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author	rlm
date	Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:53:12 -0500
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-:dbe144217c71
+:fc00894c1d4a
+Prism Hearts
+Chapter 3
+Radical Dreamers
+by Amazoness Duo
+amazonessduo@hotmail.com
+A bundle of clothes got tossed at Kairi shortly after she entered
+the dressing room of the band of part time entertainers and full time
+thieves, the Radical Dreamers. She stumbled back as the rather large
+dress threw her off balance. She held it out, watching it unfurl
+before her. The dress was made of enough cloth to make six of the
+outfits Kairi was wearing. She looked at it with a bit of
+trepidation. “I’m supposed to wear this?”
+“Of course! You’re playing the princess. You have to look regal and
+courtly,” Yuffie explained, opening a chest to get a few more props.
+Glancing back at the dress skeptically, Kairi shook her head. “Isn’t
+it a little... big?”
+Yuffie looked back over her shoulder. “No. You’re just not used to
+wearing anything like that. You get used to it. If you’re gonna be
+playing a princess, you have to look the part. Trust me. I’ve had to
+play the princess now and then myself.” It looked like her words
+helped soothe some of Kairi’s concern, though truth be told, she
+hated playing the part of the princess. She preferred the prince’s
+outfit to that nightmarish gown any day. Sure, it looked pretty
+enough, but Yuffie was used to actually being able to move her limbs.
+She and Zidane had been set to flip for who was going to be the
+princess in the day’s play if Kairi hadn’t shown up, so she was more
+than a little grateful at the younger girl’s arrival.
+“But I don’t know any of my lines!” Kairi said nervously, watching
+Yuffie pull out some prop swords. She suddenly realized the big
+difference between playing pretend and doing a play. You didn’t have
+to know what you were doing when you were playing pretend. She felt
+nervous, butterflies swirling about in her stomach as she held onto
+the large dress.
+“What lines? We’re doing ‘Sleeping Beauty’. You lie there for most
+of the play. You’re lucky we’re not doing ‘I Want to be Your Canary’.
+The princess in that has most of the best lines,” Yuffie explained,
+taking a few experimental swipes with the blade. She’d give that one
+to Locke. She preferred a shorter sword herself. Even if it wasn’t
+her weapon of choice, it did have a nice stage presence.
+“Sleeping Beauty?” Kairi repeated, blinking.
+“Yep. Everyone needs a story that ends with a ‘and they lived
+happily ever after’ now and then. Especially with how things have
+been lately. Which is exactly why we aren’t doing ‘I Want to be Your
+Canary’. The ending isn’t the happiest, if you know what I mean.” The
+brunette ninja glanced back over her shoulder at the recently dubbed
+Keyblade Mistress. “Why? You don’t like ‘Sleeping Beauty’?”
+Kairi shook her head quickly. “No, I love it! It’s one of my
+favorites!” She could vaguely remember lying on her bed in her room,
+resting on her stomach with her chin in her hands, the lights off and
+a video playing. She could remember reciting the lines as the prince
+said them, as he made his way to Sleeping Beauty. Could remember her
+eyes tearing up, thinking ‘I want my happily ever after’. But that
+couldn’t be real. Sleeping Beauty was Princess Aurora. And she had
+met her at Hollow Bastion. She was one of the seven Princesses. So
+she couldn’t be some movie she had seen. Kairi tried to dismiss the
+thought. It wasn’t true. This was all real. That other place, that
+home was only an illusion. It had to be.
+“You better get changed. We don’t have much time. The people are
+probably already taking their seats.” Yuffie stood up, holding the
+pile of swords and belts. “As long as you don’t open your eyes when
+your supposed to be sleeping, you’ll do fine.”
+Kairi didn’t feel much better even with the ninja’s ‘helpful’
+advice. She turned to ask where to change, but Yuffie had already
+left. ‘Just think of it as another part of finding Riku and Sora. The
+sooner you get this over with, the sooner you can get back to finding
+them.’ Sighing, she began to take off her clothes, setting them on
+the chest Yuffie had retrieved some props from just a short time
+before. Setting her skirt down, she looked back at the dress. Just
+how was she supposed to get that thing on, anyway? It still looked
+too big for her.
+Before Kairi could figure it out, the door swung open again. “Are
+you coming or not?”
+Kairi dropped to her knees, covering herself as best she could, clad
+only in her undergarments. Her cheeks burned as Yuffie simply blinked
+at her for a moment. “Yuffie!” she cried. The ninja finally looked
+away, busying herself with something she apparently saw on the roof.
+She felt like she was going to die. This had never happened before on
+her island. The boys were always polite enough to knock first. She
+wanted to grab her clothes, get dressed, and leave. But she knew she
+couldn’t do that. She still had a play to do.
+“You were supposed to follow me, Kairi,” Yuffie said, still staring
+up at the roof. “But.. umm.. If you wanna change in here, that’s
+fine.” She closed the door swiftly.
+Her head slumping in embarrassment, Kairi sighed. So that’s why
+Yuffie had left. She was supposed to go with her. This probably
+wasn’t the dressing room after all. But she was so worked up about
+everything that she hadn’t been paying attention. Grabbing the dress,
+she tried to get dressed as quickly as she could. When she was
+finally finished, she felt a little awkward. It was a little too big
+for her after all, but it didn’t seem too noticeable. But she still
+wasn’t used to such an extravagant outfit. She turned, trying to get
+used to the way it swished about her as she moved.
+“You look like a real princess, Kairi,” a voice said warmly from
+somewhere behind her.
+The brunette whirled about, her eyes wide as she came face to face
+with Riku. He was grinning, a hand on one hip. “Riku!” She was
+breathless. It had been so long since she had seen him. Tears burnt
+at her eyes. She had waited to see him again for so long.
+“But then, you really are a princess, so it shouldn’t be any big
+surprise,” the silver haired boy reasoned.
+Kairi ran to him, nearly stumbling in the large dress. But she
+didn’t care. She just wanted to be near him again. To know that she
+wasn’t alone anymore. To know that he was really there. To hold on
+and forget all about other worlds and what was real or not. She could
+see him so close, smiling at her. Her arms tried desperately to hold
+onto him, but she passed straight through, stumbling to her hands and
+knees behind him. Her heart plummeted as she sat there, lacking the
+strength to even get back up. She hit the floor angrily with her
+fist, her vision blurring with tears. “Every time I see you...” she
+began weakly, “you aren’t really there. Riku... Please don’t leave
+me.” But there was no answer. He was gone, as suddenly as the wind.
+She closed her eyes tightly, her small body shaking with bitter sobs.
+He was always right there. But he was always a universe away.
+A knock at the door punched through Kairi’s shroud of depression.
+“We’ve gotta hurry, princess! You’re on in less than a minute!”
+Yuffie called out.
+Slowly getting to her feet, Kairi sniffled, her body still shaking
+lightly. She wiped at her eyes with the sleeves of the gown.
+“Coming!” she called out, hoping Yuffie didn’t hear the tremble in
+her voice. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, trying to stifle
+the tears that were still unshed. “I’ll find you Riku. Wherever you
+are,” she whispered. Holding onto some semblance of being fine, Kairi
+hurried out the door.
+Yuffie waited, leaning against the wall. She smiled when Kairi
+exited. “See? You do make a good princess.” She stretched, the sword
+in her belt hitting the wall.
+Kairi blinked in surprise, unable to keep from staring at the ninja
+girl. “You’re the prince?”
+“Yep.” Yuffie turned around, holding onto the cuffs of the prince’s
+jacket. “What do you think? We take turns with a lot of the parts. It
+helps keep us all on our toes. Though I have to admit, I much prefer
+being the prince to the princess. No offense. It’s just not my
+style.”
+“I.. uhh.. it’s different,” Kairi said, smiling nervously. This
+hadn’t been what she had expected. She thought maybe the catboy would
+be the prince. His outfit looked regal enough. Or maybe the man with
+the bandana. But she certainly hadn’t been expecting Yuffie. But with
+how upside down things had been, she should have seen it coming.
+“Curiouser and curiouser,” she said to no one in particular. When
+Yuffie looked at her oddly, she just laughed. “Nothing. Let’s go.”
+She held out her arm to Ninja Prince Yuffie, who obligingly took it
+and led her off to the stage.
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+“So she has the Keyblade. I don’t see how that affects anything. The
+other was unable to lock away the Heartless even with his Keyblade. I
+doubt she will be any more successful,” an effeminate man said,
+brushing his hair back over his shoulder.
+“It is a cycle. One we must break. There will always be those
+searching for ways to stop the darkness. But it is an inevitable
+cycle of loss and suffering. When will they learn to simply succumb
+to it? One cannot triumph over darkness. One can only start the cycle
+over again. But if darkness reigns, then the cycle can end. Only then
+can their be piece,” an oddly tranquil voice added.
+“Because they refuse to see the futility of their efforts. Despite
+what is taken from them, they continue to march onward, believing
+that what they do is ‘right’. Perhaps if they truly understood what
+they stand to lose, they would not be so willing. That boy, Riku, he
+understood. He was willing to side with darkness to get back what he
+had lost, the heart of that girl. Sometimes extreme measures must be
+taken. Who is worthy of deeming what is ‘good’ and ‘evil’. Such a
+fine line exists. It is merely how far you are willing to go. That
+boy showed that he was willing to go further than his friend for the
+girl. Even to the heart of darkness. Perhaps we can use that,” a
+woman mused.
+“What can one little girl possibly hope to achieve? I’ll end her
+little nightmare now and send her to a place of eternal nothingness,
+a shrine she can spend eternity enjoying. Oh, I’ll be the most
+wonderful court artisan she has ever seen, making for her a palace of
+emptiness.” The man punctuated his statement with a maddening laugh.
+At last, a silver haired man spoke. “No. Not yet. She has further
+she must go. She may yet prove her usefulness to us. Her importance
+goes far past being one of the seven princesses. She is the final
+piece to this puzzle. She is the key to it all.”
+“But, Sephiroth, don’t you think it much wiser to get rid of her
+before she can cause any trouble?” the woman asked.
+“No. She is at the heart of all of this. She isn’t our enemy. She is
+more important to our success than any of you know.” With that,
+Sephiroth turned away from the others. He had business to attend to.
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+‘Dear diary,
+I’m starting to get worried. Tidus and Wakka found a hole today on
+the island. Not just some deep hole in the ground or anything. An
+endless hole. Like it leads to nowhere. Like someone took some
+scissors and cut out that part of our island. Wakka dropped his beach
+ball down in there and we all waited around for a sound of it hitting
+anything at all, but nothing happened. It was like it was just gone.
+It’s scary. I shudder just thinking about it, and I’m under a nice
+heavy blanket right now. Weird, huh? I usually hate blankets because
+they’re too stuffy. But it’s been so cold and windy and rainy outside
+that mom brought them out again.
+The only good thing I can see from all of this is that cold and
+rainy is perfect snuggling weather. So I need to head over to
+Quisty’s house soon. Maybe we can snuggle up under her covers and
+just forget that there’s any scary hole or that Kairi’s missing or
+that the weathers getting worse. That’s easy to do in Quisty’s arms
+anyway. It feels so warm and safe when I’m with her, like I know
+everything’s all right. Even her worrying doesn’t seem to matter. It
+just makes me wanna try harder to take away all her worries. It’s
+almost like a game. To try to make her smile when something’s on her
+mind.
+I didn’t realize how good a study Quisty really was. She can quote
+me before I even say anything, like she knows what I’m gonna say
+before I say it. I thought it was so cool when she did that! It lets
+me know that she’s paying more attention to me than to those silly
+books of hers. She said it’s because she knows me really well, so she
+knows what I’m thinking a lot of the time. It’s nice to know someone
+does because sometimes I don’t even know what I’m thinking about.
+There are so many things to think about! It’s hard to sort them all
+out sometimes.
+Oh, on a really sad note, I think they’re gonna cancel the Destiny
+Islands Festival! Please say it isn’t so! I always love the festival.
+And Quisty and I were gonna dance under the stars, too! I had the
+dress I was gonna wear all picked out and everything. But the adults
+are all saying that the weather’s bad and that too much has been
+going on lately so we shouldn’t have one. But that’s exactly why we
+should have one! To cheer everyone up! That way everyone can have
+something to enjoy, to let them relax. Well, if they adults aren’t
+gonna throw the Island Festival, then maybe we can throw one
+ourselves. Yeah, I’m sure Tidus and Wakka would help. If I can drag
+them from that underwater ballgame they made up. And maybe Quisty
+will help, too. We can make our own little festival! We’ll still
+dance under the stars, Quisty! It’s my promise to you! Booyaka!
+Love,
+Selphie Tilmitt’
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Surprisingly, Kairi found herself able to quote nearly all of her
+lines, seeing the scenes unfold before her as she did. Even the
+Radical Dreamers seemed impressed, not having expected much from
+their stand in. She was a little shocked, but overall proud of
+herself, glad to actually contribute to the play rather than just
+being another prop. And so she was slightly disappointed when it
+finally came time for her to fall into her endless sleep. But even
+lying there, she could follow along with the rest of the play, her
+mind supplying the lines even as the other performers were saying
+them. Kid actually did a good job of getting rid of her accent when
+she was performing, giving Kairi trouble following exactly who was
+saying what at times. Nonetheless, the play had overall been a fun
+experience so far. She almost wished she could go along with the
+Radical Dreamers. The thought of performing with them, travelling to
+all sorts of different worlds, seeing so many new things, it was all
+very appealing to her. But she couldn’t let that tempt her. She had
+to find Riku and Sora. Then she would tell them all about her short
+stint on stage.
+Despite feeling rather good natured about things, Kairi found
+herself getting more and more nervous as the play began to near its
+end. She knew far too well what happened at the end of Sleeping
+Beauty. This would be her first kiss, even if it was just a stage
+kiss. And the thought of it being with Yuffie had her worried. She
+still didn’t even know who she wanted her first kiss to be with, Riku
+or Sora. But it didn’t look like she’d have to worry about that for
+much longer. She almost wanted to rush off the stage, but she lay
+there paralyzed, almost as if she really was under some spell.
+Yuffie did make a good prince, at the very least. So if she let
+herself pretend this really was Sleeping Beauty, that she really was
+the princess, then it wasn’t too bad. It was only when she remembered
+that she was Kairi that she got all nervous about it. She was nearly
+counting down the lines as it neared the play’s climax. Locke was
+playing Maleficent, which helped the stand in actress disassociate it
+with the Maleficent who had used her along with the other seven
+princesses to open the final keyhole. If just the thought of the
+sorceress didn’t make her want to shudder, the thought of Locke
+playing her would almost be funny.
+And then it was time. Her hands held on her chest squeezed
+themselves tighter. She could hear Yuffie’s final exclamation as her
+‘prince’ got ready for their kiss. She could feel the butterflies
+returning with a vengeance, tickling the inside of her stomach as she
+lay there, eyes shut tightly. What should she do? She couldn’t ruin
+the whole play, right? And it was just a stage kiss. But.. but...
+The ninja’s lips pressed warmly against her own delicate lips, both
+soft and firm at the same time. The young princess blushed furiously
+as she felt herself get pulled into a sitting position, Yuffie’s arms
+around her. The crowd burst into applause. When Yuffie finally pulled
+away, Kairi could only sit and stare, stunned. Wow... Kissing wasn’t
+such a bad thing after all. She was already having thoughts of trying
+it again with Sora or Riku when she finally found them. She blushed
+when she looked up at Yuffie, the other girl looking down at her with
+all the princely concern in the world. She really was a good actress.
+Kairi had almost forgotten that it was just a play. She smiled up at
+the ninja, trying her best to look love struck by her prince.
+The rest of the play was a blur for Kairi, her mind on other things.
+There wasn’t much to say during the play’s closing segments anyway,
+so it didn’t matter too much that she was daydreaming throughout it.
+She finally found herself backstage, though this time she remembered
+to get to the dressing room before changing.
+Her kitten was still waiting for her, having wandered about
+backstage for a while. It seemed to know the layout rather well. “I
+guess you have a good sense of direction, don’t you, kitty?” Kairi
+laid the dress down, glad to be back in her own clothes again.
+Kneeling down, she  scratched behind the kitten’s ears. “I really
+need to come up with a name for you. Hmm... Boco sounds better for
+Chocobos. And Mog for Moogles. What are good cat names? You don’t
+look like a Duchess. But you do have a lot of energy. And you are
+kinda bouncy. So how about Tigger?” The kitten lowered its head. It
+didn’t seem to like the idea. “Shadow? But that’s not really a girl
+cat’s name.” Her face lit up. “Jessie! I’ll name you Jessie.” The
+kitten seemed a little surprised by the name, but didn’t otherwise
+complain. “Good.” Kairi hugged the kitten. “Jessie it is.”
+“You did a good job there,” Kid said, reverting back to her accent
+now that she was out of costume. “Didn’t really think you had it in
+you. If you ever need a place to stay, we’d be glad to have ya.”
+“Really?” Kairi grinned. “Thanks! It was a lot of fun. I’d love to
+again sometime. If I didn’t have something really important to do
+right now, I’d love to go.” It would be great to have Riku and Sora
+in the audience, to run into the crowd after the play and see what
+they thought.
+Kid shrugged. “Hey, I understand. Sometimes there’s just somethin’
+you’ve gotta do. Ya can’t let anythin’ stop ya. You’ve gotta be
+single minded about that sorta thing if you’re ever gonna get what
+you’re lookin’ for.”
+“Trying to steal away my princess? Back off, Kid.” Yuffie laughed,
+entering the room, clothed in her short green top, khaki shorts,
+white stockings, and yellow scarf.
+“Ya can’t stop a master thief from getting what she’s got her eyes
+set on,” Kid replied, grinning.
+Kairi blushed furiously at their comments. She usually didn’t mind
+being the center of attention, but this was just a little strange for
+her. She tried to ignore it, focusing on Jessie instead. The kitten
+was once again struggling to get out of her arms, most likely to get
+over to Yuffie. But she held on tightly, not wanting to have to pull
+the kitten away again. Jessie began to meow again, still wrestling
+with her.
+“Well, if you two are leavin’, I should probably be headin’ off
+myself. I’ve got some things I need to take care of back home.
+‘Sides, the Radical Dreamers aren’t much if we’re missin’ two of our
+mates. Kind of hard to put on a play with only three people,” Kid
+said, her hands behind her head.
+“When this is all over, we’ll have to all meet up again somewhere.
+We can’t have this be our last performance.” Yuffie smiled faintly.
+“I’m not callin’ it quits yet. When we’re all done, we’ll get back
+together for a huge reunion performance. Everyone’ll wanna come to
+that. We ain’t done yet,” Kid replied, grinning.
+“You got it!” Yuffie nodded eagerly. “Good luck out there, Kid.”
+“You, too, Yuffie. See ya around, princess.” The thief winked at
+Kairi as she headed out the door, bringing another faint blush to her
+cheeks.
+Yuffie sighed, leaning against the wall. “So where to next?”
+Kairi looked up suddenly, feeling a tinge of panic. “I thought you
+knew. You were one of the heroes searching for the Keyblade, after
+all. You do know, right?” she asked hopefully, eyeing Yuffie.
+“Of course I do,” Yuffie said nonchalantly. “I’m just trying to
+decide which would be the best place. Besides, that was usually
+Aerith’s place in things. She was the one who figured everything out.
+But don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out.” She smiled
+reassuringly. Kairi didn’t seem to have complete faith in her.
+A scream from somewhere outside caught their attention. Both girls
+turned. Something sounded like it was coming down the hallway. Fast.
+Yuffie ran to the door, peering out. Her eyes went wide and she
+slammed the door shut, locking it.
+“What is it?” Kairi asked, immediately regretting the question as
+soon as it was out. Her heart pounded in her chest as something heavy
+hit the door. She held the kitten closer, though she didn’t know if
+it was to comfort Jessie or herself.
+“Heartless. And lots of them. There’s no way we can fight our way
+through all of those.” Yuffie refused to let herself panic. She
+wasn’t the panicking type. But there certainly didn’t seem to be any
+other options. They were locked in there until the Heartless finally
+broke in. She glanced around, but there weren’t any ways out.
+Sighing, she pulled out some shurikens. She couldn’t stop them all,
+but it didn’t mean she was going to give up. “Get behind me. I’ll
+stop as many of them as I can. Run when you get the chance,” she
+commanded.
+Kairi shook her head. No. It wasn’t going to end like that. There
+was so much more she needed to do. She couldn't get caught by the
+Heartless now. She had already lost her heart once. Back then it had
+gone into Sora. Now it didn’t have anyplace to go. It would simply be
+consumed. And then she would never find Sora and Riku. But there
+didn’t seem to be anywhere for them to go. And the Heartless would be
+in at any minute.
+‘Just believe they aren’t there. They can’t hurt you if they aren’t
+there. If you’re safe and sound back home, then the Heartless can’t
+get to you,’ a voice whispered in her head.
+Kairi bit her lip. She didn’t ever want to go back there. Being
+there was so confusing. It scared her, made her question just what
+was real. And she couldn’t afford to falter in her beliefs. Not now.
+But there was no other choice, was there? The pounding on the door
+grew more insistent. Yuffie got into a fighting position. ‘She’s
+going to sacrifice herself for you. And then they’re going to get you
+anyway. Damn it! Make you your mind already!’ Kairi closed her eyes
+tightly. No matter how much she didn’t want to do this, it was their
+only chance. “I’m not here. I’m back home. In bed. The Heartless
+aren’t here. I’m back home.” The pounding on the door stopped.
+When she opened her eyes again, they were gone. She was no longer
+backstage. She was sitting on her bed again, surrounded by her dolls
+and pictures. A doll of Yuffie was lying on her lap. Kairi sighed
+shakily, holding onto the doll. What happened to everyone else when
+she was here? Did she just disappear from where she was? Did
+everything else still exist when she was here? Did she even want to
+know?
+Getting off the bed, Kairi walked to the door, pausing before it.
+Biting her lip, she slowly reached out for the doorknob, taking a
+hold of it. Was the person still there? Would the door open? She had
+to find out what was going on. This was all getting far too
+confusing. She turned the doorknob slowly. Nothing. It was still
+locked for her. Sighing, her hand fell away from the door.
+Walking around the slightly cluttered room, Kairi kept hugging the
+Yuffie doll. It might not be much, but right now it was the only
+company she had. And somehow she felt better holding onto her dolls.
+They had always been such a comfort for her, these people she had
+crafted out of fabric and wishes. She closed her eyes, forcing that
+thought away. No, they were real. She hadn’t just made dolls of
+people in her imagination. These were all real people somewhere far
+away. They were all still out there, waiting for her. But she
+couldn’t get back to them if she was stuck in her room. She had to
+find a way out.
+She looked out the window, but it was too dark to see anything
+outside. It had to be late, wherever she was. Resting her head
+against the cool glass, the princess tried to collect herself. This
+place had to be a dream. It couldn’t be real. But why did she keep
+coming back here? And why was it so familiar. Her eyes closed as she
+strained to remember. A birthday party. She could remember a birthday
+party. A recent one. She remembered sitting at the front of the
+table, the cake being placed out in front of her. She had just turned
+fourteen. She’d gotten a cute sweater for it. And a few Disney DVDs
+she had been wanting for the longest time. But who had been there?
+She tried harder to remember, trying to see the rest of the table.
+She had been there, of course. And... An older woman she could barely
+make out. She was smiling so warmly, watching as she blew out the
+candles, her hands clasped together as if in prayer. Her mother. It
+had to be her mother. Her heart ached at the thought that she
+couldn’t even remember her mother except for this small glimpse. What
+kind of woman was she like? Did she make her mother proud? What kind
+of relationship did they have? Judging from the smile, her mother had
+been happy, at least during her birthday.
+Who else had been there? She could see a shadow sitting next to her,
+watching her opening her presents. The shadow flickered in her mind
+as she tried harder to remember who it had been. But no matter how
+hard she tried, it refused to clarify. Giving up on the shadow for
+the moment, she began to focus on who else had been there. Slowly,
+she saw the rest of the table, expecting to see Riku and Sora sitting
+there, watching her. But it wasn’t so. The table was empty. Her eyes
+opened wide. “No one... No one was there?” she asked quietly. But her
+birthday parties on the Destiny Islands were always so much fun!
+Everyone came and there were presents and cake and games and... It
+didn’t make sense. Surely she had friends to invite, games to play.
+She was pretty and popular and everyone liked her. So why the hell
+would she spend her birthday alone except for her mother and some
+shadow of a person she couldn’t remember?
+Her eyes teared up, memories of endless loneliness filling her,
+sapping at her heart. The hopelessness and despair felt like
+crystalline shards buried within her heart. “But mama, no one will
+come. No one likes me. Why would anyone want to come to my party?”
+she heard herself saying. Opening her eyes, she saw another room
+outside of the window, her mother’s room. There she was, crying on
+her mother’s lap. Hateful, lost, bitter tears. And her mother looked
+heartbroken as she tried to wipe away her hot tears.
+Kairi backed away from the window as if it was something alive and
+dangerous, staring. “It’s not like that. It isn’t like that at all,”
+she said desperately, her voice barely above a whisper. “I do have
+friends. I’m not all alone.”
+“Then where are they now, Kairi? You made up all of your friends.
+Except for mom. She’s your best friend. She’s your only friend. How
+could you just leave her by killing yourself?”
+Looking up, Kairi could see the shadow of someone on the other side
+of the door. The voice was back, whoever it was that happened to be
+behind it. “I didn’t,” she argued, her voice shaky. Her wrists were
+burning again, fire tearing them apart. But she refused to look at
+them. Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away.
+The voice on the other side of the door laughed. “That’s your answer
+for everything, isn’t it, Kairi? To ignore it, to pretend. Whenever
+you can’t handle something, you just run away. It’s too much for poor
+Kairi to handle, so she’ll just run as far as she can and never look
+back. That’s why you can’t open the door. Because you can’t face
+reality. You couldn’t handle life so you just turned your back on it.
+You embraced your fantasies, ignoring everything that might hurt you.
+Isn’t that the way it’s always been?”
+“Leave me alone!!!” Kairi screamed, her whole body trembling. Tears
+stung her eyes, turning her vision into a liquid nightmare. She could
+feel her tears dripping down her chin, falling to the floor below.
+She couldn’t stop from crying, the voice finally getting to her.
+“I told you that you couldn’t handle it, Kairi. I don’t think you’re
+ready to open the door yet. Why don’t you run away back to your
+fantasies. They’re safe and cozy, aren’t they? Oh, wait. No, reality
+is beginning to intrude on them, isn’t it? The heartlessness of the
+real world is starting to take its toll, to intrude on your little
+wonderland. Go ahead and run away to your dreams, Kairi. Because
+pretty soon, there will be nowhere left to run. And you’ll have to
+open the door. Because when the Heartless consume all of your
+fantasies, real life will be the only place left to turn.”
+Kairi slumped to her knees, sobbing painfully, hugging herself. She
+didn’t always run away. She was trying to find Riku and Sora. She
+would never give up on them. She wouldn’t run away, no matter how
+tough things got. But her voice escaped her, having disappeared in
+her haze of tears. She wanted to prove the voice wrong, that she
+would never give up. But her tattered heart couldn’t help but wonder
+if the voice was right.
+Lost in a storm of tears, Kairi didn’t see the room grow distant. It
+stretched further and further into the background until it had faded
+away altogether. Lost in a typhoon of dark thoughts, the princess
+didn’t feel herself slowly drifting away to somewhere else. Anywhere
+else. Just as long as she was far away from that room.

Mercurial > moonlitnights

comparison old/stories/prismhearts-03.txt @ 2:fc00894c1d4a moonlitnights