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1
2 Prism Hearts
3 Chapter 6
4 The Wanderer of Time
5 by Amazoness Duo
6 amazonessduo@hotmail.com
7
8
9 Kairi sat on the small bed in the room she had found herself in,
10 listening halfheartedly to the waves crashing outside the open
11 window. The large cloth drapes that hung in front of them to block
12 out the tropical sun swung lazily about in the breeze. It was
13 tranquil here, almost like the Destiny Islands. Her thoughts, on the
14 other hand, were anything but calm.
15
16 So she could find Riku. If she could find the Door to the Light, she
17 could unlock it and save him. She and Sora were both looking for it,
18 so they might stumble upon each other along the way. But to unlock
19 the door, she had to seal off the Keyholes in the hearts of those who
20 were after her. It was a daunting task. Could she even do it? She had
21 barely sealed the Keyhole in Kefka’s heart before being controlled by
22 the Slave Crown. She shivered at the thought of having to do that
23 again. And again. Until all the Keyholes were sealed.
24
25 But what choice did she have? Giving up would mean never seeing Riku
26 again. How could she give up on him? He would never have given up on
27 her. He tried till the very end to save her. Now it was her turn to
28 save him. She had to do her best to find him. No matter what the
29 challenges. Now if only she could find out where to go next.
30
31 Kairi sighed, drawing her legs up underneath herself. It wasn’t just
32 one world she had to navigate, but many. All linked together by the
33 darkness. When Sora had sealed away the Heartless, the worlds had
34 been separated. It was the darkness that eroded the barriers between
35 the worlds. It seemed ironic that her chance to find her friends had
36 been granted by the return of the darkness. That the only way to
37 travel from world to world was to travel across the expanses of
38 shadow that each world gave off. Yet here she was, fighting against
39 the darkness yet using it to move about to do so.
40
41 She paused in her thoughts for a moment. Was she really fighting
42 against the darkness? Yuffie was. She knew that. But what about
43 herself? All she wanted was to find Riku and Sora again. The rest was
44 all secondary to her. She would save Riku even if she had to open
45 the Door to the Darkness.
46
47 Petting the kitten absentmindedly, she sighed. Some Keyblade
48 Mistress she made. But it was true. Her priority was to find her
49 friends, the boys who meant so much to her. That’s why she had
50 started this journey, after all, not to seal off the Heartless. She
51 could figure out what to do after she could throw herself into the
52 arms of the boys she loved. She winced at the thought. She couldn’t
53 even decide between them. Both of them were too important to her.
54
55 Frowning, Kairi scratched at the kitten’s chin. It looked back at
56 her with its strange green eyes. “At least you don’t care if I can’t
57 decide. What do you think I should do, Jessie?”
58
59 The kitten looked back at the princess and meowed, it’s tail
60 swishing lightly back and forth.
61
62 Kairi giggled and nodded. “Good idea. There’s nothing I can do yet.
63 So I’ll just keep looking for them for now. Everything else can wait.”
64
65 The kitten stared at the girl for a moment. Meowing, it shook its
66 head. This was really getting frustrating. It meowed again,
67 insistently, but the princess’s thoughts were on other things at the
68 moment. She couldn’t understand anyway. Maybe Yuffie would, somehow.
69 There had to be some way to get across to these people. ‘Jessie’ lay
70 there for a moment, trying to think. Nothing was getting done this
71 way. It had to do something. Otherwise... The kitten shuddered. It
72 meowed louder, but that just got Kairi to pet further. Sighing
73 inwardly, the kitten stood up. Desperate times called for desperate
74 measures.
75
76 “Owww!!” Kairi pulled back, holding her hand. Pain shot through one
77 of her fingers and for a moment she couldn’t tell what had happened.
78 It was just a sharp and immediate pain. The first thought that came
79 to mind was that she had pricked herself, that she would fall asleep
80 until her prince could come and awaken her with a kiss. She wouldn’t
81 be at all surprised with how strange things had been lately. But what
82 could she have pricked herself on? Looking down at her hand, she saw
83 bright crimson welling up. It slowly began to clarify in her mind,
84 the mists lifting. She’d been bitten. “Jessie?” she said
85 questioningly, looking down at the odd kitten. It leapt off the bed,
86 scurrying out the door. What had gotten into her? With a mix of
87 anxiety and concern, Kairi chased after the kitten. “Jessie, wait!
88 You’ll get lost!” She had no idea what was out here or even where she
89 was. She didn’t want to lose her only constant companion. Even if it
90 had bitten her. Had something frightened Jessie? Or maybe... Maybe
91 she’d been trying to get her attention. But for what?
92
93 Running through the small house, Kairi nearly ran into a woman in a
94 bandana. The woman caught her by the shoulders as she began to
95 stumble backwards. “Oh, you startled me. Are you all right? You must
96 have gotten the rest you needed. You’ve been sleeping for days.”
97
98 Kairi finally regained her balance. Recovering from her shock, a
99 hand over her heart, she nodded. “Yeah, I’m much better now. I just
100 woke up a little while ago.” ‘I think,’ she added to herself. ‘It’s
101 hard to tell where I am and when I’m awake anymore.’
102
103 “Good. When you and your friends washed up on shore, we were all
104 worried. Your friends woke up shortly, but you wouldn’t rise. You
105 needed someplace to stay, so I was glad to offer my son’s room.
106 You’ve been sleeping there ever since. I’ve been keeping an eye on
107 you. I didn’t know if you’d ever wake up. I’m glad that you did.”
108 Marge smiled softly, in her motherly way.
109
110 The look warmed Kairi’s heart, something about it very familiar.
111 ‘Mom,’ she thought, her heart starting to ache as dim memories
112 taunted her, flitting away as she tried to grasp them. ‘I miss you,
113 mom.’ Forcing herself back to the present before her memories, or
114 lack thereof, could drag her back down into despair, she smiled at
115 the woman. “Thank you for taking care of me, ma’am.” Her thanks were
116 heartfelt. It was so nice to know that someone had cared enough to
117 take care of her while she had been unconscious. “I’ll have to thank
118 your son, too, before I leave for letting me use his room.”
119
120 Marge’s smile didn’t fade, but it did gain a sad quality to it. “My
121 son, Serge, died at sea ten years ago. That’s why I wanted to do all
122 I could for you. I couldn’t let another sweet young soul be taken by
123 the sea.”
124
125 “I’m... I’m so sorry...” Kairi stammered, at a loss for words. After
126 this woman had helped her, had given her a place to stay, she felt
127 terrible at the helplessness that consumed her. She couldn’t repay
128 this woman in the least, had only been able to bring up an old wound.
129 Hadn’t Sora been able to help people as he travelled from world to
130 world? So far she seemed to cause trouble wherever she went. Like she
131 was some kind of cosmic jinx, a harbinger of horrible things to come.
132 Her arrival signified something terrible to come. At least it felt
133 like that.
134
135 The mother shook her head, dismissing Kairi’s apology. “It’s
136 nothing, dear. You didn’t know. And I’m sure he’d be happy to know
137 his room was getting some use. Perhaps his spirit is what pulled you
138 to shore.” She smiled at the thought. “Now run along before your
139 kitten gets into trouble. You wouldn’t want her picking a fight with
140 Poshul.”
141
142 “Yeah, you’re right,” Kairi said, snapping out of her bout of self-
143 pity. Giggling slightly, she nodded. “Can’t let her get too far
144 away.” She hurried to the door, turning to wave over her shoulder at
145 the doorway. “Thanks for everything, ma’am!” The woman smiled and
146 waved back as she dashed out the door.
147
148 ‘Mom was like that. Someone you could talk to. Someone who always
149 had a comforting thing to say. And her hands felt so nice when she’d
150 rub my back when I was crying, or when she’d wipe the tears from my
151 eyes. I fell asleep crying on her lap so often.’ Kairi shook her head
152 at the unbidden thoughts. They felt like her own, but they couldn’t
153 be real. She didn’t know her mother. She couldn’t remember anything
154 before showing up on the Destiny Islands.
155
156 ‘Just keep telling yourself that,’ she heard deep in her thoughts.
157 Her fists clenched as she walked through the small fishing village.
158 She couldn’t tell if it was good or not that she was getting these
159 thoughts of her mother. She certainly didn’t like the picture they
160 were painting of her. Some depressed, lonely, dependent girl. She
161 wasn’t like that at all. But at the same time, she had to admit that
162 she missed her mother terribly. At least Sora and Riku had parents on
163 the island. She had been an orphan, raised by the people living
164 there. But that wasn’t the same. The thought that she actually had a
165 mother, had known her, was both exciting and terrifying.
166
167 ‘What was your home like?’ Sora had asked.
168
169 ‘I don’t remember. I can’t remember anything before I got here,’ she
170 had answered.
171
172 ‘I want to go see it with you someday,’ he said.
173
174 She had smiled at him. ‘I’d like that.’
175
176 But now... She had wanted to find out who she was. She had wanted to
177 find out where her home was. But the closer she got to figuring that
178 out, the more she wondered if maybe she didn’t want the answers after
179 all. Maybe she had forgotten on purpose. She had been happy on the
180 Destiny Islands. Hadn't that been enough? But now, to regain that
181 happiness, to save her friends, she may have to open a Pandora’s Box
182 that could destroy that happiness forever. She didn’t know what she
183 was supposed to do.
184
185 “Meow!”
186
187 Kairi blinked her eyes open quickly, spotting the insistent kitten.
188 It meowed at her again before scurrying off. “Wait! Jessie!” The
189 princess took off after the kitten. Whatever it was thinking, it sure
190 was insistent. At least the chase took her mind off of things.
191 Running out of the village, Kairi focussed on the kitten bounding
192 along in front of her.
193
194 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
195
196 “So how did you end up with that bossy little housewife?” Yuffie
197 asked, kicking some sand in front of herself. Relm was currently
198 hanging onto her, arms encircling the ninja’s waist. Yuffie had tried
199 valiantly to get Relm back, but it never lasted for more than a few
200 seconds. She’d finally gotten tired of fighting the artist off and
201 was currently just tolerating it. This didn’t mean she’d given up, of
202 course. Just that she didn’t feel like fighting at the moment. Yeah,
203 that was it.
204
205 “Shut yer mouth.” Kid didn’t look amused. She was currently
206 searching the area for tiny lizards to make a necklace for the above
207 stated bossy housewife. It was more work than it should have been.
208 She was starting to think that it would be easier to just steal a
209 necklace. Or maybe Yuffie’s chatter was just scaring the Komodo
210 Dragons off. In either case, she needed to get another scale or two
211 to finish off that necklace or she’d be sleeping on the couch. Again.
212 Luckily, Leena's grandma had such bad eyesight that she actually
213 thought Kid was a boy. Not that Kid was happy with the idea, but
214 Leena said it was easier that way. And who was she to argue?
215
216 Sighing, Kid shrugged. “It just kinda happened. I came back to my
217 homeworld ‘cause we’ve got a relic here called the Frozen Flame. I
218 came to El Nido looking for it. I figured if I could get my hands on
219 it, the Heartless wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Anyway, so I started
220 off lookin’ in Arni and I met up with Leena she wound up insistin’
221 that she go along. To keep me outta trouble. I argued, but that girl
222 has a way of getting her way. We looked all over for the blasted
223 thing, a few other people joining us along the way. Along with this
224 crazy harlequin. We finally tracked it down to the Sea of Eden where
225 it was locked away by Fate. We tried to bust in, but it wouldn’t
226 work. We were tryin’ to find another plan when we found out the
227 harlequin had gone missin’. Turned out she was working with the
228 Dragon Gods. She wound up summoning the six of them and they totaled
229 the place. We barely got outta there before it went up. Seems she was
230 usin’ us to distract Fate long enough for the Dragon Gods to get
231 together.” Kid sighed, lookin around in a hole for the smaller
232 dragons. “So no Frozen Flame after all. Otherwise we coulda stopped
233 the Heartless by now.”
234
235 Yuffie laughed, shaking her head. “Don’t worry about the Heartless.
236 World saving should be left to the professionals. I’ll handle them. I
237 even have the Keyblade Mistress on my party, so we’re set.”
238
239 “I know you’ll be able to stop them, Yuffie,” Relm added perkily,
240 her head snugly against Yuffie’s shoulder. “And I’ll follow wherever
241 you go.”
242
243 Kid grinned, raising an eyebrow. “You were sayin’ something about my
244 choice in girlfriends?”
245
246 “Oh, shut up.” Yuffie’s eyes narrowed. She was tempted to extricate
247 herself from the artist and wipe the smirk off of Kid’s face, but it
248 was much more trouble than it was worth.
249
250 “Anyway, Leena and I kinda happened along the way. Can’t say when,
251 exactly. Except that we did spend a hell of a night at the Termina
252 inn.” The thief shook her head, dispersing pleasant memories. “It
253 just seemed before I knew it, she had me hooked. So now I’m stuck in
254 a tiny fishing village because she’s happiest there. I didn’t see
255 that comin’. Me in some little village on some island somewhere. But
256 it’s starting to be home. And it’s nice to finally have one.”
257
258 Yuffie nodded thoughtfully. “I guess that makes sense. Yeah, I
259 didn’t imagine that either. I guess I never thought of you as
260 settling down. It’s gonna be hard to break the news to the rest of
261 the Radical Dreamers.” And it was strange for her to see the other
262 thief there, living such an ordinary life. But Kid seemed happier
263 than she’d ever seen her. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. She shook
264 her head. Not too bad for Kid, maybe. But she wasn’t about to settle
265 down anytime soon. Nope, still too much to do. Nothing was going to
266 hold her down.
267
268 “So how did you wind up with this cute little artist, Yuffie? I
269 thought you weren’t lookin’ for anybody,” Kid teased.
270
271 “I’m not with her...”
272
273 “I nursed her back to health and it was just Fate. We were meant to
274 be.”
275
276 Yuffie and Relm both spoke at the same time, their sentences
277 tumbling together.
278
279 Kid laughed, her hands on her hips. “Well, I’m sure glad I’m not the
280 only one ditching the Radical Dreamers for my girlfriend. It makes it
281 a hell of a lot easier that way.”
282
283 “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s.. Oww!” Yuffie’s eyes went from
284 narrowed to widened in a split second. She looked down to an
285 innocently smiling Relm. Her stomach felt as if it had been pinched
286 rather harshly.
287
288 “Oh, Kid, you’re embarrassing Yuffie!” Relm chided, still smiling.
289 If Yuffie wasn’t going to go along willingly, then she’d just have to
290 take matters into her own hands. Literally, if necessary. It was
291 Fate. It had to be. And she wasn’t going to let her ninja get away
292 just because she had a case of cold feet.
293
294 “Alright, I’ll lay off for a bit, then.” Kid winked at the fuming
295 ninja. Something finally caught her eye, drawing away her attention
296 from the ‘lovebirds’. “Ah! There the little devil is.”
297
298 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
299
300 Kairi ran along the beach, staying away from the water. She had
301 enough water to last her a good long while. She had lost track of the
302 kitten, so she was relying on the little footprints in the sand. They
303 were leading further along the beach. She had to be around somewhere.
304 “There you are!” Kairi pulled to a stop near the tiny kitten,
305 catching her breath. “You shouldn’t have run away like that. You
306 don’t know if it’s safe here. You might have...” She trailed off,
307 that thought half finished. Kneeling in the sand, she looked down at
308 the kitten. It was hard at work pawing away some sand. Scrawled in
309 the sand, she could read ‘I’m Rik...’ from what the kitten had
310 already written. “Riku?” she asked, her heart caught in her chest.
311
312 The kitten’s ears perked up. It’s efforts to dig forgotten, it
313 turned around quickly, nodding excitedly.
314
315 “You’re Riku?” The ground underneath her seemed to drop away,
316 leaving her tumbling. “You’ve been here all this time? I... Riku!”
317 She lunged forward, holding onto the kitten as tightly as she could.
318 The surprised kittens claws pressed into her exposed flesh, but she
319 was too ecstatic to care about such trivial things. “I’ve been
320 looking for so long. I was scared I wouldn’t find you. But I wouldn’t
321 give up. I couldn’t. Not after all you did to save my heart.” A laugh
322 behind her made her whirl about, kitten still in her arms.
323
324 “Izn’t zat adorable? You two make such a cute couple!” Sitting on a
325 rocky outcropping, a harlequin grinned at the scene before her. “But
326 it is improper for me to watch without an introduction from moi,
327 izn’t it? I am Harle.” Hopping down, she walked over to the princess,
328 bowing low. “And you, mon petit, are Kairi. It iz a pleasure to meet
329 you. You are prettier than ze oceans themselves.” Taking Kairi’s
330 hand, she kissed it, her hand lingering for a moment before pulling
331 away.
332
333 “Who are you?” Kairi asked at last, completely confused by the
334 newcomer. But the voice did sound familiar... It finally clicked.
335 “You’re from my dream! Or was that a dream? You were there when I was
336 lying on the beach. And in bed. Both.” She shook her head. This was
337 getting even more confusing.
338
339 The harlequin laughed, nodding. “Exactement. I was watching over
340 you, yes. Someone has to. You aren’t doing such a good job of it
341 yourself. So I have appointed myself to keep an eye on Mademoiselle
342 Kairi.”
343
344 Kairi frowned, holding the kitten closer. The kitten watched the
345 harlequin cautiously. “Does everyone always have to talk in riddles?
346 I never get any straight answers.”
347
348 “It iz much, much more fun speaking in riddles.” Harle laughed,
349 walking around the Keyblade Mistress. “Things are not as one
350 dimensional as you think. It is not about realitie and dreams. It iz
351 about your Fate. What iz real, what iz not, this does not matter.”
352
353 “Yes it does! If it’s not real, then why should I bother?!” Kairi
354 nearly screamed in frustration. If all of this was just some dream,
355 then why try at all? What good would it do if she would just wake up
356 sooner or later to find herself in that horrid room?
357
358 The harlequin’s smile disappeared. She watched Kairi carefully for a
359 long moment. “Why do you live? Why do you die? Will you change ze
360 world? Or will you change yourself? These questions are more
361 important than ‘what is real or not’, no? What is realitie anyway but
362 what people tell you iz real. What you see, feel, hear, zat iz real.
363 You see, feel, and hear all zis. So it iz real. You see, feel, and
364 hear there. So zat iz real. It does not matter which iz more real. It
365 only matters how much you are willing to give, how much you are
366 willing to believe. What will you fight for, Kairi? Ziz realitie?
367 Your friends? Ze Light? Or Ze Darkness? Which will you have faith in?
368 Which will you side with in ze end?”
369
370 Kairi couldn’t answer. Her world felt like it was spinning. The
371 harlequin’s words tumbled through her head in a rush. She felt
372 compelled to make a decision, but she knew she had none yet. But it
373 was true. This was no less real than her ‘room’. And vice versa.
374 Which made it even more difficult to determine which was real. And,
375 like Harle had said, did it really matter? She couldn’t answer that.
376 Not yet. “I just want to get my friends back,” she answered after a
377 long pause.
378
379 “You are not ready yet to decide? It can wait for now. You should
380 think out your decision anyway, to make sure it’s what iz truly in
381 your heart. If you do not follow you’re heart, you are nothing more
382 than a lie.” Harle shrugged. Leaning forward, she scratched under the
383 kitten’s chin. “But if you want to return your friend to normal, you
384 only need ze Dragon’s Tear. It can bring back zeir normal form.”
385
386 Pushing off her concerns for the moment, Kairi stepped forward. “It
387 can? Where is it?! I need it for Riku.” She had been happy just to
388 know he was close again. That he had been so close to her this whole
389 time, giving her strength. If he could actually be right next to her
390 again... She had to find it. She had to return Riku back to his old
391 self. And she would hug him so tightly and never ever let him go
392 again.
393
394 “Ze thief has it. She stole it while we were in Viper Manor. It has
395 no value to her, though. She was merely searching for the Frozen
396 Flame. Perhaps she will let you use it, no?” The harlequin suggested.
397 “Though she can be quite nasty, so I wouldn’t trust her with it for
398 long.”
399
400 “The thief?” Kairi asked, blinking. The only thief she knew of was
401 Yuffie. And she hadn’t seen Yuffie since she had awoken. Some noise
402 from behind caught her attention. She turned around just in time to
403 see three girls make their way onto the beach.
404
405 “Kairi!” Yuffie called out, a note of relief in her voice. She had
406 started to worry that the Keyblade Mistress would never wake up.
407 Without her, there wasn’t much hope of stopping the Heartless. Of
408 course, she’d never let her worries show. She was the greatest ninja
409 ever, after all. It was bad form to let anyone know she was worried
410 about things.
411
412 “What the bloody hell is she doin’ here?” Kid, on the other hand,
413 didn’t like the scene before her at all. There was the princess, but
414 she was with Harle, a servant of the Dragon Gods. And the last she
415 had seen of Harle had been when the harlequin had destroyed their
416 only chance to retrieve the Frozen Flame. She unsheathed her knife.
417 “Get away from her, Kairi! She’s a bloody demon.”
418
419 “So speaks ze dirty dog. I should have known I couldn’t expect a
420 warm reception from you. And I am not a demon.” Her eyes narrowed as
421 she strolled towards the thief, her hands on her hips.
422
423 “Slave girl to the Dragon Gods, demon, I don’t see much of a
424 difference,” Kid shot back, still clutching her dagger. “You ain’t
425 getting rid of the Keyblade Mistress. You may have stopped us from
426 getting the Frozen Flame, but I ain’t about to let ya kill our last
427 hope.”
428
429 Harle broke out into spiels of laughter. “You have got it all wrong.
430 I have come to give Mademoiselle Kairi my blessing. The blessing of
431 all the Dragon Gods. They have a vested interest in her journey,
432 after all.” Stepping back to Kairi, she leaned forward, kissing the
433 princess on both cheeks before letting her go. She giggled at the
434 startled look on Kairi’s face and the faint blush on her cheeks. “And
435 so cute, too! I will enjoy this job much more than my last.” Winking
436 at Kairi, she turned back to Kid. “And how dare you call me zis slave
437 girl! Bahamut is no one’s slave girl!”
438
439 “Bahamut?” Yuffie asked, blinking. “What does the king of all
440 dragons have to do with this?”
441
442 Another giggle before the harlequin curtsied greeted Yuffie’s
443 statement. “Because Bahamut is standing right before you. I am
444 Bahamut, ze Dragon God. It iz a pleazure to make your acquaintance.
445 At least one of you has some respect.” She gave Kid another dirty
446 look. “Zis iz merely my human form. I thought it would be easier to
447 travel around El Nido zis way. I am slightly more noticeable as a
448 dragon.”
449
450 Kid blinked in surprise. She suddenly had the thought that attacking
451 Harle would be a very affective form of suicide. She had thought the
452 jester was merely working for the Dragon Gods, not that she was the
453 head of them. “But.. why would you do all of this yourself? Why not
454 send someone else?”
455
456 Harle shook her head, dismissing the thought. “If you want something
457 done, as they say, you must do it yourself. Besides, I could not let
458 you get a hold of the Frozen Flame. It is a splinter of Lavos, the
459 world devourer. It would only bring about more darkness, even if you
460 did use it to stop the Heartless. Ze universe has a delicate balance
461 that you humans are always so set on ruining.” She sighed, rolling
462 her eyes. “If it is not ze balance of man and nature, it iz zat
463 between light and dark. Will you never learn?”
464
465 “I didn’t come here to get you preachin’ to me. You stopped us from
466 getting the Frozen Flame, isn’t that enough?” Kid was starting to get
467 irritated by all of this. As if it wasn’t bad that the harlequin had
468 ruined her chances to get a sacred relic, now she was back to taunt
469 her about things.
470
471 “On ze contrary, I am here to help.” Harle grinned at the look of
472 surprise on Kid’s face. “Sometimes you humans aren’t completely
473 worthless after all. And I have to admit I have a weakness for main
474 characters. They are just too sexzy.” She sighed, looking back to an
475 embarrassed Kairi. “And since that means Kairi, I will offer my
476 services to her.”
477
478 “Not that you’d take no for an answer, I’m guessing,” Yuffie said,
479 sighing. This was getting more and more complicated all the time. Why
480 wasn’t she happy about the Dragon God joining their party? Because
481 somehow she doubted that whatever they were after was the same thing.
482
483 “Of course not! You catch on quickly. I’m getting to like you
484 already. Much better than ze other thief.” Harle smiled.
485
486 Relm squeezed her arms around Yuffie’s waist tighter, possessively.
487 “Yuffie’s already spoken for her.”
488
489 Yuffie sweatdropped and was about to argue but stopped herself. Did
490 she really wanna be available around Harle? She decided to drop it
491 this time. Sighing in defeat, she could feel the younger artist still
492 pressed tightly against her side.
493
494 Laughing, Harle shook her head. “Don’t worry, she iz not my concern.
495 I’d much rather follow Mademoiselle Kairi. Perhaps I can change her
496 mind about finding those silly boys.”
497
498 Looking up, Kairi turned to Kid. Harle’s words had reminded her of
499 something important. She hurried over, holding the kitten tightly to
500 her heart. “Kid, I need the Dragon’s Tear. It’s the only way I can
501 change Riku back to normal.”
502
503 “Rikku?” Yuffie asked curiously. “Change Rikku back? Back from what?”
504
505 “The cat,” Kairi explained, holding the kitten up. It meowed, moving
506 slightly in her grasp. “It’s Riku. I just found out.”
507
508 Yuffie stepped forward, looking at the kitten cautiously. She poked
509 and prodded it for a bit, taking a good look.
510
511 “Aww... Give the poor kitten a break, Yuffie. She doesn’t need you
512 poking at her,” Relm protested. “I know Interceptor wouldn’t have
513 liked it. They’re just like people.”
514
515 “This one is a person,” Yuffie said at last, not quite hearing Relm.
516 She gazed into the kitten’s eyes for a long moment, those green
517 swirls instantly recognizable. Suddenly it made a whole lot more
518 sense why the kitten hadn’t left her alone.
519
520 Kairi nodded her agreement. “So we need the Dragon’s Tear to get rid
521 of this curse. Or whatever it is. I just want Riku back to normal.”
522 The thought that her quest could end there was so relieving. Well,
523 she would still have to find Sora, but with Riku helping her, she
524 knew they could find him sooner or later. And then everything would
525 be just fine again. She didn’t care about the Heartless. She just
526 wanted to be with her friends again.
527
528 “I don’t see why I ‘ave to give ya the Dragon’s Tear. I mean, it
529 doesn’t do anythin’ and I did steal it fair. Might even get a fair
530 price off of it on the mainland and buy a place for me an’ Leena,”
531 Kid was saying, not wanting to relinquish her precious treasure.
532
533 “Oh, just give it to them, Kid. I don’t want to move into some place
534 you buy with dirty money anyway. I want you to get a real job,” a
535 redhead said, almost appearing out of nowhere. She walked over, her
536 hands on her hips, standing next to the thief. “I don’t care about
537 that anyway. I just want to know if you got the scales for my
538 necklace.”
539
540 Kid nodded quickly, holding up a bag. “Yep, got ‘em all here. An’
541 they’ll make a gorgeous necklace, Leena. You’ll look absolutely
542 darlin’ in them.” She smiled brightly, hoping she could still salvage
543 this situation. ‘Crap! She did say she’d meet me on the beach, didn’t
544 she? If I hadn’t been so sidetracked here by the damn clown...’
545
546 “Oh, Kid!” Leena hugged the thief tightly, her legs lifting into the
547 air as she did, nearly sending herself and Kid sprawling to the sand.
548 “I knew you’d get them for me.” Her feet finally landed back on the
549 sand, her arms around Kid’s shoulders. She kissed Kid softly on the
550 lips before stepping back, her hands still on Kid’s shoulders. She
551 smiled, pleased with her girlfriend. “Now give them the Dragon’s
552 Tear,” she reminded the blonde.
553
554 Kid sighed inwardly and rifled through her satchel. There went all
555 the money she had been counting on the relic raking in. But if she
556 wanted Leena to stay in the good mood she was in, she might as well
557 hand it over. It wasn’t like she could say no to the bossy young
558 housewife-to-be anyway.On top of that, Yuffie was giving her a rather
559 intent stare. Apparently the ninja wanted her to hand it over as
560 well. “’Ere it is. Knock yourselves out.”
561
562 Yuffie and Kairi both grabbed for it at the same time. Yuffie
563 finally took the thing after Kairi hesitated, setting it in the sand.
564 “Okay, now how does this thing work anyway?”
565
566 Kairi was busy petting the kitten, holding it close. “Poor Riku.
567 Don’t worry. We’ll have you back to normal in just a moment. I
568 promise.” She kissed the kitten’s forehead. Riku had done so much for
569 her. Now she could finally repay him. She’d lost her heart and he had
570 tried his hardest to save it. Now she could help him regain his body.
571
572 “Just let the kitten gaze into ze Dragon’s Tear. I would say to take
573 it to Fort Dragonia, but zat is largely ceremonial. Gazing into it
574 should be enough. Ze Dragon’s Tear will help wash away your friend’s
575 new body, returning it to itz original form.
576
577 “We can have it back when yer done, right?” Kid asked curiously.
578 Leena sighed next to her, crossing her arms. “Not that it’s important
579 or anythin’.”
580
581 “I don’t care what you do with it after Riku’s back.” Kairi finally
582 set the kitten down on the sand, stepping back. She wished there was
583 more she could do, but for now all she could do was watch. This was
584 like when Sora had been turned into a Heartless. She had helped him
585 find himself. She could only pray she could do the same for Riku. He
586 was a cute kitten, granted, but she wanted him back to his old self.
587
588 “Whatever. Like Rikku hasn’t been stuck like this long enough. Not
589 that I can’t imagine who’s fault that could be,” Yuffie said
590 sarcastically. Kneeling, her hands on her knees, she stared at the
591 kitten with an eyebrow raised. The kitten looked back up at her
592 sheepishly.
593
594 The kitten turned on the sand, looking at the glowing blue crystal
595 before it. It had an inner light like a sun underneath the ocean, a
596 brilliant blue that seemed to sparkle. The kitten took another step
597 forward, staring into the Dragon’s Tear. The world almost seemed to
598 blur, as if it had been looking at it for too long. The kitten
599 blinked, but the world still felt distorted. The Dragon’s Tear was
600 glowing brighter now. Then it happened. It started staring right back
601 at the kitten. The kitten yelped in surprise, but it was too late. It
602 was already caught in the relic’s gaze. The world rippled as if a
603 rain drop had fallen upon a puddle, distorting and pulsing out away
604 from the kitten. And then it was over.
605
606 The catgirl lay there in the sand, slowly regaining consciousness.
607 She was naked except for the sandy blonde fur that covered her body.
608 She slowly got to her knees, her paws pushing against the sand. Her
609 head was still swimming from the reality altering abilities of the
610 Dragon’s Tear. “Owww...” she winced, rubbing at her temples. Being
611 reborn was an experience she never wanted to go through again. For a
612 third time? She didn’t want to think about it.
613
614 “What the hell did it do to Riku?!?” Kairi asked, very nearly ready
615 to faint. She had been expecting to see him returned to his cute,
616 silver haired self. What she saw was a cross between a human and a
617 cat. And a girl at that. If this was her Riku, something had gone
618 pretty freakishly wrong with the Dragon’s Tear.
619
620 “Yeah, why is she still part cat? I thought you said that thing was
621 supposed to fix her,” Yuffie said angrily. Kneeling down, she helped
622 the catgirl back to her feet.
623
624 “I will answer both of your questions as best as I am able.” Harle
625 bowed low before continuing. “You see, Mademoiselle Kairi, zis iz
626 indeed Rikku. But not your Rikku. She is a member of ze Radical
627 Dreamers. Am I right?” She looked up, raising an eyebrow
628 questioningly at Yuffie and Kid.
629
630 “Yeah, it’s Rikku, all right. I’d recognize those eyes anywhere. She
631 disappeared a while back when we showed up in Traverse Town. We
632 didn’t know what happened to her,” Yuffie explained, holding the
633 dazed catgirl even as Relm held sole possession of her other arm.
634
635 “Yuffie!” Rikku shouted happily, coming back to her sense. She
636 grasped onto Yuffie from her other side, effectively squishing the
637 poor ninja between over-enthusiastic catgirl and love-starved artist.
638 “I was waiting for you to figure out it was me! What took you so
639 long?! I kept trying to get your attention, but you wouldn’t listen
640 to me!” the catgirl whined.
641
642 “I had other things on my mind. How was I supposed to know that the
643 goofy little cat was you?” Yuffie asked defensively. “Besides, we
644 found out it was you. That’s what matters. And you’re back to normal.
645 Kinda.”
646
647 “Yuffie! You didn’t tell me you already had a girlfriend...” Relm
648 was devastated. Yuffie was supposed to be her ninja, the girl she had
649 nursed back to health, who she would marry and spend the rest of her
650 life with. And now she found this other girl that Yuffie had known
651 longer who had absolutely no problem holding onto the ninja just as
652 unabashedly as she was. How could Yuffie do that to her? She'd looked
653 through all of Yuffie’s things when she had stripped her unconscious
654 form and placed some heavy blankets on her back at the cabin in
655 Narshe. She hadn’t seen anything indicating another woman in her
656 life. It was supposed to be Fate!
657
658 “She’s not my girlfriend!” Yuffie said quickly. She would have
659 shaken her hands to emphasize the point, but her hands were currently
660 pinned to her sides by the two girls on either side of her. She
661 sighed inwardly. That was really beginning to sound like her catch
662 phrase. Fate had decided to play some cosmic prank on her. She could
663 just hear the Goddess of Fate laughing at this turn of events. “This
664 is Rikku. She’s my little sister.”
665
666 “Yeah, and big sisters are supposed to look out for their little
667 sisters and not let them get changed into cats!” Rikku stuck her
668 scratchy tongue out at the older thief, her tail moving about in
669 frustration.
670
671 “Ohhhh...” Relm sighed in relief. “I’m sorry I doubted you, honey.”
672 Holding onto Yuffie’s arm tighter, the blonde artist leaned into
673 Yuffie’s side.
674
675 “Don’t call me that!”
676
677 Meanwhile, Kairi was still watching Harle intently. “So that wasn’t
678 my Riku, after all?” The harlequin nodded. She sighed, closing her
679 eyes. So close and yet so far. Another false lead. Once again, Riku
680 had been snatched out of her grasp. When she found him, she’d chain
681 him up and throw away the key so he’d never get taken away again. She
682 nodded resolutely. She had to get him back. Soon. ‘I’ll always be
683 thinking of you, wherever you are,’ she thought, hoping it would
684 reach him.
685
686 “The reazon she did not turn back completely was because zis iz only
687 ze Tear of Hate. Ze Dragon’s Tear exists in two worlds. In one world,
688 it iz ze Tear of Hate. In ze other world, it iz ze Tear of Love. When
689 they are brought together, ze Dragon’s Tear is complete. Since it was
690 only ze Tear of Hate, it couldn’t completely restore her,” Harle
691 explained. She tried with all of her might not to smile. She found
692 this whole situation amusing.
693
694 “You mean I’m stuck like this?!” Rikku asked, mortified. She mewled
695 sadly and quickly stopped herself. She wasn’t a cat. She wasn’t. No
696 matter how much she looked like one. She sniffled, pawing at her
697 eyes.
698
699 “For ze time being. Unless you want to go look for ze Tear of Love.
700 But we don’t have ze time for that. We have to reach ze Door of Light
701 while we still have time.”
702
703 Yuffie sighed, hugging Rikku with her free arm. “We’ll get you back
704 to normal when this is all over. I promise.” The catgirl looked up at
705 her, her swirling green eyes misty with tears. “Besides, this isn’t
706 so bad, is it? I mean, you make a cute catgirl, at least, right?”
707
708 Rikku smiled slowly, looking up at the older ninja. “You really
709 think so, Yuffie?” Her tail was swishing through the air much more
710 happily now.
711
712 Where was Interceptor when she needed him? Her pet dog could keep
713 the catgirl a little away from her love. Relm just held tighter onto
714 her ninja girl. The last thing she needed at the moment was someone
715 else distracting Yuffie from their destiny together.
716
717 “How did you end up like that anyway, Rikku?” Yuffie asked, still
718 shocked that the kitten they’d been dragging around had been her
719 sister the whole time. Rikku mumbled something into her blouse.
720 “What? I couldn’t hear you.”
721
722 Rikku bit her lip and pulled her face back from Yuffie’s blouse. She
723 didn’t want to say it again. She was too embarrassed. “... I wound up
724 stealing some things from some mage’s hotel room. But they got back
725 before I could get out of there. She was really mad and she cast a
726 spell on me. The next thing I knew, I was on the floor with
727 everything around me. She grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and
728 tossed me into the alley out back.”
729
730 Kid nodded thoughtfully. “So that’s where ya went. We went lookin’
731 all over for ya. Yuffie was startin’ to think ya got swallowed up by
732 the Heartless or somethin’.”
733
734 Rikku’s eyes sparkled. “You were worried about me? Oh, Yuffie! I
735 knew you’d come looking for me!” She nearly pounced on the brunette.
736 At such close range, it almost sent all three girls sprawling.
737
738 Kid laughed. “Don’t listen to Yuffie’s lessons on stealin’ things
739 anymore. You’ve seen what trouble that can get ya into. It obviously
740 wasn’t good enough to get away from that mage.”
741
742 “Will you stay out of this? My lessons are just fine, thanks. I’ll
743 teach my little sister the way I want to. You teach your kids, all
744 twenty of them, the way you want to,” Yuffie shot at the blonde.
745
746 “I ain’t havin’ twenty kids.” Kid crossed her arms.
747
748 “Yeah, I was thinking more around six,” Leena said thoughtfully.
749
750 “Six?!” Kid’s eyes widened. Leena had a wistful look on her face.
751 “I’m gonna be runnin’ a bloody orphanage just like Lucca.” She placed
752 her hands behind her head, looking up at the cobalt blue sky. Well,
753 that wouldn’t be so bad. She was sure Lucca would be happy about it.
754
755 “So.. I have to keep looking for him. Wherever he is.” Kairi nodded,
756 trying to work up her resolve. This time she had failed. But she’d
757 keep trying. Just like he did. And eventually, she would find him.
758 And it would be the real him. And she would hold onto him until the
759 sun fell from the heavens.
760
761 “Just remember. Ze closer you get to ze light, ze greater your
762 shadow becomes. You are going to ze source of all light. Be very
763 careful, Mademoiselle Kairi, or you will be blinded. And your shadow
764 will be too much for you to handle,” Harle warned. She turned from
765 the group, looking out toward the ocean.
766
767 Kairi took a step towards the harlequin. There was so much more she
768 wanted to know. And this girl, this Dragon God, seemed to have the
769 answers. Or some of them, at least. So intent was she on Harle, on
770 her still unformed questions, that it wasn’t until the water was past
771 her ankles that she took notice. Looking out to sea, she could see
772 the rough, turbulent waters. The dark, angry waves that were rushing
773 faster and faster towards them, reaching out like giant claws. She
774 thought she screamed, but it could have been merely the crash of the
775 waves. And then the sea snatched them away.