Sorrow's Promise

Chapter 50

LoZ_Keyblade_Master:  Glad you liked the girl talk!  I think it's about time Meli had a good female friend.

Springlock2: Yeah, I try my best to make Kairi more helpful/interesting, without deviating too far from canon!  I definitely think she had a lot more potential than what Nomura did with her.

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The wait this time was even longer and more agonizing than the first, despite mine and Kairi's conversations. The only good thing about the anxiety eating away at my chest was that it was enough to keep my adrenaline going. I could feel the utter exhaustion lurking just behind that, waiting for its chance to pounce, but I couldn't let it take over just yet.

"Are you sure you don't need to go home?" Kairi asked eventually, watching me chew on my thumbnail.

"And have to wait even longer to find out if they're okay? No thanks," I retorted.

"Yeah, I know," Kairi replied quietly. "I just...don't really know how you're still standing right now."

I dropped my hand and glanced over at her, feeling bad for snapping. "Sorry. I know you mean well. But...I can't leave."

"I wouldn't be able to, either," Kairi admitted.

"It's not like I really have anywhere to go, anyway," I added with a huff. "I don't even know where I'm gonna end up when all of this is over." I hadn't really even thought about that fact before now. I guess this ever being over seemed like such a far-off possibility that there hadn't been a reason to consider it. But now the end was hopefully quite near, almost tangible, and the thought that I had absolutely nowhere to go was a bit terrifying.

Kairi wrinkled her brow. "You don't...have a home? Family?"

"Nope. None of the above."

I could feel Kairi staring at me, but didn't meet her gaze. Finally she spoke up again. "Well, you should come back to Destiny Islands with us, then. I'm sure we could find somewhere for you to live there. You could come to school with Sora and Riku and me!"

That thought made me laugh aloud. School? I guess that's what fifteen year olds were technically supposed to be doing. I hadn't been to school since I had run away from the group home, and it seemed completely bizarre to be sitting here in the Realm of Darkness, on the roof of a madman's castle, waiting to see if our friends were going to come back alive from fighting said madman with their magical weapons, and talking about going to school with those same friends. School. Such an ordinary, mundane, normal-life thing. Maybe that was exactly what I needed after all of this.

"We'll see," I answered simply.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed once more, and Riku, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were standing in front of us. "Grim!" I breathed, relief flooding through me. I started to rush to meet him, but then noticed that they had brought someone else back with them – Xemnas. King Mickey had already summoned his Keyblade and joined them in facing him down, and I did the same.

This time, though, he looked like he might actually be done for. One hand was on his chest, and he dropped down to his knees, breathing heavily. "I need...more rage..." he panted. "I need more...hearts."

Sora straightened. "Xemnas, there's more to a heart than just anger or hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings." He paused, looking at Xemnas with sympathy. "Don't you remember?"

Xemnas continued to stare down at the ground. "Unfortunately...I don't." He looked up at Sora one more time, then vanished into the darkness.

Dismissing his weapon, Sora turned and pumped his fist victoriously. Kairi ran over to him and clasped her hands together happily as he leapt into the air and cheered. Even Donald and Goofy, who were notoriously at odds, shook hands and congratulated each other on the win. I myself wasn't sure how to react – it all seemed too good to be true. Had we really won? The Organization was gone, for good?