Chapter 14: The Forbidden Fruit.
Jai's POV:
"You're crazy."
"I know," I sighed. Axel paced in front of me, his thumb resting on his bottom lip. I laid in my bed, just watching Redhead stride back and forth.
"Do you think this is some kind of game?" he suddenly asked, his eyes burning with anger.
"Nope," I responded, popping the p. He threw his hands up in defeat.
"Then what?" he demanded, his hands clamping down on the edge of my bed. "What was that about?"
I rolled my eyes. "I thought it would be obvious."
"Stop being so damn cryptic! It's annoying!" Axel snapped furiously. I was slightly taken aback by his behaviour. I sighed and bit my lip.
"Have you ever felt like you can't make your own decisions?" I asked.
He hesitated. "That happens sometimes."
"I wanted to make one. It's almost like an addiction. I was deprived of choosing my path in life and now I finally get the chance to. Even if I make stupid decisions," I paused to gauge his reaction. "I'm doing it so that I can be myself."
Axel shook his head, falling onto my bed and holding his head in his hands. He gazed at me in curiosity. "I don't understand you. You're so... reckless."
"Does it make you mad?" I teased with a giggle.
"Yeah!" he laughed, rolling his eyes. "It really does."
Like always, silence fell. No words needed to be said anymore between us, even though emotions welled up inside my heart that I was dying to express. Communication between the two of us was easy, but it was almost like we made it difficult by choice. Both of us were strange, and together, we were even weirder.
"Hey..." he muttered nervously, rolling on his side and propping his head in his hand. "Wanna go somewhere with me today?"
My eyes widened. "Me?"
"You see anyone else here, dork?" he shot back, his tone light and teasing.
To be sure, I quickly glanced around. I nodded once I realised I was the only other person in my room, to which Axel raised an eyebrow.
"You're an odd one."
"Yeah," I agreed. My stomach did an awkward flip. "Where do you want to go?"
Axel grinned. "You want to be free, right?"
"Always."
"Let's go to Neverland," Axel responded, a sparkle in his eyes.
"What does Neverland have to do with freedom?" I laughed dryly. Axel looked at me like I was an idiot.
"Heaps," he stated. "Even the name makes it sound free."
I paused. "Interesting logic."
He dismissed me with a wave of his hand, which then settled on the back of his neck. His eyes met mine. "Who said logic had anything to do with freedom?"
The biggest grin setlled onto my lips as I nodded. He was right. I was going to go and have fun in Neverland, and there was nobody to stop me.
Third Person POV:
Demyx held his breath, mentally preparing himself to report back to the Superior. His mission was purely recon, seeing as he wasn't good for much else, but this time, he was nervous. Talking to Xemnas was always terrifying, and the feeling was only a billion times worse than usual.
He steeled himself, giving a little nod. It was time. Entering the doorway, he walked with a confident swagger. "Hey, Mans-- Xemnas!"
Xemnas barely looked up from his seat. Night was Xemnas' favourite time, and Demyx had come and interrupted. At this time, Kingdom Hearts was at its fullest, casting an incandescent glow on the room.
"What is it, Number IX?" Xemnas barked, narrowing his eyes.
"I've done what you asked," Demyx responded, standing up a little straighter. A smirk crossed Xemnas' lips.
"And?"
Prompted by Xemnas, Demyx began to spill the details of his mission. "She is entirely loyal to us."
"What gives you this impression?"
"She met Sora," Demyx revealed, subconsciously fidgeting. "Everyone she lived with showed up as well. Jai basically told them to leave her alone."
Xemnas' eyes sparkled as he finally turned to look at Demyx. This was a turn of events he hadn't expected. "Were they aware you were watching?" he demanded with calm urgency.
"No, boss."
Xemnas nodded, deep in thought. "Well done, Number IX. You may leave."
Demyx let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, abruptly turning on his heel and getting out of there as fast as he could. Xemnas turned his attention back to the steadily growing, heart-shaped moon.
"No loyalty," he murmured to himself. "I suppose she'll fit in well, then."
A million thoughts were racing through his head. Xemnas knew that for once, this person actually had him stunned. Just when he thought Jai would do one thing, she did the complete opposite. He didn't know how long he could handle not being one step ahead.
"We'll see, Jai. I'm not done yet."
Leon's POV:
"She doesn't like you."
"Shut up, she does," I argued, glaring at Sora. He shrugged, a baffled look on his face.
"All I'm sayin' is, she didn't look exactly thrilled to see you," Sora replied in defense.
"She didn't look thrilled to see you either, kid," Cloud muttered darkly, crossing his arms. Sora skipped ahead, staring at everything around him with wide eyes.
"I'm not offended!" he chirped. I groaned, rolling my eyes. This guy...
"Whatever. How long is it going to take to find this stupid fruit?" I asked, annoyed. We'd been walking for what felt like forever, and the girls had decided to go back to the gummi ship to rest.
"Oh, I dunno," Sora replied brightly. "I don't actually know where it is or what it looks like -- I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't exist!"
Cloud and I stopped dead in our tracks, exchanging an unimpressed look. "Are you kidding?" Cloud demanded in frustration. Sora turned to look at us, arching an eyebrow.
"Why would I be kidding?"
We were silent, unable to even form words. Sora shrugged, continuing to happily wander around ahead of us. My eyes followed him, my hands balling into fists.
"Is it just me or do you totally wanna--"
"Kill him?" Cloud finished for me. "Yeah."
---
After what felt like a million years, Sora led us into a small cave. His eyes were filled with excitement as he carefully traced the cave paintings. His fingers stopped at one picture in particular.
"Is that..." Cloud trailed off.
"It's Yen Sid's tower," Sora replied. "I don't know though... maybe it's just a coincidence."
"Huh. Maybe," I said shortly. "I'm tired. Do you have any idea how long we've been walking around looking for some fruit that isn't real?"
"No, how long?" Sora questioned curiously.
I stammered. "Uh, I don't actually know."
Cloud chuckled. "Idiot."
I settled onto the cold floor, closing my eyes. I needed a quick nap, and then I'd be recharged. I didn't hear a sound from Cloud, and surprisingly, Sora was silent too, so I assumed they'd followed suit and decided to sleep. After five minutes, an annoying, cool liquid dripped onto my cheek. I stirred slightly, but chose to ignore it.
That would've been fine if that was the end of it, except the substance continued to splash my face. I quickly sat up, narrowing my eyes. I was about to yell at Sora and accuse him of dripping water on me, but he was curled up and sound asleep on the other side of the cave. Cloud was asleep as well, so I knew that it wasn't him either.
Looking up, I frowned. Whatever it was, it wasn't coming from above me... that made no sense. I was annoyed now, and curious. I had to figure out what the hell this was. I reached up and touched my cheek. When I drew my fingers back, they were coated in a light blue juice.
"What?" I murmured to myself, once again looking all around me. I was starting to get really weirded out. For a moment, I considered waking the guys up, but I quickly decided against it. They needed the sleep too. Jai's words had to be taking a toll on them, no matter how much they tried to deny it.
I crawled forwards, the cave getting narrower the further along I got. I was ready to grab my gunblade at any moment. You never knew what kind of messed up creatures could be lurking in the darkness. There was a trail of the blue liquid in the cave, that only seemed to become brighter as I went along.
The substance smelled and felt like sticky honey. Eventually, I reached a point where I couldn't crawl any further. I was too tall and broad, and the cave only seemed to get narrower. Looking back, I couldn't even see where I'd come from.
Sighing, I leaned against the cool cave wall. Why were we even helping her? In Jai's ignorance, she'd pushed away the ones who actually gave a damn. I rested my eyes, and once again, the dripping started. It had gotten to the point that I was ready to hit something.
"You need to want to help her."
I snapped my head in the direction the voice had come from, meeting Sora's blue eyes. He crawled closer, his expression serious but friendly.
"What are you talking about?" I spat in agitation.
"You don't want to help her," Cloud's voice joined in, his tall form cramped by the narrow cave appearing next.
"Of course I do. What are you doing?" I snorted.
"The dripping annoyed us too," Cloud explained with a shrug.
"Leon, think of all the good times you've had with Jai," Sora said suddenly. "The happiness she's brought you; how much you really care about her."
At that point, I realised something. I'd been seeing this mission to find and help Jai as an obligation. She was under my care, therefore it was my duty to help her. I did care, and that's why it hurt so much that she'd turned her back on us.
You need to want to help her.
How does that feel? I was too unsure of myself in the situation that I didn't want to help anymore. Sora was right, though. This wasn't about me. This was about Jai, and the danger she was in. Not only did I have to help her, I wanted to.
"I want to help Jai," I responded shakily, but surely.
"Good," Sora replied with a smile. "Then you will find the fruit. We already have. It's all around us."
Uh. Okay, so he was a little eccentric. "...What?"
"The cave is the fruit," Cloud explained slowly. "That's why it's dripping."
I looked up, choosing to believe their words -- choosing to care for people other than myself, and found what I had been told I would.
The roof of the cave had disappeared, revealing intertwining branches. From each branch hung a round, bright, blue fruit, the sickly sweet scent of honey invading my nostrils.