It was well past midnight in the Mysterious Tower. X was well aware of that but the exact time was beyond him. Several candles were lit around the room, but they didn't offer much light. Not nearly enough to cover the entire library. X didn't mind the darkness though. As long as he had enough light to read by that was all that mattered. And he probably would have been able to read from the light that poured in the large windows. The stars were rather bright here.
The desk X was at was covered in books all open to different pages and he flipped through each idly. Y never understood how he was able to read multiple books at a time. He never knew himself either. Reading was just one thing he was able to do no matter the circumstance.
Y was at the other side of the desk. X had blown out the candle next to her after she had fallen asleep a few hours ago. Her head was resting on an open book, and her Wayfinder was held tightly in her hand. She would wake up with the strange imprint like was becoming the usual here.
X sighed and stood up. He grabbed a blanket that was draped over a nearby chair. He was prepared for her to fall asleep again. She had every night they had stayed in the library reading. X gently placed the blanket over her shoulders and as carefully as he could, took the book from her and closed it.
He sat back down again and began to read. Y had been exhausted since her trip to Disney Place. Ther had been a problem with Jiminey's Journal, and she had been asked to help. It ended with a wild adventure in a data world. X hadn't gotten all the details. But it seemed as expected, Sora was the key to saving their friends. They just needed to figure out what Sora had to do.
"Mmmm, what time is it?" Y asked sleepily. X looked from his books to see Y sitting up, rubbing her eyes. It did little to get rid of the sleepiness.
"Late," X answered.
"How late?" Y asked. She forced her eyes to stay open as she supported her head on her arm.
"To the point it could be argued as early," X said. Y blinked a few times, taking a moment to process what that meant.
"And you're still awake?" she asked. X shrugged looking back down to his various books.
"Not tired," he said. He glanced up at her again. "You should go get some rest, in an actual bed."
"No, not until you sleep too," Y said, shaking her head.
"I'm fine. It's no big deal," X said. Y pouted and rested her head on her crossed arms. She watched as X continued flipping through various books. She didn't move to help him. X doubted she even could. It was much too late, and she had never enjoyed reading in the first place.
"Have you found anything?" she asked after a moment.
"Nothing concrete really. A lot of this is really vague. But, some of it might help. It talks about the power of waking, which might be what we need," X explained. He had seen it referenced a few times in waking sleeping hearts. Which Ventus's heart was certainly sleeping like his body was.
"Power of waking?" Y asked.
"It's a power keyblade masters often have. But, I can't find much more about it. It's about as elusive as writings on the ancient keyblade war," X said.
"Isn't all that knowledge kept in Scala ad Caelum?" Y asked. X paused for a moment, half-convinced she was just making things up in her sleep-deprived state.
"Huh?" X asked.
"You know, keyblade capital?" Y asked. X stared at her blankly. "Master Eraqus trained there. I think he said it's empty now, and near impossible to get to. But I bet that's where everything on the keyblade war is."
"Hm, never heard of it," X said.
"Really?" Y asked. X rolled his eyes.
"Why the tone of surprise?" He asked.
"You always knew everything," Y said without a pause. She frowned and looked at her brother carefully. "Why is that?"
"Just read a lot. And retained it," X said with a shrug. Panic flared up in him. If she caught on to his lie here it would be over. He had to push aside Aryum's nagging voice. It was better this way. No matter what she said.
"For later use. Right," y said. She didn't sound convinced, but she was going to let it slide. X sighed heavily closing all of the books. He would put them back, but it was a waste of energy. They would put themselves back eventually.
"I guess this can wait until tomorrow," he said. Though tomorrow would really just be later in the day after he got a chance to rest a little. He didn't sleep much. He attracted too many Nightmares.
"Good," Y said as she pushed herself up. She kept the blanket draped around her shoulders like a cape. She walked over to X, holding out her hand. "You coming?"
"Yeah," he said taking her hand. Y smiled and threw the blanket over X's shoulders as well, leaning into him as they left the library.
The halls of the tower were empty. Even the brooms were nowhere in sight. X wasn't sure if Master Yen Sid was asleep. Or if the sorcerer even slept in the first place.
He was grateful to Yen Sid. They had nowhere to go, as annoying as Aryum was, she was right about that. X had thought about Castle Oblivion, but he didn't want to force Y to spend any more time in that tomb. She had stayed there too long already in his opinion. Yen Sid had offered them a place with him. And it was the best place they could ask for.
"X, would you ever turn on me?" Y asked suddenly. X frowned and looked at his sister.
"What?" X asked.
"I just. I can count on you, right? You won't ever just leave me?" Y asked. She sounded scared, like she had been all those years ago. The first time they had separated. X suppressed a shudder at the memory.
"Never," X said firmly. "I'd die before leaving you or hurting you ever again."
"You promise?" Y asked quietly.
"Promise," X said. "What's wrong?" She never had these questions before. Not since he had proven himself again. But, she had been strange since the world that never was. Since they had defeated Xemnas. Well, Sora and Riku had.
"Aryum, she just said something weird and I didn't think it was that big of a deal at first. But it's been gnawing at me since she said it," Y said with a shrug. X narrowed his eyes. Aryum had a knack for picking the one thing that would do just that. Just like she had with him.
"And what did she say?" X asked.
"She said I can only trust myself. Even your shadow leaves you in darkness," Y said. The words fell out so easily, X suspected she had been repeating them to herself nonstop.
X looked at the ground. It wasn't wrong. In darkness, a shadow would vanish. But he supposed that was her hope at cluing Y in. Had she tried to tell Yuki too? What if one of them found out before he could tell them? Should he tell them?
No, better to let them have their peace for however long they could manage.
"Oddly poetic of her. Think she might have taken that one from me," X said calmly. "And while it's true. I'm not a shadow." He was much more than a shadow.
"Thanks," Y said leaning her head on his shoulder.
They walked in silence to Y's room. X allowed her to get settles in, curling up with a plush of a shadow Heartless. He didn't know where she had gotten it. For a second he wondered where the Chirithy plush was, but he brushed the thought away. It didn't matter.
"We're going to get them back, right?" Y asked as X sat at the edge of her bed.
"Of course," X said without hesitation, though he wasn't sure. So much was against them.
"Can you tell a story?" Y asked.
"Sure, which one?" X asked.
"I don't care. Just one," Y said as she curled into a ball under her blankets.
X sighed and leaned back thinking. After a moment he told the story that had been on his mind a lot as of late. The one that had started it all.
"Long ago, all of the worlds were one..."
X told the story, remembering each and every event that he told Y about. If he closed his eyes he could see the clock tower that counted not minutes, but time until it ended. Before long Y was asleep and X let his voice trail off. He looked down at her and brushed her hair off her forehead. He kissed her forehead gently before standing up.
"I will save them. And you too."
He left the room and closed the door. Y let her eyes open for just a moment after he had gone. His words echoing in her mind. Save her from what?
*<3*
Yuki was still trying to see the room as hers. It was painted a light blue color, and had been since she was a child she had been told. She had never liked the girly colors like Kairi had. Her mother had laughed when saying that. It was still hard to think of her as her mother. She had a family.
One of the walls was made up of shelves. There were books and a huge collection of seashells. Her favorite two were displayed side by side. The pure white one, and the one that had been from Xion.
On the other wall was a corkboard. Yuki had liked the idea of having something to stick notes on. But now it wasn't filled with notes. Only pictures. In the center was the picture she had received from Y. The only thing she had left of Roxas. Other pictures surrounded it, pictures she had taken of the island and it's inhabitants. Even a picture of X and Y during their last visit. She hadn't seen them in some time now. She had a few of Twilight Town, she had left for an afternoon to visit her homeworld. She couldn't think of it as anything else.
"Yuki! Riku's here!"
Yuki jumped hearing her mother's call.
"Ok! Be right down!" She called back. She grabbed her camera and strung it around her neck before running down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, Riku was waiting for her. He offered a smile when he saw her. Her mother was just a few feet over, watching with a nervous smile. She was a pretty young woman with brown hair tied back in a bun and crystal clear blue eyes.
It had been hard to explain what had happened to all of them without disrupting the world order. That was a new rule Yuki was still getting used to. Riku had been the one to decide to just tell the truth to their parents, and their parents only. Though he had left out Yuki being a Heartless. She saw no reason to complain about that.
"Hey," Yuki said.
"Hey, ready to go?" Riku asked.
"Yeah," Yuki said. She took Riku's hand and went out the door with him. She had to ignore the sigh from her mother. It was the same sigh she gave every time. But it was unnecessary and certainly not close to understanding what was really going on.
Since Yuki's return to the islands, she couldn't stand to be alone. She felt suffocated by her own thoughts when she was alone. She spent more time than she could even guess in Kairi's room talking to her. Or over at Sora's hanging out with him. And anytime she was near one of them, she felt like she had to prove it was real to her. The easiest way she had found was to stay in contact with one of them.
"Are you feeling better yet?" Riku asked.
"Well, better than I did yesterday. But, I don't think I'll ever really be back to the way I was before, you know?" Yuki replied. Riku nodded glancing down at her.
"Yeah. I know," he said.
The two of them went to the play island, the one place they could escape the staring eyes of those in town. Sora and Kairi were already there. They had made the plans earlier. Yuki learned it was better not to ask what they were up to.
One the island it was safe enough for Yuki to let go of Riku's hand. But she stayed close to the others. At least one had to be in her eyesight at all times.
As she paced up and down the beach she searching for seashells Sora walked with her. She paused for a moment looking inland. Toward the place she had spoken to Aryum. Part of her wanted to forget that conversation. But the other part of her replayed it over and over.
Forget.
Sometimes she wished she could.
"Look at this one," Sora said holding up a shell. Yuki smiled as she took it from him. It was a cream color, with pink spiraled through it.
"Oh, I haven't seen a conch in a long time," she said. She held the shell to her ear, listening to the wave-like sound it created. She smiled softly as her eyes fell closed. The waves still sounded like home.
"You know, I think he's happier when you're smiling," Sora said. Yuki opened her eyes and lowered the shell.
"What?" she asked softly.
"Roxas. Sometimes, I still get thoughts I know aren't mine. I think that's him. He's happier when you smile," Sora said. He smiled brightly. Yuki chuckled and smiled softly. "Yeah, like that."
Maybe she didn't want to forget.
As the sunset, Yuki sat up on the paopu tree. Riku stood beside her with his arms crossed as he leaned on the tree. They stared out over the ocean waves toward the main island in silence. He arm was brushing up against his shoulder. He was still there.
"What do you miss most?" Riku asked.
"Hm," Yuki said as she thought. There was so much to miss. The stars in Radiant Gardens. The city in Shibuya. The people she had met in every world. But she supposed there was one thing that stood out to her in the end. "Twilight Town sunsets. Especially if I was on top off the clock tower. There was one, one I don't think I'll ever forget."
"Hm. Is that the one you said Axel's heart looked like?" Riku asked. Yuki looked down at him with a grin. Even if it hurt, Axel would hate for her to cry.
"How'd you know that?" she asked.
"Sora mentioned it. He thought it was interesting," Riku said calmly. Yuki nodded looking up again.
"Sora's looks like early morning over the water. The water reflecting the sky almost perfectly. Enough light to offer shelter to the shadows," Yuki said. She could clearly see Sora's heart. She always thought it was beautiful, but fragile too. It made her worry about him.
"Kairi's?" Riku asked.
"The sky as the sun hits its peak. The brightest blue sky without a single cloud," Yuki said. It was a heart she expected the other Princesses of heart had. But she also knew Kairi's light was special. No two hearts looked the same.
"Huh," Riku said.
"Yours looks like dawn. If you're curious," Yuki said offhandedly. Riku chuckled.
"What about yours?" Riku asked.
"Don't know. Can't see my own. Guess that's part of the mystery," Yuki said.
She had never thought to even try looking. But she knew it wouldn't work. But, she wondered. What was her like. Roxas's had reminded her of the twilight sky. Xion, she never got to look. But knowing Xion, it would have been bright too. Maybe she should look at X and Y's too. They had to have interesting hearts. As beautiful as any other one she saw.
Yuki hardly noticed as Sora joined them, easily jumping up beside her on the tree. He leaned back on his arms, following their gaze into the sunset.
"Nothing's changed, huh?" Riku said.
"Nope. Nothing will," Sora said.
"What a small world," Riku said, sounding almost disappointed.
"But part of one that's much bigger," Sora said. Riku smirked and nodded.
"Yeah."
"Hey Riku, what do you think it was-- the door to the light?" Sora asked. They had explained how they had gotten out of the realm of darkness. A door of light had just opened up for them.
"This," Riku said, pointing to his heart.
"This?" Sora echoed.
"Yeah. It's always closer than you think," Riku said. Sora smiled and nodded once again.
"Sora! Riku! Yuki!" Kairi called as she ran up to them. She stopped in front of them panting as she put her hands on her knees.
"Hey, what's up?" Sora asked.
"Look," Kairi said holding out a glass bottle. At first Yuki didn't see what was so special. They got messages in bottles fairly often on the island. That was until she saw the emblem of King Mickey.
"From the king?" Sora asked. He jumped up and took the letter from her. He dumped it out and opened it, letting the others crowd around him to read.