Kingdom Hearts A:Side

Part 4 - Close

Kairi found herself walking the streets of Twilight Town, the city crowded with civilians who were admittedly more plain-looking than Kairi and the people she normally hung out with.

The red-haired girl eventually bumped into someone, causing both her and that person to fall down.

"I-I'm sorry!" Kairi exclaimed as she tried to collect herself.

"It's okay." A familiar voice said in response, Kairi blinked her eyes a few times before looking up to see a man standing above her extending his hand to help her up.

The sun cleared up and she saw Sora standing above her.

"Sora!" Kairi exclaimed desperately as she stumbled back to her feet "H-How?!" she asked in complete shock.

Sora raised his hand to stop her, he then nudged for her to follow him and ran towards a archway.

"WAIT!" Kairi screamed as she ran after Sora, running down the ramp and turning to see Sora jumping down into the sewers.

"SORA! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Kairi shouted as she stumbled her way down the opening into the tunnels, she continued to sprint after the escaping Sora.

Eventually Sora led Kairi to an exit that led to a forest, she climbed out quick enough to see Sora run towards a mansion in the distance.

Without hesitation, Kairi stumbled towards the abandoned home, when she finally made it she was able to stop and breathe.

During her pants, she looked up to see Sora turn around to look at her.

"Why....What is...going on?" Kairi said in-between gasps.

Sora turned around towards the mansion and disappeared into thin air.

Having finally caught her breath, Kairi stood up straight and walked towards the mansion, she briefly looked up and glanced at the window to a room on the second floor.

"Sora....why'd you bring me here?" Kairi muttered to herself before finally going through the door and entering the mansion.

Inside, the pink-dressed girl saw a long-since abandoned interior.

"What is this place?" Kairi asked, her quiet voice still echoing through out the house.

"Kairi?" Pence's voice asked, the redhead looked around until she looked up to see Pence on the second floor looking down at her.

"Pence! What are you doing here?" Kairi asked as Pence ran around to the stairs so he could meet with her on the first floor.

"Well I just got back from my grandma's house from out of town, thought I'd check out this place out again...." Pence began explaining before pausing "...What are you doing in Twilight Town? Is Organization XIII back or something?" Pence questioned.

"Nothing like that...." Kairi answered with hesitation.

"Kairi...what is it?" Pence asked curiously worried.

"Riku thought I needed to get away from Destiny Islands so he dropped me off here before leaving for Radiant Garden." Kairi explained, Pence wasn't sure why but he could tell something was bothering her.

".....The other guys told me about....y'know..." Pence awkwardly skirted around saying Sora's name "Which is why I came here, to see if there were any answers to where he went here." Pence explained, catching Kairi's attention with that last bit.

"Have you found anything?" Kairi asked softly as she glanced up to look at the young man again.

"....Only one thing, come with me." Pence answered before motioning to Kairi to follow him, the two then hurried up the stairs to the second floor.

Pence opened the door, revealing a room unlike any other in the mansion.

It was pure white, from the walls to the furniture.

"Wait a minute...." Kairi said as she slowly entered the room, she took notice of all the drawings hung up around the room.

"These are....Namine's drawings, aren't they?" Kairi asked as she took one off the wall, the piece had what looked to be Sora sitting on a tree with Riku and Kairi.

Looking at this artwork, Kairi realized every single piece of art in the room resembled events that had happened but they all stopped at a certain point.

"These drawings don't go past when Sora defeated Xemnas...." Kairi spoke her observation out loud "...They don't even get that far..." Kairi added as she looked back down at the drawing in her hand.

"That's it!" Kairi exclaimed "Namine....she has this power, maybe she can draw where Sora is." she added as she looked over her shoulder at Pence who still stood in the doorway.

"I'm not so sure about that...." Pence began "Do you even know how Namine's powers work?" He continued his doubtful sentence.

"We have to try!" Kairi exclaimed, raising her voice as she crushed the drawing in her now clinched fist.

Pence took a staggered step back as Kairi raised her voiced at him.

"Kairi...." Pence said quietly in response.

"I'm sorry....I just...." Kairi began to lose her voice as she realized how aggressive she sounded.

"It's fine, I understand." Pence said as he eased his muscles. "Namine's been living in Twilight Town for a bit now, knowing her she's probably down at the Bistro." Pence informed Kairi.

"...Thank you Pence." Kairi thanked in response before running off past him and out of the mansion, leaving Pence alone once again.

After quite a bit of time, Kairi pulled herself up from the sewers and was back in Twilight Town. Kairi began making her way to the Bistro but stopped when she felt someone close to her.

Turning to the left, Kairi saw Lightning.

"Lightning?" Kairi asked.

"You're looking for someone, I can tell." Lightning said ominously as she began to walk closer to the thin redhead.

"L-Lightning...." Kairi stuttered out again, unable to say anything else.

"I can tell..." Lightning said before she pulled out a sword, a mechanical blade that unfolded itself into the full blade "...Time for you to make good on that second round you promised." The pink-haired woman said as she took a fighting stance.

"I'm not going to fight you! Not right now!" Kairi screamed, in response Lightning charged towards her and slashed at her, sending the girl barreling backwards into the wall of a building.

Kairi shook her head as she stumbled back to her feet.

"Stop this! Please!" Kairi shouted desperately.

"I can't stop this Kairi...." Lightning said knowingly as her eyes shifted from blue to golden "...Only you can!" The woman finished her sentence before lunging towards Kairi once again.

Seeing no other option, Kairi summoned her keyblade and prepared herself for an intense fight.