Sorrow's Promise

Chapter 25

I could tell something was off as soon as Riku walked into the foyer one day a few weeks later.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, frowning. "Did something happen?"

Riku stalked past me before stopping to stare off into the distance. "Sora's memories...they've stopped completely. There's nothing else Naminé can do until..."

"Until what?"

"Until I bring in Xion, and Sora's Nobody." Riku finally turned to face me. "DiZ's orders."

Surprised, I furrowed my brow and tilted my head to the side. "But...what does that mean? You've been trying to give Xion the time she needs. Are you going to just force her now?"

"I don't know!" Riku returned impatiently. I took a wary step back, but he immediately shook his head and apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I just...I don't like the thought of it anymore than you do. But this can't keep dragging on like this. It's already been almost a year." He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Maybe we'll get lucky, and we won't have to force anybody. Maybe they'll be ready to come on their own. We just have to make contact, and see what happens."

I nodded, though I still felt a little uncertain about all of it. "I guess it has been a while since we've actually talked to Xion. It's possible that she's ready, but just hasn't been able to get away."

"If we approach her, it could give her the motivation she needs to make it happen. Do you think she'll be in to the cafe today?"

"I don't know." I puckered my lips in thought. "But even if she was, it's not a good place to talk if Roxas or Axel are around. It might be best to try to corner her at the clock tower or somewhere."

"Okay," Riku nodded. "I've got some stuff to do until then. I'll meet you at the edge of town at the usual time."

Later that afternoon, we met just outside the woods to discuss a plan of action. Riku didn't want to raise any alarms by being seen in town, so I left my coat with him and set out towards the cafe alone. I didn't go inside this time, though, instead opting to hang out in the shadows of the alleyway across the street. The last thing I wanted was for Roxas to start talking to me and cause me to miss my opportunity with Xion.

Unfortunately for me, on this particular day all three friends showed up at the cafe at the same exact time. Shrinking back into the darkness of the eaves, I watched Axel hold the door open for the younger two before disappearing inside himself. A few minutes later, they all re-emerged with sticks of blue ice cream in their hands and began heading up the street towards Central Station.

Sighing in frustration, I opened a dark corridor and ran quickly through, knowing Riku would give me a long lecture if he knew I was entering the In Between without my coat on. It was better that than be discovered trying to follow the trio through town, though. I walked out of the corridor right in front of the train station, then hurried over to the side where the stairs led up to the top of the tower and hid around the corner.

It didn't take long for them to arrive. I could hear them talking and laughing among themselves as they approached, and felt a pang of guilt for trying to take Xion away from her friends. But I knew the alternative was Sora never waking up, so I set my mouth and watched for an opening. Thankfully, Xion fell to the rear as they started up the stairs. As soon as Axel and Roxas were far enough up, I stepped out into Xion's line of vision. She spotted me right away, gave a worried frown, then glanced back up the stairs. For a second I thought she might just ignore me, but then she called up to the others.

"I'll, uh...be right up, okay guys?" I stepped back out of sight as Roxas and Axel shouted down their responses, waiting for her to join me.

"Sorry for the sneaking around," I greeted her. "I needed to be able to speak with you alone." I paused, not really sure how to broach the subject. "How are...things?"

"Not great," Xion admitted, her face downcast. "Apparently I'm taking too much of Roxas' power, and he can hardly use his Keyblade anymore. And now someone in the Organization is secretly pitting us against each other...I think they're trying to get rid of one of us once and for all. I'm still scared to leave, but if I stay...I don't know what's going to happen to me or to him." She looked at me curiously. "Why did you need to speak to me? Is something wrong?"

I sighed. "It's Sora. There's nothing else we can do for him at this point until we get the rest of his memories back."

"Oh." Xion placed her free hand on the side of her face. "He really needs me, doesn't he?"

"Yes," I agreed wholeheartedly. "I know you don't want to leave your friends, but if you don't help him, he's as good as lost."

Xion gazed up the stairs where Roxas and Axel had disappeared. "My friends...hm. It seems like they might be better off with me gone, anyway." She looked back at me suddenly. "I can't go with you now, though. Please, just give me one more sunset with them. Tomorrow, I'll do whatever it takes to get away and meet you at Beast's Castle."

I was torn. I had sympathy for her, but at the same time, I knew I had a job to do. "Alright," I finally gave in. "As long as you'll meet us tomorrow..."

"I promise. Thank you, Meli." With that, Xion turned and trotted up the stairs, leaving me wondering if I had done the right thing.

The next morning, Riku and I skipped our training session to head straight for Beast's Castle. We cleared out all of the Heartless that we encountered, then sat around and waited to see if Xion would show, neither of us saying much. When a dark corridor finally opened not far from us, we both jumped to attention.

"Riku!" Xion exclaimed, as if surprised to actually see us.

"Did you find the answer?" Riku asked.

"Yes, I certainly did." Xion pulled a fist in close to her chest. "I'm on the verge of losing everything I care about. So please..." Xion looked up at us with desperation in her eyes. "Please, Riku, tell me what I should do now."

"Go to Twilight Town," Riku answered solemnly. "You'll find a girl there named Naminé."

"Naminé?" Xion repeated. "What's she like?"

"You'll find out," Riku responded. "I don't think you'll have trouble finding her."

"Alright," Xion nodded. "Thanks, Riku, Meli." She glanced at each of us, taking in a deep breath. "Goodbye."

After she had vanished, I turned to Riku. "Why didn't we just take her straight there ourselves?"

"If she's really ready for this, she'll be drawn to Naminé and especially to Sora. She'll do whatever she needs to do to get there. If not...if this is some kind of setup and she's still working for Organization XIII, then they won't be able to follow us straight there."

"Okay. That makes sense, I guess." Placing my hands on my hips, I stared off at the spot where her exiting corridor had been. "What do we do in the meantime?"

Riku glanced at me over his shoulder with a cheerless smile. "We wait."