Sorrow's Promise

Chapter 29

I wandered through the In Between for much longer than I should have, not knowing where else to go. I couldn't return to the mansion, or anywhere else in Twilight Town, and none of the other worlds I had visited were appealing to me right now. The eternal nothingness of the In Between seemed to suit my mood, anyway. I didn't have to worry about running into anyone, and it was easier here to just let myself zone out and not have to think about anything.

It was only when Dusks started showing up that I realized my mistake in lingering. Fighting them off as best I could, I quickly opened a corridor without paying much attention to where and stumbled out into the sunshine. Once I had waved my hand to close the door behind me, I finally took in my surroundings and realized that I had ended up in Destiny Islands. As much as I loved the beach, this was the last place I wanted to be right now. This was his home, and I couldn't think about him right now...

Crumpling onto the sand, I let the tears come at last, sobs shaking my entire body until I was too exhausted to cry anymore. How had I let myself fall for the same old story all over again? Riku had seemed so different. He had never done any of the things that Aiden used to do, back before he had started hitting me – slamming doors, screaming insults, throwing items just past my head to smash against the wall. There had been no warning, nothing to indicate that Riku was going to turn out just like Aiden in the end. Or, maybe there had been, and I had just been too blind and stupid to see it. At this point, I really couldn't say.

I really had cared for him. It had taken me a while to figure that out, but I knew that it was true. Even now, my heart ached for that soft smile, that ridiculously long, silver hair falling over his shoulders, that rare laugh that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But I knew I couldn't go back. I wouldn't do that to myself again. Maybe taking forever to figure out my feelings had been a blessing in disguise, after all. If I had committed myself earlier, it would have made the betrayal all the worse. Not that it felt like it could possibly get that much worse right now.

I sat for a long time at the edge of the water, letting the constant rushing of the waves soothe me and bring a semblance of peace. When a sudden storm rolled in later in the day, I retreated to the shelter of the little shack, leaving the door open for some light and so that I could watch the rain fall. It was calming, too, in its own way, and eventually I fell asleep to the sound of the rumbling thunder.

I woke a few times during the night, but didn't leave the shack until daylight came peeking in. Stretching out the kinks in my back and legs from sleeping on the ground, I began to consider my options for moving forward. I didn't want to see Riku or DiZ, but I did want to know what had happened to Roxas. Maybe, if I was lucky, I could talk to Naminé without encountering anyone else.

The corridor I created opened into Naminé's white room, but she was nowhere to be seen. The only other place I could think of for her to be was the pod room in the basement, so that's where I made a corridor to next.

Surprise registered on Naminé's face when she saw who it was walking in. "Meli! There you are! DiZ said you ran off yesterday morning, and we didn't know where you had gone."

"DiZ said?" I repeated bitterly. "Glad to know someone was thinking of me."

Naminé pursed her lips and gazed down at the floor. "Well, Riku, he's..."

"I know." I didn't want to hear it spoken aloud. "Believe me, I know."

"I don't think he remembers anything that happened." She looked back up at me curiously.

"Of course he doesn't," I muttered. That seemed awfully convenient.

"What did happen, Meli?" Naminé asked softly, reaching up to gently touch a scrape on my forehead.

I flinched away from her hand. "Nothing," I answered quickly. "I don't want to talk about it." Glancing up at the pod where Sora slept, I remembered my original reason for being here. "Roxas. Is he...?"

Naminé shook her head. "I'm still working on the other memories right now, so I haven't been able to start on Roxas' yet. For now, DiZ has placed him somewhere safe."

"What does that mean?" I frowned, not trusting the strange man's definition of the word.

"I don't know if I should say," Naminé began uncertainly, then sighed. "He had me hide away all his memories and replace them with new ones. I think he's created some kind of digital world for him to live in until Sora is ready for him."

I shut my eyes, still overwhelmed by the sadness of the whole situation. "How long will that take?"

"Sora should be able to wake up in a week."

"Good." I let my gaze slide back up to the pod. "That's when I'll come back to town. I promised I'd be there for him when he woke up, and I, for one, intend to keep my promise."

Naminé tilted her head to the side. "You're not staying, then." It was more of a statement than a question. "Whatever happened yesterday, it must have been..."

"Like I said, I don't want to talk about it," I interjected before she could finish. I sighed heavily. "Just...be glad you don't have a heart. You don't have to ever know what it feels like when it breaks."

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know yet." I gave a caustic laugh. "Guess that makes me homeless again, huh? Figures."

Somewhere down the hallway, I heard footsteps approaching. "Bye, Naminé." I threw my arms around her spontaneously and felt her stiffen in surprise. "Thank you." Quickly opening a corridor, I hurried through and waved it shut behind me before the door to the pod room could open.

I came back out in the frilly blue bedroom, making a last minute decision to change clothes before leaving for good. I didn't want to try to carry anything else with me, so I figured I might as well at least start out fresh. When I shut the door of the wardrobe, my reflection in the mirror on the front was staring back at me. I had almost forgotten that I could, technically, leave this universe altogether if I wanted to. But where would I go once I was there? I didn't have a home there any more than I did here. At least here, I could keep moving to different worlds and therefore be less likely to run into someone I knew.

It was time to go. As I glanced around the room for the last time, I tried not to let my mind linger on all of the memories formed here, tried not to picture Riku sitting cross-legged on the bed across from me, reminiscing of old times with his friends while eating his takeout dinner, but it was impossible. I shook my head and swallowed hard, wondering how long it would take before it stopped hurting so badly. At least maybe if I got away from this place, there wouldn't be so many memories to haunt me.