A Heart Unbound

Chapter 18: A Broken Bond and Touching Reunions

"Destiny Islands..." I reached out toward the ocean. The sound of the waves graced my ears as I reminisced memories with Kairi, Riku, and Sora...

"You're home, Hana." Sora took a step to stand next to me, and his smile drastically boosted my level of happiness. I wanted to get closer to the water, but as I stepped forward, I stumbled over an object in the sand.

"Huh?" I looked down at my feet. "A...Keyblade?"

"Hmm." Sora bent over to pick up the Keyblade. After studying its design, Sora instinctively pointed the blade toward the back of the island.

"Sora, wha-huh?" My confusion sparked when a silver door appeared to block the hole to the secret place.

"Aheheh! Let's go!" Sora sounded strangely enthusiastic, and I thought so because we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

Through the door lied a world etched in darkness. The sky was as dark as night and the air as thick as fog. Sora broke our silence with a gasp.

"Where are Donald and Goofy?"

"Uh! I'm not sure..."

Suddenly, an explosion shook the ground and faltered our balance.

"What's that?!" Sora frantically looked ahead at a tall dust cloud. "C'mon!" The overly curious boy darted for the scene, and I trailed behind him. "Huh? Riku and...King Mickey?!"

"Who?" I tried to ask, but Sora unknowingly ignored me and assembled his Keyblade at Riku's side.

"Sora? What are you doing here?" Riku interrogated.

"We can talk about that later!"

I ran to the other side of Riku, next to the one Sora referred to as King Mickey. I wanted to say hello, but the sight before us was much too distracting.

"Is that...Aqua?" I gazed at her for a moment, but my entire body abruptly ached with a sharp pain. "Agh!"

"Oh, no!" King Mickey hardly knew me at the time. He didn't even know my name, but he rushed to help me. "Are you alright?"

"Hana!" Riku and Sora stressed for my safety, but they felt they couldn't let their guard down for even a second. I understood that.

I wanted to say that I was okay, but I wasn't. The pain continued, and I couldn't shake it off so easily.

"What is happening to me?"

"My soul is trying to break free. You're a Seeker of Forsaken Souls, aren't you?" The dark-embraced Aqua questioned me with a malicious tone.

"Yeah...ngh."

"Your body is built like a prison. Any lost soul you keep locked up inside it...can't escape without a key. Your skin and muscles are the bars that keep these souls trapped, and it hurts so bad because my soul is trying to return to me. It's beating away at the bars, and the closer I get, the more it hurts." Aqua stepped closer, but Sora and Riku quickly pushed her back.

"King Mickey! Get Hana out of here!" Riku demanded.

"Yeah! We'll take care of this!" Sora assured us.

"Right! Come on then...Hana."

"Hold on just a sec, please." I called Ventus, so my heart wouldn't ache while being separated from Sora. "Okay. I'm ready."

Mickey created a portal back to Destiny Islands, where we also spotted a panicked Donald. Goofy attempted to reassure him but failed to do so.

"Donald! Goofy!" Mickey called to them.