World of Hearts: Linked as One (Book 1)

0-5: Recuperation

Kizuna couldn't believe it for himself. He was talking to this guy, Sora, here in... wherever this is. Was this a dream? Was the whole fight from before he passed out a dream? He wasn't even sure where to begin.

"I bet you must be confused right now," Sora said.

Kizuna cleared his throat. He tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. He didn't know what to say, not even for this moment.

"Don't worry, I'll explain everything," Sora said. "Like—"

"Where are we?" He asked.

Sora paused before clearing his throat.

"This place is a Station," Sora said. "We're basically meeting inside of your... no wait... our heart? Yeah... we're meeting inside our heart."

Kizuna looked confused. He raised a brow before he spoke.

"Our heart?" Kizuna asked.

"You know, when our hearts merged," Sora said.

"Merged—Oh..." Kizuna said. "Wait, if that's the case, shouldn't there be one more person?"

"That's not really important right now," Sora said. "Shouldn't you be asking a different question? Like..."

"Why did you want to meet me?" Kizuna asked.

"Bingo!" Sora said, raising a finger. "I wanted to meet you because I have something important to talk about."

Kizuna scowled. He did not like the pacing of this conversation. The last thing he needed right now was a damn cliffhanger. He hated those when he was a kid.

"What is it?" Kizuna asked.

Sora took a deep breath and looked at Kizuna.

"The journey ahead is going to be a lot more difficult than what happened before," Sora said. "That little dive into your heart and that huge fight in... uh... what as it called again?"

"Shibuya."

"That fight in Shibuya was only a taste of what is to come," Sora said, looking serious. "I had no idea what was waiting for me when I had the same dream you had."

"Huh?"

Sora sighed and looked down. He looked at Kizuna, looking a bit depressed.

"You see, I'm from a place that people are now calling the Old World, "Sora said. "More specifically, Destiny Island."

"Huh?" Kizuna processed what he had just heard. He scratched his head, tapped his foot on the floor, rubbed his chin, and did all the math in his head before looking shocked. "YOU'RE AN OLD WORLDER?!"

Sora giggled. "Yeah, but uh... there's something else that you're missing here..."

"L-Like what?!" Kizuna asked.

"Do the math," Sora said. "Sora... Destiny Island, Old World, Keyblade. Do any of those words mean anything when you put them together?"

Kizuna thought long and hard when he put them together. Then it struck him like lightning. He remembered that one passage in the Grimoire of Stories that depicts the events of the Second Keyblade War. Not only that, he did a report on that passage specifically during elementary school.

"Y-You're... you're him..." Kizuna said. "You're the Hero of Kingdom Hearts! The Boy of Destiny, Sora!"

"Yup!" Sora said with a smile.

Kizuna looked amazed at first, but then he looked disappointed. He imagined the guy was wearing Keyblade Armor and this Sora was not wearing any armor to speak of. That and he was a little shorter than what Kizuna had anticipated. Heck, this guy doesn't even look wise at all.