The Songs in Our Hearts Book One: Reaching Out

Chapter Fifteen: Chosen

"Come on, lazy bum," a familiar, irritated voice commanded. "Wake up," Kairi's voice chided. Slowly, Sora sat up from his position, his bones popping as he did. His eyes blinked heavily as he tried to adjust to the lighting in the room, and he could just barely make out Kairi's short, red hair. "You okay?" she asked in a more soothing tone.

"I guess..." Sora answered, crossing his legs. The fourteen-year-old had been lying on a soft bed somewhere. They were in a small room with walls lined with stripes. A large, orange rug was spread across a wooden floor. Red curtains shrouded the window next to a door. Where am I? Sora wondered.

Kairi continued to talk, "Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade." Sora's vision was starting to become clearer, and he let out a sigh as he confirmed that one of his friends was really here.

"I'm so glad that you're okay, Kairi," he beamed at her, but her faced scrunched up in confusion.

Putting her hands on her hips, Kairi giggled, "Kairi? Who are you talking about?" A mischievous and proud grin formed on her lips. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie," she corrected him, sticking a thumb to her chest.

"Huh?" Sora gawked, rubbing his sky blue orbs. It really wasn't Kairi— it was an older woman with short black hair. Yuffie had a yellow scarf wrapped around her neck and a silver headband on her head. She wore a dark green mid-drift and gray sleeves.

"I think you might have over done it, Squall," she told someone else in the room. As Yuffie stepped to the side, the brunette boy looked past her to see a familiar stranger.

There was an irritated look on his scarred face as he muttered, "That's Leon," to Yuffie. To Leon's right, the Keyblade rested against the wall.

"The Keyblade..." he breathed, thinking about what Yuffie had told him.

"Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures," Yuffie explained to him, walking towards Leon. Turning around to face Sora, she put her gloved hands to her hips, gave him a smirk, and further explained, "It turns out, that's how they were tracking you," in a knowledgeable voice.

Leon spoke up now: "It was the only way to conceal your heart from them." The man crossed his arms over his chest. "But it won't work for long," he warned Sora. Sora looked down to the floor and gave the others a slight nod. "Still," Leon continued. "Hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one." Snapping his head up, Sora watched as the taller brunette picked up the Keyblade.

In an instant, the weapon disappeared from Leon's hand with a bright flash of light, and it reappeared in Sora's right hand. A startled gasp left his lips as the weapon materialized in his palm.

"Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers," Leon mumbled to himself, walking up to Sora.

Annoyed by the man's persistent discouragement and the overall situation, Sora demanded, "Why don't you start making sense! What's going on here?" His face scrunched up into a glare.

"Geez, you gotta calm down," Yuffie laughed before plopping down next to Sora on the bed. "So, you're not from around here, right?" the ninja asked, to which the boy gave a quick nod. "That means, you know how there are thousands of other worlds out there."

"Right?" Sora answered. "I came from the Destiny Islands. We were planning to see the outside world," he told them.

"Well, you weren't suppose to know anything about them," Leon pointed out. "They should be kept secret, and they have been that way because they were never connected," he explained.

"Yeah, up 'til now," Yuffie interjected. Her gaze wandered up to the ceiling and she leaned against her hands on the bed. "Heartless started showing up, and... everything changed." Her tone had a visible change from being peppy just a minute ago to a more distant and wistful voice.

Looking from Yuffie to Leon, Sora asked, "The Heartless?"

"The ones who attacked you, you remember?" she clarified, flicking her gray eyes in his direction.

"Those without hearts," murmured Leon.

"The darkness in people's hearts— that's what attracts them," Yuffie said.

Leon's expression turned grim as he added, "And there is darkness within every heart." Sora gulped nervously. Thinking about how the Heartless went around attacking everyone made him sick. Things couldn't be left like that.

"Hey," Yuffie interrupted Sora's thoughts. "Have you heard of someone named Ansem?" she inquired, turning to face the Key wielder.

"Ansem?" Sora restated.

"Ansem studied the Heartless, and he recorded his findings in a very detailed report," Leon explained. "But that data has been scattered everywhere," he said in a frustrated tone as he put a gloved hand to his face.

"Too many worlds to search, and too many places that report coulda ended up in," Yuffie reiterated. "That kinda information could've had something about getting rid of the Heartless, but of course, we don't have it," she shrugged.

"The only way we know of, as of right now, is the 'key'," Leon pointed to the weapon in Sora's hand.

Gazing at the blade in wonder, Sora whispered, "So... this is the key?" He lifted it up and waved it around a little bit.

"Exactly!" the woman exclaimed.

"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade," Leon warned Sora again, turning and walking away from the boy. "That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what." Sora pouted at that information.

"Well, I didn't ask for this," he stated firmly.

"The Keyblade chooses its master," Yuffie told him. "And it chose you," she added a little sarcastically.

Leaning against the wall again, Leon muttered, "So tough luck."

"How did all this happen?" Sora asked, still unable to fully grasp what he had in store for him. "I remember being in my room..." He thought for a moment, and he gasped as he realized, "Wait a minute!" Putting the pieces of Heartless, the darkness in people's hearts together, and the last events that occured on the islands, Sora asked, "What happened to my home? My island?" He was standing up now as the full picture of what might have happened began to come into view. "Riku! Kairi!" He panicked at the thought of losing his friends— his entire life forever. What if the Heartless got them? he thought, tears started to form at the corners if his eyes.

Sora's hands clenched into a tight fist as he looked to Leon and Yuffie for a response. Leon spoke in a sympathetic tone, "You know what? I really don't know."

Kairi held a balled up fist to her heart. What just happened? she asked herself. Just ten minutes before, the girl could see Sora— she could almost talk to him. Now, she found herself in a warm, yet dark space. Something tugged at her being like an intense, sharp pain.

"Hello?" she called out, her voice echoing through the space. "Sora! Can you hear me?" Kairi waited for a response, but the only voice that came back was her own. That pull still bothered her, and she couldn't help but feel worried for Sora and Riku.