This fic is based off of a previous oneshot of mine: Cut Me Anew, which if you haven't read you may want/need to, it isn't long so don't worry, but you may have no idea what is going on here if you don't. The first part takes place directly after/ a little after it. Feel free to work it out if you want. I had the beginnings of this idea whilst writing it and needless to say, it won't leave me alone until it's been written. So voila!
That being said this fic is nothing to do with KH2.
I don't own KH or any of its characters. Or the below quote in italics.
Bind These Broken Chains
'Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.'
Chapter One
He had never known that the colour white could be so blinding. Out of instinct, his eyes screwed shut, the movement only intensifying the sharp pain that stabbed through his head like someone striking at him with a knife. His cracked lips parted and he groaned, or at least he would have if his throat weren't so dry, instead the moan came out as a stutter of random noise.
He'd been knocked out, that much he could figure, what with waking up flat on his back and just about every inch of him hurting. Soft fingers touched his arm, dancing on his skin as they tried to grab his attention. Reluctantly he peeled open his eyes once again, the light disappearing as a shadow leaned over his face.
Silky pink lips moved, speaking words that he couldn't understand. His head was throbbing so badly that all he could hear was a dull roaring sound. Her brow furrowed, her face taking on a look of worry. Fragrant blonde hair blew over him and tickled his skin. With a huge amount of effort, he lifted his arm and scrubbed at his nose, wincing as pain shot up and down his body.
She smiled tenderly and spoke again, lifting herself out of his viewpoint and moving away. Somehow, with the help of one hand on his arm and another supporting his back she managed to raise him into a sitting position.
A hiss of pain escaped his mouth, sore skin stretching and previously unused muscles alerting him to all of his new cuts and bruises. He tensed for a moment, allowing his quickened breathing to return to its normal state. The ringing in his head dimmed to a somewhat comfortable roar.
"…kay?" His eyebrows drew in to a 'v' shape, his ears having muffled the first part of her sentence, but picked up the last. Carefully he nodded his head, assuming she had asked if he was okay.
A slim eyebrow rose at his answer, small hands crossing over her chest in a posture that told him that she didn't believe him one bit. He attempted to smile, knowing that he could never fool her, but the action came across as more of a grimace.
Her hands dropped to her sides and her face took on a look of concern, eyes shining with worry. He wanted to shake off her apprehension for him, but the best he could offer was to move his hand onto her own, trying to reassure her with a light press of his fingers. She seemed satisfied with the gesture as her fingers gripped back, her anxiety disappearing from her body yet a hint of it still remaining on her face.
"Happened?" He croaked, eyes tracing her face for any kind of clue. Eyes not blinking he managed to spot the brief flicker of panic in her eyes.
"It can wait." Her hand pressed tighter against his own. "Do you think you can move?"
In his normal state, he would have questioned her hesitance but at that moment, it seemed the least of his worries. He wriggled his hands and stretched his toes, making small movements to prepare himself. With agonising slowness, he'd never believed in the rip the bandage off quick method, he brought his legs up near his chest and pressed his arms down to the ground, pushing himself, with her help, upwards.
Her hands steadied his wobbling, a firm grip around his waist that managed to steady his stance. He thanked her with a slight nod of his head, eyes roaming around the room that they were in, now that his eyes had adjusted to the brightness and he could see all four corners.
He blinked, the room had no furniture, no pictures, no decorations, nothing but white. Blinding white that when concentrated on seemed to stretch on forever. The colour made his head spin and almost sent him tumbling back to the floor. "Be careful."
He moved his eyes to the floor, his colourful clothes rooting him back to reality. "Where are we?" He lifted a hand up to his head, the pounding returning now that he was moving about. "Never mind. How do we get out?" The inexplicable feeling to leave had been hankering at him for a while. He felt her hand wrap tightly around his own, tugging him forward.
"Follow me."
Six years later
The heat was unbearable, a sticky kind of warmth that made the air muggy and any kind of movement slow and almost impossible. Which was why, as luck went, he was outside walking, he felt like he was trudging through treacle and it didn't help that to get to where he was going the only route seemed to be a course of steadily increasing hills. Growing up, for the most part, on Destiny Islands had made him tolerable to hot weather, but the summer that this world seemed to be going through was something else.
Anybody with any sense, which appeared to be everyone except him, where safely tucked away inside air-conditioned houses and shady stores. The streets were empty and he assumed would be until the sky was merciful and let loose with a torrent of rain. He peered up at the perfect blue sky with not a puffy grey cloud in sight, and rolled his eyes; from the look of things, it wasn't going to be any time soon.
He was exhausted and his clothes, necessary unless he wanted his skin a lovely shade of raw pink, were covered with sweat and sticking to his skin as if coated with glue. With energy he didn't think he still possessed, he jogged the last few steps into the nearest shop.
As soon as he entered the store a blast of chilled air struck him in the face, he smiled, instantly relaxing and just about resisting the urge to stand under the air conditioner, hands splayed out and twirling around in a circle. The girl at the counter looked up from the magazine she was reading and grinned, recognising somebody who'd been outside in the heat for too long when she saw them.
Politely he smiled back, moving away from the blissful chilly air and walking towards the fridge filled with an assortment of different coloured drinks. He took out two bottles of what he assumed was this worlds 'local' water and made his way back to the girl, placing them on the counter and waiting for her to total up his bill.
He pulled out a battered wallet from his pants and searched through the numerous pockets for the correct tender that was appropriate for this world - Gil. Waiting for his change, he picked up one of the bottles and took a quick gulp, relishing the cool liquid against his throat, but disliking the metallic aftertaste that it left behind. He pulled a face and the girl in front of him giggled, handing him his change.
He nodded his thanks, pocketed the remaining bottle and took a hold of his change. He heaved a sigh and turned around, his eyes lighting on the remaining customer that was both familiar and a stranger to him all at the same time.
His first thought was that what he was seeing was impossible, the heat had obviously gotten to him and was messing with his vision. Yet the longer that he stood there, rapidly blinking his eyes, the more realistic and closer he came.
Realising he wasn't actually hallucinating; he froze, almost dropping the change that had just been given to him.
After all of these years of searching and enquiring on different worlds. Following fruitless leads and multiple clues. There he was, standing nonchatchantly, his eyes roaming the countless shelves for the product he desired. One arm loaded with a shopping basket and the other a scrawled upon list.
His clothes were still the typical island garb; a loose fitting blue t-shirt accompanied with a similar shade, knee length pair of baggy shorts; pockets of various sizes included. He was taller, having grown even more so since the last long separation that had been forced upon them, and though he couldn't be certain until they stood next to each other, he was sure he was still at least a good few inches taller.
His hair was both a little shorter and lighter, but still in his familiar 'style', spikes sticking out haphazardly in the mess that he had always teased him for. Eyes were still the same shade of sapphire blue, resting on his innocent, even now boyish face that had always guaranteed the pair of them a get out of trouble free card.
Overall, he realised, the man in front of him was still Sora.
Yet in spite of his average, casual appearance, over half of the people that had known Sora believed him to be dead, and almost half of the remaining had given up all hope of ever finding him. The man standing in front of him was a miracle and thankfully a living, breathing one.
The list he was holding was stuffed into a pocket, right arm reaching out to a shelf and tanned fingers dancing over the coloured bottles with precision, until at last he found the correct one and plucked it from its shelf. An achingly familiar smile crept onto Sora's face, eyes checking the list once more, giving a satisfied nod and throwing the bottle into a basket with numerous other products.
"Excuse me sir?"
He turned, the spell broken as the shop assistant looked at him with a mixture of concern and alarm. "Are you all right?"
He realised that he must look a sight, sweat damp hair sticking to his face, eyes staring crazily at some random customer and, even stranger, his hands were shaking. He pulled his shaking hands, plus still tightly gripped, now slightly crushed bottle close to his chest, relaxing himself to the point where he at least appeared normal. "Sorry, the heat's making me a little dazed." He gestured with his free hand to the general air.
She nodded, eyes watching him warily and, he observed with a frown, not taking the chance to offer him a seat or opportunity to escape the heat for a little while longer. "Thanks." He tipped the bottle towards her and started to walk out of the shop. She smiled, obviously satisfied that the weird person was indeed leaving.
He walked back out the shop, his path conveniently taking him directly to Sora. His heart beat increased, blood pumping in his head and drowning out the tinny music that the shop was playing. Two steps and his elbow struck out, conveniently for him and annoyingly for Sora knocking the basket to the floor.
The basket tipped and bottles fell out, rolling embarrassingly under the shelves, eggs smashed to the floor, bread tumbled out and a milk bottle smashed; pure white liquid flying out to cover the floor in every direction.
Sora made a yelping sound, falling to his knees and trying to gather up any non-spilt items. At any other opportunity, he would have laughed at his friend's predicament, but right now, he was too worried and frightened over what would happen when his friend looked him in the face.
He knelt down beside him, glancing over the fact that milk was sopping into his pants, and stretched out a hand to help. "I'm so sorry, I'm so clumsy."
"It's okay." Sora shook his head, too preoccupied with cleaning up the mess to look him in the eye. The girl from behind the counter hurried over. Mop and bucket ready and waiting in her hands. She shooed Sora's hands away with a smile, promising him that it was fine and that she would clean up the mess herself, a grimace flickered his way as she started to gather up the remaining shards of shattered glass before somebody got hurt.
He winced, the pair standing up and leaving the girl to clean up the destruction. Sora had his basket back in hand; complete with safe bread and bottles he had managed to save.
"Here." He handed him a bottle of shampoo he had conveniently managed to rescue himself. Sora's eyes flickered up to meet his own, his hand taking back the item and a sheepish blush tainting his cheeks.
"Thanks." He gestured back towards the mess they had created on the floor. "I guess my basket was sticking out, sorry."
He was staring at him and… nothing. No hint of surprise, no sign of hidden recognition, nothing. It was as if he was meeting a complete stranger for the first time.
He nodded, accepting the apology, but not quite managing to quench the huge surge of disappointment at Sora not knowing who he was. "I'm sorry too." Sora smiled, side stepping him and continuing on with his shopping.
He had imagined it over a hundred times, the moment when he would eventually catch up with his lost friend. He had imagined him crying, he had pictured him bolting from his sight, he had even envisioned him socking him one in the face. What he had never even dreamt of was Sora ignoring him completely, looking at him blankly as if he was just another random face that he would likely never see again.
He walked out into the stuffy air, not giving the slightest that the sun was just as hot, seemingly hotter than when he had entered the store for a simple drink and chance to get out of the heat. It all seemed like a dream; he glanced back into the shop, seeing Sora helping the girl to her feet as he accompanied her to the counter.
He breathed out slowly, thankful that it was real and that he was here.
Riku had found Sora.
To be continued…
So it is done. Finally! It can of course always remain a side part to Cut Me Anew, but I'm hoping to continue it more. Let me know what you think.