Sorrow's Promise

Chapter 27

Mid-morning the next day, Naminé came and found us out in the training arena. "Sora's memories...they're coming back!" she announced excitedly.

Dropping what I was doing, I stared at her with raised eyebrows. "But that means...wait, what does that mean again?" I felt like I had suddenly lost my train of thought.

"Xion," Riku filled in. "I know, I'm already starting to forget, too."

The memories that had started to fade came flooding back in at the reminder. "Xion!" I breathed. "This is so strange...what do you think could have happened?"

"We'll probably never know for sure," Riku replied solemnly. "But I guess, like you said, she did what she had to do."

I stayed silent, letting my thoughts linger on Xion while they still could. It was hard to believe that she was really gone, and that before long, there would be no memory of her left. I wondered what Roxas knew about all of it, and how he was feeling right now.

"So...where does that leave us?" I asked after a moment.

"Xion has given me enough to work with for now," Naminé replied. "We won't have to actually bring Roxas in until I'm done replacing these memories."

"On the contrary," came DiZ's voice from behind us. "Roxas will need to be brought in as soon as possible."

We all turned to face him. "Why's that?" I demanded.

"It has come to my attention that the Nobody has defected from the Organization," DiZ elaborated. "Meaning that now is our best chance to get to him. They will go after him with the same fervor that they had in chasing down the puppet, especially now that it is out of the picture. The Organization will want their Keyblade bearer back, and we must not let them have him."

I hated the way that DiZ talked about Roxas and Xion like they were inanimate objects, but I could definitely understand his reasoning. "So, do we know where he is now?"

"No," DiZ returned. "I am trying to determine his location, but I need Riku to go out and look for him, as well."

"Right," Riku nodded. "I'll go right away."

"I'll come with you," I volunteered.

"No, you will stay here," DiZ ordered. "You are too emotionally involved in this matter. I do not trust you to stay neutral when the time comes to bring the Nobody in."

My mouth dropped open, and I gaped at him in disbelief. "You can't shut me out of this! Grim..." I looked at Riku expectantly, hoping he'd stick up for me.

"Meli...it's alright. You should probably just stay," Riku said quietly.

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to block the sting of his words. Yeah, DiZ was probably right about me being too emotionally involved, but that didn't mean I didn't want to be included. I hated feeling left out and useless.

Satisfied, DiZ spun around and marched back inside, Naminé not far behind him. Riku walked over to me and dropped his voice down low. "I'm sorry, but DiZ is not someone you want to argue with."

"Did you tell him about our conversation yesterday? Is that where he got that idea?" I huffed.

"No!" Riku insisted. "I swear I didn't say anything to him. DiZ just...knows things. But don't worry, I won't leave you in the dark. I promise I'll keep you updated."

I sighed, then nodded reluctantly. "Okay. Thanks."

The rest of the day was ridiculously long and boring, sitting around waiting for something to happen. I didn't want to bother Naminé, since she actually had work to do now, so I spent most of the day either doing some of my own training or just hanging out in my room. Finally, that evening, there was a knock at my door and Riku entered with two boxes of food.