"Look up. Look up, and look at me. You're always looking down. That's why you're imprisoned inside that cage of music scores. Don't worry, I know you can do it." ~Kaori Miyazono (Your Lie in April)
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We returned back to Traverse Town to the small house where Leon, Aerith and Yuffie were. As Sora, Doanld and Goofy were explaining to Leon what had happened, I was hugging Kairi, having my mini-reunion with her. "I'm so glad you're safe!" I sighed.
"Saki, that's what I'm supposed to say!" She joked. "I am the older sister after all!"
"So, I guess you did travel to other worlds with us," I said. "Your heart, that is. Do you remember anything?"
She shook her head. "Not a thing."
"Rats," I muttered as she laughed at me.
"Come on, guys," Sora said, coming up to us. "We just came back from Cid's shop and he said most of the Gummi Ship pieces we need are scattered all over Traverse Town because of the Heartless. Let's go and get them."
We explored Traverse Town, looking all over the place for the Gummi Ship parts. The Heartless we defeated along the seemed way stronger, but Sora told me it was normal. As we reached the path to Merlin's place, Kairi muttered, "A light at the end of the tunnel..."
"Oh, like you and Saki's grandma's story, right?" Sora asked.
"Oh, right," She said. I perked my head up. We were remembering a little bit! We remembered our grandmother! I can now vaguely recall a kind, elderly lady with a purple dress and a shawl. But, the rest of her features are blurred. That sucks. "When we were all together." She added.
"You know what's funny? We were everywhere, Kairi, looking for you when you were with me all along. Now we're all together again, Kairi. Now, it's time to get Riku back."
"But, Riku's heart..." Kairi muttered.
"What happened?" I said.
"Well, after I knocked you out, Riku went after me but I hit him really hard with my Keyblade. He just...disappeared into the darkness." Sora explained.
"Oh."
"You know when I was in the darkness, I started forgetting things," Sora explained. "It was like the darkness was trying to swallow me. Then, I heard a voice. It was voice, Kairi! It lead out of the darkness and into the light."
"I saw the same thing, Sora," I replied. "It was Kairi's heart that lead me out of the darkness."
"That's it!"
"What?"
"We're all connected, even if we're apart. Even in the deepest darkness, our light will shine through. Like what Kairi did to us!"
"That's a great observation, Sora, but we have to leave soon." As I said that, an idea came to my head.
As I thought it through, Kairi asked, "Can I come?"
"No," Sora replied.
"Why?"
"It's too dangerous."
"But wasn't I with you guys all along?"
"Th-That's different!"
"Okay, you win."
She placed something in his hands. It was the good luck charm that she made while we were building the raft. Only this time, it had Sora's face on it. "Take this," She said. "It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me. Promise?"
"Promise," He said.
"Don't ever forget; wherever you go, I'm always with you two."
"Guys, sorry for interrupting your moment, I have an idea to get Riku back," I walked up to them.
Sora turned a very faint pink. "What is it?" He asked.
"You know when you said that even in the deepest darkness, a light will shine through?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, Riku is in the darkness. I think he's so deep in the darkness that light might not be able to reach it and save him. I might be able to weave it out and lessen the darkness in him so the light can save him. You think it might work?"
"I don't know."
"I'm going to do it."
"No! Wait!" Kairi cried.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"What is you plunge too deep in the darkness, trying to save Riku?" She fretted. "Then both of will be trapped in the darkness!"
"Don't worry Kairi. If that happens, I'll think of something to get us both back."
She paused, swallowed, then nodded. I stopped forward, pointed my Keyblade into the air and closed my eyes. Riku, Riku, where are you? I thought. Please, come back. Come back to us. Come back to me. I felt like I was flying deep into the darkness. I felt the familiar suffocation of the darkness and I felt like everything and everyone I knew was slipping away in my mind, but that didn't matter. I need to get to Riku. As I flew some more, I saw something sparkle. I stopped and picked it up. It appeared to be a dark orb with some sparkles in it. Could this be Riku? I thought. Only one way to find out.
I pointed my Keyblade at it and a laser beam of light came from its tip and hit the orb. I saw a huge weaving. It had so much darkness weaved into it that there was barely any colorful thread left in it. I pointed my Keyblade at it and the dark thread began weaving out. It wove out like normal. This was easier then I thought. After a bit of I weaving, I realized that if I didn't replace the darkness with light, I'm going to take Riku's heart apart. So, I stopped unweaving and and began weaving on the colorful thread. That's when trouble started. The colorful thread refused to weave in. It wove in a bit, then unweave itself out of the weaving. I did it again and again until finally it wove in. I felt like a accomplished something till some of the colorful thread turned black with red streaks. Some of the darkness was weaving itself with the light! Before I could stop it, a force pushed me out of the weaving.
When I was pulled out of my trance, I felt like I was advancing forward. I was going deeper in other darkness! If I don't stop, I'll be lost here forever! But, I couldn't stop. I felt myself flying more and more. The suffocating feeling got so bad, I fainted.
*~*~*~*~*~
Kairi and I watched Sakura as she was looking for Riku. She had her eyes closed and her Keyblade was in front of her. Then, cherry blossoms began to circle around her, glowing. She floated into the air. "What's going on?" Kairi asked.
"I don't know," I replied.
She floated for a bit, then dark tendrils began to wrap around her legs and Kairi screamed, "The darkness! It's trying to take Saki away! Save her!"
I reached out to grab Saki but a honeycomb-shaped shield blocked me from reaching her. I pounded my fist against the shield in order to break it, but I made no progress whatsoever. The tendrils wrapped around her body, up her neck. Then, a dark portal appeared below her and sucked her in. The cherry blossoms around her stop circling and fell to the ground, still glowing. I picked one of them up. It pulsed in my hand, then it stopped glowing. "Oh my god, what happened?" Kairi cried. "Saki is gone! The darkness took her! What should we do?"
"We have to trust her," I said.
"What?"
"Sakura is in the darkness, trying to save Riku. If she has to plunge deeper into the darkness and disappear to save him, then she will. We have to trust that she knows what she's doing."
"I hope you're right."
*~*~*~*~*~
I felt myself leaning against something. Then I felt arms wrap around me. I opened my eyes to darkness. When I looked up, I couldn't tell who was holding me. Then, the person said, "Sakura, it's me; Riku. Do you remember?"
"R-R-Riku!" I sobbed tears streaming down my face. "I found you! What happened?"
"I was walking down this path, regretting everything I did to you guys. Then, I had this really weird feeling in my chest," He explained. "It felt like someone stuck their hand in my chest and ripped out my heart. Then I heard your voice calling for me. I closed my eyes and tried to reach out to you. Then, you appeared in my arms."
"I was attempting to weave the darkness out of you so the light can find you and being you back to us," I cried. "Your weaving was willing to let go of the darkness but it was a little hard on the light. Once I finally wove the light in, some of the light turned to darkness and I was sent flying into the darkness. Where are we?"
"I think we're in the Realm of Darkness."
I looked around. A white path was in front of us. There was no barrier and if you fell off, you fall into the darkness or onto the rocks that I managed to see in all the darkness. The lighting was dim. I could barely see Riku in front of me. "Riku," I mumbled. "I really hate to admit it, but I'm scared."
"Don't worry," He said, pulling me deeper in his arms.
We hugged for a while, until I heard a voice said, "Riku, Sakura, can you here me? I'll be there soon."
"W-Who said that?" I stammered.
"I have the other Keyblade-the one that belongs to this world," It continued. "I've been trying to get it to you, Riku, but the darkness in your heart kept me away."
"Who are you?" Riku demanded, pulling me protectively into his chest. "What happened to me? All I know is that Saki tried to weave out some of the darkness in me."
"Your heart won the battle against the darkness, but it was too late for your body," The voice was completely ignoring our questions. "That's why you're here-in this place of darkness where hearts gather. Sakura is here because her heart went after for you, but it plunged to deep into the darkness causing her body to pull itself into it too to get back to its heart."
"How much do you know about us?" He demanded some more, "I swear-you lay one finger on Sakura and I'll kill you!"
"Riku, wait," I told him. "What should we do?" I asked the invisible voice.
"The Door of Darkness will open soon, but it's a door we can't enter," It told us. "It has to be closed on both sides. To do this, you need two keys and two hearts. Maybe you're here for the same reason I am. Maybe it was fate."
"Fate, huh?" Riku sneered. He turned to me. "I don't really trust this guy, so I'm going to ask you; is Sora and Kairi okay?"
Before I could answer, the voice told him, "Can't you feel the echoes of their hearts? You already know the answer. Just listen to your heart."
He closed his eyes, thinking for a minute. "Okay," He replied.
We waited. The voice didn't speak again. "So, what should we do now?" I asked, biting my lower lip. I quivered from fear.
"We'll go down this path," He replied. "Together."
He grabbed my hand and we walked done the path of darkness and to the unknown.