, and especially Hiashi, her staring in wonder at the buildings. When did everything get restored, she wondered.

"We can't leave you two alone for a second," Squall spat, not looking at either of Reno or Rude, "What were you two thinking, playing with their products? Do you not understand what the word 'volatile' means?!"

Reno turned his head towards Squall, "I didn't know I didn't know, but now I know! Besides, they should make those labels bigger...it was Rude's fault for the last explosion, I only did the first two!"

Rude looked at Reno, "I only dropped that case because of you! Your last explosion made me drop the case into the cauldron! If you hadn't done that, that moogle wouldn't have turned green!" Sora's laughter started to get harder and louder. Kairi, crying from laughing so hard, stopped walking for a second, and Riku and Hiashi turned around to make sure she would catch up, Riku starting to laugh while Hiashi was shaking her head.

Cloud reluctantly spoke up, "Well, we won't have to worry about that ever again...you've not only made sure they won't have you as customers anymore, but they won't be having any customers for a long time due to repairs."

Sora spoke up, laughing, "I'll never forget the look on that moogle's face. I've never seen a green moogle that angry, 'Never come back, kupo! You nothing but trouble!"" Sora stopped a moment to breathe, "Oh man...I've never heard a bunch of moogles so mad before! They sounded Merlin on helium!"

Even Hiashi had to laugh at that description. This little group seemed to be nothing but trouble...and yet, they seemed all right at the same time, especially this Sora kid. He appeared rather innocent, despite him being in the darkness. The same with Cloud and Sqaull. Those two haven't really changed much since the last time she babysat them. Kairi seemed just as innocent as when she left her. Riku...she had a hard time reading him. He seemed more mature for his age...but at the same time it was like he was trying hard to be a kid.

Hiashi smiled a little bit. It had been a long time since she had seen such a combination, not since...him.

Hiashi frowned. She didn't want to remember him, or what he did to her...and yet she knew she had to, in order to make sure history didn't repeat itself.

About two minutes later, the gang finally reached Merlin's hut. Yuffie was polishing her giant shuriken, looking up when everyone arrived, and smiled.

"Hey, guys..." Yuffie frowned a little bit, as she saw Reno and Rude, "What's with the luggage?" Rude frowned a little bit, and Reno started to get angry. What was it with everyone acting like they were better than them?!

Before Reno could object, Squall spoke up, "They're stowaways," he turned to face the two of them, "who aren't going to get in any more trouble!" The two of them stood there and fidgeted a little bit. Yuffie stared, confused as to what was going on, "...whatever." she said.

Cloud turned towards the bailey, "I'll see you all later." Cloud jumped in the air, and flew out of sight, going in the direction of the bailey, and to who-knows-where. Yuffie smiled a little. It was good to see Cloud happy...even if he wouldn't show it.

"Where's he going off to?" Sora asked, a little confused. Yuffie smiled a little more, "He's off to meet up with Tifa at the Dark Depths. They're supposed to go on a date as soon as he got back."

"Come on," Squall said, "Let's go in-," Squall was about to open the door, when the door opened from the inside, and Zack came out, "Hey, glad you're back. We found something over by the catacombs, and we need you to come take a look at it...Hey guys!" Zack smiled and waved at Sora and his friends, "We'll need your help, for sure."

"Zack!" a voice yelled out from inside the hut. Zack flinched, and slowly turned around. Aerith was standing in the doorway, looking a little angry, and a little different. Her hair was shorter, down to her shoulders. She was also crossing her fingers over her stomach repeatedly, as if expecting something to happen at any minute. Kairi stared at her as she did this. She looked at Hiashi, who saw the same thing. She looked at Kairi, and raised an eyebrow.

Aerith looked Zack in the eye, "Zack, I know you're not trying to get these kids involved into something dangerous, especially since they just arrived from their trip!" Zack gulped a little as Aerith stared at him. She was being a liiiiiiiiitttle too harsh today.

Sora tried to calm her down some, "Aerith, it's okay! This is actually why we're here." She turned her gaze at Sora, a little angrier at Sora than she was at Zack...obviously the tactic from Sora didn't work.

Before she could say anything, Squall spoke up, "Come on, let's go. We need to get there and look so we can come back before nightfall."

"You guys go on without me," Kairi said, "I'm going to stay behind with Aerith. Be careful, Sora!" Sora turned and waved while running with the others, going towards the town's main square.

Zack turned back towards Aerith, and whispered, "I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"

Aerith frowned, closed her eyes, nodded, and whispered, "I know, I'm sorry. It's just...Be careful, okay? You worry me when you do things like this." Zack smiled slightly, leaned forward, and kissed Aerith, and whispered in her ear, "I love you."

"Don't worry," Zack said as he started to walk to where Squall and the others took off, "With all of these guys with me, I'll be fine." He then broke into a run to catch up with them.

Aerith smiled as he ran off. When he was out of sight, she turned towards Kairi, "Oh! I'm sorry...How've you been, Kairi? I'm sorry you and your friends saw that...I've just been busy lately."

Kairi smiled, "Don't worry about it, Aerith. Can we go inside?" Aerith smiled and nodded.

As soon as they were inside, they both sat down. Kairi could hardly contain herself, so she asked, "So...when is your baby due?"

Aerith's eyes widened a little, then she started to laugh, "It was that obvious?"

Kairi started laughing, "I think only Hiashi and I noticed. Does anybody else know?"

"Only Zack," Aerith was starting to laugh a little harder, "Everyone else just seems to think I'm being hard to Zack, the poor dear." They both laughed a little harder.

"What about you?" Aerith asked as she started to calm down, "How is it between you and Sora?"

Kairi started to frown a little bit, "Well..."






Cnc?