Kintsugi

Please, Don't Go

The complete version of this is now on Archive of Our Own. Same username and story title.

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Kairi woke feeling disorientated and groggy, confused to find herself in a room she hadn't fallen asleep in. It took her a moment to recognise the room, and when she did she realised how she had gotten there. Dammit Riku...

She wondered how long she had been there and rushed back to the office and Sora's room, anxious and now thoroughly pissed off with Riku. She pushed open the door and found the room full of people. Donald and Goofy were sitting beside the bed chatting to Baymax. Mickey and an exhausted-looking Riku sat at the table talking, serious expressions on their faces. They all turned as they heard her come in.

"Good morning Kairi!" Goofy greeted her enthusiastically.

"How are you feeling?" Donald asked.

"Better, thanks." She smiled at them, relieved to see everyone there, before shooting Riku a deadly glare. He did his best to look apologetic rather than amused. She'd have to have a go at him later though. "How is he?"

She hurried over to the bed and found Sora looking no different from the night before. Goofy stood up and offered her his chair, which she took gratefully and reached out to touch Sora's hand. He still felt cold despite the warmth of the room. "Unfortunately, there has been no change in his condition. Even taking into account his acute exhaustion, I would have expected some improvement at this point" Baymax reported.

"What? He's not getting better?" Everyone shook their heads sombrely. "I don't understand, why? Is it the same thing that stopped the healing magic?"

"I think I may have an answer to that." Everyone turned, not having realised Yen Sid was standing in the doorway. He walked in and stood at the foot of the bed.

"Whatever darkness was affecting Sora and blocking the magic has now faded, so it is unlikely to be the cause." He paused for a moment, carefully choosing his next words. "I believe that it is not just Sora's body that has been drained of its strength. I can sense that his heart has also suffered a great deal, and his mind most likely has as well."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"When did you first begin having dreams of that city Riku?"

"Close to a year ago I guess, it was two or three months after he disappeared."

"In that case, we can assume that Sora spent close to a year in that place, possibly longer. He may have been trapped there since the day he faded from this world, and we do not know what he experienced during that time. I believe it would be safe to assume it was not pleasant or easy though. Whoever attacked him may have been trying to do more than physically harm him."

They had only spent several hours in that city and that had been more than enough for Riku and Kairi. For Sora to have spent so many months there... Riku had assumed Sora was there the whole time he was dreaming of that place, but they hadn't known it was empty and he had been alone. They had been so focussed on reaching him, that none of them had considered that possibility or its potential impacts.

"Like his body, his heart has been through a great ordeal and is struggling to recover."

"Does that mean his heart is sleeping?" Mickey asked.

"No, his heart is not sleeping." Yen Sid answered. "It has been... greatly weakened." There was silence for a few moments.

"My medical knowledge extends only to the physical heart, not the heart you speak of sir," Baymax said as he raised a chubby finger. "But based on my limited understanding, this makes sense in relation to my observations."